Annie Anderson | Blog

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The Short Dude’s orientation went well but we didn’t get his class assignment yet. It’s not that a big deal, though, because the pre-school classes don’t start until September 9th.

Apparently, it’s because we have a couple of new schools opening in our district this year and the transportation boundaries are still being worked out. Can you believe that? This close to the first day and they still don’t know the new boundaries?? (Regular classes start September 2. It’s only pre-school starting the 9th.)

So, they can’t tell us his class assignment until the transportation stuff is determined. I’m so glad our other kids walk to school! The Short Dude will actually be going to a different elementary school than Little Girl and G-Man so he gets to ride the bus. He’s excited about that! He loves buses and trains and stuff.

The support gal who did our orientation said he’d likely go the afternoon session. I’d actually prefer he went to the morning session, though, because he still takes naps and by the end of the school day, he could be pretty crabby. She said if it did get to be a problem for him once school starts, we can change him to the morning session. I guess we’ll see.

Now for baseball!

THE MARINER’S WON! They beat The Twins 3-2. Not a spectacular game but I was glad they won. I’m not too thrilled with Ryan Rowland-Smith as a pitcher and really, I’m quite surprised the Twins didn’t get more runs as a result. Good thing the guys in the outfield were on top of the game.

But I gotta tell you, Safeco Field is awesome! It was my first time there. As I mentioned in part 1, I haven’t been to a Mariner’s game since my dad died. I did get a little emotional at times - like during the National Anthem. It’s just one of those things that makes me a bit teary eyed. (Did you know I was in the US Navy?)

Oh - and you know what was really cool? Sue Bird of the WNBA Seattle Storm - who was also on the US Women’s Olympic Basketball team in China and WON GOLD!! - threw the starting pitch. That was very cool. Lots of people stood and clapped when she came out on the field.

And a young gal from the Wesco AAA championship girls baseball team from San Diego threw the honorary pitch. That was pretty cool too. She had an impressive list of awards. I was quite amazed.

My husband and I had these awesome garlic fries. Oh, they were sooooooo good! I kept smelling garlic (I love garlic. Yes, I’m weird.) and told my husband we had to find out what smelled so delicious. So we went in search of these heavenly things and finally found them. Wow! They were just so good! I can’t say enough how yummy they were. And compared to some of the other concession prices, they were pretty reasonable.

When we first arrived, which was about an hour early, the roof was open on Safeco Field. It was pretty cool. Just before the game started, they decided to close the roof because it was obviously looking like it was going to rain. The sky started getting pretty cloudy and dark. It was good they did because, yeah, by time the game was over, it was raining.

And we forgot our umbrella. In the car. At the park and ride. (We rode the bus down to Seattle. Cheaper, faster, no parking headaches.)

We got wet on our way to the bus stop! Oh well. We’re used to it.
I’m glad we went to the game. We’ve decided next time we’ll take the kids and get some box seats right above 1st base. The view from that level is awesome.

My package came!

And Short Dude, Little Girl and I are listening to George Duke’s CD (Dukey Treats). It was part of my prize along with the 2 tickets to see him and Anthony Hamilton at McCaw Hall. The CD is a lot better than I thought it would be, honestly.

And now, I must get more coffee . . . and break up WWIII in my living room.

In the arena,

Did you know I design blog headers and ebook cover graphics, too? Yes, I do. And you can get one now for the introductory price of $55 for a limited time. Just send a payment of $55 to me via PayPal along with a description of what you want. You’ll have a design within 48 hours.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

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Sometimes when the weather is crappy, it’s hard to get excited about things. But I really *am* excited!

First, The Short Dude has pre-school orientation tomorrow afternoon. We are going to meet the director, get his class assignment and probably - hopefully - get to see his classroom and meet his new teacher.

He’s very excited about getting to go to school like the big kids. And, because the pre-school he’ll be going to is run by the school district, he’ll get to feel like a big boy because his class will actually be at the elementary school.

And I’m excited that it means once school starts, I’ll actually have a couple of hours every day with no kids at home! That will mean the ability to get lots of work done since there won’t be interruptions. I just have keep myself in check and not decide to go do errands, thinking “Well, I have the time. I might as well go.” Uh-huh. I *won’t* really have the time. We shall see, I guess.

Of course, that also means that I will probably want to get all of those little annoying chores done around the house too. I’ll be thinking, “Ok, so there’s nobody here to get in the way or holler or fuss if I just organize these toys and throw some away.”

Right. I can see it’s going to be challenging.

Secondly, my husband and I are going to The Mariners vs. The Minnesota Twins baseball game tomorrow night in Seattle. I have not been to Safeco Field before so it will be a treat. I stopped going to baseball games after my dad died because it just brought back too many memories. But those memories were all in the old Kingdome so hopefully it won’t be too emotional.

And lastly . . .

I won concert tickets!

Last night, KWJZ was giving away tickets to see Anthony Hamilton and George Duke at McCaw Hall in September. And I won! I won! I got 2 tickets and George Duke’s new CD. Very cool!

I’m not too into George Duke but I do like Anthony Hamilton, so it’ll be fun to go see them. Concerts are always good!

In the arena,

Did you know I design blog headers and ebook cover graphics, too? Yes, I do. And you can get one now for the introductory price of $55 for a limited time. Just send a payment of $55 to me via PayPal along with a description of what you want. You’ll have a design within 48 hours.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

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Earlier today I tried installing a plugin on this blog and not only did it crash this blog, it crashed all of my sites on my hosts server along with the sites of those who share my server!

Sorry, y’all. It was an accident.

But I fixed it! Thankfully, I was able to go in via my FTP program and delete the offending plugin. That righted the whole system in minutes. Boy, was I ever glad for that. All in all, the server was only down for about 15-20 minutes.

Usually if a plugin has a problem, WordPress simply deactivates it but for some reason, it didn’t do that this time. In fact, it’s really kinda weird. The plugin didn’t cause any problems until I updated the settings.

And while all of this was happening, guess where my 4 year old was?

In the bathroom. With the faucet running.

Yeah, it looked like the Great Flood. I thought Noah was going to show up any minute.

Glad that’s over as well.

Would it be ok if Monday was over already too? Maybe I should just go take a nap . . .

In the arena . . . or possibly hiding under the covers,

Did you know I design blog headers and ebook cover graphics, too? Yes, I do. And you can get one now for the introductory price of $55 for a limited time. Just send a payment of $55 to me via PayPal along with a description of what you want. You’ll have a design within 48 hours.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

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This was supposed to post yesterday but for some reason, it didn’t . . . so here it is! Better late than never, as they say, right?

On my travels around the web, I often come across blogs and websites with information I find valuable. When I do, I like to share. So, on my list this week are -

Save Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood - You may have heard that PBS is planning to drop most reruns of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood beginning in September. Currently, they plan to only air one episode weekly on Saturday. This website is aimed at voicing concern over PBS’ plan and asks visitors to email or write PBS, both the national office as well as local stations, and ask them to reconsider. I think it’s a great idea and I have already sent my thoughts to PBS. I hope you will consider doing so too.

The Top 5 Ways to Keep Your Blog Content Fresh - a post over at Copyblogger from Liz Fulghum.

Why Women Need More Money Than Men — and What Can Be Done to Make It Happen - A post from Millionaire Mommy Next Door with good, practical information for women.

21 Must-Read Tips to Write Better Web Content - Posted over at Dumb Little Man

Natural Remedies for ADD & ADHD Part 4:Herbs and Supplements - Is posted at Simple Home Remedies. Being a parent of an ADD and autistic son myself, this is especially helpful for me. We don’t believe in the commercial, “big pharma” society in our household and try to ensure everything we do is natural and as chemical-free as possible.

Alright! That’s it for today. I’ll be back soon with more stuff I hope you enjoy. And I hope you’re enjoying your weekend so far, too!

Hey - have you seen something around the web this week that caught your eye? Why not tell us what it is in the comments? I love learning about new and interesting blogs.

In the arena,

Did you know I design blog headers and ebook cover graphics, too? Yes, I do. And you can get one now for the introductory price of $55 for a limited time. Just send a payment of $55 to me via PayPal along with a description of what you want. You’ll have a design within 48 hours.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

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Just a quick post to let you know I’ll be posting some stuff from around the web later today along with a couple of other things and possibly part 3 of “Stories make us who we are.”

I also want to talk more about customer service but that will likely have to wait until Monday or so.

Don’t want to overwhelm anyone. I know these next few weeks are hectic for a lot of folks what with getting kids back to school and all.

So, see you soon!

In the arena,

Did you know I design blog headers and ebook cover graphics, too? Yes, I do. And you can get one now for the introductory price of $55 for a limited time. Just send a payment of $55 to me via PayPal along with a description of what you want. You’ll have a design within 48 hours.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

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Is it really Friday? Because normally, I love Fridays - it means the weekend when things are slower and my husband is home from work is right around the corner. But today? Not so much.

It was Freshman Orientation and Check In today for The Teenager.

What a nightmare! I’m so glad the G-Man won’t be starting high school for another few years. The orientation was completely disorganized and probably completely unnecessary. I don’t think even half the freshman were there.

Now, the check-in earlier today wasn’t too bad. It could have been a bit more organized but it was at least manageable once you figured things out. The actual orientation, which was this evening, was a disaster. And in The Teenager’s opinion, “lame and stupid” not to mention totally not useful. There was nothing to indicate it was orientation.

I mean, when I think of orientation, it’s where teachers and other support faculty are on hand, answering questions, taking students on campus tours, showing kids where things are and what to expect. It’s like an outline for a paper - neat, tidy, organized and makes sense. All the points are thought out and filled in, not necessarily fully scheduled, but at least planned.

But not here. They threw everyone into the gym, had some upper classmen do some lame skits about having an ASB card and how if you don’t, dances and other activities cost more. While I’m all for supporting the ASB, it seems that was the focus of the whole orientation. Nothing about what to expect the first day of school or how things work, or where to go, although they did have some tours - which were so disorganized, we didn’t go on one. They did offer a Q&A session for the parents, but in my opinion, I think the kids should have been a part of it.

Fortunately, I graduated from my daughter’s high school, so I took her around and we found everything. Granted, some things are different now but we were still able to make sense of things. I told her perhaps we could go back next week during the day when the teachers are there and check things out if she feels the need to do so.

By time we left, The Teenager was grumpy and upset. I think she was feeling more than a little confused and overwhelmed too. I don’t blame her. If I were her, I probably would be too. It might have been better had we not gone at all this evening. Sometimes these things can affect her mood for days. But . . . I hope not this time.

Things are getting busy around the Anderson household as school gears up. In some ways, I’m dreading the start of school - don’t want to let the lazy days of summer slip away. On the other hand, I’m so ready for them to all have something else to do so I can get some work done!

Speaking of work . . .

My schedule is filling up fast for the next few months so if you think you might like to work with me on any of your upcoming copywriting or design projects, please let me know ASAP. If you miss the boat now, I likely won’t have any time available until November. I do have few slots available in September and October but as usual, I expect they will fill up fast. You can download a copy of my fee schedule on the Hire Me page. (Note: my fees are not set in stone. The best way to find out what it will cost for your project is to request a free quote.)

I hope you all had a great day and that you enjoy your weekend!

In the arena,

Did you know I design blog headers and ebook cover graphics, too? Yes, I do. And you can get one now for the introductory price of $55 for a limited time. Just send a payment of $55 to me via PayPal along with a description of what you want. You’ll have a design within 48 hours.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

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A couple of days ago, I wrote about a writer’s purpose and today I want to expand on that a little bit. But this doesn’t apply only to writing - it applies to business in all forms. No matter what business you’re in, customer service is one of the most important aspects of your company. And it should be a major part of your focus.

Because, in reality, it’s all about connecting.

Developing good relationships is the backbone of any business, whether online or off. As markets become unstable, buyers get more picky, prices go up, it’s going to become even more important to connect with clients and potential customers on a more personal level.

You’ve heard of social networking, right? If you’re online at all, you likely have. It seems that everywhere we turn, it’s all about social this, that or the other thing. We have websites to connect with each other such as myspace, linkedin, facebook and myriads more.

And their whole theme is all about connecting - new relationships, old relationships, changing relationships. Some are business, some more personal but they all share a common goal - to connect with others.

When I was training agents and investors in real estate, this is one of the key concepts I taught - that no matter else is going on, no matter any other circumstance, you must connect with people. It’s not about helping them or selling them something - those are secondary. If you can make that connection, you’re nearly there.

What does take to connect?

It starts with knowing what people want.

How do we know what people want? We listen, we ask questions, we dig a little deeper when necessary. We interact with them, show we care. We’re polite, yet assertive when need be. We leave the door open and allow interaction.

This is one of the things that make blogs so beneficial - it’s an open door that allows people to feel comfortable. It allows people to glimpse inside and get a feel for what’s going on before taking the proverbial plunge.

The whole goal of any business or relationship should be to connect. And then to keep that connection open and strong through communication, sharing and a sense of community.

What do you think makes customer service good? And what do you think customer service should be?

I’ll share some more thoughts on this later but I’d like to hear your thoughts to these 2 questions first. Please feel free to post in the comments. I love hearing from you!

In the arena,

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when
I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business - just as if it were her own.

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