Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Wherein I Stop the Teasing

Okay, so last week I alluded to a thing I've been brewing up in my head. The recent conversations about adoption, finances, and fundraising have brought "this thing" to the forefront of my mind. I say the "forefront" cuz it's been tickling around in the back of my mind for quite some time now. In fact, really for about a year and a half now.

Are you all totally surprised that I kept something in my head for that long and DIDN'T do my regular verbal vomit of sharing-ness with you all?! Are you totally impressed with my thoughtful and self-contained processing?! I am. And I'm exhausted from it all, too. Sheesh. This discernment thing is hard work.

I am thinking of some ways to bring in additional income to The Gang's Headquarters to bolster up that little Adoption Jar of ours.

I mean, I can't sell much more on Cr@igslist. You know, The Boss kind of frowns upon selling the furniture and furnishings right out from underneath The Gang. He's not a big fan of sitting on the floor. Watching our 1998 era tv is painful enough for him.

And mind you, I am not eliminating the idea of a big fundraiser project at all. But I'm tabling it for this week and chatting this idea over instead.

The thing is?  I don't have a ton of work-in-a-traditional-office type of experience any more. I mean, I was a kick-butt awesome administrative assistant back before Shaggy was born. But that was 1994 and we were still using WordPerfect at our office. Heh. Remember that?

Plus, I have five gang members. Which makes my availability hard to nail down. What with football, band, ensembles, before and after school clubs, soccer, worship teams, lessons, and some half-day, three-days-per-week preschool thrown in for the fun of it. I'll let you do the mental math on that one.

So I'm thinking. And thinking.
In case you are new around here,
these italics and parentheses
are ME, thinking....

I love words. I love reading. I love writing.  And, (I haven't mentioned this to many folks before and certainly not here yet) I love editing. Proofing. Nixing commas left and right. Getting the PERFECT moment to insert a semi-colon.  You know, crazy stuff like that. Reading it again and then reading it out loud. I love it. If the story is really good, you know, like the ones that this amazing lady cranks out, then I am in word paradise. If it's not, then I am in editing Heaven while helping you get it there.

It's a sickness. I know.
Sigh. Can we move on now? Thanks.

So this is where you come in.... I think I might be interested in taking on some projects that might cushion that little Adoption Jar just a little bit more. I'm looking at essays, short stories, school papers, and resumes. Marketing brochures, presentations, or business flyers. College papers and research projects. You get the idea. Now, can you go share the idea?

I can work with you (or friends you might recommend) and make a rough draft into a final copy. I did it all school-year long, for the last I can't count how many school years with my older two boys. And I have to say, even if it sounds braggy, they got A's on all the projects I helped them complete. In fact, often (with the perks of cyber schooling) we were usually able to turn the rough draft into a final piece in just one or two steps that later saved them a separate lesson to complete and hand back in later. They liked that "skipping a lesson" thing pretty danged much.

I don't really have any other "professional credits" to be throwin' around here. I don't even know how "professional" I want a little beast like this to get. Certainly not a big suit-and-tie kind of monster. I do know that. But I'm asking nonetheless.

So. This is the post wherein I stop the teasing.

But it's also the post wherein I request your help. Wherein I ask you to consider throwing a girl some work. Or throwing the girl's name around where work might be generated.

I'm just sayin'...

4 comments:

A Beautiful Mess said...

You need to come up with a little snazzy name for your "company"....the little red pen:) or something, and an email for us to send your info. Professors constantly have to submit work so a university may be a good place...I have a bunch of Prof. friends that work at a local university that I would be happy to send your way!

I am working on a letter of interest for school administration program. I will be sending it your way for some magic fairy dust and punctuation!

AudreyO said...

I loved your post...can I offer an idea? When I wanted people to visit my website, I began writing articles. I wonder if you want to write a series of articles about how to write? All you really need to get into business is a name, like the above poster suggested and a very simple website offering your services. I think it's an awesome idea.

Joan said...

that sounds like a great idea :) I'll keep you in mind if any thing comes up!

Aus said...

Of course I'll throw your name around - any law firms in your area (or the local prosecutor's office) who always need folks to clean up briefs - the paper kind? ;) A lot of times an 'outsider' is a better choice because they are 'divorced' from the facts and have "fresh eyes".

Just thinkin out loud!!

hugs - aus and co.