Just A Silicon Valley Blog Post
After the supposed end of The Silicon Valley Mom Blog I didn't give my posts much thought. I owned them, I could re-post them and/or just let them live in the Blogosphere. I enjoyed writing for the Silicon Valley Moms Blog a lot more than I thought I would. I wrote about events at school, my crazy family and mostly my children.
This June I was very fed up, frustrated and burnt out from volunteering at my children's school. I listed all that I had done on this blog and then made a public pledge to not do it again on SV Moms Blog. I got a lot of comments on and off line from other volunteers like myself that were done with a capital D with volunteering.
Two weeks ago I received an email from a reporter at the New York Times who read my post. She asked if I would speak to her about my volunteering or lack their of. She wanted to hear how this year was going and if I had kept up my pledge. Without thinking I said "Hell to the Yes!", or maybe I thought that in my head and just replied very polite like in an email. Either way I was interviewed the following day.
New York Frickin' Times Interview
Rule one when you get an interview with a very reputable news paper (or any publication) - get the time correct. And me being a veteran of countless interviews (okay a dozen or so) I am always prepared and I always get the time right. Ya, not so much. I bounced, or stumbled out of bed at 6:30 a.m. and downed two cups of coffee for my 7:00 a.m interview. Then I waited and waited. I waited some more. And then waited a little bit longer. Then I drank more coffee.
By about 7:45 a.m. I was freaking out and bouncing off the walls. I looked at the email for the 45th time that morning and realized I had the time wrong. Don't ask me how or why but I was under the impression the interview was at 10:00 a.m Eastern Standard Time....and uh, it was actually 10:00 a.m my time, Pacific Standard Time. So now I was wide awake just waiting for the interview. By the time she called (the correct agree time) I was the babbling laughing volunteer from Hell. I was interviewed for over 30 minutes and am pretty confident that I sounded like an insane rabid parent. Yes, I am scared of what will be taken from the interview.
I calmed myself down by remembering some past interviews. Having been interviewed in the past I was not even confidant my interview would even be a part of the article. This happens more than I care to admit. I have said it before, and will continue to say it - press is good. All press is good (Jamie's Painting & Design never came up in this interview). I am fine, the whole article may not even ever be published. I did not get my hopes up. Then last week I got an email. I had to be in a Photo Shoot, with my children like in a few days........ah, come again?
Ready for My Close Up
When picking out our clothes I tried not to over think it, but I wanted us to look good - so I totally over thought the whole thing. I figured my kids should dress as casual as possible without looking like we were trying to be too causal - this is not as easy as it sounds. The urge to dress my children in their holiday finest, get hair cuts and polish their shoes was very tempting. Sadly I cancelled the fancy up-do, professional make-up artists/stylist and put away my formal gown, diamond tiara and fur. We were the Lentzners, and we were going with jeans.
Last Wednesday the photographer arrived at my home. Now, I have to preface this with the fact that the exterior of my house is a disaster. We are in the process of having the entire house stuccoed, painted and we are replacing all of the lights. When I answered the door I caught our photographer looking around at the plywood very skeptical. His eyes kept darting back and forth from the plywood srewed to the house, and a bulb hanging where my light would be. When he finally made eye contact I could have sworn I saw him sigh. He was probably expecting Ma Kettle wearing overalls and smoking a pipe.
I took him to all the rooms, seeing which one had the best light or the best angle for him. Even with turning on every light in the house my home for him, he was not sure about where to photograph us. After walking back and forth for about ten minutes he still had not found a good spot. The front yard was out of the question since it would look like we lived in an Appalachian Wooden House and the playroom ( that would be the garage) had ourdogs in it. I was starting to get nervous. After two tours of the Lentzner home I caught him eyeing the backyard. This was not going to be good.
We Have Dogs & Standing Water
As he leaped out our back door and into our backyard swamp I blurted out, "We have Dogs! Watch where you....step." I watched him grimace as he took big then small steps while trying to examine his surroundings. He danced around, eyeing the ground as if he were about to step on a land mind. With the 3 solid days of rain, followed by 3 days of near freezing weather - my kids had not been out to uh, clean up after our pets. It was not a pretty sight, puddles, mud, poop and some dead plants - I was mortified.
And of course he decided to photograph outside.....yep, even though I was casual I was still rocking my cute suede boots. Boots I did not want covered in dog excrement. The children to were told to play soccer and look natural. After they fought over which ball to bring outside we all dodged dog poop and mud for 10 to 15 minutes. I am sure the look on my face was part disgust and part shock while I was being photographed. Nothing says "Working Mom" like a mother and her children playing soccer in a mud/poop swamp.
We then took photos in our kitchen, in my office and me looking out the window at my dinning room table. I still don't know if I was supposed to look happy, sad, confused or dignified. I just hope the pictures came out decent. The article is scheduled to be published Thursday, December 3, 201o. I am hopeful that we/me sound and look decent and normal and sane. It could happen.
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