Come Say Hi at My New Blog

I just found a focus and revamped my new/old blog: Vintage Me. I would love it if you came by and let me know what you think about it.

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littlest bird explained

Thanks for the comments about keeping this blog alive. I definitely want to. And I even have some good ideas for it. But today, I got frustrated and depressed about my ability to do anything or get anything done with a baby.

Rhys is an awesome baby boy. He is so handsome, and really quite a good boy. But the one thing he doesn’t do is nap on his own. He simply won’t. So I either hold him while he naps or nap with him. (I usually choose to nap with him.)

My frustration comes about because this is what I do all day:

Rhys wakes up. I change his diaper, breastfeed him and then make a bottle. Then play with him for a little while. Then he gets cranky so I put him to sleep and we nap together. This pattern gets repeated all day long.

Where do I fit in all the other things I want and need to do? My house is a huge pile of crap, basically. I never feel like I have time to make meals, clean the house, or do anything I actually want to do. I don’t know how to remedy this. I’m surrounded by clutter and each day I just make it worse.

You know what I want this blog to be? About getting organized. About learning to eat healthy. About cool products for moms. About fun crafts and great Etsy shops. About books and writing and working from home. I even wanted to do some awesome giveaways.

I still do! But my question is WHEN? When does it get easier to have a baby so that I can accomplish something in a day (other than caring for a boy)? I think this blog could be pretty fun for me and possibly interesting to other people. (Possibly.) So I’m frustrated that I don’t see it happening any time soon.

I don’t know. For the moms and dads out there, how do YOU do it? How do you hold it all together?

And to leave it on a hopeful note, if I DO happen to find a way to make this blog a reality, I want to move it to its own domain. If I do that, what the heck should I call it? I would go with littlest bird, but littlestbird .com, .net, and .org are already taken. Boo!

The littlest bird name is from a song by the Be Good Tanyas that says, “the littlest birds sing the prettiest songs.” I chose that name because it says to me that even if you’re small and think there’s nothing unique about you, or think you’re not that special,  think again! Littlest Bird means “hope” to me.

So…with that in mind, what’s your best idea for a new blog name? If I get no responses, I may have to hold a contest of some kind…

Thanks, readers!

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November recap

I have not been the best blogger the past few months. This writing for a living thing sure drains me. By the end of the day, I’m usually mentally exhausted! Which means I never feel like updating my blog. Today, though, I’d much rather write here than write the article I need to write about parrots. Bleh!

So I guess what I’ll do is a quick recap of November:

First, the not happy.

• I had a client tell me she didn’t like one of the articles I sent her. I know, freelance writers must develop a thick skin, but I don’t have one yet! In fact, I think my skin started out much thinner than most people’s, anyway (ask John!). So I’ve been a little down the past few days.

• I didn’t make as much money in November as I had hoped. Don’t count your freelance writing gigs before they’re hatched.

• We still haven’t decorated our house for the holidays. 😦

• I don’t want you to judge me for this, so be kind: I haven’t felt like doing dishes in over a week. So I haven’t. And nobody else has either. We are down to our last utensil.

The happy stuff!

• John and I basically get a three week vacation – one week together in Athens (dubbed Holli-Johnny week), one week in Arizona, and one week in Nevada, with a little Utah possibly thrown in. Yay! We definitely need the break.

• I’m making new friends. There are so many nice people in our church ward, and I finally feel like I’m getting to know some of them. It’s nice. I’m going to a friend’s house tomorrow for some crafting fun.

• I reconnected with old friends during Thanksgiving. John and I went to Rome, GA to see a couple of my college friends and their family. We played the James Bond game (I’m so opposed to it, but there I was, shooting the bad guys until my fingers hurt!) and had fun with the kids and cats. And we ate yummy food.

• I’m going to revamp my business model for the new year. I’m going to have a website and do things a little differently. I’ll show the site to you when it’s done. I know I can make the freelance thing work, but I’ll have to do it differently from the way I do it now.

• I have a wonderful husband who is so amazong and sweet. That’s not specific to the month of November, but I needed the happy stuff to outweigh the not so happy stuff!

Anyway, happy December! I hope your month is a good one.

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PhD support group

There should be a support group for people with spouses in PhD programs. If there isn’t one already, I should create it.

Being the wife of a PhD student can be a lonely, frustrating experience. If you’ve had a spouse in school, perhaps you can relate, especially if it was/is a demanding program. I hardly see John, and when I do, he’s usually stressed out about something.

I make meals that I sometimes don’t get to eat with him. I sit in his ‘home office,’ quietly doing my own thing while he does homework just so I can spend time with him at all.

It’s not easy. Sometimes it’s really hard. I understand that being a PhD student is difficult (probably more difficult than I could hack), but being the spouse of one is hard too.

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