Guest Blog Entry #13
Sunny writes:
My husband and I are getting ready to go to Minnesota, to the small town where he grew up. My mother-in-law, a awesome lady, is 87, and she’s in failing health. This may be the last time we see her…I’m getting the “just hanging on until all the kids come home” vibe from her. The family reunion is August first.
My mother-in-law (who I call Ma) is a class act. She got married early, and had sixteen kids with Pa, who worships her. She has worked hard on a farm all her life and it really sucks that now she’s got all these physical problems. Ma doesn’t have a mean bone in her body, and she is a saint. I’ve had a bitch mother in law before, but Ma is like my own mother. Her son, my old man, treats me like the princess I am, and I wish I could fix things so Ma wouldn’t be sick, and that she could enjoy her life instead of being ill. The old man is hurting, and it pisses me off that sometimes, no matter how good we are, we end up getting dealt the bad hand. If anyone’s around Alexandria, MN in August, send good vibes Ma’s way. She needs them.
Nosy Personal Question #14
Claudia A.B. writes:
Not really a nosy personal question is the true nosy sense. But, as a writer with a 2 1/2 year old and a full-time job, I’m finding it difficult to find time to write. Sometimes I take a borrowed laptop computer to work and at lunch I go to the library (I work at a university) and try to work on my novel but sometimes it takes the whole lunch hour to gear up to writing. You know? You have to get your brain cleared and the time is spent thinking rather than producing, which, I know is good in itself but not as satisfying as having more pages written. Any advice?
Um… Have you tried waking up thirty minutes earlier each day and scribbling whatever comes to mind? Other than that, all I have are evil suggestions, such as “Stay up til 2 AM writing and keep telling yourself ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead.'” Or “Write at work. Pretend you’re working, though.” Or how about, “Write when inspiration hits. Leave food in arm’s reach of your toddler so she won’t bug you too much.” Or “Lose your job. Spend each morning looking for a new job, and each afternoon writing.” Oh, but that one won’t work because your kid isn’t in school yet.
Here’s one more good one, magazine-style, for you: “Get a babysitter and set a writing date with yourself each week.”
