Monday, September 29, 2008

Working Hard

Sometime it is quite ironic how hard you have to work, so that you won't have to work so hard. I am in the process of opening a Virtual Assistance business that will specialize in Social Networking. I am putting in many long hours to get it right, I know in the long run this will make my business run smoothly and make for happy clients.
My scheduled launch date is 10/06/2008, so I will keep you updated. The site is going up soon and then the tweaking begins.
Thanks to anyone who is patiently waiting for me to get back to blogging.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Twitter Moms Rock


View my page on twitter moms

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Saga of the Big Boy Bed


So my husband and I decided that our eldest son (31/2) was ready for a Big Boy Bed. His toddler bed (once crib) converts to a regular bed. So we had been pumping up our little man about this for quite some time. Now that he doesn't wet the bed at night, he's ready.
First we find out we have to order the side rails to convert, those finally come in the mail - we're ready.
Saturday night we decide we should start the search for the mattress and box spring - in the pouring rain. Went to two stores and then home.
Sunday we start out trying to get sheets and stuff. Meijer's only has twin bed size in characters, but we get a nice set for our younger son (2) for his toddler bed, just so he doesn't feel left out.
We tried JCPenney no luck, we then went to Target - they had what we wanted and he went with Speed Racer.
Now, its really lunch time but we tried to go to one of our favorite sandwich shops, but sign on the door said closed due to economy. Sad.
On to the mattress store. Pick out the mattress, pay and decide it's going to take two trips to bring home.
Get home I start getting ready to wash all the new stuff, my younger guys set from Meijer's is missing the sheets. So now my husband has to stop and get something from another store for him - he ends up with Cars.
Get everything washed and bed put together (which was another challange, you have to take the end pieces off the side and switch them out with the end pieces of the "foot board" - not in the directions.
Start putting the clean sheets on bed and one of the pillow cases is ripped, luckily he only has one pillow.
But we are all together now and loving our new bed.
My question is - Is the quality of workmanship really getting that bad. I realize that I didn't go shopping at Macy's, but Target should have better quality.
And my son's set, I believe someone kept the sheets and returned the package with just the comforter, that is so dishonest. We did get our money back, no problems - BUT REALLY!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Kick in the be thankful

Last night while I was starting to prepare to make dinner for my husband and myself - I opened up a cabinet and got a little kick in the be thankful for what you have.
The Reason:
This cabinet that I opened was our "snack" food cabinet, because I don't have enough room in the pantry, and it is loaded with food to eat. We have animal crackers, granola bars, fruit snacks, chips, popcorn ....

Most days lately I walk around in a daze of stress and confusion. Why we can't seem to get things right lately. My husband and I are both working our rears off to keep on keeping on and yet we are not making ends meet. I feel the pressure on me to get this Internet Marketing up and running, plus keep up the household, animals and foremost my children.
We have invested too much money into training in the Internet Marketing arena and still not seeing the spoils. Although it makes me press on, I need to start earning some money, we are much to invested in this now to just walk away. I often ask if this is really what I should be doing? I always praise God when I do make a sale, but at the same time blame him when I don't. In the end though I blame myself and struggle to keep my confidence up.

So back to the snacks, how can I complain when I have a cabinet full of "snacks" for myself and my children. A beautiful house to live in, a vehicle to drive and a family worth risking it all for.
"I know I should praise God everyday for what I do have and stress less about what we don't." I must repeat this to myself every minute, hour, day.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Tuesday Toot



It's Tuesday Toot time. Were I will only share the positive stuff. Today was my eldest son's first day of preschool - he was great neither of us shed a tear and we all got through it without a scrape. I was so pleased when he ran and gave me a big hug and told me he loved me when I came to pick him up.

Thats it for today the rest of the day was not so good. Next will be better.


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Blog Trip Winner

I have all the names in a buck, those who commented and those who set up a link to my blog. Thank you to everyone who participated in the Blog Trip, it sure was fun. Please come visit again and lets get to become friends.

And the WINNER is Bunny B for he comment on Day 3 of the Blog trip.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Weekend Recap

Weekend Recap Meme

This week went by like a whirl wind.
Spent last Saturday and Sunday preparing for the blog trip that was hosted by Mommy Community. Did some blog hopping during the trip and made some new friends, hopefully. I hosted a contest for this blog trip.

Worked on my 2 squeeze pages ourasthma.info and secret recipes. I have been selling some secret recipes, it seems to be a popular item. I really want to get the word out about drug free asthma relief more.

My son starts preschool this week, so last week we had supply drop off and meet the teacher day.

I still spend alot of time learning and trying to figure out the best way down the internet path for me, which includes many prayers and bouts of low self confidence, I have struggled with this for many years now, but working on the net can be very hard on self confidence. I am working hard on this, any suggestions?

I guess thats it for this week. Sorry this is late.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Blog Trip - Day 5



We are not much of tourist attraction here in Gilberts, IL.

But next door in West Dundee we have a great park with petting zoo, Randall Oaks.

Last weekend we went to the Union, IL Railway Museum for Day out with Thomas, but its great to go anytime.

Elgin Library has a great play area for the kids if it's not so nice out and your in the area. They also have a great park - Festival Park.

Cantigny Park and Cosley Zoo in Wheaton, IL we went there many times growing up.

Navy Pier is a good place to go with much to do and many attractions - warning costly and generally crowded.

Just a few things today around the area.

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Thursday, September 4, 2008

Win a Year's worth of PLR

You read that right. Can you believe it? The bigger and better special report club is here and they are having a contest.
As a newbie to this business I keep reading how PLR can really help you along the way to writing some great articles, possible content for you website and much more.

So now you want to know what you can win?
The prizes you can win:

1st prize: 1 year’s subscription to the special
report club.

2nd prize: 3 month subscription to the
special report club.

3rd prize: Choice of 2 individual PLR reports.
Which can be seen here: http://www.specialreportclub.com/individual-reports.html.

Sounds good right?
So hop on over and check it out.

Secrets to the preperation of working at home


How do you prepare to work from home or telecommuting jobs? We've put together a list that can help in preparing to work from home.

Basic Needs to work from home:

Strong work ethic is the most important tool to working at home, if you can't push yourself to work, who will?

Your own computer with standard office and fax software in addition to a respectable quality scanner and printer.

High speed Internet connection. The technological advances in software and hardware are rendered useless in most cases if you have a slow Internet connection.

Phone service in your home for the reliability and voice clarity, most companies offering telecommuting positions will require that you have a land line phone installed in your home. This is the case definitely if you are seeking a position that will require you to communicate by telephone as a part of your job, which then might want a dedicated business line.

Quiet and separate working environments in the home dedicated for work. Keeping work separate in a dedicated office or other room of your house will also be a requirement in most positions. It will give you the motivation to treat your work-at-home job like the real job that it is.

So you have the basics, no how do you start to prepare to work from home?

First and foremost, unless you are just moving your office job into your home, there will be some "down time" in the finances. So the first thing that needs to be done is sit down and set up a budget and how to cut costs until you are up and earning a regular income. Even if you are keeping your full-time job and working part-time there will be expenses and costs somewhere on your road to your working at home, you need to budget for these purchases/costs.

Second is time budgeting. It can become time consuming and addicting to work from home, you can't leave it at the office, you have access to it anytime, just one more minute, I'm just gonna check/do one more thing. You will need to set up a budget for your time budget time for work, family, chores. You life still needs to include those things you did when you got home from the office. You need to set aside improvement time, you need to read books and study the online world to grow and improve.

Quick time budget:

1. Evaluate your daily routine schedule. Think about everything you do during your day and the length of time it takes you to do those tasks. Are there any tasks that can be shared or adjusted to use time more effectively.

2. Create a weekly schedule of all activities and going on that week, including work. Schedule work time during times that young children are taking naps or are in school.
Make sure to include periodic breaks for quality time and activities with the children. This will help lessen behavior problems that may pop up because the children are seeking out attention. Then post schedule where the whole family can view.

3. Go over the weekly schedule with the family. It gives the family time to voice any changes or upcoming events that may need to be penciled in and allows everyone the chance to work out problems that may come up with the schedule.

Third is to keep your work and home organized. A organized work space will be a productive work place. This would take a whole other article to cover.

Blog Trip - Day 4 Shopping




Shopping: Where do I begin, we are very lucky in this area.

Outlet Malls: Huntley Outlet Mall - while it might not be the biggest or the best - its great for clothes and shoes and it's only 5-8 minutes from our house.

We have 3 Target's, Walmart's and Kohl's, 2 Meijers, Best Buys and JCPenney's within 10 minutes of our house.

We also have an indoor and outdoor mall within 10 minutes, I really like the outdoor mall, just hard to shop in the winter. But they also have some uncommon stores that you wouldn't probably find in a normal mall. Office Max, Best Buy, Trader Joes.

Woodman's is a great grocery store around here, if you don't like the chain stuff. Sometimes it's too big for me.

The only thing we are missing close to home is the small down town shops like downtown Glen Ellyn, Wheaton or Bloomingdale. Although it's not too far of a drive to visit these shops.

We are also close enough to the mag mile of Chicago and Long Grove to visit when the desire arises.

I'm sure I have missed a few along the way but these are places that I shop at.

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Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Blog Trip - Day 3 FOOD



We don't go out to eat very much (I like to make restaurant recipes at home). But we do have a few good places to eat when we do, we will skip right over the chain stuff - what fun would that be.

For Pizza - We love Randall Road House - we have never actually gone into the restaurant to eat - we order pizza, sandwiches and calzones for delivery. They are pricey compared to some of the others, but they really are the best.

For Italian - Biaggi's (this is a chain, but we really like it)- we go there sometimes for special occasions. Great food, great atmosphere. My husband loves the steaks and I got pasta the last time we were there.

For Mexican - Our favorite is La Campana (but they are back in the old neighborhood, don't get there very often) we do like our little hole in the wall El Faro though. We usually get steak tacos and sometimes my husband gets a burrito.

For breakfast - We eat at Burnt Toast very often. We love the name and the food. My boys always have to order burnt toast to eat, yes they really order toast and only toast to eat - it is too cute. We love everything about this place, the food, the staff, the location.

Don't forget to leave a comment and/or a link to enter my contest for a $25 GC.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Tuesday Toot



Very short and sweet this week. I sold some affiliate products this week. Woo Hoo, now to just keep it comming.

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Blog Trip - Day 2 GAS



Gas here in Gilberts, IL has been around $3.95 to $4.05.
Although I have a Meijer CC and if I fill up at Meijer I get $.10 off every gallon and even if I don't fill up at Meijer I still get $.05 off.

Much to others dismay we own a large SUV, it makes life easier traveling with the two boys, stroller and whatever else. But, when we go out with other we try and take as many as we can fit to reduce other cars on the road. So gas prices has a huge impact on our family budget.

We have cut back tons on driving, of course that means not seeing friends and family as much as I would like too. I try and combine my trips and just go out less (which is actually a good thing for the wallet also).

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Monday, September 1, 2008

Labor on Labor Day

Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer, has decided to talk about labor on Labor Day – so I thought I’d join in.


How long were your labors?

Kid #1 – 8 hours, but had the epidural whole time
Kid #2 – 4 hours


How did you know you were in labor?

Kid #1 - water broke
Kid #2 – thought water broke, but just leaking - major labor pains with 1 hour of this.


Where did you deliver?

At the hospital


Drugs?

Epidural with the first, absolutely nothing with the second, by the time they actually decided I was having the baby it was too late for anything.


C-section?

No


Who delivered?

Our family doctor of 12 years for both.



If you want to play along with this meme, just cut and paste the questions into your own blog, and leave your link at Shannon’s site.

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Fear Doesn't Help - Teach your child these breathing techniques

Having had asthma my entire life, I tend to take for granted the things my parents did for me as a child to assist me with asthma. They never let it get in the way of "our life". I still participated in sports, we still went camping, and had/have pets.

The one thing that stuck out in mind were the classes that I took at a local YMCA that taught me to take control of my asthma and not let it control me. I am not afraid, nor do I get stressed out when I have trouble breathing. To people with Asthma you should understand what I mean.

The main way to deal with an asthma attack and not let it take control over you is the breathing exercises that I was taught. (Asthmatics who undertook regular breathing exercises reduced their preventer medication levels by up to half and reliever use by up to 86%.) These breathing exercises were drilled into my head over and over again from the classes, from my doctors, from my family.

The aims of breathing exercises are:

* to get back the natural and automatic diaphragmatic breathing, and not the thoracic type of breathing
* to concentrate on exhalation especially at the commencement of an attack.
* increasing the flexibility of the chest wall and to relax the accompanying muscles of the respiratory system and
* to correct other problems commonly associated with chronic asthma.


There are now many different forms and versions of breathing exercises for asthma.

Basic breathing exercise for Asthma:
1. Breath in for 10 seconds
2. Hold breath for 10 seconds
3. Breath out for 10 seconds

There are many variations of breathing exercies out there in the world today.

Hum breathing exercises for asthma:
1. Hum as you exhale slowly, trying to prolong the breath without straining.
2. Then repeat, but this time make a buzzing sound. Notice when the sound changes and when you become breathless.
3. Stop breathing for a moment then breathe in gently. If you need to gasp for breath you are trying too hard.
4. Breathe in, purse your lips then breathe out in a series of little puffs. Work against the pressure of your lips and cheeks, contracting the abdomen not the chest as you blow.
Blow out an imaginary candle. Again your abdomen not your chest should contract as you blow. Your attempts to blow out the candle should be fairly quiet. You should be breathing in naturally at the end of the blow.
5. Repeat as many times as is comfortable but stop if you begin to feel breathless.

Baby Breaths
1. Sit on the edge of a chair. Feet flat on the floor. Back straight. Rest your hands on your thighs.
2. Take some "cleansing breaths" first. Close your mouth and breathe in through your nose. Gently. Follow the breath all the way down to your belly. Slightly part your lips and allow the breath to exhale. Gently. Do this 3 times.
3.Adjust your posture. It is important that you are sitting up straight so that your lungs are fully open. Continue breathing as in the "cleansing breaths". But, this time, stay conscious of the breath. Follow it to the belly, watching it rise, then draw it up and out through your nose. Keep your mouth closed.
4.Do at least 10 of these. Less if you get dizzy. Stop if it is making you sick or causing any asthmatic symptoms. Work your way up to 10 during the following days.

Lung Lights
1.Start with the same posture as before.
2.Again, begin with cleansing breaths.
3.This time, close your eyes, draw the breath in through your nose. Follow it into your lungs and down to your belly.

There is no evidence to favor one breathing technique over the other. Instead any form of breathing exercises were associated with a dramatic reduction in reliever use. Using any form of breathing exercises for asthma was effective in markedly reducing the use of reliever medication.

For more on Asthma without Drugs check out OurAsthma.info

Blog Trip - Day 1 My house




I am going on a blog trip and today we start out at home.
This picture is of the boys playing in the back yard. I didn't have any pictures on my computer of the front.
We live in Gilberts, IL. Its a small town nestled among many bigger towns. My husband found it by accident, trying to find a different builder. We have been here over 4 years now, and plan to stay here till we are too old to care for it. We have great location, scenery, schools, and neighbors who could ask for more.
We have tons of parks in the subdivision and in the area. We have 3 library's to visit (all other towns though), and access to almost any store you might need.
We are close enough to the city to do museums and sporting events, and the Brookfield zoo.

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