Y’all, it has been a big week. I’ve been wanting to carve out some time to sit down and write a new blog post, but it hasn’t happened. After we shook off the back-t0-school crazy and the accompanying illness that all of us passed around, I’ve found myself with far fewer moments to sit and write than I would like. I knew I had a few pieces that would be published on other sites coming up sometime, but I wasn’t sure when. In the blog world, we write what’s called a “teaser post” that shares an excerpt and provides a link to the site to read the full post.

And then in the past week, so many of the things I’ve been working on all exploded at once. Exploded in a good way. I was thrilled to get accepted into The Hearst Group’s writing network, The Mix, and after submitting my very first piece, I was so surprised to see it accepted and published on Good Housekeeping.com! I wrote about why I don’t feel guilty vacationing without my kids, a subject that I feel quite strongly about.

Some many tipsy self-portraits, so little time.

Some many tipsy self-portraits, so little time.

At the beginning of the week, Brain, Child Magazine featured a very personal essay I wrote as part of their friendship series. My story, The Rise and Fall of the Single Moms Club, was about a time in my life I don’t often write about: my brief era as a single mother. It’s also about a friendship breakup. I felt so vulnerable about it that I didn’t even share it very much, but, gulp, I’m going to share it with you. I would be touched if you would stop by and read it on Brain, Child.

Things just kept rolling . . . I had a blast being interviewed by my friend and fellow blogger DJ Paris of Thoughts from Paris for his “Bloggers Are Weird” podcast. It was so much fun talking with him because a) he is hilarious, insightful, and such a dynamic person, and b) I got to reflect on my 3.5 years of blogging and my rather humble beginnings. Namely, the fact that when I first started, I had crazy aspirations about publication, no idea as to how to achieve them, and maybe 4 readers. Two of whom were my parents. If you want to hear me read my most popular piece ever (She’s Not an Asshole; She’s Just a Three-Year-Old) and listen to my advice for other bloggers, you can listen to the podcast right here.

And then on Friday I was downright flabbergasted to have two pieces published in one day: my first ever on Cosmopolitan.com (It’s about not wearing makeup– isn’t that sort of the opposite of the Cosmo crowd? Just sayin’.) and then one on Club Mid about saying goodbye to my childhood home. That one made me cry while I wrote it.

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So, here’s the deal: I feel slightly obnoxious having all these pieces go up at the same time. I was thinking one “teaser post” at a time, you know? I try not to be that person who’s constantly dropping links all over Facebook. And it’s likely that I won’t have anything published anywhere else for weeks. The dry spells usually even out the floods, am I right? But during a challenging emotional week (a friend of mine passed away after a four-year battle with cancer), I felt bolstered by the fact that I am finally starting to accomplish what I set out to do: I am writing, and even getting paid to write!

For any new bloggers who may be reading this, or anyone who has had a dream (OK, now I’m singing the “I Have a Dream” song from Tangled in my head . . . ) to get paid to do something they love, I say: Stick with it. You have to put in some time, push through some disappointment (and crippling bouts of envy), and figure out exactly what you want to accomplish, but you can do it.

So now, the obnoxious list of links. If you find yourself with loads of time on your hands, I would be grateful and honored if you wanted to check out any of the supercool places I’ve been this week:

On Good Housekeeping: Why I Don’t Feel Guilty Vacationing Without My Kids
On Brain, Child Magazine: The Rise and Fall of the Single Moms Club
On Cosmopolitan: I Stopped Wearing Makeup for My Daughters
On Club Mid: Saying Goodbye to My Childhood Home

You can also catch my Bloggers are Weird Podcast here.

I’m betting on a few quiet weeks coming up after that . . . and I swear the next blog post you read from me will be a real one. Probably about Disneyland and kids. Thanks for reading, and for your encouragement and inspiration. I appreciate you.

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