Just Heather

Freaking real news. If I could relax and use the time to get more prepared it would be fine, but no. I have to be neurotic. And procrastinatey. So while I have now been rescheduled once again, I’m still not ready. As soon as I clean up one mess, I have to go clean up the mess she made while I was cleaning up the first mess. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I need a plan. I’m bad at plans. I’m super-disorganized. Just ask anyone. I’d love to say that I’m making progress, except I make it a policy to be honest. Yesterday, as soon as I found out they wouldn’t make it today, I promptly took a nap—which I desperately needed since I haven’t been able to sleep much this week.

When I woke up, you’d think I would have continued with the original plan of cleaning the kitchen and clipping my coupons. Nope. I took my little one for this:

I knew as soon as I was given 2 extra days to prepare that I wouldn’t use them. Now here I am with 2 days left and no closer to being ready than I was on Monday. While hubby may have been able to cross a few items off his list, mine seems to be growing like the Chinese population. “That’s my list — every Chinese person in the world.”

  • clip and sort coupons
  • organize pantry—in case they actually want to watch me put groceries away too
  • organize fridge and freezer—in case I buy cold stuff
  • put away lingering Christmas decorations (shutup.)
  • organize desk and office
  • move fridge to clean orange juice monster spilled today
  • find fabric to cover valance we’re making in the kitchen
  • deliver remaining Girl Scout cookies—both so I can get paid and to get them out of my dining room
  • sweep, mop, vacuum, and clean bathrooms convince hubby that Merry Maids would be cost effective
  • iron new outfit
  • try on new outfit again to make sure it compensates for the camera’s extra 10 pounds
  • decide what to serve for lunch
  • find out what time zone 10 a.m. means
  • have last minute freak-out preparation session with my personal, marketing consultant
  • enjoy my pre-birthday celebration with family

I have been sitting on something wonderfully exciting—and nerve-wrackingly terrifying—for 4 days now. I was going to wait, let it settle awhile, and share my news once the details were hammered out. I’m just not a patient person. So here it is:

I got a haircut!

And new clothes!

And while both of those are big in my world, not exactly what most would consider news. They were, however, required because of my news. So, are you sitting down? Ready?

Really?

I’m being interviewed for CBS News this week! Not my local CBS affiliate. CBS. National. Television. Scared yet?

I run another website. At FeedIndy.com we teach people how to use coupons to save money on their groceries, create a shopping list of great deals each week, and encourage our members to use the savings and extra groceries to donate to local food banks.

A few months ago we got a tiny mention in a local newspaper. Tiny. As in off to the side of an article about someone else, it said “visit FeedIndy.com weekly.” That was it. A CBS producer read the article, checked out the site, and contacted me last week. He wanted to interview me for a story he is working on about internet coupons. I didn’t know what to do. I kind of freaked out. I didn’t respond.

Lucky for me one of my favorite bloggers is starting a media company. I decided to tap into his expertise. He is now officially my personal media consultant. After being coached via IM (is there any other way?), I emailed the producer, using Genuine’s words verbatim. He responded immediately to set up a phone interview for the very next day.

Armed with my notes from Genuine, I paced waiting for 2:00 to hit. The interview/conversation flowed smoothly. I had my message right in front of me and answered every question without hesitation. I didn’t even use “um” once! One of his questions was “What does your husband think of all this?” It was fun to tell him that not only does Spencer appreciate every penny I save on groceries, but he’s my webmaster and tech support. He designed my website and keeps it working for me. At the end of the phone call, he asked if he could bring a news crew to my home for an interview.

He also wants shots of me feeding my girls lunch. In addition to the home interview, he wants to follow me around on a shopping trip. I was pretty terrified the store would run one of their stupid “store brand week” ads, but the sales are plentiful and the savings will be impressive. This was all supposed to happen on Wednesday, but it looks like we’re rescheduling for Friday. The reporter had to leave town and he hasn’t heard back from the grocery store for approval.

I’m actually relieved. I was am being neurotic about the house. It will be on television, so I’m guessing the juice stains on the carpet and crayon on the walls should probably go. Plus my office is an absolute disaster—on a regular basis—and since he asked where I work I was afraid he’d want some goofy shots of me at my computer. Now I have a little more time to get things done.

Twenty bucks I’m still running around like an idiot on Thursday Night. They don’t call me the Procrastination Queen for nothing.

I have said several times recently—due to local events—that I really should start watching the news. Yet I still can’t bring myself to actually do it. It hasn’t affected me too badly so far. I get all caught up at PTO meetings fairly quickly. However, I might have seriously regretted it today if not for Stacia’s wicked cool teacher.

Today is the last day of triple coupons, which means I need to get my lazy butt in gear and pick up my free groceries. It is, afterall, my job. The plan was to clip coupons and take off after lunch, which is in about 5 minutes. Change of plans. Her teacher just called to let me know they were dismissing early due to the freezing rain. Stacia will be home in about an hour. And, now, so will I.

…a quote from my daughter after seeing a Nickelodeon commercial listing all 43 U.S. presidents.

It is ashame that in the 21st century a child would even have to ask such a question!