Changes

Life is full of changes here.

The daughter is moved into her new place across the country, and it will be months until we see her or the baby in person again. Thank goodness for web cams.

The son is moved into his college dorm. We'll see him frequently, I'm sure. We moved him in yesterday, and he's already called home a bunch of times (to tell me that our Flyers picked up an important free agent, of all things) and came home this morning to pick up the things he forgot to pack.

And then there is my work. I don't want to get cocky and think it is all wonderful. It is good, and I appreciate how good it is. I know it can change at a moment's notice.

But with that in mind, I wonder if it is time to end a contract with my oldest client. Once upon I loved writing for them. Now it takes every ounce of energy I have to pull together an assignment. Where they were once my major source of income, they are now usually the one assignment that pushes me over my goal -- although last month, I made the most money ever and never sent an article to them.

There are clients I work with that pay less money, but for a per hour rate, that less money is more (if that makes sense). My other clients require fewer interviews and fewer headaches for the same number of words. What takes me two hours for my other clients takes 3 or 4 or more with this client because of the interviews.

A side issue to working with this client is the people I deal with while doing those interviews. It isn't uncommon for me to do an interview and get 10 follow up emails or phone calls starting the next day about whether or not the article was printed. As if I have nothing else to do than surf the web to see if articles have been published (if they had even been written yet).

I like the client. I like the editors I work with. I will miss the money and the safety net. But I keep getting this nudging feeling that it is time to move on.