Finding your blogging voice

Finding your own unique blogging voice can be a real challenge. I just wrote a post on our company blog addressing this and offering some tips. Check it out and please share a comment on how you've found your voice.

Hey, check me out in the WSJ

This week I had my 15 minutes of fame when I was included in a story for The Wall Street Journal. I was featured in an online graphic about “How the Great Recession Shaped the U.S. Job Market.” Check it out here. It was part of a larger story both in print and online titled “Even in a Recovery Some Jobs Won’t Return.” Unfortunately, newspaper reporter/editor jobs are among that mix, with the industry having lost more than 73,000 jobs.

And while I think it would have been more fun to have written the story for the WSJ, it also was cool to be included in the article. And maybe I was able to put a human face on the many job losses people have faced over the last couple of years. For so many of us it’s not just about the loss of a paycheck, it’s about the loss of dreams and goals – and that’s truly the greatest tragedy of this recession.

Shifting my spending

As last year’s holiday season rolled around, I set one goal: support more local businesses. A community organization, Lowcountry Local First, promotes buying local and has encouraged consumers to participate in the “10 percent shift” – shifting 10 percent of spending to local businesses. It also hosted a Buy Local Week to promote the idea of buying local.

So as I looked at my holiday shopping list, I wanted to shift more of my spending to small, local businesses. I’m happy to report I was fairly successful. Yes, I still purchased items at Wal-Mart, Target and Amazon.com. But … I also:

• Purchased two toys at Wonder Works just around the corner from my house. They have several of the toys set out for children to play with, which is a great way to see what piqued my daughter’s interest. They also offer layaway and free gift wrapping.

• Bought a gift basket at Ted’s Butcherblock in downtown Charleston, a great little gourmet food and wine store.

• Ordered three sets of cookie tins from Charleston Cookie Co. for my husband’s family in Arkansas and Texas.

• Bought two sweetgrass baskets from the lovely ladies at the Market in downtown Charleston.

All told, I spent more than $200 with local businesses. For the 2010 holiday season, I think I can do even better.

Finding my imagination

As we get older, our capacity for imagination tends to lessen. We live in reality – a world of mortgages, schedules, responsibilities and deadlines. But there is something about having a toddler in your house that helps you see things in a different way.

As Kate and I were eating guacamole the other night, she decided the Tostitos Scoop looked like a crown and started to put it on her head. I laughed and did the same. In fact, it did look like a crown. And so, thanks to my daughter, I occasionally get to take a break from reality and use my imagination.

We've gone to the dogs

Clint is away and, as you can see, I have lost complete control over the household.

And ... that's a wrap on 2009

I took a look back at my last blog post of 2008. Last year was by far the hardest year I’ve ever encountered and I was certain 2009 had to be better. In many ways it was, yet the challenges have remained. My great challenge has come in the final months when Clint accepted a work assignment in Africa. He left at the beginning of November for the yearlong assignment with only one visit home near the halfway point.

We didn’t make this decision lightly. We knew the extra pay he would receive would help us recover from the financial strain of my job loss in 2008. We knew it wouldn’t be easy. Clint would be living on a Navy base in Djibouti, Africa: his small room a converted shipping container; his workweek six or seven days long. It wouldn’t be a picnic.

I would be at home, essentially a single parent responsible for the household, a toddler and my own work.

The last seven weeks have been extremely difficult, and I have a renewed appreciation for single parents as well as those whose spouses are in the military or otherwise working away from home. I’m grateful for friends who have stepped in to help as it’s extra tough when you don’t have any family nearby.

I admit I’m not looking forward to 2010. It will be struggle and I miss my husband dearly. Yet, we’re trying to think long term, making a sacrifice now that we hope will pay off in the long run.

Parenting

Some random thoughts on parenting:

* Could there ever be a situation in life that is filled with more ups and downs? Literally, an "up" moment and 60 seconds later a "down" moment.
* I find things I truly enjoyed before I became a parent now are no longer fun and take too much energy (and I have so little to spare).
* Having Clint working in Africa right now gives me a new appreciation for single parents. How do they maintain a shred of sanity?