Starting up

So I got my starter kit for my new direct marketing home business. I thought there'd be more training materials in it. So now I'm scrambling to find information that's been posted here and there on various websites, message boards and blogs to help train myself. I'm still very excited about this whole thing and the possibility of having SOME SORT of income should anything happen.

I'm still figuring out all the in's and out's of the publicity part and how/if I'll still be able to promote myself on my own blog - which would be VERY helpful I might add. I was hoping to use the blog as a supplement - to give information for my guests and hosts. But I'll have to find a different way to do it. oh well...

I'm only one "show" away from making my starter requirement. Hopefully, I can generate some interest soon. Do you have a home business? What do you do? How do you keep your business going?

A step in a new direction

Well, I've started my new direct sales business. Unfortunately, current policies and guidelines prevent me from posting much about it or promoting it here.

I'm very excited about it. It looks to be an incredible new experience.

I was a Pampered Chef consultant for 6 years and did pretty well with it. It also allowed me the flexibility to earn some cash and still be home for my DS while he was still small. In order to pay for Pre-school, I had to go back to work in the corporate world for a little while. Although it was a fun biz, I just wasn't making enough to guarantee coverage of the preschool bill.

But now the dude's going to Kindergarten - YEAH!!! FREE SCHOOL!!!

But I still have some lingering bills and responsibilities. So I decided to go with what I "know." and that's direct sales/home parties. I'm comfortable with it and I really like it. And it will allow him to be in the AM Kindergarten if need be while giving me some cash.

So although I was hoping to utilize this blog to post some interesting information about the industry and "products," I'm not allowed.

So I'll have to keep it as generic as possible. If you'd like to know what it's all about, then email me directly.

Today's Mommy Blog

My DS is still sick. After looking at WebMD, I'm thinking it's whooping cough. Even though he's had all his vaccines, it's still possible that a mild case may appear. All the symptoms sound right, but we'll find out later today when we go back to the MD. [UPDATE: not whooping cough - just an ear infection and pink eye - still yucky, but easier to treat!]

i hate feeling so out of control. I've been eating non-stop (and not really the healthy kind of eating either). Yes... I self-medicate with food. I'm fully aware of it. I'm working on it. But thats a blog for another day...

I've been forcing myself to stay awake as late as possible so I can hear him. I have the old baby monitor out in the hopes that I can hear something if I need to. We have the vicks, humidifier, coughing med, etc all going. But he's still hacking away. So I'm very tired. And we've been home together almost all week now.

It's been a LONG time since we've been in each other's company like this for a while. It's different when you can't take them out to the library or for a couple of hours with a playdate. We've played all the toys, all the puzzles, all the board games.

Home sick with not much to do --- let's just say we're both getting on each other's nerves.

How can loving someone be so hard and so easy at the same time?

A small sigh of relief

So I'm going to start up a new home biz by the end of this week. I've decided to become a consultant for The Traveling Vineyard. It's kind of like Tupperware, Mary Kay or The Pampered Chef, except for wine. However, I won't exactly be selling the wine, just marketing it and allowing people to sample them before they buy them. Once I'm all set up, I'll provide a link to my website.

I went to a tasting a couple of years ago and it was a lot of fun. I learned alot about how to tell a good wine, what to look for, and how to better match wine with certain foods/meals. I love to do work that will allow me to learn more of something, too. My DH is very excited about it.

I'm excited about it --- and the extra money it will bring in. Not to mention I'll be able to write off most of my gas, phone, internet, postage, etc. expenses again. That will be huge come next April. And this will allow me to provide some income while DS is in school this year. So now I don't have to worry about the whole Kindergarten thing. If he's in the AM, I'll have this to fall back on. If he's in full day, I'll be able to find something part time and still use this to supplement. And again, I'll have some more tax deductible expenses.

So for the moment, I can breathe a small sigh of relief.

Scrapbooking Tip of the Week 3/9/08

I read this in a magazine somewhere a while back and I wish I could remember so that I could give them proper credit. But, nowadays, with the need to rein in my expenses, this little tip is saving me TONS!

Do you ever work on a layout and run out of a certain paper? Maybe it was a cool patterned paper and you just don't have enough to use for the little embellishments.

Here's an easy tip to save on $$ and paper:

When you've decided where to drop your pics, cut out the paper BEHIND the picture! Leave a little bit of room so that you can still adhere the pic to the page. For instance, when adhering a 4x6 pic to your layout, cut out a 3.5x5.5 piece of paper from behind the picture. This will give you either another nice matte to work with or some extra matching paper to use for embellishments (like tags or chipboard, etc.).

My basic rule of thumb is to make the cut about 1/2 inch inside size of the picture. For smaller pieces (like some embellishments), trust your own judgment. Just make sure you don't cut the scrap the same size of what's going over the "hole." You need to make sure you have something to stick your picture to!

Now instead of needing to buy 3 pages of the same paper, I can still get by with two or even just ONE!

Happy scrapping!

Lost Recaps from Ack Attack

If you LOVE Lost, then you MUST head over to ack attack for the hilarious recaps. I have it posted in my links.

I was just over there and a post was up containing this link for JACK FACES. LMFAO.

The show can make you go nuts with all the clues, hidden messages and such. It really makes you think. So head over to these sites to lighten up Lost a bit.

Nah... you don't want to read this....

AHA! There is hope! if you're reading this, it means that there is some glimmer of hope that reverse psychology still works.

I wish I could "guide" my son more often through reverse psych. I love it love it love it!

DS and I play this "game." I tell him to NOT eat those veggies or whatever healthy food happens to be on the plate. And of course, he eats it. I tell him that "yeah... I'll help you get dressed." and he comes running with a super mischievous laugh and starts prancing in front of me to show off that he did it by himself.

Now don't get me wrong... he knows when I've said NO for real. There's no mistaking THAT kind of no. But this game of opposites certainly makes my life a little easier. I know that I can make lunch while he's [not] eating breakfast. I can actually get myself ready in the AM while he's [not] getting dressed by himself. I can clean the [fill in the blank!] when he's [not] cleaning up his toys.

Sometimes I wish I could do it on myself... like... DON'T EXERCISE or EAT THE CAKE. But whenever I say THAT to myself, I actually listen. So it doesn't quite work as well.

oh well...

I guess I'll just NOT clean the kitchen...

Today's Mommy Blog

Oh the guilt! Today was pajama day in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. Lo and behold.. I forgot. We got to school and the tears flowed because my DS (dear son) was not wearing his pajamas - mommy forgot! As he clinched his arms around my neck and bawled his little eyes out and I'm standing there, already late for work, my heart just broke into a million pieces.

How can I be such an absent-minded mother? What a bad mom I am. And to make it worse, I said goodbye to him, letting him think I went off to work. but little did he know that the guilt/love I was experiencing would lead me to call work, tell them I'll be late, negotiate traffic back home, grab pajamas, negotiate traffic back to the school -- all so my DS would have a good day! Whew!

TADA!!!! I'm back!! and WITH PAJAMAS!!!!! MOM'S A HERO!!! YEAH!!!! The world is a better place now that mommy returned with pajamas!

Oh, if my only worry could be to not forget to wear pajamas to work!

Which leads me to my next pondering to ponder... lately the debate over SAHMS and working moms have come back into the spotlight. I've been on both sides of the coin and I believe there is no RIGHT or WRONG. When I was home, I felt guilty about spending money on myself without contributing to the overall fiscal health of our family. When I'm at work, I'm guilty of not being available for classroom parties and field trips. So I frantically fret over finding some "happy" medium. -- HA!

But you see, there is always a balance going on in the world... If all mothers stayed home, there would be too many to volunteer for those activities and some of us would be either puttering around anyway with other chores or tasks. I figure if I'm going to toil away at something, I may has well get paid for it.

I'm of the opinion that this whole "debate" between SAHMS, WAHMS and working moms is a totally contrived argument. We as parents do what's necessary to keep our family's stable. Whether it's depending on us to provide some financial assistance to do those special activities, or if it's being present for them. We do what we need to do, when we need to do it. Some of us may flip back and forth between being a SAHM and being a working mom. Some of us go the "middle road" and find success as a WAHM.

More power to all of us for being so flexible and resilient.... and, more importantly, able to bring pajamas on pajama day.

I wanna be rich

Money seems to be the all consuming topic these days. The economy is in the toilet. People are losing their homes. Credit Debt is at an all time high.

Wouldn't it be nice to not worry about such things? Imagine having your house paid for.... your cars paid for.... perhaps even college tuition already taken care of... ahhhhh.....

imagine that every dollar you earn (aside for taxes) is actually YOURS.... wouldn't it be nice...?

it's nice to dream every once in a while...

But --SLAP--- it's back to reality.

many people say money can't buy happiness. But I'm pretty sure it can buy peace of mind.. which can lead to happiness. I certainly know that if I had more peace of mind, I'd be a happier person.

that familiar smile

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of my dad's passing. This picture was taken shortly before he died.

I miss him alot. He loved playing with my son. He doted on him so much. Dad was fascinated with EVERYTHING my son did. He spoiled my son so much and I loved it, too.

It makes me sad that he's not here and Carter is missing out on all that extra love and playfulness. Dad was the type of man open to all experiences. He didn't shy away from trying new foods, going to different places. And my parents always encouraged my brother and I to also not be afraid to do something different - to take some chances. Dad was very laid back, though. While he could get angry and frustrated (he WAS German and Irish!! LOL!), for the most part, he took things in stride. As you can see, even at almost 65 years old, he was very happy to be sledding with the kids.

Yesterday, my mom gave me a stack of old photos from his days in Vietnam. My dad was always a photographer at heart. And he was good enough to also label the photos on the back with the names of the people in the pics. My dad NEVER talked about his days in Vietnam. even when I had school assignments to learn more about the war, he just couldn't help. All I know is that he did 2 tours and was caught up in the TET offensive. I'm very motivated to try to find the people in the pictures and maybe learn more about my dad from a different perspective than my family's. I understand it was different over there and, sure, there will likely be information that I'm not going to like to hear, but I'm eager to find out more. I'm hoping that it will be easier to find some of the people on the internet and such. I wonder if people would remember him and respond to my inquiries.... it's a scary venture.

Right now, it's just awesome to look through the pictures and see that familiar smile.

In memoriam - Jim K. 3/2/06