The 50th post

I recently wrote my 50^th post on my Boy to the World! blog, which was mostly inactive but I figured I’d better at least mention that I published the book that was born from the site. It's a good thing I remembered to renew the domain (two days before it expired).

I have a few things published recently. One is a re-telling of Moneyfesto (explaining the difference between wants and needs to my kids) on Liberty Cannon, which is a new platform for me (and a little outside of my usual scope, which is good, but at the same time, there are a lot of new guidelines to figure out). The other, The Right Choice, is on Ten to Twenty Parenting and is about letting two of my kids go to a school play by themselves, but second- and third-guessing myself after another mom’s comments. I have another story queued for publishing there -- it's about my youngest having to make a choice between a party and a hockey game.

This week I have a column in the paper about someone returning a $50 bill that I lost in the supermarket? Who does that? Apparently one of the lovely people in our hometown supermarket.

My "day job" has been particularly intense lately and overflowing into the time I wish I had to write (but should probably be walking the dogs instead, since the weather is all of a sudden terrific and we could all use the exercise). 

Someone commented in an online writer's group that she knew someone who had quit social media, lending an air of mystique to her writing. Imagine how much simpler life would be without the constant influx of data and the need to be "always on," or the feeling of that you're missing something if you're not and the supposed need to time (and schedule) keyword-laden and relevant posts to promote your _______________ (product, work, whatever). But what if I looked at social media like cable TV. I missed that at first when I gave it up but now I hardly think about it at all. I don't mean ALL social media, like blogs and blogging platforms (just like we didn't give up all shows -- we still have Netflix), I mean Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Google+ -- as well as all the ones I haven't figured out yet, like Reddit, which is not visually appealing to me, but probably would be to people who have a large amount of disposable time...like teens...like mine, who have recently earned their smart phones, which in itself has handicapped my ability to have a conversation with them, but they do text me more frequently these days.

I went to a two-hour women's retreat yesterday (yes, only two hours as opposed to the two-day retreats my kids have time for) and brought a small journal to take notes. It reminded me how nice it is to just write for myself, and to doodle if I want to.