Warsaw Mommy Blog

Well, y’all had better brace yourselves! I haven’t been here since Monday, and today is Friday, and stuff has been going on. So this will a tome, an epic, a saga. A round-up, a ‘tying up the loose ends’, a catch-up, a panic-attempt at getting it all out of my head and onto the screen before it flies out of my head forever.

Oh, BTW? One thing I’d LOVE out of my head forever? All this green gunk! Yep, I am a snot factory working overtime, a waterfall of snot floweth, my brain is full of the stuff, my eyes MUST be turning green as I type this. I’ll go look in the mirror later to check it out. In short: I am sick. I blow my nose, and all that happens is my ears pop and I feel dizzy – the snot in no way recedes. Anything that comes out is quickly replaced with new stuff. Yes, I am a  mess. And just in time for the weekend, when we have two active boys in our care 24 hours a day. Hurrah! Gah.

Anyway, now that that is out of the way, let’s get on with it, yeah? So first, let me just say that my work life seems to have exploded in the past two weeks, and you will hear no complaints from me, though this means that you will actually hear almost NOTHING from me. As in, my blog has been (and will probably continue to be) noticeably quieter than it is usually. For those of you who have read the ‘About Us’ section, you know that I have my own business. Now, if you also have your own business, you know just how precarious this position can be at times: in my case, it seems that I am either sitting on my butt and praying for e-mails and work, or I am running my butt off, praying for a breather. I rarely have anything in between, except when a project is just starting up and we are in the negotiation and contract-signing phase, or the project is winding down and we are in the final touches and issuing the invoice phase.

I’ve had my own business for just over a year now, and it has been rough from the get-go. I started my own thing when I was about five months pregnant with Alex – and I started it because when I was just over three months pregnant, I was fired. Yes, I know this is totally illegal in Poland, but the thing is, the employer was actually based in the UK and so when I consulted a lawyer here in Warsaw, I was told that it would all be a mess of ‘UK law vs. Polish law’, with some EU Labour Law thrown in for good measure, plus a team of lawyers here, and one over there, and then having to pay for legally-sworn translators to translate everything from English to Polish and vice versa, and on and on, for about three years. Oh, I’d win in the end, this lawyer assured me, but I’d have to go through all that stress and burn through a lot of money in order to pursue my legal right to not be fired whilst pregnant. So I let it go, seeing as I was pregnant and unemployed and had better get something else lined up pronto. I did spend a couple of weeks contemplating the injustice of it all, and bemoaning a legal system that is unaffordable to people who need it the most, and thinking that this is how crooked jerkface employers get away with treating employees badly. But then I shook it off and started to think.

My thoughts were not pleasant: who was going to hire a pregnant foreigner who spoke Polish passably well, but was certainly nothing like fluent? Answer: nobody, honey. I was backed into quite a corner, and so I decided to set up shop for myself. At five months pregnant. Yeah, I like my life complex. You?

Well. Things began well, slowed down, picked up, and then s-l-o-w-e-d down late last year as the economic crisis started to hit Warsaw in earnest, and since February I have struggled. I mean, really really struggled. Oh, the clients have still been coming and there has been work… but nothing like ENOUGH work or LARGE enough contracts. Then suddenly, last month that all changed and now I am being sent stuff left and right and I refuse to say no, because I’d like a cushion for when the next slow-down period hits. And so time over here on the blog is limited, at least for now. But like I said: no complaints from yours truly!

Next up: I am very proud – and actually quite surprised – that I have been going to the gym regularly. Yes! I work my butt off doing translation and editing and proofreading and writing and then use a two-hour trip to the gym as a break. No lie: I am finding that doing so (a) feels great after sitting in a chair and hunching over a keyboard for several hours (b) gives me the focus and energy to come back and put in another round of work and (c) helps me sleep better, so I even wake up more refreshed and ready to go. News flash, y’all: my body likes exercise!

What else? Ooooh, the lovely Cinda has given me not one but TWO awards in the past two weeks. Here they are:

Now, I get to tell you 10 things that make me happy, and pass the ‘Happy 101′ Award on to 10 bloggers who brighten my day. I also get to tell you why I love receiving comments on my blog, and then pass the sunshine yellow award on to five people who visit and comment and make my day! So here we go:

What makes me happy, in no particular order:

1. When Max and Alex giggle.
2. Wearing orange, red, yellow and purple. All at the same time.
3. Grinding coffee beans by hand, with Max ‘helping’.
4. Being tucked up in bed, drinking full-fat hot chocolate whilst reading a ‘lite’ book.
5. Hugs.
6. Meeting a girlfriend for Sunday brunch (with Max, of course!).
7. Listening to music.
8. Going out with Piotr for sushi.
9. A quiet coffee before the day crashes in on me.
10. Buying a new ring – just because!

And? Why do I love receiving comments? Ummm. Because I like knowing that something I have written has touched someone enough that they want to tell me that. Maybe they relate to what I am thinking or feeling or experiencing, and I like knowing that too. Maybe they disagree with me, and have a strong enough sense of self to tell me so, which I like very much. Maybe they just comment to let me know they are there, so as to encourage me to keep writing and sharing. Which I think I like best of all.

Now! Passing these lovely awards on (rolling up sleeves and flexing fingers). Ahem!

My ten bloggers for the ‘Happy 101′ Award are:

1. Robyn at Who’s The Boss?
2. Lulu at Cherry Blossom Adventures
3. Emma at Le Petit Bruno
4. Rachael at Mogantosh
5. Diana at exPress-o
6. Becky at The Blog Of Becky
7. Robyn at Blommi
8. Marylin at Pure Unadulterated Softthistle
9. Lucy at Diminishing Lucy
10. In Real Life at In Real Life

And my five ‘You Are My Sunshine’ nominees (my lovely commenters) are:

1. Mary at Clean Shavings
2. Not A Soccer Mom at As My Mother Before Me
3. Barbara at JoBart
4. Kelley at Magneto Bold Too
5. Veronica at Sleepless Nights

Next up: Jodie over at Mummy Mahem had the brilliant idea of showing what real beauty is… and bloggers the world over are taking off their makeup and posting ‘real’ photos of themselves in honour of ‘Bloggers Without Makeup Day’; so here I am, in all my un-made-up glory. Actually, most photos of me on this blog have been ‘au naturel’. But I like this one the best of all:

See the way Alex is staring up at me adoringly? HE doesn’t care that I’m not wearing lipstick. And that my hair is not brushed. And that I haven’t drawn in my eyebrows yet. For him, I am GORGEOUS!

And now, finally, here are a couple of photos of the boys, seeing as I have been remiss in putting any up the past few days.

Here’s Max, wearing his new sunglasses and doing a Fonzi-esque modified thumbs up (index fingers up?). He is also saying ‘So cooooool‘ while Piotr takes this photo. Yes, really.

And here is Alex. Swinging. Ummm. That’s it. Oh, take note of his cowboy style bandana around his neck. Very Woody from Toy Story:

And finally finally! Brenda over at Mummy Time has put up another Flog Yo Blog Friday… so drop on over and sign up.

OK, that’s it. Whew! Over and out!