We Now Return To Your Regularly Scheduled Life

It's Monday morning and I've got the radio tuned to my favorite station, a cup of decaf coffee in front of me, and cats winding about my ankles, threatening anarchy because it's been a least 7 minutes since I last paid them attention.

I'm back. No more working away from home. My schedule, my coffee, my laptop, my life. I'm VERY happy to sit down this AM and crank out some work. I LOVE working from home. I didn't realize quite how much until I spent last week filling in for a friend at his office. The people and work were great--I just missed my routine. The freedom to do what I want, when I want, in whatever time increments suit my mood. Spoiled? Yes, and oh-so-grateful for it.

And there is much to be done. Before I went to bed last night I wrote down a quick "reminder" list of what needs to take place today. I think I need to switch the decaf to the real stuff, pay for the cats to go to therapy and learn to cope, and hunker down with laser-like focus.

Sounds like a wonderful day to me. Hope your Monday is a great one!

Radio Show Ideas

Blair and I went out for dinner last night (Mexican--don't tell my running group!) and brainstormed ideas for my radio show. After some hilarious ideas ("Church Chat with Dena Harris') we came up with this:

How Did You End Up Here? This is a community focused AM radio station, so my idea is to just pull people from around the community who didn't grow up here and quiz them on how they ended up in Rockingham County. Then go on to talk to them about their lives - what they do for a living, for fun, family, type car, hobbies, last book read, etc. A voyeruristic peek into people's lives. The joke being, of course, why on earth would you want to end up in Rockingham County? I joked I should call the show, "How Did You End Up Here... And Why Won't You Leave?"

If you've ever seen Inside the Actor's Studio, you know host James Lipton has a set series of questions he asks guests at the end of their time together. I could do something like that here. 10 fast questions about favorite restaurant, favorite shop, favorite celebrity, biggest pet peeve, etc.

That's the thought. Our next door neighbors are from Ohio and run a B&B. They'd be good guests. A coffee shop in Reidsville is run by a couple from California. My yoga instructor was born in Japan, raised in Hawaii, and now lives here. Why? How did they land in this part of the country and this part of the state?

What do you think?

Be My Web B**CH

I just started reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. Lots to chew on. One suggestion he makes is to rid yourself of work you don't do well and that doesn't directly contribute to your profit line. For example, if it takes you two hours to churn out a decent business letter, is that the best use of your time or could you hire somebody who holds that skill to do it for you?

My area of downfall is anything technology related. Right now, for example, I'm struggling with setting up a new e-mail account. I grabbed "dena@kissmykittybutt.com" from my service provider but I can't get the account to show on my Mac and download mail there. Grrrr.... I'm on hour two of futzing around with this. Good use of my time in an already busy week? I think not. Which has me considering hiring a sort of personal assistant to assist me with all things techie. Or not even assist. Just do them. I call, you do. And I thought of the perfect person.

I called my friend Melody.

"I'm thinking of hiring you to be my web bitch," I said.

And this is why I love Melody. Without missing a beat or knowing what I was talking about she said, "I would love to be your web bitch."

I need to think it through--what exactly I think I would need, would pay be on an hourly or retainer basis, average expected cost, etc. As I move more into book marketing, there is just more to be done that I don't have the skill set for - graphics and banners, Flair on Facebook, logos, e-mail accounts, RSS feeds, website redesign and updates...

Yes, I think I see a web bitch in my future.

Going Vegan... Maybe

I stopped eating red meat and pork in 1988. I initially did it on a trial basis, just to see if I could. Surprisingly, I never missed it and never had any desire to go back.

Cutting out chicken and turkey, which I did around 1995-96, was harder. Blair and I ate a lot of chicken-based meals together, finding food at a Wendy's or McDonald's became more of a challenge and frankly, Thanksgiving without turkey meat sucks. (I tried Tofurkey which is similar in taste and texture to regurgitated stomach snot. Don't do it.)

I always planned to either cut out or ease back on seafood, which I haven't yet. I love me some crabcakes and lobster! But I watched an episode of Hell's Kitchen where chefs had to drop live lobsters into boiling water and I was all but screaming at them, "Don't do it!" A little hypocritical, considering I eat lobster (dunked in hot butter... oh yum.) So I think I'll start easing off on seafood by no longer eating crab and lobster.

But I've been getting a lot of signals from the Universe lately about vegan. A friend of mine read "Skinny Bitch" and he and his wife are trying Vegan for a month. I'm waiting for him to report back to me. I've recently met several vegans and am semi-following a vegan blog.

Vegan scares me. It seems like a lot of work. But I might compromise (off-putting to the true vegans, I know.) I'm not so much one that believes it's wrong to eat animals as I am someone who believes it's wrong to torture animals before we eat them, which is exactly what happens with standard meat, eggs, etc. I don't want to eat tortured animals from a moral standpoint, but also from a health standpoint. I don't think eating something raised in suffering can be good for me.

Which is why I'm quite interested in the "natural" food wave that's sweeping America. Blair has made some inquiries to local farms about buying meat and eggs. My understanding is these farms raise animals the "old-fashioned" way, with pastures and room to roam. I'd forgo vegan and eat dairy and even chicken/turkey (red meat just no longer appeals to me) if we bought from them.

Still thinking things through. I'd like to read Skinny Bitch and some nutrition books and do more research before committing to anything. But giving up meat has really not been difficult and soy-meat products are MUCH tastier now then they used to be and I would assume they will continue to improve. So stay tuned...