This is such an unusual sight. Snow in Dallas, Oregon. During the kids' winter vacation from school (to which Sam refuses to return), the snow fell. I had been praying against snow for days. Luckily, as I fell miserably victim to a vicious head cold, the snow fell on the day I could no longer resist the germs. And more luckily, this being Dallas, before the second day of my convalescence was over, the rain had returned and the snow was no more.
Well, life continues to happen, whether it is written about or not. I just realized that I have about a month until this site expires. Or whatever. One month until it's time to pay the piper again, and we've decided that hey, we don't want to pay. Huh??? You ask. This is the only blogging platform I know of where one has to pay. Currently, it's $150/year. It's also one of the hardest platforms to manage and navigate, being intended for bloggers much more tech-savvy than I.
So, I've been in a bit of a conundrum. First, I had (actually have) a widget called site meter which is supposed to keep track of all my visitors and stats, so that I know how I'm doing. At first, site meter was wonderful and would send me an email with all my stats every Saturday night so that I could measure my success or lack thereof. But alas, they have been very inconsistent in sending me this info. So I don't know if anyone other than my mother, sister-in-law, and Daria from Michigan ( who has turned into my on-line pen pal and makes me laugh hard enough to blow milk out my nose if I actually drank milk--wine out the nose would hurt so much worse) actually reads Chicken and Sponge. And while I am certainly glad that they read, $150 platform is over-kill when I could go to another platform for a much more reasonable price, also known as FREE.
Now, the Typepad platform was my original choice because I wanted a professional blog, meaning I wanted to make money, and I though this would be easier. Currently, I've made about $22. The Amazon store wasn't quite as straight-forward as I'd hoped. I can certainly think of suggestions where Amazon could improve their affiliate program, mostly to do with how the stores are set up. But also, I think it is bogus that I can't order anything for myself through my site and earn a commission. Believe me, I was an Avon lady for more than 10 years (indeed, I was) and Avon was smart enough to realize that their representatives were also their best customers. Many an Avon lady has made no money, but has been well-stocked in Skin-So-Soft, lipstick, and cologne in car-shaped decanters. I still have Avon products in a box or two in our shop, slowly being used. Why couldn't Amazon have been as wise? After all, a sale is a sale is a sale. But they don't allow it and that irritates me.
So, the money didn't roll in and I was forced to find employment of other means. Which means I work a forty-hour week before I get to sit down and write. Writing is still where my interest lies, still where my heart is, and is still my life-long calling, my life-long goal. I frequently kick myself in the butt for two decades of procrastination.
I know I've talked about this before. Blog? Or novel? Or both? This is the real conundrum. I've explored other platforms and no, I haven't decided between Vox, Blogger, or doing My Space yet. But the real question is, where am I going to focus?
I can now do video with any of those platforms. I believe a little advertising can be done on one of them, but honestly, I'm indifferent to that. I think we can take care of the money making through a little ingenuity. I really want to get some Chicken and Sponge t-shirts printed up with pictures of Zeus and Louise under the banner.
I have my doubts that Mick will be able to write on the blog much longer either. Sam continues to refuse to go to school so we are embroiled in a most distasteful mess with the school on this one. The one thing we think would work, they refuse to do. We want the aide who has had great rapport to work with her and we've been told in no uncertain terms that that will never happen again. I'm ready to start going over people's heads and squawking like a squished cat, but by 4:00 p.m. when I leave work, I mostly just want to scrub my skin raw in a scalding shower and eat like a truck driver. I hesitate to miss any work, though I may have to. In the meantime, Mick is putting up with our home being invaded with people and trying to deal with Sam's shenanigans--like getting into stuff in our bathroom, my stuff, and then Mick tells me she's doing it while on the toilet taking a crap so he can't stop her because she needs her privacy and that's how I came to be minus three lipsticks, a bottle of expensive makeup remover, and I'm still finding toilet paper and q-tip ends stuck to the wall from when Sam filled the garbage can up with water and dumped it over her head...AND the other reason that Mick will probably be less inclined to write is...drum roll, please...Mick got a job. I repeat, in this crappy economy, MICK GOT A JOB!
Now here is the crappy part of all that: He will be working for an organization similar to the one I work for (I've recently been informed that we can't name the organization in any kind of social networking situation, including blogs, or we'll be fired. Nice, huh?) but not the same one I work for. The one Mick is going to work for pays better, the probationary period is only 90 days instead of 6 months, and they do merit raises. So Mick will start out making $2.25 an hour more than I do and will probably get a raise after 90 days. Even more importantly, he is supervising a crew of disabled adults on a couple of janitorial contracts. Just supervising. No cleaning. I come home with bleach splotches on my clothes (maybe a little poop or drool on a bad day) and for more money, he's going to watch other people clean. Hmmm. Plus he really likes everyone he's met so far with that organization. I've told him, "Keep your eyes and ears open because I won't hesitate to jump ship". And I won't. Of course, I can't complain too much since his good fortune is our family's good fortune.
More good fortune? Mick's shift is 4:00 pm until midnight. Mine is 8:00 am until 4:00 pm. Mick's is located in Dallas, so less commute time, less gas. Miranda will only have to watch Sam for a short while before I get home. Excellent. I can sleep in the middle of the bed until shortly after midnight. Better and better.
But the blog. What to do about Chicken and Sponge? Posting may be sparse in the coming weeks while we decide and make the move. Feel free to share your opinion and stay tuned.
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