eHow Dolly Visits Virginia

If you haven't heard of eHow Dolly, you're missing out. She hails from Hawaii, the creation of eHow writer veryirie, and is making a cross-country journey across the United States, with stops up and down the East Coast, a zig-zg through the midwest, and a final stop at the eHow headquarters in Santa Monica, CA before returning home to HI.

Shirley started this eHow forum discussion about Dolly's trip, and there's even a Squidoo Lens on Dolly. Now all she needs is a Facebook fan page and a Twitter account and she'd truly be set!

While visiting me in Virginia, Dolly got a taste of a "week in the life of a work at home mom." It may not have been her most exciting leg of the journey, but we all had fun!

eHow Dolly enjoyed sightseeing in the Shenandoah Valley, including an adventure to see the swollen river over its banks and covering the road in several locations, necessitating its closure for part of her visit. She also got to check out the Discovery Museum in Winchester, VA, but things were too crazy for me to get pictures (my girlfriend and I brought our combined total of 7 kids under 7 to the museum!)

But here are some pictures I did snap while Dolly visited us:

Dolly sits on the deck watching the melting ice dripping in the woods in the aftermath of an ice storm:


She wanted to pet the kids' rabbit:


Dolly helped me feed the chickens:



She brainstormed eHow article ideas with me:

... and endured a hug from Patrick, 2,
... before heading on her way to eHow member suzyhomeeconomy in NC. She picked up a postcard and souvenir spoon from VA and is carrying a chocolate bar to her next hostess, as well as the lottery game sent by David Sarokin.

Safe travels, Dolly!

WAHM from eHow in the News

My friend Candace, who I met at the weHow 2008 event in Santa Monica, CA, is a fellow stay at home mom who uses eHow and her blog to earn extra money from home.

Recently, she was featured on the news in her hometown of Dallas. Here she is:

Isn't Candace poised? I am impressed with her calm confidence, not to mention very put-together look. Go Candace!

You can find her on eHow as CCrock and on Blogger at Smokin' Momma (as in smoking hot).

And here's a picture of us at weHow 2008:
Don't mind the guy in the middle, that's just Richard Rosenblatt, Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO of Demand Media, which owns eHow!

eHow User Forum 2008: weHow!

I had a wonderful time at the 2008 weHow event. For its first ever eHow user forum, Demand Media created a wonderful two-day conference to exchange information and ideas, as well as receive feedback from site users. That it was held in sunny southern California of course added to the appeal, and I certainly enjoyed the three-day respite from rainy cold East Coast weather.

It was fun to visit the Demand Media offices, which have the flavor of a pre-bust dot com, and meet the staff who work hard behind the scenes at eHow as well as on some of the other Demand sites. I am completely reassured about Demand's approach to their sites, as profitibility is an immediate goal and not a long term idea. I believe Demand, and eHow, are here to stay.

While I previously was wary of putting all my eggs in one basket and concentrating too much on writing for eHow, in case they yanked the Writers' Compensation Program, I am now reassured to the company's long-tem commitment to theis program as they see it as an integral part of eHow's success.

I've returned even more excited about the residual income opportunities at eHow and with many ideas for articles to write.

As a mom, I certainly missed my kids, and the first day I was a little emotional about having left them. But the trip was a great experience and I am so lucky to have such a wonderful, supportive and accommodating husband who took two days off work to be home with the kids.

The eHow forum was one of my most fun experiences as a work at home mom. I'd love to hear about your favorite times as a work at home mom (or dad!) in the comments, below.