the true meaning of Christmas

My favorite presents this Christmas weren't things I got, although between Christmas and my "early" birthday gifts (my birthday is New Year's Eve), I made out just fine.

This is a ThingMaker, originally made circa 1967. It was Scooter's favorite toy as a child. After I found this out in an internet "holiday quiz" a week before Christmas, I conspired with two friends to buy one for her. Several Ebay auctions and rush postage payments later, we surprised her with it over pizza and wings on Saturday.

I've never been very good at surprise gifts, so I am pleased at myself for being able to pull it off (with a lot of help). But the look on her face when she opened the present, and all the memories it unleashed for her--that was priceless.

Will I feel the same way when we move into our townhouse and she's cooking up melted plastic creatures in our kitchen? I don't know, but for now it's been the most holiday fun I've had in a long, long time.

The other holiday joy, of course, was the grandson. He's 17 months, and just old enough to thoroughly enjoy the season without getting really attached to it. Here he is with his beloved balloons, brought to him by Scooter on Christmas morning.

And here he is with baby's first power tools--his daddy got him a toy circular saw (pictured) and a toy chainsaw. Note the maniacal gleam in his eye. :)

And here he is resting after his gift-opening labors.

marching in the parade of scary photos

I've been digging through the old boxes in my garage in preparation for my move to a new townhouse (on which construction has come to a screeching halt, Scooter tells me, but that's a whole 'nuther story). So we get to see Lizmos of yesteryear, along with a few friends.

Here I am (on the right) with my sisters at my eldest sister's high school graduation. I'm not sure what sort of medication or chocolate was offered to get me into that long dress, but obviously it worked. This is the good life in my suburban hometown, circa 1977.

Here I am in 1986 with my junior prom date. I think he really dug me. I dug him because I wasn't intimidated by him. Sigh...he was a really nice guy and I always wonder what happened to him after college.

Finally, here we are in 1987 and I am about to graduate. That's Lobster on my left. Way too much to go into about how we know each other...it's just a cute photo. We both loved jazz, so standing in front of the drums seems appropriate, even if neither of us play them.

I found plenty more, but haven't had time to scan them in. So I'll probably comment on my excavations of the past. Suffice it to say it's been like Christmas morning, a therapy session and an archaeological dig all rolled into one. :)

back from oblivion

So, three months have passed and I've thought about blogging many times, but not done an entry. Or maybe I've spent more time wondering why I wasn't blogging.
It's not like I wouldn't have company if I continued the hiatus indefinitely. Yorkist Rose has gone "off the air," as has Dream Big and in all likelihood Blast 'o Joy.
Midwest Rock Lobster soldiers on, as does everyone's favorite lesbian Pez fanatic AP3.
Being worn out most nights after work definitely has played a role in my silence, as has feeling at a loss about what was "safe" to write about. I think I have done almost as much as I can in "covert" blogging mode.
I'm thinking about having a more public blog tied to my most recent freelance interest, in becoming a creativity coach. Long-term readers (all three of you) will remember last summer I put myself in the helpful hands of a coach, and as I continued to avail myself of a coach's services, I've had some real improvements in my ability to create. And besides: it's an opportunity to hang out with creative people all day, study my favorite topic (creativity-related topics explain about 90 percent of my interest in psychology) and provide a neat peg to hang my aspirations to run a workshop/speaking/writing empire on. You can learn more about the field in general here.

sweating and spending

We're deep in the Phoenix mid-summer blast furnace, or sweatshop, I guess I should say. Most years, the weather shifts from hellish hot and dry to hellish hot and humid. In a way it's sort of comforting, because it's a little like summers in the midwest, where I grew up. Except it rarely stays above a hundred degrees every day all summer in Kansas (well, at least for now--give global warming a couple of decades...).

I'm still plugging away at freelancing. I agreed to do a travel piece (enticing people into coming here, not jetting off to a cooler locale) for the local convention and visitors bureau, and so I'm checking things out on that side of town before I write the piece. I've got another IABC newsletter piece to finish and edit, which will then get recycled into something I pitch to another (for-pay) writing magazine.

I've got a couple of pro bono things cooking, too. I'm advising a local charity on their publicity efforts, and I volunteered (no, insisted) that I shoot a video documentary of my parents' 50th wedding anniversary party, which took place in late June. As I load the footage onto the computer to edit it, I'll try to load some stills onto the blog for my circle of a half-dozen readers to enjoy.

The trip back to Kansas City was fun, if brief. Scooter couldn't come, so that was sad. But I was there just long enough to enjoy an unusually cool (80 degrees) weekend, take a couple of walks through the old 'hood, and enjoy the party and a Sunday evening dinner at my sister's house in Spring Hill. If I'd been there any longer I would have missed Scooter too much--and when I got home, I would have missed my hometown too much. Three days was just enough.

Our next magazine issue at work will feature a special section on our university's president. Writing about your boss's boss's boss is always sort of a minefield. But we'll do our best, and see how it goes. :)

Ok, maybe I'm not such a naughty blogger.

Good old Cyberjournalist.net, coming to the rescue to cover my laggardly blogging booty with this article about "Why Blog Post Frequency Does Not Matter Anymore."

I doubt that I'm so much Web 3.0 (whatever that means) as I am just typical. It seems everyone wants to play with their new blog-toy when they first set it up, but eventually has to attend to work, family or simple exhaustion and sacrifice daily posts.

Well, when I'm not avoiding blogging, I'm actually sending things to editors. I'm really pleased with the momentum I've gotten from my freelancing. I've got a huge backlog of writing-instruction type articles/article ideas to pitch to everyone from Writer's Digest to your local IABC chapter newsletter, I've made friends with the editor of my alma mater's alumni magazine (editing one myself proved to be a lovely way to start the conversation...) and plan to start pitching ideas at her until she assigns me one to write, and I'm starting to assemble some of the writing instruction stuff into a workshop.

I'm also still doing resumes for my client, although that's moving a little slower than last month. Still, I'm not complaining...

Oh, and that day job? Still assigning myself too many articles to write for the next issue. There's just too damn many fun things going on at my employer to give them all away to freelancers.

If you notice that I haven't mentioned much about the rest of my life, it feels like life in Phoenix in the summer is on hold--or simmer, I'm not sure which. Scooter and I went swimming at our friend's house last night and managed not to get blistering sunburns ala last July. The grandson is cute and adorable and talking and walking more and more.

That's all for now... :)

naughty blogger

Boy, have I been bad about blogging...
I should probably apologize personally to the half-dozen or so people that I believe check this blog occasionally for signs of life. I'm fine. Been busy, the heat in Phoenix is now cranked up to "bake" (115 degrees today), and I just don't spend a lot of time on the computer at home, unless I'm doing freelance work on the weekends.
I've had some successes on the freelance front. An old client (old meaning I've worked for her on and off since 2000, not that SHE's old) has given me some resume-writing and editing work for her company. I prepare candidate resumes when she's ready to sell a client on this person as being THE solution for a project they need done. It's been great fun. And it's paid well.
Several freelance pitches have gotten at least nibbles. I'm still grinding away at Echo, doing their column once a month. I did an article on women's music festivals in May and that was both easy and fun. Bright Livelihood has sort of reached a sticking point--I'm struggling to name newspapers to pitch the idea to. So I've focused more on plotting the editor-to-writing-coach strategy (through building up a portfolio of clips on how to write, doing more editing projects, etc.) and less on my "creative career design" column--for now.
That's enough news for now. Just wanted you all to know I'm still kicking. :)

baby's first easter

It's been quite a while since I posted photos of Scooter's grandson. He's nine months old now and is cruising up a storm.

He's got six teeth, although we were concerned two of them (the front top two!) were in jeopardy after he pulled the piano bench on top of himself the other day. He ended up being ok.

The bench was exiled to the garage of Scooter's daughter's house immediately.

question exhaustion--especially your own

I'm back. It would be a pleasant fiction to say I consciously put this blog on the back burner. It's more like I sort of blanked it out of existence for a couple of weeks. Simply too tired to even look at other blogs, much less post to mine. :)

The "writing on the bus" strategy is going well. I won't say it beats being able to create in a non-mobile environment, but it cuts through my tendency to wait until...later...to complete a project and put unnecessary pressure on myself to finish.

I've never thought of myself as a procrastinator, so I'm a pretty messy one. No glorious excuses, proud affirmations of my style, or blaming others for my disorganization. Just muffled whining and crying about the shame of it all.

I'm starting a short project today editing resumes for an old client of mine who places technical writers and instructional designers in temporary jobs. The gig pays well, and can be done in little bite-size segments, so I'm happy.

I had set myself a deadline for getting my sales package for Bright Livelihood (the column) together by Easter, and I met it. I'm fiddling with editing and presentation, but probably need to set another deadline to make sure I start sending it out.

I've got a couple of other query type things to do after I get this other stuff rolling. The query a week plan is still on hold, but not permanently.