Cause A Girl’s Gotta Pay The Bills

You probably noticed that there are now ads running throughout my posts.

I know there are a couple of you who are annoyed by this.

It was nice when my posts were ad-free.

I totally get it.

But what some of you may not get is that it costs money to run a website.

There are fees for web hosting and email service and technical support and security so people don’t hack into your site and lots of other stuff.

And then there is my time.

My time is valuable.

And not to sound like an asshole, but I am providing a service here. A whole bunch of services, actually.

Maybe I’m giving you a laugh or maybe I’m reminding you that you are not the only one who is often wondering what the hell she is doing. Maybe I’m reassuring you that you aren’t the only one fucking up and maybe I’m sharing a story that you can relate to so you don’t feel alone in this whole mom thing. Maybe I’m inspiring you to take better care of yourself and maybe I’m giving you a little nudge to move out of your comfort zone. Maybe I’m giving you a tip that will help you save some money or maybe I’m sharing a parenting strategy that has helped me and might help you, too.

I have spent six years working on this website. I have spent six years writing blog posts.

Since April 2012, I have published 2,041 blog posts.

2,041 posts.

That’s a lot of fucking posts.

I have shared shared the ups and downs of the past six years of my life.

I have shared pictures of myself at my heaviest wearing next to nothing, shared my battles with mental illness, talked about the problems in my marriage, discussed my stints in the nuthouse, written about our bankruptcy and near foreclosure. I’ve talked about my fuck ups, shown you my house looking like squatters were living in it, and discussed my internal organs falling out of my body.

And pardon my french, but it’s about goddamn time I earned some money for it.

Don’t get me wrong.

I love this community here. And I enjoy writing and sharing stories. A lot.

But I do have aspirations of running my own very successful and very lucrative business.

From my home and on my own terms.

And for the first time since I started writing six years ago, I feel like there’s a good chance it’s actually gonna happen.

Because I have done a good enough job of building this place up that companies are now willing to pay me.

And they are willing to pay me pretty nicely.

And pardon my French again, but I have fucking earned this.

For six years I have busted my ass to create Not Your Average Mom from nothing.

Some people are never able to get a blog or website off the ground. Some people never find success and eventually throw in the towel.

Other people figure it out much more quickly than I have and in a year they have gone from nothing to major success.

Me?

It’s taken me six years, but all the work is finally starting to pay off.

And you know what else?

I am really really REALLY proud of myself.

There were times I felt like just packing it all in. Like it wasn’t worth it.

I came close many, many times.

And then I thought about that quote about quitting from Thomas Edison:

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

I AM SO GLAD I DID NOT GIVE UP.

So I apologize to those of you who are bothered by the ads. I sincerely do.

But a girl’s gotta make a living. And I really want to make my living doing this.

And there are some really great and reputable companies supporting me, and for that I am extremely grateful.

So the ads are here to stay.

Because that is going to enable me to keep doing what I love.

Which is write and talk to you guys every day.

And I hope I’ve made this place important enough to you that you’ll keep coming back to read every day, too.

 

Every Baseball Mom needs a sweatshirt in April. Comes in 5 colors! 

Every Swimmer (And Swim Parent) Needs This. Comes in 5 colors!