7 Quick Takes

1. I just submitted my second Thirty-one order. I have officially earned the right to purchase my bonus kit, though I still have 3 weeks to earn it for a discount or for free (which is what I'm hoping for). And I have 2 parties coming up before I'm done with that time, so there is a good chance I'll make it, too! Yay!

2. This weekend looks to be busy - stuff to do, another garage sale, Trick or Treating for the kids and errands to run. Also: my car is acting up and I've had to jump start it the last 3 mornings. Gonna have to look into that. My neighbor was so kind to take care of it for me the last 2 days and we checked it before my husband left for work this morning and he was able to do it.

3. I had what seemed to be a completely random panic attack this morning. No idea what triggered it, but my body got all tense and I was having trouble breathing, etc. The weird thing was my brain was rational the whole time, it was my body that was reacting and I seriously have no idea why. But I'm better now.

4. My mom is going to visit my Gramma this weekend. She's going to be moving closer to us here, into her sister's former condo, and she seems to be wanting to give everything away. She's 84, and she is starting to show some signs of age, but up until about 2 years ago, I always joked that she was healthier and more active than I was. She's survived breast cancer, a car accident (not at all her fault) bad enough that she had to be cut out of her car with the jaws of life, and a fall that broke her shoulder. She has outlived her husband, her younger sister, many of her friends, and even one son. But she still has SO much life left and I kind of can't imagine my world without her.

5. It's not even 9am and I need a nap. My head hurts, my stomach has been bothering me, the kids got us up extra early today, and then the panic attack... I'm seriously ready to go back to bed!

6. My munchkins are going to be a "Beautiful Ballerina" and Linus Van Pelt (from Peanuts) for Halloween. I can't wait for the pictures.

7. I was thinking about wearing this new dress I got recently for Trick or Treating this weekend. It's sort of Spanish Dancer style, but it needs more accessories for me to really pull off that look. It's pretty much plain black, so I wouldn't really look in costume, just over dressed if I wore it plain.

Friendship morphology?

I'm a busy girl this week! Didn't do much on Monday, but yesterday the kids and I got to have lunch with April to chat and for me to deliver her Thirty-one stuff. Today I Fuss has a play date with her best friend, Grace and I get the chance to chat with my friend Kat. Tonight Fuss has dance. Tomorrow, we have Bible study and Friday... we don't have plans, but I'm expecting my order from Thirty-one to arrive, so I'll be spending some time sorting and working out the delivery schedule. I am SO psyched. Saturday we're going to the City of Halloween/Trick or Treat event and having a garage sale in the AM. I know Fuss is excited to T or T.

I was having a conversation with my husband last night about adult friendships. How i always wanted a friend that would be my best friend until we're old and grey and we move into an ALF together or something. I've always felt like the odd one out. The third wheel. It's frustrating. In high school, I was part of 2 close-knit groups, but I was always the odd one when there were pairs. (Freshman year I was part of a foursome that did everything together. J and T were BFFs and H was my BFF, but she had a BFF from where she had lived before. And then she got a boyfriend and I was squeezed out. We remained friends, but weren't as close. Sophomore year it was my friends Liz and Cherry - we've all been friends for eons, but THEY are best friends and I'm just along for the ride. You get the idea/see the pattern.)

I feel like my closest girlfriends around here don't see our friendship as important as I do. And I feel left out. I and I feel stuck. I feel like my lot has already been cast - my adult best friend is K and that's who I'm stuck with, for better or for worse. My husband says that's not so. And if I want to pursue a friendship with Kat, that I should.

Is it immature to continue to label people "best friend" as an adult? And how does that work anyway? I mean, when you're on the playground as a kid, it's easy to say "do you wanna be my friend?" or "my best friend is ______" and it's done, but how does that happen when you're 30?

Busy, busy and emptying out!

It's 9:30 and I have already changed 3 diapers - 2 of them poopy, wiped one poopy bottom, and cleaned up a puddle of pee on the floor and 2 yogurt messes. It's going to be one of THOSE days.

I ignored my business responsibilities this weekend and didn't make any calls that I should have made. But you know, it happens. We had a very successful weekend - had a garage sale on Saturday and got rid of a ton of junk and made some money in the process. We then purged and emptied another section of the main room in the house - so now things around my desk are much more organized and clear. I know one part of the party order I just submitted is already on it's way! (a direct ship order) But that probably means that the rest of the order is coming along, too and I'm so excited to get it!!!

We had a few cool days recently, weather-wise. I actually had the opportunity to put the kids in a few of their warmer clothes and I broke out one of my long-sleeved tees for the garage sale the other day. It's fun to see the new stuff.

I got Fuss's new tights for ballet in the mail and the new Children's Place order I ordered for her - a couple of dancing themed shirts, some leggings, and a tutu-like skirt to wear over leggings. She looks ADORABLE in it. And she LOVES it, so score one for mom. The Little Man has a couple of hoodies that are keeping him warm and I got both of the items I had to have for their Halloween costumes this weekend, too. (Her new tights have an opening in the bottom so that they can be peeled back off her foot when she's not wearing her dancing shoes. Reminds me of the footless tights the more advanced students in my own ballet school wore - I was so jealous. I thought they were SO cool.) But I'm hoping that these are more comfortable for her - they seem like they are WAY better quality, so here's hoping they last longer.


I am loving the need to purge all the junk and unused items in my house. My husband is very supportive. I even sold a table that I had an emotional attachment to, but was really just taking up space in my home at the garage sale. It wasn't useful to me, and when someone made me a good offer, I took it. My husband was surprised, but pleased. I am just so over having all this stuff taking up space. I haven't purged all my knick knacks yet, but things are thinning out.

I also sold my Christmas wreath at the garage sale - which means I get to buy a new one!!! I'm sort of psyched about that!

Bits and pieces on Thursday

I was SO looking forward to submitting my first order for Thirty-one, but OMG, it is taking forever. Now, that is due to some mistakes by my customers (someone ordered something that I realized she didn't actually want and now I'm waiting on her to decide what to do about it...) and my mom not bringing me a check last night... so you know, not entirely the company's or my own fault, but wow. It's a little time consuming. I tried to do it during the Little Man's morning nap - thinking I could also get in my shower. Didn't happen. I wasn't even done by the time he got up. Oops.

Fuss is still incredibly fussy about the pain/sores in her mouth. I get that, I know it must hurt horribly, but wow - I am so sick of it already. Probably makes me a bad mom - I'm really trying to be sympathetic to her, but I really hate whining. So it's getting on my nerves. My nerves which are already fried due to hormones, lack of sleep, and my own stresses.

I woke up this morning with this AWFUL headache. I can only describe it as "my brain hurting." It was all in the top, front part of my head, but behind my face, all inside my head, not sinusy, but in the inner part of my head. Thankfully, an Excedrin Migraine and another hour of sleep seemed to help, but I can still feel it there, lurking behind the painkiller. Good times.

Sick Fuss

So Fuss is sick. She has some sort of viral infection in her mouth - lots of little sores, sore throat, swollen tongue, hurts to chew/swallow/eat. Mild fever. Was thinking Hand, foot, mouth, but no rash on her body, it's all confined to her mouth. She wailed all night long in her sleep. I got very little sleep. Poor thing. She's wiped out. And miserable. And she is hardly talking and when she does, she does so with her jaw clenched shut like that's going to help the tongue/swallow factor (no idea if it does, but that's what she's doing nonetheless.

Meanwhile, tired, exhausted mama (who hasn't gotten a good night's sleep in a week because of various reasons) is also menstrual and stressed, etc. Our plans for the rest of the week are shot - because she'll be contagious for several more days and can't be around other kids. But we'll make it. But I confess, my plan for keeping my sanity is to allow a lot of TV again. (I've been trying to cut back.) Ah well, we'll go back to limiting it when she's better. Right now she's a lump on the couch.

My party is closing today or tomorrow. I think I'm going to end up with some pretty good totals, so that's happy! I have 2 open book parties right now and a display (sort of a casual party) at a MOPS event this weekend. My schedule is starting to fill up and I'm loving it.

I'd like a nap, but the baby fell asleep in the car and refused to wake up when we got home. So I have a feeling about the time I get Fuss to lay down for a rest, he'll be getting up. Ah well. I've got lots of work to do, I shouldn't be sleeping anyhow.

10 on Tues: Vacationing

1. You’re packing for a week long vacation, do you pack ahead of time or wait until the last possible minute to pack?
I start the planning part ahead of time. I make lists, and if it's clothes that I won't need in the meantime, I start some small piles of stuff, etc. But mostly I do the bulk of the packing in the last 24 hours.

2. Are you a light or heavy packer?
Somewhere in the middle. I hate not having the clothes/extras that I want, so I tend to bring 2 sets of PJs (one for if it's cold, one for if it's warm), tons of extra undies, extra shirts, etc.

3. What are your favorite road trip snacks?
Goldfish, pretzels, and Coca Cola

4. Do you take any reading material along?
I always take a book or two or my Kindle, but I get carsick if I read in the car, so it's for any downtime once we're at our destination or on a plane...

5. Do you prefer to drive or fly to your vacation destination?
Depends on how long it would take. If it's less than a day and I get a whole week, then I'm fine w/ driving. But if it's a really long trip, then I am all about the airplane!

6. What is your favorite time of the year to take your vacation?
Probably summer - so I get out of the sweltering heat of FL.

7. Where is your favorite place to vacation?
North Carolina mountains, New Orleans, St Augustine.

8. You are vacationing in the mountains, what is your favorite thing to do while there?
Shop. :) As a kid, we'd go to all these cute little towns and look in the quaint little shops. I loved it. Also, I loved checking out the historical areas nearby. We used to go to NC every summer and I loved Old Salem Village, Cherokee, The Biltmore Estate... it was great.

9. You are at the beach for your vacation,  do you like to take it easy on the beach or play all day in the water?
Take it easy. Partially because I burn easily and hate being out in the sun very much and partially because I'm not really a beach person in general.

10. While your on vacation do you prefer to eat out every night or cook some of your own meals?
Depends on how long we're gone, but I love to eat out in general. My husband and I do a lot of lunches/breakfasts by getting stuff at the grocery that we can store in our rooms (fresh fruit, crackers, etc.) and then eat out in nicer restaurants at night. I love sampling the local cuisine.

For more, visit Chelsea, here.

Follow up

So, the party was a success, overall. My "booking game" backfired since the only 3 people who drew the "book a party" cards were my 3 in-laws who probably won't do it, or at best, will only do a book party. But oh well. I did get one booking during the night and another call from a friend who couldn't make it saying she wanted to book a party, so there's that.

I had several last minute cancellations - including one from one of my closest friends, a lame "something came up" text 30 minutes before the party started. And several no-shows. But all my in-laws showed up (and they were only maybes) and one friend brought a friend, so... overall we did good. The sales will put me more than half way to my minimum Start Swell goal. And I have 2 more official parties before that deadline and a book party closing and an informal showing... so I think I will totally make it!

I have follow-ups to do this week. I have to check in with those who said they were going to do outside orders and haven't yet followed through and those who took the catalog home with them to decide. I feel like I got a good start and now have some things to follow up on. They claim the key to success is 3 (calls per day) 2 (parties per week) 1 (recruit per month, though I don't care so much about the recruits at this point. I won't turn them down, but I'm trying not to make a big push at this point.) But up until now I've felt like I would be completely cold-calling people if I called them up and were talking about booking or ordering.

My 2 best friends didn't show up. But my 2 oldest friends did, despite the fact that they both had to come from other counties (and one of them drove 2 hours each way to be here.) I got really upset about the one at the last minute and I'm sort of pissed about the other in general. How can someone who calls herself your best friend just not make ANY effort to support you in something that you're really excited about? I don't get it.

Quick Takes

1. I got peed on at 4:45am today. It was not the start to the day I was hoping for.

2. The good news is that my day did get better.

3. I hurried around this morning and got ready for MOPS which was fun and mostly snag-free. I got some feedback from my church friends regarding the party tomorrow - and even have another outside order coming in.

4. I had a chiropractor appointment this afternoon to (hopefully) fix the problem I was having in my back. When he tried to adjust me, it didn't work right or something, so he made me sit with ice on my back for 5+ minutes. It was COLD. But then the adjustment seemed to work and I'm hoping for some improvement.

5. I'm sort of psyched about tomorrow. I've been practicing more than I would have if this were a school project (not that that is saying much - I was known to do very well on off-the-cuff oral presentations in high school, but I'm seriously out of practice, so I think it's best to practice.) and I have a written opening and tons of notes. I really think it should go well.

6. Neither kid got more than about 20 minutes worth of napping today because of all our running around. I'm looking forward to a good nights' sleep tonight for the first time all week. (the baby has been waking in the 5 o'clock hour and today went even earlier (see Quick Take #1) and I've been yawning all day long.

7. My Fuss has a best friend. It makes my heart happy to see them together, how they play together so well and how they love each other. It also makes me happy that her BFF's mom is a good friend of mine. So play dates? They're awesome. :)

"Mastering" the art of sales and early rising

I'm starting to figure out how to do this Direct Sales thing. You have to be friendly and a little pushy. But not too pushy or you'll be off-putting. So you make extra phone calls. And you send extra emails. And you mention your party/business/event slightly more often than is natural. And you bring it up. And up. And up.

Yesterday, I made a couple of phone calls to the people who said "maybe" but I knew were leaning against it. I left upbeat messages about how much I was looking forward to seeing them at my party. I sent emails and FB messages to others who hadn't RSVPed. I implied that I was assuming that they were coming. (because isn't that what you have to assume when someone doesn't RSVP? Otherwise if they show, you don't have enough stuff/food/supplies for them.)

I'm up to somewhere near 20 if all the maybes come and people bring the friends that they have mentioned they will be bringing.

There are also about 10 more people I haven't heard from. So things are going well.

_______________________________________________
The baby keeps waking in the 5 o'clock hour every morning. Mostly, he'll go back to sleep if we pull him into bed with us, but then I don't get as good sleep as I do when he's not there. He's gotten big and he twitches. And the last two mornings, my brain has kicked in and I can't go back to sleep. I'm sitting here at 8:20 and my eyes are SO heavy and I'm sleepy. But I've been up for 3 hours and I have Bible study this morning (which reminds me, I have to make the kids a sack lunch for today, so I'd better wrap this up.) so I can't go back to bed, even if I wanted to.

Looking Up, Business-wise

I visited my husband's work yesterday with the kids and passed out some more of my business cards and left a catalog and order forms with my husband. We had invited several people to the party already and some mentioned that they would be coming and some mentioned that they would have outside orders. I also got an outside order from an old friend who is going out of town, so that's 2 before the party even happens! Things are looking up.

If all the confirmed and all the maybes show up, I'll have 15 people attending plus up to 5 outside orders that have already been mentioned to me! I'm psyched. I'm sending the packet for a book party today and I have a casual showing next weekend as well.

One of my closest friends works with my husband and I asked her yesterday if she was coming. She told me that one of her friends from the office had said "are you going? Because if you go, I'll go," and M answered "well, she's my friend so I kind of have to." I think she was joking around, but I'm finding it hard to stop thinking about those words the way they COULD be interpreted. She's one of my closest friends. We've grown very close over the last 3 years and she's dealing with some major things in her life and I've supported her through thick and thin lately. I would have thought she would want to support me, would want to encourage me. Because that would be MY attitude if the situation were reversed.

Meanwhile, my best friend still hasn't committed to coming, technically. And then she casually mentioned that her step-son's mom is also starting out selling the same stuff and I'm a little livid. Not at the step-son's mom - because she can do what she wants, I'm certainly not the only person selling this stuff! - but if my best friend doesn't show up to my party and does buy something from her, I'm going to be really, really pissed. But, I'm not going to borrow trouble, so I'm just going to move forward and see what happens.


I'm feeling very encouraged right now. I feel like things are moving forward and things are coming a long. I feel like this just might work after all. And I am SO excited to be doing something new, something I believe in. I'm ready. I'm still a little nervous, but I seriously think I can pull it off.

Ten on Tuesday: All About Pasta

1. Red Sauce or White Sauce?
White, but many of the cream sauces mess with my stomach unless they are literally freshly homemade. So I eat plenty of red or butter sauces, too, and I LOVE them.

2. Do you prefer pasta you can twirl or stab?
I like twirls, but I'm really pretty equal opportunity on my pasta. My husband uses the term "evil pasta" for those which you can't twirl and don't often stay on your fork easily. He hates penne, for example.

3. Baked or boiled?
Boiled.

4. Do you like meat in your sauce or do you kick it vegetarian style?
It depends. I always hated my mom's "meat sauce" spaghetti as a kid, but I love some meal that includes meat - I just don't like it to be equal parts meat and sauce.

5. Where have you had your very best pasta ever?
Ooh, boy, that's a tough one. I have no idea. My husband makes this stuff we call "O"-fredo sauce (because it's like having a little orgasm in my mouth!) so maybe here at home?

6. What is your favorite pasta dish?
I love a good seafood pasta in a lemon butter sauce.

7. Do you serve meatballs when you make spaghetti or just do a meat sauce?
I don't do meat sauce. We either do meatballs or italian sausage.

8. Why type (rice, whole wheat, egg, etc) of noodles do you use?
I love spinach noodles and egg noodles, but more often than not, we use whatever is cheap and on sale or BOGO, so it's pretty standard white flour pasta.

9. What type of meats or vegetables do you put in your sauce?
I love mushrooms in pasta sauce. We do a lot of sea food and Italian sausage in our pastas. I also make an aribiatta sauce with lots of peppers and mushrooms and onion, too which is great!

10. Do you make a “Sunday gravy” to use throughout the week or do you just open a jar of whatever and heat it up? (No judgment on this one!)
I don't make Sunday gravy, but I nearly always doctor a jar of sauce to make our regular dinner sauces. I only use it straight out of the jar if I'm microwaving it to put on some lunchtime noodles or something.

Check out Chelsea and the rest here to see others' answers.

Weekend in review

We had a nice weekend, full of family time and productivity. We did another "unplugged" Sunday, which was nice, but also... by the end of the day I was really ready for some TV or a movie. I have really cut back on my own TV watching this week, so by Sunday night I was ready. But we stuck to our plan and I made it through the evening without TV. But I am starting to think that Fuss thinks it's a punishment instead of a break from the norm or whatever. We're trying to explain it, but...

I got my consultant kit from Thirty-one and I'm psyched! I also got my new business cards and labels, so I'm in business! My Kick Off Party is this Saturday and I'm a little nervous and also very excited. I've gotten a few more responses, some yeses and some nos, but at least more people are responding. And my SIL LB (from NC) has already given me an order, so I've officially had my first sale! And I've had a couple more people tell me they will check out the website and a few more commit to some orders. And as long as I can get a couple of bookings, I'm good.

We have another busy week ahead - MOPS, my Bible study, and party prep, of course. I have to assemble my customer, hostess, and recruiting packets and I need to continue to purge all the JUNK in my house for the garage sale we are having in 2 weeks. I am DONE with having all this STUFF in my house and we've been making some nice dents lately. I am just ready to be organized and it's frustrating to not have it be done with a snap of my fingers. Of course, I've been collecting things for 31 years, it's very likely to take at least SOME time to sort and purge!

Loyalty

You know, it's funny, my closest friends - the ones I confide in, the ones who come to me when they need someone to complain to, the ones who I spend the most time with... they haven't so much as RSVPed to my party. I take that back, one of them did, but it was a no. None of them have offered to host a party and a couple of them have completely ignored every mention and invitation I have made/sent, etc. But my 2 oldest friends? The ones I met in Kindergarten and 1st grade, respectively? Yeah, they're coming. One is even driving across the state (a good 2+ hours) to come and she has even said she'd be interested in hosting a party if I was willing to drive that far to do one. (I am.) I find it interesting to see how people react to their friends when they are asked to do something for them like this. You would think that my BEST FRIEND would want to help me and support me, as I have done for her for years and years. But she can't even leave her son's t-ball game a little early to be there for me in this.

I know I keep complaining about this, but I feel like it's incredibly rude and stressful to have so many people ignoring the RSVP request on the invitation. I have made it as painless as possible (email! FB!) - I mean, really, you don't even have to DO anything. Click a flipping button.

Nothnig to write about 10 on Tues

1. How do you take your coffee?
Light and sweet

2. Do you prefer soft or crispy chocolate chip cookies?
Soft! As a matter of fact, my husband over-cooked our cookies the other night and it has made it SO much easier to resist them. I am unimpressed by crispy cookies.

3. Do you wear a belt everyday?
Nope.

4. What is your favorite color combination?
Brown and _____. I feel like brown goes with so much. Right now I'm really focusing on brown and sort of a light, aqua blue.

5. Do you like sour candy?
Sometimes. Used to love it.

6. How often do you do laundry?
Several times a week.

7. Did you ever wear braces?
Yes.

8. Are you good at Roman Numerals?
Not really. Only through the 100s.

9. What is your favorite form of social media?
Facebook, I'd guess.

10. How do you feel about chin dimples?
Lift a cleft chin? Neutral

For more ToT click here. 

Red hats

My great-aunt passed away last week and today was her funeral. It was a very nice service and all my cousins were there (sans the one who is away at school out of state) even my cousin W who I often jokingly refer to as "my deadbeat cousin" because he often seems to forget he has an extended family even though he lives within a mile of my mom and me. My Aunt Jean was a very friendly, fun-loving, and flamboyant lady so there were lots of people and lots of colorful flowers all over. It was so nice for her children to see how much she was loved.

My usually tough uncle was there and I heard him let out a sob when he stood by the casket, which surprised me. I guess you never really know a person and how they'll react to a family loss. I don't even want to know what he'll do when my Gramma passes - I don't even want to think about it, really.

We saw the movie Courageous over the weekend and both my husband and I were really moved by it and it's message. We have spent the bulk of the weekend discussing the changes we need to make to the way we live and the way we parent. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend that you see this movie.

I'm increasingly nervous that I'm not going to have a good turn out for my Kick Off party - I haven't heard back from anyone else yet (though my Gramma did tell me that she is planning to come down for it!) and when I mentioned my new endeavor to my dad over the weekend, he didn't seem that supportive or encouraging, which sort of surprised. I would have thought that he would be all about me trying to do something to earn some money, etc. but he seemed a little sarcastic about it. Ah well.