Share Your World – 2016 Week 52

For Cee’s Share Your World

What’s your favorite ice-cream flavor? Caramel Delight

If you were to treat yourself to the “finer things” what would you treat yourself to? I would probably travel, spend time in places like India, Ireland, Scotland, London, Paris, Rome, the Greek Isles, Moscow, Tokyo, Africa. So many places I would love to visit and could only do so if I could afford those “finer things” of life.

Have you ever been drunk? Oh gods yes. I think I spent my late teens and early 20s completely drunk. 

Complete this sentence: My favorite supposedly guilty pleasure is… watching Tom Cruise movies. He is my dirty little secret.

Optional Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week? Spending time with family over Christmas

and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? I’ve taken three days off, so I will be looking forward to doing some journal writing, working on my newest story and plotting next year’s projects.

The Sandbox Writing Challenge #9 — What would you say about yourself?

Imagine wanting to impress this woman. What would you say about yourself?

I don’t like the idea of impressing people. I know it is necessary if you are applying for a job, but I always hated that. Made me feel like such a phony. Embellish, I was always taught, but there is only so much hype you can spill about yourself before you come across as a fraud. Instead, I would usually underrate my abilities and achievements. I figured if I came across as moderately skilled and successful, it was better than mediocre, and I could always dazzle people with my skills later if hired.

This woman looks like a business woman who is sizing me up, determining if I am lying or telling her the truth. I would definitely not embellish myself around her. I would keep it simple. Yes, I know computers and some software programs. I am sufficient in Word and Excel. Yes, I’ve done tech work. Yes, I’ve worked in a call center before. I have sufficient customer service skills. Yes, I’ve done team work before. I prefer tedious jobs, so sure, I can work alone too. Hobbies? writing, art and research. No BSing this woman, just straight-forward answers.

The Daily Me (Journal) Proudest Moment – 12/27/16

Today’s prompt comes from 100 Inspirational Journal Prompts by Melissa Bolton @ The Mogul Mom

Your proudest moment.

My proudest moment was receiving the acceptance letter from Hollins College (now Hollins University) back in 1993. I’d just finished two years at a local community college for my AAS in General Studies and had been told months prior by my guidance counselor that I would never be accepted at that college. He gave me all kinds of excuses – I was too old (25), my 3.6 gpa wasn’t high enough, and I couldn’t afford it. Luckily for me, Hollins had an adult program called Horizon and I received a scholarship from that program because my gpa was high enough, especially in the courses that counted.

A little back-story. I went to this same community college when I was 18 and took Business Management classes. I hated them and I mostly made Bs. I dropped out during my third semester. I didn’t go back to college until seven years later. This time I had bigger goals. I was determined to get excellent grades and accepted into Hollins College. If my gpa had only reflected the courses I took under General Studies, I would have had a 4.0 and that is the exact thinking of the people in the Horizon program. They accepted all of my General Studies courses, but rejected 75% of my Business Management classes. This brought my gpa up to 3.8, which I maintained throughout my time at Hollins.

For those who don’t know, Hollins is a private women’s college in Roanoke Virginia. It has an excellent writing program (the MFA is co-ed) and has had some great writers graduate from there – Annie Dillard, Henry Taylor, and Natasha Trethewey, just to name a few. And the professors are great too – Richard Dillard, Eric Trethewey, and Jeanne Larsen were my favorites. Yes, Richard was once married to Annie and Natasha is Eric’s daughter. I’d read Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Jeanne Larsen’s Silk Road before I even attended Hollins and they were the driving force behind why I wanted to go there.

I am so thankful that I didn’t allow that guidance counselor to dissuade me from applying there. I took the acceptance letter to his office and laughed in his face.

My Daily Tarot – King of Wands

12/27/16 – King of Wands

You are focused, determined and driven. Something has your full attention and you are channeling all your energy and skills in that direction. You have a strong sense that you are right in all things concerning this venture. Your ambition or social needs are engaged. For now, that is all that matters.

Be aware of believing that you are right, that your way is the only way. There is a danger of becoming overly bossy or intolerant of others.

Ah Tarot, you cheeky bastard. You’ve been peeking at my secret diary. Shame on you! It’s true though. I am about to embark on a new venture that is occupying my energy and skills. It is one filled with extremes that most people would caution me about if they knew the full story, but I am not divulging details. I am definitely focused, determined and driven and yes, I feel like I am right about this. However, I do not have to worry about the overly bossy or intolerance aspect as the only person involved in this venture is me. If anything, I may become a bit difficult to live with for a couple of weeks, so I will probably be spending a lot of time alone with my secret diary and my writing.