Day 201: Saving Money

What was the first thing you ever saved up your money to purchase?

Cowboy boots.  Hum, I remember saving, but for the life of me, I don’t remember buying them.  I wonder if I succeeded in gathering the money because I also don’t remember how I would have earned the money.  I would have been about ten.  Maybe I should talk about what I remember.

Turning 12 was the best birthday ever.  This gave me the ability to earn money by babysitting. My independence began here.  Even at 12, I knew I didn’t wear the best of clothes.  In fact, the year before, I wore mostly hand me down outfits from my aunt that she took in to fit me.  So earning the green stuff was amazing.  I babysat for anyone.  Yep, I saved from about February through August for school clothes.

When I entered Junior High, we had a fun day during the winter every Friday.  There were quite a few options to sign up for: cake decorating, bowling, cross-country skiing, and downhill skiing.  My mother tried to convince me to do the cake decorating due to the price and her love of the hobby.  They couldn't afford either of the skiing options.  I refused.  Luckily, the holiday babysitting scene enabled me to save enough to sign up for cross-country, though I longed for downhill.  I loved those Fridays and never regretted the hard work it took to afford them.

Day 200: First Day

Describe a “first day” in your life (first day of marriage, of school, etc.).

To be completely honest, I don’t remember the exact first day, but I remember being scared to death wondering what the hell I was getting myself into.  For the first time in my life, I traveled clear across the country on a commercial airline.  I got off the bus that traveled from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Ft. Dix, New Jersey for BASIC Training.  Yelling began as soon as the bus stopped.  Chaos ensued.  I wish I had kept a consistent journal during those days.  But then, I wouldn’t have had time to write in it with all the activities that kept us so busy.  I was twenty-one years old and feeling ancient.  The average age was about eighteen and a half.

One day at the beginning of BASIC I forgot my key inside my locker.  My drill sergeant had to use bolt cutters on the lock.  I had to buy a new one.  He was growling at me.  I was frustrated.  I said, “yes, Sir.” to whatever he was saying, probably that I was a stupid private. Yep, true enough.  It wasn’t my first time saying, “yes, Sir” to this Brown Round.

“Private, I am not an officer.  I won’t tell you again.  Say, yes, Drill Sergeant.”

“Sorry, drill sergeant, my dad taught me to say sir.  I will work on that bad habit.”

For the first time, I saw humor in his eyes, though he kept the stern look on his face.  I was blessed to have an uncle who fought in the Korean War, though funny enough, I didn’t know that at the time.  That is another story for another day. But my uncle was a gruff man.  This drill sergeant had nothing over him.  I cracked the code in how to respond to him.  From then on, I didn’t mind all the yelling.

Day 199: Bad Habit

What bad habit would you like to change?

Some of these prompts are all right for a diary but a blog post?  Why do I want to admit a bad habit to the world?  I have a lot of bad habits.  Let's see, I would like to stop procrastinating with my housework.  I leave it to the last minute when people are coming over.  Since I leave all of it, there are usually areas that don’t get cleaned.  Oh, well.  As I have always said, I rarely get bored for lack of things to do.

Day 198: I hope

Complete the thought:  “Today, I hope…”

I am not in pain or completely depleted of energy.  I don’t think I would be exaggerating if I said I have been in a flare-up at least 80% of the time for the last year to year and a half.  I have had some good days.  In January, I think I had a good week.  But, other then that, well, no reason to go more into the annoyance of my health.  Really, I am happy that I have a high pain tolerance and can still write and spend time with my people.

Day 197: A Broadway Musical

A new Broadway musical is about your life.  Come up with a title for the big show, and write a mini-review of it.

A couple of titles come to mind: “Damn the Torpedoes”, “Take Flight”, or “Just Keep Writing.”  I think “Damn the Torpedoes” encompasses most of my life after I left home.  I joined the military with that attitude.  I finished college with that attitude since I had to live in a different town then my husband and son for a year and a half to get to graduation.  Anytime, I begin over thinking a project, I mutter the saying to myself and go forward.  My entire writing career I do this.  I get to a certain point in the novel writing process and I say enough.  Time to publish.

Hum, a review.

The musical is a poignant tale of an ordinary woman that pushed her way through the challenges and obstacles in life.  The mixture of country, pop, jazz, blues, and classical music actually worked in capturing the heroine’s diverse spirit.  Bravo.

Day 196: Furniture

Describe your memories of a piece of furniture from your childhood home.

The outside swing my dad made for my mom was my favorite furniture.  I can’t remember how old I was when he made it.  I would guess it was when I was in junior high when we lived in Eureka.  It sat under the Chinese elm.  When we moved to our new place in Libby, Dad planted another elm for the swing.  Many hours have been spent on the swing with neighbors and family.  The elm is gone now.  In fact, I believe a second swing was built a few years back to replace the old one.

When Jerry and I bought our first house in Hardin, Dad made me a swing.  It sat on the back patio.  Unfortunately, moving out in the valley in Helena, the wind destroyed the swing, so he turned the seat into a bench.  Now, this is a heavy duty bench.  The wind still tips it over all the time.  After this winter, I saw that the wood is molded and crumbling.  I have failed at taking care of it in the elements.  I will miss the swing/bench.

Day 195: Certifiably Crazy

Certifiably Crazy, yes, that is me.  On Sunday, I signed up for the Great Novel Challenge.  Some of you may remember I did a novel challenge a year and a half ago, writing for three months at about 40,000 per month.  This challenge is longer in time but shorter in monthly word count.  I am so excited and scared that I could jump out of my skin.

Here are the rules.  I have to write a 40,000+ word novel every two months for a year.  I have to send said novel to Dean who will read and comment on the novel.  If I do this for the entire year, I will have six novels and have won the challenge.  My prize will be three writing classes. 

There is a second part.  If I publish each novel the month after it is written and get a paperback copy to Dean, I will win a lifetime gift of three different types.  I am going to work for fee workshops in Las Vegas for a lifetime.  I have no idea if I can complete the challenge, but I am going to give it a try.

Now, I wondered how I could do this challenge.  The novels I write are epic, 120,000 to 160,000 words.  I can't do that in two months.  What I decided to do is break the novel into three parts and write three books per epic novel.  I will publish all three separately and at the end of the year, I will package the first three into one.  I will do the same with the second three.  I am really excited about the concept.

Today, I begin the novel.  The title at this point is "Denying Heritage."  My main character...Kirzantra Deathsong.  She will be amazing!!!  Of course, while I am doing this, I also have to continue to work on "Pursuing Peace."  I am finally stepping up to working a lot of hours.  You know, like a fulltime job.  Let's hope my health and my family can handle this.