Vegan Momma

Yesterday I was contacted by an editor for one of the websites where I write. There is a big technology event coming up in July its being held in New York City. It’s a closed event, invitation only. The invites are being extended to those within the media.

The technology gadgets being showcased haven’t even been released yet. They will hit the stores this fall. You know I’m really hating out this opportunity. It’s a great chance to get a first hand look at products that won’t be released, mingle with the fabulous people behind the gadgets, and of course interact with others in media. I know I would have gotten some great stories for that website, and hopefully I would have been able to sell a few of them.

If I had attended this would have been the first time that I would have been separated from my daughter. I would have flown into New York City, spending the night at one of the downtown hotels. I also would have dragged my buddy D along for the adventure. There’s nothing romantic about our relationship. I do consider him a great friend. We get along very well, and I honestly cannot think of someone I would rather spend my time with (outside of my daughter) while in NYC. I don’t have a problem mingling with strangers, I actually enjoy doing that, it would have been nice to have someone to party with after the event was over.

Question: What are some events that you missed that you wished you could have attended?

[tags]freelance writing, media, technology[/tags]

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My freelance writing jobs is going very well. I’m getting into a great routine and am not spending nearly as much time writing as I used to in the beginning. I guess that means I’m making progress, right? This means I’m able to spend more time with Aiyana of course she loves that immensely. I don’t visit my blog buddies as much because I spend part of my online time responding to the comments left on the professional blogs that I write for. I do miss my blog buddies and try to drop by when I can.

My skin care business is going well. At times its hard to believe I’ve had it for over six years. December 8, 2008 will mark two years that I’ve been a full-time business owner. When I’m creating skin care products for my business Aiyana is usually right there helping me she thinks it is fun. I couldn’t agree with her more even as a child I would make products; of course, my products mainly consisted of water, lotions, and sneaking ingredients from the kitchen cabinet like vanilla, and lemon. They did smell heavenly.

Although I worked out yesterday I did not work out with D. I forgot that Aiyana had an early appointment at the school. That’s what I get for forgetting to mark it on my iCal.

The good news is D called me earlier this morning and we’ll be hanging out this evening. There is a carnival that is in town and I promised Aiyana I would take her. D has a daughter that is 12 years old. Aiyana loves her and is excited that she will get the chance to hang out with her “big friend” later today. I’m excited because it will be able to hang out with Aiyana and the two D’s (his daughter’s name begins with a D also.) Naturally I’ll be taking pictures.

So why did I include the video Summertime by Will Smith & DJ Jazzy Jeff? Next week Aiyana and I will be heading to South Carolina for the annual family reunion. We both are looking forward to it. The video reminds me of the family get togethers. Of course, I’ll be bringing along my MacBook Pro. I still have classes, and naturally I’ll be writing.

Question: Besides work (which keep us all busy) does anyone else have plans for the day? How about the upcoming holiday?

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Aiyana has been pestering me off and on for weeks about Mac. I mistakenly told her I would be updating my 17″ MacBook Pro later this year. Although I have an HP dv6000t that she has claimed as hers and calls it Zizzy (don’t) tell me how she came about that name. She still wants mommies computer.

Aiyana: So, mommy when can I have your computer
Me: Won’t be for several months Pooh, I’m never an early switcher, besides the major update for MacBook Pros won’t be coming out until later this summer. I’ll get one in October.
Aiyana: Oh, so about how many weeks before I can use yours?
Me: (laughing) You’re not going to let up are you?

When I purchased my 17″ MacBook Pro in 2006, I originally was going to sell it once I replaced it. I have the original box it came in but now, forget about it. I’ll keep it. It’s an old friend, and I definitely would miss it if it were gone. I have all intentions of passing it down to my daughter but first I’ll need to upgrade.

In other news…
Within the next few months I’ll be starting to do interviews at some of the websites I write for, I know some of my blog buddies are Mac users so don’t be surprised if I ask some of you for an interview. It shouldn’t be a bad tradeoff, high profile website, lots of traffic (over 22k in the RSS feed) so you most likely will have some readers stopping by your spot. ;-)

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A few days ago I was sitting down thinking of how I should express my opinion on a certain topic. This new technical writing position differs from the other technical blog writing jobs I have in that the owner likes the writers to write their opinions. It’s different from what I’m used to but I really like it. If you think about it, we all have an opinion. It’s how we express them that can be challenging.

I continued to sit, but nothing was coming to me. My problem was I was too thinking about how should I express an opinion on a subject. I forgot to just start writing about it. Also, part of me wondered how my opinion on a certain subject would go over on the audience.

I’m not writing to an audience of causal Mac users. A large majority of the readers are power users. The audience is predominately male. I’m one of the only females on board. I don’t find that intimidating. I’m used to working with a lot of males. In fact, I have more males and friends and acquaintances than females. It’s not what I actively chose, but it has worked out that way.

The majority of the readers work extensively with Macs, have their own business that focuses on Apple technology, are developers, and the list goes on. To say they are knowledgeable would be an understatement. The more I thought about the more I realized that well yeah so do I. I’ve read a lot about Apple technology. Why am I letting that stop me? How silly of me, right? But, there you have it I was letting my “fear” hold me back. It’s a high trafficked website over 21,000+ from the RSS feed alone. That’s pretty impressive or it can be intimidating. It’s all in how you look at it.

You want to know something? When I forgot about all the extra nonsense and just wrote down my thoughts it was easy. Reviewing what I wrote I turned it into an article, hit “Submit for review” (the website has an editor) and I felt relieved.

You know when you’ve “hit something out of the ballpark”, and I knew had accomplished that with this article. There is nothing wrong with being confident in your abilities. Do you know what? Out of the articles, I’ve written on that website that one has received the most comments. I stated my opinion, gave my reasons, and I also opened it up to the readers to share theirs. The feedback has been great.

I really like reading a good opinion piece. I read them all the time. It’s a pity that I put so many roadblocks up to prevent me from writing one. I recently ordered the book Writing Opinion for Impact by Conrad Fink. I had read great reviews about the book also his opening sentence drew me. Conrad says, “The first thing to learn in opinion writing is that you must unlearn one thing probably central to your idea of what a journalist is all about.” “You’ve picked it up in journalism courses. A journalist must stay out of the story, stay objective, stay dispassionate. Right?” What a way to start a book, eh? It drew me in.

Regarding writing, that piece I took what I knew and applied it to my article. Forgetting about all the nonsense that was running around in my head was an important lesson, at times we hold ourselves back from completing things because of our own fears. You’ve got to move past them, or they can hold you back.

Question: In writing, for your blog or elsewhere, what has been your hardest challenge? How did you get past it?

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It’s always nice when you are reading about others who are going through similar experiences as yourself. Yes, at times I do feel guilty working from the home. My daughter still does not completely understand what I do, although she sees me working for hours on my MacBook Pro, or in the kitchen creating products for my business in her mind she still comes first and I always try to accommodate her however, there are many times that playtime has to be put on hold because…well I need to work.

I could go on about the challenges I face at times, for example how some family members don’t seem to get that working at home does not mean I’m sitting on my butt chatting with buddies online, trust me I’m not. I’m actually gasps working! Or explaining to my mother that I cannot always play with Aiyana when she wants to play because gasps, I work! However, I do my best to accommodate my daughter because I know the time I have with her regardless of its length will always be too short for me. I’ll always want to be with her. Even when she drives me nuts, and yes I know I drive her nuts too. ;-)

I have to say for myself, working out of the home was a piece of cake compared to working within my home. Nope, I’m not having trouble staying motivated. Trust me that has rarely been a problem however at times it is difficult to juggle spending adequate time with my daughter and spending the appropriate time it takes to complete my work. I think I’ll write about this in more detail at my writing blog.

I stopped by freelance writing gigs earlier today and really enjoyed reading the post written by Annie Mueller titled Imperfect but Complete. It’s an excellent post, and I enjoyed reading it. I also enjoyed reading the thoughts by those who commented.
Stay positive working work at home parents, you are not alone. Cheers!

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