Fruit + Spinach + Oatmeal + Almond Milk Smoothie 26 oz. apx 263 Calories

This Smoothie is delicious and you will not realize you’re drinking a good serving of Spinach. Very filling and will stick with you. 

Contains apx: 55 g carbs, 3 g fat, 5 g protien, 105 g sodium, 33 g sugar. If you're a diabetic please be aware of sugar amount.
Makes 26 oz apx.

1 banana raw
1 Red Delicious Apple raw
1/4 C frozen pineapple Trader Joe's
6 Green seedless Grapes
1/4 C Quick Oatmeal
2 C Spinach fresh Trader Joe's
4 oz Almond Milk

Place items as listed, into Blendtec.
Blend using Smoothie setting.

No almond milk on hand, substitute with your favorite liquid using 4 oz. Be aware substitute may change the flavor and calorie count.


(I had a problem with the sugar level and had a teaspoon of peanut butter to offset that shaky feeling from the rush of sugar. I was throwing in things to use up items I had on hand.)

I Killed Her - a short story by Rizy Ritzhaupt

   I Killed Her                                                                

      by Ritzy Ritzhaupt  2014 ©

“I know I’m guilty. Yes, I killed her­­­­”, she confessed to the officer with big hand gestures.

“I wanted her out of my life. She was a problem, a huge pain in my ass! She caused me tons of extra work”, she slurred as though in a fog­. Like a spinning top when it ends, she toppled into the nearest chair, finally sitting but far from calm as she continued to fidget in her chair.

.

“Mmmmm,” the detective said as he watched her for a moment, before he went into the other room for coffee. “Would you like a cup of coffee, ah…?”  he directed to the woman that had just confessed, as she stared blankly at the detective.

“Coffee?” she asked as though on another planet, appearing muddled, trying to hide her emotions. “Coffee, not too hot with two sugars,” she requested. “Linda,” she told him her name. He motioned for another officer to get the coffee.

“Okay Linda, go over what happened and don’t leave anything out.” He instructed, giving her the fresh cup of coffee as he sat down across from her. 

“She was there, in front of the full length mirror, when I entered my bedroom.”

“Who was there, in front of the mirror?” he cocked his head to listen closer to her response.

“Maryanne, she was wearing my new evening gown!” she leaned forward to express her shock at the woman entering her home uninvited, as she continued. “I had just bought it to wear to my college reunion. My new dress!” she yelled, all her words ran together with hardly a breath between, as she reared up on the edge of her chair!

“Who is Maryanne? And then what happened?” he nudged her memory.

“She turned to face me”, Linda paused, sucking air into her deprived lungs, as her eyes were wide and dazed, as though in disbelief. She felt she was at the scene of the crime as it played out in her mind’s eye. “She laughed at me… she, she stood there and laughed at me as she made the dress twirl around. She laughed.” Linda mumbled as she sobbed, rising, she fell toward him. He grabbed her, before she crumpled to the floor and gently placed her back in her chair.

“Okay. Than what happened Linda?” he encouraged in a softer voice, encouraging her to tell more.

“Maryanne didn’t stop.” She focused her eyes just above his head, as she slowly formed each word, as though she was once again in the same room with Maryanne.

“Oh”, he empathized as he moved closer, watching her facial expressions.

 “It’s my dream! My dress! My life! I had to make her stop! I had to!” Linda faintly screamed, tearing at her clothes as she lunged toward him, pounding her fist on his chest.as she wanted to push him away.

“Okay, okay,” the detective, said as he tried to get her to reveal more without hitting him.

“What did you do next?” he continued.

“I plunged the knife into her heart!” she sobbed, wringing her hands.

“The knife?” he asked, glancing at the other officer with a questioning look.

“Yes, the knife. I stabbed her with the damn knife! I stabbed her, again and again. Each time I shoved it deeper and deeper. I thought it would break off but it didn’t.” She stared, wide eyed with glee as the scene replayed out in her minds-eye. It was as though Maryanne seemed to fade into the distance. She’ll never bother me again. She mumbled, as she stared blankly at the detective, the bitch is gone. She expressed to him, in soft heated words.

“Where did you get the knife?”

“I don’t know… it was in my hand!” she yelled distracted.

“Mmmm,” escaped from his lips as he continued to listen.

“I… ah, I… ah, I don’t know,” she looked at him stunned by what she said as she tried to remember where she had gotten the knife. “I don’t know. I killed her, I killed her”, she sobbed in distress, looking at her hands as though they were the enemy.

“You killed her?” He stared at the other officer shrugging his shoulders. “And then what did you do? Did you leave? Did you try to clean up the mess?

“The mess, yes, the mess, it was everywhere. No, I left the mess.”

“What did you do with Maryanne’s body?” he calmly asked Linda.

“I… I… I don’t… remember, I don’t know.”

A uniformed police officer entered the room shaking his head as he handed the investigator a note with Linda’s address across the top.

The note read, “No body – No blood – Large butcher knife – One shredded party dress”. He handed the note back. All the officers took turns reading the message; some revealed a slight snicker, holding back any sound.

“Are you sure Maryanne was dead?” he asked frowning as he visualized the note.

“She’s dead… she’s dead… yes, she’s dead!” the words dripped from her lips as though drops of blood slipped between them, in total frustration she wrenched the words from her mouth.

“How many times did you stab her?” He shrugged to the other officers viewing the interrogation through the large mirror, as he spoke. They all had become transfixed by the woman’s confession.

“Six, ten times, lots, I don’t remember exactly,” she mumbled counting on her fingers, trying to keep track of her slashing stabs.

“ Hmmmm… Where was this blood?”  He hoped for some answers that made sense.

“I told you, it was everywhere.” Her sigh, could be heard around the room

“Everywhere?” the officer repeated with a raised eyebrow of doubt.

“Her blood was on the bed, the mirror, the floor, the dress, everything was covered”, she exclaimed as she smacked her hands on the table, confused by their continued questions. She wondered if they were blind and couldn’t see Maryanne’s blood, as they kept pushing her for more information.

“Did you wash your hands after you stabbed Maryanne?” His eyes crinkled in total disbelief. He glanced into the mirror acknowledging the other officers. He was sure they also sighed with disbelief at Linda’s story.

“Yes, I washed my hands. No, I don’t… remember. They, were clean, yes, I washed them. There was blood everywhere. I killed her. I killed Maryanne, she’s gone.” She clutched at her heart as she spoke, realizing the truth once again, she had killed Maryanne!

“Did you wash the blood off the knife?”

“I don’t remember what I did with the knife!” she whined, confused by the same questions.

“How big was the knife?”

“How big?” She acted exasperated, fidgeting, “I don’t know” she spit out, revealing her frustration.

“Did you put the knife by the dress?”

“I don’t remember. I stabbed her with a knife many times. I killed Maryanne and she’ll never come back. She is gone forever more. Gone, do you understand?” she yelled annoyed at his repeated stupid questions!

“If she’s dead, than where did her body go and all the blood?” the investigator asked as he leaned over her.

Linda lowered herself back into the chair and flopped forward. Resting her head on her arms, she sobbed. Heavy exhausted sobs making her back heave up and down. In a daze, she, herself become Maryanne and then herself and her weary and wondering brain. Exhaustion left her limp in her chair as she softly said, “I murdered her”.

The detective left the interrogation room as Linda continued to sob. He walked over to the over detectives that had also been watching the interview.  He sent a female detective to bring Linda some tissues and help calm her down. He wanted to know what other detectives viewing them thought had happened

           “What do you think happened? What did she do with the body? Who is Maryanne? Got to get a last name, I have no idea who Maryanne is or if she’s even real.” He questioned as he asked the other officers for their input.

           “I think we need the psychologist to check her out. No blood found, that is very unusual.”  The observant female detective words filled the room as she spoke.

“So, it had to be there in her room… did she kill her somewhere else?”  Pent up thoughts were spoken from others, that had also viewed the exchange.

RAIN

RAIN
by Ritzy Ritzhaupt
 
Smile, it's raining in Seattle.
Tiny little drops wash the makeup away.

Breath taking moisture caresses you with soft gentle drops, that should annoy, but their tender sweetness makes you feel alive.  It had been a lovely day to be outdoors.

In Seattle it's said, "If you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes and it will change".  Many times that's exactly what happens. Then, there are those days that melt your heart, certainly not from the heat, but from a glorious beauty. 

Mountain ranges and blue water touch your inner most thoughts.  It's in one of those moments, when a rhythm burst forth deep from within the raw you.

The excitement and beauty claim your soul; your entire being, holding you in a wondrous embrace that comforts the being, to the core of its existence.

Feeling as though, one being wrapped in swaddling clothes. The embrace captures the essence of whom and what you are.

Your embedded with bands of steel giving knowledge and caring love, to the flesh that is known to be the person I think is special, a true Washingtonian.

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