Tomorrow begins the April A-to-Z Blog Challenge, where I have to remember what day it is AND what letter of the alphabet comes next. I’m just a glutton for punishment. I have some guests lined up this month, too, so the ones that aren’t guesting on Sundays (days off from the challenge because guess why) will have to made to fit square-peg-in-round-hole into the letter of the day. I’m not worried. I have faith in my ability to bend the available material to my will.

If I’m having trouble going to sleep, I go through the alphabet, thinking of five male or five female names beginning with each letter. Or names from the Bible. Or names of cartoon characters or authors or whatever.

Mom and #4 daughter and I pass waiting times playing our version of “The Minister’s Cat”. Our version isn’t the real version, but we like it. We go through the alphabet, each taking subsequent letters. “The minister’s cat is an adorable cat.” “The minister’s cat is a bouncy cat.” “The minister’s cat is a cute cat.” When we wore that out, we started coming up with other details of the minister’s life. “I went to the minister’s house, and he has an armoire.” “The minister went to the grocery and he bought an avocado.” “The minister went on vacation, and he went to Antigua.” We always end with, “Hoorah for the minister’s [fill in the blank]!”

The title of this post reminds me of a game #4 daughter invented before she started school. It was called “I’m thinking of a letter.” It went like this:

ME: I’m thinking of a letter.

#4: Is it a curvy letter?

ME: Yes.

#4: Is it open on one side?

ME: Yes.

#4: Is it “C”?

ME: You won!

Curvy letters, straight letters, curvy-and-straight letters. We played that game a lot. After a while, it was too easy for her, and the fun of it was asking sillier and sillier questions around the obvious answer.

#4 still cracks me up.

So I’m ready. My alphabetical muscles are stretched, flexed and pumped. April, here I come!

WRITING PROMPT: What is your main character’s favorite letter of the alphabet, and why? OR Open a book or magazine at random and, with your eyes closed, put your finger on the page; whatever letter you land on, write a bit about a character who likes that letter best of all and why.