Women Against Women (conclusion)

Here is the conclusion to my series on feminism.

Women Against Women (Part 4)

Here's Part 4 of my Women Against Women rant.

UPDATE: Melody left such a nifty comment on this post that I felt I had to bring it forward so it wouldn't get buried:

I learned how to lie in self-defense in kindergarten. It went something like this:

"Melody," said the teacher, "what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I want to take care of a pretty house." (Keep in mind that I was only 5 years old.)

"But you can do anything you want! What do you want to do?"

"I want to take care of a pretty house!"

"Sweetie, you can be anything you want to be - you don't have to be a (insert derisive tone here) house wife."

"But I want to take care of a pretty house!" (cue tears)

So, in self-defense, whenever asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I would answer, "I want to be a lawyer."

It took a while, but I finally reached my dream - I get to take care of a pretty house, teach my children, take my time to cook nutritious meals and pamper my husband. THAT'S truly "having it all."

Melody

Whoo-hoo Melody! You rock, woman!

Women Against Women (Part 3)

Here's Part 3 of my Women Against Women rant.

Women Against Women (Part 2)

Here's Part 2 of my Women Against Women rant.

Women against women

Here's my latest posting on RegularGuy.com called Women Against Women.  It's Part 1 of what will be, I dunno, maybe four or five segments.

The Social Skills of Woodlice

Here is my latest RegularGuy column, this one on homeschooling, called The Social Skills of Woodlice.  Enjoy!

My Secret Shame

Here's my latest posting on RegularGuy.com called "My Secret Shame."  Chew on this one!

Send me your ideas

As you all know, I've been writing a weekly column for RegularGuy.  Somehow it became my platform for country humor (don't ask me how).

Trouble is, especially with my brain-dead status during our busy season, I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas about what to write.

A reader just posted this comment:

Hi Patrice, I was reading some comments about some article this morning, someone wrote that she was "going to move to a farm, get off the grid, have a garden and a hammock" ...and I thought of you, I bet you could set her straight on the hammock part! Your blog is a great lesson on country living. 

Voila!  My next column!

Which gave me an idea.  How about if you, my beloved readers, send me your thoughts about some aspect of rural life (especially if it can be contrasted with urban life) that would give folks a chuckle?  Post your thoughts as a comment on this blog entry so we can all enjoy them, and that way I'll be able to harvest a wealth of ideas from your intelligent contributions.

Thanks!

Clueless in Seattle

I have a new column posted at RegularGuy.com called Clueless in Seattle.  Enjoy!

UPDATE: Before anyone gets too annoyed at my friend Janet, please keep in mind that "Janet" doesn't actually exist.  She is an amalgamation of numerous people I know.  I've received all these comments at one time or another from different people and decided to roll them all together into one mythical friend.  So don't pummel Janet too hard!

The bare necessities

I have a new post up at the RegularGuy.com site called "The Bare Necessities."  Warning, it contains some yucky photos.

Blender dogs

I have a new column up at RegularGuy.com!  This one is called "Blender Dogs."  I apologize in advance for the millions of readers I will offend.

Another Regular Guy column is up!

I have another Regular Guy column available!



This one is called Cheap Charlie. It's not my most brilliant column, but it's late and I'm tired.

The (cough) Simple Life

Well, I skipped posting an article at RegularGuy.com last week because I was screamingly busy living the (cough) simple life. So this week, just to illustrate how (cough) simple our lives are, I decided to write about this most popular misconception about rural living.



Come read about my thoughts on the (cough) simple life.

(By the way, feel free to leave comments at the RegularGuy.com site so they know I'm getting read! - Thanks!)

The Mouse that Roars

Let me tell you a little story.



Many years ago, just before and just after our kids were born, I worked as a field biologist. With children, my preference was to work nights. If anyone wonders what field biologists do at night, the answer is simple: we surveyed owls. Specifically, spotted owls. Our team of biologists was called (ahem) "hooters." (This is because we voice-called the owls, or hooted. Don't laugh, it's a living.)

So I watched our babies during the day while my husband worked, and my husband watched them at night while I worked. This way we avoided daycare, a four-letter word in our household.

We got by, but it was tough being away from home from about 6 pm until 3 or 4 am. Additionally, I am NOT a night person. My ideal scenario is to go to bed around 10 pm and get up at 4 am. But hey, you do what you gotta do to make a living. My husband was working his butt off to build our home business and provide for our needs, and I supplemented our income as best I could.

So there I was, by my lonesome self, deep in distant and far-flung locations around southwest Oregon, hooting owls. I did a lot of driving on some pretty bad and sometimes dangerous logging roads. Southwest Oregon has some very, very remote and uninhabited areas, and it seems I saw them all during the years I hooted owls. Under such circumstances, talk radio became my salvation, a link to humanity during the lonely hours away from my family.

One of those voices that followed me into the woods was someone named Roger Fredinburg. He was a local fellow, meaning his radio station was located in the next town over from where we lived. I met him once at the county fair and felt like gushing with gratitude for the verbal hand he extended while I was so far away from hearth and home and humanity. I liked listening to his sensible conservative commentary about various issues.

But as the years went by, our circumstances changed. Thanks to my husband's hard work, our business reached the point where we could afford for me to quit working outside the home and work on the business instead. I still listened to Roger Fredinburg, but this time it was in our shop, not in the woods.

Then we moved to Idaho, and I lost touch with the local radio stations we listened to while we were in Oregon. Oh well, life goes on.

So imagine my delight when I saw Roger Fredinburg's name on a WorldNetDaily column a few months ago. What a blast from the past! I immediately emailed and asked if he planned to be a regular on WND, and mentioned something about how much his radio show meant to me during those lonely evenings in the woods. He emailed back and said he planned to be the occasional guest commentator, but was busy with his own website and business and had no plans to be a regular WND contributor.

So we stayed in touch.

Then last week he sent an email to his address book indicating he was looking for talk show hosts and columnists to feature on his website. I immediately contacted him to express my interest, and the rest is history.

This is a rather lengthy way to introduce the fact that I have a new column through Roger Fredinburg's website. I hope to make it weekly news from Flyover Country. I've provided a link on the left-hand side of my blog which will display my archive.

I'll take this moment to thank Roger for the opportunity to write for his site. Who'da thunk, all those years ago while hooting owls deep in the woods, that one day I would be writing for the Regular Guy?