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There’s a hole in my desk. . .

… dear Otto, dear Otto… a hole in my de-esk, dear Otto, a hole.

Dear Otto. Dearest, darling Otto. He’s the one putting holes in my desk, by the way.

Okay, I probably need to back this up.

When I first started freelancing, I marveled at the wonder of being able to make a job out of late nights spent hunched over my laptop in the middle of my bed. This is GENIUS, I thought! Who needs an office?

Eventually, though, I moved operations down to a desk in our family room, lest I end up a chiropractor’s dream. And as time went on, I dreamed of having an actual office; a room where I could concentrate on work and close a door between the children and myself when necessary. Surely THAT would be perfect.

Then we moved to this house, and I got my office. And I shared it with Otto, and I liked that, because I am rather fond of that guy. But Otto is tidy and I am perpetually disorganized and eventually he moved out of our office in a snit. (more…)

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Comments { 27 }

All’s well that cleans well

So we have something of an ongoing saga happening here, and it’s one of those things where I’m never quite sure how much to say and how much to just bite down VERY FIRMLY on my tongue, but suffice it to say that I was participating in a test drive program for some SUPERCOOL and VERY SHINY large objects upon which we rely for things like clean clothes and food free of botulism, and instead of being supremely awesome it has, instead, been a carnival of How Many Things Can Go Wrong? How About One More? No, How About Two More? Hey, You Didn’t Want These To Work, Did You? Etc. And although I still believe that it will all be okay in the end (I also believe in unicorns, by the way), it has involved MANY deliveries and service calls and hours upon hours of People In My House.

(Moral of the story: You get what you pay for. Remember that before accepting things which are free, is all I’m saying.) (more…)

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Comments { 39 }

Braggity

Excuse me for a moment, but I feel the need to share this because I’m just so darn excited about it.

With all of the moaning and groaning in the blogosphere about ethics and integrity and “blogola,” I feel like it’s an old refrain that everyone is in charge of their own choices and knowing what allows them to sleep at night, etc. I get offered a lot of stuff I don’t take. Last time I checked, there was no law stating you were obligated to accept everything offered to you.

On the other hand, sometimes amazing opportunities come along. And I just finished up doing some (paid, yes—and fully disclosed as such) work that resulted in me winning a big donation for my local library. I’m pretty jazzed about it. No; I’m ECSTATIC about it. Don’t tell me the blogworld is selfish and corrupt. There’s power here that gets harnessed for awesome things.

Know your boundaries. Be clear on what matters to you. Conduct yourself professionally. And then do a little dance when the Good Stuff happens.

It works for me.

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Comments { 35 }

What I did (and why I went)

Well, it’s happening already. The deconstruction of BlogHer ’09 and this years Drama Du Jours is in full force, and once again I am reminded of why I skipped this event for several years. I prefer my drama to be of the “he touched me!” or “she called me a name!” variety, you see; and while technically I suppose BlogHer presents opportunities for that sort of thing, as well, it’s a lot easier to swallow when it comes from adorable minors rather than people who are supposedly adults, you know?

I’m already reading posts about this, about how a few proverbial rotten apples are spoiling it for the rest of the bunch, and there are valid points to be made. I’m no fan of the poor behavior, the swag-grabbing, the drunkenness, or even the karaoke (I mean, I suppose the karaoke is harmless, but it’s loud and annoying and not why I go to a conference). And while it’s nice that BlogHer brought in Tim Gunn and Paula Deen and Carson Kressley, I saw none of them and don’t really care. They are not why I went.

So rather than another rehashing of what sucked or what I thought was wrong or bad or dumb, I will tell you why I went this year and what I did that I think matters. In case you care. (If you don’t, that’s cool, too. Here, have a thumb drive as a lovely bonus gift. I have about a dozen.) (more…)

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Comments { 33 }

See you in Chicago?

I’d love to stay and chat, but I have to go make sure I packed underwear. You think I’m joking, but as we pulled out of the driveway last weekend and I started my traditional “I think I forgot something, I think I really forgot something this time” chant to Otto, he nodded and patted my knee, sanguinely, until we got to the end of the road and I started screeching, “WAIT! I DID! GO BACK!”

Oh, I know what you’re thinking—that I’d forgotten to pack underwear. But that would be silly. Of COURSE I’d packed underwear!

No, I’d forgotten to pack bras. Oops.

(In my defense, I’d just done laundry, and they were all hanging up to dry inside the laundry closet when I was packing clothes. Also, shut up.) (There is little a man enjoys more than having to tow a truck and trailer back around the block because his wife is too ditzy to adequately pack for a couple of days away. I’m sure of it.)

Anyway. Chicago! Let’s meet there, yes? (more…)

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Comments { 30 }

But I play one on the Internet

Evidently I missed my calling as a financial advisor. I’m absolutely SUPER at it, by the way. Here goes: Don’t spend what you don’t have.

You’re welcome!

If you require more information than that (so demanding), well, might I suggest this excellent article by the AP’s Heather Lalley, which happens to feature some heavily-edited sound bites from yours truly.

Alternatively, I can break it down for you into just five easy steps.

And while we’re talking about money… you do know about DonorsChoose, right? You can pick the project, the school, the teacher you want to support? It’s a great approach to a great cause (bettering our nation’s schools, and you KNOW how I am about this topic), and while there are plenty of bloggers running challenges in conjunction with this, I just hope you’ll find something that inspires you to give a few dollars. If you need someplace to start, check out the BlogHer Contributing Editors’ Challenge for ideas.

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Comments { 13 }

I’ve got your politics right here

I only watched half of the debate last night. The second half. I tried not to, because I knew it was just going to infuriate me, but then I couldn’t stay away. Guess what? It infuriated me! Go figure!

They’re having a little problem with my section over at Scholastic, and I just discovered that my last two reviews aren’t listed on the main page, although they are, in fact, there. So in case you want a little antidote to last night’s lunacy—in the form of kid-sized politics—I’ve got you covered.

Last week, we read LaRue for Mayor. And this week, we read Otto Runs for President.

(Both books, incidentally, were less ridiculous than last night’s debate!)

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Comments { 16 }

Do you have a cat?

Remember back about a year ago, when I was all “I am so looooooonely here! I love my husband but I have no giiiiiiiirlfriends! Woe is meeeeeeee!”? Remember that?

Yeah, me neither. Lord, what a difference a year makes.

Yesterday I had a local signing for Sleep Is for the Weak, and I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Athens, but this is a town with many fine offerings in cuisine, music, cultural events, etc. In other words, many folks have better things to do with their Sunday afternoons than to pick up an anthology about parenthood and have it signed by one of the twenty-three contributing authors. I’m just sayin’. And yet, for an hour and a half there was a steady stream of folks—who bought almost all the available stock (I think there were three copies left, at the end)—because so many pretty, pretty friends of mine came out to show their support.

Did I mention how pretty they are? (more…)

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Comments { 65 }

Later we’re gonna egg some Tonkas

The good news is that last night’s soiree was a fun, fun time and the food was AMAZING. No, I’m not being braggy—I didn’t cook. I didn’t do anything, actually. This event was a work thing and so it was completely planned out by People Who Are Not Me and also possibly magical wood elves who sprinkled fairy dust everywhere, because I can guarantee you that if I had been the one planning it, we would’ve had a bottle of wine and a bowl of pretzels and someone would’ve been in tears at the end. Probably me. But no, because this was a Fancy To Do, a catering team swooped in and set up an entire kitchen IN MY GARAGE and promptly cooked up enough food for an army of people who are hoping to die with clogged arteries and smiles on their faces.

The bad news is that I am so ill I’m just a whiny, blubbery mess. You know how sometimes you can’t be sick? Like, say, when you’re throwing a big party at your house? And so you take a bunch of cold medicine and put on your happy face and actually have a great time, but then everyone leaves and you fall all to pieces and can’t sleep because you feel so miserable? (more…)

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Comments { 37 }

Worlds continuing to collide

Last night I grabbed a friend and headed to one of our local bookstores, because Hollis Gillespie was there doing a signing. I met Hollis last weekend in Decatur, and I suppose that if I’d had my life together I could’ve gone to her session (and gotten my books signed) there at the festival, but that’s not how it worked out, so I decided to go last night.

One of the advantages of going last night was that I was able to bring Chickadee with me, as well. Hollis has a daughter around the same age, and had said it’d be fun to have the girls meet, so off we went. Chickadee and Mae did make scintillating conversation towards the end, standing there pelting one another with pertinent questions, like “What time does YOUR school start? and “What size shoe do YOU wear?” It was totally cute. (more…)

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Comments { 38 }
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