Stuff on my mind

• It's so strange not being pregnant anymore. In most ways it's wonderful! My belly (for the most part) is gone. Yesterday I actually put on a pair of pre-pregnant panties and they fit...well, they were a little tight, but they almost fit! I don't need to go to the bathroom every hour. I can almost sleep on my stomach, and laying on my back doesn't hurt or cut off circulation. I can see my feet! All of my swelling is gone. I have much more physical energy and can do things around the house again. The list could go on and on. One thing I am surprised that I miss is my team of docs. After having my incision checked at the OB's, there is a feeling of 'Okay, well have a nice life' in the air. After months of weekly or bi-weekly appointments, I started to feel like I knew these people -- their kids names, their own pregnancy experiences, where they went to school, etc. It's just odd to look at my calendar and not see doc appointments on there, and to know I won't be going back until my next annual Pap exam in a year. I actually kinda-sorta-just-a-little-bit miss my OB and his staff. Very odd.
• I am passing up new business every day. Word got out in the NICU that I know a thing or two about real estate, and now they flock to me. Who would have guessed nurses and doctors in the NICU would be such a pond for business. However, I'm out of real estate right now and have no desire or interest to go back anytime soon. I find it rather annoying to be trying to feed one of my babies and have a nurse I don't know start asking me market questions. I have been passing all prospects on to a friend of mine who is still in the game. I hope she likes all the free clients I'm giving her. :)
• Speaking of careers, I'm not sure what I am going to do when the time is right for me to go back to work. I never considered real estate my profession. It's what I do to make money -- good money. It's not my passion though. My love, my passion, my education and background is in journalism and politics. It's a tough road though. At some point several years ago, I decided that I wanted a better lifestyle more than I wanted to starve being a reporter or freelance writer. Now things are different. Hubby's career is in a much different place, and I have more freedom to explore it again without fear of financial hardship. Plus, a big election year is already starting to heat up and I feel that pull again. Hmm...what to do, what to do... (By the way, don't just me as a writer based on this blog. There is a reason I call it stream of consciousness.)
• Oh, there is other stuff, but I need some sleep.

Another Wednesday ...

I don't have much to report today. I am over all the sappiness of yesterday. Like I said, it was just hormones.

Hubby has had this entire week off, but went into the office for half of the day to meet with an out-of-town client. I sure have enjoyed having him around this week. Usually after anything more than a long weekend, I am eager for him to return to work and a normal schedule because we start stepping on each other's toes, so to speak. That hasn't been the case this week.

After four full days of not leaving the house, Hubby and I went out to a local pizza place. Getting out and about is becoming a chore for me. After my last little tumble last week coupled with the fact that I am getting so massively pregnant, it's just the smarter choice to stay put. But come on...four days is too long for me. It was nice to be out in public again, but about halfway through dinner I started to feel bad. I had some minor cramping (can I call it "cramping" or is it technically contractions? Not sure.) and felt exhausted. So, it was a quick dinner and then back to the house.

Today, for the first time in months, I actually missed work. I missed having a job. I missed all of those silly, pointless meetings. I miss meeting with clients. I miss all of the marketing I used to dread doing. I miss my adult co-workers. I miss the world of real estate. I miss feeling like I had a purpose. A title. A career.

Nauseating Self-Promotion

After more than a year of saying I would, I am finally making a half-serious effort to hire someone to design my business web site. So, the task of writing the content has begun. To get ideas I looked at other Realtors’ sites, and at the end of the day this is what I essentially came up with:

Shannon is a dedicated, passionate, and market-savvy professional who puts her clients satisfaction before all else. Her attention to detail, superior people skills, broad knowledge of the real estate industry as a whole, and her pure determination to indulge her clients with first-class service sets her apart. With a background in journalism and public relations, Shannon understands the power of creative, well-organized and highly effective marketing and offers customized marketing plans that maximize property exposure to the most qualified buyers. A real estate transaction is really about managing people, their desires and their finances. It is an intricate and consequential negotiation. Shannon knows that it is not only important to secure the most able buyer, but also the one that is most likely to close the deal. When so much is at stake, Shannon is the only you want to represent you. Her fair yet aggressive negotiating style and protectiveness of her clients’ best interest and ultimately, their assets, has gained her respect with colleagues and clients alike. Shannon knows that every transaction represents the most important purchase or sale a person can make, and she takes every precaution to ensure that communication is impeccable with all parties involved from beginning to end. Whether it’s patiently guiding first time buyers through this exciting process or following through with clients’ needs long after the transaction is over, Shannon’s warm yet efficient business style will turn you, too, into a client for life.

I can’t believe I actually wrote that shameless crap. First of all, it’s terribly creepy to write about yourself in the third-person – I am just not as comfortable with that as say Bob Dole or well, take your pick of most of the current NFL players. Shannon feels like an asshole doing that. Secondly, it is over-flowing with buzzwords. You could almost make a drinking game out of it.

Anyway, I know I am just rambling about this, but, damn, now I really feel like I have sold out. There has got to be a better, more dignified way of drumming up new clients.