I'm Gonna Get My Laptop!!!

Woo-hoo!!! I am so excited.  I'm going to get my laptop.  Finally!!!!  Praise the Lord, I can have my OWN computer to write my novel... just for me and nobody else to use.  Hallelujah!

I really feel blessed.  Several opportunities have arisen for me to earn some side money, and I just logged on to my credit card's rewards website (which I've never bothered to check before) and found out I had a nice chunk of change waiting to be redeemed there, too.  So when I add that to the birthday money my family gave me last year, and counting up the coins in my Laptop Fund jar, I should have enough for a modest machine.

Now, what kind to get?  Suggestions?

Beat the Winter Blahs

Let's play a game, and see how far it can go.  List ten things that make you happy.  Post them on your blog, with a link to it in the comment section below.  Or, just mention that your blog is on your blogger profile.

Ten Things that Make Me Happy

1. Sleepy hugs from my son
2. A warm beagle
3. A really good cup of coffee
4. Finding a gem I needed in Webkinz World (I finally found the lemon drop today!)
5. Writing a passage in my novel that even I have to admit is good
6. When the seeds I planted in a tiny pot on the windowsill finally sprouted today
7. A really gorgeous blue jay or cardinal at the bird feeder
8. When a student says they love my class, or want to know if I'm teaching another class they need to take
9. Sleeping in
10. Being around other couples.  DH and I go out so rarely, it's really wonderful to have a "grown up" evening.

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?

A Blogging Break

Keyboards and chalkboards are conspiring against my fingers.  I'm having trouble doing simple things with my hands, so I need to take a blogging break in order to save their strength for writing.  I did meet my JanNo goal in time for the deadline, so I'm very proud of that.  30,000 words down, and only 70,000 to go!

Yes, And Sometimes The Worst

I took my son to the library tonight, even though he had just been to the one at school today, it's freezing cold and is threatening snow any minute.  Afterwards, as he was curled up with one of the books he brought home, I put my arms around him and said, "Am I the best mom or what?"

"Yes, and sometimes the worst," he said, turning his face to kiss me.

Wow.  I even got a kiss

"You, too," I said.  Then I corrected myself.  "No, you're never the worst."