bloggy business cards
Okay – here’s my business card design – or at least close to it. I actually did this myself and DH is going to tweak it for me tonight before I get them printed. What do y’all think?
When you see that b/w icon – you know it’s me right away, right? I try to use it on all my accounts so it’s immediately recognizable.
Of course, two of those three urls aren’t actually working yet – but they will before Oct. 11 (2 weeks!!) when I go to the BlogHer Reach Out in Boston.
Tell me if you love it or hate it – I’m hopefully printing tomorrow!
where were you?
I was in my office, just starting my day, when a co-worker came in and told me her mother had called and said a missile had hit a building in New York. We thought that sounded very strange so I tried going to CNN.com, MSNBC.com, every news site I could think of, but none of them worked. Even stranger.
We thought of the TV in the conference room. The reception was terrible with those old rabbit ears, but we made it work. The more we watched, the more colleagues joined us, and the more horrified we were. We were watching live when the second plane hit. The entire group was stunned into silence, until these co-workers of mine, military and aviation experts all, called it for what they knew it was. It wasn’t a missile, it was a plane, a big plane. As bad as the picture was, they clearly recognized it, long before the analysis on the news got it right.
The room became very crowded. I couldn’t have left my seat if I’d wanted to. I didn’t want to. All eyes were glued to the screen, ears straining to hear the tiny speakers. Talking in the room was only a slight whisper. Anything louder was quickly shushed.
The reception got worse, only one channel came in, and only with someone standing up, holding the antennae, using their body to attract the signal.
Time passed, rumors were heard. Rumors about bombs at the World Bank, rumors about bombs at the USA Today building, rumors about Reagan National Airport, and then Dulles Airport, just a few miles away. Rumors about news buildings being targets. And the White House of course. Rumors about the Pentagon. Wait.
New pictures on the screen. The Pentagon was not a rumor. Neither was the plane in Pennsylvania. This terrible reality just got closer to us personally, a lot closer. My colleagues knew what that meant. Imminent war. At this moment, some kind of war was beginning, we just didn’t know exactly what that war would look like.
Some of us watched longer, unable to look away, while others drifted back to their offices, hoping to get some normalcy out of the day. They were hiding out, not wanting to know any more. I couldn’t blame anyone for that. Especially after those of us left watched the first tower crumble with tears streaming down our faces. I was glad I wasn’t alone then.
After the second tower came down, our boss quietly told us all to go home. He was closing the office and wanted us to go be with our families. It was a relief to leave to have a reason to get away from the TV for a few minutes, to get away from other people.
I got in my car, and sat for a moment. I was listening to a little voice in the back of my head. Don’t get on the highway it said. The last thing I wanted to do was get on a crowded highway, and get stuck in massive traffic. Traffic is bad on a normal day, this was Northern Virginia after all. I knew a back way, a dirt road that led almost all the way home. Halfway down the dirt road, I heard the traffic update. Everyone who got on that highway was there for hours and hours. I spent those same hours at home, alone, back in front of the news.
I remember how bad the phone lines were. I was able to call my parents in Maine, but not my husband two miles away. For awhile cell phones were easier to get through on, then nothing at all worked. DH wouldn’t come home, couldn’t come home. He worked in the news business and news people don’t get to stop working in a crisis.
I wasn’t a mom yet. I wondered that day if I ever would be, if I should even bring a baby into such a horrible world. I changed my mind about that, but one this day every year, I remember that helplessness, hopelessness, and the terrible terrible sadness. I remember and pray for everyone affected by the events of 9/11 and its aftermath.
Where were you that morning? Do you remember much? I realized today that I had some trouble remembering the details. I wrote this today so I wouldn’t forget how I personally felt and what I did and who was around me. I don’t want my only memories to be the ones I see on the ceremonial shows every year. I don’t want my own experience to get cloudy. Never never forget.
The Pentagon, 9/11/01, Department of Defense/US Navy photo.
a do-over
When I was younger I had lots of ideas about what I wanted to be when I grew up. For a long time I thought I would be a veterinarian because I loved animals, then in high school my dream was to be an engineer to be like my father, then when I started college I wanted to be a lawyer only because it sounded cool, and I couldn’t think of anything better.
I wasn’t there long before I realized that I wasn’t cut out to be a lawyer, for sure. When it came time to make a real decision I just couldn’t do it. Eventually I majored in US History because it was there. It felt sort of right. I loved history, and the fantasy of working behind the scenes in a musty, dusty museum filled my mind.
Well, guess what? Museum jobs were few and far between, and paid terribly. And were not nearly as romantic as I’d imagined. Blech.
So what else do you do with a History degree? Not much apparently. Teach? Soooo not for me. That’s become only more evident as I get older!
I held a lot of different jobs over the years, and eventually landed a job as a photo editor in a group of history magazines. It was pretty perfect for me for quite some time. Then, after I had the boy, I started thinking about other ways to earn a living than going to a job every day. It took some time, but I was very lucky and fell in to doing freelance photo editing for a large children’s book publisher. Even after moving back to New Hampshire I’ve been able to continue to work for them remotely. Right now I have the best of both worlds, I make a little bit of money, but I get to stay home with my boy.
As fortunate as I am, sometimes I wonder what could have been. Not about my family, I wouldn’t change them for anything. But if I could have a career do-over what would it be?
If I had known myself better at 18 years old, if I had known what my life interests would be now, I would probably have been a meteorologist. To be exact, I’d be….a Storm Chaser! Show me some green on a radar and I’ll sit there for hours and analyze it, with The Weather Channel on in the background. Have mercy, I am such a dork.
Someday, after my boy is on his own, I like to think DH and I will sell everything we own, including our house, and buy a big RV. I imagine outfitting it with all the latest technology. What? We’re both computer dorks! I want my own Doppler dammit! We’re going to be that old couple, who drive all around the country all the time, only we’ll be following the storms. I’d just love to help forecast the bad ones, and maybe even make a difference. Naive? Maybe, but I think it’s nice dream to have.
If you had a job or school do-over, would you change anything? Knowing what you know now would you have taken a different career path or stayed the same course?
again with the bullets
Yep, it’s one of those days – better to write bullets than nothing at all!
- I wrote 99% of a post yesterday, just before all hell broke loose with work. I got so busy with my mini crisis I forgot to save the freaking post before I closed the window. *crying*
- Thank god for coffee.
- I was smart yesterday and made a double pot of coffee so today I have iced coffee without having to do any work. Why didn’t I think of this before now?!
- My house looks like a volcano erupted and spewed craft items. Suddenly the boy is into cutting up little bits of paper and cardboard, coloring them, and gluing and taping them back together, mostly into robot shapes. I’m not allowed to throw away any of his trash treasures.
- Kindergarten is going really well. He only cried once, that first day on the bus. That was the last time I cried too. I love having a couple hours alone every day!
- Unfortunately, the boy does a great job at mimicking his teacher. It sounds a lot like the “wah wah wah wah” from the Charlie Brown cartoons. We try really hard not to laugh. Cause, you know, that would encourage it or something.
- No, we don’t have an answer about the bus stop yet. I’ve resigned myself to driving him to school as soon as snow flies.
- God, I love these chilly nights. I’ve been sleeping really well these last two weeks. Thank god.
- I could do without the hot hot days though. So done.
- My friend Nicole took us to the cutest beach ever on Monday. I’m not telling any of you where this adorable little gem is. Unless you bribe me. I accept paypal or chocolate delivered to my doorstep.
- I desperately need to go to the grocery store. I just can’t seem to get it done. We have no eggs, no butter, no meat, barely a slice of bread. NO PAPER TOWELS. It is impossible to live in a house with a kid and not have paper towels.
- Okay, so the volcano didn’t just spew craft supplies, it spewed dirty laundry and dirty dishes too. *hangs head in shame*
- Soccer starts on Saturday. Two months of screwed up weekends. Again. Why do we do this to ourselves?
- Do y’all see my train of thought pattern here? Or am I the only that actually understands my unwritten segues?
- Sigh. It’s past 9 am now. The penguins are squawking at me. Must go back to work.
Maybe, maybe tomorrow I’ll have a real post. If I can stand to rewrite the lost one. Ugh.
a byte of forgetfulness
Gah! I posted Dana’s Chapter 11 of Foodie up at ChapterBytes like 3 days ago and I forgot to post about it here! (The word forget seems to come up in my life a lot lately. I forget what I’m supposed to take to fix that.) Dana did a fantastic job and gave us yet another cliffhanger! I love it! When you’re done reading her chapter, go check out Dana’s book review site!
Now it’s my turn to write a chapter again. Holy moly.
I’m on some major deadlines with two of my current work projects, and DH is on vacation this week so we’re supposed to be visiting family for the next few days. I’ll be working from their houses! OMG, penguins are cute and all but I think I’ve looked at 10,000 images of them in the last 3 days. Yeah, not exaggerating either. Even though I’m prone to exaggeration, I’m actually not this time. Ack! I think it might be at least a few days before I can get my chapter written. Anyone want to ghost write it for me?! 
Or give me some ideas? Oy.
Okay, bloggy break over, back to the penguins. Unless my eyes explode.