A dog's life

[stgulik]

My mother has taken re-gifting to a professional level. But this isn't going to be a complaint post. Far from it.

Mom is in her 70s and lives very competently on a fixed income. But in the last few years, she has actually augmented her monthly income through ad revenues on her blog. She writes a blog all about dogs - historical anecdotes, current events, cartoons and even product reviews. Occasionally, pet product companies will send her products and ask her to write a review if she feels like it. A weird business model, but it seems to suit everyone concerned.

On Saturday, I visited her briefly before going to see The Avengers with my brother.* She gave me a belated birthday gift - a bag of dog grooming products. Hmm! And the packages all said "for demonstration purposes - not for resale." Hmm! I wonder where she got them? But I just laughed and said thank you. I mean, I have dogs, and I will use these. It's not mentally productive to be happy your mother is competent at living on a fixed income, and then throw a snit because she doesn't buy you diamond bracelets or something.

But it got funnier. A few minutes into an unrelated conversation:

Mom: So, do you like your birthday present?

Me: Yes! I'm looking forward to trying them out on the dogs.

Mom: Oh, how nice. And after you try them out ...?

Me: Why, I just might decide to write a product review as a guest post on your blog!

Mom: Oh, how nice!

Then we snickered like cartoon mice. She's transparently using my birthday to achieve her own ends. She's the devil sometimes, but oh, I love her.

*FYI, The Avengers ROCKED. But fair warning: if you're not already into the series, YMMV.

Comments

[cabepfir.livejournal.com]

Ahah! I'd never heard of such an activity as a dog-related blog! But it sounds fun indeed.

[toblass.livejournal.com]

Your mom is one smart cookie! Hats off to her for being web-savvy/on the internet and making a few extra bucks to boot.

[mimimanderly.livejournal.com]

Are you certain that your mom isn't a closet Slytherin? It sounds very much like something one of us "snakes" would do....

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

If I were to Sort her, I'd be torn between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, and would ultimately have to let her choose for herself. She would think less of me, the venerable Sorting Hat, for my moment of indecision. Later in the school year, she would sneak into the Headmaster's office and cover my brim with purple sequins. Then she would blog about it. So it's best she's too old to go to Hogwarts in the first place.