Sick of…all the sick!

I think I have a sick house. I don't mean the people in it (although that is accurate), I mean my house is sick. Since the week of Thanksgiving someone in this house has been sick. We have had it all - flu-like illness that affects both ends (sorry), pink eye, ear infections, colds, runny nose, nausea, exhaustion, bronchitis, and each happened at a different time. As in…one…person…at…a…time. Yes, slowly like that.

Have you ever had to take care of everyone when they aren't cute right? It stinks - right? Then throw in a super sick husband. Yes…the husband is sick. After three days, I made him go to Urgent Care. However, we are on day four and work just wore him out, so he is asleep - at 8pm. While I am not upset, I am exhausted. I just know my body and immune system will collapse once everyone is healthy.

It will probably be on a Super Bowl Sunday and I will be left at home to sleep while everyone else goes to a party. :( Oh…wait - I need to keep up my positive attitude which has resulted in just a bad cold instead of all the other ailments that have worked their way through this household. Help me stay positive, people!

Oh…and tell me how your family is doing! Have a fantastic week!

Mad for Mimi

I learned something new this weekend! Then I tried using it! It is called Mad Mimi and you use it to help market your business! However, I can market more than my business with it! I have a knack for saying yes to far too many things and this might make some of those things easier. I think this might help me with some of my communication!

I find it interesting that with so many options for communication, we are constantly look for new more innovative ways to do it. Mad Mimi seems to answer some of the questions I need answers to when it comes to sending out my business (Rodan and Fields) information and tracking potential customer, but it also introduces some new and innovative ways to put together and disseminate information for newsletters I need to more regularly dispense. This will allow me to spend some time putting together information and then scheduling the emails to go out.

This does bring up an interesting issue...I am excited I found another way to communicate via email, but that means I am probably spending even more time doing that instead of what is absolutely most productive and successful: actual conversations in person or on the phone.

Do you find that we try to rely on social media too much? Do we try to not only increase business with it, but maintain friendships? What is the right balance?

I don't have that answer, but I do have an example of my very first Mad Mimi! More to come!

Time for Some Fun!

If you are like me, you made resolutions...promises...to do lists...a fresh start...a new beginning...whatever you want to call your ideas to start the new year. It is day 10, and I have to say...I am 50/50 at this point. I certainly won't be giving up on anything at this point, but 50/50 is not awesome and I prefer awesome!

I have decided this weekend will be a weekend of two things:
1) Having fun FIRST instead of worrying about the cleaning, laundry, and other "stuff" first.
2) Planning and organizing my obligations.

The first items will be incredibly difficult. Between two children, two dogs, a cat, and a husband, it is always the aftermath of a tornado, and this tornado is topped with a layer of pet hair. I constantly feel compelled to clean, pick up, wash everything, organize, de-clutter, vacuum, mop, dust, scrub...the list goes on and on and on. So to say I will put that second on the agenda and resist the urge to even quietly and surreptitiously do such things, is a huge statement. I hope I can do it!

The second will also be difficult. I think it might mean not only organizing my obligations, but potentially cutting some of the organizations within which I have gotten involved. I need to prioritize and determine how much time each obligation really needs and then determine if I can meet that need. Right now I am doing a little of a lot instead of a lot of a little. I know there are different philosophies on this, but I also know my family needs me and I need to make sure I am doing that!

So let's have fun this weekend! Here are some items we will do to have fun!

1) Go to Gymboree - done Friday night!
2) Do another activity outside the house - Paradise Park/Bass Pro Shop/other idea
3) Make cookies
4) Do a craft together - even get the 17 month old involved!
5) Sit down and watch some TV with my hubby to relax and veg out - getting done Friday night ASAP!
6) Have a dance party with the kids.
7) Chase the kids around the house.
8) Color.

I think that is a great list...fun with the kids! What will you be doing?



Rodan and Fields Skincare

http://rfsnwidget.rodanandfields.com/rfsn/view/101466

Working from home...

I think many of us talk about how we want to work from home. While it does sound interesting…working from the comfort of your own living room while making sure that dinner is cooking in the crock pot. Heck…you would even be around when the cable guy comes between 8am and 8pm (that is how long the window is - right?). I just know I would get distracted by the dishes that need to be done, dogs that should be walked, floor that is filthy, bathroom I forgot to clean, and the 1017th load of laundry I need to do this week.

I think we envision that working from home might look like this.

Not sure that is quite accurate, but I will plug my new business here because it does give you flexibility. I have decided that the year of 2014 is going to be the year that I build my Rodan and Fields Skincare business into an opportunity that I can share with others - but one that also pays off the school debt! Want to learn more? Let me know!

Day 6 of 2014...

We are six days into our new year and it seems a bit overwhelming. We are bombarded with specials, commercials, people all talking about making this change and that change. Our friends are posting these amazing and lofty goals on Facebook. To be honest, it feels like everyone is trying to out do the last person.

Are we in a competition with each other? I thought resolutions were supposed to be attainable and just for you? So, please don't comment that you are going to eat clean all year when you spend your days downing Whoppers. Don't throw out to the universe that you are going to run a marathon when you can't even get up and down the stairs in your house. Please don't tell me you are going to be supermom through some extraordinary act of balancing your career, fitness, faith, kids, husband, philanthropic endeavors, and fundraising all while sipping wine Saturday afternoon with the girls.

Okay...some of those previous examples might be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. People, can we just have some normal resolutions where we might make it to day 7 of the new year without feeling like a failure? Can we decide that we are making the resolution so it makes us, individually, a better person? Can we decide to do something important to us - not our friends on Facebook? I feel like we are concluding the week of bragging about the lofty goals we want to reach, while everyone knows you can't keep up the pace you set.

I love resolutions, but I hate failing at them. So, I have decided to be reasonable. I am not suddenly going to be super mom, eat perfectly, workout five times a week, or perfectly balance my responsibilities. I am not going to be able to get a monthly massage because it is good for me or drink green tea every day for its health benefits. I am not going to lose 20 pounds or organize my entire house.

What am I going to do? De-clutter a little bit at a time. Get rid of things I know I don't need. Get stronger by working out when I can. Try every day to prioritize appropriately so I can balance the best I can that day. Even that list sounds a bit overwhelming! I hope I can manage this...and I hope you can manage your resolutions! Here is to a successful 2014!

Baby it's cold out there…and I mean it is freaking COLD!

January is starting in slow motion! This weather is insane! Today we did make some snow ice cream (see previous post and link for recipe) and that was a blast. However, we are now in a deep freeze! A serious freeze. These temperatures are crazy!

How are you staying sane in this kind of weather? I don't even want to leave the house with the little ones. It is so much work to bundle them up, put them in the car, get into wherever we are going just so they can lose their minds and we need to leave! If you are a parent, you know what I am talking about! It takes so long to get the kids ready to leave, get them in the car, and then actually extract them from the vehicle that by the time you get to your destination it is nap time! So…we have stayed home!

While at home, I have tried to do a little work, but Rodan and Fields is the kind of business that works better when you can actually interact with people in person. I can do quite a bit through the computer, social media, and phone, but it is easier to explain and discuss in person! So…as a little plug, here is a little information about "winterizing" your skin!