what's cooking?

Guess what? Now I don’t know how this is actually going to play out-but it appears that my perseverance and patience may be starting to do some good.

I was sitting at my desk and working diligently on a couple of articles for the OC Register and the phone rang. Truthfully, that’s not usually anything to get very excited over. It certainly isn’t anything to write an entire column on either-except this time. I hope (I’m actually praying here, but you don’t see it).

The person on the other end was my editor at the little local paper for which I write a city column (My Laguna Hills, Saddleback News). He was wondering (??????) would I be interested in doing more for the newspaper? He went on to explain that they had been down a reporter for one of the areas and would love it if I could take the job!

Mind? Think? Interested? He told me about the pay (rather pitiful, but pay is pay) and that it would mean going to city hall meetings, doing features on people in the area and taking a few pictures. Essentially, just what I have wanted to do all my freakin’ life.

Oops, sorry-didn’t mean to get carried away, but this is exciting. Don’t get me wrong, if I could keep doing just my features, I would, but I really need to increase my pay scale and this is what could very well be considered “Just what the doctor ordered”.

So I am not sitting in my chair at the moment-I’m floating above it.

And that isn’t all that happened this week! No, this is my week for good news.

I was expecting several books to come that I’m using as background material for some stories, reviews, etcetera, so it was of no surprise when I saw a book size package in my mailbox. What was a surprise was when I opened it; the package had a book which contained one of my essays in it! I had totally forgotten about writing it and sending it off some 2 years ago! The book is entitled “When Work isn’t Working” by Jane Woods, a job coach and writer in England.

Totally jazzed I am! Cool. My pleasure to update my writer’s resume and add these two items to it!

As “they” say-good things come in 3’s. So here’s my “3”: I’m a member of a great new cooking site-www.MixingBowl.com. Evidently I’m more active that I thought-they’ve asked me to consider being a media speaker for them. How exciting! Who better than me to talk to the media about food????

As I said at the top, I’m not sure how this will all play out, but for now, I’m going to enjoy and relish my fun, exciting and terrific news.

I was never patient or very insistent in my youth. I’m thinking that by waiting until now, I’m better equipped to handle the possible changes that will hopefully happen in my life AND so will my family.

I know that everyone seems to be enjoying my bit of humor on the regular blog this week-but here are the links to my latest stories as well!

This one is about the new president of the National PTA-the first man to ever hold the post:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pta-school-president-2478453-time-many#


This next one is about a great organization here in my hometown, where I write a monthly column for the local newspaper, it's called Vocational Visions:

http://www.ocregister.com/share/profiles/?slid=bf3d273e-aaca-d8a4-f59d-4f0c97d2eb69&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=bf3d273e-aaca-d8a4-f59d-4f0c97d2eb69&plckPostId=Blog%3abf3d273e-aaca-d8a4-f59d-4f0c97d2eb69Post%3ab986543c-62af-4578-bc7b-5410a48dae87&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest

You know you’ve probably been out of a day job too long when:

Nearby family members ask if it’s okay to change their children’s emergency school contact to YOU because “you’re the easiest to reach and have the most flexible schedule”.

When you realize that you haven’t set the alarm clock on your nightstand since you were laid off. Except to catch an early plane for the vacation you had planned a year prior to being let go.

When you go back to your former place of employment as a bonafide customer and see that the desk is now piled high with stuff that probably has been there since you left-because no one else had the time to do the work. “After all Carine, it wasn’t you-it was the economy. We really wish they could find some extra money and have you come back-even for a few hours a week.”

That you actually liked seeing that the desk was piled high with undone work. “Ha-ha on them” comes to mind.

You no longer have a scheduling problem when you have to see a doctor of any kind. Anytime now works-and the schedulers thank you profusely.

Except for the fact that you no longer have a half way decent pay check coming in every couple of weeks-you are actually enjoying being a full time, underpaid writer.

Your family seems to enjoy that you are making more elaborate meals because you have the time and energy to do so.

The laundry is getting done in a timely manner.

Putting on make-up is now not a daily process, but only used when a face-to-face interview is in the works or someone decides to invite you to something.

Even though the dog is 13 and really can’t walk more than about 150 feet, she has gone back to knowing what it means when you come downstairs in your walking shorts. She also knows that it’s “carrot time” around 1 o’clock when you come downstairs for your veggie break.
And finally:

No one is asking you the very important question, “So how’s the job search going? Got a line on anything yet?” Mainly because whatever writing you are getting published seems to have become a source of pride for them to know someone who has been in print/online.

Hi everyone, just an extra post this week to ask any of you who joined mixingbowl.com to please go back and vote for my latest entrant-Sweet Potato Banana Bread.

It's a contest for the best banana bread recipe-AND you can vote once a day until July 31st!

Here's the link that takes you (hopefully, since I already voted today and it is just giving me the percentages of the votes!):

http://www.mixingbowl.com/group/contest/view.castle?g=990591

This is Father’s Day weekend. May all the dads out there in cyberland get the appreciation you have earned.

Around here, we’ve got a lot of dads. My dad, my husband, our son-in-law and our 2 brothers-in-law, even though one of the last mentioned lives in a different half of our beautiful state. We also will start including our future daughter-in-law’s father.

As our clan gets older (therefore busier) and bigger, we don’t seem to be able to keep up with family get-togethers as well. Some members work. And the ones that do have schedules at opposite ends of the 24 hour clock. Many live up to 40 miles apart, making a place to meet up on the tricky side.

We also have numerous tastes and ages to consider. I’m sure most of you reading this are nodding your heads in agreement and understanding. On the day I’m writing this-we still have no idea what’s going on! What is it we have to take under consideration?

Let’s see, my parents really shouldn’t be driving long distances or after dusk. Our son-in-law is back to working the graveyard shift and he now has an hour’s drive to get to his location. Our daughter, daughter-in-law and son will have to work until approximately 6 p.m... As of this particular moment- my hubby and I will be watching the grandkids on not just Sunday-but I’m sure this is only getting posted because the little guys are napping. My sister, brother-in-law, nephew and niece have activities to consider.

My daughter-in-law hasn’t a clue how to fit her dad around her work schedule. Thankfully, we will satisfy our long distance brother-in-law with a phone call.

We considered doing something at my parents home-it would solve making sure they wouldn’t have to be on the road, we could do a repeat of Mother’s Day and simply bring dinner in. Everyone did seem to love have a deli breakfast for dinner. But that was before the latest time constraints threw “monkey wrenches” into the mix. Plus, mom and dad had water damage in their kitchen and they have no floor to speak of-they’ve been taking their Chihuahua, Cisco, and going on day trips to stay out of the dust and workmen’s way.

While we all agree that we’d love to get together, so far we haven’t figured out how!
Another little snag-I am so not able to pick up anything that’s heavier than a coffee cup at the moment. I know this because I tried clearing out the dryer and blacked out from the pain in my thrice compromised right rib cage. Thankfully, the grandkids understand about grandma’s owies-Dylan now mimics my famous “oh dear” to a frightening likeness. LOL!

(Here’s a bit of free advice-if you’ve already popped that same rib 2 other times, don’t lean into your tile bath surround while bathing your grandsons-because another 6 week healing process is in your midst.)

Another thing to consider on Father’s Day celebrations-I think really good uncles should get cards too. I just mentioned that I found myself in a rather painful position. My son was helping me at the time-he deftly took over the rest of his nephews’ bath needs. Besides that feat, earlier in the day (after working over 8 hours) he came home and entertained those said bundles of joy so that I could prepare dinner and catch up on some laundry.

Not many young men would do that-let alone do this on a regular basis and without being asked.

Kudos to dads and those that will make excellent ones in the not so distant future.

Hi everyone,

I had the pleasure of not only interviewing the creator of "Boot Camp for Dads", but reading his new book as well.


Here's the link to a pretty interesting Q & A with Greg Bishop!

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/dads-new-dad-2447494-need-fathers

Technodweeb is alive and well. I seem to be in a bit of a “round robin” with the editors over at the Saddleback News.

Saddleback News is an affiliate of the OC Register-where I’m on contract with the OC Moms section. For the affiliate I write a monthly column called My Laguna Hills.

It WAS pretty popular with the locals-until the newspaper changed to Pluck. Pluck is not fun. I use it when I post on Lady’s Home Journal (I’m one of their bloggers). it’s easy enough to use-even for me, so I was a bit surprised when one of my editors told me I was not posting my column right.

Hmmm. I called both of the new IT women. One told me she saw nothing wrong, that as long as it was in blog form, that one of them would simply pull it and put it into the column area for both the online and print paper.

So far, that hasn’t happened! I’ve had several people send me personal messages asking why I’m not doing my column anymore! I wrote back saying I most certainly was writing them and even gave them the links.

My bad-I took the links, but didn’t check them out until my other editor asked me why my column was in the blog area. I explained what I had been told and she told me “No Carine, they were supposed to teach you how to post the column, not a blog. Please tell them what I need.”

You bet I did-I copy/pasted her note to be, sent another e-mail with my desire to have this taken care of and reported to them what I found when I clicked on my own link.

This is what I found-you click on the link and the darn thing takes the viewer to my personal page at the newspaper, where you have to click on the area that says “blog”. About 2 more clicks and you’re finally at my column!

I pointed out that my readership is frustrated and my numbers are down because of all these moves and that not one of my stories has made it to the print edition in the last 3 months.

The frustrating part is that I feel that somehow this is my fault. In reality-it is the fault of Pluck. I do find that this time I won’t be willing to apologize for my lack of computer skills, since one of the editors has no idea why this is happening.
If she and the other editor don’t understand what’s going on and they’re getting the “big bucks”-how can I, lowly underpaid columnist, know what to do?


I suppose it’s all relative, I get paid for this gig (hold on, I’m even willing to part with this information, I get a whopping $60 a column), so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.

Really though-in this day and age, something as simple as posting one measly 500 word story shouldn’t take 2 IT specialists, 2 editors and 1 writer. Or should it?