 Here we are, mid-November, and 2012 is working diligently to dash away from us day-by-day, and it just so happens that my New Year's resolution is stalking me.
...Maybe haunting me is a better phrase; regardless it's looming and the clock is ticking.
Normally I'm not one to rock the New Year's resolution - it's always seemed silly if not totally pointless, given that most of them fall by the wayside before January gives way to February. Heck, two weeks in (okay, two days) and you're hearing people bemoan their broken New Year's promise. But this year I thought, I can totally do a writing-related resolution, with the odds in my favor for following through.
...Yeah, totally.
So, in the early days of 2012, I resolved that I would submit at least one article to a national publication. {Crickets chirping} Well, here we are, November 17, 2012, and I can't even tell you the last time I scoped out the writer's guidelines for such a publication. Around mid-year I consoled myself with my complete lack of follow through by submitting a piece to Chicken Soup for the Soul. That's something, right? Yet in my heart of hearts I knew that's not what I was aiming for. I do love a loophole, though...
With just over 40 days left in the year (which is crazy talk, I might add), there's still time, so here's hoping that putting this little tidbit of my fractured resolution out there, follow through will soon be coming my way.
I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, how did your New Year's resolutions fare this year? And if you've got a New Year's resolution that met failure in the most epic of ways, you know we want to hear about it. Ready...Set...Share!
 Here we are, well into the first month of this new year and changes are on the horizon in my land. I am officially the mama of a five-year-old (you already know how I feel about that), which means...Bum bum buuuum! Kindergarten this fall. For me, kindergarten means more than not dissolving into one ginormous, soggy pile at that first kindergarten drop-off...Or, you know, the first week of drop-offs. No, it also marks the time in which I have to make some decisions about my future as a grown up person and not just a mom. No way would I trade these last five years at home with my girl, but now I'm not terribly inclined to return to the work-life I was sure I couldn't give up when I was pregnant with her. Pssh. (Again, can I just say, why does kindergarten have to be a full day?!) But I digress. At the moment it would seem that the perfect solution is almost too perfectly about to be dropped into my lap. A part-time job that would make some of the other hats that I wear flow a little more smoothly, plus still allow me to follow this writing dream. I'm oddly inclined to throw a "Boom Baby!" out there at that. I know, don't say it, I'm special. So it's not writing full-time, but it's a step - hopefully - in the right-ish direction. With that new adventure in the works, I've also got certain writing projects going and processing that I'm excited about further developing. Including with Simply Family Magazine, who last year further developed their website to make it more of a destination place for parents to go to get info on things, as such, Simply Baby, Simply Teen, and Simply Thrifty were born on the site. And I'm a part of that, though I haven't written as much - yet. It's coming, I promise. It's just all part of figuring out the balance/juggling game. So, if you're interested, wander my way, in the land of SFM, where I am known as, Simply Becca. Kinda fun, right? Speaking of Simply Becca if you've got some parenting things that you would love to see covered, please shoot me an email for consideration. Keep an eye out for a tab to develop here for easy access to those works once I really get the ball rolling there. Thanks for taking this ride with me!
 Check out the 'Simply Family' online: click on the photo. I'm excited to share that I got my first cover story with Simply Family magazine! Mine would be the New Beginnings: Surviving the Kindergarten Drop Off. You can check out the magazine online at www.simplyfamilymagazine.com My article begins on page 34 if you're interested in checking it out. Even with the excitement over this being my first article featured on a cover, this is one of my favorite pieces that I've submitted thus far. It's probably a toss up over the article on onlies and this one I'd say. Random ponderment: Is claiming a favorite piece of written work like telling your kids you prefer one over the other? At any rate, an exciting new step in my journey as a freelance writer. Thanks for reading...Stay tuned!
Yesterday was a marvelous day. The girl who I have claimed to be the little sister I've always dreamed of having, graduated college yesterday. Graduations, like baptisms and weddings, always make me a little misty. I'm hopelessly sentimental that way.
However, as speaker after speaker approached the podium, my mind wandered to things other than the event happening before me. I looked at the graduates seated where I sat seven years ago, remembering how I anxiously awaited this piece of paper that would declare me to be set on the right path. Five years of hard work, several changes in majors later, there I was...Following my dream. Right? I wondered if that too was what they were thinking. Maybe. Probably.
So the longer I sat and the longer I watched, my gaze strayed towards those graduates who were to receive their Masters degrees, many having earned degrees in areas I had assumed I would one day be striving towards. Now...I'm not so sure.
I've taken the big step (to me anyways) lately of sharing with my husband that I'd really like to find a way to write full-time when Abby goes to kindergarten. I (we) had always assumed when she went to school I would find my way back to the human services world and do my thing, but now I just don't know. This dream that had long laid dormant is back with a vengeance. Back when I first started writing for Examiner.com (nearly a year now, can you believe it?!) my aunt who is an incredible writer and photographer shared some advice with me about what it takes to make it work.
Thus far, though, I've wrapped myself into the safety of my little writing bubble with my Examiner column and writing for Simply Family, but I know I've got to suck it up and start looking at more things. I've got to get over my fear of NO and just go. The only trouble? I've been saying this for awhile now, and I just keep pansying out. But if I'm going to put this plan into action and show my husband and myself that it's possible to do this, then I'd say a little action is actually required here. Gee, who woulda thunk it? I won't know if I don't try and if I don't try, I'll always wonder.
So here we go, {deep breath} it's time to start figuring out if I can be what I want to be when I grow up.
 The key to my history, who taught me how to love with all that I am; I wonder sometimes who I would be without them...I'm glad I'll never know. My family. They showed me what unconditional love looks like and showed us all that choosing someone for better or worse is neither a fairy tale nor a myth. My parents.
The people who I can be completely me with, who love me no matter what, who I have treated like crap and vice versa - yet we'll have each other's backs for as long as we live. My siblings. The man who knows me at my very best and my very worst, who has grown up with me...Who makes me laugh and drives me crazy, but has become a person whom I can't imagine life without. My past, my present, my future. My husband. As they came along one-by-one, I was overwhelmed and amazed at how immediately you can fall completely in love with someone in the space of a single breath, heartbeat, cry. I'd never known a love quite like it...Couldn't imagine a greater love that wouldn't shatter my heart to pieces at its fullness. My nieces and nephews. The greatest love I have ever known. A love born before ever even seeing a face. The moment I felt that first movement in my belly, I was hers. Before she was even born, she became a person I couldn't live without. She is our everything. My daughter.
Weeks ago I applied for another online writing position with MomSquawk.com. I hadn't heard anything back over a week later so I thought I'd just send out another, 'hey I'm still here and I'd really like to write for you, e-mail,' (striving to leave out any vibes of desperation, mind you). A few days after that I heard back from them saying they had received an overwhelming response to their call for a Motherhood / Parenting writer and they had come up with a little something to spice things up a bit. What might that be, you're wondering? Well let me tell you because this is where you come in. We were given the option to write a short essay about a parenting lesson we'd learned, from there our essay would be posted on the MomSquawk Facebook page and the competition would begin. Competition, you say? Do tell...The writer whose essay collects the most comments between now and midnight on April 20 gets an automatic offer to write for MomSquawk. What to do: - Go to the MomSquawk Facebook page and 'Like' their page. (Without liking their page, you can't comment or like anything). Not quite sure what I'm talking about? No worries MomSquawk hooked us up with a screen shot to help us out.
- Go to my essay: Being Abby's Mom and leave a comment.
- Share it with your friends with these instructions.
- Give yourself a big, virtual super hug (or super squeezie as I would say to the little loves of my life) on my behalf.
Thanks so much for helping a girl out! I hope you enjoy my essay.
 Singing and dancing through life. This morning as I listened to my daughter sing herself awake, I couldn’t help but think, “Lord, let her always wake up with such cheer in her heart.” My mother prayed a similar prayer for me as a child, but more on that later.
Lately it’s a rare moment in our day when Abby isn’t filling the air with songs – whether from memory or brand new material, fresh off her imagination. From the house, to the car, to wherever we end up – she’s singing. I love this about her; the freedom in which she’s still operating. I don’t look forward to the day when she becomes embarrassed when she realizes people are listening to her.
After I graduated from college, my mother shared with me the prayer she had prayed for me as she watched me skip away to kindergarten. She prayed that I would always carry that happiness within me, that I would never lose that joy that made me “skip” through life. The reason she shared this with me was because, following my graduation as we were setting up for the party, she watched with tears in her eyes (seriously, no dramatic exaggeration here) as I skipped away to the door.
So I’m hoping that one day, years from now, I’ll get to experience a similar moment of dreams realized for my daughter. On the outside looking in, it might seem like a small thing, but to me it’s everything. Are there other prayers I pray for my daughter? Of course, nothing in her life is off limits in those conversations, but happiness, joy...Isn’t that what we want most for our children?
It's safe to say that we have official progress happening! I am thrilled to share with you that my first article for Simply Family Magazine is in the January edition of the magazine. You can access it online at www.simplyfamilymagazine.com or if you're in the area, you can snag a copy (for free, no less) at the local libraries and at various locations around town. My article can be found on page 31.
I don't have anything slated for the February edition, but you can (hopefully) look for my work again in March and April.
With my Examiner.com column cruising along and kicking off the New Year with my first article to be on actual paper, I'd say we're off to a good start.
|
RSS Feed
