Bethjoy.com

Tomorrow is the first day of the month of September. In that month I will turn eighteen. I am already graduated from school and at this point in my life it seems as though I need to be turning into a mature, rational, sensible, intelligent, and reliable adult. How am I coming along? Well, in some ways I\’m doing fine, in other ways I\’m not. Main points of joy and so forth is that I don\’t drink, smoke, gamble, or have inappropriate relationships with other people but on the other hand I\’m lazy and though I make good goals and resolutions I seldom carry them out. And I spend way too much money shopping being one of my favorite hobbies. I also tend, sometimes, to be a little harsh on myself when judging myself.

Anyway, for a seventeen year old I\’m probably okay. However at some point, soon I tell myself, I need to learn how to cook and clean and take care of a house. As my forseable future is get married in about four or five years or so, I currently have no clue as to who, cooking and so forth will be very useful accomplishments for me and might possibly set me in a higher class than normal.

As I want to marry a really incredible and wonderful husband I feel that it is necessary for me to become a really incredible and wonderful sort of person. In Proverbs it says(approximately) \”Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies\”. So I am working a bit on becoming a virtuous woman.

Currently though what I\’m working on is work itself. My Dad owns his own business and it\’s a very good one and makes and ships out lots and lots and lots of clamps to all over the world. I help in the assembly area. Making clamps and couplers and so forth is hard work. Taking into account the fact that I have been almost nothing but a couch potato who just used her computer for the last several years working in the shop is kind of a shock to my muscles. My current physical abilities are I can work maybe five hours in one day, and that leaves me really tired for the next couple of days. I worked almost five hours on Tuesday. Before that, for the past four weeks or so, I\’d seldom work more than two hours a day. It\’s hard work, but this week I\’ve started to adjust to it, or at least get used to being tired. So that is one primary reason why I haven\’t been posting a lot, I\’ve been too tired. However, now that I\’m slowly getting used to working in the shop, I\’m going to try to learn how to do my usual daily routine as well as working in the shop.

So, why am I working in the shop? Well, I don\’t exactly remember how it happened, though it\’s comming back to me, but one day I thought I might be wanting to purchase a car at some point. So I thought it would be good to have $7,500.00 in the bank to purchase that car with. Sounds perfectly logical and reasonable does it not?

However, it didn\’t stop there. I forget the exact circumstance but all of a sudden my goal changed to $10,000 in the bank and then womped up to $20,000.00. Now that much money is not for the car, it\’s just for the fun of having it in the bank and earning interest and so forth. Or I can use it to help buy my house after I get married. Or whatever. So I\’m going to try to earn $20,000.00 during the next four years. Hopefully my muscular abilities will increase and I\’ll be able to reign in my spending over the next four years so I\’ll be able to earn it by the time I\’ve set, December 2010. I\’m certainly not very far on my way yet, but I\’m currently working and it\’s just possible that I might be able to do it. Then it will be time for the $7,500.00 for my car:) I want a pink Porche, or maybe a Purple Porche or something like that… I\’ll probably need to get a custom paint job.

So any-rate, as I look over the past several weeks as I\’ve gone from one absurd financial plan to the other, I change my mind a LOT. Still, I have more money now than I had at the beginning of the year, which is nice:)

So now there is a nice long post on here. I\’ll try to post a bit more regularly but it\’s not exactly the highest thing on my list right now. So…

Bill had a billboard
Bill also had a board bill
Now the board bill bored Bill,
So Bill sold his billboard to pay his board bill.
Then the board bill no longer bored Bill.

And that has nothign to do with anything but I thought I would write it in there anyway. Try saying it three times fast though.

To begin with… This morning a doll arrived that I’d ordered in April. I had “preordered” her as these dolls had a tendency to sell out somewhat quickly and I had to wait a rather long time before I got her. But it’s been worth the wait. Clarissa is gorgeous and 22 inches tall. She is one of my tallest dolls. I have yet to sew her an outfit as I was very busy completing other things.

The next big event was going to the bank. After months(perhaps years) of painstaking effort and not spending money my bank balance had finally gone above 1,000. So today I invested in a CD!!! CD being certificate of deposit. I’m quite excited about this as it will be the first time I will have every earned interest on my money. So I’m pleased:) I’m going to try to get another CD at some point in the future. That was a REALLY big event. My very first CD!!!

So what was the third event? To give a little bit of back story… Saturday morning we went to Sam’s Club and there at purchased season one of Hazel, a really really good show. 35 half hour episodes. Being the entertainment committe who previews everything before any one else can watch them I, as soon as I got home, started previewing those 35 episodes. I didn’t finish until Monday right before lunch.

However, that doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the third event of the day. You see, Sunday night my Dad bought Season 1 and Season 3(sold out of season 2) of Hogan’s Heroes. Thirty episodes a season makes a grand total of sixty episodes and today, a couple of hours ago, after starting watching those episodes Monday afternoon, I just finished them… That is, on average, over eight hours of watching movies per day. So I now know that there is something I can do for eight hours a day now… Generally I don’t do too much of the same thing for so long(except sleeping). However I am currently rather tired as last night I was getting in some of that time after midnight. So I’ve now watched a lot of Hogan’s Heroes. And Hazel. And in summary… I’ve been busy.

Now it’s time to make Clarissa a new outfit! Unfortunately for her though, I’m really tired. So she may have to wait. But I might still make her a new dress… Anyway, my eyes are hurting me. Have a nice day!

And writing these posts is certainly not the first thing I\’m doing in the morning, in case you notice that the time is not early.

Remarkable just how early in the morning 7:30 can seem… I know that\’s normal for some people, and for some people that\’s sleeping in. But for some people… that\’s early.

I\’ve been doing more work in the shop than usual lately, which is good, because that means I\’m earning money. Yesterday I also did some school, official school. I just have two lessons left to do and I\’m graduated from the twelfth grade. It\’s almost a scary thought to be done.

Speaking of feeling old, my birthday is in forty-nine days. September 26th to be exact. I will be turning eighteen. Walmart gift cards are wonderful. Or in fact, any sort of gift card or even just plain cash is delightful indeed. Yes, I\’m hinting. You are welcome to ignore it if you wish.

Just to make sure I do get to open a lot of presents I\’m planning on (and have already started) buying some presents for myself and when i find the appropriate wrapping paper I shall wrap them up and then I can open up a lot of presents and though I\’ll know what\’s in them, my family (and anybody else who happens to be there at the time) probably will be surprised. My birthday is a very important event to me. I think it will always be that way. And if you should ever hear me say, \”Oh, don\’t get me any presents/don\’t make a big fuss\” you will know that either I have had a dramatic life changing event which has totally warped me from what I was, or I\’m quoting somebody and I don\’t mean it in the slightest, or I just took leave of my senses, or I\’m saying how I won\’t be saying that, as in this case. Definitely, make a big fuss or buy me a present, preferably the later but the former will do if the latter is not forthcoming.

I think this is enough post for the present. Remember \”A friend loveth at all times and a brother was born for adversity\” Proverbs something or other.

I am, in my semi constant attempt to improve myself, trying to wake up at a more normal hour in the morning than nine and trying to go to sleep before midnight. So this morning my alarm clock was set for seven thirty. And it went off, and I wanted to go back to sleep. But I didn\’t. Slowly I dragged myself out of bed and since I had added the incentive of internet only before breakfast unless it\’s an emergency, I managed to get up. After reading a Bible chapter(another thing I\’m working on) I briskly began my morning ritual of games and internet sites I visit and sadly I hear the sounds of breakfast, which means that this sleepy time is nearly over. So I am going to end this post. Tomorrow morning another one may appear.

My, I seem almost a foreign visitor to my once frequently updated website. Pity, but at least there was plenty to read on here in my absence.

You might, though probably not, been wondering what have I been doing lately? Well, I’ve done a lot of writing on stories, though not a lot of finishing. I’ve also been making grand plans for self improvement. I’m trying to exercise and get into shape so that I can work more so that I can earn more money so that I can buy nice car when I want one(which is going to be a while) and so that I will be earning plenty of interest and so forth. Or something like that…

Anyway I read a book on finances back in January and I recently reread it and I’ve written a bunch of financial plans. I’ve made goals and divided them up into monthly payments on annual expenses and now I’m briskly trying to work so that I’m three months ahead of my plan because I think that would be fun.

And I just started saving more money. Basically, out of every ten dollars I earn I’m putting five into the bank. As tithes, taxes, and my 401K eat up another three dollars I’m doing all of my saving, and my twenty dollar a week allowance that I give myself, out of $2.00 out of every $10.00. For me that is bordering on the absurd but I think it will work. You know that you can increase success by lowering your expectations, and that works for things financial too. I lowered how much I was planning on earning(I did not cut my allowance, I’m too fond of shopping for that) and did a bunch of calculations with a calculator and I have come to the point that providing I increase how much I’m working in the shop and work regularly I think I’ll be able to do it. And that will be nice. Especially since it will mean I’ll have a nice bit of money in the bank to buy the car I want and paint it pink, or purple, I haven’t quite made up my mind yet. I have made up my mind that it is going to be a very inexpensive car with hopefully very low insurance and a lot of miles per gallon.

And now that it is time for supper and I am being called I am going to end this post and perhaps mention the other things I’m doing at some other point.