Friday
Jan232009
What if every week were as cool as this one?
Friday, 23 January, 2009 at 3:50 PM You know those weeks in which everything falls into place and your projects segue from one to the other in a seamless stream of perfection? Okay, it's not that week, exactly. But still...I'm loving this week. The first month of the year isn't over, and things are hoppin, people!
Thought I'd take a minute to tell you about some of the highlights of the past few days. I Declare Myself To Be Flinging Around Buckets Of Gratitude For My Fabulous Life:
- Two words: President Obama.
- Happy Birthday To Me. Just so you know: I am the youngest 40 year old woman you know. Best not to forget it.
- I'm seeing a group of friends tonight, for a wings dinner, and I'm realizing just how much I'm looking forward to seeing this group. Remember last year when I ate that Insanity Wing and had to sign a waiver? No? Here...read about it. Congratulate yourself on being the sane one in this relationship. (Or google "insanity wing" and congratulate me on getting google love for such shenanigans.) But yea, I haven't seen most of these folks since a party in December, and I'm just thinking how cool it is to have great friends. This group is one example of many from my life.
- Within the past 36 hours I have acquired for myself Two New Domains. At long last, I know the name of the new website I'll be designing for myself (when I stop sleeping so I can make time to design it, that is,) so I can finally separate my collaborative Squarespace-based website projects from my personal site. It was long past time, but what a commitment, this whole Choosing A Name And Domain silliness. Picking my name as a website address all those years ago was a piece of cake. Not likely to change my mind about that one, no matter how many forks appeared in the road of my wonky career. But now that it was time to make a conscious choice to pull these projects out of the site you're looking at now, the pressure was weighty. What if I chose wrong?
So on my birthday, I called 6 of my closest local girlfriends together (no way my guy friends would have put up with a plan like this - best to just leave them out of it altogether,) in a coffee shop, handed out a tidily-bulleted outline, told them the plan, the goals, the ideas, and let 'em have at it. We brainstormed for 2 hours and by the time we finished, I had bought one domain (which I have now admitted will be fun to develop a bit for a quirky side-project, but which will not ultimately be my main web-related website,) and a list of magnificent ideas. Turns out the next morning after talking to sis on the phone (who had to miss the brainstorming session, but I'll have to tell you about why in another post later on,) about my subsequent thoughts, and hearing her affirm my suspicion that while the first domain idea was rather a hoot and quite campy and catchy, it wasn't, in fact, very "Me." More specifically, her direct quote - yes, I wrote it down - was "The more I think about it, the more I can't possibly let you use ___ as your main business website name." The other one I loved, however, was. So I bought it yesterday morning. Subsequent conversations with two of the participants confirmed that they, too, realized it wasn't very "Melody." Still, my repeated declaration that You Have To Trust The Process is alive and well in my mind. Now more than ever. I had such glorious feedback and affirmation of the power of collaboration, and all that is good about starting with a question and talking your way to a solution. - I hate to ruin the punch line for her, really I do, but my sister has started blogging again at Batutah.com after being far too busy for such silliness as daily mommy blogging. This morning she shared a couple of draft posts with me, and I have to tell you the funniest thing ever that my nephew said. (BTW: I saw that child last night, and you should know there really is no cooler kid on the planet. There just isn't.) So he said to her the other day, "Momma, does giraffes have a butt?" Aaaaaaah! Love, LOVE, LUV this kid.
- Do you know I'm moving again? This time to another state? In February? Ask me how much I've packed. No. Don't ask me. Just assume that the answer would make you break out in hives if it were your own schedule, but I am, as it turns out, completely serene and calm about the whole unfolding of my Magical Evolving ExpandaPlan. Just wait. I'll report back one day soon and you'll know that I made it to that empty family house in WV and that I'll have surrounded myself by the very minimum number of Things That Make Me Blissfully Happy such as endless music, 2 internet-connected computers, scraping and painting supplies, my potter's wheel and bags and bags of wet clay, a handful of good books, a small stack of spiral-bound notebooks and a pile of smooth-writing pens, and All Will Be Right In My Nomadic Life.
- To further reinforce my strong belief that my career and my gypsy ways can live in great harmony, I have current web projects underway, finishing up, and just beginning, with people who live in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Chicago, Boston, and Greensboro. Meanwhile, inquiries have come in from Indianapolis and Charlotte. Trust the process, people. I'm tellin' you. It's okay to do it your own way. Unusual as that way might be. (Says the woman who turned 40 two days ago and suddenly has the clear and solid answer to every question ever asked. Heh.)
- Edamame. The Yummiest Food On The Planet. Well, that and tirimisu...
Reader Comments (10)
What part of WV are you moving to? You know that WV and Maryland share a border?
The part of WV that's 370 miles away from Baltimore. :( Such a shame... But we'll find a way to grab another visit sometime soon. AND you know this isn't permanent, right?
Hmmm! I think you're planning a visit near where I am now, sometime this year - is that still the case? 'Cause I'll be back here often-ish if things go according to plan.
Can't wait to hear what the new website is going to be called (or if you make us wait -- what it's going to look like.) GOOD LUCK with the move. And, as always, I love your writing.
Ohhhh! Thank you! (About the writing. Had to acknowledge that first.) YES you will get to know what they're both called, eventually. Not sure when I'll be able to share, but not yet. :) Stay tuned, though!
And a happy belated birthday to you!! Thank you so much for the 33 message. 32 was a bit of a "what doe it all mean?" freak out year for me. It's nice to hear that 33 has the potential to awesome.
Not sure if the "what does it all mean" stuff has gone away yet, but I AM finding that every year the answers seem to fall slightly more into place.
Here's hoping 33 IS awesome for you. Will be watching on twitter to find out! :)
Yes, we have relatives in the HIgh Point area. I also have a cousin who lives in Fayetteville. Looking forward to heading to your part of the world. I figured that your visit to WV would only be temporary. My parents used to have a cabin in Romney WV. It's a beautiful state with the mountains, etc. Am I correct in assuming that you're house sitting?
Very excited that you may be visiting my area sometime this year. Yes, the WV thing is temporary, but I just don't know how much so just yet. It's looking like I'll go sometime close to February 18. Here's the back story.
Solitude, AHHHHHH! I think every woman graves it from time to time. I know I do. Don't get me wrong, I love my family but every now and then I get a desire to have "alone time". Time to read a book without having to stop to make pizza bagels, time to shower without a audience, time to eat what I want and not what everyone else prefers for dinner, time to go to sleep when I want and to wake when I want. Yes, I do envy you dear friend.
I am absolutely going to remind myself of this comment The Minute I start to get lonely and ask myself what on earth have I done! (Because you know me: no matter how fleeting, it's inevitable that I'll ask myself that question at some point during this adventure.) Thank you for the reminder of what a gift this opportunity is for me.