I should be sleeping

Ok, it's been forty forevers, so I guess I should write.

I helped put together my first magazine last week. It felt good, but it was a LOT OF WORK and I'm still exhausted. Also, my nose is stuffed up again. Yay me.

Lloyd, the graphic artist at work, is pretty sure I'm a moron, but he humors me. We work well together and have a good time. He and I see most things eye-to-eye where the magazine is concerned, which is very helpful.

Melissa is our new staff writer and the boss's daughter. She knows magazines too, and her ideas have been priceless. She worked all night a few nights with Lloyd last week when I had to leave early to be with my kids. She vehemently disagrees with my pricing structure for advertising, as do my bosses, Staci and Rick, but I have to go with what I think is right. After all, that's what got me here to begin with.

Time will tell, won't it? It will either work or it won't.

Also, Melissa and Staci are very fashionable, up with all the styles and crap like that. I now know what botox treatments look like. Personally, I don't care about my face. I just want a tummy tuck and a boob lift.

And for the magazine to do well.

What a difference a week makes

Well, I have a new job.

I decided this year to rest in God, to enjoy his love and life and to trust that He will show me what I should do.

I woke up last Monday morning and felt perfectly relaxed and confident in Him. Then I found out my editor and boss was no longer with the magazine. By Wednesday they offered me her job, and I took it.

So, I have a new job: publisher/editor of Outlook Magazine.

I feel like someone just handed me a baby to raise. With no instruction manual. And my resolve to trust and rest in Him has been kind of hard to hold onto for some strange reason. I keep thinking about 1400 things and it's all just a tad bit overwhelming.

But, if God is for me, who can be against me? Right?

If somebody is crazy enough to let me run their magazine, I'm just crazy enough to do it!

My favorite Irish-French-Japanese lady ever

After my lovely evening at home alone last week, I went on to celebrate my birthday Friday night with Zach and his girlfriend, Ali (pronounced 'al-lee'), and my honey. It was definitely one of my best birthdays ever.

Ali-Maxime Cloutier, poor unsuspecting soul, came into our loves just when we needed her. She and Zach started dating a few weeks after he got home from the Marines in August. Little did she know she was entering a wounded war zone.

She and Zach hit it off pretty much from the start; they met one fateful night and have been inseparable ever since. She started hanging out at our house right when the tension was getting unbearable between me and Rob (yes, that is grammatically correct) and was actually there the night we decided to get a divorce.

The thing is, through all of this, she's never lost her sense of humor and has really helped the rest of us keep things in perspective. The kids love her. Well, really we all love her. It's so nice when God sends people into the fray to help buffer the pain and make us smile again.

Thank you Ali, for putting up with the madness and still stickin' around!

Back in the saddle

Ok, so I'm sitting in my big empty house, all alone, the day before my birthday. My kids are gone for the weekend and I have the entire evening stretching before me with nothing to do.

WOO-HOO!!!!!

I just ordered a large pepperoni pizza with jalapenos and extra mushrooms, there's cold beer in the fridge, and I have the tv to myself. Can you say"Nirvana"? The only way this could be better is if there was a good football game on tonight.

You see, I have decided to only attract positive things to myself. (Can you tell I've been reading self-help books lately?) This is my year to live, love, and laugh. I am a daughter of the King. I am smart, talented, and not entirely unfortunate looking. The world is my oyster. With lots of lemon juice and cocktail sauce, heavy on the horseradish.

You'll have to excuse me now, I have a date with a pizza.