Jobs your dad has held

While sprucing up some of my websites about my background (important to do because it's information that people interested in hiring me as an editor often look at), I thought you might like to know what kind of jobs I've held. You can check out my resume online at anytime, but that just really lists the places I've worked.

Growing up, I worked on my parents' dairy farm. I milked cows and generally took care of the animals. I didn't do much field work; my dad and brother (your Uncle Chris) typically preferred to do that while my mom and me liked the animals.

In my junior year of high school, I joined the Army National Guard, which I stayed in until 1997. I served in an infantry unit, where I handled a number of different weapons from grenade launchers to machine guns. I rose to the rank of sergeant.

In college, I studied to be a journalist and a teacher (grads 7-12). Upon graduation, I worked as a reporter for a daily newspaper. After three years, though, I made a career change and went into teaching. I taught English and journalism, primarily the former, to grades 7-12, but mainly to eighth and ninth graders.

After seven years of teaching, I went back into journalism, working as a copy desk chief (we proofread and design the newspaper), as a editorial page editor (writing the newspaper's editorials), and as a managing editor (I headed both a weekly and a small daily newspaper). I also was the manging editor of a suite of business magazines in San Diego for a while.

After newspapering, I started my own business, which is what I do now: editing and proofreadingother people's books and helping them get publish. I also research and write my own books (mainly about hiking and writing), but I've also penned a book of poetry and a novel (both of which are coming out this autumn at the time I write this entry).

Do you like to write? What kind of job do you want to have when you grow up?

Journal entry from Nov. 10, 2009

A few days ago I wrote an entry about you taking a bath - well, I found this old journal entry from Nov. 10, 2009, in my journals (the actual event happened a few days earlier):

As the water fell from the faucet swirling into the pool below, you placed bath toys onto the tub's side, delicately examining each one as if it were some priceless ancient artifact. There is a monkey in a life raft, a rubber train engine, a plastic sailboat. Bubble bath clings to the monkey's face, and your eyes pause on it for a long moment, and a finger wipes off the foam. Your eyes suddenly brighten as you grin. You dip your hand into the foam-covered water and swooping up a mound of bubbles, pat them against your chin. Two fingers push some of the bubbles up around the mouth until you have a goatee of your own, white and fizzing. You gaze at your reflection in the bathtub faucet, let out a gleeful laugh, and continue to place the toys upon the rub's rim, the bubbles upon your face fizzing.

Journal entry about you hearing the wind

Here's another journal entry I wrote on Oct. 31, 2009, about you; the events described occurred a few days earlier, on Oct. 19 or 20:

The wind blew fiercely, so much that it drew your attention just when I hoped to put you down for an afternoon nap. For several minutes, you stared into the empty space between my lap and the ceiling, then you sat up, tucked yourself against my side, listened to the chimney flue rattle and the backyard gate jangle. On occasion, the gusts even pressed the picture window in with a whump! But you heard more than this, I suspect, for your ear lay against my heart, it going lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub with each rise and fall of my chest, and soon you fell asleep.

What your dad does for a living

The thought crossed my mind that you might wonder what I do all day for work (Sometimes I wonder myself!). Well, I edit and write all day.

Most of my income is made by editing other people's writing. They send me their novels, nonfiction books, short stories, dissertations, academic papers, letters, legal documents, website text and more, which I proofread (correcting for spelling, punctuation, capitalization and grammar errors), comment on, specifically about the content (such as the story's plot and characters if a novel), and coach them on their writing style. I mostly do novels. In fact, you can go to my Inventing Reality Editing Service blog and see the covers and read plot summaries of all kinds of books that I've edited and that have gone on to be published.

I also write a lot, mainly my own stuff. Every day I pen blog entries about hiking and writing, which then are turned into books. I also write a little on the side, mainly novels and short stories, but I've also got a book of poetry published (or is about to be published as I write this entry to you). Currently, I have seven books planned for publication, six of which should come out during the next year (a novel, three books about writing, and two books about hiking).

I work mainly out of my house on a computer. In addition, I spend a lot of time in coffee shops working from my laptop, as being by yourself in a house all day with no one around can drive you a little batty after a while!

I stay quite busy - at any given moment I have three or four books that I'm editing, and as you can see from above I have a lot of books I'm writing as well. But I love what I do, and the income is more than sufficient to keep me going and ensure that I have plenty to spend on you when we are together (and we'll be together soon again, trust me).

Remember your drum set?

One of the many things I wanted to do for you as a parent was expose you to as much of the world as possible, just so you could fully explore to it and not miss out on opportunities dur to underdeveloped skills. So we played different sports, read books one every subject, did tons of crafts, and played lots of musical instruments.

While the guitar was among those instruments you most played with, I suspect your favorite was the drums!

You had a blue and black drum set with skulls and bones on it, as well as two drumsticks. It was part of a set that I think included a harmonica, tambourine and a whistle. You also had a flute (technically it was a "recorder") and a toy guitar.

You'd pretend to be Ringo and would sing all kinds of tunes while banging on the drums at all different beats and levels of intensity. I've always had a little trouble hearing in my left ear, so as long as you practiced on the drums to the left of me, I had no problem with you playing to your hearts content!

Will I write back to you?

As we've part for so long now, you might wonder if I received a letter/email for you, if would I write back. It's a common question that many children have when separated from a parent. Maybe you're not asking it, but I'd like to answer anyway, just in case.

The answer is "Yes, I would." Depending on what you write, I might take a day or two to answer, as I need to consider your safety in how I get the response to you. There are people who do not want us to be together, and should they discover that I've emailed or written you, I fear that you might be wrongly punished.

What will I write? I will tell you all what I'm doing for work, where I'm living, my personal projects, if I'm involved with someone. I will answer your questions, all of them, to the best of my ability. I will tell you how you can safely reach me/get into contact with me (even though this website conains that info). I will ask questions of you - where you are living, what you like about school, what are your favorite hobbies/sports/activities, who your friends are, what you hope to be when you grow up, and more based on your age.

Most importantly, I will try to assure you that I love you - that I always have, that I do now, and that I always will.

So yes, go ahead and write that letter or send that email. I am waiting for it.

Remember all those fun bathtimes?

One of the thousands of great things about you as a preschooler was that I never had trouble getting you to take a bath. Of course, I made sure it was lots of fun!

First, we had lots of bubbles. Bubble bath always was on my list of items that had to stay in stock in the house. And I wasn't stingy with the bubble bath, either - we went through a bottle a week! We'd fill up the bathtub with water, and good couple of inches of it were bubbles!

Next, I made sure you had lots of bath toys to play with. There were foam letters and numbers that you could stick to the wall when they were wet. There also were plastic Star Wars characters that you you could have adventures with. And there were some Thomas the Train engines, a crocodile, and a Little Einsteins rocket ship that all were water-worthy.

In addition, though I'd ask you over and over not to do it, I let you splash water all across the bathroom floor. I was only really concerned if the water got onto hallway carpet, which is why I had to keep you from "oversplashing." Usually I just cleared the rugs out of the bathroom befor eyou got into the tub and let you splash to your heart's content - it was a good excuse for me to scrub the floor (actually, I was just drying it!).

Finally, I didn't waste a lot of time fussing over you with a good cleaning. We quickly washed your hair and then I'd have you close your eyes while I took care of your face. But you spent so long in the bubble-filled bathtub splashing around that the dirt just came off you all on your own accord!