Aww.. The Sweet Taste of Victory

Or.. Okay, maybe it's just Frosted Cheerios, but at the moment it tastes pretty darn good.

Finally selling your first piece of freelance work feels kinda like that. You know it's not breaking the bank, but tastes pretty good after hard work and very slim rewards from it.

Where did the bowl of Cheerios come into play with all this? Well.. The reason may seem silly, but for the past few weeks I haven't had time to eat breakfast. Partly for the reason that I'm holding my son most of the time, and the other part because if I'm not holding him I'm cleaning, taking care of my daughter or typing. (You'd be suprised at how something so small as being able to type with two hands can make a person willingly pass up breakfast.)

While it was only bought for $24, I was still way-excited about selling my first article since breaking out in the Freelance World online. And it gave me motivation to keep plugging on. :)

I currently am working on trying to get a few more articles written up for the same group, but have no guarantee they will be purchased.

My new favorite job-searching source (who gave me my first sale-lead) posts every morning after searching and picking the cream of the crop so-to-speak. You can find her at this link: http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/

Not only are there excellent job leads, but everyone who posts on this site are full of information for newbie writers such as myself. :)

Aw.. the son calls. Happy Freelancing!

How I'm Being Involuntarily Green

I'd like to say that the reason my refrigerator is unplugged is because I had an irresistible urge to save on electricity therefore helping the environment. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Truth be told, my fridge broke while sitting in storage for 9 months.
And where does that leave me? A half gallon of cold-enough milk, a bag of melting ice, a block of cheese, and a few containers of leftovers for the hubby's lunches. Not to mention a whole stock-pile of dried and canned foods.
I'm still mentally patting myself on the back for indulging in my irritating quirk of needing to have an even amount of supplies in my shopping cart. (2 cans of pineapple, 4 boxes of Rice-a-Roni) And to think the husband points a mocking finger at me for this.. Pshaw. Where would we be at if my irresistible urge for even amounts of Rotel and chicken broth had been stunted early? Without food.. That's what.
For the past two weeks we've been living out of a ice chest. The mini mart next door must really have an inkling to find out why we're over there every night to pick up a new bag of ice. Unfortunately, moving into a nicer house kind of leaves you broke for a bit, so while we're waiting on the Cleaning Deposit from our nonresponsive landlord, we've had to make do with Trusty Green.
Being forced into green-ship made me stop and think.. What is all this Eco-friendly talk about? Is it just about tree-huggers embracing the fashion scene and the consumption of 'green' corporations as I had earlier thought? Surely there has to be more to it. So on went my computer and up came my trusty friend, Google.
At first I mostly found articles testifying to my earlier belief, Corporations had latched onto this new trend with a ferocity that left me checking my wallet.
It happened in a moment of frustrated disgust.. I had seen enough Eco-friendly products, promising to save the planet for a good sized chunk of your income to just about give up. Finally with one last thought, I just typed in 'going green'.
The first link brought up the information I was looking for.
Going Green is a website dedicated to explaining what has spurred this Eco-Celebrity trend. It explains the why of what is happening to our world, not the why you should wear this triple-recycled $85 shirt or how you should line up your eco-saving bamboo pants to match Celebrity Such-and-Such's style.
About an hour was spent clicking bright-green links and reading with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. The thought of what we and our ancestors before us had done to our planet and the almost certain downward spiral of the environment definitely gave me a moment's panic.
Slowly we had been polluting the planet with natural gasses to the point of impending suffocation. The result? Floods, extreme heat, deaths and extinction of the living, and an increase of potentially diseased pests such as rats.
Between the destruction of our ozone layer which protects us from the sun's dangerous UV rays to the effects co2 is having on our environment, Going Green is definitely a site worth checking into. Not only does it explain for the adult world, but is also tailored so that the eyes of the youth can understand the effects our existence is having on the planet.
The website goes on to explain how we as normal people can help the environment by very possible steps. After reading these tips, I was able to come up with a few things that might help in my every day-to-day life. I don't necessarily agree with boycotting non-recycle companies, but I do think it is wise to take a moment and consider how YOU as a consumer can recycle on your own.
For more information on what is happening to our world and how you can help, click this link:
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/4990/

Cross Your T's and Dot Your 'Eyes'?

Another day of Freelance job hunting.. It's a Saturday, and while I spent a majority of the day finishing my resume and replying to some calls for Freelance Writers.. I was able to sit down with my husband and drop 'Hitman' into the DVD player.
Two hours later, I found myself holding my son with Brutis' mouse in my hand. Research. There's a fashion magazine call for writers and editors and I intended to write up a piece to submit as a sample tonight. This proved less easy than I thought.
I first started searching for Fall Fashion for 2008.. then realizing that most runway fashion doesen't make it to the streets but is watered down to a more practical, easier managed trend, I took to 'Street Fashion'...
Ahem.. Okay.. About Street Fashion. I really admire most of the trendsetters these days, but the one who gave birth to respelling a word to make it slang by actually ADDING letters just strikes me as idiotic.
Eye? Eye.. Why on earth take a simple word of one letter that explains and describes so much and add two letters to make yourself sound unlearned? I'm all about comfort. I'm one of those who, while I know aint aint a word, can't help but spout the blasphemic word in my everday language just because it's fun to say.. But eye? Eye doesen't even sound different then I. It just causes a little more inconvenience to the typist who for some odd reason feels it necessary to misspell.
Isn't slang all about convenience? And comfort? When did taking longer to type become slang? It's bad enough when you can't hardly understand most of today's teens due to lack of letters.
When 'txt talking' first came out, that was allright. It was convenient and saved the frequent texter from expensive conversations between friends. You can't blame someone for typing cn't instead of can't. Or u instead of you. But.. eye instead of I? Are we going backwards? Is this some kind of conspiracy with the mobile phone service companies? Have they come to the conclusion that we as a consumer MUST text long sentences to get a simple point across to keep them afloat?
Bah.. Too much research into the outside world. My laundry calls.