Boasting

After reading Betsy's latest blog about her recent adventures, I realize I should be tooting my own horn a bit about my life, rather than just chronicling it. It's a realization I came to a while ago, that I am not selfish enough, and take too much time worrying about, and taking care of, other people and their projects, instead of taking care of me and going for the things I want in my life.

When I look back on my 61 years, though I must say this last year has been a bit dreary, adventure-wise, I have done amazing things. And even though in the past year, I have pretty much stayed put here in the PNW (although I did go to South Africa last year right around this time) I have put my time to good use.

Mostly, I have transferred what I know and have done for the past almost twenty years of editorship and photojournalism into becoming a multimedia communicator. Back in 1996 in the early quokka days, my interest was piqued by the technology we were using to create the first multimedia web site - that was WAY before anyone knew what multimedia web sites were! My first real taste of it, besides writing and photographing the sailboat races etc and waiting for them to be processed and "pushed" onto the site (usually crashing it) was working with the IT geniuses to create the very first race viewer. I just had a sense then that they could do it, and with no technological training on my part, asked for things I wanted it to do that had never been done - and they figured out how, and it worked!

So I was hooked!

I have watched technology blossom into what the internet has become, and at times felt so overwhelmed by it all, had to leave it alone, not having the time (and often the inclination) to keep up with it.

But it never got too far away from me and so when www.mymixednuts.com came along, I figured, hell, I can do this. And did it! And although I am probably old enough to be most of the young IT guys who work on the site in India's grandmother - or at the least, mother - I have kept up with it. And now working with wicked-pr, I am learning the subtleties of Search Engine Optimization.

Many times I wish I wasn't chained to the computer and was out adventuring like Betsy is. And then I think, "I know I will be out there again soon," but next time it will be with a video camera and laptop doing podcasts and other cool stuff. I am looking at what I am doing as my own personal university (seeing as I never went to one as a youngster) and plan to get as much out of this time as possible. Although often it is frustrating and taxing, other times it is exhilarating, like when the site got relaunched on Friday and it looked great, until I found that all the pages I had worked on for two weeks were missing! Frustration! Actually, I was totally pissed off and in tears about it after going to bed really late the night before, getting stuff done and then getting up at 4 to catch the guys in India before they left for the weekend. So of course, nothing could be done and I have had to cool my heels over the weekend and wait for them to come back to work tonight.

And I also know I must write my "memoir," not necessarily for general publication, but for my family and my grandchildren, because there is so much that I have done, and so many places I have been that very few people see or do. And I don't want those memories to disappear when I head off into another dimension.

So in the meantime, I am enjoying the wonderful spring weather, and working on my Kangen water business. And I am congratulating myself that I have my first team member join me! Thanks Pam, we are going to grow a great team and make lots of money that will fund my travels and adventures!

Spring has sprung

I shouldn't say "finally," but Spring is here for sure now. The first tulips are open, the fruit trees are in full bloom, and the grass needs mowing! 

So now there is color popping up all over the place, and that is what turns this place into one of the most beautiful places to be - in the spring and summer! The weather is warming up, the heater doesn't come on nearly as much, and I can be outside without being totally bundled up! Definitely not barefoot weather yet, but doable. Today I will do some weeding, which for me is quite therapeutic. The weeds are growing faster than the flowers and am thinking that some of them are quite pretty, so maybe should cultivate them, instead of the ornamentals! It would make my life simpler, for sure.

My trip south for my birthday week was absolutely one of the best! I felt so good, and I think part of that is that I am feeling so healthy! I did miss my water, though and the water in LA is SO bad that I had to resort to drinking bottled water, which just about kills me to do, knowing what I know about it. But it is a step up from the tap water. 

Just spending time with family and friends is so important to me. And now I must fill out paperwork for a loan modification on this house and I have decided that if I can get the loan down to a reasonable amount, I will put a renter in here to cover it and then move down south somehow. Don't know how, yet, but it will figure itself out as I go ahead.

And when I do move, I will simply rent a truck, load the nuts and what I want to take in the back and kitties in the cab, hook the car up behind it and head south. It will mean finding a place to pack nuts, but I don't think that will be too difficult - if it comes down to it, we can use Ryan's garage. 

MyMixedNuts relauch will happen in the next couple of weeks. It has been a long slog, getting the stuff redone, with the developers and designers getting flu in the middle of it and slowing things down. And also, for some reason, they were not "getting" what it is we are trying to do, but finally I think we are there. So the new pages should be live next week for testing, the wicked-pr will start the media blitz, which means for me, I will be packing a lot of nuts! They are planning to send out sample bags to at least 50 media outlets so I have to be prepared for that, and will have more details on Monday. 

But it has been interesting as I learn more about SEO (search engine optimization) and all the internal linking within a site that makes it more searchable by google and other search engines. And once I have the new pages, it means a lot of content production, so I am going to be very busy. 

But I am going to have to find more work, as my income is just not enough - at the moment it barely covers my expenses and this is not how I want to be living. I would love to be able to do the writing and photography sort of thing I was doing for Country Life, writing about the social upliftment programs and stuff like that in South Africa. It would be optimum to be working for a NGO that needed stories and pictures like that who would send me to do them. It always felt so good to be able to help - mainly the women - the way the articles helped, by bringing new business to them, and showcasing what they are accomplishing. Although I wasn't volunteering or contributing to them financially, I knew I was helping in other ways.

So I have my work cut out for me, but I love being busy and having a goal. Now, Hinckley, off my lap, time for me to get dressed, and out in the garden to soothe my soul.