I was born and bred in Fort Worth. I’ve lived in the Dallas / Fort Worth area for my entire life except for the six years I lived in Washington, DC. So all my favorite teams are the ones from here including the Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars and the Dallas Mavericks. I stuck with all of ‘em through great years and forgettable years. When folks kept saying the Mavs were a joke and never contenders, I reminded them of the Mavs’ good years in the ’80s with Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman, Roy Tarpley and Brad Davis.

Thanks to Donald Carter for bringing the team to Dallas. Thanks to Mark Cuban for turning them into champions in a short 11 years. The Mavs almost did it in 2006, you know?

Meryl's Dad in USAF Uniform

Dads. Happy Father’s Day to all the involved dads out there who play catch with the kids, take them to school, help them with homework and be there for them. I’m lucky to be married to one of those dads. My dad (in loving memory) was one, too. We played catch many times, he took me to lots of Texas Ranger games, he embarrassed me on my way to school by waving at me while taking his morning walk and he was always there for me.

Best advice for the week: How to deal with criticism in one single step: “Don’t care. You’re not going to please everybody.” Even the nicest people have a few non-fans. You can produce the most beautiful work product and your boss, editor, client loves it. Someone, somewhere out there will hate it.

Brain food…

• How to Create a 5 Step Facebook Marketing Strategy for Your Blog: This one is doable for just about everyone.
• The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Taking a Vacation: Not just for entrepreneurs… Americans, too. My husband had been doing a lot of research on human resources stuff for his international company and Americans are sorely behind other countries in benefits and other areas. I challenged him by asking questions like “Maybe we have a better salary? Maybe we have a lower cost of living?” He had solid answers for all of them.
• 10 Reasons I Don’t Answer Your Email: I reply to most emails. The ones that don’t get a reply often fall into one of these 10.
• 3 Steps You Can Take to Reduce the Firefox 4 Memory Leak: Memory has been a Firefox problem for years. I had two tabs open and Firefox managed to hold on to 1,000,000K of memory one day last week! Bad, foxy, bad.
• World’s Worst Freelance Advice: Write what you know… seriously. If I followed that advice, I wouldn’t write about cars, Billiards or buffaloes.
• Book Marketing Q&A: Q&A worth listening to or reading.

For fun because we’re allowed…

• 10 Coolest (and 5 Worst) Father’s Day Gifts: My husband would love that Corvette Wall Shelf.
• 8 Weirdest Dog Breeds Ever: Some of these look familiar as they’ve appeared in movies and TV shows.
• Praha Opening: Choreography in a Skydive Arena. Very cool. Yes, watch to the smooth ending.
• 12 Funny Signs Found at the Beach: Some not safe for work.
• 15 Coolest Pictures Taken at the Right Time: I have one of those (not on Oddee, mind you). I captured a lightning bolt by the Washington Monument. I’m not a good photographer, but am proud of the picture that I have it on the wall in my office.
• Neon Movie Signs: Wow.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston

Quick recap: I hadn’t taken a real vacation in nine years (awful, I know) when I received an invitation to a family event in Nashua, New Hampshire. In researching the travel, it turned out the best deal was to fly to Boston’s Logan airport and take a shuttle to Nashua. Well, if I’m gonna head that way, I might as well leave a couple of days early and see Boston for the first time.

Perfect vacation. Just miss three days of work and the trip lasted five days. Not too long to fall behind. Not too short that I feel rushed. Discover a new city while catching up with family I hadn’t seen in years.

The bar that was the inspiration for the TV show Cheers

I debated whether to take my laptop because I could access email on the BlackBerry. Hubby advised me to take the laptop. The Boston hotel charged a flat fee for an Internet connection for 24 hours. Nashua had free Internet.

Mom and I landed in Boston greeted with a misty rain and cooler temperatures. We caught a cab to take us to the hotel. The ride had a few tunnels. So I’d glance at my BlackBerry even though the connection broke while in the tunnels. Natural light returned. “Meryl, stop looking at your BlackBerry. Look at Boston!” Mom said.

I had been. She just caught me when I was looking down. I took the time to be aware of my surroundings and just absorb Boston into my skin and memories. I noticed the amazing buildings, old and new. The architecture captivated me that I wished I had a better eye for taking pictures so I could capture the landscapes. I knew about the rule of thirds, getting close ups and all. The photos turned out average as usual. I tried.

Anyway, one of the things that stresses me about a vacation is falling behind and playing catch up. Yes, the return home turned out to be a difficult one for about a week before my life returned to normal. It was worth it, but I’ll pass on another vacation for a little while — maybe not nine years.

How to Enjoy a Vacation without Worrying about Work from a Worrywart

1. Be aware. Take in the moment. Study your surroundings. Talk to yourself in your head. Mine went something like this: “Wow. The New England Holocaust Memorial beautifully captures the six million Jews killed with one pylon for each million. Look at all those names adorning all four sides of the pylon from top to bottom in small print. Imagine one million names in a single pylon. Notice the concentration camp names on the ground and the chambers where steam rises from the charred embers at the bottom, such an appropriate way to remember those who perished at the Nazi death camps.”
2. Take pictures. I get shy about asking friends and family to pose for pictures, but I made an effort. Unfortunately, some turned out blurry. At least, I have a nice album of my trip. I ordered prints from a photo service that lets you enter captions and it prints them on the back.
3. Write about the trip. I have been keeping a journal since 1989 to chronicle my life. When I couldn’t remember something, I can find the answer in my journal. Whenever I had the opportunity, I captured all I could.
4. Check emails. For me, it was a way to minimize the return home insanity. I deleted newsletters and responded to easy to answer emails. This lessened the pain of returning back to my regularly scheduled week.
5. Avoid too much planning. I also avoided making too many plans as I didn’t want to stress out over trying to stick to the schedule and do it all. The only official plan we had in Boston was meeting with my mom’s first cousin who lived in the area. She took us to John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, a place we couldn’t get to by walking. We also had lunch on Hanover Street, known for Italian restaurants, and dinner at a nice restaurant where we met another first cousin. Before leaving Texas, I studied Boston and the places I could walk to from my hotel. I managed to hit all the highlights in two days including Boston Common, a touch of the Freedom Trail, the inspiration for Cheers, Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall and a few other places.
6. Relax! Since I wrapped all loose ends and notified clients of my upcoming trip, I didn’t have to worry about work. Not much email came in while I was gone. Thank you, dear clients.

I didn’t see everything in Boston, but I think I did well for two days and walking most of it. What do you know? Boston University is one of the colleges on my daughter’s list. So who knows? I could become a seasonal visitor there. I’d love to visit Boston again, but I’d like to visit some other cities first that I’ve never seen like San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle.

How do you make the most of a vacation?

Those who know me well probably just fell out of their chairs seeing “vacation” in this post’s title. “Vacation” and “Meryl” don’t go together. I know. That’s pitiful, not a thing to brag about. Anyway, for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been getting harsh reminders why I don’t like to travel often. The packing, the preparation, the clients. The stress of ensuring I have what I need and I make it to the airport on time without being too early.

As organized and proactive as I am, I run into bumps as the trip nears. It gives me an excuse to write a blog post before I go and check off another item on my list of things to do before I step outside the great state of Texas.

• Notify clients at least one week before departure. The tricky part is which clients to notify. I’m not active with all of my clients at all times. On the other hand, it’s an excuse to touch base with the ones you haven’t talked to in a while.
• Delete emails liberally. For the past two weeks, I deleted a lot of email newsletters and regular messages without reading them. I needed to finish client work first. Plus, I don’t want to leave town with a bunch of unread email messages. I’ll have enough waiting for me. Oh, I’ll be checking emails while I’m out, but it helps to minimize email.
• Move up tasks due dates. Rather than rushing to do everything at the last minute, move it up and spread them out.
• Limit appointments and commitments. This depends on how much advance notice you have before vacation. But reschedule whatever appointments you can so you have one less thing on your mind.
• Start packing early. A few days before, I took out the stuff I would need to take that I would not be using until the trip. The things I still use, I put them out together.
• Remember you can buy what you forget. OK, this may be hard to do when you go camping. At least, it’s something to ease your mind knowing this. Although I would not want to go shopping for a dress on my trip as that’s time consuming and expensive.
• Schedule posts and tweets. I posted couple of tweets and spread them out. I’ll have fewer tweets, but at least my presence will be there.  You know what, it’s OK to forget this one altogether. I almost didn’t write this post, but I felt I needed to.

I was so rushed and determined to do a post that I should’ve looked up 10 Tasks to Prepare for Time off. Ah well… Like fellow Texan Robert says, you gotta expect the unexpected, eh? OK, I’ve run out of time and must dash. Besides, I want to hear from you. Your turn.

What do you do to prepare for vacation?

Photo credit Sheila VooDoo

I had surgery last week (doing fine, thank you), so I prepared ahead of time not knowing how much time I would miss work and blogging. I had no desire or energy to work for three days. By the fourth day, I could do a little work. Yesterday (one week after the surgery), I worked all morning and wore myself out by lunch time.

Here are the tasks I did to prepare my business for a little hiatus. It’d work for vacation and other times off from working. Unexpected time off is a different story (you can prepare for the unexpected with a contingency plan).

1. Notify clients: I emailed all of my regular clients about three to four weeks ahead of time.
2. Get ahead: Wherever possible, I wrote extra articles and completed assignments that would be due during the week of the surgery and after. I also found time to do work on the weekend before the surgery.
3. Finish projects: I had a couple of projects that had an end. I finished both before surgery.
4. Schedule a blog post: Christina Katz saved me on this one. We had an interview that I entered in my blog before the surgery and scheduled it to go live while I was in recovery. It’s OK to publish one time during the week, which is what I have done for the past month or so.
5. Use a laptop: My laptop plays a regular role in my business even though I rarely travel or work in coffee shops. It allows me to work in in bed, on the sofa or elsewhere in the house where I can be comfortable.
6. Send email with a cell phone: I couldn’t decide between a BlackBerry or iPhone. I’m glad I went with the BlackBerry because it handles email better. I am rarely too sick to send a short email message. Although I didn’t have a BlackBerry at the time, I used a cell phone to send an email to clients when I unexpectedly went in the hospital. If your cell phone’s email app isn’t great, try mail2web.com‘s mobile app. Google also offers mobile Gmail for different phones.
7. Do administrative tasks: Are your invoices due? Do you need to balance your bank account? Do you need to submit time sheets? Do all of this beforehand.
8. Transfer assignments: I always have an editing assignment around the first of the month. I told the writer to send the articles to another editor since I would be out. I’m grateful that some clients I work for have teams so we can back each other up.
9. Delete less important emails: I deleted email newsletters and other informational emails before, during and after to take the pressure off of me in keeping up. I also read some newsletters in bed with my phone or laptop when I couldn’t do much else. You might consider changing some of your subscriptions to “vacation” status, but I never do this as I have too many.
10. Remember it’s OK not to work: Avoid putting so much pressure on yourself to get things done, blog or participate in social networking. You need to take care of you! It doesn’t matter if it’s recovery from illness or catching up after vacation. It’s easier to get your groove back when you keep it low key.

What other tasks did you do to prepare for time off?

Tags: health, surgery, vacation

A previous blog entry discusses Freelance vs. Full Time Writing. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been discovering a big benefit of working as a freelancer. My mom role collided with my freelancer role when my son’s medical challenges erupted.

Not to worry — he’s fine. I don’t mind talking about it, but it doesn’t belong in a public forum living in cyberspace for all eternity. Feel free to contact me privately if you’d like to know details.

My spouse and I had been struggling since spring trying to figure out how to help him and what would be best for him this summer. We thought we had it figured out only to find the program had no room for him. We put him in two programs and they worked OK. But I had to take time out of the day to deal with some incidences.

Two more opportunities came up and I had to investigate them … during the day. Yesterday, he started a three week program that made oil companies happy as we drove through lots of traffic to get there. The program could make a big difference for him and it requires parents to attend meetings every morning and afternoon — so count the commute and meetings and you have a formula for eating up lots of working time.

My spouse works for a corporation, so I’ve felt bad about him having to attend these meetings and miss a lot of work. Imagine if I had still worked for a corporation and having to make up all the missed time or take vacation days for something that is no vacation.

So I go to most of the meetings and my spouse goes to a couple of them. We appreciate having my flexibility, but it doesn’t ease our feeling guilty for our jobs. I emailed my regular clients to let them know what’s going on and that I would prioritize work as needed.

Needless to say, I’m running around with my virtual head cut off and doing only what I need to do for the next couple of weeks. That means sacrificing my social networking including blogs, Twitter, and elsewhere. I won’t blog as often. I’m all about getting the kids where they need to be and keeping the work going.

How do you handle unexpected job interruptions?

• Merriam-Webster releases new words to its Collegiate Dictionary including…
  • Air quotes: My brother makes fun of me whenever I do this — which ain’t often.
  • Edamame: What took so long?
  • Fanboy
  • Malware: Yuck, but at least we all know what its name is other than dirty rotten stinkin’ software.
  • Mental health day: Gee, “I don’t feel well” doesn’t cut it anymore? Or is it a way around that so you don’t curse yourself? After all, “mental” doesn’t have to mean a cold.
  • Texas Hold’em
  • Webinar: Now maybe we’ll stop hearing the 20 variations of this.
  • And for the most interesting one: mondegreen. Along the lines of a malaprop except in this case it’s when someone misheard something not the unintentional misuse of a word or phrase (pornography instead of photography).
• Making the Most of Tough Times: Never, ever become complacent.
• Copyblogger Tagline Clinic
• 21 Ways to Make Your Blog or Website Sticky
• Copywriting: The 10 Magic Words
• 3 Steps to Successful Writing on the Web

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 70 Amazing Business Cards
• Rice Field Art
• Kid safe browsers
• Fuel Savings Calculator
• Vaudeville Nation: I loved reading about vaudeville and catching TV programs about it. I still have an old tape from 1983 called Parade of Stars Playing the Palace. I wish it would come out on DVD as the tape is full of commercials and weather interruptions. Plus, the quality is going downhill.
• Take a Staycation as an alternative to pricey vacations.

I went to my parents’ in Fort Worth last Wednesday and returned yesterday. I took my laptop and a couple of books that I’m working on for getAbstract. None of them got used or read. My parents don’t have a wireless network and I forgot my USB drive, so I couldn’t get files to my laptop.

Sure, I could’ve connected my laptop to the network by taking the cable out of Mom’s computer and putting into mine. But someone in the family was almost always on the Internet. My daughter chatting and playing with MySpace, my son doing puzzles, Mom taking a break and playing games, and siblings checking work stuff.

Who wants to fool with a cable when all this is going on? I never planned to take a complete vacation from work, but that’s what happened. At least, I kept up with my emails so I didn’t fall behind there. Otherwise, I’d be a stress ball. I think a lot of people took it easy for the long weekend beginning with Good Friday, which kept email more manageable.
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