flipflop_diva

I open my shiny new Word doc, full of hope and optimism. My first Idol entry of the season! And it’s just an introduction! What could be easier?

Apparently, everything.

I stare at the horribly blank Word doc, now full of terror and panic. What do I say? How do I start? Why is this so hard?

I introduce myself all the time. Well, not all the time, but a lot. It’s easy. (“Hi, I’m Kristine! So nice to meet you!) More times than not, it goes well from there. Or mostly well. I’ve never had anyone run away screaming, so that’s a plus.

So we’ll go with that — Hi! I’m flipflop_diva around these parts but my real life name is Kristine. I also go by Mommy, Auntie and Dorky (that last one is reserved for my sister only. She thinks she’s funny). The dog, if she could talk, would probably refer to me as the lady who takes her on walks but also takes her to the mean doctor who pokes her butt with needles and tells her she needs to lay off the treats because she weighs too much for a dog her size. Last time I took her to the vet, which was last week, she laid on the ground and howled like she was being tortured. And that was just when we were standing in the line to check in.

But back to Idol. I’ve been doing Idol since Season 9, according to Our Supreme Leader Gary. I have neither confirmed nor denied that because it would mean delving back into my LJ account. But it sounds right so we’ll go with it.

That first season I bye’d out when there were still many, many people left. Mostly because I panicked and second-guessed myself and why I was even there. But I tried again the next season (I think?) and have played mostly every season since. My best showing was coming in second in the Idol Survivor season (by a one vote difference!). That was super fun! Also a little crazy, but fun! (Fun fact: That season ran pretty much the whole time I was pregnant with my son. He was born just a few weeks after it ended. And now, by some weird twist of time, he is a kindergartener. Which makes zero sense seeing as he was just born.)

When I started Idol, I was single and living with my dog in our little house that had a patch of dirt that tried to pass as a backyard. Not the vet howling dog. The dog before her. That dog loved the vet because there were people there. And doctors who gave treats. She didn’t even care if they poked her butt with a needle if a treat came after.

Throughout the following Idol seasons, I met a man on match.com, got engaged to him, married him and had two children. The little boy mentioned above and a daughter, who came first. She is in second grade. She also does all star cheer. And dance. And theater. And Girl Scouts. She keeps me busy.

The little boy takes ninja warrior classes. I thought it would keep him from treating the living room as his own personal ninja course. It has not. But at least he’s learned proper jumping technique.

When I’m not on duty as a kid car service, I’m an editor for a dental newspaper. I’m also on the PTA board at the kids’ school, but sadly, no one pays me for that. Sometimes I get some free food though.

So that is me. And look at that! My Word doc is now full. That wasn’t so bad after all.

Thank you to anyone who has read this far. I look forward to reading and chatting with everyone else in this competition. Good luck to us all, and may the odds be ever in our favor.

This week we had to write two entries. This is my second one.


( Once upon a time, there lived a young girl )


This was written for the new season of therealljidol, Wheel of Chaos! If you liked my entry, please consider voting for me or any of the other amazing contestants. You can find all the entries here. Look for the voting post on Monday night!

For this prompt, we had to work with our partner's two previous entries. You don't have to read these first, but it will add to the story if you do. Both written by the lovely alycewilson

Entry 1
Entry 2


( John looked at the ornate mirror in the dressing room as he expertly tied his long, red velvet cape )


This was written for the new season of therealljidol, Wheel of Chaos! If you liked my entry, please consider voting for me or any of the other amazing contestants. You can find all the entries here. Look for the voting post on Thursday night!

This week's entry is part of an Intersection, where there are two prompts and each person in the partnership takes a prompt and writes a story that connects with the other person's. My partner is legalpad819 and her entry can be found here. In chronological order, my entry comes first. But if you like reading stories and then reading the prequels after, you can start with hers!


( The baseball bat lay where it had been dropped )


This was written for the new season of therealljidol, Wheel of Chaos! If you liked my entry, please consider voting for me, my amazing partner and all of the other incredibly talented contestants. You can find all the entries here. Look for the voting post on Wednesday night!