Job

letting today be the start of something new

“Beginnings are always messy.”
– John Galsworthy

To quote a line from Craig Ferguson, “It’s a great day for America,” Precious Readers!

cant keep calm

After months (almost a full year) of searching, interviewing, and mini panic attacks, last week I was offered a full-time job! I’ve accepted this position and begin soon. I’m 49% anxious and 51% excited.

The point: excitement has won.

excited-face

This position allows me the perks of a teacher’s schedule, without having to teach! What does this mean? This means, my day ends at 3 pm and I qualify for winter, spring, and summer breaks off. PAID. (Jealous, much?)

“But what about the commute?” you might ask. Commuting is the bane of my existence. I-5 is a nightmare, no matter where you’re commuting to. I-405 is worse now. For those who do not live in the western Washington area, you should be advised that I-405 has been under construction for… well, quite some time. They opened the HOV lane… with a toll attached for passage to use it. This basically reduced a three-/four-lane freeway down to TWO lanes, with the HOV barely being used.

For those on the East Coast, be advised that we West Coast-ers are newbies to this concept and are feeling the burn. Seattle traffic is notorious among locals and those who have visited our vast state. It’s not unusual to plan (at minimum) an hour to your commute into the city, or longer due to accidents, inclement weather, or a major event occurring in the area.

My new commute for this shiny, new job? Less than 5 miles from my home. I couldn’t think of a better schedule for a writer who still requires a full-time job.

Since I’m not published, I don’t have the ability to rely on any type of income from my writing. But I’m OK with that. I don’t write for the money. I write because I have characters in my head who scream to get out. I just happen to be told I should share my stories with the world. And, I’m working on that.

So, I’m grateful, Precious Readers. Grateful for this past year to work on my first writing piece that might be acceptable for public eyes, grateful for a supportive hubby in Pilot who encouraged my pursuits, grateful to this new job opportunity, and grateful for being able to finally blend my Real Life with my Daily Life. As of this month in 2015, I truly believe the two concepts have become one.

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(Hopefully, I didn’t just massively jinx myself.)

How about you?

What are your favorite perks for your job?

If you were forced to have a job differing from your dream job, what would you do?

What would you change about your job?

What would be your ideal job? How can you make it a reality?

gotta fill up those blanks!

Not much to post. I’m working on my outlines for my two-part series. Because trying to balance my need to write with a full time job definitely takes up most of the evenings! So here’s my DWC! (AKA, the prologue to Book 1!)

Daily Writing Challenge

Day 6: How was your characters childhood? Write a scene about them as a child. How was their home life? Their family? Their upbringing? Where did they grow up? What friends did they have? 

May 12th, 1996

Ahh, sweet bliss.  Liesle settled into her overstuffed chair pulling a book Abbreviated Potions: Shortened Spells for the Witch on the Go! up to her nose.  It was her scheduled day off from her shop The Bubbling Cauldron, and she welcomed the break.  The girls were helping Mrs. Stevens clean out her garage today.  Yes, a quiet morning to catch up on modernized spells.

Whirr! The sound of a blender pierced through the manor, shattering any temporary moment of peace, followed by the sound of giggles. 

“What are you two little imps up to? I thought you were at Mrs. Stevens’ house,” Aunt Liesle asked, crossing her arms across her chest and raising her infamous ‘don’t mess with me’ eyebrow.

A spatula that seemed to be swirling a mixture of gooey chocolate icing on its own fell back into the bowl with an anticlimactic splat. Eyes looking up and widening slightly, Margaret who stood behind the bowl, stopped twirling her finger, leaving it stuck in midair as if she was interrupting someone to make a statement.  Lorelei gasped, turning around to look at Liesle, losing concentration on the blender she had been staring at. The blender had a surge of energy before stopping altogether, its lid flying off causing the contents to shower the three of them.

“Of all the boiled rats!” exclaimed Lorelei, as she wiped the strawberry milkshake from her eyes.

“Language, Lorelei,” said Liesle as she looked down to examine the pink globs that now stained her sweater.  Rolling her eyes as if to gain power from an unknown source, she sighed and looked back down at the girls.  “Now what is so important you had to turn my kitchen into a bomb testing site for?”

Margaret glanced at her sister. Lorelei just shrugged, and Margaret made a face at her.  Then, turning back to Liesle, squaring her shoulders, she replied matter of factly, “We thought you’d gone to the store to do inventory today.”

“Claudia is doing the inventory, and that is not an answer.”

Lorelei glanced at Margaret again and whispered not very successfully, “Come on, tell her. Our cover’s blown anyway.”

Margaret’s shoulders sagged as she sighed in only that way a twelve year old could. Looking back and forth across the now ruined kitchen, she spread her arms wide, palms up and said flatly, “Happy Mother’s Day.”

Liesle blinked at them for a moment. All tension melted away and she felt the prickling of tears at the back of her eyes.

“Oh, come here you silly ninnies,” she leaned down and opened her arms.  Margaret let a small grin show and ran over to the welcomed hug. 

“Well that was close.”  Lorelei blew out a breath she’d been holding, wiped more strawberry milkshake from her forehead, and ran over too.

“But your kitchen…” Margaret’s lower lip started to quiver.

Liesle smiled warmly at her niece.  “Nothing we can’t fix. Or haven’t you noticed, it’s already clean?” Liesle nodded pointedly behind them.  Margaret turned to look at the kitchen, whose cleaning sponges lapped at the walls, and the mop started swirling soapy suds across the floor.

Lorelei put her hands on her hips. “Hey, no fair! How’d you do that?” An indignant look of frustration crossed her face.

“I’ll teach you that one when you’re a little older and your powers are stronger.  You girls still need to do your chores.”

“Hmph.” Lorelei now crossed her arms across her chest.  She mumbled, “I still don’t see why I have to wash the dishes by hand when we have magic.”

“Darlings, you know what I always say…”

Lorelei dropped her arms as she and Margaret both answered in bored, singsong voices, “Magic is a gift and must not be abused.”

“Right. You need to understand that we’re lucky to have magic, and you must always appreciate it.”

Margaret’s grin spread a little wider.  “Well, we appreciate you, so that’s why we wanted to surprise you with your favorite chocolate chip brownies and strawberry milkshake for Mother’s Day!”

“Thank you girls,” Liesle laughed. “You’ve certainly made it a memorable one!”