A Publication of Harmoni Productions
January 2014
Screamin ™
The Voice of Everyday Moms Celebrating our One Year Anniversary!
Inside this Issue: The Three Kings Good As New Thrift Store Wild Child Baby Tree Empty the Vacuum Cleaner! New Year’s Resolutions Cover Photo By: Linda Seccaspina
Harmoni Productions
Career Sphere
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By: Tina Koenig Jumpstart Your Career in January More employees are hired in the first quarter of the year than at any other time. But don’t kid yourself, the job market is still competitive. To make the most of these first three months—whether it’s a job or parttime gig--don’t look in the usual places. The “gig” economy The phrase “gig economy” is the latest employment buzz phrase. It describes people who work from project-to-project, whether it’s as a freelancer, part-timer or stitching projects together to pay monthly expenses. It’s not easy holding down more than one job and be good at it. But if you’d rather make your own hours, try sites like TaskRabbit.com where users take jobs on their own terms.
Media & Broadcast Copywiting ✴ VoiceOvers ✴ Production Music Lessons Piano ✴ Guitar ✴ Theory Programs Theatre ✴ GirlScouts ✴ Writing www.harmoniproductions.com
Forget Job Boards For every single listing on a job board like Indeed.com or Monster.com thousands of applications are received. Don’t waste your time, go directly to the source. Set a few criteria that define the job you want. Do you want to limit the time spent commuting? Are you only available to work certain hours? Do you need health benefits? The next step is to search the internet and identify companies that fit your criteria. Most companies have a link that lists job openings right on their website. Other places to begin your search may be industry specific. For example, Idealist.org is for individuals who prefer to work in the not-for-profit sector. Similarly, EntertainmentCareers.net meets the needs of folks in the entertainment industry. SnagAJob.com is a lesser known but popular job search site. Government jobs can be found at usajobs.gov and through the websites of your state (jobs.myflorida.com), local cities and counties. BIO: Tina Koenig is an editor, publicist and technology expert.
Get Some Training Job descriptions these days can be so long that even Wonder Women need not apply. If you notice that many job descriptions ask for skills you don’t have, consider getting some training. Local libraries offer free computer courses at most branches and through the library’s website using your library card. Computer training anyone can access is available at gcflearnfree.org. Continuing education credits are offered as well as a certificate for completion to show potential employers. Many libraries also have career resources to help job seekers. Visit your library’s website or phone the main branch for information.
She’s the owner of XpressPRESS.com and XpressEDIT.com. If you need help adding a touch of polish to your resume or updating your computer skills, contact her at:
Resume Revamp Before jumping into the job search, you’ll need to make sure your resume is polished and up to date. Even the most basic jobs require a resume and often a cover letter. Most job seekers keep several versions of a resume tailored to the position they want. The search for jobs is intense. Thoroughly asses your skills, resolve to gain some new ones and don’t be afraid to aim high.
tkoenig@xpresspress.com or call 954-989-3338.
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2 Corinthians 4:8-9 There is so much to admire about a Mama Polar Bear. She never leaves her cubs - even when her life depends on it. I have cried seeing pictures of her on the icebergs, stranded in the middle of nowhere, by her babies side. She NEVER leaves. Truly a remarkable creature Majestic, ferocious, fiercly loving. Another reason why I know our God exists. Whether they become extinct or not, God bless her and her cubs for eternity.
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. New Living Translation
Photos Clockwise from the top: US Fish & Wildlife Service, Public Domain, Schliebe, Scott; Arctic NWR, Beaufort Sea, Alaska Mama with one By Alan D. Wilson (naturespicsonline.com: via Wikimedia Commons; Polar bear with babies rock‌ By Alastair Rae (Flickr) via Wikimedia Commons Spitsbergen, Svalbard; Polar bear mother & two cubs (Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada) By Ansgar Walk [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons; A polar bear keeps close to her young along the Beaufort Sea coast in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. By U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters via Wikimedia Commons
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A Tree Grows in Hollywood
One year ago a single mom in the small town of Hollywood, Florida, started networking with other mothers to support, encourage and promote everyday moms on every level by publishing their stories, dreams, rants, ideas and talents. Today, we have a devoted staff of 12 including moms, daughters grandmoms and aunts; over 30 contributors in Arizona, California, Canada, Chicago, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia; and a fanbase of almost 5,000 that travels around the globe covering 34 States, 18 Countries and 5 Continents. Join us and let YOUR voice be heard. CITIES • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Albuquerque Atlanta Austin Baltimore Bernice Boston Brooklyn Bronx Camp Leatherneck Charlotte Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Colorado Springs Columbia Columbus Corpus Christi Dallas Denver Detroit El Paso Florence Fort Wayne Fort Lauderdale Fort Worth Fresno Hannibal Hollywood Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Jonesboro Kankakee Kansas City Kingman Las Vegas Los Angeles Louisville Memphis Miami Milwaukee Nashville New York Oklahoma City Omaha Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland Sacramento Saint Paul Salt Lake City San Antonio San Diego San Jose Seattle St. Louis Sumter Tacoma Tuscon Tulsa Virginia Beach Waco West Palm Beach
In the States
Hollywood, FL
In the World Canada United States
Ireland Portugal
Puerto Rico Costa Rica
United Kingdom
Venezuela
France Italy
*A Shout to Patricia Roddy-Jones and our Marines in Camp LeatherPakistan neck, Afghanistan
*Afghanistan
Lebanon Sudan
Qatar
India
Nigeria
Suriname
STATES • Alabama • Arkansas • Arizona • California • Chicago • Colorado • Florida • Georgia • Illinois • Indiana • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • South Carolina • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Virginia • Washington • Wisconsin COUNTRIES • Afghanistan • Canada • Costa Rica • France • India • Ireland • Italy • Lebanon • Nigeria • Pakistan • Portugal • Puerto Rico • Qatar • Sudan • Suriname • United Kingdom • United States • Venezuela
Be sure to look for our story, “The Birth of ScreaminMama,” in our special Mother’s Day edition to be published in May. If you would like to pay tribute to your mom, or a special mom in your life, please be sure to send your submissions to screaminmamas@gmail.com by April 1st.
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Background Photo: PZKPhotography
Empty the Vacuum Cleaner! by Erika Hoffman My vacuum cleaner bag gets stuffed with all sorts of debris, dust, grime, and unrecognizable disgusting stuff. I’m always hesitant to empty it. I figure it’ll be okay - I can plod on for awhile before it bursts.
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’ve come to realize I do this with my mind. It fills up with garbage and defeating thoughts and future worries, and it begins playing the Irish vehicular round-about game where I can’t seem to get off the circular street and drive in the direction that will take me somewhere. n Ireland, often there’s no sign in sight to point the way! It seems as if I’m travelling on an Irish roadway when my subconscious plays loop-de-loop with me.
My late mom liked to recall the adage: “I cried because I had no shoes until I saw someone without feet.” If I help someone who’s in worse shape than I, I feel better. • Doing something nice for another person also helps. My dad gave money to umpteen charities; I always felt he was being ripped off. But now I see how writing a check for a charity that needs help makes the check -writer feel better.
When the stress piles on and I’m staggering under the weight of problems be they financial, familial, emotional, physical, psychological, or imagined, I’ve found several tricks to discard the mental baggage chock full of unwanted mess. Like emptying the vacuum cleaner, a change for the overworked brain is needed before I can accomplish the rest of my day’s journey. •
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WRITE DOWN THE GOOD STUFF. Another solution to stress I’ve been told is to scribble down all the good things in your life for which you feel blessed and read them over several times. Surprisingly, this works!
CHANGE DIRECTION. When my dad who suffered from dementia kept repeating the same thing, I’d change the topic. I’d distract him. So I do this with myself now; I change direction. Whatever I’m doing when I feel stressed, I stop doing it. I do something else or go somewhere else. DON’T BORROW TROUBLE. My dad used to say: “Don’t borrow trouble.” In other words I shouldn’t prognosticate about future concerns. I might rationalize I’m planning, but what I’m doing is fretting over stuff that might not ever happen. I’m manufacturing anxiety. When my brother did something to exasperate me, I’d whine. Dad would say: “Let go of it.” If I’d been mistreated by an indisputable clod, my old man advised me to chalk it up as his /her problem, not mine. “There are bad people in this world” every security system commercial warns. Some people use voodoo dolls to relieve their anguish at being maltreated by others. Me, I write the person’s name on a piece of paper, tear the paper in shreds and wash it down the toilet. I’m done with that person’s boorish ways! LAUGH! Dad used to make me laugh. He told me to hang around folks who are upbeat. Nowadays, I remember his advice, and I’ll ring up a buddy who makes me chortle out loud or I’ll visit a neighbor who is the resident Seinfeld on the block. If that’s not possible I’ll switch on a funny sit com or rent a comedy from Redbox.
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COMFORT FOOD (with caution!) Sometimes, comfort food helps. For me, it’s better to go to an ice cream store and buy a big cone of mint chip rather than just schlep to my kitchen’s refrigerator where the door become like the Irish round-about!
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FIND A PURPOSE. My pals exercise to relieve stress, but I need a purpose to bend and stretch so I pull weeds, mow the lawn, or walk the dogs, even if they are not my dogs. I’ll do a favor and walk someone else’s dogs! Then, I’ve killed two birds with one stone!
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DRIVE. I drive for the pleasure of it, and I choose a destination where I haven’t been, and I say “Hello” and smile at folks I meet along the sidewalk. Just shopping at a different grocery store perks up my spirits. And if I find myself in a mall on a rainy day feeling glum, I stroll into a card store and read all the humorous cards and then buy a couple to send to folks who would appreciate hearing from me.
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EMPTY THE VACUUM CLEANER! Yet, if none of these remedies relieve me of my angst, I have a last resort: I empty the vacuum cleaner! There are thousands of homemade remedies for stress that folks figure out over time! Sometimes, you don’t need a professional counselor; sometimes you can heal yourself with simple solutions. Remember: doing good makes you feel good. And that’s not only my New Year’s Resolution for January 1, 2014; it’s become what I aspire to as my modus operandi for the rest of my life. - Erika
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T AGAN sells high quality clothing and household items at low thrift-store prices - 100 per cent of funds raised go to Lanark County Interval House. For more information, like AGAN on Facebook or visit Lanark County Interval House at: http://lcih.org/
• Mission
The wealth of local donations and volunteer hours that keep the As Good As New store operating are a testimony to the commitment and strength of our community. Each and every contribution directly helps to keep Interval House afloat, and therefore goes a long way to help women and children rebuild their lives after abuse.
and their children with clothing for free. Yet, in the beginning, as new staff were hired to help run the shelter, the As Good As New revenues also helped pay many salaries—on more than one occasion, staff pay cheques were dependent upon receipts gathered from the store.
Company Overview
Today, the As Good As New store remains one of Interval House’s most successful fundraising efforts, largely due to the incredible generosity, compassion, and hard work of its volunteers. In this past fiscal year alone, volunteers have already contributed more than 4170 hours of their time and energy to smoothly running the store. The store operations are still overseen by a volunteer committee who together contribute an additional 100 hours of their time.
A major fundraiser for Lanark County Interval House, AGAN sells high-end clothing to everyone looking for a great deal. The store also provides clothes for women and children who have taken steps to start a new life. AGAN is run completely by volunteers. This team of communityminded individuals help out in three-hour shifts to sort donations, stock the store and greet our customers.
Contributed by: Linda Seccaspina
We gratefully accept donations of quality women's, kid's and men's clothing and small household goods. Thank you for shopping, donating and volunteering. We can't do it without you!
History
To meet the clothing needs for women and children who were seeking refuge at the shelter, Interval House initially sought donations from the community. This effort inevitably initiated the As Good As New store in 1980, a volunteer-run second-hand clothing boutique that also provides funds to assist in operating the shelter. As a grassroots, volunteer organization and one of the earlier shelters to open in Canada, Interval House was desperately in need of funds to maintain its services. For years, the store has resold “gently worn” donations to the community and provided abused women
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screaminmamas.com
The Voice of Everyday Moms ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ScreaminMamas is the Voice of Everyday Moms and our goal is to celebrate, motivate and promote Moms on every level. We believe that devoted Moms are the most unrecognized and under-appreciated workforce in the nation but they are also the most talented, creative, enterprising, loving, caring, comical, thrifty, selfless group of people around. They wear many hats on a daily basis and can fulfill just about any job. The problem is, most of them (and others) don’t even know it. That is why ScreaminMamas proudly features their work, shares their stories, promotes their children, applauds their efforts and strives to encourage them to fulfill their dreams, goals and deepest desires. Life isn’t over during and after kids! If you’re a Mom, we encourage you to visit our website, ScreaminMamas.com, like us on FaceBook and consider submitting to our magazine. We accept all kinds of creative, encouraging, and fun-filled stories that reach moms universally. Did you get your daughter that kitten she promised to take care of only to find yourself caring for yet another pet? Did your electric bill bounce because you didn't have enough for the rent or mortgage? Let it out! Scream! Yes! You'll soon find yourself writing encouraging, uplifting stories to share with other moms. If you haven't written in awhile and are longing to, we offer a great place to start. Beginners welcome (though we may edit to fit our format). We accept:• • • • • • •
Business Ideas Humorous Rants Links to Your Work Poetry Short Stories Your Personal Story
Column Ideas Inspirational Stories Personal Reflections Recipes Work/Talent from your Children Your Ideas, Goals, Desires
Anything that relates to Moms!!! *Please note that all of our Moms have their own unique voice! Whether it’s a rant to blow off steam, some humor to lighten up the moment, or a deep revelation that has warmed your heart, all mommy voices are welcome here. All we ask is that you stick to the theme... ScreaminMamas! Whatever your tale, be sure to include that moment of utmost stress where you just wanted to snap! LOL... We want all moms to know they are not alone in their struggles and the revelations will be that much greater.
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A Publication of Harmoni Productions
We hope you have enjoyed this Sneak Preview. If you would like to purchase the January issue in it’s entirety, please visit our shop at: shop.screaminmamas.com/
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