Respect the Writer

The house is quiet this morning and I can finally use the computer. The dog followed me in just now and I said, "Okay, but only if you behave yourself.  Respect the writer."

That's my new motto.  Respect the writer.

I took a job yesterday. My third part-time job. I'm going to clean house for a friend's elderly parents.  Their regular cleaner is retiring and they don't want a stranger for fear of that person stealing from them.  So when my friend asked if I could recommend anyone, I decided to do it myself.  I'm hoping that I can save up enough money to buy a laptop in a few months, and after that, perhaps start saving for a writer's conference.  I figure that my teaching income is household income, so I can't justify "blowing" that on writing.  But if I do the cleaning on the side in my spare time, then it's "my money" to do with as I like. 

Some people might think that cleaning another person's house is beneath them, but I was raised to believe that nothing in life is free and that anything worth having is worth working for.  So I am going to clean these nervous, elderly people's home as well as (and probably better than) I clean my own, and be as kind and reassuring as I can to them.  I know my friend is grateful to have this problem solved.

Now, I haven't met them yet and it's possible they'll decide I'm unsuitable or that I didn't get all the dirt out of the corners.  In that case, I'll keep looking and praying for a way to get my laptop.  I tried to get some tutoring jobs, but that didn't work out.

When my son is old enough to understand a little more about money and work, and I'm rich and famous (*grin*), I'm going to tell him the story of how I saved for my laptop.

What have you done for your writing, or for anything else you really wanted in life?  When have you risked something for the sake of a bigger goal?  How did it benefit you in the end?