I’m Flying By the Seat of My Pants

Stop Trying to Have It All, BlogHer, July 3, 2010

So I was reading through the BlogHer website as I’m very excited to attend my first BlogHer conference in less than a month. As I was perusing the different articles, I came across this post about how we as women try to “have it all.” I mean, yea I’m a perfectionist and I have so many interests and some talents I like to use, but in no way can I have it all.

Take my house for example, we moved in over two years ago. I still have temporary blinds, the paper ones that look like accordians. They are in all of the windows that I didn’t get blackout roller shades cut for. Beyond those two window treatments there is nothing else in my very old, beautiful house. Neglect in the utmost, but again I don’t pretend to “have it all”.

I really found the comment from the author’s 87-year old cousin to be the most dead-on advice. Read on:

“It’s all about the bumps.”

“Bumps … you know … bumps in the road. Everybody has them. Life can be hard for the luckiest among us. Everyone gets their share of bumps, some more than others. The important thing is to get over them as best you can, and let them make you a better person, not to get all upset that you had them.”

Then she got quiet. We were driving along a stretch of wooded New England country road. The summer greenery was vibrant and deep. It was cool beneath the bowers of trees that arched over the country lane. Wildflowers blossomed by the side of the road. She looked out the car window with a slight smile on her face.

“See? This is what I mean. This road is a side road. It has bumps in it. But it is so much more interesting than the superhighway. It means we have to slow down, to notice things. The bumps make us notice how beautiful it is here … Get it?”

So cheers to the bumps. I’ve had a lot and I plan on having a TON more! Strap me in, as I’m down for this ride of life and NOT having it all.

Interns UNITE!?!?

The Coveted but Elusive Summer Internship, New York Times, July 2, 2010

Who here was ever an unpaid intern? I’m not talking about your chore chart, but real-life, business-world worker who didn’t get compensated with money or college credit for their working? I was and I loved it. It seems the days of hiring unpaid interns is going by the wayside, especially for small business owners.

The U.S. Department of Wage and Labor Division has issued a “fact sheet” that provides general information to “help determine whether interns must be paid the minimum wage and overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act for the services that they provide to ‘for-profit’ private sector employers.” You mean I was suppose to get paid for stuffing those envelopes??? That’s right! According to the new rules an internship must be similar to training given at a school AND employers must accept that their operations may be impeded because of said intern.

Wow. Hmm. I’m not sure I get how that’s suppose to encourage employers to want interns. There are a lot of small business owners out there who can’t afford to pay for interns but who non-the-less have tons of skills they can pass onto a budding entrepreneur. Now they must forgo hiring unpaid interns unless the intern agrees to take the internship as a college course (read pay the university for credits) as well as impede their employers operations. Sounds like a fantastic idea!

What are your thoughts on these new rules? Am I missing something here? Is there a benefit to these new rules for small business owners?

All Joy and No Fun; Why Parents Hate Parenting- NY Magazine

All Joy and No Fun, New York Magazine, July 4, 2010

Parenting is hard. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “You are a mom at birth, but a parent by choice.” To say parenting is tough is an understatement and not fair to the word “parenting”. The role of parent is constantly redefined in my household. The needs of my children, my husband, and myself ebb and flow as the seconds, minutes, and hours tick on. That is why I found this article by NYMag to speak to my personal belief that the day-to-day act of parenting does not make me happy. Yet being a parent is the greatest accomplishment I have. I wouldn’t know that unless I was a parent. My children are hard to understand, hard to parent, hard to direct, hard to anticipate, and hard to please. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want them.

Start it up!

photo by Hillery Stone

Thanks for joining my little slice of internet heaven. It is here where I will jump into news stories that float my way and analyze them from my perspective. What just is that perspective you ask? Well here is my make-up: 30-something woman, mom of two preschool girls, wife of a PR exec, social media junkie, actor, writer, American by birth & Southern-born by the grace of God, live in NJ (miss living in NYC), baker, entertainer, friend, big sister, former teacher/PR exec/journalist, traveler, and all around creative-type.

I read and read and read everyday in every medium possible. When I find something of interest (because THAT’S hard to do) I love to share what I learn with my friends and family. So here is where I plan to do it. Depending on what tickles my fancy and what day it is, I will post at least one article link and my thoughts on it and why it matters to me. That’s it. That simple. So let it begin.