Thanksgiving Dinner - Now what

Seven Things You Can Do After Thanksgiving Dinner (Besides Nap)

Every year, families all across the country have their Thanksgiving traditions, one of which is taking a nap after a huge meal. So, instead of doing nothing all afternoon, Here are a few actives to keep your bodies moving and burn off some of those extra calories.

1. Take a walk - while it may seem simple, just the act of taking a walk will wake you up after the feast, as well as being very healthy for you. Go enjoy the fall leaves, see who can collect the prettiest ones along the way.

2. Touch football - instead of watching the bowl games, organize your own backyard bowl game. Call it the Potatoes and Gravy Bowl if you want.

3. Volunteer - take some time out of your Thanksgiving to give back to those who don't have as much. There is probably a shelter or soup kitchen that is looking for people to help serve meals to the homeless. Consider making it a regular family activity, even year round.

4. Put on a play - have the children reenact the first Thanksgiving. A few simple costumes made out of paper bags, and they can put on a delightful show for the family. Don't leave the grownups out of the action; have them improvise some scenes with the children as well.

5. Winter sports - if it's cold enough to have recently snowed, have a sled riding party. If you don't have a large enough hill, try a nearby park instead. Have a snowball fight or build a snowman. Ice-skating is another fun activity, and there may even be an indoor rink (but they might not be open due to the holiday, so it's a good idea to call first.)

6. Turkey Hunt - take a stuffed turkey, or paper turkey, and hide it in the house or yard, weather permitting. The first person to find the turkey gets to hide it the next time. Keep playing till everyone's had a turn to hide the turkey.

7. Turkey Bowling - make turkey bowling pins out of two-liter bottles. Fill them with a little sand to weight them down and spray paint them brown. Let the kids decorate them with paint or feathers. Set them up and then try to roll a turkey (three strikes in a row). If you have a lot of people, you can make more than one set to keep the action going.

It's easy to just curl up and let the turkey take over after a large meal, but it is a good idea to get up and get moving and make memories that last a lifetime. The fact that it also happens to be good for you is an added bonus.

Tuesday Toot - 11/25/08

I happy to announce that I obtained my first client for my Social Media Virtual Assistant business (BeSocialWorldwide.com) and have her profiles set up and working.

My sons first ever parent/teacher conference went great.

Toot Toot to me this week.

Take a Break

Today we are going to take a break from being a WAHM and talk about Thanksgiving. People who work outside the home get a break from there work, so why shouldn't you.

Here are some tips to keep the stress out of Thanksgiving:

So how do we have a stress free Thanksgiving dinner? Here are a few simple tips to have a more enjoyable Thanksgiving dinner.

1. Plan ahead - While planning the Thanksgiving meal, do you plan who is going to help? Instead of doing it all yourself, recruit your family to help. Not only will the work go faster, it's more fun working together. Make a list of what needs to be done before everyone arrives. Give everyone something to do and assign things that are age appropriate to the children. Before you know it, the leftovers will be wrapped in foil and everyone will have had a great time.

2. Covered dish meal - If you are having a large group for Thanksgiving, divide the menu amongst all those attending. The host family can provide the main dish (turkey or ham) and the drinks. Each family brings a favorite side dish and dessert. If you want to make sure there is a variety, provide a menu and mark things off as people chose what they want to fix.

3. Simplify - Instead of having a huge feast, prepare a smaller meal. We all tend to overeat at Thanksgiving, so make an effort to make fewer dishes. Not only will the preparation be smaller, so will our waistlines. Another option is to prepare as much ahead of time as you can. Slow cookers can be used to make all kinds of foods, even desserts. Many things can also be made as "freezer meals" and stored for weeks before re-heating them. The less actual cooking you need to do on Thanksgiving, the lower your stress levels will be.

4. Family harmony - While you can't make everyone happy, there are ways to promote a peaceful, relaxing dinner. Use place cards to put the people who tend to bicker further away from each other during dinner. This will help alleviate some of the tensions.

5. Be thankful - Simply taking the time to be thankful for all your blessings can reduce your stress level. Before everyone arrives, take the time to list all that you're thankful for over the last year. Have everyone share their blessings before dinner. Having a better attitude will help everyone enjoy the day more.

Stress doesn't have to ruin the holidays. If you stop to smell the turkey, and plan ahead, you can have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Planning and organization, while not great fun, can help you enjoy things later once all the guests arrive.

Steppin Out to Grow

Stepping out of the WAHM comfort zone

As a WAHM, you probably have your circle of WAHM friends that have locally or online. They share in your successes, offer advice when you get stuck and listen when you have a bad day. They understand your life as a work at home mom.

However, to grow as a person and a business professional, you may want to step outside of the WAHM comfort zone once in a while. You may be asking “Why on Earth would I want to do that?” Well, there are lots of reasons.

Even if you have been able to conduct all of your business online so far within the WAH world, why should you ignore the business in your own ‘backyard’? Check your local paper for the times and locations for meetings of business networking groups or call your local Chamber of Commerce and find out when they hold their meetings. Let’s say you go to the next meeting and there are 30 people there; statistics show that the average person knows 250 people…. Well, if each of those 30 people in your networking group knows 250 people, who knows how many of them may need your product or service?

By showing up regularly for meetings and events, you will get to know the other members. The conversation will eventually lead to the subject of what each of you does for a living. When they, or someone they know, are in need of your services, you will be the first person they think of to ask for help. Likewise, when you are in need of something, you will have an established list of contacts that will be more than willing to help you out!

Plus, these networking groups often have guest speakers and business seminars. Who knows? You may end up picking up some tax tips or learn some community news you wouldn’t have heard about while surfing an online WAHM forum.

In addition, these events give you a reason to get dressed up and get out of the house, and sometimes that is the only reason you need to go to them!

Blog Energizer is finally here!

Today is a very good day for blogs and bloggers everywhere. Lynette Chandler has finally opened up Blog Energizer to the public and you can sign up for your free account right now.

Lynette has been giving away great resources leading up to this highly anticipated launch. I can't wait to take advantage of the great ideas and information to improve my blogs.

Blog Energizer is a unique resource that gives members valuable opportunities to fill their blogs with content, drive traffic and more.

With a basic account (it doesn't cost a thing) at Blog Energizer, you get access to:

- Freebies you can give away on your blog
- Blogs that are looking for guest bloggers.
- Bloggers who might just want to write for your blog.
- Podcasts that are actively looking for people to interview.
- Traffic boosting ideas for your blog - and more.

In minutes you'll be ready to fill your blog with all kinds of great stuff.

Don't wait go now to Blog Energizer and sign up.

Blogging Idol

One of my twitter friends wahmsuzanne is participating in Blogging Idol 2.

Suzanne is very creative in her attempt to win this contest, she is giving away seats to her Blogging for Bucks Bootcamp (which will launch in Dec) just for subscribing to her blog reader here. She has sent out video requests from some of the top "Guru's" looking for comments and support for her in the Blogging Idol 2 contest. Suzanne is always up for new and ingenious ideas to promote her blog and journey to win Blogging Idol 2.
Those of us who are supporting Suzanne will be notified of when and where to vote. That part hasn't started yet.
While you are there you might want to check out her great articles about working at home.

So let's get out there and vote for Suzanne Franco ~ the Next Blogging Idol.

WAHM - Do you have what it takes?

What it Takes to be a Successful WAHM

Being a work at home mom can be one of the most satisfying things you can do with your life. You will be able to spend time with your family and have the opportunity to create a successful business. It takes a lot of work, maybe more than you realized when you first started out. Here are some tips on how to keep going when things get tough.

There will be days when you feel like giving up. Don’t give in to those feelings. Success is not found overnight. You are going to have to put in a lot of time and effort when it comes to building your business, but you can do it. It is ok to take a “mental health day” once in a while, but when that day is over, you need to get up and start working again.

Stay motivated by hanging up pictures of your kids near your computer or phone and writing down what you want to accomplish by working at home. Maybe you want to pay off credit card debt or save for retirement or buy the kids a pool. Whenever you feel discouraged – read what you wrote down or look at the pictures of your kids. It will inspire you to keep working!

Try to find a mentor – someone who has already found success in the work at home field you have chosen. They know exactly what you are going through and can offer advice when you ‘get stuck’ on something. They can also help keep you accountable when it comes to your goals.

If you haven’t taken the time to write down your goals, take the time now. By having your goals written down on paper you will have a clear definition of what you want. Once you have them on paper, take a closer look at each one and write down specific action steps you can take now to achieve them. For instance, if your goal is to build a website, what are three things you can do today to accomplish that? Keep looking forward toward your goals and you will find yourself achieving success!

For more help check out WAHM Success Blueprint