Category: general

general

words for thought

abby mumford

i’m blatantly stealing this post from elisabeth black. but i can’t stop thinking about it and wanted to share it with you, dear readers:

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Six impossible things.

Alice laughed: “There’s no use trying,” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.”

“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

-Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

I’m with the White Queen on this one. Have you believed any impossible things lately?

if you can believe it, you can do it. and if you can do it, it’s no longer impossible. ready? set? GO.

general

excuses, or introducing linda grimes

abby mumford

most days, we don’t need a reason to skip out of work. but there are times when the drive to get things done overshadows our logical sense of laziness. and that is distressing indeed. if that happens, you know who you should call? linda grimes. not only will she make you laugh, but she’ll find a way to get you out of doing that horrid thing you were just about to do.

she’ll always come to the rescue. seriously, click on that. and then read the comments. you won’t regret it.

she can get you out of work, out of taking care of your kids, out of eating a healthy breakfast, out of cleaning your house, and out of any other pickle you might find yourself in. i think i want to make her pocket sized and carry her around all day long. chirping in my ear. forcing my productivity levels to zero.

think of how calm and relaxed i’d be! i wouldn’t worry that the dust bunnies from the bedroom have connected with the ones from the living room and are about to stage a mutiny. i wouldn’t spend one minute fussing over the lost roll of quarters because i don’t have to do any laundry. i wouldn’t be scared to have one extra drink because there are health benefits to having one drink a day and you only have the count the current drink in your hand. which is one. which means i’m health conscious!

and look, here she is in LIVE ACTION. (it’s just like we’re at the movies! is that popcorn i smell?) oh, but first, the background story. we (read: Twitterati) took a vote to declare wednesday #earlyfriday. enough people voted “aye” which means i don’t have to go to work on thursday because it’s technically saturday. but just in case, linda wrote me a “get out of work” note.

@linda_grimes: @abbymumford Dear Boss Person: Due to a localized glitch in the space/time continuum, Wed. is now Fri. Therefore, [insert name] will not be at work tomorrow, as it will be “Saturday.” Sincerely, Linda, Goddess of Excuses.

and since she was on a roll, @muftopmommy asked for a note of her own. and, of course, linda delivered.

@linda_grimes: @muftopmommy Dear Muftop-kiddos: If you don’t let Mommy take a nap, she will flip out and break ALL your toys. Sncrly, the Excuse Goddess

isn’t she grand? don’t you want to pinch her cheeks and give her a lollipop?

do YOU need any excuses cooked up? i’ll try to channel my inner linda grimes and help you out.

p.s. recently, people have been asking me more and more about my love of twitter. it’s this silly side that i love. and it’s not a waste of time, boss man, no indeed. i’m learning here. learning how to do less work in more time, sure, but what good is an employee who stops learning?

general

did i run away and join the circus without my consent?

abby mumford

these past few months, but specially these last two weeks, have been an extreme test of my ability to handle stress. to keep my head from popping off. to maintain a professional demeanor and not glare at anyone and everyone who emails, calls, walks into my office. to get it all done and explain to the next person how it works while wearing a smile on my face. to balance on the thin wire of work and life outside the office.

being at work lately has felt like i’m the ringmaster, the lion tamer, the girl riding bareback and doing back flips through hoops while still landing on the back of the horse, the tight rope walker, the elephant trainer, the driver of the clown car, the 57th clown that gets out of the car, the juggler who’s just switched from bowling pins to fiery batons, the person hawking popcorn and cotton candy and those blinking light souvenirs, the parent watching over their child, AND the person who has to clean up and pack up the big top tent.

which leaves me with ZERO energy for anything outside of work. and putting in no effort with your life and hobbies and friends and health and family? that leaves me with a very flat existence. much like the big top tent after the support poles and bleachers and equipment and people and animals and air has been pulled out.

i’ve learned that me + stress = one big grumpypuss. i know this, but now i REALLY know this. it’s lodged at the forefront of my brain. (it’s probably making my forehead look a little lumpy.) but i don’t know how to stop. i want to do a good, complete job. there is a reason (i can’t think of it at the moment) that my boss chose to give me oh so very much work and i don’t want to disappoint him. but what about when i disappoint my family and friends? it’s a little like this, i suppose. where work is the “new friend” and everything else is the “old friend”. i need to make sure i pick up my undies for both my old and new friends. they deserve to be treated equally. but how do you do that when one demands so much more attention?

when do you draw the line? when you reach your breaking point? right before you crack? right after your head’s exploded? when your TO DO list reaches 100 items? when you arrive at work early, don’t take lunch, and still have to stay late? when your roommate wonders why she hasn’t seen you all week? when your friends are shocked by the lack of emails from you? when your family wonders why you don’t call? when you seriously consider early retirement? when you don’t smile a true smile all day? when you can’t remember the last time you heard good news? when your stress levels rocket because you have no outlet (working out, hanging out, writing) of release?

where do you put it? and how do you draw it? a stick in the sand? masking tape down the middle of the room? with a closed door? with tears down your cheeks? with hershey’s kisses?

what do you do when you give too much to one thing and not enough to another?

and so, to all those (online and off, in real life and digital life, in my manuscript) who have been neglected by the recent rush of work i’ve been doing, these are for you. they’re forget me not’s.

please accept them with my sincerest apologies for disappearing. and please, FORGET ME NOT while i’m gone.

general

legal name change

abby mumford

Juliet:
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

and would i, by any other name, still tweet?

it appears I DO. as is evidenced by my recent change in twitter user name. i’m now @abbymumford, formally known as @mumfusa.

why did i go from the obscure mumfusa to the normal abbymumford? mumfusa was generated in college, and well, as much as i don’t like to admit it, i’m past that time in my life. plus, i’ve been thinking about it for awhile. i joined twitter on a whim, but since that fateful day in march 2009, my relationship with twitter had completely changed. twitter and i? we’ve grown up. instead of following celebrities and marveling at how they tie their shoes like the rest of us, i have taken up residence in a publishing corner of the twitter world. i’m surrounded by authors and agents and publishers and editors and, let’s face it, digital friends. i’ve stopped lurking and joined the conversation.

and so, i’ve decided to unmask and unveil myself and go by my given name. err, my given nickname. (you have to save characters, you know. going by @abigailmumford would be asking for trouble. or for no RTs. or for no @ messages.)

plus, one of my life goals is to be published and i don’t plan on writing under the pen name of mumfusa, so i figure i should take this baby step forward towards that goal and link my internet presence with my off-line self. (in case that miraculous time comes when i sign an agent and a book deal and people start searching for me online.)

you know me, always prepared. never procrastinating. this is just me being me. whether it’s as mumfusa or abby or abigail.

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graduation, family reunion, wedding: a photo essay.

abby mumford

let’s rewind a bit, shall we? the week of june 21-27 was a whirlwind. first, there was the family reunion in NJ. we reunined (fun, new word!) because sister E was graduating from high school. and if that’s not a reason to get together and CELEBRATE…well, it is a perfectly good reason. so that’s what we did.

the FAMILY REUNION. where kids and toys and games and parents and grandparents and and great grandparents and aunts and uncles and siblings and cousins were in every nook and cranny.

the cousins, who now live on opposite coasts were introduced.

the girls were excited to meet.

the boys, not so much.

once kids are introduced into the mix, it’s so fun to compare traits. genetics and personality. some of us have the same toes. some have similar color eyes. some have their dad’s nose, their mom’s  smile and the sweat glands of their aunt. some are shy like their dad. some are studious like their uncle. some are tall like this side of the family. some are stocky like that side of the family. some are still waiting to develop.  but you can’t deny the family resemblance here. it is uncanny. which one’s the graduate? which one’s the aunt? which one’s the niece?

then came the GRADUATION. which was as hot and stuffy and as full of cliched speeches as you might imagine. but we attend because we’re there to applaud sister E’s efforts over the past 4 years. her efforts in learning, in living, in playing, in growing. she’s finished one chapter and it’s immediately time for a new one to begin. a chapter that is slightly scary and exciting and full of independence. so we gather now to let her know we’re here. always here. supporting. and doing the things families do best. loving. so, here’s the graduate herself. looking all spiffed up and ready for college. or perhaps, more celebrating.

speaking of MORE celebrating, i had just that in store for me at the end of the week. this time, it was friends (and their families) gathering to cheer for the culmination of a love affair. you might recall my adventures in white washing a barn? well, it was time for that barn to take center stage at lauren and  nate’s wedding. but more importantly, it was time for LOVE to put on its cap and gown and stand up on stage and accept its diploma of marriage. congrats, you two!