Meet My Office Mates

Don't get me wrong; working from home is a wonderful thing. But it can get a little lonely. And there are so many distractions. Dirty dishes, rumpled beds, crumbs on the floor, dinner to be made, piles of laundry waiting to be washed and folded ... they all beckon. A half-hour here, a few minutes there, and it's time to pick up the little ones - but the work still has to be done, so you're up 'til midnight after the kids go to bed.

Solution: Spend a lot of time at my friend Stasia's house, which is just a few minutes from Parker's school. She works from home, too, so we can keep each other company between e-mails and phone conferences. The sweet dogs, Missy and Jasmine, snore and scuffle at our feet. There's camaraderie, fresh coffee, wireless Internet, my own desk - and a really cool treadmill setup if I ever have a free minute to use it. It's like going to the office without actually going to the office.

So thanks to my friend for being so generous.

Here are Stasia and the girls, Missy and Jasmine, in Stasia's lovely home office ...