AMERICAN HISTORICAL NOVELS discussion
Top 3 (plus 7 more) Little-Known Facts About Me!
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Working in a psych ward would be rather scary to me, lol In my senior year I also baled hay, I was in good shape than, those bales were heavy lol And wish i could make pie crust, mine do not look good, but taste good of course. Michelle you really got around. good for you
Love this list. I grew up baling hay, too, and would love to ride the tailgate of my dad's old red Ford truck just so I could dangle my legs over the side. Hot, sweaty, back-breaking work, but it does help you grow hair on your chest ;-)
WOW...quite the varied and exciting life. Yes, you must include these in books. It was fun and interesting to read these and suspect there is more that we'd love to hear about. My life has been pretty bland and I'm OK with that.
I’ve survived several tornadoes! Very scary.
Betty wrote: "Working in a psych ward would be rather scary to me, lol In my senior year I also baled hay, I was in good shape than, those bales were heavy lol And wish i could make pie crust, mine do not look g..."Yes, it was scary to ME, too! I was only 16. It was the psych unit of the nursing home for nuns - a lot of crazy stuff went on on that floor! And how neat that you also baled hay!!! Yes - they WERE heavy! Can't believe I did that as a kid. And pie crust never has to look good!
Tessa wrote: "Love this list. I grew up baling hay, too, and would love to ride the tailgate of my dad's old red Ford truck just so I could dangle my legs over the side. Hot, sweaty, back-breaking work, but it d..."Ha! Didn't know this about you, Tessa! See, even more in common!
Donna wrote: "WOW...quite the varied and exciting life. Yes, you must include these in books. It was fun and interesting to read these and suspect there is more that we'd love to hear about. My life has been pre..."Ha! Thanks for reading it all, Donna! Yes, there's a lot more I could have said...but I thought I'd better save some for another time. Also, I guess I should have SOME secrets! And I bet your life isn't as bland as you might first think . . . !
Clenna wrote: "I’ve survived several tornadoes! Very scary."Wow! Glad you're okay, Clenna!! What state were you in?
I also worked in a psych ward in my teens, but in the children's ward. Every so often I'd be called to the main hospital to cover a shift--scared me to death. Then after I did a psych rotation in medical school and pretty much got over the fear.
I picked cotton in West Texas for an uncle. Hot sticky work, but lunch and dinner ended with eating homemade tortillas slathered with butter and honey. Still an all-time favorite food that I've even managed to spread to friends in Italy (but I had to make the tortillas myself).
Michelle, These facts are hysterical. Thanks for sharing.
I dressed as a nun once but only for a Sing Along Sound of Music at an old theater. I wore a black long dress and a white tee-shirt draped over my head. When I was growing up every time I watched "The Sound of Music" I was certain I'd grow up to be a nun or marry a handsome captain with seven children.
I baled hay as a kid also, and have seen a few tornados too- living in Wisconsin. They are scary! I worked at a prison for those who could not be incarcerated in a normal prison. This housed individuals who had mental health issues such as schizophrenia or bi-polar. I worked there for a little over a year, and I always was terrified when I was scheduled to work the women’s side. You just never know what they are doing to do or are up to, so those nights I had to be on guard every single millisecond!
Suanne wrote: "I also worked in a psych ward in my teens, but in the children's ward. Every so often I'd be called to the main hospital to cover a shift--scared me to death. Then after I did a psych rotation in m..."Wow! Children's pysch would be scary, too! Didn't know you were a doctor, Suanne!
Suanne wrote: "I picked cotton in West Texas for an uncle. Hot sticky work, but lunch and dinner ended with eating homemade tortillas slathered with butter and honey. Still an all-time favorite food that I've eve..."Wow! Small world, isn't it?! I must admit, I would never have thought to put butter and honey on tortillas, but why not?!
Jill wrote: "Michelle, These facts are hysterical. Thanks for sharing.
I dressed as a nun once but only for a Sing Along Sound of Music at an old theater. I wore a black long dress and a white tee-shirt drap..."
Ha! Thanks, Jill! Love your story about dressing up and dreaming of a Sound of Music kind of life! But, I admit, I had a crush on the captain, too.
Chelsie wrote: "I baled hay as a kid also, and have seen a few tornados too- living in Wisconsin. They are scary! I worked at a prison for those who could not be incarcerated in a normal prison. This housed indivi..."Wow, Chelsie! This is fascinating stuff! (Love that you're a fellow hay-baler, btw!). And, yes - you never know what's going to happen on a scary psych unit. All sorts of bizarre things. But what I'm amazed by is that they let a 16-year old (me) alone on duty! My 16-yr old son has to supervised making coffee drinks at Dunkin Donuts! Different world!
When I was four and my brother was just two years old, a tornado ripped through the NW corner of Illinois where we lived in a small trailer parked on my great grandparents’ farm. The story goes that as the rain pounded down and the wind began to dangerously pick up (my mom later described it as the sound of a train roaring through, followed by an eerie silence), my mom left us in the kitchen with her sister and ran to the back of the house to alert my dad. Moments later, a kitchen wall collapsed, and as the wind began sucking my brother, still in his high chair, and me across the floor towards the now-exposed electrical wires that were still live and sparking, my aunt grabbed both of us by an arm and yanked. Still grasping us by the arms, she ran with us to my grandparents’ nearby farm house, where we were able to find shelter in the root cellar. My parents quickly followed. I have no memory of any of this, but apparently, it was like something right out of the Wizard of Oz, except that when we emerged, we faced a pile of rubble and not the lovely Munchkin land.
2. I can bale hay.
I grew up on my great-grandparents’ farm, though it was mostly run by my uncle. Every summer, he would pay his nephews—and nieces!—to help bring in the hay crop. It was an all-day, multi-day project that was back-breaking, hot and scratchy. And yet I loved it because not only did we get paid well and got a delicious dinner served outside on picnic tables at the end of the day, but it was one of my few chances to hear pop music. My uncle, being pretty young himself, had wired a little radio onto the tractor, and we got to hear all the hits as we worked. My parents rarely had music on in the house, so this was a real treat.
3. I used to dress up like a nun.
At the tender age of sixteen, I got a job as a CNA in a nursing home for nuns. (You just know this is going into a novel someday, right?) Once all of the sisters had been fed and bathed and their rooms tidied and cleaned, there was nothing really for the poor things to do (There certainly was no activity department organizing bingo or sing-alongs or bus trips out to Steak and Shake).
So, one day, as I was hanging some clean habits in one of the closets, a strange curiosity possessed me. I had an overwhelming urge to see what I would look like as a nun. (Well, wouldn’t you?). So when my superiors were otherwise engaged, I tried on a veil and slipped the top part of a habit over my uniform. Much to my surprise, the sisters who happened to be watching me were delighted! They were so pleased that I kept it on for a while until I was in danger of getting caught. After that, whenever the coast was clear, I would put on the habit and gather as many sisters as I could, most of them in wheelchairs, into a circle. I would then make up trivia questions for them to answer to help pass the time. They loved it, and I loved making them happy. So what if I had to wear a veil for the afternoon?
4. I was born in an army hospital in North Carolina. (My dad was stationed at Ft. Bragg. My poor mom had to give birth alone while my dad supposedly ate from the same pot of chili for the whole week. Both argue about which was worse.)
5. I’m a master pie-maker. (Ask me about my pecan, lemon meringue, or banana cream!)
6. I’m terrified of skunks. (Self-explanatory)
7. I was a cocktail waitress on a ship. (It was a tourist ship that operated on Lake Michigan. I would often work 19-hour shifts!)
8. I’ve spent several nights “homeless” while studying abroad in the UK and have slept not only on a park bench, but on the floor of a train station and on an abandoned bus. (Don’t tell my parents!)
9. I spent my 21st birthday with dysentery, alone, in a roach-infested youth hostel in Paris. (Sniff. Is anyone surprised at this point that I became a writer?)
10. As a teen, I worked on a psych ward. Alone. At night. (Definitely going into a novel...)