I have an over-the-shoulder reader of my stories. Liam. Yesterday, we reread the story about the afternoon he was pretending to be a seal and stuck a rock up his nose. He was three years old. Yesterday, at the beautiful age of nine, he put his editor hat on, looked at me and said, “Do you know that you spelled “booger” wrong?” No. Actually, I hadn’t caught that! He is a lovely grammarian. A couple weeks ago, I made a significant change in my life: I now have a space dedicated to writing in a “co-working office.” I pay a small fee per month and have 24/7 access to a desk in a large room with other entrepreneurial types. My first day I met Aidan, a marketing consultant who started working in the office two days prior to me.

“Yeah, I moved here from Starbucks,” he said. “Hmm, I was at Panera Bread.” We wore our coffee shops like badges. “I even stayed at Panera after I got locked into one of the stalls and had to crawl out from underneath. I didn’t even get a free coffee!” For the record, the bathrooms in this office building are lovely. So much cleaner than the grocery store – and the locks work perfectly. Unlike my previous office.

The boys know I write and publish stories on a blog. After going to my new office space for only a few days to write, they have been asking more about my craft. “Mom, how was your writing today?” Will asked after school yesterday. “It was great, Will!” And, as I opened a can of mandarin oranges, Liam asked, “Mom, do you think you could write a story about mandarin oranges?” I puffed my chest out, reflecting back to the black bra story, and said, “Honey, I could write a story about almost anything. Yes, I do believe I could write a story about mandarin oranges.” He grinned.

I shall spare you that story.

“Inventory” is a driving force behind many of my stories. I see a candle, cook a meal, pack for the day, or find a picture of the barn at Mom and Dad’s… and writing ideas pop. Sometimes I document these visuals – the springs to my imagination – with a quick snap on my phone. Others find their slot in my memory where the image is burned.

(Remember Shabby-chic-practical?)

With my adventure into a dedicated writing space, I’m trying something new. When I write a story about a piece of inventory, I may “link out” to that product. If by chance you are struck by the fascinating or humorous story around my use of a product and want it for yourself, and, if you purchase it via the click from my post, then I will get a small percentage of that purchase to put toward my monthly rent.

I thought about starting this pilgrimage off with a link out to a black bra, but which one? And, I’m never going to buy mandarin oranges on-line – so why would I drop that link now? No, when you see a link to a product, you will know that it is something near and dear to my inventory.