June Update

Playgrounds are open! After a long pandemic-induced closure, playgrounds in Columbus opened last Wednesday. We went on Friday, and I was prepared to leave if it got too crowded. It never did. It's nice to have another option for the summer.

My back hurts! I feel like I'm getting a preview of life in my 70s, and I don't care for it. This is the second time this year that I've hurt it in a ridiculous manner. (The first time I was rolling over in bed in the middle of the night. This time I think I first felt a twinge when I was brushing my teeth on Saturday morning. Sigh.) It seems to follow the same pattern. Day 1: I'm completely useless. Day 2: Mostly useless. Day 3: Slow moving and in pain, but I can do more. Day 4: Much better. Today is day 4, so we'll see.

I'm freelancing more! I recently started writing for The Hub Springfield, and I love it! I worked for Springfield's daily newspaper from 2003 to 2007 and have been freelancing for a few Springfield and Dayton publications since we returned to Ohio from New York in 2013, so I know the area well. I love the features and profiles that I've been writing. An added bonus is that it's all online, when many of the long articles I've written in the last several years have been in print only. Check it out! New articles are published on Thursdays.

The End of the Nap

I'm never prouder to be a mom than when my kids are asleep.

I jest, but only in part. The other part recognizes just how much more difficult it's been lately since Edith has cut back her naps.

Edith turned 4 in November, and I'm lucky she held on to her daily nap until then. The two hours or so when Edith and Atticus would nap at the same time (and Atticus, usually another hour after that) was a welcome respite.


But it wasn't long after her birthday that her naps became more sporadic. Even still, she will occasionally take them, particularly if it's been a big day or we're in the car in the evening. But nowadays she has mostly "quiet time" -- and that phrase is definitely supposed to be in quotation marks since it's never as quiet as I wish.

Perhaps the naps will return when we're able to get out and about more. The frigid temperatures over the last week have kept us largely indoors. In any case, I have recently seen a slight increase in my freelancing work, so nap or not it needs to get done. Really, Mom is the one who needs the nap.

1,000 Blog Posts

Friday marks a big blogging milestone: My 1,000th post.

When I first began this blog just 12 days after moving to New York City in 2007, it was a way to keep up with my family and friends back home in Ohio. It was a photo album, a travelogue, a way to document all that was the same and different 500 miles away.

The blog gradually became something more. I occasionally practiced the SEO skills I was learning in my marketing job. I wrote about our first kid, and then my mixed emotions about moving back to Columbus in 2013.

Now that we've been in Ohio for almost two years, the blog has transitioned yet again to focus on readjusting to the Midwest, baby #2 and raising kiddos in Columbus.

But no matter where I am and what I'm doing, this blog is a pretty faithful representation of my life over the last 7 years and 8 months. I've grown up and changed, and now I'm watching Edith and Atticus do the same. No doubt this blog will continue to do so as well.

Thanks for reading.

Launching a Freelance Writing Career

I'm writing again, and not just for my blog.

The move to Ohio seemed like the perfect time to launch a freelance career -- new beginnings and all. In August I started freelance copywriting, and in September I began reporting for newspapers again.

Right now I work only from home, usually a couple of hours a day, more or less. Even though I'm nowhere near full-time, re-entering the workforce in even this limited capacity is both more rewarding and more difficult than I expected.

The copywriting jobs I've received call on the skills I learned spending five years in a New York City marketing department. The company I freelance for assigns me content to be written for businesses based mostly in the U.S. and Australia. I've written website copy, blog posts, marketing emails, press releases, tweets and even a flier. I can do the work whenever I want -- and that's frequently closer to midnight rather than noon.

I've put back on my journalism cap for the newspaper group I worked for before moving to New York. These pieces are more difficult, but mainly because of the baby in the background. I conduct phone interviews during working hours, and Edith's non-existent schedule doesn't always cooperate. I learned Friday that a few Cheerios will keep her quiet through at least one interview.

I'm glad to be getting back into the swing of things. Sometimes I miss the office environment -- particularly when I'm interviewing or trying to meet a deadline -- but overall I like working from home. I'll be the first to admit that it's a balancing act I haven't yet mastered. My free time is practically nil: To whit, I haven't finished a book since moving to Ohio, which is killing me. But I believe the positives will outweigh the negatives, and I hope I'm right.