It's Good When You Like Your Work

I may have said this here before, but I work mainly from home. I work as a copywriter, so telecommuting is a real option for me. Fortunately, I love my work. Recently, that was driven home to me.

I got a project to do, writing Internet content, on a variety of subjects. It was great. I must have turned out 15,000 words in 3 weeks. I was on a roll, in the zone, working at a furious pace, and loving every minute of it.

The drawback, of course, is that I was glued to my laptop during that time. My friends complained that they could only reach me on email, and my wife, well, when she resorted to emailing me, I took a day off.... But the point is, when your work is fun and appealing to you, you can do anything. I got that project in, 3 days early, is the shape the client wanted, and netted myself a nice bonus (5 cents per word, you figure it out).

I'm taking a few days off right now, resting my fingers, and doing some light reading and blogging, but I'm also thinking about work. I checked my calendar; I know what's coming down the line, and I'll be ready. I have a talent for researching web content articles, and fitting keywords into them during the writing process, and then for turning out a readable product. And my boss knows it. So maybe next week I'll be hitting another zone in content writing, but that's OK with me.

I like my job, so I can take whatever it can deal. And what can get better than that, in any profession?

This May Sound Familiar

...because I think I've written about it before. So what? It's my blog, I'll write what I choose. We took the kids to the park the other day, to get one last go in before the end of summer. A five year old, a three old, Mom, Dad, and a soccer ball. What could be better than that?

The girls played well together, like they always do... I love to watch them. They get along so well, even though they are so close in age. I watch them, and I realize that my wife and I must be doing something right after all....

The kids kicked and chased the ball, and climbed on the slides and monkey bars, and my wife and I sat in the shade and watched them, and actually had time to chat. It was great. The only thing we forgot was the picnic lunch.

So, about two hours later when the kids were hungry, we packed it in and went home. On the way, we stopped for groceries to make dinner: salad greens, chicken breast, cucumbers. All very simple, and happily, the girls' favorite stuff this week. We had dinner together, as a family, which is sometimes far too hard to do these days, but which is always worth it when we manage it.

All in all, it was a great day. Just fun with the kids, on a late September weekend, and some real quality time as a family. When we put the kids to bed that night, our 3 year old said, "Mommy, you're my best friend."

That was worth the price of admission.

My Three Year Old Went to Preschool

At the start of the school year, I had the greatest pleasure that a parent can ever have: I got to watch my 3 year old start school.

We enrolled her in a preschool because it was time. We found one that focuses on the basics: helping kids learn to play together, to follow instructions, to learn in a group, to make friends; in short, to do all of the things that we do with her as a family, but to reinforce it by putting her with her peers.

She was so excited that first day, she couldn't wait to get there. We bought her a backpack, and a little sectioned lunch tray for her snacks, and she was ready! That morning, she put on her favorite little dress, asked Mommy to make her hair pretty, and ran to the car. It's a good thing she doesn't drive yet...

When I got her to the preschool, I walked her to the door. We had to go through the playground, and she just knew that this is the best part. She kept pointing to playground equipment and saying, "Daddy, I will play here, and here, and here...."

At the door, she turned to me and said, firmly, "Bye, Daddy!" and ran inside. I watched her new teacher give her a hug, and show her where to put the backpack, and then she ran to the other kids. It was great to see her bloom like that, so quickly. She felt so big to go to school.

Her enthusiasm hasn't faded, and it's really wonderful to watch. I just hope she can keep it as she gets older. I'll do my best to help her, and I'll love every minute of it.