What's Your Balancing Act? The "Mogul, Mom, and Maid" Blog Carnival

Disclosure: none needed. I purchased my own copy of the "Mogul, Mom, and Maid" in support of my friend!

It’s hard to type from 40,000 feet and the middle seat of the last row of the plane, but that’s what I’m trying to do. While you’re reading this sometime after midnight on December 2, I’m writing it on Sunday, November 17, while I’m en route to Nebraska. Actually, I’m headed to Minneapolis now, and we’ll see if I ultimately make it to Lincoln. I’m not overly optimistic, as not much has gone right today. (Updated to add: I did make it in the end. Thirteen hours after I left the house, but still, I made it.)

I was supposed to go to temple this morning, and be my husband’s support team as he served as greeter for an event. Not that he needed me really, but I wanted to go, it would have been fun. Instead, I finished packing, cleaned the kitchen, did two loads of laundry and left things as nicely as I could for my family to get by without me. I also fought a paper jam while trying to print my boarding pass, and somehow gave myself a splinter that I wasn’t able to completely remove. And then I made my way to the airport to be gone for about a day and a half.

While sitting on the airplane, my daughter sent me an emoticon-filled email to say how much she already missed me. I knew she was fine, but it still broke my heart.

This is the story of a working woman trying to find some balance. In these moments, which are truly unbalanced, favoring work, and even housework, over life, it isn’t all that clear if it all really does work. It’s definitely not easy. These are the stories that my friend, author and Having It All Project participant, Liz O’Donnell, is telling in her new book, “Mogul, Mom, and Maid: The Balancing Act of the Modern Woman.” The book provides strategies for getting through these more challenging times, but more than that, it provides other stories so that you know you're not alone. If you're working, chances are you can't change a lot about the circumstances of any given day. Knowing you're not the only one who has to skip both the PTO meeting and the after-work networking dinner, though, can make it a little easier to get through the day.

I recommend the book highly - I couldn't put it down. Be sure to look for it at a store near you, and check out other posts in the M3 Blog Carnival at helloladies.com!