What a Difference a Week Makes

I feel like I've been drowning in stress.

April was overwhelming. Sure, I had fun at the start of the month, going on that little corporate junket... but I had to hit the ground running when I got back and it never stopped!

It's all been complicated by the lousy economy and travel planning. My husband's geotechnical office has been greatly affected by the credit crunch. His usual clients (land developers) have put the brakes on just about everything. There are fewer projects out there and more competition for them, and he's been working his butt off chasing after what little there is.

The rising cost of living hurts, too. We have downsized plans to visit my husband's family in the UK this summer; he finally booked a solo flight to visit his mother without our daughter and me. This is killing me, because it has been several years since we've gone in the summer (when the weather has a chance of being nice, but airfare costs even more).

I watch a lot of BBC programming and seeing scenes of the country makes me want to go even more (especially of London and my husband's hometown of Cardiff, which is where both Doctor Who and Torchwood film). We try to use American Express points to pay for the flight, but our summer dates appear to be blacked out and airfare is up about $500 from where it was the last time we flew during the summer months. Add that to the higher cost of car rentals, fuel (currently about $8 per gallon), and the sinking dollar, and you're talking $10-15,000 for a family of three. It's just not prudent when the economy is so uncertain.

So much for travel blogging on this site.

At least, now that we've made that decision and booked his flight, I can start thinking ahead to BlogHer. I can also look into using some of those American Express points for that -- and perhaps some kind of family getaway in THIS country.

I've also been dividing my time by writing on several collaborative blogs. None of these are helping my bottom line (and I'm seriously considering getting a "real" job again to help pay bills) -- but I'm amazed by the power of being a part of a supportive team of wonderful women who write. I feel like I've made some new friendships that will stand the test of time. Also, it's a lot more fun than writing solo, and I feel like the challenge is forcing me to be better at it and work outside the little mommy blogging box I set up for myself here.

For instance, last week I found myself in a conference call with some of John McCain's advisors, learning about his proposal for solving our nation's healthcare crisis. That became the basis of a post I wrote for the MOMocrats.

It was an exciting week over there: we (I say "we," even though I really had nothing to do with this coup!) got an exclusive with Barack Obama, who answered some questions we wish he'd been asked during the last (dreadful) debate. (We posed the same questions to Hillary Clinton, but as of yet have not received a reply.) That, in turn, caused us a lot more excitement, as we got front page linked by the Huffington Post, Politico-com, and countless other sites and blogs. (The MOMocrats are some of those new friends I alluded to above; I am continually amazed by the energy, intelligence and humor of these women!)

More current events: At 50-Something Moms today, I weigh in on last week's brouhaha with Miley Cyrus.

I'm most excited today about this: I finally cleared out enough tasks to be able to fire up my reader and catch up on blogs -- for the first time in over a month.

Tomorrow, I may feel stressed again. But for right now, things are good.

Comments

[soapbox mom]

Gosh, Donna, I'm so sorry to hear about the London trip. This economy stinks. I can't wait until November (well, more like next summer, really). Change. Soon. Please.

If I haven't mentioned it yet, I love your new blog theme here. Looks fantastic!