JULY 11

A day to relax and catch-up on bills and things back home. It's funny how even though I attempted to completely disconnect myself from all ties at home I still have things to do. The world keeps spinning no matter how much I would like it to pause. I may be in France, but I still have obligations.

I went into town with the girls today. Simple, yet pleasureable. Melissa, Heidi and I were in search of sunglasses. The one thing I left was the one thing I find myself needing every day. Whether you want to believe it or not, sunglasses are crucial. yes they are a necessity in my book, otherwise I come home after a day in town and my eyes are in a permanent squint. And where did I find my favorite sunglasses you ask? Not a specialized store just for glasses, buy the good old grocery story. Nothing here is cheap, but I found a decent pair for a decent price.

I spoke with Nick Garratt today.. I hope we will have a chance to meet up while he is in France, otherwise I may find myself traveling to another country. He is in France for another week or so, but it's much harder to move than I expected. I am in a group of 24 and to ask for a ride to the station is quite the hassle.

The final game for the world cup was on tonight. Spain versus Netherlands. What a great game! We went to the bar a few blocks away where I sipped on KWAK. It's a dark beer that will get you tipsy by the time you see the bottom of the glass. Not my favorite, but it had flavor.

I met a man at the bar that taught me an extremely important lesson. To me, it may have been something I've been needind to hear for a while, or rather it's something that everyone has told me for a long time but I never wanted to listen. "I do too much." Now that's not what he said, but that's how I took it.

The man is a journalist from England that writes about the economy. He is quite brilliant if I must say so myself. He put me in my place, that's for sure. He mentioned he was a journalist and I said " oh really, I am a writer myself." I didn't mean to say that I was a professional, but I just meant to bring us both to common ground.

He fired back at me with "how many stories have you sold?"

"Sold? what do you mean?"

"have you made any money?"

"well no, I just graduated adn wrote for paper at my University."

"Well then you are not a journalist. You're not a journalist till you get paid!"

I will admit I was a bit shocked. i didn't know what to say and didn't know how to react. All at once I felt upset and offended. The only thing that bugged me was that he was right. For too long I have done so many things for free. How can I say I am unless I am paid for it, otherwise I am just a volunteer. This man did more for me than he knows.

I watched the rest of the game then went home. It was a great day and I felt that I walked away with a valuable lesson. I need to work smarter not harder. As much as I love helping people I need to not do so much. I need to cut out the things in my schedule that I am not paid for. That’s what my friends and family have been telling me for a long time. I can still write for people and blog, but I can’t be doing it all. Get paid and you can have the label. Until then I am just another blogger!