Ok, Here's The Skinny...
...on my BIG FAT IDEA!
Most of you who read my blog are fellow adoptive parents.
Most of you are very well aware of the adoption tax credit we're all entitled to.
Most of you probably even know that you have only a certain amount of time in which to claim said credit, at least here in MA that is sadly the case.
Now, some of you might be thinking
"Amy, why 'sadly'?
You've been home two years now,
you shouldn't be worried about that silly ole' tax credit,
you've probably claimed all of it by now I'm sure, right?"
Wrong.
The sad truth of it is, upon our arrival home from China, I had just come off the heels of working full time for a wonderful family as their Nanny.
I worked serious hours & had logged lots of tax time for good ole' uncle SAM.
Thus, my first installment of 'adoption tax credit' (henceforth known as ATC)
was easily claimed that first April of 06.
Since then, let's review my work history...
Took first year home OFF to spend with Ruby
&
lived happily on my unemployment which was more than enough to do just that.
Next year, worked for crazy biotch (henceforth known as CB)
caring for her twins under the table (henceforth known as UTT).
CB = headaches & more headaches.
UTT = no uncle sam taxes.
CB + UTT = ANOTHER YEAR WITH NO ADOPTION TAX CREDIT REFUND.
Fast forward to this past year.
Got wonderful job at the local Y.
LOVE the children, love working there, hate that it's only part time.
After talking with my tax guy recently, found out that again...
part time just didn't cut it for qualifying for my adoption credit.
And that's not ONLY the worst part,
he also told me that I have just one year left to do something about that
or uncle SAM gets my money.
WHAT@?%$%^$%^
No way no how,
Ruby's gotta go to COLLEGE!
Over the last few weeks I've agonized over what to do & typically when I am in a bind, I tend to let my mind wander because I find I achieve my greatest successes in life when my creative side takes over.
I was chatting with my dear friend Kristen recently about how worried I was about not being able to claim my refund for Ruby & how I wish I could figure out a way to do something meaningful & worthwhile to change that.
Days go by...
Work comes & goes,
play dates with Ruby,
blogging continues...
life went on.
Then, as I was hanging out with Kristen yet again, I began to wonder out loud.
(a trick I learned years ago having Jen as a best friend who is also a reference librarian, if you wonder things OUT LOUD for others to hear, they tend to listen.)
For instance, I'd wonder aloud about "hmm, I wonder if there are any kewl Chinese language tools available through the library..."
and within the hour typically, Jen would have, in my email, a LIST of options.
A PLETHORA if you will.
*grin* like that one English major? ;)
So, I guess I just got so used to 'thinking out loud' with Jen, that I just kinda did it automatically with Kristen.
I thought to myself,
(rather loudly)
that wouldn't it be great if I could take my blog & turn it into an actual book,
not just for me to enjoy curling up with & reading,
but to also be able to leave as a 'time machine' of sorts for Ruby for when she's older & can appreciate all that her blog represents.
Every post, every photo, every moment of her life,
taken from the computer & put into a physical, hand held form for her to lose herself in whenever she's in the mood to time travel.
Oh how many times I'd wished I had the same opportunity to do that with my own childhood.
Sadly for myself & for, I'm guessing, most of you... all I had was a baby book with a few 'first' photos of milestones & then, the entry's start to get less & less detailed,
trailing off here & there until they are all together gone & I'm left with a fraction of a second of my childhood put to paper.
I wonder all this out loud & the brain of my friend Kristen starts turning...
(did I mention that Kristen has a masters in Business?)
She says to me, "Aim, that's a brilliant idea, you think alot of people would want to do that besides you?"
I chuckled at the foolishness of her question.
Uh, DUH! Of COURSE they would!
People who blog do so because they love to write,
they love to keep daily accounts of the things they cherish most in the world.
Their children!
Their families!
Their pets!
Their lives!
Her eyes got wide & she just smiled from ear to ear & said:
"Ok then, so let's do it. You've got the creative side & I've got the business end. Makes a perfect match in my opinion & really, what have we got to lose?"
I had to agree, I am creative & she is a genius with the things I know NOTHING about business wise AND really, we DIDN'T have anything to lose!
The way I saw it, I had only one thing to gain,
a better future for myself & for Ruby.
Not to mention that if this takes off like I'm hopeful it will,
I'll earn enough to claim the remainder of my ATC.
Wouldn't that be something?
*smiling*
So, we brainstormed
&
bookmyblog.com
was born.
I have some photos to upload once my camera stops being moody,
of our prototype book.
It's a mere portion of Ruby In Her Own Time... (2005) and OMG did I ever lose my mind when I first held this thing in my hands, I was shaking.
To feel,
to hold,
to open up
&
read with my own two eyes,
my blog,
this work of art that only ever became a reality because of the gift of my beautiful daughter,
right here, in my hands, IN A HUGE KICK ASS HARD COVER BOOK!
You could not have wiped that smile off my face with sand paper in that moment!
It's a rough copy, it's not how I would've set it up
(Kris did it & she isn't as versed in the joys of 'blogger' as I am, thus early exec decision, I build the books personally from now on since I know what I'm doing in that dept.)
it wasn't the image I would've used on the cover,
but none of that mattered just at that moment.
The only thing that I was allowing to register in my brain was;
"holy shit, this is Ruby's life, in book form.
Someday, when she's ready,
she can kick back & read every moment,
every last Tuesday's with Uncle Steve,
every last photo,
every silly quirk of her Momma's in bold black & white text among a sea of colorful photos,
whenever, wherever & as often as she wants.
Wow.
If that isn't a gift I just don't know what is.
You know... I know most of the time I live like I'm just like the rest of the world.
Another mom doing her daily dance of life with her child but the reality is, I do all that while living with MS.
Most times I honestly forget I have it, aside from the nights I have to give myself a shot.
But sometimes, just sometimes... my tired legs remind me it's there.
My right arm that has never been the same since I was diagnosed in 04', reminds me.
My inability to stand up straight in the shower with my eyes shut WITHOUT the help of holding onto the safety bar, reminds me.
I am so very VERY blessed thus far in my life
&
hope to be blessed for many many more years to come.
But,
just in case those 'many many' years turn out to only be 'many',
it does my heart good to know that every moment until that last 'many' will be captured in such a way that I'm leaving behind a time capsule of sorts for my little girl.
Now, in no way am I saying that a blog book replaces a mother,
because it doesn't.
But, if given the option of having no mom & no book,
or no mom but at least a series of books chronicling her childhood,
I think it's pretty clear which one I'd pick...
It's a small idea that could turn into a big giant success.
And I have one gorgeous little girl to thank for it.
Goodnight Ruby, sleep well baby,
Momma's gonna do her best to make our world a brighter place,
one blog at a time.
And to all of you,
please, feel free to add bookmyblog
to your list of links.
Share it with a friend,
have that friend tell five friends,
and so on & so forth.
I plan on having a 'referral' discount for any business that comes my way via you guys!
For instance, let's say you tell someone about us & they order a book.
Upon the successful completion of their order,
a percentage of the price of your book will be discounted from the final amount for every referral sent my way!
I haven't figured out an exact percent just yet,
that's Kristen's forte,
she crunches numbers,
I prefer crunching cereal.
;)
OOOH COCOA PEBBLES!
Crap, now I'm hungry!
GRRRRR
Ok, moving on...
About this business,
I truly have nothing but high hopes for this.
I've felt fantastic about it since day one
&
hope that you'll all want to be a part of something so near & dear to my heart,
that just thinking about it fills me with a joy that can only come from a place of pure love.
A place that each & every one of you know all too well.
It's a place you visit every time you see your child smile.
And even those of you still waiting, you too know that love, or else you would not have the strength or the patience to endure such a wait.
It's love that drives us all, isn't it?
It has to be!
So, I guess what I'm saying is,
wish me luck!
It's gonna be a fun & bumpy ride!
(And who of you thought I was pregnant?)
HA!
Don't you all know that there would need to be a
MAN
in that equation for that to even be an option?
LOL
Now I'm giggling... hehehehe!
Most of you who read my blog are fellow adoptive parents.
Most of you are very well aware of the adoption tax credit we're all entitled to.
Most of you probably even know that you have only a certain amount of time in which to claim said credit, at least here in MA that is sadly the case.
Now, some of you might be thinking
"Amy, why 'sadly'?
You've been home two years now,
you shouldn't be worried about that silly ole' tax credit,
you've probably claimed all of it by now I'm sure, right?"
Wrong.
The sad truth of it is, upon our arrival home from China, I had just come off the heels of working full time for a wonderful family as their Nanny.
I worked serious hours & had logged lots of tax time for good ole' uncle SAM.
Thus, my first installment of 'adoption tax credit' (henceforth known as ATC)
was easily claimed that first April of 06.
Since then, let's review my work history...
Took first year home OFF to spend with Ruby
&
lived happily on my unemployment which was more than enough to do just that.
Next year, worked for crazy biotch (henceforth known as CB)
caring for her twins under the table (henceforth known as UTT).
CB = headaches & more headaches.
UTT = no uncle sam taxes.
CB + UTT = ANOTHER YEAR WITH NO ADOPTION TAX CREDIT REFUND.
Fast forward to this past year.
Got wonderful job at the local Y.
LOVE the children, love working there, hate that it's only part time.
After talking with my tax guy recently, found out that again...
part time just didn't cut it for qualifying for my adoption credit.
And that's not ONLY the worst part,
he also told me that I have just one year left to do something about that
or uncle SAM gets my money.
WHAT@?%$%^$%^
No way no how,
Ruby's gotta go to COLLEGE!
Over the last few weeks I've agonized over what to do & typically when I am in a bind, I tend to let my mind wander because I find I achieve my greatest successes in life when my creative side takes over.
I was chatting with my dear friend Kristen recently about how worried I was about not being able to claim my refund for Ruby & how I wish I could figure out a way to do something meaningful & worthwhile to change that.
Days go by...
Work comes & goes,
play dates with Ruby,
blogging continues...
life went on.
Then, as I was hanging out with Kristen yet again, I began to wonder out loud.
(a trick I learned years ago having Jen as a best friend who is also a reference librarian, if you wonder things OUT LOUD for others to hear, they tend to listen.)
For instance, I'd wonder aloud about "hmm, I wonder if there are any kewl Chinese language tools available through the library..."
and within the hour typically, Jen would have, in my email, a LIST of options.
A PLETHORA if you will.
*grin* like that one English major? ;)
So, I guess I just got so used to 'thinking out loud' with Jen, that I just kinda did it automatically with Kristen.
I thought to myself,
(rather loudly)
that wouldn't it be great if I could take my blog & turn it into an actual book,
not just for me to enjoy curling up with & reading,
but to also be able to leave as a 'time machine' of sorts for Ruby for when she's older & can appreciate all that her blog represents.
Every post, every photo, every moment of her life,
taken from the computer & put into a physical, hand held form for her to lose herself in whenever she's in the mood to time travel.
Oh how many times I'd wished I had the same opportunity to do that with my own childhood.
Sadly for myself & for, I'm guessing, most of you... all I had was a baby book with a few 'first' photos of milestones & then, the entry's start to get less & less detailed,
trailing off here & there until they are all together gone & I'm left with a fraction of a second of my childhood put to paper.
I wonder all this out loud & the brain of my friend Kristen starts turning...
(did I mention that Kristen has a masters in Business?)
She says to me, "Aim, that's a brilliant idea, you think alot of people would want to do that besides you?"
I chuckled at the foolishness of her question.
Uh, DUH! Of COURSE they would!
People who blog do so because they love to write,
they love to keep daily accounts of the things they cherish most in the world.
Their children!
Their families!
Their pets!
Their lives!
Her eyes got wide & she just smiled from ear to ear & said:
"Ok then, so let's do it. You've got the creative side & I've got the business end. Makes a perfect match in my opinion & really, what have we got to lose?"
I had to agree, I am creative & she is a genius with the things I know NOTHING about business wise AND really, we DIDN'T have anything to lose!
The way I saw it, I had only one thing to gain,
a better future for myself & for Ruby.
Not to mention that if this takes off like I'm hopeful it will,
I'll earn enough to claim the remainder of my ATC.
Wouldn't that be something?
*smiling*
So, we brainstormed
&
bookmyblog.com
was born.
I have some photos to upload once my camera stops being moody,
of our prototype book.
It's a mere portion of Ruby In Her Own Time... (2005) and OMG did I ever lose my mind when I first held this thing in my hands, I was shaking.
To feel,
to hold,
to open up
&
read with my own two eyes,
my blog,
this work of art that only ever became a reality because of the gift of my beautiful daughter,
right here, in my hands, IN A HUGE KICK ASS HARD COVER BOOK!
You could not have wiped that smile off my face with sand paper in that moment!
It's a rough copy, it's not how I would've set it up
(Kris did it & she isn't as versed in the joys of 'blogger' as I am, thus early exec decision, I build the books personally from now on since I know what I'm doing in that dept.)
it wasn't the image I would've used on the cover,
but none of that mattered just at that moment.
The only thing that I was allowing to register in my brain was;
"holy shit, this is Ruby's life, in book form.
Someday, when she's ready,
she can kick back & read every moment,
every last Tuesday's with Uncle Steve,
every last photo,
every silly quirk of her Momma's in bold black & white text among a sea of colorful photos,
whenever, wherever & as often as she wants.
Wow.
If that isn't a gift I just don't know what is.
You know... I know most of the time I live like I'm just like the rest of the world.
Another mom doing her daily dance of life with her child but the reality is, I do all that while living with MS.
Most times I honestly forget I have it, aside from the nights I have to give myself a shot.
But sometimes, just sometimes... my tired legs remind me it's there.
My right arm that has never been the same since I was diagnosed in 04', reminds me.
My inability to stand up straight in the shower with my eyes shut WITHOUT the help of holding onto the safety bar, reminds me.
I am so very VERY blessed thus far in my life
&
hope to be blessed for many many more years to come.
But,
just in case those 'many many' years turn out to only be 'many',
it does my heart good to know that every moment until that last 'many' will be captured in such a way that I'm leaving behind a time capsule of sorts for my little girl.
Now, in no way am I saying that a blog book replaces a mother,
because it doesn't.
But, if given the option of having no mom & no book,
or no mom but at least a series of books chronicling her childhood,
I think it's pretty clear which one I'd pick...
It's a small idea that could turn into a big giant success.
And I have one gorgeous little girl to thank for it.
Goodnight Ruby, sleep well baby,
Momma's gonna do her best to make our world a brighter place,
one blog at a time.
And to all of you,
please, feel free to add bookmyblog
to your list of links.
Share it with a friend,
have that friend tell five friends,
and so on & so forth.
I plan on having a 'referral' discount for any business that comes my way via you guys!
For instance, let's say you tell someone about us & they order a book.
Upon the successful completion of their order,
a percentage of the price of your book will be discounted from the final amount for every referral sent my way!
I haven't figured out an exact percent just yet,
that's Kristen's forte,
she crunches numbers,
I prefer crunching cereal.
;)
OOOH COCOA PEBBLES!
Crap, now I'm hungry!
GRRRRR
Ok, moving on...
About this business,
I truly have nothing but high hopes for this.
I've felt fantastic about it since day one
&
hope that you'll all want to be a part of something so near & dear to my heart,
that just thinking about it fills me with a joy that can only come from a place of pure love.
A place that each & every one of you know all too well.
It's a place you visit every time you see your child smile.
And even those of you still waiting, you too know that love, or else you would not have the strength or the patience to endure such a wait.
It's love that drives us all, isn't it?
It has to be!
So, I guess what I'm saying is,
wish me luck!
It's gonna be a fun & bumpy ride!
(And who of you thought I was pregnant?)
HA!
Don't you all know that there would need to be a
MAN
in that equation for that to even be an option?
LOL
Now I'm giggling... hehehehe!
3 comments:
I like the web site. So how many pages did yours turn out to be and for how many months. How many posts go on a page?
Mine was I believe, a little over 500 pages, BUT, it's totally my fault because I didn't change the font, on some posts it's HUGE & that takes up far too many pages if you ask me. I think I'm going to make it standard that every book blog have a 12 or 14 font size so as to put more content on less pages. I have photos that I'm going to be uploading but if you'd like to check a few out, click on 'BOOK PHOTO GALLERY' to view a few them for now. It's so kewl, I am absolutely in LOVE with my book & it still isn't even what I would've ultimately done, it's truly just a prototype but MAN, it's one hell of a first run! *big BIG smile!*
Good luck, Amy!
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