Writer's Workshop Thursday

It has been a long while since I last participated in Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop. I am going to try to be more faithful about doing just that. 

Here is one of this week's questions:

5.) A quote you saw on Pinterest that inspired you.

"I'm not beautiful like you. I'm beautiful like me."

I think that if we could all keep this in mind it would help to curb the comparisons that threaten to drive some of us mad and wreck the relationships that we hold most dear.

I don't have to be a size zero, or twenty-two years old, or have a plastic surgeon's number on speed-dial on my phone to be beautiful. I am me: sized larger than I would like, almost forty-eight years old, and want nothing to do with being re-shaped by silicone "enhancements".

Eventually, all of that pretty wrapping gets old, faded, and wrinkled, and all that is left is what is inside the package. That is where true beauty lies, inside that ever-changing, aging package.

I am the most beautiful me that there is. So are you. No one else can compare.

Another thought to take to heart: He made us in His image, and if we are enough for Him, then we are enough. Period.

Genesis 1: 27  "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

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Mama Kat's Writing Prompts: My Third Grade Teacher

This writing prompt comes from Mama Kat's Writing Prompts. Click the button below to check out many more great topics!


                                              Write a post about your third grade teacher.
 
My third grade teacher was Miss Beam. She was generally a sweet lady and wasn't a hundred years old like some of the other teachers. She had pouffy hair, about shoulder length and it was not-quite-blond. I think it is what they used to call "frosted". It seems that she always wore dresses, but maybe this was before female teachers were allowed to wear pants. It was the 1973-1974 school year in Anderson, South Carolina. I don't remember very much about her other than that we had "contracts" in her classroom. Basically, it was a bunch of worksheets stapled together that we had to complete. We would line up at her desk to turn these in to her, waiting at her side while she looked them over.

One day, we were lined up to turn in our contracts and I had to go to the bathroom something fierce. I have had bladder problems my entire life. I went to the front of the line and asked if I could go to the bathroom. The answer was that I had to go back into the line and wait my turn. I went to the back of the line and I was dancing around big-time. I really, really had to go. The other kids were laughing at me and when it was my turn, I shot out of the classroom like nobody's business. I'm surprised that I made it to the bathroom at all without unleashing a flood in the hallway. This led to a very embarrassing episode one day in the lunchroom. It was my job to go around and pick up the used milk cartons from my classmates and get them to the trash. Again, I had to go to the bathroom. I knew at this point that there was no point in asking if I could go; the answer was going to be no anyway. So, I didn't ask. I went about collecting the milk cartons and couldn't hold it in anymore. Mother Nature let go right there beside the lunch table, with the other kids laughing and the teacher asking me why I didn't ask to go to the bathroom.

Good grief!

My mama's response to this was that the next time a teacher told me no about going to the bathroom, I should ask to sit on their lap and just let nature take its course there. Then, they'd get the message!

She also told me not to take no for an answer, to go anyway. It was cruel of them not to let me go, especially after they were informed of my health issues. Although it was a battle that I constantly fought even as high up as high school, thankfully, I never wet myself in front of the classroom again.

OK, this post was supposed to be about Miss Beam, not my bladder, but there you have it!

Writer's Workshop

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The prompt that I chose this week is:

Describe an outfit you LOVED wearing.

Back in the late 1980s, I had a blue chambray skirt and top. The skirt was supposed to be about mid-calf length, but on me, it came to my ankles. I like skirts on the long side, so that was OK with me. There was a ruffle at the bottom of the skirt. The shirt had pearl-like buttons. I wore it out instead of tucked in.

I also wore a metal belt that had circle links and ovals with some sort of design that I can't remember at the moment. This belt is about as close as I've been able to find in a web search. While the links on mine were round, the closed metal pieces were ovals.

I had white boots with little pointed heels similar to these Victorian boots. The boots were just above ankle high and had pointy toes. I loved those boots, although they were exactly the best choice for climbing on Stone Mountain. I wrecked them there.

I don't think that I have any pictures of myself in this outfit. It was one of my late father-in-law's favorites to see me in. Because he really liked it, this is the outfit that I wore to his funeral. My husband really liked it, too. I don't know whatever happened to it, but I would love to have an outfit like that again.

Writer's Workshop: Don't Want To!

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3.) Create a reverse bucket list that names the top ten things you never want to do.
(Inspired by The Hairpin)

I never want to...

...OK, I had my list of ten "don't want tos" and then my husband pointed out that writing those down was one sure way to cause them to happen. So, I deleted that list and here is a sarcastic version. :)

I never want to...

  1. ...eat cotton candy.
  2. ...ride a roller coaster.
  3. ...see Monticello.
  4. ...live in the Biltmore House.
  5. ...win the Powerball lottery.
  6. ...play ping-pong 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
  7. ...have the most productive blog on the Internet.
  8. ...have a totally toned body.
  9. ...publish a #1 best-selling serial killer novel.
10. ...have "Shattered" hanging in the Louvre.