Four People

It is Day Three of my Writers Weekend. The weather in TC has been beautiful, though the predictions were not. It's hard to be stuck inside a little room all day when there is a pool on the other side of the parking lot.

I was nervous, you know, when I got here. I did all the unpacking, sorting, settling in and finally the time came for me to create the space to write. I pulled the table into the middle of the room, set up my laptop, opened a new document, and stared at a blank white page.

Pure Fear.

I had an idea of where I would begin with my story and I hoped that maybe, perhaps, hopefully I could write 15 pages in 4 days. I wondered if I would be able to sit still for so long while concentrating. I don't like to sit down for long periods of time. I worried that I wouldn't remember what I wanted to say and I was stressed about finding my writers voice.

I wrote 8 pages that first night here in about 6 hours. I wasn't concentrating, I took too many breaks, and I let myself go outside and read a book about writing. I did well, don't get me wrong, and of course it's going to take some time to get into a groove.

Yesterday I started writing around 10:45 a.m. and I made myself stop at 9 p.m. I was going to take lunch at 2 p.m. but I was in the middle of a story and finally stopped around 3. I took a 90 minute break around dinner time and went to the mall. My concentration was improving, I took fewer breaks and I noted that even when I was on a break, my mind was still thinking about the next thing to write. I wrote 23 pages yesterday. Twenty-three.

I'm having a riot, just so you know.

Yesterday I spoke aloud to four people and each conversation was one of courtesy.

Person One:
I was blow drying my hair when I heard housekeeping knock on the door.
HK: Hey, Good Morning, Do you need anything? New towels?
Me: Um, no, I have 3 towels here, but do you have a dish cloth?
HK: No, just that scrubby thing.
Me: Ah, okay, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Thank you!
HK: Thank you, have a good day.

Person Two:
There is a Dunkin Donuts about a mile from here and I made a coffee run around noon.
DD: Hi, May I help you?
Me: Yes, may I please have a medium coffee and do you have french vanilla creamer?
DD: Yep.
(makes coffee)
DD: Here ya go and that'll be $1.60
Me: Thanks!

Person Three:
I forgot to pack black dress shoes for my dress clothes for the conference I am attending later this week in TC. Also, I didn't pack any shorts and truthfully, I've not purchased a new pair of shorts in 7 years. I thought it was time. I took a 90 minute break and went to the outlet mall in TC. First, to Old Navy:
ON: Good afternoon! Let us know if you need anything.
Me: (smiles)
tralalala, I walk around and touch all the fabric.
Me: (in the dressing room): I have four items
ON: let me know if you need anything.
now I am about to check out
ON: Did you find everything you need?
Me: Yes, I did. And thank you for not asking me if I wanted an Old Navy Credit Card (I overheard all the other offers to other customers and was dreading it).
ON: Well, I saw you already had your card out.

Person Four:
I walked over to the shoe store.
SS: Good Afternoon!
Me: (Smiles)
I am disappointed in the prices, but OH! I found a great pair in my price range! And I'm going to toss 2 pairs of shoes when I get home! I go to check out.
SS: Did you find everything okay?
Me: Yes, and oh, I brought my own bag.
SS: Thanks, have a good day!
Me: You too.

They say the average woman speaks more than 20,000 words a day.
I like to break the mold.

Writers Weekend

My goal for 2008 was to write a book. And even though I never sat down to actually Write any words, the process certainly began in April, 2008. I went to the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College with my dear friend Holly. We listened to speakers, editors, authors, publishers. We were blown away. We sat on the Common Lawn and stared into the bright blue sky. We were dreamy. It was during this weekend that I fully realized just what type of book I wanted to write. I mean, Needed to write. The wheels really starting turning then.

A few months later I got an email from an online magazine that I submit articles to: Burnside Writers Collective. They invited me to come to the table, to join their team, to write. This was a huge validation for me. I was learning to say, "I am a writer" instead of "I like to write" and those were baby steps indeed.

Joining the BWC Team changed the last several months of my life. I met more authors who were out there, doing it. They were getting books published, encouraging each other, helping one another and I got to be a part of it. Then I went to Portland for Spring Break and that trip Really flipped me over. I finally met, in person, Susan, Penny, Don, a book agent and I sucked in a bit of their air space. It was good. It was motivating.

A week after my return from Portland I thought I was finally ready to take the plunge and start actually putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, as it were). I booked myself a 3 night stay at a hotel in Traverse City. I started to read Anne Lamott. Anne helped me dig up old, old stories. I was ready to start writing My story then and there, but I had a Real job to do and I put all those thoughts on the back burner.

I am here now, in Traverse City. I arrived about an hour ago. I picked up some food at the local market, checked in an hour early, unpacked my bags and now is the time to start.

I'm nervous. Scared. Overwhelmed. And smiling from the Joy of this great ride.

I have a good life. I hope you'll get to read about it in my book.

The Garden has been Planted

I woke up bright and early Saturday morning. I flung off the covers in excitement for the day. Okay, I do that every morning because I can't wait to eat breakfast. But this day I was ready for breakfast AND dirt. I was going to plant my first real garden. I got to Mom's house around 9:45 (for although I was up early, I dinked around at home. Dinking around is my favorite past-time) and we went to the seed store in Zeeland.



We prepped the garden with Organic Weed Killer and Organic Fertilizer. I know it takes 3 years for a garden to officially be Organic, but that means I have to start now. I made a map of where I wanted all the veggies to grow, how far apart they should all be and even thought of Veggie Markers.

I alternated between picking up and tossing the sun-dried sod and planted rows of yummies. But let's stick to the Garden. As I mentioned before, the Garden is 9x24 feet. The majority of the garden is 9x20 feet and at the Eastern end is a little triangle of sorts.


The first real row is carrots. We planted one packet so far and in two weeks we will plant another packet. Mom says that staggering the planting dates means we get a later harvest in the fall. I can already taste the fresh Carrot Cake, or cooked carrots, or fresh carrot shavings in my salad. Oh my word. I have to wait for all this good to Grow! The 2nd row is white onions. However, I am nervous about these. After the first watering, I saw 3 of 'em floating around. Not a good sign.


The Garden sits in my parents backyard, behind their little shop. At the Northern end of the Garden we moved an old wagon wheel (I think it's from my Grandpa VerBeek). There we planted 4 mounds of cucumbers. The vines will be trained to grow up the spokes which apparently makes for healthier, larger, and cleaner cukes. Perfect for my summer salad obsession.
The middle row is eggplant, red peppers and green peppers. The last 2 rows are a staggering of yellow beans. We really love yellow beans. I mean it. We love 'em. The little triangle at the Eastern end now holds my Summer Squash and Zucchini which I started from seed. Last year I learned the fine art of grilling and roasting veggies. I can't wait to snack on them!




I was going to use wooden rulers to mark the rows (until the veggies come up and we can remember. You know about my memory problems, right?), but Mom found these round wooden sticks. They came in handy twice. Once we used them to measure the distance between rows (forget about marking straight lines) and then again we marked them with what will eventually grow.





And this is my little 4x6 foot Condo Garden Box. About a month ago I planted Salad Bowl Lettuce, Endive, and Spinach. Look how pretty it is! And in the pots I am growing basil (sweet basil!), oregano, parsley, and rosemary.

When are you coming over for dinner?