Today I’m participating in Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop by answering the prompt: 2.) Finding the balance. How do you manage?

Answer: I don’t.  I was going to ask YOU that question because I can use some hep.  When the kids aren’t in school, I’m pretty much a one-woman show around here, juggling.  But not balancing.  Balls are being dropped all the time.

So what I want to know is: when do you find time to do what you do?  Write/work on your business?   Clean?  Cook?  Plan vacations?  Attend to the nagging household tasks like fixing the jiggly door handle or figuring out where to put the new coffee-maker that your mother insisted on giving you, but you really don’t have the space for?  When do you call the doctor/dentist/plumber for an appointment or carve out 20 minutes to be on hold with the health insurance provider?   Do you exercise?  Do you have a hobby?  Do you volunteer at your church/school/community center?  Do you spend time with friends and extended family?   Do you pray/mediate?  Are you playing with/reading to your kids?

How do you balance it all?  How do you manage?  Share your secrets with me please.  I won’t tell anyone, I promise.

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

As in fried.

To a crisp.

Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop has a perfect prompt for me this week: 1.) Why are you burned out?

Dare I say it here on my blog?  In written form for everyone to read?  Just after I was honored at Digitini?

I am burned out on blogging.

I have not posted anything in 17 days.  I think that is longest that I have ever gone without blogging.  This is the thing: I don’t half-ass do anything.  I do it well or don’t do it at all.  So blogging for me is not a quick, one-off thing.  I don’t bang out a blog post in an hour and then go about the rest of my day.  I usually have photos to accompany my blog posts which requires taking the photo, uploading it to iPhoto, editing and water-marking in Photoshop Elements.   Then I research my facts, link websites and proof-read.  And proof-read again for grammar, spelling and content.  I may still have mistakes, but I really try to have my blog posts make sense and be enjoyable to read.

And of course I want to post content that you find interesting and entertaining.

Are you interested and entertained?

Most of the time?

Some of the time?

I hope so.   That’s what I strive for anyway.

I must say that I put pressure on myself to blog about something, not just my everyday life.  But sometimes I got nothing.  Or I don’t feel like writing about it.  Yeah, that’s it.  I do have restaurant reviews or vacation details or shopping tips–all kinds of content;  I keep a Word document filled with things to blog about.  For real I could blog everyday from that list for 3 months straight.

But sometimes I don’t want to.  Sometimes I just want to write about my life and share things.  Writing almost every post like it’s a magazine article is exhausting and a sure way to eventually burn out.

And that’s where I am.

Burnt.

I read my friend Darcie’s blog post at Such The Spot the other day and I could relate to her so much; she has been struggling with blogging as well.  And just this morning I read a post on Blogher.com about bloggers who stop blogging.

I don’t want to stop blogging.

But something has got to change.

So, let me ask you: would you still be interested and entertained if I post about my life–just the everyday stuff–in addition to fashion/travel/foodie/deep stuff, etc?

Would you still read?

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

*Today I am participating in Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop by answering the prompt: 4.) Share a photo that represents how you see yourself.

When I hired a designer to create my blog, I knew that I wanted a cartoon version of myself.  I love cartoons and well, I’m zany and quirky like that.  Together the designer and I had a quite a time creating this Funkidivagirl, because well, I’m zany and quirky like that.   A perfectionist.  Or a pain in the butt…however you want to say it.  Thankfully the designer was patient as I sent her email after email.

“She needs locs for hair, not straight hair.”

“She needs more hair.”

“Even more hair; I have A LOT of hair.”

“Can she wear a peace sign necklace?  That’s sort of my thing.”

“Ooh, add a bracelet too.”

“Can you change her shirt to pink?  That’s my color, pink.”

Funkidivagirl = Me

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

*Today I am participating in Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop by answering the prompt: 2.) Show us where you live; take a picture of the view out your front door, back door, or neighborhood.

Okay, ya’ll know that peace signs are my thing, so you might think that I fabricated this photo, but I didn’t! Girly and I took Chili Dawg on a walk and brought along a camera to capture the essence of our neighborhood.  This is it:

In case you didn’t get it the first time:

And you thought Georgia was only full of good ‘ole boys and pick-up trucks.

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Help!  My favorite boots are ruined!  I was rearranging my closet for the fall (moving sandals in the back, putting boots in the front) when I noticed that my favorite boots had these stains:

Apparently the dye from the neighboring brown suede boots transferred onto these boots.  I have googled.  I have taken them to a cobbler.  Sadly there doesn’t seem to be a remedy for removing stains from patent leather.

I first wrote about my unique connection to these boots April 2009:

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These Boots Were Made For Walking And Dancing And Looking Fly

Now that spring is here, I am packing away my favorite boots for the season.  Why are they my favorite?  I’m glad you asked….

When I was in kindergarten, there were two groups of kids: the morning class and the afternoon class. I was in the morning class. Both classes had the same teacher, we both said the pledge of allegiance every day and learned our ABC’s. But for me the afternoon class held a certain cache because of a little girl in that class who wore white patent leather go-go-like boots. I loved those boots and wanted them for my own! But that was not how my mother dressed me; I wore beautiful dresses, matching bows in my hair, tights and patent leather shoes. By the time I grew old enough to dress myself those boots were no longer in style and it remained a hidden (but not forgotten) desire.

Shopping in Nordstrom with some friends last fall I saw these boots on display and I swear it was like the light from heaven shining down illuminating them just for me. Like two long-lost lovers in a Lifetime movie, my friends, other shoppers and salespeople all faded away; all I could see were those boots.

Yes, I bought the boots; I wear them all the time.  And I look good!

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Well, I used to look good.  Curses!  What shoes will I wear now to my fantasy B-52s concert?  The one where the band sees me as a kindred spirit (because of the boots, naturally) and invite me on stage to sing Love Shack with them.

I am so distraught; I fear that I may never be able to wear my boots again.  Or rock with The B-52s.

Please help! Do you know of some magical solution to rid my boots of these seemingly permanent stains?

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.