Memoir Snippets

I am an aspiring writer, as you probably already know. So I've decided to post some of my writing on this blog. I thought it might be fun to share some of my memoir snippets. Here's the first installment:

Clouds and Earth

My husband and I are very different. Don't get me wrong, we have many things in common. We are both determined, hard-headed, and completely in love with each other. We enjoy being together as much as possible. When the world says, "Why?" we say, "Why not?" However, in many ways, we are polar opposites.

Nic is driven by 'how can I make money' or to be more accurate and give him credit, 'how can I provide for my family'. He is made of logic, reality, common sense, and steel determination.

I am driven by dreams. I am made of unicorn breath, stardust, and magic fluff.

Recently, I resigned from my career of teaching, a path I chose with dreams of changing the world and making a difference (did I get paid? No matter...), to become a full-time dreamer (I am raising our son and keeping the house some-what under control on the side). These are some of my dreams:

I dream of being a famous author. I want to walk up to J.K. Rowling, as old chums do, and say, "Hey, J.K.! What do you know?" I want to sign something other than credit card slips at Barnes & Noble. I want to tour the world reading excerpts from my novels to adoring fans. I want to cry with Oprah as I read one of my more poignant excerpts. I want movie producers to ask me my opinion on who should play the lead role in the movie being made that is based on my book. Or if they don't want my opinion, I want to criticize their choices on my blog followed by thousands.

I dream of having an apple stand at the local farmer's market where I would sell fresh apples, rich apple cider, gooey caramel apples, sweet apple turnovers, and slices of delicious apple pie.

"But you're not a farmer and don't grow apples!" My husband points out.

"But I might someday! Can't you just imagine how yummy it would be?"

"So do you want to do this to make money or for fun? Never mind, I already know the answer!"

I dream of opening my very own restaurant, 'Around the World in One Meal'. The tables would be painted to look like the world. The servers would wear costumes from various cultures, and they would learn a handful of phrases in different languages. We would serve Italian, Chinese, Mexican, and American with specific head chefs for each specialty. One weekends, we will have live performances--fire throwers, hula dancers, mariachi bands, Irish step-dancers...it will be amazing! Bring your family!

"And you're going to make money with this, right?" He hesitates to ask.

"Uh...sure...we'll charge people to eat there."

To give my husband credit, he is no dream squasher. He is my scientist designing a rocket to reach my stars; he is my architect building a tower to my clouds. When I say that I want to be a professional horseshoe competitor and travel the horse shoe circuit, he's out in the backyard measuring to build a horse shoe pit so that I can practice. Nevermind I haven't ever really played a true game of horse shoe!

We certainly are opposites. I am his clouds to shade him from the scorching sunshine of reality; he is my earth with his gravitational pull that keeps me from entirely floating away. We are clouds and earth together. And we make a good pair, my husband and me.