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?

Morning hope

I read this Bible verse this morning and it really touched me. I just had to share:

...When I was in great need, He saved me. (Psalms 116:6)

A simple verse with an incredibly powerful message, one we sometimes forget. God is here to save us, to help us, to comfort us. All we have to do is ask.

I took an oath

The future of the news business was on everyone’s minds during the recent Society of Professional Journalists Convention & National Journalism Conference. Even though I devote a large part of my workdays to public relations and marketing, I spent more than a decade in newsrooms around the country and have been a SPJ member for 14 years.

I remember taking an oath to “uphold the ideals of the Society of Professional Journalist” as a sophomore at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. My journalism career was barely beginning and I hardly knew a lead from a nut graph (I’ll let you non-journalists Google those terms).

Through the years, SPJ has played a significant role in my life and career – teaching me about the profession, deepening my love for a job that truly has the power to make a difference, giving me lifelong friends bound by that similar oath.

This year we marked the 100th anniversary of the Society – not to mention the 40th anniversary of when women were admitted to the organization. SPJ has roots as a fraternity, first named Sigma Delta Chi. In many ways, we remain that fraternity.

This year I think I felt that fraternity spirit more than others. We all pulled together for those who’d found themselves on the other end of a pink slip. We collectively expressed our concern over the dwindling number of newspapers, the shrinking newsroom staffs, the buyouts and the furloughs.

And yet at the end of the convention, we raised a glass a champagne, toasting the last 100 years and looking ahead at 100 more. Because journalism can come in many forms – print, TV, radio, online – but the people who report the news, who keep a watchful eye on government, who tell the stories that need to be told, well, we’re not going anywhere. We took an oath.

Happy Anniversary, Clint!

It’s hard to believe it’s been nine years since Clint and I stood before friends, family and God and entered into that sacred bond of marriage. In many ways, it seems like only yesterday. Other times, it is hard to remember my life without my sweet husband.

So, today, in honor of our ninth anniversary, I list nine things I love about my husband:

1. He is a handsome devil! (Especially when he has a little 5 o’clock shadow going on.)
2. He can make me laugh – sometimes when I don’t even feel like laughing.
3. We have inside jokes and stories. I can mention a catch phrase or a place we’ve visited and it’s a memory only he and I share. (Like, eating at the table where the bear ate sugar packets.)
4. When I gained 35 pounds of baby and looked like a beached whale, he told me I was beautiful and looking into his eyes, I knew he meant it.
5. He works hard and provides for our family.
6. He loves our baby girl, and I love watching them read books together on the couch.
7. He sticks with me, even when times are rough or I’ve hit a hard patch of life.
8. He tells a great, unabbreviated story about how we met and fell in love.
9. He is just the kind of husband I always wanted – committed, faithful and loving.

I could go on, but you get the picture. I have a great husband and look forward to many more years together.

Guest blog for Step Ahead

I'm guest blogging again:

My first real foray into the land of Web 2.0 was a blog I started in fall 2005. It was mainly a way to record and share the moments in my life with friends and family. Since then, I’ve jumped on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I feel immersed in the world of social media and its capabilities as a personal and business tool.

But earlier this month, I discovered an entirely new use for social media and the Internet when a professional colleague and friend passed away after a battle with brain cancer.

Read more on the Step Ahead Inc. blog.