Holy Bazoley! WOO HOO!

A few weeks ago I started looking for part time work just to be sure I had something "stable" to count on while I'm growing my Elance business. So on Monday Clover Park Technical College called to see if I was still interested in working as a note taker for a student with a disability five days a week for an hour a day, plus 90 minutes twice a week between 10:30 and noon. I said sure, even though I was hoping for more hours than that. (But it's probably a God thing that this is all I got, as the Elance business is growing like Topsy.)

The five day a week class (Medical Terminology) is in the middle of the day (from 1-2), so it's a nice time to get away from my desk for an hour and do something else to allow my creative batteries time to recharge. And it's blessing someone, a kind of ministry. As Writer's Edge is, every three weeks. As Habitat for Humanity sometimes is. So it feels good.

Today I went for the first two sessions (a.m. and p.m) but the student didn't show up either time. My instructions are not to take notes unless the student is in class (because they wouldn't be taking notes for themselves when absent, if they were capable of taking notes) and to leave after 30 minutes if the student doesn't show up.

So I did that... twice... over a four hour period... Came home in between and made some more $$$ via Elance.

The Medical Terminology class is intense. I have never been in a class like that before and don't have the course book, so medical terms were zinging by me like arrows. After the live review, the class was shown a video about what happens in a person's body when he has a heart attack caused by the rupture of a cholesterol plaque. Oh joy. Before March comes around I'll probably be a freakin' hypochondriac! (I have low blood pressure and low cholesterol and walk two miles almost daily and so am probably not a candidate or a heart attack or stroke, but still... seeing all the stuff that can go wrong in peoples' innards is... disconcerting, to say the least!)

Today I received word that the four blogs I wrote (as a test) for a website have been accepted, which means I probably have that gig for 4-6 months twice a week. I was asked if they could give me a byline. I said, "Sure! In fact, if you want, hyperlink my name to my Elance profile!" The more often my name gets out there in cyberspace, the better my chances of filling out my "dance card" as a service provider at Elance. Don't be shy! Make It So!

Tonight Jackie and I drive about a quarter mile to a school to watch Casey play basketball for 45 minutes. We go twice a week.

Casey is the tallest kid on the court by quite a lot (and it's a co-ed kid court). I think she's self-conscious about it. She's going to be Michelle Obama tall, if not taller. We tell her to be proud of her height. But it's hard on her to be so "out there,"I think.

She's at a gawky stage -- hasn't quite coordinated her moves to her new height yet. But she's gung ho whenever she's out there, running back and forth, making baskets, blocking throws... getting the job done she's supposed to be doing.

I remember her dad Phil going through the same thing at about the same age. He'd climb into Grandma Dorothea's camper and hit the top of his head against the top of the door, or smack his elbow against the side, and look so surprised! It took him quite a few times during the summer of his growth spurt to remember to allow room for his larger frame.

Casey's at that stage now; just turned eight. She's within a smidgen of five feet tall, and still shooting up like a weed. She's delightful. We just need to find a really big brick to put on her head so she stays shorter than we are for at least a little longer! (Jackie and I are 5'7; Wendy is 5'8". Phil is 6'2, I think...)

I got some extra work from a regular client in the form of a press release today, so that was another $75 I wasn't expecting. And this weekend I did something extra for another client and appended it to our agreement, so that brought in $30 more than I expected. Little by little, it's happening. Thank You, Jesus!

It's so great to be able to make a living as a writer. By summertime, God willing, I think I'll have enough "regulars" to put me in the black monthly and enough time left over in the day to take on some quick turnaround projects.

I never expected this to happen as fast as it has. It's fabulous!