10-20-30

Thanks to all who have stuck with me, despite my almost two week break from blogging. BTW, I was unable to participate in the Toastmasters contest (see post of 9/28), due to my assignment to night shift. There was no way I could work until 7 AM, drive the 25 miles home, sleep for a couple of hours, then drive the 50+ miles to the contest and do a presentation anyone would understand. I was disappointed, but there will be other opportunities.

Today, I am responding to Carla Stewart’s invitation (Carla’s Writing Café at www.carlastewart.blogspot.com) to join the “tag game” and answer the question of what I was doing 10-20-30 years ago. Thanks to Mary DeMuth for spreading the virus!

Ten years ago: My husband and I were parenting two teenagers, a 16 yr old daughter and a 14 yr old son. Our daughter had obtained her driver's license, and for her 16th birthday, we traded my beloved pickup that was costing way more in maintenance than it was worth, for her first car, a used Plymouth Sundance which she promptly named Ginger. (Okay, we don’ t have horses, so we name our cars). Both of the kids were on swim team, so we spent every week-end for most of that summer traveling to the swim meets in surrounding towns. We, owning an Explorer, were designated to carry the swim tent, which meant we were always the first to arrive and the last to leave.

I was working full-time as an RN at the Fort Lyon VA Medical Center, a psychiatric facility. Our census was winding down in preparation for the inevitable closing that took place in 2001. Most of our patients were older schizophrenics who had been at our facility for most of their adult lives.

Writing was a far off dream that had been put on the back burner in the whirlwind of keeping up with the activities of two teens (boy scouts, sports, helping with homework, etc, etc). However, ’97 was also the year I entered the computer age with an actual machine that had a real hard drive. Prior to that, I had stuck my thumb into the technological age with my second hand Apple 2E purchased from a friend at work.

Twenty years ago: Hubby and I were dealing with all the challenges of raising a 6 yr old girl and a 5 yr old boy. We marveled at the quickness with which they absorbed new knowledge in school, refereed their scraps, and for the most part, enjoyed being parents.

We were both working full-time for the VA, him in housekeeping services and me as a staff nurse and relief house supervisor on the evening shift. The VA was much more active at that time. We had a lot of aggressive, acting out patients and I loved my job. I especially enjoyed doing supervisor, where it was my responsibility to coordinate staff for all the units throughout the hospital and respond to the emergency situations. Hubby and I didn’t see much of each other as we worked different shifts to cut down on the amount of time the kids had to be with a baby-sitter.
I signed up for a Writer’s Digest course in ’87 and became friends with a co-worker who was taking the same course. Unfortunately, although we tried to motivate each other, neither of us ever finished the course. Still, the writing bug lay dormant in my blood, just waiting to coax me into the world of becoming a full-time writer.

Thirty years ago: I had lived in Colorado for four years and finally made the commitment to marry the man I’d been seeing on and off since a few months after moving here. We had plans to move into the mobile home I had purchased a couple of years before, but Mother Nature took care of that. A windstorm turned the trailer over on its side five months before our wedding, driving a utility pole through it and leaving it a shambles. In June, we jointly purchased a home and were married there in September. I can remember feelings of terror as we signed papers for two thousand dollars in earnest money that would be gone if we reneged on the deal. We didn’t. We’ve been living here ever since.

I was working on my first WIP then. Prior to moving here from New York in 1973, I had taken a trip on horseback in the San Juan Mountains. I started writing my first novel based on that experience on a manual typewriter. My friends at work avidly devoured every word. When I look back on it now, I shudder at what bad writing I was capable of! After much polishing, revising, and rewriting, it is still sitting on my computer as one of my hopefuls.

It’s been fun reminiscing. I hope those to whom I offer this challenge will respond and participate. They are:

Brenda Jackson (Arizona Inspiration)
Peg Phifer (Sips ‘n Cups Cafeteria)
Kassy Paris (The Writings of Kassy Paris)
Sharlene MacLaren (Writing Fiction for the Soul, Romance for the Heart)
Kim Woodhouse (God’s Love, Grace, and Forgiveness – My Journey)
Rose McCauley (Rose McCauley, Christian Author)
Patricia Carroll (Writing Life)
Pam Meyers (A Writer’s Journey)
Angie Breidenbach (God Uses Broken Vessels)

I have an exciting announcement to make. I will be interviewing soon-to-be-published author A.K. Arenz this month on my blog. Come on over and hear about this lady’s writing journey, the obstacles that have loomed n her way, and where she has found the strength to overcome them.

Thanks for reading my blog!