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How once woman went from being a SAHM of four to a published freelance science journalist |
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I'm revising this intro after more than 15 years to better reflect my intention When I started this blog in 2004, I was a stay at home mom to two small children, a college graduate with a degree in English and Astrophysics. By 2007, I had four small children, ages newborn, 2, 4, and 6. For several years, Writing.com was how I kept my sanity. This blog began, first as a way of staying connected. Later, when I worked on a novel, I used it to stoke the writing fires as I plotted out short stories and the next step of my novel. Ultimately, I moved my writing preparation to "Invalid Item"  In 2010, I became a single mom who had homeschooled her children for several years. I had a 2, 4, 6 and 8 year old and had never had a "real" full time job, since I was married while in college. Everyone told me that I would have to buckle down and take on a "real" job. Instead, I decided to attempt to live my dream: to make it as a writer. I knew that if I didn't try then, I would never really dive in. I counted my money and set a deadline. If I hadn't began making a decent (defined) amount of money after so many months, I would suck it up and get a J-O-B. After some thought, I decided to play to my strengths. I served an internship at Sky & Telescope magazine while in college and enjoyed writing about space and astronomy. With an astrophysics degree, I thought I would be able to sell myself more easily, and a small niche should be easier to penetrate. It's been about ten years since I was first paid for an article on Space.com. In that time, writing - journalism - has been my primary moneymaker. I've often thought about setting up a blog on my website - www.astrowriter.com - but just haven't gotten around to it. There are a few things I would like to share for those who are interested in scientific journalism in general. Now that I'm back on WDC, there's no reason not to combine the two and use the site blog for that sort of interaction. There are certainly plenty of folks on this site interested in the publication process. So while I'll probably meander around some, that's the intention of of this blog: to share some of my struggles as a published journalist and to help answer oft-asked questions. |
| Well, that was interesting. I found a site that allows for blogs and free advertising, www.merchantcircle.com. I don't know how well it will turn out. But, it does also create (or so it says) newsletters. The down side is that I can't seem to actually get INTO a newsletter to see what the format looks like. Apparently the system is overcrowded or something. Also, in an evil sneaky twist, I sent the page to my boss at the gym and suggested that the current newsletter writer move to becoming the blogger, and I could take over the NL. Actually, I think what I said was However, I know a <cough cough> talented, enthusiastic freelance writer who would be thrilled to help you put together a professional newsletter <cough me cough>. So we'll see how that goes. If I could get the formating over there to work, I could wow them with a sample. Two newsletters under my belt would make me a great (and official?) freelance writer - especially if one of them actually pays me for it (as opposed to the NL for my own business, which pays me in terms of hopefully upping customer service). Perhaps I should create two or three articles for the gym newsletter. There were a few that I found interesting, and I actually checked out a few books from the library to brush up on the subject. I think there was one on inflammation and yoga that I definitely wanted to touch on, since we offer a yoga class. I am sure that I can pull up another subject of interest. Perhaps I will do some research on the inflammation issue and see what else turns up. Look, now I'm getting pulled apart here. Focus, focus, I know. I didn't get the rest of the web pages up that I wanted to. <just had a thought about putting in a quick water drinking tip for the health NL> My husband was not overly excited about the page I did put up. Apparently it is not very snazzy. What can I say, I don't even have a graphics program, and I learned about HTML while reading a book while creating the web page. So what can I say. I just checked my business email and had a confirmation to click. Perhaps that will facilitate the placement of my listing. I can at least work on the newsletter. I really like that idea and the layout. I am playing with it now for my business, and will use the information gleaned to create a newsletter for Redd Infinity. Okay, that is done, and I sent it to my boss. Now I just have to convince him to kick off the current newsletter writer and move her to a blog. So I have to figure out why we need a blog.  Here, this is what gives me the creepies. Here is what the last newsletter said: Hello everyone! I hope that your week has been a great one, so far! Make sure that you WELCOME ALL OF OUR NEW MEMBERS! Now.......let's see who pays more attention.....WHO HAS NOTICED THAT THE RED, BLINKING AEROBICS SIGN HAS BEEN TAKEN DOWN, IN THE MAIN EXERCISE ROOM..HUH? I can't begin to tell you how many e-mails I have received about that blinking sign! Thanks to Cosette's brother...the sign has been removed....YEAH! OK...who has noticed that the shower's have been re-tiled and the handicapped shower has been completely replaced?????!!!! How about our beautiful, clean, warm, pool????!!!! hasn't it been wonderful working out, lately???? We also have a "special" "Spring-to-Summer" 3 month membership, which includes the Pool or Daycare...come try us out... Now, for more news....We have a new massage therapist, her name is Marla, and she will be working on Monday mornings, Thursday and Friday evenings. So, go ahead and book a massage with her now....I have heard great things about her, so far....please let us know what you think, as well. Also, in the very near future, My Fair Lady will be advertising in the Up Close and Personal magazine. We are extending our Daycare hours..with Samantha in the AM and Annie in the PM. We are also going to have a TOY DRIVE so that the kids toys are updated and we have more interactive games to play with them. I will have a list from Samantha, of the kinds of TOYS we would like to have..maybe we will have a "contest" of sorts..I will advise you...stay tuned to your e-mail. My Fair Lady is also going to "partner-up" with Kroger, at Cofer Crossing, in the Walmart shopping center. We will be the ONLY Fitness/Spa to advertise for an entire year(exclusive)in the Movie News brochure. There will be drawings for gift certificates(from Kroger) for FREE GROCERIES or you can apply the gift certificate amount to your MFL membership. We will be using our new LOGO and hyperlinking the web page that will be created, to our MFL website, which we are currently working on. We will have radio spots with Dick Clarke and Larry King as national spokesmen. Stay tuned for more info......before August 06! As you can see, our new owners are working diligently to make My Fair Lady the best! We have a new logo, with up-to-date colors and you will see that, soon! They are currently working on new flooring- to get rid of the red carpet! They are looking into a runner for the wet area so that the ladies don't slip on the wet floor! We are going to have a bulletin board for business cards and flyers, for our members to advertise on. We will also have a SUGGESTION BOX for the members who would rather be anonymous with your thoughts and feed-back.... Thanks again for your feed-back, it is so important..(whether it is positive or negative). Make sure that you "Salsa with Corianne" on Wednesday nights, at 6:30pm and join her Body-sculpting or Pilates class on Thursday nights at 7:45pm! There will be more exciting Community events taking place in your "neighborhood", soon.... Have a wonderful week... See you at the gym! Gail Titled Its Gail This sent my editor button into high gear! Oooh, the misused 'your's! The killer 'its'! Not to mention...this isn't a newsletter! Argh! Okay, well, I'm going to get a book and read about inflammation and yoga. |
| Well, this has been an interesting day, and it is not even half over yet! I thought perhaps for next month I would do an article on blogging with small businesses. However, as you can tell from my blog, I am not exactly an expert. The best blog I have read yet is the aforementioned "Invalid Item" , which keeps a standardized format and makes for a great read. But, I must admit, I don't read a lot of blogs. That said, I have been doing some research on small businesses and blogs. I found an article I may just save time and reprint: http://ezinearticles.com/?Five-Reasons-You-Should-Be-Blogging-for-Business-Right... This is a site for free articles, so as long as I incorporate everything, I should be fine. However, since I am noticing that, I thought, perhaps I should go ahead and create my own small business blog. One of the reasons the aforementioned article suggests blogging is to create the action of 'being known' on the web. So I wandered over to google and searched 'Redd Infinity' in quotes, just curious to see what else turned up. I got one hit - this blog. I guess that means that we don't have much competition with the name. That can be good and bad. I'll focus on good. Good is good. Now I am trying to figure out how to develop a web presence and be active. I like the blog idea, I can link it straight from the web page, and guess who gets to do the blogging? It will be all me. The problem is that I still have no idea what to say. I think I will need to do less babbling than I do now. I requested a couple of books on small businesses and blogging from the library. I will read over them, and spot-check a few other blogs (saw my name in the other one! cool!). I printed a handout on blogging for small businesses and I guess I will go check it out! Maybe it will give me some inspiration. Oh, yes, and I was going to write an article today. I think I'll do my book review. Hmm, that means I need to set up a format. I saw a great book review book when I was doing some reviews...let me dig it up...LOL had to read Kåre Enga in Montana  's blog before changing pages..."Invalid Item" . Anyway, it encouraged me to write some more reviews, which I keep meaning to do, anyway. I would like to establish some type of format, but I suppose I could just put it all together. I wonder what the book limit is around here? Cool, I can make 25 books as a premium member. Hmm, if I add another blog and a book of reviews...that puts me at maybe five? Five is manageable. Wow.So, tell me, oh faithful readers, should I try to be more systematic in my blogging, or leave it 'journal' style? I would love any feedback. Though I can't tell you that I'll probably keep it the same way; I am really a lousy blogger because even though I post online, it is not a huge deal to me how many hits I get. I will never blog for profit, I guess, or be one of those "$10k bloggers". I guess the downside is I probably won't inspire or motivate others - at least not with my blog. I can live with that, especially if I can manage to do it through other forms of writing. Hmm, the business of blogging. I think I may have to file Chapter 13 on it. This is a nonprofit venture!PS I did notice in several of the blogs I checked that it is okay if I post multiple shots in one day! Woohoo! No more edits, then. |
| Well, dh went to a job interview today. The job earns $30,000/year. For the first 90 days, it is only $25,000/yr, whatever that comes out to annually. I won't give your our income now but suffice it to say that we make nearly double that. And we are thinking about taking it. What dh likes about this job is the SERIOUS amount of flexibility. It is an install job, but unlike most cable wiring companies who give you your jobs on a daily basis, this company gives them to you at the beginning of the month and expects you to have them finished by the end of the month. They are for homes as they are being built, so no customer appointments. Just as long as the jobs get done. If he finishes early in the month, then he can ask them for more work. What this means is dh can either: 1. work regular 8 hour days and get his jobs completed in a month and we live off <shudder> $30k OR, better 2. dh can work 12 hour days, except on those days when he does freelance work for Redd Infinity (that's our company that we are starting, btw). If he gets to the end of the month and has free time, he can go out and 'sell' himself to perspective builders, and get more jobs for us. This should put us up to a more reasonable level. This company even has benefits, at least health for the employee (not sure about family) and a matching simple IRA (up to 3% is a 100% match). The guy basically told dh that there is no reason he wouldn't get the job if he wanted it. It would start the week after next. DH can spend next week attacking various builders and trying to get some jobs. If he can get one install job for one homebuilder, then he can make serious money doing both. When we can get - dh says two but I'd like to see three, honestly - another customer, where dh is doing installs all day, we can quit this job and move into full-time. I would also rather wait to quit until all our debt is paid off - but if he is working full-time, 12 hour days, even just 5 days a week and taking Saturday off, he should be able to get the job done. This is our working gameplan. How well do you think it would work? In the meantime, one of our cars has died, reducing us to a single car family. This is good, I guess, because for this job dh has to have a truck for the first 90 days - after that, he will get a company car, so we could sell the truck or even the Escort (dh's choice, but I'm like, sell the one with the good gas milage?). Hmm, so we are already taking a hit here with the truck, not to mention the salary cut. Blech. But we will make this work, I think. Also, since dh will be out where they are building homes, he can talk to the homebuilders THERE and give them his card. He will be establishing contacts while he is working, basically. Hmm, if he is establishing contacts while he is working, do we need a costly newsletter? On the other hand, I can use the newsletter to give to local businesses to drum up the smaller jobs, AND foster community good will. The builders will be our primary customers but we can always use some padding. So, yes, we will do the newsletter (it is also an ad for me to write freelance, and gives me a chance to do so), and maybe when dh can come home while the kids are resting and he can study (which he will have to do the first week or two anyway) and read their material, I can go out to nearbye businesses. I finished the writing and basic pasting of the newsletter. I need to fill in the edges now. Okay, I finished the newsletter. Here I go, to launch into a sea of molasses. I just feel a little bit down, despite being excited about dh's upcoming job and the hope of his business working out. I have been thinking about myself as a writer. I mean, this journal is titled 'Plans & Probs with Publication', but that is actually not true, is it? My husband said something the other day to the effect that I need to go ahead and move writing up on the priority list because I enjoy it and because I still dream about being published. (Why is being published such a big deal? Perhaps I can write an article/rant on that.  ) But the fact is, my kids still come first and foremost. Following them is my husband's work, even if it is his 'dream' of establishing a business, because while starving artists may write well, their kids don't do so well. Plus I have to keep this house clean, that has to be a priority because if I don't do it, it doesn't get done. If the house is in decent shape, dh will help out, but if it is a mess, he just lets it go, too. I don't want to be solely responsible, which means teaching my kids - remember, they are almost-5, 3.5, and 1 - how to clean, which takes 2-3 times as long as doing it myself. It will pay off later, but it takes forever to be later.Am I a real writer? I don't even write every day. Right now, I am on fire with about a zillion ideas, I have hopes of getting published. But when do I write? I'm staying up late enough as is working PT at the gym (read: guarenteed income of a whopping $300/month). If I stay up later, I get mega-grouchy and yell at my kids; not the legacy I want to leave. I can't seem to get up earlier; heck, Ican't even get up on time right now. I'm spiraling down because I can't actually achieve my dreams of writing right now. One day, yes, but not now. And of course, we're going to home school the kids - and I'm very excited about it, don't get me wrong - so I won't be able to 'get a break while they are in school'. I am working so hard to establish 'quiet time' where we just all take a 'rest break'. Maybe one day that will work. It works for my DD but my DS1 hates laying there and reading in his bed. Maybe I can make him a special quiet-time book or activity? I don't know. Anyway, I have like a zillion article ideas, and thankfully none are dated, so maybe once dh is working 12 hours and we are out of debt, I can drop my job at the gym (which I do kind of enjoy) and pull out some writing time. I don't know. Maybe I can content myself with my own newsletter. Perhaps it will even pick up into some freelancing work. You know what, if I put out a monthly newsletter, even if it is only two articles and a book review, that is writing. I will be happy with that. In fact, I am going to focus on that. I have some other articles that require interviews that I was considering for publication - I am going to focus full-time on writing for my newsletter, and channel the rest into my contest work and just write for 'fun'. Next year, I will take a look at freelancing as an income, at article writing as an income. It is funny, I generally prefer writing fiction, but I haven't done a lot of fiction over the past year. I can do some research on my book and I will write articles and short stories that way. I am going to revitalize. I am going to make this work. Woohoo! I just had a good idea for good dispersal of gps. Talk about random. Off to do it! |
| I still have no clue what is happening. Every time I think I get it figured out, it changes. My husband is supposed to have Friday as his last day at work before 'moving on' (which meant that he would be trying out his own business next week and see how the street-beating went). Today he tells me that his boss is trying to coordinate with the CEO to get him a raise and move him to the department that will *definitely* (I say this in quotes, with doubt) not be outsourced. Of course, if they offer him a raise and he takes that job, and then is laid off, we will have him doing cable installs and be fine. And/or beating the streets. It just seems like every time we get a game plan, it goes. He suggests that instead, I go out and bring in the business. Very exciting, weren't we discussing this a week or two ago? I am not overly excited about leaving the kids, but if it will keep us in business, and help him finally get there, I don't see many other alternatives. Well, I could stay home and let it go but that means not having him move to his own business, which I'm fine with now but blech long term. Also, if we can get him some wiring jobs, even part time while he works a FT job, we can get some more income going (much needed) and get the debt paid off. All this while hopefully getting rid of our other house. If we could just SELL that house, we would be able to kick another $800/month just towards paying off debt; with side jobs going PT we would be out of debt in two years. And, actually, if the house sold, that would be completely out of debt. BUT, if he can pull in another $1000/month in side jobs and kick out $1500/month in debt, that is...20 months. Okay, see, that is depressing. But I bet he can do more, he made $1500 (after taxes) with this job and it took only a week to do it. And that was while he was working full time. I still hate not knowing where we are going. Alright, well, while scanning a website of free articles in search of an appropriate small business piece, I found one that said a lot of things I agreed with but that I thought would be better focused in my letter. So it looks as though I am going to write another business article for fun, LOL. First, to give full marks on inspiration: http://ezinearticles.com/?Communication-in-the-Workplace-is-Essential-to-Product... I like the thought behind this message; however, I also thought it could be better developed. For instance, email isn't always 'the way to go'. What if the employee does not work at a desk? (think, construction or storefront) I am thinking of slanting a more 'when email is appropriate'/'how email can help or hurt your small business'. Oh, the gym is also a good example of email being a help and a hinderance. Actually, more the internet, but there you go. Shoot, now I have to think about another article, LOL. In the meantime, if dh is NOT canvassing the streets next week, the NL doesn't have to be done; but he could be. We won't find out until tomorrow at the earliest, possibly as late as Friday. So I really should be ready to have him hitting the streets, which means the NL needs to be done. ARGH! My husband is coming home tonight, he is going to take a break. He has worked every night this week, every night but Monday last week, and all day Saturday. He took Sunday off because we don't work on Sunday. But his grandmother 'ran away' (I am not even going to go there) so it was a stressful day. So he is going to take a night off, then work really hard the rest of this week. I am going to "Invalid Item" to brainstorm on my office email article. I like to brainstorm, it makes me feel smart. And organized. And helps with the writing process.Okay, I got the whole article written. I feel motivated. I am going to go scan the public review page and reward some reviewers. Woohoo! Who needs to work, right? |
| Well, I don't have any idea what to tell you, except, maybe, that I only wish I could have a blog as cool as <suser:enga>. You should all read it. "L'aura del Campo" It is far more organized than my poor conglomeration of messiness. I am in between a rock and a hard place. I need to do some work stuff but I don't want to. That's not much of a rock spot is it? I got a lot of work done today, and I have more office work for the gym to do tonight (at least I can watch tv, but I'm going to try to watch the news for ideas; not sure this is altogether effective). I want to write a lovely article just for a nonpaying contest. I already have, like, a zillion leads, but I thought I'd turn out a nice fat cat article, literally. I was watching Anger Management last night and saw the nice plump kitty. Sucker is huge. I thought an article on pet obesity would be nice, especially after a coworker at the gym told me - no joke - she leaves the tv on all day for her cat. ??? What in the world? But I'd have to do a touch of research, and I feel rather blechy on that, too. The problem with this contest - like the problem with most writing.com contests - is that I get so inspired to write that I want to start submitting things and working on getting published again. But I really can't do that right now. That is so time-intensive. I am toying with just writing for 'fun' right now, and then, once things have settled down with dh, go back to submitting stuff. I also have a bunch of work to do for dh. We are having an interesting moment. He does low voltage wiring (in case I didn't tell you, or if you forgot), and he got a big job with a woman who is buying and flipping houses, after completely gutting them. She has two more houses (which should make him more money) for him to do, if all goes well. But, after a conversation at church yesterday, we thought, why not go after the biggest client? That would be professional homebuilders, folks building something like 300 homes a year. If he can get one of those, he can go full-time with his company. So this is his last week at his full-time job. He is thinking about taking a week and beating the streets, knocking at every builders door, until he gets the job(s). I just had a thought...if he could take them a finished newsletter, he would be more apt to stay in the front of their mind, even if they said 'no'. And if he gets their address (or their card), we can continue to send them a newsletter monthly, thus staying there. Do you think I can assemble a newsletter in the course of a week? I have two articles. I was going to go with a spotlight; perhaps I can interview Kent at the gym. Not exactly where I wanted to go with it, but it would be interesting. I wish I could come up with a way to interview Adam Kotter, it would get him some great business. But it would have to be tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest. I also need to write a book review. I am thinking I'll go with the infamous Guerrilla Marketing, perhaps the 90s version. That should give me four pages. I need some filler information...actually, I could probably pull one article off the free pages, which will go ahead and free me up for more attention elsewhere; I'm not sure I want to do a 'why write a newsletter' article right now. Alright, well, I will write up a book review for GM tonight. Then I will interview Kent tomorrow; that will be easy. So I need to think up several questions for the article. I will also look for a secondary article for the newsletter. Tomorrow, I have to call a place about a business card printing. I will ask them about printing up a newsletter, as well. Oh, goody, I just was reminded that Sunday is Father's Day,w hich means working on a craft for a zillion dads. AND now I get to watch a little girl from church for a whopping $4/hour. What a week this will be. |
| Well, I have a plan. I know, don't I say this all the time? I have been looking for a market for my tshirt ladies, and I think I found one. Talk about aiming small - Good Housekeeping. I can do the interview and pitch the article. I have been nosing around online to see what type of market exists, and it is possible that it may only make it online. I am going to hit the library today and pick up a few more copies (I checked my local library and ?? they are out?) so I can read through the magazine. Then somehow I will orchestrate an interview (using the magazine to give me an idea of the types of questions most wanted) with the tshirt ladies. Then, I have another big idea that I think would go over well. No more details for you. But I think it would make for a great pitch that will only work for me (we're talking, semicelebrity interview) if I have a big name behind me. I will have to first call their, um, office? to see if the alleged 'she' does interviews. She may not. I only found one research, and that is with an affiliated television network. The question is whether that is by choice or by overlook. Probably by choice, honestly. But I can hope and pray, and who knows? Maybe everything will work out for me. Anyway, if I find out that she does interviews, then I will go ahead. If not, perhaps I can do a bit of persuading to get the interview. Or begging. I can beg. I beg a lot. Heck, if they tell me on the phone that she doesn't do interviews, I will sit down and write a lovely letter and beg that way. Perhaps that will impress her. Perhaps she will just throw it away, but hey, there you go. Then again, if I can get an interview with someone who generally does not do interviews, well, that would probably be a shoe-in sold article to a bigname magazine, even if GH turns me down. <dreams about sending the *perfect* letter that would make me a sought-after freelance writer> Hey, I'm allowed to dream, right? LOL. I still have the web site goal going - my first site is up - but I am going to have a secondary goal of arranging a tshirt interview by this Friday also (6/16) [the arrangement, not necessarily the interview], and calling to find out of 'Ms. Bigshot' does interviews. Okay, I better go work on dinner. I am totally excited about upcoming plans on all aspects. <goes back to dreaming about being sought-after> |
| It is finally Friday and I am beat! However, I am upbeat because it looks like we are (again) rescheduling the garage sale. DH is bummed because he wants the junk out of his garage but I am happy because I was NOT looking forward to running a garage sale alone with three kids. I guess I am a little sad because I was thinking I could use some of the proceeds to fund my writers market membership. Grrr. Oh well, looks like it will have to wait. In the meantime, I am trying to figure out priorities. I really want to get the website finished. You know what, I am going to use the power of focus. I want the website finished before the newsletter (though obviously the sooner the better), and the newsletter ready to go out the first week of July. So let's work backwards. Goals:  Finish the newsletter by June 23rd, which is when we are going out of town. Just finish typing and organizing it; I will get it printed when we get back into town. Finish the web site by the 16th, which is Friday, a week from today. Broken down, that would bea. Finish the free newsletter website by Saturday (tomorrow) night. b. Finish the business website by Tuesday night. c. Finish the freelance writing website by Thursday night. That would give me one free day. Except I am thinking, maybe I should do the business web site first? Argh. Too bad I have no clue what to say. Okay, I am going to design the newsletter first, I can work on it right now in the 'quiet' time I seem to be enjoying. http://www.writing.com/main/handler/item_id/1115915 Web site up! Stop by and let me know if you want a free newsletter! I'm very excited about it. Now I have to figure out what I want to do with the actual business site, so I can link there from my page. Once I get those two up, I'll go advertise my newsletter on craigslist. In the meantime, I think I'm going to go crash. I was thinking about trying to find a pie crust recipe and make some chocolate pudding and have a pie. But I have never made a pie and I am sort of dead. Too bad I don't have any more whipped cream. That would be grrrrreat! |
| Hi all, yet again, I am thoroughly exhausted. Perhaps it is my insurmountable to do list that lies in front of me like a dying dog, an Appalachian trail of my very own to stagger along in a haze. Perhaps it is because I got up too early (and went to bed too late) this morning, and have gotten a million things accomplished. Maybe it is just because I'm a wimp. My husband is working 60 hours now, which leaves me with the kids all day. No time off until they go to bed at night. They refuse naps, and I can't seem to get them to stay in bed for rest time. I have no idea how to keep my 3 yo DS especially in bed for an hour or two. Nothing works. They stay up too late and I get nothing done after, either. I have to do the newsletter, the web site, some articles. We are having a yard sale - oh wait, he is working, so I am having a yard sale, with three kids, on Saturday. By myself. No clue on how to manage this. My house is a mess but it is supposed to be spotless so I can show it on demand. Next week, I have to go over to our other house and thoroughly clean it from top to bottom. We have to come up with $1400 somehow for fixing the house up to make it show worthy. That is painting inside and out, filling in the sinkhole in the back yard, and some minor work. They can have it completely finished by this weekend. I am of two minds of this. My husband cannot do the work right now. But he can do the work, most of it. The 'must do' is about a thousand dollars (the $1400 is the first part of maybe $3600 worth of work). But our real estate agent has shown the house something like six times since Friday. She is on the ball. I would rather show it spiffy than show it crummy. If dh does the work, it will take forever to get done. The hope is that all this crap will make it sell faster and better. We have to do the paperwork for the IRS. DH's brother is supposed to be getting us an older version of whatever tax program. Then dh has to sit down and figure out what we owe the government. DH says he has to have a $1000 truck or van for his new job, starts in a week and a half. No clue where to find that money either. Come to think of it, the money issue is probably wearing me down. I need to pay the bills, which means I need to project our payments for June (I usually do this by the first of June) but I don't want to see it. But I need to. I know, denial. I checked to make sure everything due with this check is set for autopay, so we are fine there. I'd better go do the bills. <sigh> Okay, the bills are paid, and I figured out the money for the contractor. We have an emergancy fund that should cover the IRS, once we figure out what we owe them. If dh makes money from this job (he should) and gets paid promptly (he should), he can use that to buy a truck (just part of it; part is out for taxes, etc). I am having a time-for-bed moment. I am not hitting my goals but I am trying to keep the house running. DH comes home (after a long day himself) and DD isn't in bed; she keeps getting up. So he gives me this, well, you didn't do the bedtime routine, which involves him sitting up there in the dark for an hour. I have about a zillion things to do, and my dad actually called. I can't just sit up there for an hour on the floor. He sits there and falls asleep but I have all this crap I have to take care of doing. I'm about to burst into tears and all I could say was, you have no idea what kind of day I've had, I don't just come home and get the kids, I've had to deal with them all day and I haven't gotten anything done. He at least had the decency to say, you're right, I don't know, sounds like it was bad, and backed off. Yes, I should have continued his routine, but I can't just sit there in the pitch black dark. For one thing, even if it's an hour, I'll fall asleep. For another, I can't sit there and do nothing for an hour with stuff to do, it makes me CRAZY. For a third, I wore the little monsters out and they should have been asleep. I am trying to remember that he has had a rough day, went in at 8 and left his second job at 8, he hurt his leg last week when he fell through the roof (just his leg) and is going to the doctor tomorrow b/c he is so sore and having trouble walking, etc. He has been good about recognizing all the crap I've been doing and giving me thumbs up. I think I'm just in a sour mood because he actually started the dishwasher when he finished his dinner (rarely happens) so now, after he showers (which he needs) I won't have enough hot water for a shower, which I need to relax because it has been a LOUSY STINKING DAY. We are having a yard sale Saturday, which I'm doing myself because he'll be gone working, and I will be so glad when it is over. And we are using some of that money to eat dinner out, by the way, because I'm not cooking. I'm just going to make plans to die Saturday. My inlaws are supposed to come over for Sunday and I think I'm going to ask to reschedule because I am going to be too dead to do anything. I am so tired. |
| I thought that it was interesting that I can never get anything done while my kids are napping. Perhaps, I thought, I am just frittering away my time. Gosh, I thought, it sure seems to go really fast when the kids are 'napping'. My older two (5-in-July and 3.5) don't nap; they 'rest', which means I traipse up and down the steps putting them back in their bed. We have no set 'end' time. I decided today, thanks to Flylady, to plan to get timers for them (cheap ones) once dh gets paid from this 'big' job. In the meantime, I set the oven timer for 2 hours. Up and down I went, and in 2 hours, I managed to (at the same time, call it multitasking) watch 50 minutes of Tivoed news (The Early Show, so I really was working) and scan one magazine looking for places for clips. I have 6 magazines checked out to research, so I guess I should work harder, huh? Speaking of which, I am going to work on some 'graphic design', which should be fun because I don't have much of a graphic manipulater. Specifically, I want to come up with two logos; one for the business, one for the web page header (more of a font deal for that). Logo first, though. Once I get some options, maybe I will upload them and then put them in a poll to see what the favorite is. DH is, of course, the ultimate decision-maker (well, at least even with me, but more than the w.com folks). Let me think about what I want to convey with the company logo. Basically, we have two jobs we are doing within our company; Michael is doing the wiring work (primary), and I am doing freelance writing (secondary). I'd like to find a way to convey both in the image. Perhaps a lightning bolt? Perhaps the logo could convey the RI (for Redd Infinity), but I'd also like to convey the infinity sign (duh). What if we were "Redd <infinity sign>"? We want to be very customer-service oriented, very punctual. I don't see anything that will help with the writing - but I think that is okay. I have a sketch I like, but I'll have to play with it some more. Alright, I made a few sketches and played around some. I finished one book (one of the fun ones, the writing for money or whatever) last night. I am making good progress on the html. I have no idea how to actually load an image to the web page; don't you have to have it 'on file' or something? I will try uploading one and see what happens. |
| Okay, I found the magazine I used way back when, for teen girls. Brio. Found it online, and got the appropriate name. I am looking at creators of modest t-shirts. I tried searching the 'net for others but didn't seem to find any just shirts; lots of modest clothes, however. I thought if I could find some others - surely there are others - I could branch it out a little more into a larger feature. Now I have to decide whether to go for an article or just a few short fillers. I also have to do everything today...go to the library, make dinner before I leave, and clean the house? I think I'll do all of this while contemplating the joys of my life, and whether or not I can create a larger article. I think I'll write the article, send it to some larger ones, and if I fail there, submit it to some smaller ones. I will write for one magazine and go from there. I will need to do an interview, which will officially be difficult since dh will now be working nights and weekends, and these women all work days. On a side note, dh's business is suddenly taking off; his bid for a job that earns $2k after parts and labor, and should take a week, was accepted. He starts Wednesday. Now I need to escalate the newsletter, which will most likely mean cutting back on my writing otherwise, which means I may net some more writing in other venues, which is good. Woohoo! But I have to actually put the newsletter out, and right now, just the thought of everything I have to do is hurting my gut. I was going to go to the grocery store tonight without the kids but that involves sitting down and cutting out the coupons, and I am too worn out for that, too. To do list: 1. Create web page 2. Put together newsletter. 3. Research Brio magazine and parenting magazine (Parents, Child, Nick Jr., etc) 4. Write fillers. 5. Write for gym newsletter. Then again, I can mark my hours for that, which makes it paid writing. Guarenteed paid writing. Maybe I should do that before I do the filler. I have no idea how to put together the web page. Any tips or suggestions or links would be greatly appreciated. So, my husband is starting his own business. He is going to do cabling installs in the interum, but he got a bid for a $2000 job. It is $2k AFTER parts, just for the labor. It should take him about a week of full-time work to do it, though possibly a bit longer because he will be doing nights and weekends. He is doing wiring, and she already said if he does a good job, she has two more houses for him to do. She buys houses, guts them, and flips them. Can you imagine what would happen if she referred him to one other person and he wound up doing two of these a month? That means working two full weeks a month, he would bring home more than he brings home now (even after we take out for taxes and insurance). If he works two full weeks and has smaller, part time pieces, then he will bring in even more money. That would be nice. I'm nervous about taking the leap at this point, but we have the installer job to fall back on. He can make at least what he is earning now, possibly more, doing that alone. So we will be fine. In the meantime, if he has slow days, I can use them to market. I am thinking our real best client is the real estate handyman flipper. Do we have real estate conventions? The guy next door to us does property flips. Maybe he can put me in touch with some likeminded folks. I have no idea how one would go about finding people like that. But it sounds like those would be even better to market to than the regular small business owner. Our ideal customer, I thought, was a builder, but maybe the small builder is even better. Okay, I'm wrapping up for the night. First, my accountibility (sp?). I did not do any writing today; however, this is what I *did* manage to do. I read the newspaper. I did NOT watch The Early Show, as apparently it did not get Tivoed <grr>, but I set it up to watch tomorrow. I read through the multitude of information I printed off for my 'to submit' article on modest girls clothing, penned a few questions now that I am reviewing everything, and looked on the 'net to see if I could find other similar businesses. I found a few other modest companies but nothing that grabbed my attention in the exact same direction (go modest clothing!). I found out the creators did NOT appear on Ellen, they only visited, so other than the AJC article, they have gotten little to no publicity. Ripe if I can get there first. I need to figure out when a good time to do an interview for me is. Perhaps I can talk to my inlaws about next week (my husband will be working nights every night making the $2k, remember). I also need to come up with a few more questions; I was going for broader questions but I need to figure out the general plan for the article to be more direct. I am not altogether sure this will stand as a major article for a major magazine but I do think it will make for a 1-2 paragraph filler. I also need to get some magazines; I was unable to follow my plan tonight. Perhaps tomorrow night. I worked on learning about web sites so as to create a web page for our company.Right now, should you be interested, I am reading (all at once): Guerrilla Marketing Guerrilla Marketing Online Creating HTML 3.2 Writing for Money The Complete Tightwad Gazette and a marriage book by Gary Smalley I started with GM, which led me to online, but I need something for learning about web pages. The writing one is for 'fun', as with the Tightwad Gazette, and the marriage book I haven't read for a few days now; the rest I have hit within two days at most. I think I'll brainstorm about the gist of the article in "Invalid Item" . I will give myself...ten minutes to wander, and maybe that will help me focus. Then, off to bed. |
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