Dressed for... Well, just DRESSED

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Today I had the option of hanging out all day in pajamas, workout clothes or (my personal preference) a combination of the two. Lots of work to do, but nothing that required me leaving the house. I'd worked out, showered, and stood with dripping hair, pondering whether it was really worth it to blow dry and apply mascara when my chances of conversing with my cats was much stronger than chatting with a human being face-to-face. 

At this stage in my freelance career, I know better. I did full hair and makeup and grabbed the last bit of life from some dressy white pants before the Labor Day ban on white begins. Why all the bother? Because I had a busy day. Huzzah for freelancers who can work from bed. I'm not one of them. If I want to get anything accomplished, I'm much better off if I dress the part of a professional. I'm more likely to make phone calls, tackle to-do lists, and be flexible with my day. 

 And as it turns out, I did leave the house today to run to the bank, drugstore, and to meet my egg dealer for a drop. Nothing earth shattering, but if I'd had no makeup, frizzy hair, and pj bottoms, I would have put all the errands off, making some day in the future busier than it needs to be. 

I've also charged through today's work. Looking professional (well okay, I'm a writer so looking semi-professional with a little bit of artsy leeway thrown in) means I act more professional with my time. 

Anyone else experience this? Or has everyone except me mastered the art of working in t-shirts and fuzzy slippers?

Cheers,

Dena

Time to Share In the Harvest

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As loyal blog readers may remember, Blair and I (read:Blair) put in quite the effort this spring to establish a square foot garden. Now that I'm fully on the healthy eating bandwagon and have a nodding acquaintance with the big shiny stainless steel thingee in my kitchen that gets hot if you turn the dials, we were all about growing our own food. Money smart, healthy, and very liberal-chic. Sign us up. 

And we've done it! I shared earlier this year our first perfect, beautiful squash. Now I share with you what three months of sporadic watering have gained us:

Yes, that's it. The squash, the carrot, and the rutabaga are what we have to show. 

You might think we'd be depressed, but you'd be wrong. We're thrilled. This is three times the amount of food we've ever managed to grow in the past. Smokin' success. 

Now that we've got the hang of this farming thing, I can't wait to see what Farmer Blair brings in next year. 

p.s. If you need carrots, let us know. I want to share in the bounty of our harvest. 

Blatant Promotion for A (Funny) Friend

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[Hmm. See a pattern in recent blog post titles? Nope, me neither.]

Brought in the mail yesterday and found my friend Ron Culberson's new book awaiting me, signed and including a snide remark about cats. (Let it go, Ron. Cats rule.)

His inexplicable preference for dogs over cats aside, Ron is a good guy. More than that, he's funny. Damn funny. Like, spit your coffee out laughing funny. All the really good jokes in my new book? Ron's ideas. We've been editing each other's work since we met years ago at an Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop. Ron makes my writing funnier and I try to dull his work down so I look better by comparison. It's a great relationship.

My Kneecap Seems Too Loose: 365 random thoughts to inspire deeply shallow thinking is the perfect book for those of you who've ever wondered why it's necessary for coffee shops to announce they offer "fresh" coffee or why we say "Go!" when we look at a stopwatch. This book makes the perfect gift for a college grad, best friend, neighbor, or anyone you just want to mess with. If you can overlook the puns (Ron knows how I feel about puns), you'll love it! 

If you don't want to take my word about how funny Ron is, check out his websites: FunnierSpeeches.com and FUNsulting.com.