Ender's Game - Book of the Month

Sunday night I sent an e-mail to a dear friend of mine with the Subject line: "Curses on you."  The curses was because I had a number of things to get done on Sunday: grocery store, clean house, cook, spend time with cats, spend time with Blair, prepare for the work week, balance my checkbook, exercise, etc.  and none of it got done.

Why? Because I spent all day Sunday reading the book my friend had given me. What is in fact my new favorite book of the moment, Ender's Game.

This is not a new book. I believe the first printing came out in 1977. It's also Sci-Fi, a genre I don't read a lot in. But oh. My. God. SUCH a good book. I was hooked early on and never looked up except to forage occasionally in the fridge for food. Planted myself on the couch and pretty much didn't move from 10 AM on.

I love days like that. I don't have many of them anymore. It's been ages since I've found a book that's had a strong enough hold over me to keep me reading for hours at a time.

So if you like sci-fi, even a little, and are looking for a good read, pick up Ender's Game. You won't be disappointed.

A New Obsession for the Anal-Retentive Runner

I just discovered the free running log on CoolRunning.com.  Now I'm obsessed. You log on daily to enter not only your miles and time run (for which it automatically converts into your mile-per-minute running pace), but also to catalog weather conditions, what shoes you wore (so you know when you've put enough miles on one pair that you're due for new ones), who you ran with, what type of run it was (training, interval, etc.), specifically what trail you ran, and a place for notes so you can record what you ate, how you felt, and whatever else may be of interest.

Each time you log on it gives you an updated report showing how many miles logged for the week/month/year and your average pace.

SUCH a dangerous tool to give to someone like myself. I swear, I'm well on my way to becoming one of those elderly adults charting my bowel movements and crowing over my success rate to the other nursing home residents.

Although actually, in the two weeks since I've discovered it, I find I'm making myself run just a bit longer and more often with the thought "I get to add this to my running journal!" pounding joyously in my head as I sweat off the last few miles.

Vanity, thy name is Dena.

(Hey--whatever works...)

Signature Scent

I like the idea of having a signature scent. A soft smell that lingers in the air after I've left a room. When I was little, I loved how my Yaya's sweaters always smelled of her perfume, even just hanging over the back of a chair. So...yes. A soft, delicate, feminine scent. That's all I want.

As it stands, it's a miracle of God I don't go up in a hail of flames every time someone lights a match around me. That's because everything I own is scented, from my peppermint foot rub to my kiwi leave-in conditioner. My deodorant is "powder fresh," and my toothpaste is mint. My facial scrub smells like citrus and my shower gel is coco-honey. My leg shaving gel reeks of melon while I have the choice of lavender, strawberry, or raspberry body lotion. I gargle with Scope (minty fresh!) and floss with cinnamon-flavored wax. My shampoo is green tea and my body scrub is jasmine. When I run trails, I spray "no-smell" OFF bug repellent on me, (which retains its own distinct odor).

On top of all this, I add perfume. Why? Because I want to smell good.  I've got spicy, tangy, fruity, lavender, soapy, and mild scents. I've also got quite the collection of perfume samples that I will never wear, but they're free, so I have trouble throwing them out. (Maybe one day I'll want to smell like White Linen. Who knows??)

I recently bought Lovely, the new scent by Sara Jessica Parker. It is lovely--very light and effervescent. I wonder though, given the myriad of scents it must compete with, if there's any hope of anyone catching a whiff of Lovely coming off my body and identifying me with that scent.  My fear is that every time my nieces and nephews smell OFF mixed with too-strong strawberry-creme hand lotion, they'll think of their Aunt Dena.  What a sad state of affairs that would be.

Maybe I'll quit worrying about me, and just start spraying my clothes with the Lovely. That way there's at least a chance for someone someday to pick up my sweater and say, "Mmmm."

Just like I did with my Yaya when I was little.

What Are You Worth?

The biggest challenge with running my business is pricing. I'm never sure what to charge as it's hard to accurately estimate the amount and effort of work that will be required for any given project. I'm so concerned about being fair to clients that I often screw myself over price-wise in the process.

Lately however, I've made a concerted effort to charge what I'm worth. I had the bad habit of trying to guess what I think a client might be able to afford, and lowering my prices accordingly.  A friend who does high level sales coaching gave me an hour of her time and coached me through a "earn what you're worth session" that has been invaluable.  "Quit working for people who can't afford your prices," she said. "Even if you're earning money for a project, you're losing money by working on projects that don't adequately compensate you."

I wrote a blog entry last week about how work was flowing in. The follow-up to that is when I spoke with the gentleman who needed to the wedding speech written, he said he really wanted to work with me but that my bid was double the second highest bid. He explained his project and it was smaller than I had thought so I did lower the price a bit, but my amount was still above the 2nd bid. "This (the amount of the 2nd bid) is what I had budgeted for this project," said the man. "Isn't there any way you can meet that price?"

I refused. I was tempted, but I said no. The price I bid is what I charge and given the time/effort I would expend, it was a fair bid. I didn't get the job, but I feel good about not caving.

Almost as soon as I hung up with that man, I had a call with someone who wanted me to write a letter of introduction for them to area businesses and chambers. I quoted $175 for the letter, which included a phone consultation, resume review, and 2 drafts, if necessary, of the letter.

"Wow, that's more then I was expecting, " said the client.

"That's the price," I said.

The one thing I'm not happy with from that phone call is that I didn't explain why I was worth the price. This was a letter he could send to unlimited business that had the potential to generate massive exposure and income for him. I don't just throw together a form letter. Rather, I pinpoint what is unique about the individual and what they offer and highlight the benefits they bring to clients.  For the rather miniscule price of $175, they have a letter that can be tweaked and used over and over again.

So... jobs lost, but that's okay. I stuck to my guns and feel sure clients with an appreciation for what I bring to the work will materialize to replace clients who hesitate to recognize the value of strong, pointed writing.

What's the tagline to the old Clairol commercials? "Because I'm worth it."