Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Happy Autumn!

Okay, Autumn is beautiful. I'll admit it. But I love summer and I'm bummed that it is officially over.

It took me until yesterday to realize the trees are turning and they do love gorgeous. Here are a few pictures - not from my ride. ;)



Thursday, September 18, 2014

Laundry 101 for College Students - Really?

The other day I was trying to make a dent in my magazine pile – which is about 30 issues high. I subscribe to various women magazines and the cooking ones. I always read the cooking ones when they arrive, but put the others in a pile to be read at a later date.
 
Anyway, I was reading an article on Laundry 101 for College Students. I gave pause. Seriously? College students need a lesson in laundry? Have they not been taught to do laundry before leaving for college?
 
My question is who’s been doing their laundry all these years?
 
I taught my children to do their own laundry by the time they were twelve. I want my children to be self-sufficient before they enter adulthood. I don’t want them depending on me for everything. What if one day they woke up and I was gone? Would they wait until someone else came in and did their laundry?
 
One of my children had interest in doing her own clothes at 10 so I taught her. That’s not to say I’d never do their laundry again, because I would. Teaching them early gives them the opportunity to have clean clothes before mom gets to them.
 
When I was working outside my home office I could only do wash on the weekend. If one of my daughters wanted a special shirt cleaned they could do it themselves.
 
Are we seriously enabling our children until college? I can imagine my kids being college age and unable to run a washer or dryer. I’d feel like I failed them as a parent.
 
Anyone else feel this way or am I overreacting?
 

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Time for Change

Once upon a time there was a little girl – who was an only child. This little girl loved to delve into the world of books. It didn’t matter where they took her, as long as she could escape her loneliness. This girl also had a vivid imagination. She loved to tell stories to her stuff animals, have tea parties and pretend different scenarios.
As she grew up she continued telling stories, but instead of telling them to dolls or stuffed animals she told her friends. She’d concoct elaborate tales from her dreams. Most of the time she spent with her friends Lori and Aimee. They lived behind her house and their mom allowed them to spend their summer days over there.
They’d pretend they were singers in a band and sing songs from The Cars and Pat Benatar to name a few. Yes, this girl is dating herself, but oh well.
As she grew up and started living in the real world she continued to tell stories, but now they were lies. Too many lies. Eventually she grew out of the lying and started writing. She wrote many novels under a pen name, because a bestselling author and wrote many nonfiction articles for different magazines.
That little girl still loves to tell stories, but real life got in the way again. No more. The girl is all grown up and now she’s putting her lifelong desire into action.
She’s going to finish those unedited novels and other WIPS and publish them under her own name.
Whether or not she becomes a bestselling author under this name is yet to be seen, but in all honesty it doesn’t matter. Just writing and publishing is all that matters to her.
Tina O’Reilly will be coming out of hiding and writing again!
Look out world. J