Hi there. Beth here.
Welcome to my little corner of the interwebs. (Do we use that word anymore? I don’t care.) This blog is a time capsule that has seen me through high school graduation, college, marriage, parenting, and now, midlife. Every life stage has been rife with new material and new lessons to learn. Writing has been my best coping strategy. I also write to share my human experience with other humans. My favorite comments from readers are, “I felt that way too! I thought I was the only one.”
Where did the moniker ‘welderbeth’ come from?
Well, that’s a good question. In my first defiant act of rebellion, I shunned my previous role of band nerd and quit band halfway through my junior year of high school. I had to find two semester long classes to fill the gaping holes left in my schedule.
I ended up taking landscaping and welding, which were housed in the squatty, quiet building the agriculture department shared with the ROTC. Every morning, Mr. Berry, who taught both of my new classes, would read an inspirational Dr. Phil quote and we would record it in our quote journals, which were a major part of our grade. These classes took me completely out of my honors-level, nerdy-nerd comfort zone. Both the people and the content matter stretched me.
My fellow welding student, Patsy, recruited me to join the milk judging team because I had a car. Welding, with its electrical currents and safety protocols seemed dangerous, so I jumped at the chance to drive Patsy to the grocery store during class, where we picked up cheeses in a variety of shapes, colors, and offensive odors. At my first practice, I discovered what really happened on the milk judging team, which was tasting various types of dairy and trying to pinpoint what was wrong with them. Quitting the team was one of my most terrifying moments to date because Patsy was a starter on the softball team and could have snapped my body like a twig. I guess it was all that milk…
With no more milk judging team excuse, I donned all my safety equipment and a brave face and tackled the terrifying world of welding. My shining achievement of the semester was a short piece of pipe welded onto a square base–the world’s most resilient pencil cup, which still sits on my mother’s desk.
Anyway, that’s the beginning of welderbeth. Welcome!
