MotherMorphosis

Follow my blog with Bloglovin I've been a writer since I got my first diary at age 10, but this is a story about how I made writing my full-time job . I was working in a remote office as a sales rep for a dysfunctional videoconferencing company , along with one other person – a young guy who liked to goof off all day and meet women on Craiglist under the guise that our company was hiring. As I look back on this short-lived (three-months-long odyssey) job, I can see so much that was wrong with it – from the person who recruited me to the company itself, never mind my weird colleague. First of all, the person that recruited me was someone I knew from the office building where I had worked previously in marketing and PR for a technology company . I had left that job to work in telecommunications sales , which was a blast! I made good money, but there was some channel conflict and issues with the technology working in my assigned territory. Second, Recruiter-guy was in sales at a comp...

I was watching the weather last night because we were expecting a Nor'easter, and that can mean school closings and power outages, neither of which is conducive to working. According to * AccuWeather ,^ a nor'easter is a storm that mainly affects the northeastern part of the United States. These storms form along the East coast as warm air from over the Atlantic Ocean clashes with arctic cold to the north and west. A nor'easter gets its name from the northeasterly winds that blow in from the ocean ahead of the storm. Skip to * what a snow day is like * for working parents. The storm was gathering momentum Yeah, so the weather looked bad. It reminded me of a shirt one of my friends had years ago that was a picture of a weather map with the words, "shitty," "shitty," "shitty," "shitty," repeated all over the entire region. I went to bed. When my husband joined me, I was just checking online to see if the news station had posted any more...

I originally published this story during our last presidential election (in 2012). It has been on my mind because four years later, nothing has changed – well, except maybe the insulting terms I'm seeing on social media.  Now in addition to "liar,"liar,” “idiot,” “loser,” “fool," we have "criminal" and "sociopath." It has become even worse after the inauguration. Just stop name-calling, people! What are we teaching our kids? I'm trying to teach mine to learn how to love and forget how to hate. Like Ozzy Osbourne ! Crazy Train Crazy, but that’s how it goes Millions of people living as foes Maybe it’s not too late To learn how to love And forget how to hate. I printed out the lyrics to Ozzy Osborne’s “Crazy Train.” I figured if my kids are going to shout this song in the car at the tops of their lungs, they should at least know the words. They initially heard the song from the TV commercial for a Honda Pilot, which is what we drive, thus conside...

I could write this story about the drunk guy with the goofy hat that sat in front of us on the train home last night. He and his female companion were picking and poking at each other like a couple of bratty three-year-olds except the scope of their potty words far exceeded that of three-year-olds. I would have liked to wash their mouths out with soap but my husband was concerned they might start fist fighting. They reminded us of our neighbor, who we refer to as "The Screamer," because of her drunken (I can only assume -- I have never heard a sober person swear as much as her) tirades on the phone to her boyfriend. Why he is still with her, I can't even imagine, but she's screaming the same name on the phone now as she was when we first moved into our house three-plus years ago (so again, I can only assume). But this is not about the drunk guy with the goofy hat. This story is about   the guy who sat down next to me just as the train was pulling out of the station. ...

I telecommute. This means I work at home as a remote W2 employee, in contrast to a "work-at-home mom" (WAHM). Technically, I suppose I am a WAHM, but not in the sense that most people think of, in that I have a (direct sales) business. Nothing against direct sales because I did it for a while, and it was fun, but for several reasons I am no longer part of that scene. And freelancing is something else, too. The upside of telecommuting I am sure everyone who idealizes the telecommuting gig already can guess the upside, which includes saving time driving, getting dressed, doing hair and makeup and saving money on gas, clothes, extended childcare, and lunches out. You're right about all that. You don't have to miss work if there's a snow day or sick day. You might just work a little more reactively than proactively. However, when you telecommute, there are a lot of other things that happen before you can start your day job or that compete with your day job. The line...

When you buy a smoothie from a coffee shop or fast-food restaurant, chances are it’s high in sugar and calories and low in protein, so you’re hungry again after an hour. When you're on the go and looking for a smoothie that is nutritious and filling, you'd need to stop in at a health-food store. However, that can be costly. Take matters into your own hands! Make a healthy smoothie at home with ingredients from your local supermarket. All you need is fruit, vegetables, protein, some fiber, ice cubes, and a liquid (milk, juice, or even water).   This smoothie contains Fruit: pineapple, mango, strawberry Vegetables: cucumber, greens blend Powders: pea protein and flax seed meal (Bob's Red Mill brand) Liquid: Chilled herbal tea [bctt tweet="Make a healthy smoothie at home with ingredients from your local supermarket!" username="carolineposer"] Smoothie recipe ideas For example, you could use a cup of strawberries and a big handful of spinach with...

I worry about one of my sons who tends to skip breakfast. He came home a little past 6:00 one day (after being gone since 6:30 a.m.) and told me he was tired and had a headache and didn't want to go to basketball practice. "What does it mean when you have a headache right here?" he asked pinching the top of his nose between his eyebrows. "Have you been wearing your glasses?" "Eh. It hurts right here, too," he said, pressing against his temples with both hands. "You didn't eat anything today, did you?" I asked him, though I knew the answer. "I had a bar..." "Hon! That has like 200 calories. Someone your size who goes to weight training after school probably needs at least 10 times that, maybe more,* before dinner time! You really can't skip breakfast! Are you ready for a meatball sub?" Every Wednesday used to be Pasta Night . Now it's meatball sub night, his favorite. "Eh..." I wound up making him an o...

Happy New Year! This year I waited until New Year's Day to read all the holiday cards our family received. In years past, I opened them as I received them and taped them to the doorway between our living room and dining room. I like looking at everyone's pictures and I considered the colorful card display part of our festive decor. Opening the holiday cards on New Year's Day gave me more time to appreciate what each person had written since I wasn't in the midst of all sorts of  holiday chaos . I marveled at how many people still send cards (myself included; I think I sent 60 this year) in the age of social media where you can receive holiday wishes electronically, see your friends' year in review (no need for the holiday letter), and admire all the pictures of their kids right there on Facebook. Some of my friends had stopped sending holiday cards this year, I noticed. I almost did as well, but couldn't bring myself to give it up just yet. There's something...