All posts by rebekahjmarshall

Health, Writing

Win Some, Lose Some – (Day 8)

Leave a comment

Today’s exercise is to list some recent victories and some recent losses.

Victories:  Signed up for James Patterson’s Master Class that teaches writing; made my second to last payment on my college school loan – I graduated 20 years ago; found a fabulous candle that I love the smell of – Febreeze willow blossom; have lost 7 pounds on Weight Watchers so far; snagged a hottie husband four months ago; got my grades turned in on time (I’m a high school teacher); found an awesome favorite pen (thanks to my husband buying one for me); shared modern-day heroes for Black History Month with my high school students

Losses:  lost partial control of my high school girls’ neurologically impaired class…while being observed by my principal…kids suck sometimes…; let my ex-husband get my goat from afar; ate food just because I was craving it this week instead of making better choices; got a ticket for not stopping correctly at a stop sign

I think the Victories outweigh the Losses.

 

Health, Writing

Map My Week – (Day 7)

2 Comments

For today’s assignment, I’m supposed to map out my week to see where most of my time is spent.  Um…I think I already know that my time goes to work and sleep for the most part…not very exciting.

Monday – 9 hours work, 9 hours sleep, 1 hour hygiene, 1 hour food prep, 3.5 hours David time (husband), .5 cleaning

Tuesday – 9 hours work, 9 hours sleep, 1 hour hygiene, 1 hour food prep, 4 hours Charlotte time (granddaughter)

Wednesday – 9 hours work, 9 hours sleep, 1 hour hygiene, 1 hour food prep, 3.5 hours David time (husband)/ writing some, .5 cleaning

Thursday – 9 hours work, 9 hours sleep, 1 hour hygiene, 1 hour food prep, 1 hour driving, 1 hour Weight Watchers, 2 hours WriteHers’ Group

Friday – 9 hours work, 9 hours sleep, 1 hour hygiene, 1 hour food prep, 3.5 hours David time (husband), .5 cleaning

Saturday – 8.5 hours work, 9 hours sleep, 1 hour hygiene, 1 hour food prep, 4 hours friends and family time, .5 cleaning

Sunday – 8.5 hours work, 9 hours sleep, 1 hour hygiene, 1 hour food prep, 4 hours David time (husband)/ writing some, .5 cleaning

Totals – 62 hours work, 63 hours sleep, 7 hours hygiene, 7 hours food prep, 2.5 hours cleaning, 18.5 hours David time/writing some, 2 hours WriteHers’ Group, 4 hours friend and family time, 1 hour Weight Watchers, 1 hour driving

Yep…just as I thought.  I work too much and have no alone time.

 

Fiction, Writing

Random Googling – (Day 6)

Leave a comment

I am thinking about doing a mystery/thriller course with James Patterson even though I’ve never written anything mysterious or thrilling in my life.  My next assignment is to randomly search stuff in Google and write down the auto suggestions.  I thought it might be interesting to see what happens if I search some of my ideas or terms related to this topic.

Mysterious:  skin, universe, serum, stranger, challenger

Thrilling:  adventure, intent

Missing:  you, plane, money, at 17

Fearful:  symmetry, avoidant attachment

Confusion:  hill, matrix, poem

Mystery:  room, men, movie, science theater 3000

Thriller:  lyrics, Netflix, Michael Jackson

Shadow:  doubt, Colossus, hunter, dancer, run

Dark:  side, horse, place, moom

the:  usual suspects, wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Health, Writing

Receipt Memories – (Day 5)

Leave a comment

IMG_2040

For today’s assignment, I was supposed to find a receipt and say what I can remember about the day I made the purchase.

My husband and I got in around 1 in the morning after driving home from his martial arts class 3 /12 hours away in Houston.  We were exhausted and probably fell asleep by 1:30 or 2:00am.  Suddenly, I was awakened by David fiddling with my phone around 3:45am.  Because my ringer was silenced, I didn’t know my daughter had been calling and texting for 30 minutes straight.  David woke up somehow and alerted me.

She was at the emergency room with heart palpitations brought on by unknown causes.  A friend of hers got her to the hospital and my grandmother kept the baby.  I sat in the room with her and her friend for a few hours talking, reassuring, and asking the doctors questions they couldn’t answer.

When it became apparent that it was going to be a few more hours before she would be released, the doctors were declaring all the major systems working fine, and her friend was planning to stay with her, I headed home to sleep some more.  I was exhausted and running on fumes.

My alarm was set for 9:30am because I had a 10:00am appointment to get my Depo shot.  From there I headed to my grandmother’s to check on my daughter and granddaughter.  On the way, my Mema asked if I could stop by Walgreens and pick up Lydia’s prescription for an anxiety med.  The doctors ruled her episode a panic attack brought on by anxiety.  Who knows if that is the real diagnosis.  My grandbaby Charlotte was in a great mood, running all over and entertaining everyone.   My sister and brother-in-law were there, too.  It was good fun.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing with my husband watching episodes of Community and Friends.  We made salmon for dinner and enjoyed a day off on a weekday.  It was President’s Day and my school was closed.  David’s company was shut down, too.  We had a lovely relaxing evening.  He painted.  I wrote.  Life was good.  It started scary and rough, but ended well.

I think one of my favorite moments was at 3 something am when my sweet husband offered to accompany me to the hospital.  He was even more tired than me after hours of martial arts, but offered to come with me.  I am a lucky, lucky woman.

 

 

Essays, Writing

Mix Tape – Day 4

Leave a comment

mix tape

Today’s assignment is to create a mix tape for someone who doesn’t know me.

Side A – Honesty (Billy Joel), West End Girls (The Petshop Boys), Hungry Eyes (Eric Carmen), Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Michael Jackson), Footloose (Kenny Loggins), Sussudio (Phil Collins), Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears), Little Red Corvette (Prince)

Side B – Book of Love (Book of Love), Vogue (Madonna), Bitter Sweet Symphony (The Verve), Stand By Me (Prince Royce), Nature Boy (Nat King Cole), Fortress Around Your Heart (Sting), Save the Last Dance for me (Michael Buble), All You Need is Love (Beatles)

Poetry, Writing

Book Spine Poetry (Day 3)

Leave a comment

Today’s assignment is to stack books, then make a poem out of the spine.  I just randomly chose 9 books lying around.

IMG_2035

Etiquette, the Fast Diet, The Traveller’s Daybook -A Tour of the World in 366 Quotations, Medical Medium, The Dark Tide, Patient Heal Thyself, Pocket Cash, Jubilee, Don Quixote

Don Quixote 

could have saved himself some trouble with

The Traveller’s Daybook – A Tour of the World in 366 Quotations.

Yet, I still envy

something about the idea

of the adventure,

the Etiquette of climbing on a horse,

grabbing some Pocket Cash,

and heading off to The Dark Tide.

This is the year of Jubilee,

yet all I can think of is the Fast Diet

and how many calories are in corn chips.

Finding a Medical Medium

for spiritual bravery

is harder than it sounds.

Patient Heal Thyself

and sally forth.

Health, Writing

Thanks to… (Day 2)

Leave a comment

Today’s assignment is to appreciate things people have taught me in life.

Thanks to Charlotte who taught me what it feels like to be a grandmother.

Thanks to Boaz who taught me how to let go.

Thanks to Lydia who taught me to love unconditionally.

Thanks to Tony who taught me to endure difficulty and remain compassionate.

Thanks to David who taught me how to relax and love again.

 

Health, Writing

30-Day Challenge: Day 1 – Write a Fan Letter

Leave a comment

Today’s assignment is to commit to 30 days of doing something without breaking the chain.  After 30 days I get a prize of my choosing.  I am going to commit to actually doing these exercises and blogging them daily for 30 days.  As for my prize…I’ll have to think about that.  I can pick anything!!!

Today’s assignment is to Write a Fan Letter.

Dear Dr. Martha Beck,

Thank you for all the help and guidance you have given to me in my life.  I have read every one of your books and every article written in O the Oprah magazine.  At night before I go to sleep, I read a few pages of Finding Your Way in a Wild New World.  I call you my guru when quoting you to others.

Part of my connection to your writing is the religious element.  I read your book Leaving The Saints about your strict religious background that you broke away from to create the life you have now.  Only someone who has survived such an experience can understand.  Knowing you have come from that place makes me trust your advice all the more and makes it more relevant to my own experience.

I have become more open to the spiritual element in my life thanks to meditation exercises, written exercises, and insightful quotes that you have shared in your books.  I’ve begun writing as a future career path thanks to reading Finding Your Own North Star.  And the monthly articles in O give great, useful, life advice that I have shared with many a friend in crisis.  I hope someday I can afford to hire you as a Life Coach or attend a retreat, but in the meantime I’ll garner all the wisdom I can from your writing.

The fact that you love and quote Mary Oliver is the icing on the cake.  You spur me to heroic adventures that “break my heart, by which I mean only that it break open and never close again to the rest of the world.”

Thank you for your loving help through your heartfelt writing,

Rebekah Marshall

 

  

 

 

Fiction, Writing

Nineteen Eighty-Four

2 Comments

Today’s assignment was to “steal a title from a book you’ve never read and invent your own story.”

Nineteen Eighty-Four

I was eleven, smart rather than fun – so smart that I was a year ahead in school.  My long black hair stayed perpetually in a braid because I couldn’t figure out what else to do with it.  My parents wouldn’t let me cut it short and get a perm like the rest of the cool girls in school.  Every day I watched them strut through the hallways bouncing their hair side to side, those curls tossing perfectly as they laughed and called each other names in that mean girl joking sort of way.  I pretended not to care, but I wanted more than anything to be pretty and funny and popular like them.

It probably didn’t help things any that I had the highest GPA.  The natural correlation to that ranking was naturally the lowest social status in school.  Every teacher knew me by name and liked me name – also a bad sign in pre-teen land.  My only real friend was a fellow loser named Grace whose super religious parents made her wear long skirts every day of her life.

“Angela,” a voice called from behind me.  I turned, shocked to hear my name, wondering if someone said it by accident.

Running to catch up was one of the bouncy-haired girls wearing hot pink lipstick and a fluorescent green shirt that hurt my eyes to look at directly.  I stood frozen, unsure what to do in this unusual circumstance.  She had a half-sheet of paper that she was waving in my general direction in her one gloved hand (a la Michael Jackson.)  The entire moment was unsettling, due to the being addressed by a cool girl part, being expected to respond to something other than a math equation or history fact, and the unknown cause of the incident.

“Hey,” she said breathlessly when she reached me planted in front of the boys’ bathroom.  She stuck the paper in my face.  “I’m having a birthday party this Saturday and was hoping you could come.”

I was dumbfounded and just stood there staring at her like a dumb-ass.  It was like my brain short-circuited and I had no response available for retrieval.  She stared at me for a few seconds, then smiled and tilted her head like a cute puppy.

“You have really pretty hair,” she said, then stuffed the paper into my hand and headed on down the hall to chase someone else with another flier.

I stared at the crumpled paper, then smoothed it as best I could.  Not only was this the best day of my life to date, but I had an even better day to look forward to on Saturday.  One of the cool girls wanted me at her party.  Things were looking up.