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My posts over the past few months have been few and far between. I’m not going to rehash the why’s now (you can read my previous post for a glimpse at that) but again I’d like to apologize for leaving you hanging! And also thank you for sticking with me. I appreciate that you’re still here reading along.

So, every once in a while, I flip-flop around, wondering exactly what this blog is all about. What should I write here? Anything? Everything? Should it only be about personal things? Or business? Maybe both? Or even something else entirely?

And I always come back to the answer that it should include everything. It just feels right. Several years ago a well-meaning friend said I should separate the business from the personal and not have it all on one blog and while I appreciated her input, it just doesn’t work for me. Everything in my “real” life overlaps – why I should it not overlap here? For me, it’s part of being authentic.

Over the next few weeks you may see a some changes going on around here. I am planning to incorporate more business related things including current designs and projects I’m working on as well as some thoughts on more work-type topics. What exactly that entails at this point, I’m not entirely sure. We’ll see what happens as things go along.

And I say this because every time I try to make some sort of schedule or plan for what I want here, it always goes by the wayside at some point and I rarely stick to it. So I apologize for being so vague but I do hope you’ll enjoy what happens and I hope you come along for the ride!

Stay tuned! I’m going to talk about Thanksgiving next and also something I read on another blog this morning.

Have a beautiful Sunday!

In the arena,

I’ve been listening to Christmas music all weekend! The last few years I’ve been rather “blah” about this holiday but this year, I’m pushing all that muck aside and allowing the light to shine. Are you ready for the most special season of the year?

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.

Hey! I’m writing this to you from the Wordpress app on my mobile. It’s pretty cool so far and I’m hoping it will allow me to update things much more often.

I hope you had a great Veteran’s Day Wednesday if you’re here in the US. And if you are a Vet, please accept my deepest gratitude for your service to our nation. We are free because of you. Thank you!

Have a fabulous weekend, all!

~Annie Anderson

There have been so many things on my mind lately, my head is feeling more cluttered than usual! Most of the time, I can separate things and keep them from running over each other, but lately, it just seems like they’re all in there crashing around together.

As a result, I’ve felt a bit restless and disconnected. I don’t really like feeling that way. It’s not my normal “state” of being. I am fairly easy going and don’t get ruffled too readily but lately I have to remind myself to keep calm.

Two things that are frustrating me a lot are some of the current policy going on in Washington DC. Namely, Obama’s health care reform and swine flu vaccinations. If you’re an American, these are two things that should be making you mad as well. That is, unless you don’t want America to be “home of the free” anymore. Because, essentially, these 2 things are only part of the problem. And they are only just the beginning.

Well, technically, not the beginning of losing of our freedoms – that’s been going on for a while now and nobody seems to notice. I think that’s the way the government wants it. All you have to do is look at what is being taught in our schools with regard to history, current events and the like and you can see it’s all a watered-down version that skirts around the truth.

And as a result, we’re in the dark.

And that, my friends, is not a good thing. I encourage you to do some research on your own and to contact your state representatives, your senators, congressmen, even your governors and ask them to oppose these things. Let your voice be heard. That is the only way we can change the direction our government is going.

Don’t be silent.

In the arena,

If you think it’s no big deal, think again. Your freedoms are being taken away and you don’t even realize it.

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.

We had record-breaking temps of 102 here in Seattle yesterday. The previous record was set in 1994 at 100 at SeaTac International Airport, where our official Seattle area temp gage is located. My husband said, though, that yesterday when he was downtown where we live (about an hour North of Seattle), the temp thing on one of the buildings read 107!

WOW! That’s all I can say . . . just wow.

Well, that and . . . it was TOO DAMN HOT!

We had all the fans going, the curtains closed, windows open and lots of ice water! I am hoping today is cooler. Of course, at this point, even 95 would be cooler. Right now – at 10:30 am – it is a little cloudy but it’s 82. That’s just not normal. Usually it’s only 70-ish by this hour, if even that.

My poor little fella, The Short Dude, woke up with a bloody nose early this morning. He is just like his mommy – he doesn’t do well in heat. It’s a good thing The Teenager is over on the Coast camping with her friends family this week where it’s a little cooler. She gets heat stroke very easily and totally would not do well in 100 +/- temps.

Speaking of The Teenager – I talked to her last night on the phone for about 15 minutes. Now, you have to understand it’s RARE for this child to talk on the phone. She just doesn’t – she usually texts people. So she called me and we talked and at the end of our conversation I said “I love you, sweetie pie” and I was totally surprised when she said “I love you, too, mom.” It’s been so L O N G since I’ve heard those words from her and it just made my day!

So, a couple of tips to help you stay cool:

I’ve also found that placing a damp, cool wash cloth on the back of my neck or stomach is helpful. Just get a wash cloth wet, wring it out a little (you just want it to be damp) and place it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

And recently I heard that you can take damp towels and hang them in open windows (just make sure the curtains are closed) and that helps cool things down. Of course, I suppose it probably works well only when there’s a breeze coming in.

Please stay cool if you’re experiencing high heat in your area like we are here in Seattle. It’s important to keep an eye for heat stroke or heat exhaustion symptoms as well.

Post any tips you have for keeping cool in the comments below. I’d love to hear them!

In the arena,

Use common sense. Schedule your outdoor activities to avoid the hottest parts of the day, and use a buddy system if necessary to keep watch on those at high risk. You can also cool off at the library or the mall if you don’t have air conditioning or fans to cool down. Keep an eye on kids and the elderly especially as well as those with high blood pressure. Call 911 immediately if you suspect someone has heat stroke!

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.

Yay! The latest WordPress upgrade seems to have cured my dashboard issues I wrote about a few days ago, thankfully!

Now that I have that out of the way – LOL- here’s what I really want to say today . . .

I don’t talk much about certain subjects because I was raised to believe that certain things were personal and therefore, nobody else’s business. Chief among those things are subjects such as religion, politics and money.

The other reason I don’t talk much about these issues is because I can be very opinionated (as anyone who knows me well can attest!) and very passionate about things I believe in.

But . . . lately I’ve been thinking that maybe it’s part of my calling – part of my purpose on this earth, to be opinionated and passionate about those things for which I would give my all. Maybe by NOT talking about these things means I’m not fulfilling that aspect of my life here, that by keeping my mouth shut, I am not living to full my potential. And that as a result, I am doing a disservice to my fellow man.

So, I’m going to test the waters and see what happens. Now, don’t worry, though – I’m not about to become the next Bill O’Rielly or Rush Limbaugh or something. I just want to give people another voice and I hope that voice will be able to rise above all the other noise and serve a purpose greater than me.

I do believe we all were sent here for a reason, that our lives do have a greater purpose. And I believe mine is help people. Part of that help is to be a voice to those who cannot speak up for themselves. Those who know me, know that I have always stepped up for the downtrodden.

I’m still working out exactly what all this means for me right now and in the long term but I’m starting somewhere . . . and starting NOW.

In the arena,

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr

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.

Here it is, already summer and I’ve been sorely lacking in the writing department. It’s not that I don’t have anything to say – there are many stories to tell – it’s more like I’ve been so busy with other things that by the time I think of writing something to post here, the clock is telling me it’s time for bed!

And I’ve even had to put my computer on an automatic shut off time or I’ll sit here until the wee hours of the morning trying to accomplish all of it.

So, the writing seems to never get done lately.

But I’m changing that today.

But first, let me tell you the other half of the problem -

I upgraded this blog to WordPress 2.8 a few weeks ago and things just aren’t working properly on the admin side. The admin dashboard panel is all out of whack and half the tools aren’t working at all, like the drop down menus and what-not. It’s not really affecting anything out here on the actual blog itself, thank goodness. But it’s really annoying to navigate around behind the scenes.

Since I still cannot figure out what is wrong, I’m just going to leave it as is for now and hope that I can upgrade to the next release when it comes out and maybe that will solve this issue. Or something.

So anyway . . .

It’s officially summer. The kids have now been out of school for 9 days and we’re settling into a summer rhythm. The weather, however, is not fully cooperating this week. It has been overcast, cloudy and a little rainy at times. We’re hoping summer is in full bloom by next week.

Speaking of next week . . . I am completely amazed that next Saturday is the 4th of July! Where did the time go? It’s mind-boggling! I can hardly believe it. And if I hadn’t just looked at the calendar, I probably wouldn’t.

I’ve got a ton of pictures and artwork to upload and hopefully I can do that next week when things slow down a bit. There’s pictures from the end of school activities, some hot weather activities and some from my husband’s sister’s visit a few weeks ago.

(That was great fun, by the way! We enjoyed meeting her girlfriend and her gorgeous standard Poodle. I’ll write about that soon.)

The pictures my husband took at the Classic Car Show last weekend didn’t turn out well, though. He’s going to be bummed about that. It was only 2nd time he’s used my camera and he just doesn’t know enough about the settings to get good shots. He’s used to a good ol’ point and shoot type camera.

The good news is that there’s another car show in a few weeks so hopefully we’ll get some good ones then. Maybe I will be in charge of the camera for that one. . .

Now it’s time to think about fixing dinner, though.

One last thing before I go . . .

I just posted a new “Gallery” page in the navigation above. There are a few of my recent designs posted and I will be uploading more soon. Feel free to check it out. And if you need a designer for logos, website/blog headers, 125×125 ad spots, or whatever, let me know. I’d be happy to work with you.

Speak soon!

In the arena,

Want to work with an award-winning writer? Now is your chance! Hurry and book for the 2nd half of 2009 before the calendar is full. I still have some space available. Check out the Hire Me tab above for info on how to contact me and your reserve your spot now.

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.

Just wanted to note some additional changes and housekeeping that will be taking place in the next few days as I adjust things to the new theme.

There are some pictures on older posts which aren’t formatting properly so I’ll be updating those and adding captions where I can.

If you notice anything else broken or odd looking, please contact me and let me know.

This theme is meant to have only excerpts on the home page and although I’ve been seriously opposed to that (and basically still am), I’m going to give it a try and see what happens. It should NOT affect anything in the RSS feed, though, and if you read my blog in a reader, you should still get full posts. (THAT is one thing I will NEVER change! I hate excerpts in feeds!)

I’m also going to be adding a couple of new plugins that will allow more options. One of those is a header rotator. That way, each time a page is refreshed, you’ll get a different header. It keeps things fun and exciting! I plan to have the current header plus 3-4 more. So, not too many – just enough to add variety.

And you may find some colors changing over the course of the next few days. I installed a plugin yesterday that highlights my comments whenever I reply to comments on a post and right now, I’ve got it set to a light blue. While I like it, I’m not sure it’s the best fit. So, I’m going to play around with that color and possibly the page background color.

There are also some widgets that SHOULD be showing up in the right sidebar which aren’t. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why. But hopefully that issue will be resolved soon too.

On another note, look for a new Around the Web post this week as well as a new Reading List. I haven’t done either of those for quite some time and that’s got to change! They’re 2 of the most popular things on this blog and I enjoy writing them as well.

Let me see . . .

Oh! More posts coming up on recent events including The Teenagers NJROTC Annual Inspection and Parade that took place a few weeks ago (with pics!) plus some new wallpapers for March that I think you’ll like.

Okay, I think that’s it for now. I hope you’re having a wonderful day wherever you are. It’s overcast and windy here in Seattle but I’m feeling much better today – except I seem to have lost my voice – but for feeling better, I’m very thankful!

In the arena,

Things do not change; we change. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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.