Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Supermom? The “Art” of Balancing Life as a Work at Home Mom
This is a lovely post from fellow author of Melange Books, Nancy Pennick blog, about my friend, webmaster and artist of Melange Books Publishing.
July 29, 2013 by Nancy Pennick
Supermom? The “Art” of Balancing Life as a Work at Home Mom
Today I have a guest blogger. Caroline Andrus is the webmaster and artist of Melange Books Publishing. I’m happy to be part of this great group of people. Caroline keeps everything running smoothly at Melange and Fire and Ice YA all the while being a busy wife and mother. I’ll let her tell you about it with the following post. Welcome, Caroline!
“You
continually impress me with your supermom like ways!”
I stared at my laptop
in stunned silence.
This was the comment
a friend had left on one of my Facebook status a couple of weeks ago. Me?
Supermom? The post in question spoke of my completion of my Busy Mom’s Meal
Swap meal for the month and contemplation of making “The World’s Best Chocolate
Chip Cookies” to go with. To me, this was just a once a month event. For those
who are not familiar with Meal Swap’s, it’s when a group of people meet up,
each agreeing to make a bunch of the same meal and then meeting up again to exchange
the meals so everyone gets something different. Sure takes some of the stress
out of dinner!
But back to the
matter at hand. I couldn’t help but wonder, did I give off the impression of
being a supermom? I didn’t feel like it. Most days I feel like I’m barely
keeping it together. I am a wife and mother to two little girls, ages 6
and almost 2.
I lost my full-time
day job while I was pregnant with my second daughter and opted to just stay
home for the most part. I hated missing out on my first daughter’s childhood
because I worked from about 9:30 am and didn’t pick her up from Grandma’s until
around 6 pm. Then she was in bed by about 7:30. It was rough. Now, being a work
from home mom, I feel like I get less done around the house than before, but at
least I get to see my kids!
A little background
about my work. I am a Jack(ie?) of all Trades for Melange Books, LLC and it’s
YA imprint Fire and Ice. I am the webmaster, head of the art department (aka
book covers manager and artist), I run the blog, I load books to our website
shopping cart, and I format and load books for Amazon Kindle and
Smashwords.com…among other odd jobs that get thrown at me! On the weekends you
can often find me working as a product demonstrator at Super Target. This is my
one chance to get out of the house and interact with adults.
My typical day
begins either with my 6 year old bursting into my room anywhere between 7 and 9
am, usually whining she can’t get the Wii to work OR on a good day, I wake
between 8 and 9 when the little one wakes up in her crib. Regardless, unless
there’s an emergency—which is rare—I don’t get up much earlier than around 9.
Next up is breakfast for all three of us. Followed by dishes (I’m not an
evening dishes person, I’d rather do them first thing in the morning.)
Sometimes we’ll go outside and the girls will play and I’ll work in the garden,
other times we’ll stay inside and I’ll get to work while the kids play. On an
ideal day, my 6 year old gets to run down the road and play with our
friends/neighbors. My biggest obstacle, believe it or not, is Facebook. Not
only do I have my own personal Facebook account which sucks my life away, but I
also have the Melange FB page to manage, the Fire and Ice FB page, my personal
design FB page and I created a group to interact via FB with our authors and
fellow staff members.
Somewhere during the
day I try to find time to pick up the endless clutter that is overtaking my
life. I try to get my 6 year old to do it, but she seems to think she’s getting
a free ride and throws a conniption fit if I so much as ask her to pick up the
granola bar wrapper that fell to the floor during her snack. You’d think I was
asking her to clean the entire kitchen floor with a toothbrush the way she
overreacts! We’re working on this, and as she gets older, I hope it gets
easier. I also have to fit in laundry and figure out what the heck is for
dinner. It’s an endless challenge.
In the evening, my
husband comes home from work, we eat dinner and typically it’s about time for
the girls to get to bed. We usually team up and each take one child. Regardless
of which child I put to bed, once they’re tucked in and lights out, I spend the
evening on the couch, working on my laptop (website, book covers, etc.) and
listening to, “Mommmmmmyyyy! I need a drink of water!” or “Mommmmmyyyy! I need
mommy snuggles!” or, my favorite, “Mommmmyyyy! I tried to fall asleep but it
didn’t work.”
And so, when someone
tells me I’m Supermom, I’m a little flabbergasted.
I struggle daily,
balancing work and house and kids, but it’s a challenge that I enjoy.
I wouldn’t trade it
for the world.
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/CarolineAndrusDesigns
https://www.facebook.com/MelangeBooksLLC
https://www.facebook.com/FireIceYA
Some of Caroline’s
work:
Thank you to Nancy for letting me post this lovely interview.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Thanks to Tamara Fernandes Splash & Blend Panaji Goa
Once again Tamara has excelled herself, with two mugs of my book covers.
http://www.authorjoannerawson.blogspot.in/2013/07/my-interview-with-joanne-rawson-and.html
Poster of my Interview - With Her Nose Stuck In A Book
http://www.authorjoannerawson.blogspot.in/2013/07/my-interview-with-joanne-rawson-and.html
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
My Books Out Now On ITUNES.APPLE.COM
These books are available for download on
your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iBooks and on your computer with iTunes.
Books must be read on an iOS device.
·
$5.99
·
Available on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.Published:Feb
18, 2013
·
Publisher: Melange Books, LLC
·
Seller: Smashwords
·
Print Length: 363 Pages
·
Language: English
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/for-better-or-for-worse/id606609369?mt=11
· $5.99
· Available on
iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.Published:Jan 22, 2013
· Publisher: Melange
Books, LLC
· Seller: Smashwords
· Print Length: 195
Pages
· Language: English
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/having-my-baby-an-anthology/id600147489?mt=11Friday, July 19, 2013
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Amazing Customer Review On Amazon.com
Customer Reviews
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2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
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5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Amazing, July
18, 2013
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: No Strings Attached
(Kindle Edition)
No Strings Attached is a laugh out loud,
realistic story. It is about a woman, who gets cheated on and comes up with a
plan for a fake boyfriend to accompany her to her sister's wedding. The main
character doesn't want to come off as still in love with her cheating ex and
will show her family and him that she is happy. Little does she know there is
a surprise awaiting for her that will through her world upside down. This is
such an amazing book and it is one not to be missed. The author, Joanne
Rawson, has a magical way with words that have the feelings of the characters
jump right off the page and into your heart. I found myself relating to the
characters and laughing out loud at some situations. A good quick read, that
will leave you wanting more from this amazing author and I can't wait to read
more of her work.
Help other customers find the most helpful
reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars A gem!, July 17, 2013
By
This review is from: No Strings Attached
(Kindle Edition)
What would you do if you found out the cheating
ex that broke your heart, and who is still convinced you haven't gotten over
him, is going to be at your cousin's wedding? Well, you'd ask your best
girlfriend to find you a date really fast, wouldn't you? But when every guy
asked says no thanks, would you really be desperate enough to take the geeky
co-worker you can't stand as your date? Yes, absolutely! Surely, having the
company of a geeky misfit is better than letting an ex think he's still got a
hold on your heart.
At thirty-three, fashionable and career focused Laura Lee thought she'd never find Mr. Right. She thought she'd found him once but, while she was busy minding her career, a friend (now former friend) stole Robert away. Finding the two of them together in bed was bad enough, but when Robert told her making love with her can be compared to making love to a plank, Laura was devastated. So, when Laura's mom told her Robert was going to be at her cousin Joanna's wedding and he had told people she still hadn't gotten over him after three years, Laura wasn't about to let Robert be proven right. She needed to find a date for the wedding pronto! It was totally unlike Laura to confess to a man she barely tolerated that she'd been unable to find a date for the wedding at such short notice. But when co-worker Adam Ford, with his shaggy hair, out-dated wire-framed glasses, and ill-matched thrift store wardrobe offered to help Laura out, she was just shocked enough to accept his escort. What Laura didn't expect was that Adam, in a tux, with a stylish haircut, and minus the wire-framed glasses, would clean up so nicely. Nor did Laura expect that the man who was usually so silent at work could intrigue her with his attentiveness and conversation, charm her parents and the other guests, and rile Robert to a public display of pique and jealousy. Quite suddenly, Adam was looking like he might be the answer to one woman's secret dreams. In a short 34 pages that are a bit reminiscent of the tone of Bridget Jones' Diary, Joanne Rawson spins a delightfully cute story about a British woman who finally looks beyond the everyday trappings of a male co-worker to really see the man underneath. Once the proverbial scales fall from Laura's eyes, she begins to see that Adam, a man she's always found irritating, is not really the obnoxious, gawky, reserved man she's always assumed him to be. Instead, Laura begins to realize that Adam is everything she's been looking for but was too willfully blind to see. But, alas, since she's read Adam wrong for so long and never looked beyond the superficial, can she really read the signals she thinks Adam's sending her way, or has Lara still got things all wrong? Give this little gem a read and find out. Warning: Contains one mildly described scene of a sexual nature. Reviewed by Angie Just Read... for TheRomanceReviews.com
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Thank you to Cleo for her wonderful review, and also to Carole on behalf of The Romance Reviews. |
Thursday, July 18, 2013
4 OUT OF 5 STARS From The Roamnce Reviews For No Strings Attached.
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