We’re rearranging the house
Jul 20, 2008 The Story of My Life, work work work
I’m taking advantage of Brett’s muscle to get things moved around — tv down to the playroom, upstairs living room rearranged, etc. Since I’ll be working without childcare for at least the first few weeks of Brett’s job, I want to get it set up so the kids can be down here where I am and happily out of my hair.
I guess I hadn’t explained very well that Brett going to work doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop working — no way, no how! Because, for one, I make about as much money as he does and neither of us alone is making quite enough to keep up our lifestyle and add to savings so we’re both going to put nose to the grindstone for awhile. As my business grows we’ll reasses (it may be having less childcare will slow me down but I don’t think so because I’m going to have to spend less time marketing — Open Book Strategies is already easier to sell to folks, which is proof I’m on the right rack, I think). I will definitely need childcare but I’m going to try to get to fall when it’ll be easier to find and I think that’s doable (fall is just around the corner after all). I don’t anticipate having the same problems I had before because Madison is older now and more amenable to someone coming over to play with her while I sit at my desk. I’m figuring if I can get someone to give me some mornings, I can work and Noah can do school and then the afternoons will be fairly free barring rush jobs and overflow work (there are always evenings and weekends for that, too).
Anyway! I need to go do some heavy directing of Brett’s heavy lifting. Those boxes of books aren’t going to move themselves!!
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Tags: child care, childcare, homeschool, Homeschooling, Open Book Strategies, schedule, working from home
Tonight’s the fair
Jul 17, 2008 The Story of My Life
The Franklin County Fair, to be exact. It’s going to be killer hot out there but that’s our tradition — my mom takes my family and my sister’s family out and spoils the kids rotten with elephant ears and lemon shake-ups and deepfried pickles on a stick! (Ok that last part is theoretical — none of us have actually BOUGHT the deepfried pickles on a stick but they’re available!)
It’s a pretty small fair although I remember it being HUGE back in my teens. Or at least not quite so dinky. We used to walk up and down the tiny fairway hoping to catch the eyes of the boys wandering by in their black rock-and-roll tshirts. It’s Hilliard and that was the 80s so I’m sure there were lots of mullets but we try not to remember the bad times — only the good!
Brett and I always skip the state fair — too hot! too crowded! too headache-inducing! — but one or the other grandparent takes Noah and eventually they’ll add Madison to the mix, I’m sure. This year we may HAVE to go because Kristen has a picture of Madison’s feet (and her daughter Ginger’s feet) in the art show. Then again, I saw the photo in her living room so perhaps I don’t need to brave the crowds to see it again, right? I’ll just make sure the grandparents know to look!
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Tags: fairway, Family, Franklin County, kids, Kristen, Madison, my mom, my sister, Noah, tradition
Woe is me (whiny and self-indulgent)
Jul 16, 2008 The Story of My Life
- I opened the refrigerator, reached for the milk and did something to my back or my shoulders or my neck or something. This is what comes of being on the computer all of the time. I worked really really late on Monday and I haven’t taken the time to stop and stretch since then. Plus I’m still not sleeping well so I’m not really relaxing at night. Result: Sore, aching shoulders/neck and wrenching something merely by reaching for milk. I feel like I’m 80-thousand years old. Argh.
- We can’t get any channels on our television. Well, we can get very fuzzy channels but not ones you can, you know, watch. And Tivo doesn’t recognize them so we can’t use Tivo. I’m sure we’ll figure out a fix but we’re grouchy about it. Apparently we were worse cable addicts than we knew.
- I’m really busy and it’s not all happy-busy. A lot of it is just busy. I’m tired. My neck hurts. Too much busyness and not enough happy-busy!
- What is with gorgeous, smart, funny women who are living with/dating/married to rotten men? What is up with that? How can we put a stop to low self-esteem and low standards? People! How can we save our sisters??? <— said like Cree Summer playing Freddy on A Different World (I miss cable)
- I have another complaint that I’m not blogging (yet) but we could use a medium-sized miracle in the next few weeks and I’m tired of looking for one. Reality bites. I’m worn out from spinning my wheels and forcing myself to be cheerful about it.
- You people with your adorable free kittens! Stop flaunting the cuteness! We officially have decided NO KITTENS. Sad but true. Reasons are as follows: My sister and nephew are very allergic and having a kitten here will be a hardship to family visits; Peanut may not like kittens; kitten vet visits aren’t in our budget at the moment; litterboxes; kitty footprints on our kitchen counter skeeve me out. I like kittens so even though I believe this is a smart decision, I’m bummed out about it. Particularly the not-in-the-budget thing. I want to have enough money to be mildly irresponsible without feeling so dang guilty about it. Like, “Pizza tonight? Sure! Order two — they’re small!”
- It’s hot. And humid. Dang Ohio. Why’d we ever leave the Pacific Northwest? (grumble)
That’s enough. Whining didn’t seem to make me feel better so I’m going to try OD’ing on caffeine next. A temporary fix is better than no fix at all, right? Grouch.
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Tags: a different world, budget, cable, complaining, cree summer, humidity, my sister, pacific northwest, Peanut, sister
New wordpress seems pretty stable
Jul 15, 2008 Blogging, The Story of My Life
I updated this site to 2.6 along with the Open Book Strategies site (and blog) and then three more blogs. All looks pretty darn good! But it didn’t fix this problem where I have to save a post before I can click “allow comments” and only THEN can I hit publish. Frustrating.
In other family tech news: Cable is officially gone and I’m mourning the loss of Mad Men. It’s really the only show I’ll miss. And I now have a cell phone, which I’m afraid of using. I did spend way too much time creating my own ringtone (because I didn’t like the ones it came with and I sure wasn’t paying for a new one) because even if I’m afraid of technology, I’m all about customizing it.
In other family non-tech news: The neighbors across the way were tossing a perfectly fine and super-comfortable couch so it’s now in our basement. We need to get tested for radon so that we can move the television down here. (I’m already working here — sure hope that radon test turns out ok. Our last house had no radon issues so there’s hope.) I hate having a television in the main living area and I think getting it out of the family room would go a long, long way to making me feel like this house is home. I’ve lived here for going on three years and still feel like we’re waiting to move someplace else.
In other family not-to-share news: We’re looking at some big structural changes around here in our continued effort to become if not independently wealthy at least independently solvent. I’m trying to wrap my head around them but am having trouble doing so ‘cuz I’m operating with a sleep deficit brought on by worrying insomnia.
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Tags: cable, cell phones, mad men, Open Book Strategies, wordpress, wordpress 2.6, working
Launching a new business
Jul 14, 2008 Blogging, work work work
This is what I’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks: Open Book Strategies
You can see I’m changing out my links to Smart Cookie Communications because we’re really going to focus on marketing this other business instead. Here’s how it came about:
- There are a lot of marketing communication professionals here in Central Ohio and I’ve been having a hard time figuring out how to market myself so I’d stand out.
- Even though I was reluctant to see this, what differentiates me from my marketing communications competition is my web 2.0 experience: I’ve managed email lists, enormous forums, and of course all the blogging I do. I understand virtual relationships and I know that web 2.0 content isn’t just regular old content with hyperlinks thrown in; I know it’s about relationships. So that’s what I ended up talking about with folks.
- Every time I said the word “blog” ears pricked up and that’s where people had questions. I did a lot of consulting on the side but kept brushing off requests to do more of it thinking I needed to focus on the writing.
- And yet the blog jobs kept coming.
- Finally one of my mentors said, “Take the leap!” She advised me to come up with blog service packages to make it easier for people to understand my services.
- So here we are.
My ideal client is a small to medium local business owner who’s a little nervous about web 2.0 and blogs. I like to work closely with people and I don’t mind doing a lot of hand holding. I’m pretty darn patient with people who have a lot of questions. (Ask Kristen!) And I understand narrative so I can help people find their most compelling bloggable stories. (This was my favorite part about this project — listening to them talk, asking lots of questions, and identifying blog entries in what they shared.)
Anyway! That’s what we’re doing and now the writing is on the side instead of the blog consulting.
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Tags: blog, Central Ohio, consulting, Kristen, marketing, narrative, Open Book Strategies