Around an hour ago, I sent my husband a text message saying I was concerned about my workload for the week. A regular client of mine hadn't sent over any new projects in more than a week, and I was starting to wonder if the overwhelming amount of work I received last week was just a fluke. You see, I am absolutely bound and determined to make writing from home as a freelancer into my career. I have never wanted to write/edit any more than I do now, and I feel like I have finally come to terms with the fact that this is what I want to spend my life doing. I don't want to work a job in a cubicle that I'm unhappy with or have to wake up ridiculously early for or drive in rush hour traffic to get to - I am content with my home office and writing or editing from the comforts of my home. I want nothing more than for others to read what I have to say or be impacted by what I write.
I also love to edit and proofread. Even if I can do some editing work on the side to get myself started, my ultimate goal is to do more editing work than I do writing. (Of course, at some point, I do want to accomplish my goal of having a book published. I just have to figure out how to write one first).
At any rate, not more than 15 minutes after my text message complaint, that very same regular client I mentioned sent me a content request for seven more articles. (They've never sent over more than three at a time).
Then, I heard back from one of the many ebook publishing firms I'd e-mailed about editing work not more than ten minutes ago with how to get started editing for them.
Just when I started to worry, everything worked out.
Lesson to self: Quit worrying all the time. It will all work out just fine in the end! Oh, and prayers do get answered.
So, despite this miserable "spring" day in Wisconsin, where I can hear sleet tapping away at the patio door and sirens raging down the street to aide those who didn't drive quite slow enough on the slippery roads, where the high temperature for today is a whopping 33 degrees, and where I just heard booming thunder outside, I will continue writing AND editing from the comforts of my home with a giant smile on my face. I never thought I could make a living doing what I love...yet, here I am. It doesn't get any better than that.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Goodreads: Where Have You Been All My Life?
Recently, I stumbled upon a delightful website called Goodreads. I'm not entirely sure how I ended up there - maybe a friend posted something on Facebook or Twitter? Regardless, I immediately decided this was my new favorite website. In fact, as someone with an English degree, I can't believe I never knew about it before!
Basically, Goodreads is a website you can use to keep track of every book you have ever read or want to read. Then, once you've completed the book, you are able to rate it and write a review. It has a ton of great features, including an app for my phone, polls you can vote in about books, and a way to set a goal for yourself on how many books you are going to read throughout the year. (I set mine for 20. I didn't join until last month). Then, it will even keep track of how far along you are when it comes to your goal. (You can scroll to the bottom of the page to monitor my progress).
I only have four friends on Goodreads, but you know, that's okay. I'm sure there will be more eventually, and it isn't like Facebook, where I feel like people all have competitions to see how many friends they can get. Goodreads is just a great place to share books you've read and loved (or hated) and get some new recommendations on what to read from your friends and peers.
If you're the type of person that loves to read as much as I do, you simply have to join this site. I am someone who likes to set goals, and I do so much better with achieving them when they are in writing somewhere. What better way to get back into my habit of reading books like crazy than to have an actual graphic that reminds me I'm behind where I should be? (13% at the moment). Just make sure that if you do join, turn that whole connect to Facebook feature off. I missed unchecking one little box, and suddenly, all the books from the Pretty Little Liars series showed up as books I wanted to read on my Facebook wall, among others. (Woops). Talk about embarrassing...
Basically, Goodreads is a website you can use to keep track of every book you have ever read or want to read. Then, once you've completed the book, you are able to rate it and write a review. It has a ton of great features, including an app for my phone, polls you can vote in about books, and a way to set a goal for yourself on how many books you are going to read throughout the year. (I set mine for 20. I didn't join until last month). Then, it will even keep track of how far along you are when it comes to your goal. (You can scroll to the bottom of the page to monitor my progress).
I only have four friends on Goodreads, but you know, that's okay. I'm sure there will be more eventually, and it isn't like Facebook, where I feel like people all have competitions to see how many friends they can get. Goodreads is just a great place to share books you've read and loved (or hated) and get some new recommendations on what to read from your friends and peers.
If you're the type of person that loves to read as much as I do, you simply have to join this site. I am someone who likes to set goals, and I do so much better with achieving them when they are in writing somewhere. What better way to get back into my habit of reading books like crazy than to have an actual graphic that reminds me I'm behind where I should be? (13% at the moment). Just make sure that if you do join, turn that whole connect to Facebook feature off. I missed unchecking one little box, and suddenly, all the books from the Pretty Little Liars series showed up as books I wanted to read on my Facebook wall, among others. (Woops). Talk about embarrassing...
Monday, April 11, 2011
Recovering from Illness
The past week-and-a-half has been pretty rough around our household. My husband came down with a whomping sinus infection, which I swiftly managed to catch as well. While the biggest benefit of working from home is easily that I am able to stay home whenever I am sick, it also means that even while I'm sick, I still have to get work done. So, my home office became the couch pretty much all of last week. I would nap, write an article if I could muster the energy or spare a bit of time in between blowing my endlessly dripping nose, and take another nap. Not exactly ideal working conditions.
Thankfully, this week, I am pretty much back to my old self - for the most part. Now, if I can just teach myself some better time management skills, I will be well on my way to success. You see, working from home comes with a line of distractions. First of all, there are Facebook and Twitter. I have a rotten obsession with checking these websites over and over throughout the day - I always think I'm going to miss something important. Or, I'm procrastinating on my work, and I just feel like poking around to see what's going on. Or, I'm trying to log onto Facebook at just the right time to answer a Georgetown Cupcake trivia question and win a free dozen of cupcakes shipped right to my door. Woops. So, there's that whole problem that obviously needs some attention. The second problem is my overflowing DVR. It just bothers me knowing the amount of recordings I have sitting there, just patiently waiting to be watched. I hate to fall behind, and since I write about TV shows for examiner.com, I do a pretty decent job of keeping up with most shows regularly. It's the shows I don't write about that I struggle with leaving sit there, recorded and un-watched. I try to limit myself - maybe just a couple episodes a day to catch up, but then that turns into more, and before I know it, I've wasted two hours I can't get back because I became obsessed with clearing the DVR. Then, there's the whole keeping the house clean aspect. Due to my clogged head and lack of ambition last week, I am way behind on chores. A mound of dishes, a kitchen floor in need of a good Swiffer, a bedroom that could use a good dusting, a bathroom that could use a cleaning, and piles of unorganized messes lying about from me moving my office around and not taking care of the mail. Needless to say, the place is a mess. I like a clean working environment, and it's hard to ignore the mess and get work done anyway.
Today, I must admit - I did pretty well to start. I didn't set my alarm because I took medicine for my cold last night before bed and hoped a good night of sleep would finally kick this awful thing to to curb. Well, that was a bad idea. I heard them collecting the garbage from the communal bins at our condo around 8:30, when I was going to get up, but fell back to sleep until almost 10:00. Not the best way to start the day off productively. I still managed to crank out a couple projects before lunch, but since then, my attention span has been dwindling. Again, I will be forced to get more work done tonight, probably until I go to bed. But, you know what I continually notice? I am most productive during the evening hours. I guess that's okay, but I sure would feel better if I could just get more accomplished during the daytime instead. Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator, I suppose.
With my husband being gone pretty much all of today/tonight, home for a short while, then gone all day tomorrow/tomorrow night, I am confident I will get plenty of work completed so that when his day off rolls around on Wednesday, we can take our healthy selves out and do something fun for a change. The only time I've left the house in the last week was to go see the movie Arthur last night - that's sad. But, when you're that sick, what can you do?
I'm setting some new goals for myself. I'm going back to setting an alarm as of tomorrow, I am going to get through all of the work I have on my plate by tomorrow night when I go to bed, and now that I don't get dizzy every time I stand up, I am going to start playing the Wii games I was using to work out regularly again. I was doing so well prior to this massive sinus infection!
What do you do to overcome procrastination habits or find motivation? Leave a comment below!
Thankfully, this week, I am pretty much back to my old self - for the most part. Now, if I can just teach myself some better time management skills, I will be well on my way to success. You see, working from home comes with a line of distractions. First of all, there are Facebook and Twitter. I have a rotten obsession with checking these websites over and over throughout the day - I always think I'm going to miss something important. Or, I'm procrastinating on my work, and I just feel like poking around to see what's going on. Or, I'm trying to log onto Facebook at just the right time to answer a Georgetown Cupcake trivia question and win a free dozen of cupcakes shipped right to my door. Woops. So, there's that whole problem that obviously needs some attention. The second problem is my overflowing DVR. It just bothers me knowing the amount of recordings I have sitting there, just patiently waiting to be watched. I hate to fall behind, and since I write about TV shows for examiner.com, I do a pretty decent job of keeping up with most shows regularly. It's the shows I don't write about that I struggle with leaving sit there, recorded and un-watched. I try to limit myself - maybe just a couple episodes a day to catch up, but then that turns into more, and before I know it, I've wasted two hours I can't get back because I became obsessed with clearing the DVR. Then, there's the whole keeping the house clean aspect. Due to my clogged head and lack of ambition last week, I am way behind on chores. A mound of dishes, a kitchen floor in need of a good Swiffer, a bedroom that could use a good dusting, a bathroom that could use a cleaning, and piles of unorganized messes lying about from me moving my office around and not taking care of the mail. Needless to say, the place is a mess. I like a clean working environment, and it's hard to ignore the mess and get work done anyway.
Today, I must admit - I did pretty well to start. I didn't set my alarm because I took medicine for my cold last night before bed and hoped a good night of sleep would finally kick this awful thing to to curb. Well, that was a bad idea. I heard them collecting the garbage from the communal bins at our condo around 8:30, when I was going to get up, but fell back to sleep until almost 10:00. Not the best way to start the day off productively. I still managed to crank out a couple projects before lunch, but since then, my attention span has been dwindling. Again, I will be forced to get more work done tonight, probably until I go to bed. But, you know what I continually notice? I am most productive during the evening hours. I guess that's okay, but I sure would feel better if I could just get more accomplished during the daytime instead. Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator, I suppose.
With my husband being gone pretty much all of today/tonight, home for a short while, then gone all day tomorrow/tomorrow night, I am confident I will get plenty of work completed so that when his day off rolls around on Wednesday, we can take our healthy selves out and do something fun for a change. The only time I've left the house in the last week was to go see the movie Arthur last night - that's sad. But, when you're that sick, what can you do?
I'm setting some new goals for myself. I'm going back to setting an alarm as of tomorrow, I am going to get through all of the work I have on my plate by tomorrow night when I go to bed, and now that I don't get dizzy every time I stand up, I am going to start playing the Wii games I was using to work out regularly again. I was doing so well prior to this massive sinus infection!
What do you do to overcome procrastination habits or find motivation? Leave a comment below!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Baseball Season Has Arrived
Baseball has been my favorite sport for about as long as I can remember. My mom was always a huge fan, and from little on, watching Milwaukee Brewers games at home on television, going to Brewers games at County Stadium or Miller Park, or playing softball at family functions were regular occurrences. I remember sitting in our apartment, eating pretzel rods, and swinging them around like baseball bats while my mom laughed and scolded me for getting crumbs on the carpet.
Once I got a bit older, I quickly chose my two favorite players - Jeff Cirillo and Mark Loretta. I became obsessed. I had their bios memorized, I knew their birthdays, and I even named my Ken dolls after them. I met Jeff when I was in the fourth grade at a car dealership about 20 minutes away from our house. I got his autograph and a quick picture taken with him, and I told my mom I never wanted to wash my shirt again, since he'd put his arm around my waist in the picture. Trade rumors started to circulate, and I swiftly sent a letter in the mail off to Wendy Selig-Prieb, telling her how upset I would be if they traded Jeff. To my surprise, she replied with a short letter telling me they valued Jeff's talents and .324 batting average. He was later traded to the Colorado Rockies. Although I was disappointed, I still had Mark Loretta to get me by.
Since Jeff was gone, I turned into a whole-hearted Mark Loretta fan. I was all over those Milwaukee Brewers message boards, and when one negative comment was mentioned, I jumped on it to defend him. Before I knew it, Mark's cousin, Maria, sent me a message thanking me for standing up for him and that she appreciated it. She mentioned he had a younger brother who looked just like him, only with red hair. I decided if I was too young for the already married Mark, at least one day, I could aspire to marry his brother. Because I was wondering if Maria was for real, I sent Mark a letter. Again, to my surprise, he responded with a short card thanking me for my defense of him on the message boards and confirming he did indeed have a cousin named Maria. I was tickled. I took that card and plopped it in a frame right away. When the opportunity presented itself, I made him a happy birthday sign and took it along to a Brewers game I attended on his birthday with my mom, aunt, and uncle. He waved and tipped his cap to me, and I was told by a fellow fan I had been on TV with my sign. Life was good.
Much to my dismay, one August night, as I perused the Internet, an article came to my attention: Mark Loretta had been traded to the Houston Astros. This one hurt. I burst into tears, ran downstairs, flung open the side door, and sobbed to my parents and grandparents that my beloved Mark Loretta had been traded. (They all actually thought someone had died, the way I carried on and on).
So, with Mark and Jeff having gone to other teams, the time came to choose a new favorite. The player I chose was later traded. Jeff did come back for a short stint with the Brewers, but since his second departure, I have been without an official favorite. Now that Mark and Jeff have each retired, I can't help feeling like something is missing when I watch Brewers games. It just isn't as exciting without someone in particular to root for. I hate to choose a pitcher because they don't play everyday, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder are pretty much everyone's favorites - aside from them, the options of someone "good" are limited. This season, it has become my mission to find a new favorite player. I know that Mark and Jeff and all of my good memories can never be replaced, but watching games just isn't the same without a favorite.
Last summer, a friend called and asked if I wanted to help her volunteer at the Jeff Cirillo Charity Golf Classic. Of course, I went along, and it brought back all of my old gleeful feelings again. I got my picture taken with the now-divorced Jeff, (now that I'm married, of course he becomes available! haha), and may or may not have have spent a majority of the day driving around in a golf cart in search of him, but it reminded me how much fun it was to have a favorite baseball player I couldn't wait to see. At least if I can't find someone in particular to root for, I can cherish all of my adolescent memories in the meantime.
Once I got a bit older, I quickly chose my two favorite players - Jeff Cirillo and Mark Loretta. I became obsessed. I had their bios memorized, I knew their birthdays, and I even named my Ken dolls after them. I met Jeff when I was in the fourth grade at a car dealership about 20 minutes away from our house. I got his autograph and a quick picture taken with him, and I told my mom I never wanted to wash my shirt again, since he'd put his arm around my waist in the picture. Trade rumors started to circulate, and I swiftly sent a letter in the mail off to Wendy Selig-Prieb, telling her how upset I would be if they traded Jeff. To my surprise, she replied with a short letter telling me they valued Jeff's talents and .324 batting average. He was later traded to the Colorado Rockies. Although I was disappointed, I still had Mark Loretta to get me by.
Since Jeff was gone, I turned into a whole-hearted Mark Loretta fan. I was all over those Milwaukee Brewers message boards, and when one negative comment was mentioned, I jumped on it to defend him. Before I knew it, Mark's cousin, Maria, sent me a message thanking me for standing up for him and that she appreciated it. She mentioned he had a younger brother who looked just like him, only with red hair. I decided if I was too young for the already married Mark, at least one day, I could aspire to marry his brother. Because I was wondering if Maria was for real, I sent Mark a letter. Again, to my surprise, he responded with a short card thanking me for my defense of him on the message boards and confirming he did indeed have a cousin named Maria. I was tickled. I took that card and plopped it in a frame right away. When the opportunity presented itself, I made him a happy birthday sign and took it along to a Brewers game I attended on his birthday with my mom, aunt, and uncle. He waved and tipped his cap to me, and I was told by a fellow fan I had been on TV with my sign. Life was good.
Much to my dismay, one August night, as I perused the Internet, an article came to my attention: Mark Loretta had been traded to the Houston Astros. This one hurt. I burst into tears, ran downstairs, flung open the side door, and sobbed to my parents and grandparents that my beloved Mark Loretta had been traded. (They all actually thought someone had died, the way I carried on and on).
So, with Mark and Jeff having gone to other teams, the time came to choose a new favorite. The player I chose was later traded. Jeff did come back for a short stint with the Brewers, but since his second departure, I have been without an official favorite. Now that Mark and Jeff have each retired, I can't help feeling like something is missing when I watch Brewers games. It just isn't as exciting without someone in particular to root for. I hate to choose a pitcher because they don't play everyday, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder are pretty much everyone's favorites - aside from them, the options of someone "good" are limited. This season, it has become my mission to find a new favorite player. I know that Mark and Jeff and all of my good memories can never be replaced, but watching games just isn't the same without a favorite.
 |
| My friend, Jeff Cirillo, and I |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)