Velveteen Mind

This is but a Chapter in Our Story

My husband loves to read autobiographies of entrepreneurs like Richard Branson.  Stories of how today’s successful innovators first found inspiration, what they had to overcome, how they failed and failed and failed before finally finding success.  And often how they proceeded to fail again but knew to keep moving forward. 

From failing, you learn.  From success… not so much. *

Yet, when we stumble and fall, he sometimes becomes more discouraged than expected.  Often, it’s just his way of unloading some grief, but I always take his pain to heart and try to fix it.  I’m a man like that and sometimes don’t know how to just listen and not fix.

When we hit particularly rough patches that begin to wear us down, I tell Maguire that this struggle is just a chapter in the greater autobiography of our lives.  This challenge is the rising action before the climax of our novel.  Without this hurdle, we would never be moved to find the stepping stones that will raise us to the next level.

These hard days of Broke Young Family are a chapter in the book our lives’.  One chapter.  We will make it to the climax.

We remind each other of that when times get tough, when money runs out, when it simply seems like we can’t bear any more burden.  It lets us step back and look at our lives from a broader view.  It gives us hope and helps us keep moving forward.

This Christmas, we are very nearly out of money.  Hospital bills are piled in front of me (love you, Olive-at-archive-reading-age, you were 100% worth it and Mommy is just a little tired in 2009), December’s utility bills have yet to be paid, we’re behind by half a payment on student loans (loans which outweigh our mortgage, thank you), and no Christmas gifts have been purchased, yet.

I sort of want to cry a little.

But I know.  I know that ten five years from now (how hopeful am I willing to be here, huh?) , we’ll look back at these hard days of Broke Young Family and remember them fondly.  We’ll remember them as simpler times and miss the baby fat of our youth and our young.

I know that things will get better.  I have hope and I believe.

I believe in us.

This holiday season, I am returning to a place of what surely seemed like lost hope to me, once upon a time, and I’m paying it forward.  Because I do have hope and I also believe in the power of giving, particularly when you have nothing left to give. 

I am giving my voice and my precious energy to something that I’ve shared with you before: 

Tide Loads of Hope is returning to New Orleans this weekend, no new natural disaster in sight, and delivering free laundry services to families in need.  This time, I’m going with them, getting my hands dirty (or is it clean?) with Deb on the Rocks and Mishelle of Secret Agent Mama, thanks to an insightful sponsorship that I’m proud to acknowledge. 

Together we are asking and answering the question “How do the holidays fill you with loads of hope?” and we’re inviting you to do the same. 

Join the Loads of Hope for the Holidays carnival, hosted by Blog Nosh Magazine (for which I am founder and editor-in-chief) and sponsored by Tide Loads of Hope, and spread your own personal message of hope.  The stories we are receiving so far are stunning in their intimacy, heartening in their humor, and inspiring in their hope.  We would be honored for you to add your voice to this resounding chorus of talent. 

Lend your voices now, then participate live during a two day event in New Orleans, Sunday and Monday, December 13 and 14, (with a special surprise event on Saturday to be announced soon!) as we tweet stories of resilience from laundry recipients and volunteers on the ground. Follow along on twitter via #loadsofhope and be sure to follow @TideLoadsofHope.

More importantly, engage with us and tweet back your own messages of hope, helping us show the residents of the Gulf Coast that their voices are still heard and their stories still remembered. The Loads of Hope truck just completed a stop in Atlanta, GA, and will be on their way to Louisville, KY, so help us spread the word and reach out to families in need of a break.

Help us show them that this time of heart wrenching blows to pride and confidence is a vital chapter in the story of their lives.  But only one chapter.  So much beauty is yet to unfold in the pages ahead.  Our character development has just begun.

From failing, you learn.  From success…  not so much.

~~~

*I found the exact Meet the Robinsons quote at I Don’t Like to Write but I Still Want to Blog, along with video of the scene.  Quote is at minute 9:32.  Thanks, Elle!

~~~

Loads of Hope for the Holidays

When you join the carnival with your messages of hope, be sure to invite your own readers to participate in this online event by linking to the chocolate-covered center of the carnival at Blog Nosh Magazine. You are invited to grab any of the Tide Loads of Hope graphics you see there and here, including the tee shirt badge below (linked to http://tideloadsofhope.com), as all proceeds from sales of Tide Vintage Tees support the truck and keep it on the road, ready to help when disaster strikes nationwide.

Blog carnival hosted by Blog Nosh Magazine, sponsored by Tide Loads of Hope.

How do the holidays fill you with loads of hope?

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Time To Rest and Reflect.

The Type-A Mom Conference was wonderful.  It was exactly what I needed to invigorate my mind and settle my soul before the baby arrives.  This baby that has now attended three writing conferences.  What stories!  What support.

But whew.  Am I tired.

Stories to come.  Faces to share.  Ideas to brainstorm.  Gratitude abounds.

All in good time.

~~~

As always, click photo for gorgeous source.
Better yet, visit Secret Agent Mama for the heart of the source.

~~~

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How to Get Pen Ink Out of a Microfiber Couch. Or How I'm Not a Type A Mom but I Play One in North Carolina.

Quick!  How do you get scrawled ink out of a microfiber couch without ruining it?

An organized mom would know this. Someone like Simple Mom. Someone like Type-A Mom. Someone who, say, knows where all of the cleaning supplies she obsessively purchases and never uses are.

Some would say that an organized mom wouldn’t have this problem to begin with because what, may I ask, were you doing out of sight of your 3 year old, anyway?

Which reminds me… Quick! How do you stay calm when your 3 year old scrawls all over your couch with an ink pen?

The answers:

1. How do you get pen ink out of a microfiber couch?  Hand sanitizer.  Some would say hairspray or rubbing alcohol, but I prefer the control that hand sanitizer provides.  All contain alcohol.  
   
   Simply apply hand sanitizer to a clean cloth and rub it into the ink stain.  Liberal use of elbow grease helps, along with liberal use of the hand sanitizer.  Rub until the stain is gone and then blot with a damp cloth to remove excess. 
2. How do you stay calm when your 3 year old goes all deviant artist?  Prevent throttling of 3 year old by immediate removal of child from the room.  Try not to touch him while you are escorting him out, as temptation is the root of all evil.  Now apply all of that frustration and disbelief into aforementioned elbow grease.  You may safely return to the presence of said child once you see how easy it was to remove those ink stains that that little…  deep breath…  just get those stains out first.

 

• • •
(you probably came here via a search for "How to get pen ink out of microfiber" so you can stop reading as the rest of the post is an old speaking engagement announcement -- but, hey! thanks for finding me!)
• • •

 

This is what happens when a disorganized, procrastinating mom like me becomes distracted by her pre-conference prep in a room near, but not near enough, her two young sons.

A Type A Mom I am not.  But I’ll be playing one on stage and in the audience at the Type A Mom conference in Asheville,  North Carolina this weekend.

What is a Type A Mom?  I think it has something to do with ambition, competitiveness, perfectionism, organization, and CRAP DID I JUST HEAR A GLASS BREAK DOWN THE HALL?!

I would fall under Type B Mom.  Easy-going, relaxed, patient, slightly lax, no true sense of urgency.  I’m fairly certain that things are going to work out most of the time.

Particularly if I can control them.  Wait.  What? 

Okay, so I’m Type AB.  I have a mean control streak, but once I do what I can do, I kick back and let the chips fall as they may…  usually between the couch cushions.

Which is probably how I landed an invitation to speak at the Type A Mom conference this weekend.   I am flattered to be speaking on both the opening general session and the closing keynote.  In other words, I have utter control over your choices (I’m on the only two general sessions attended by the entire conference) but once I get up there, I’m nothing if not relaxed and accessible regarding what I have to share, alongside my stellar fellow panel members. 

Our panels:

• Social and Collaborative Blogging (opening general session)
• Breaking the Mommy Blogging Mold (closing keynote address)

I recognize the irony in writing a post about attending a conference directly on the heels of my post Don’t Let the Fairy Dust Gag You:  Phenomenon of Blog Closures After Conferences.  However, as most of you noticed, that post was nuanced far beyond the title.  I am very much a pro-conference writer.  However, I believe you should be aware of your expectations before you plop down in that event hall chair.

For these reasons, the two panels on which I am speaking are perfect for me.  I promise you frank, thorough discussion. 

No, I don’t fit the mom blogger mold and I revel in that.  Does it mean that I miss out on a lot of the fun perks or (possibly) consistent income that the label can deliver?  Absolutely.  And that’s fine.

I also revel in this platform that is blogging.  That is why I founded Blog Nosh Magazine, a social and collaborative blog that strives to highlight the literary worth of personal blogging.  It is a fascinating, liberating, and challenging platform sure to create intriguing discussion.

My Type A Mom attendance is made possible in part by PBS KIDS Sprout.   You see them around these parts a lot, as both a long-term sponsor of The People’s Party and as the target of my control-freaky Band of Bloggers suggestions regarding how to improve their programming, among other things.  Um, that might not have been in the job description.

Hit me up for Sprout goodies at the conference.  I’ll be pimping The Wiggles.  And yes, I did just say that.  Getting to say “pimp” and “Wiggles” in the same sentence was part of my negotiation.  Um, probably.  In case you hadn’t noticed, Sprout is fortunately rather Type B in their working relationship with me, though truly Type A in their delivery.

Most importantly, hit me up and say hello this weekend.  Type A Mom is a smaller conference but one of the best-organized and thought-out that I’ve seen.  Discerning, intuitive, and ambitious, it is everything you should expect from a strong conference.

And for you worry warts, I received the all-clear from my OB on Monday for safe travel.  50% effaced and no dilation, for you detail-oriented worriers.  Given my ferociously rapid labors, I’m opting to drive rather than fly, though.  Actually, I’m not even driving.  I’m riding and stopping every two hours to stretch, thanks to the ever-generous Deb on the Rocks. 

Deb is the author of 5 Ways to {blank} Your Blog, which is my favorite blogging book for both beginners and high falutin old guard.   Her book will be available at the conference’s Boiron Mom Market this weekend (it’s the perfect car or plane read, I promise) or you can buy it on Amazon.  I’ve read a lot of blog books and this is the only one I would give as a gift.  Largely because it makes me laugh a lot and I’m in it.  What more, I ask?

Now then, off to pack and…  where exactly are those kids, anyway?

PS-  Don’t come crying to me if that hand sanitizer trick ruins your couch.  Test on an inconspicuous place first, blah blah blah.  Yeah.  Type B much?

 

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