Dispatches from the Home Office

August 22, 2006, 2:55 p.m.
I promise to start updating more often. Yes, I have said this before but this time I swear I’m going to follow through. You see, there is a talented designer spending hours hunched over his computer working on a new website as we speak. He tells me that having a journal (which is updated on a semi-regular basis) will drive traffic to the new and improved site. I believe him.

Things are a little saner around the home office (translation: I am working fewer weekends and logging off of the computer before 8 p.m.), hence the time to work on the new website. (Truth be told, I am not working on the site at all. I am just driving the designer mad with requests to tweak the layout, change the font and entertain me with different color choices).
I have been working, writing a few articles here and there on topics like raising chickens, making small talk, misdiagnosed diseases and the best positions for women in labor. I am also sending queries to my favorite magazines, planning classes for the fall and working one-on-one with aspiring freelance writers.
There have also been a few exciting (although not work-related) things on the calendar this summer.
I am on the auction committee for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Oregon and SW Washington. I have volunteered on the committee in the past and after a short hiatus, a friend and fellow committee member urged me to come back. I am soliciting donations for the annual auction which takes place on September 23. We have received some wonderful and generous donations from local businesses and I have been working with some amazing women to put the event together.
I also have another office mascot. His name is Milo and he is a miniature longhaired cream dapple dachshund (quite a mouthful, eh?). J and I talked about getting a second dog for a while before we took the plunge. It has been interesting to go through potty training, crate training and please-sleep-through-the-night training all over again but so worth it. I would post pictures, but I have no idea how.
Molly and Milo (yes, both of their names start with ‘M.’ It was not planned, I swear) get along quite well. The dogs are also a great excuse to escape from the office and go for a long walk in the middle of the day, which is exactly where I’m going right now…