Life of an Executive editor

This has been one of the most stressful work weeks so far. Not the worst, because I've had some bad ones, and have even shed some tears over the years. It's been rough, but I realized this week why I have the fancy title and make the big dollars -LOL!

Because I work for a non-profit, there are different rules about things, especially politics. So when a community member wanted to create and pay for a negative political ad - a double truck, and for those of you who are not newspaper folk that means two full pages side by side, I had to think hard. It was also a local, community campaign. I'm talking small community here.

I not only had to think, I had to do some research. This process took about 2 1/2 days. I'm a slow thinker, yes, but that wasn't what took the 2 1/2 days.

First I knew I had to approve the ad before it could run, and made that clear through the ad rep to the customer. Then the ad had to be pre-paid, and check clear the bank prior to publication. Not a problem. As I researched a bit more it looked as if we couldn't run the ad at all, based on the code I was reading pertaining to non-profits.

The customer was not happy.

I then researched more and found something in our guidelines that led me to think maybe it was the type of ad that if we ran it, it would require him to pay for postage. Our paper is mailed, and this had to do with non-profit stuff, so he would have had to pay postage at the regular postal rate of more than $1 a copy. We mail more than 8,000 copies. Yes, the math was looking scary for this person.

And he was not happy.

I assured the ad rep I was continuing to do some research on the topic.

Oh, did I mention this ad came in on Monday - deadline day?

I decided I needed someone with legal experience to look at the code and tell me if we would be allowed to run it. It seemed we should if we ran political ads in the past, and we have.

So I called on someone with such experience. It was late, I don't know, maybe 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. He assured me that we could run it and it would not have an effect on the non-profit status.

Then as I started to really read the ad and wade through it for possible libel, I again wanted some help. I consulted with that person again, the next day, and though there were a few things in the ad I had questions about, there was only one item that he said could be a problem.

I again talked to the ad rep, and the customer agreed to omit that item.

This was Wednesday, I think. It could have been yesterday morning because my days have all run together now.

At the same time I was doing the research, trying to find the person to consult with, and calling my assistant editor and chewing it over with her, stories and photos were coming at me left and right.

Also on deadline day, I got a call from an ad rep who was in the hospital and couldn't contact her customers nor could she get to her paperwork to turn in her orders for ads. Guess who had to do that?

I'm getting off topic--sort of.

There were other problems with advertising this time, but I'll keep it to this one.

In the middle of this, the customer threatened to sue if we didn't run it. Now that didn't scare me, and I put it out of my mind as I tried to get to the answers I was seeking. Some people on the board were quite frustrated with that, and I was fielding those E-mails too.

The president of the board sent an E-mail message that stated the decision was mine, and they would support me in the decision.

Meantime, stories were piled up ready to be edited, and I had a couple or three of my own that I was supposed to be writing.

On top of all of this, I had a serious E-mail exchange with a staff member that turned into a topic for our staff meeting. And as you can imagine, the staff meeting was this week too. Last night in fact.

I had to collect my thoughts, put them on paper, and present them at this meeting. I was ready for anything. (No worries, there's a liquor store just around the corner from the office. I could hit it on the way home.)

I didn't need the bottle.

The meeting was the highlight of the week. I think it's the only thing that has gone really well this week.

It's Friday, and I still have to proof the paper this weekend. But for tonight, and a little bit of tomorrow, I'm going to relax.

Then I just wait for the bombs to hit after we go to print.

Even with all of this craziness, I like my job.

Oh how do we learn?

I am amazed by some of the things Sean knows how to do, and it seems he instinctively knows. I feel like I should be writing so many things down, but I am always doing something else. So here's a post all about Sean and the things he's doing right now. He will be 7 years old soon.

Friends gave us a zucchini from their garden, and Sean decided we should cut it into small pieces and fry it in a pan. I prepared the egg dip, and the cornmeal and parmesan cheese mixture. He cut the pieces, dipped, and put them in the pan.

I wonder what path he will decide to take when he makes the choice of a career. He's so analytical, and loves to learn how all machines work. But he also loves to cook, and use a camera.

Lately he has wanted to cook. I have always let him have as much freedom as possible while making sure he is safe. I don't want him to get hurt, yet I know there are times when getting a little cut on a finger, or touching a hot pan can teach us a lot about how to respect tools in the kitchen. Now that he is more coordinated, I let him work and I watch. And yes, he has had a cut on the finger, and a little burn from a hot pan.

A couple of days ago he heated a biscuit for himself and a friend. We don't have a microwave, so he had to use the oven. He wrapped the biscuits in foil, put them in the oven and asked my advice on how long to cook them. When the buzzer dinged, he got the pot holder and removed the biscuits. His friend loved it. Sean said, "So it sounds like you like my cooking?"

He made brownies last week, and followed the recipe, but put a little more water in the mix than what the recipe said. The brownies were delicious, but the consistency was like chocolate cake. When I pointed this out, he said, "That's because I put in more water."

He has always enjoyed using the computer. First he started by typing the letters to try to make words. He began doing this a couple of years ago. Now he has graduated to using search engines, and routinely wants to do some sort of research and ends up on Google to search for it. Today he decided to look for one of his friends online! He typed in the boy's name, but did it in a child's way of looking, "somwin namd" and then he typed the child's name. He spelled it the way it sounded and hit enter. It came up with no matches, and I said, "Oh, no matches for that name, I guess he's not on the Internet." I turned to do something in the kitchen, looked back over at the screen and he had a people search site pulled up with the name of the kid. There were men all over the country with that name. He clicked on one of the results and it sent him to a page where you pay a fee to get information about the person. He saw the cost and said, "What? $14.95?? That's ridiculous."

The last days of summer

I love this outfit -- sleeveless shirt, shorts and rain boots.

Totally Pacific Northwest.

That echoing tune in the distance can send Sean into a frenzy. He freezes in his tracks, listens, then frantically runs through the house to find his wallet.

Yes, it's the ice cream truck. It is not a dependable visitor to our neighborhood, so any time we get to buy something from the ice cream truck is a big treat. He can hear it several streets away, but runs outside to wait. And wait. And wait.

After a few days of clouds, rain and very cool air, we had a great summer day. Sean played in the small pool with his friend for a while, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera.

Summer is winding down for us. I suppose for a lot of our family and friends on the other side of this country summer weather is still going strong, but school is already back in session. For us it is opposite. The air is feeling like fall, and the schools aren't open yet.

Schools here begin Sept. 2.

It's a Hot One

I did some last minute proofing of pages this morning and by afternoon I was ready to get away from the desk. It was time for the beach.

Today we had temperatures in the high 80s, and by 4 p.m. it was 88 degrees.

Sean and I took a little beach break today. We only stayed for a couple of hours, but it was SOOO nice.

This is a kid who would run and hide the minute he saw a camera, and today he was striking a pose for me on this old stump that washed up on the beach. Ah, another milestone.

Sean loves to explore, and we found this sand dollar that was sort of hairy. It had dried in the sun and was prickly to touch. We found a lot of crabs and some other tiny creatures, but I didn't get pictures. I tried to get a picture of some really cool kites, but the sun was too bright and they are washed out.

Milestones

I have always enjoyed watching my children grow and change. Sean hit some milestones in June. He lost his two top front teeth, is transitioning from Primary class at his Montessori school, and learned (still getting the hang of it though) how to ride his bicycle.

He also suddenly changed his stance on being photographed. I have spent the last two years struggling to get pictures of him.

Here are a few to mark some moments. Still no open mouth smiles to show the missing teeth, but I hope to get one soon.

There were four children in his classroom who will be moving on to first grade. Two of his teachers took turns saying positive things about each child, relating their favorite activities and things to work on in the classroom. There were three Primary classrooms, and each had about 4-6 students transitioning.

Great cake. Wish I had seen it before it was cut. We celebrated the students advancing to first, fourth, and seventh grades. One student will be a sophomore next year and will attend Tacoma School of the Arts. He has been at Harbor Montessori School since he was 3 years old!

Best buddies. Sean and Max have been in the same class for three years. Montessori students typically spend three years with the same teacher/teachers (HMS Primary rooms have 3), in the same room working on materials individually at their own pace.

Last year he wouldn't even try this. One day about a week or two ago he decided it was time to learn to ride his two wheeled bike. He didn't want any help. Look, both feet on the pedals!!

workin' on a movie set

I had the pleasure of working on a small movie set in May. Here are a few pics.

 I was the reflector girl.

The assistant director and director have a conversation as the boom guy and others look on.

Assistant director sits on a ladder for a better angle. This was my second day on the set.

 watching a scene being shot my first day on set, standing by the equipment truck.

Another tour

I recently took another little tour in and around Seattle. There is so much to see and do here, and I figure it's time to start seeing and doing. 

Great view while waiting for the ferry.

Ballard Locks

This beauty had a full crew. She was from George Town, Cayman Islands. Tempting to jump on board. :)

I watched as the water level came up so she could go through the locks. Very interesting to watch the process.