I have learned a couple of things about staying with the extremely aged: 1. No one so much as bats an eye if you announce in the middle of the afternoon that you’re going to go take a nap. 2. If you buy applesauce and pudding for the baby, you’d better keep an eye on it.

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OK, first of all, why don’t “hour” and “tour” rhyme? It never occurred to me before just now, but shouldn’t they rhyme?

Totally not the point of this post, though.

On September 15th, I loaded my 1 1/2 year old and myself, along with a stroller, a diaper bag, a purse, a sling, and one checked bag onto an airplane with a fair amount of dread in my heart. My darling daughter doesn’t even like to be in a carseat, so you can imagine how thrilled I was at the prospect of holding her on my lap for hours on end.

Also, my husband, who has never traveled alone with a baby before, got us a better deal by scheduling us with a SIX HOUR layover in Denver. Awesome. Next up came Atlanta, where earlier torrential rains forced us to wait on the tarmak while my next fly rose into the sky without me and my hungry, none-too-happy toddler. There were more problems and issues, and we ended up with a room at the local Doubletree with plans to fly out the next morning.

We did finally make it to our destination, something like 28 hours after actually leaving home. Florida is hot and sticky, and my mom came to the airport to pick us up without a car seat. Again with the awesome.

We’ve been working to get into the swing of things with my mom and my 95-year-old grandmother and 98-year-old grandfather ever since. It definitely encourages you to take care of your health while you can.

This is where this post is supposed to get poignant, but we’ll see if I can make my point without just bumming you out.

Yesterday morning my grandfather had a massive heart attack. The paramedics did what they could, but if he were to wake up from it (which is very unlikely), he would probably have severe brain damage from lack of oxygen. He has been removed from life support and Grandma is waiting at the hospital with him while he slips away from this life.

Of course, I’m very sad about all of this. My grandfather is a wonderful man who has treated me better than just about any other in my life. Still, the existence he was living up to this point was not a good one. I now understand how people can think “It’s for the best” at a time like this.

I have many thoughts, including that one; but the one I wanted to share with you is that I am so, so, so glad to have the profession I do. With my laptop, cell phone, and my mom’s Internet connection, I can still work. In fact, I can rebook my return ticket and stay longer to help my grandma through this time. After all, having the cutest, sweetest, smartest baby in the world toddling around your house can do a lot to lift your spirits and reflect on the beauty of life.

Being a freelancer not only allowed me to be here to see my grandfather one last time, but it will allow me to stay as long as I’m needed. I love that.

Right, we are now inspired to produce scribblings of the finest prose so we must get to the keyboard and begin. We’ve finished the school run and kissed our partners farewell until the evening so we have the rest of follow our inspiration wherever they may lead us. The day lies before us like a glorious canvas and we have many vivid colours to spray around like Jackson Pollock on a particularly inspired day. Let’s get going!

0910 – Well, whilst I make for the computer to boot we may as well open the post whilst I wait for the coffee to brew. Oo look, we may have won some sort of lottery, all we have to do is send back these three envelopes and we have a 1 in 3 chance of winning something. What could it be I wonder?

0930 – Well, I’ve made the coffee and have got the envelopes ready to post, let’s get to it! Hey, wait a moment, that Lottery could be scam, I’d better check the internet to see if it’s been reported….it seems to be fine but there are a lot unscrupulous people out there, maybe I should do a story on that to warn people what’s out there. Where’s my notebook? I should write that down.

0945 – Right, that another idea captured for later, excellent, I have a production line all set up now. All I need now is to get some words down. DING. Oh, some emails, what’s this? I’ve won the Nigerian Lottery again. Twice. Great, I can retire. I wonder who actually falls for these things? Anyone? Maybe google knows. Oh yes, it seems like quite a few people have fallen for it, maybe it’s a good story, I should write this down. Good, another story captured. And what’s that? Extend my what?! No thank you where much. DELETE.

1030 – Well, the notebook is filling up quite nicely and it looks like the sun is coming out. Magnificent! What a great day to be creating. Hey, you know what, I bet it would be great to sit outside and write. Yes, let’s do that.

1130 – Hmm, I wonder why my wireless doesn’t reach out there, it’s a shame as it works right up to near the garden table and then cuts out. I must remember to look into that. Back to the indoor desk for me then. Still, looking out of the window the day does look magnificent. Look, there’s a squirrel running around with half an apple in it’s mouth, where’s my camera. I am going to have to put this up on my blog.

1200 – I really need to redesign my blog, it looks OK but it doesn’t really bring across my true commitment to writing. Let’s have a quick fiddle with it.

1230 – Wordpress can be really awkward sometimes, how do you create a page with a separate RSS feed for my published articles? OH MY GOD, the squirrel is back and what does he have this time? Is that a Twinkie? The squirrel has a full Twinkie in it’s mouth! Where did it get that? WHERE IS MY CAMERA?

1300 – Seeing that squirrel eating a Twinkie has made me hungry. I do worry about squirrel nutrition habits now but I suppose it had an apple before the Twinkie so maybe it’s a balanced diet. OK, time for lunch.

1430 – Delicious lunch now digesting and dinner baking away for the kids, we are domestic Gods and Goddesses! What, what’s that smell? Did I put the oven on the correct temperature? Let me go check.

1445 – All fine, it was just a little spillage on the oven base. It always wafts the smell through the house when that happens because of the fan assistance technology. So the brochure tells me. SO THEN, to writing! Where was I? Wait, I’ve only written 20 words? How can that be I’ve been working at this all day! Oh, someone’s at the door?

1530 – Two guys made out they were looking for Jesus and wanted to know if I had found him. I hadn’t. Turns out they actually had and wanted tell me all about him and I felt too rude to tell them ‘no thanks’. I have a pamphlet showing me how to find Jesus now, should I ever feel that I lost him or need to demonstrate to further callers that I have at least the method rather than the compulsion.

1540 – Wow, is that the time? I need to go pick up the kids and drop them off at soccer practise and swimming coaching. Then chess club and ballet. Or is it science club and a sleep-over tonight? Actually, I think it’s a science club sleep-over as they have to hand in their projects by tomorrow. They’re all staying at the Johnson’s as they have a huge garage to work in for their experiments. Right, where’s my keys, let’s get going.

1545 – I really could go for a Twinkie right now, where did that come from?

I was a freelance stereotype today:  I did not get out of my pajamas.  Niiiice.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m often up late at night working on projects. While I generally don’t like to have any distractions when I write, there are other aspects of running a freelance agency that require time, but let’s just say I they’re not rocket surgery. In other words, they don’t take 100% concentration. These tasks are often accompanied by a phone call to my mom in Florida, some Facebook browsing, or late-night viewings of whatever’s been stored up on the DVR.

Lately, I’ve been getting caught up on the A&E show Obsessed. While I’ve watched nearly every episode in the last couple of nights, I will refrain from making the obvious joke.

If you’ve not seen this show, then let me catch you up. They follow around two people who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder so you can see how screwed up these two patients’ lives are, and then by forcing them to put themselves in horrifying situations, they wrap up the end of the hour hugging the therapist and proclaiming themselves cured.*

That’s really, really oversimplifying it, just so you know. The participants actually go through 12 weeks of counseling, part of which is “exposure therapy.” It’s actually pretty neat to see what happens when the therapy is successful, but that’s really not what keeps you coming back for more. For most of us, I think it’s pure voyeurism where we can look at someone else and say, “You know, I think I’m actually doing OK.”

I’ve discovered that Obsessed affects me in several ways, both good and bad; and because everything that goes through my mind must obviously be published on the Internet to prove that I am a unique and beautiful snowflake, I thought I’d share.

Good: The hoarders make me feel way better about the craft supplies in my basement.

Bad: I’m now pretty sure that I’m no more than one traumatic experience and a few irrational thoughts away from verbally punctuating all of my sentences when I speak.

Good: When I’m up at in the middle of the night banging away at the keyboard, I can always think, “Well, at least I don’t pull my eyelashes out!”

Bad: While I understand that obsessive-compulsive behavior is nothing to envy, I sometimes get a little wistful when I see how clean some of the patients’ houses are.

Good: The fact that I don’t like my foods to touch each other looks pretty benign all of a sudden.

Bad: The twins from that eating disorder episode haunt me.

So, what have we learned here? Let’s see…if you want to feel better about yourself when you’re cramming for a deadline, Obsessed may or may not be the ticket. Of course, if you really want to cultivate a sense of normalcy about your own life, catch a couple of back-to-back episodes of Intervention. I feel practically Amish after an evening with that show.

*For the record, I’d like to say that I’m actually a big fan of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and the people on this show who work it really are inspiring and amazing…but that’s not funny, so I opted for snark.

Discussing interns and internships are what I consider an “annual” topic. Every year at about this time we talk about interns, or rather, the folks who like to present a job as an internship in order to get away with hiring free labor.  So let’s talk about what internships are, why they are necessary and why they are not free labor.

What is an internship?

An internship is a job one takes, usually working for a business, corporation or the government, in order to gain experience, build up a reputation and learn from the best. The focus is on the job training, rather than monetary compensation. Most interns are in college and work in this capacity in hopes of having a very good job lined up upon graduation.

What are the benefits of working as an intern?

In addition to the aforementioned on the job training, many interns can earn college credits, a small stipend, important business contacts, the promise of employment and references. In short, the ability to advance their careers. Interns don’t work for free. They gain something valuable in return.

Why do so many jobs offer internships, when they’re not offering anything in return?

Because these so-called employers feel that by offering a non-paying job as an internship rather than what it really is – getting something for nothing – they’ll look less like an ass. “Working as an intern” sounds a lot better than “working for free”, doesn’t it?

Questions to ask when applying for an internship

A job churning out web content from home all day every day, for an employer you contact once a week via email, isn’t an internship. Other than turning you off from writing as career, what can it possibly offer in return? Before you accept an internship, ask the following questions:

1. What will I gain from the experience?
2. How will it benefit my career?
3. What kind of on the job training will I receive?
4. Will I receive college credit?
5. Will I receive the promise of a full time, salaried position after I graduate?
6. Will you act as a mentor and offer me guidance?
7. Will you introduce me to others who can act as mentors and offer guidance?
8. Are these clowns just looking to get free labor?

If you browse Craigslist, you’ll find plenty of opportunities for interns, but many of these jobs aren’t. Remember, internships offer something in return. Job experience is more than writing web content. A true internship will attempt to teach you all you need to know about your chosen profession or major.  A true internship works in conjunction with your school so you earn college credits and recognition for your efforts. Before accepting an internship, research the opportunity thorougly. If it sounds like someone trying to get a whole lot of something for a whole lot of nothing, pass.

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I’ll say it again. There is no secret to freelance writing success. You work hard, turn in clean copy, rock the communication and you’ll do well. It’s the folks that are only going through the motions that seem to struggle.Even though the above-mentioned items are important, I one thing I learned over the last decade is that clients appreciate loyalty more than anything you have to offer.

I’m going to use Jodee as a case in point. We began working together two years ago after I posted an ad at the WAHM forum. Since hiring Jodee she’s been a dream freelancer. She works hard, meets her deadlines, turns in nothing but the best work, communicates well and is someone I’m proud to call friend. Jodee even checked with me a couple of times before taking on tasks she considered a conflict of interest and to me, that spoke volumes.

In return, I offer Jodee first shot at any writing job I have, offer recommendations to her potential clients and refer her to some great clients. In fact, when I left the world of freelancing to be a full time Community Manager, I recommended Jodee to replace me with my highest paying client and he continues to keep her busy and well paid.

Here’s a discussion topic for you, FWJ community. What are some of the ways you are loyal to your clients? How do you show them you care about them and their projects and what do they do to reward your loyalty?

Discuss…

by Deborah Ng

So last week the Ng family received some bad news. Don’t worry, we’re all happy and healthy and will hopefully stay that way, but the news was unexpected and may result in the loss of an income. Then yesterday we received some more bad news. Another financial setback. Something that needs to get done is going to cost a lot more than we thought. Upon learning my news yesterdayI firstwent into my room and had a good cry. I recommed a good cleansing cry to everyone now and then, especially if no one is home because then you can get as loud as you want without having to worry about the kids or others worrying about you. After that I got up, showered and went back to work. When my work day was over, I figured out a course of action.

I decided I wasn’t going to use a financial setback as an excuse to sit around and wallow in pity. I was going to use it to kick my butt into gear and get going on a few projects that will help our situation. I finished my ebook and sent it off to another pair of eyes. Then I outlined my next ebook. I worked a lot later than I had in some time, but the words flowed smoothly and effortlessly. My bad news motivated me into action.

I could have gone to the fridge for a pint and sat down and watched bad TV for the remainder of the day, but that wouldn’t have helped my situation any. I took my lemons and made lemonade. I outlined some projects for myself and even reminded myself I could take on extra freelancing or consulting work if need be. Now all of a sudden things don’t look so dreary. My bad news became my motivator. Things will be tight for a little while, but we’ll get through it.

I think we all work according to our emotions. If we let ourselves become too depressed, we can’t function. It’s hard to work with heavy stuff weighting the back of our minds. When bad news hits, take some time to react. Have a good cry, scream, punch some pillows and get it out of your system. Once you’re composed, figure out your plan of action – at least tentatively. Bad news has a way of keeping you from doing the things you need and leading to unhealthy situations. Feeling sorry for yourself will only worsen the situation. Get up, dust yourself off, and take advantage of the opportunity.

by Deb Ng

This isn’t a plug for the day job, I promise.

Yesterday afternoon I listened to an inspiring interview on BlogTalkRadio. My friend Dave Navarro of Rock Your Day fame was a guest on the WAHumor show, and threw out some practical ideas for balancing work and life and getting the most from both. I especially liked the tips regarding doing what you want without feeling guilty about it.

Perhaps you can relate…

I like to enjoy my evenings. Whether I’m watching television or a movie with Mr. Ng or crocheting or reading, that’s my time to relax how I see fit. However, there are times when I feel really guilty about doing these things. I feel as if I should be working or blogging. I’m a notorious procrastinator, so if I didn’t get the job done I can’t enjoy myself.

I found that if I treat my evening relaxation as a reward, I’m more apt to get things done. That’s why when I knew there would be three hours of “Lost” goodness on television last night, I started work early and made sure I got it all done. When I sat down there wasn’t any nagging feeling in the back of my head. I enjoyed my evening and I’m starting today on a positive note.

The other day I wrote about how difficult it is to work around clutter, that goes for mind clutter too. Sit down, get the job done and remove the clutter from your life. When you’re distraction free, you can work – and relax – without guilt.