DIARY POST 8: MY GOLDEN GIRL

Sometimes I get so consumed with bashing myself for not writing enough that I forget there are more important things happening in the world. Like my grandmother’s birthday. My grandmother turned ninety-three yesterday. She is the strongest, most giving person I have ever met. Though she had a hundred children of her own, she took care of several grand children and some bonus children, myself included.

Yesterday her daughters organized a surprise for her at TGI Friday’s. The food and company were great, but best of all, granny was beaming with joy. A random handsome young man got in on the fun when he kissed her. For the first time in my life I saw Granny blush.

Granny has always been the nucleus of her family. She has the wit and wisdom of a ‘Sophia Petrillo.’ I always admire that at ‘family’ gatherings, half the people are not relatives. She has been good to so many people, that her family has to accept that they have to share her. She lives her life as an example of what being a good person is all about. Happy Birthday granny!

Besides my grandmother’s shindig, I was terribly fatigued this week. I think I am stressing myself out about my May 31st deadline. Spin or Crossfit classes are usually the highlight of my days, but even that didn’t raise my spirits. Chocolates, cheese and soft drinks have not been a part of my diet for months. I am a stress eater, and I’ve been bonding with my estranged favorites. When they bond to my stomach and thighs I’ll have something else to stress about.

I reviewed chapters one through five AGAIN. My intention was to send five chapters to Writers Digest. After I adjusted the margins, the first three chapters were exactly fifty pages. Unfortunately, fifty pages were all I budgeted for this month. I’ll pay for line editing for the first three chapters, maybe five, and have the rest proof read. I want the first chapters to be as crisp as possible as they are what I’ll be sending with my query letters (chapter one). If they want more after that, it means they like the story. The rest will have to impress with proof reading alone.

I’ve begun to review the next five again.
Here goes …