Being authentic in CAbi

First I must apologize for that last post. It was rather boring and maybe a bit self promoting. Not really my style. Sorry to have put you through it. I wrote that post in answer to many questions about how my new job is going. Besides being a good career move for me, it apparently sucked all the humor out of my writing. I promise I will do better. I think I get kind of dry when writing about something I am successful at…it is so much more interesting to read someone’s epic fail, don’t you think? Isn’t that why we watch the news, to see that train wreck, to see that robbery, to see that person fall down while trying to get away with the money. I love Youtube and watching the videos of people’s horrible mistakes, I can get lost in that time vortex for hours! ( Tosh.O is HILARIOUS!! Granted, I can’t watch most of it because it is so completely gross, but I try. And I laugh until I my sides hurt.)

I am thinking it was the leaving out all the blunders and the failing down and the missed emails and the aggravated customers and the hurt feeling and crying at night that made that last post so boring to read. Yea, I am not quite ready to share all of that here. I would love to have someone join my team and share this great job with me, but they may not want to when they read about my kooky way of living my life. But I am just a bit kooky, that is who I am. I almost didn’t take this job because I am …let’s say, not always inside the lines. I thought that a CAbi consultant had it all together and looked so perfect and composed, pretty hair and shiny acrylic nails. That picture didn’t really look like me. But I thought I could fake it until I make it…or however that line goes. Well, I am not a good faker, I can fake something for like...a minute. After which I just burst out laughing and tell everyone I was just kidding. Then I take a huge breath because I cannot breathe when I am faking. Hence the above mentioned blunders and mishaps and crying. It is very difficult to learn a new job when you are not breathing.

The idea of selling women’s designer clothing did not attract me to this career path. That was just a huge bonus. What did draw me in was the promise of wonderful new relationships and of enriching current friendships. I love connecting with people; it is the connecting of our lives and experiences that gives my life meaning. But I found myself awake in the wee hours of the night, running over and over in my head, how I can I be this polished, put together, perfect consultant and still connect genuinely to other people?

Part of my training with CAbi is attending a conference each season. All CAbi consultants must attend The Scoop. This past July, 2,700 women came together to train with the leaders of the company, to be inspired by our wonderful president and co-founder, Kimberly Inskeep, and to celebrate the unveiling of the new Fall’11 Collection. The fashion show was spectacular. I was inspired. I was equipped with handouts and lectures. I wanted to be a WOA! (Woman Of Action!, our season theme)) And in the midst of this 3 day event, I received the most precious gift. Patricia from Charlotte spoke these words in my training class, “be yourself, be authentic “. These words just set me free! I could exhale, stop faking and breathe in all the goodness of me. She helped me to see that only by being true to myself and all that comes with my kooky self, could I be successful at this job. A most powerful experience.

But I still might get acrylic nails…they are so pretty!!

Fast forward 5 months...

When I began this journey with CAbi I had no idea I was going to fall in love with my new career path. I had a gut feeling that maybe I could be successful but there were certianly no guarantees and many risk. I had to step out on faith, make an investment of money and time, work for commissions in a retail business...durning a recession! What? I know!! But I just took one small step at a time and kept moving forward. And I kept praying. By the end of June I had closed 13 shows and I was scheduled to attend the CAbi conference(The Scoop)in Long Beach in July.

The first of August came and the Fall '11 season began. I had 7 shows on my calendar. I started averaging about 3 hours a day of focuses CAbi work time, althought my husband would say it was 24-7! I am making calls, sending email, reading information and watching training on the consultant website. I believe I have complete control over how successful this business will be for me. The more effort I invest, the better my returns will be. The returns and rewards from this work are not only monitary. In the last 5 months, I have started putting more effort into my appearance(I am wearing these amazing clothes!!), I am taking better care of myself and getting lots of excersize(I want to look my best in these amazing clothes!), and best of all, I am building relationships with some wonderful women.

At night when I say my prayers, I thank my Maker for this wonderful opportunity that has found its way into my life. I have a very grateful heart. I love my new career!

Monkey mind!

I had a sinking spell last night and this morning about CAbi. Several things a customer wanted to order for her cruise at the begining of May were back ordered. In the wee hours of the morning I was thinking about this disappointment and frustration. I was questioning the company and thinking maybe this is my "out". I do not have to do this. i do not have to sell CAbi. I can get out now with this great reason. Blame it on the company, not wait to fail epically on my own. Blah, blah, blah, MONKEY MIND!!! I just stayed with my crazy thoughts, breathing, letting them fill up the room. Then one by one I asked them to leave. "I have to work now so you guys have to go, get on out of here". And amazingly they all left . Currently, I am feeling energized by the challenges, I feel dedicated to the success of this company and my part in it. I have checked with customer, she adjusted her order, she is excited and she will have the things she wants for her cruise . So I am learning, always, about the tricks of the mind...breathe...whether the middle of the night, the wee hours of the morning, or any other time there isn't some worldly distraction, I must breathe and be kind to myself and not let my crazy mind sabotage my chances for success.

CAbi wants me!

After a long stretch of mulling it over, weighing it out, talking about it to all my precious peeps, I decided to make the investment and send in my application into CAbi. The application was submitted on line, it took me a while to get through all the questions, inquiries, and necessary info for them to ...decide if THEY WANT ME. What? I was not prepared for what hit me when I pressed the 'send' button on my computer. What if they don't want me? What if that one question I answered only made sense in my head, what if they think I am really not very bright...oh, the whirlwind of doubt was kicking up into a hurricane! Just breathe. Just trust. What ever is going to happen is going to happen. I can move forward in what ever that is. Why am I already moving forward? Stay in this moment of hope. Sit and stay, oooh, that is so hard. I want to immediately begin to prepare my heart for this tremendous dissapointment that is enevitable. Why can't I stay in the now, the place of " I hope I get this career opportunity." Period. Stay. Breathe. Like the crazy, desperate, insecure person I can sometimes embody, I pick up the phone and called my team leader for reassurance. Like a drowning person needs air, I needed her to give me some words of encouragement. And being the amazing team leader she is, she spoke the words I needed to hear, "Of course they are going to want you!!". I kept my panic to a minimum and waited out the week.
Seven days later, which was yesterday, I recieved the "Welcome to CAbi" email. OMG!! They want me. They think I am smart enough. They believe I can do this. "Yay me!!" I am elated, walking on air. I am ready to go to work.
To celebrate my journey into sales, fashion and all things surpressed while raising my children, I painted my fingernails for the first time in 12 years. Been too busy, or actually, never really saw the value in spending my time doing something to enhance my looks when there was/is laundry piling up. But yesterday, after substitute teaching 7th grade world history, I went to Sally's Beauty Supply. I bought some good polish in a wonderful shade of pink (CAbi pink). I came home and painted all ten nails. I relaxed and just sat still for 30 minutes. (This is something I NEVER do!)What a luxury. My youngest daughter was looking at me like, "Who are you and what did you do with my mom?".
"My name is Patty Dutcher, nice to meet you, would you be a doll and fold that laundry. I am waiting for my nails to dry."

Great new book, excellent read!

We were visiting my husbands family this past weekend. My youngest daughter wanted to use their computer and asked if I would stay in the room with her while she checked on her Face book account, what else!!? The computer is in my in-laws bedroom, so while my daughter was "updating her status", I looked over the books beside the bed. Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth looked interesting. I picked it up and began reading. Before I got through the preface, I was in love!!
This author writes in such a way that just kept me in the room with all her words. As fast as I was reading, I was turning down pages, writing notes in the margin and highlighting passages. I haven't felt this moved by a book since Eat, Pray, Love. by Elizabeth Gilbert.
The freedom I feel in conecting my head/mind to my body/arms/legs/BELLY!! is enough to make me jump up and down with joy!!
I am convinced that no matter your weight,if it 118, or 318, if you do not weigh as a adult, somewhere around what you weighed when you graduated high school, you are fighting with the scales. Grrr! So as I am exhausted with this fight, I find peace in this book. Ahhhh....it just makes sense to me.
Check it out and see if it makes sense to you.

the "it" factor

The road to this decision, the decision to join this sales team, has been an interesting one. Many highs and a few lows. Throughout my processing I have had an underlying feeling of disconnectedness. Selling women’s clothes just seemed a bit superficial, lacking some depth, meaning and purpose I am searching for in my life. If I am going to commit to a career, I want the career to represent who I am. I want to be proud of what I do, the company I work for, the people I work beside.

Susan, my recruiter and future team leader, registered us to attend a sales meeting in Greensboro on Tuesday of this week. I took Tuesday off from teaching and Monday night I prepared myself for this trip. I spent sometime thinking it through, writing down doubts and questions, concerns and goals. I spent some time in prayer. So many pieces about this job fit seamlessly into my life, many attributes about this career move felt so very right for me, and yet it was missing something. Do I really want to do this? As I drifted off to sleep Monday night, I prayed my little pryer: “Dear God, please be with me tomorrow. Please make me open to Your will in my life. Please don’t make this complicated, help me in a way that I can’t mistake the direction I am to go. I mean, make it really easy, really easy to distinguish the path I am to take. Remember God, I can be kind-of slow so make it very obvious for me. I love you. Thank you so, so, so much, God. Amen.”

In the meeting on Tuesday I was feeling great, it was a wonderful presentation. "This is what we sell", (beautiful clothes!!) "these are selling techniques"; they explained the financial portion in detail, it was all looking really great. I was waiting for the moment of clarity to hit me. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting. I just wasn’t feeling it.
As we headed toward the end of the program, my butt was asleep by this point, the presenter played a video about how this company gives back to the community and the world. The visuals flashed up on the screen, the melodic music was the perfect sound track for what i was taking in. This company does some amazing things, so many opportunities this company has taken to change the lives of so many less fortune people. Oh My Word!! I didn’t expect to be so overwhelmed. I began to weep, tears just welling up in my eyes. The giving spirit of this company was something I could connect with. This was the “it” factor for me.

At the close of the program a woman came up to introduce herself. I was not transparent in this room of women. As I began to answer her inquiry, I became speechless. I realized if I spoke one more word, I would begin bawling like a baby. I was overwhelmed with emotions. I was looking for exits to run to because I didn’t think I could get myself together. I began thinking; these women are going to think I am crazy if I start wailing. What is wrong with me! I was so emotional because I was terrified I was going to have to do it now, I was falling in love with the company, I was going to be apart of something that was making a difference in the world, and I was going to succeed.

As I left the meeting, walking to the car, I felt I was walking a bit talker. I felt an amazing peace and confidence I hadn’t experienced in years. I felt this way when I shared with my husband later that evening I was taking the position. I felt this way when I woke the next morning. I haven’t yet lost this feeling. I hope I never do.

Blessings of this beautiful Lenten season!

Going for it!!

I am starting a new career.
I am jumping in with both feet.
I am biting off more than I can chew.
I am inspired and encouraged.
I believe in my sacred faith in God and I must trust.
I am terrified of failure.
What if no one buys what I am selling?
I am not going to let the fear in my heart paralyize me.
I will be successful because I am trying something new.
I belive becoming is better than being.(anonymous))
Blessings abound for you and me.

This may not be for me...I am scared!

I am not sure this 'selling clothes' is for me. It is a great product and I know I can sell, but I am still left with an uneasy feeling.
Yesterday, I went to a show with the rep that is recruiting me. It was a very successful show. It went very well, Susan did an outstanding job, I learned many things. Last night I kept running the show over and over in my mind, trying to identify what it is that doesn't feel right. I have the green light from my husband, I have the support of my parents and family, the risk has been minimized to an affordable starting point. And yet I feel this hesitation? Is it that now that I have the freedom to make this decision on my own, I am looking at it a little closer. Am I nervous I have to really do it now? You know, I have sold the idea to anyone who would listen for a week now, going on and on about how I could make it work, how I would be a huge success. They have all said I would be great in this position. (How could they say anything else, I was standing right there!). But do I think I would be great?
It was interesting working with the women at yesterday's party. They were all new mom's in a neighborhood of huge, gorgeous houses. I was a bit intimidated, I felt old and transparent. I would have to say I can't remember the last time , or if ever, I have felt this way. No one in the room really could have care less if I was there. They didn't care who I was or what I had to say. They were into each other and Susan. Me? Not at all. So, I had a very humbling experiece.
Does this mean I do not want to do direct sales? Maybe. Am I scared to fail? Heck YES!! But I may want to still try it. It is an interesting morning, processing all these emotions.
Tomorrow, Susan and I travel to a recruiting meeting. I am still listening... and praying.

Scared to try something new!

I am busy these days thinking(and praying)about joining a friend of mine in a business of selling a line of designer clothes through home shows. I am very excited about owning my own business, selling and helping women look their best, and making some money! The company is amazing in the way they get you started and provide support along the way. My friend is recruiting me to join her team and I think it is a great oportunity for me. I can continue to teach during the day and do home parties at night. The thought of doing this makes me giddy, I am thrilled at the prospect of having something for me, something that is mine. After 13 years of stay home mom work, PTA volunteering, church work, play groups, I am ready for something new! I am spilling over, wanting to chat with anyone who will listen about this new adventure I am starting on. Of course, I am listening to hear their confirmation that I can, in fact be successful at this. So far, all have said, "go for it". I think of it all the time and how I am going to be a huge success!! Yay ME!! A dear friend of mine since high school who lives in my hometown, has been helping me with my decision. She is cheering me onward. So is my sister. and she says go for it! She also said she will host a party! She said she hasn't heard of this line and I believe if it was already in her town, she would have heard of it. I know several women who would like these clothes profesional women, and women married to professionals! It is a very classy line, upscale and outstanding quality. I am very impressed with the entire company and the protential for my success. I am going to a seminar next Tuesday in Greensboro to get the big pitch. My husband has been tough to sell on this idea because there is a substantal intial investment. We have talked and talked and will continue to talk, but slowly it is making sense to both of us for me to do this. Because my hubby is the busniess mind that he is, I have been doing reserch and getting all the info I can so I can answer all of his 1,000 questions. So far, I have been doing great, having all the answers and last night he said lets keep moving forward and see what they say on Tuesday. My biggest concern was if there were already many reps in the area. And the answer is: there are not, very few, so that is a huge plus. I can grow the areaa and grow my own team. I am so excited about this because it is an excellent product, it is not available to everyone,and I know I will be successful! I am very excited to go to work!!

Coconut oil

This is the best article I have read on coconut oil. And I have read many, many, many articles on coconut oil. This one has all the info in it and it is a fast read. I am such a geek that this just thrills me to read a healthy and delicious way I can live to play with my grandchildren!!

I am not really eating meat these days. I have decided I have eaten my fair share of meat in my 49 years, time to get off the stuff for a while. I have read a whole lot of articles, seen many documentaries on the meat industry, (check out "The MEATrix" for a cartoon overview,http://www.themeatrix.com/ I am not committing to the label 'vegetarian'. I still season my collards with beef bullion, like chicken stock to flavor my soups, but I am laying off the burgers and steak for a while, not craving any chicken either. The more I learn about how meat production is damaging our planet the less and less attractive and appealing it is to me. (Here are a couple fun facts to know and tell: Current bovine gas does more damage to the ozone that all the cars on the planet. Also, the only way we get colestorol in our bodies is by animal products.) Now, I am not ready to give up cheese and ice cream, it may be a while before the goat cheese is marked off my grocery list, but the meat I can live with out. Please understand, I am not a purist on any level. I have never quit anything, I just go long periods between indulgences. "Purist" and "quit" are such negative words, they conjur up images of nuns and other miserable people.
When I buy meat for my family, I purchase it from a farm down the road, Ray Family Farms. Is more expensive, no question about that. My solution is we eat less of it. Like Micheal Pollen says, "Pay more, eat less".
I eat alot more vegetables with rice and beans on the side. I feel better, my system 'moves' a whole lot better, and the grocery budget goes a bit further if I pass on the platter of meat balls.
Here are some of my food ideas: Replace your current cooking oil with coconut oil(see previous blog post on coconut oil). Add honey where you can, it is nature's energy drink. Don't eat buy process food, limit ingredience to only 5. Be mindful of the food you eat. I find praying over my food, thanking my Creator for all that took place for this blessing to show up on my plate, puts me in a more grateful state of mind. The more grateful, the more nurished, the more satisfing the eating experience is to me. Enjoy your food. Enjoy every bite, every taste, every smell, every color. The more color food has, the better it is for you. I wish I could find orange potatoe chips!!
Eat well, my friends.
(Sorry if I rambled, I am just so passionate about my food!! I am sure the experience of having my mouth wired shut after an accident a few years ago, has a little to do with my current passionate relationship I have with my lovely food!)

Sometimes I wish I was 28 again. Usually there is a song that takes me back to a time when I wore high waited, acid washed, pleated jeans, a big blouse, a wide belt, big earrings and really big hair. It is usually a song by Madonna or Micheal Jackson, or maybe The Tyme or Rick Asley that trigger this nostalgia. But sometimes it is a current song on the radio, one my daughters sing at the top of their lungs in the car on the way home from high school. A song by the Flo-Rida, "Club Can't Handle Me Right Now", is jammin' in my head all the time. I just love that song. I love it so much I want to dance to it in a club. Dancing with my sister and my girl friends all crowded on the dance floor. Sometimes I miss my younger days of late nights and exhausted days. Nights when we didn't even start to get ready until 9pm and eneded in the wee hours at a diner eating greasy burgers and fries. There was a whole lot of dancing in between. I loved all the dancing. I still love all the dancing. I just miss dancing in a club to my favorite song, playing so loud I can't think of anything else.
I am very happy at the age I am, I love my husband and my daughters, I love teaching and carpool, makng bread and jewelry, and all the things that make my life so rich. I just like remembering the good old days...and I think I could still hold my own on the dance floor!!

I am a little nutty for coconut oil!!

In my quest for healthier living(ok, vanity is my motivator, I want to eat well and look good), I have received an education along my way that has set me free!! And I have done my research, spent hours and hours of internet reading, the many documentaries I have watched, books I have read, finding all the information I can about the food I am so in love with. I could write for days and bore you to tears with all this info I have sifted through but I won't, I have to be entertaining and funny to keep you reading, right?
Coconut oil is the best oil for you, inside and out!! It is amazing stuff. When you eat it,(i smear it on my toast, I bake with it, fry with it, sauté with it) it is a fuel, absorbed into the lining of your stomach because it is a medium chain fatty acid. Here it is used for energy. Vegetable oils and animal fat are long chain fatty acids which are thicker and go into the intestines to be stored as fat. That is as clear as I can make it. It is this simple. In the 1970's and 80's we took coconut oil out the American diet and we all got fat from the healthier alternative.
This is a great website to answer your questions about this amazing stuff. You can just google coconut oil and find many, many, many sites to help you understand why it is so good for us. I feel I have read almost all posted articles, it is good reading!
I also use it on my skin, great for moisturizing and also for antifungal...great for dry feet, mine have never looked better!! This stuff is packed with protein that is great for your hair. I use in on my lovely locks and am thrilled with the results. I have had hair like straw since I started coloring my coarse, curly hair. Now, I have been using coconut oil on my hair and it is soft and healthy and shiny, for the first time in years!! Yay, coconut oil!
I am telling you, the more you read about it the more in love with it you will fall. I bought my current jar at Earth Fair and it cost about $1 an ounce, which to my husband seems outrageous. But when I explained how much I had been spending on moisturizer products and hair conditioners, plus cooking oil...he understood, plus he loved the way I cook with it so what is he going to say, really!!?
I found a great recipe for coconut/olive oil mayonnaise that I can wait to make...guilt free mayo, could life get any better!!
With joy and a thankful heart,
Patty

Decided the blog needed a face lift. My niece has the coolest blog... www.hmarsh.blogspot.com she is so talented on so many levels. She is new on the blog scene but her words have such ageless wisdom.
My 'Art Camp' was a blast! I believe everyone had fun. They all did beautiful work.
I will set it up differently next time. 3 projects on one, 3 hour period was a bit ambitious!
I have to get the pottery fired, that is tomorrow...
Going to get my daughters thier dramatic, summer hair cut/styes today. Could be fantastic, could be disaster...hmmm, lets pray it is the former!
1:30 pm showing of Eclipse. Can Not Wait Another Minute To See It!!!
Taking a bunch of kids with me, they better not ruin my experience. If they do, I will see it again, alone.
Spending this Friday night with my sister and two brothers. Just the 4 of us for the evening. I am so very excited about this eveing. Not sure we have ever done this before, without spouses or without kids. It will be lively and hilarious and thought provoking and healing, and did I mention Hilarious!! Us Hawkins know how to laugh!!
I wonder if I will ever go to the gym again? Rode bikes alot at the beach. Carrying some extra pounds...but loving all my new food!! Got get movin'!!
And I am off to the salon..."Mom, come on!! We will be in the car!!"

Dutcher Garage Art Camp for Grown Ups...Tonight!

Tonight is the night! I am very excited about how this evening will roll out. Funny how I do things. I just throw it out there, see who is interested, and plan from there. Well, I think I have about 10 girl friends interested and headed to my garage around 6pm. The pottery I feel the most confident about, I have taught this project to kindergarteners . The jewelry, that is a breeze. OK, my concern with jewelry is that they will want to make what I make. A friend posted that she wanted to make my ring...I hope she was kidding, cuz aint enough time to teach a jewelry making class in one evening...not that I am capable of teaching jewelry making. I am not really capable to teach art at all...I am just providing the supplies and space, and a little bit encouragement to allow for some creative expression. Hummm, tonight should be very interesting. I wish my niece was going to be here, SHE is the artist!!
My wish for tonight is that the mood is relaxed and light and my garage is filled with laughter as my friends let loose and get creative.

Dear food, we need to work on our relationship!

A friend was sharing with the other day about her struggle with her weight. “ I just love my food”, she said. I know just how she feels. My relationship with my food has been a struggle for my entire life. And yes, I believe I have a relationship with my food. It can make me happy, “Yay, cake!!”. It can make me sad, “awe, I wanted that second helping and it is all gone.” It can make me feel better, “ Mmmm, pasta!”. It can make me angry, “Dang, why does this spinach burrito have to taste soooo good!!??”. Food can be my dear friend but this relationship sure has its ups and downs.

For years I didn't pay attentions to the negatives in this relationship I had with my food. Few pounds on, a few pounds off. Round and round I went. I didn't give too much thought to the actual quality of the food. I just ate what tasted good. When I was trying to loose, I ate less of what tasted good and more of that other stuff. I would go back and forth, back and forth. The relationship was WORK!! I was let down and disgusted, happy and celebrating, riding the wave for a minute of a regulated weight, that lasted about 3 days. Up and down, up and down the scale.
In January of 2009, I changed the way I felt about my food. I changed the relationship I had with my food.. Like a bad boyfriend I couldn't shake, you know the one you kept going back to, even though you knew he was bad news, I had to make a change . I finally looked at what I was eating. There are some great books and movies exposing the mystery around the food industry, (Food, Inc, Fast Food Nation, Super Size Me, etc..) And as I was learning about all this awful stuff, I gradually began moving my eating in another direction. I had to break up with my old food. I saw it for the bad boy it was, I deserved so much better that the garbage I was eating. I love my new fresh food, it is wonderful. I am so much happier, it treats me way better. My system feels healthier. And my new fresh food feels so much my more satisfying that my old food. Now, I am still holding hands with cookies and cakes, I will make out with some dark chocolate pretty regularly. I love my food. It is just a much more healthy relationship.
Any food in moderation is fine by me. I like mine fresh and summer is here, yummy-do silver queen corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash...strawberries have already come and gone. Water Mellon is on its way in! Buying produce from the local farmers around here makes me happy. I wish there was a diary close by.
One last thing, Chobani Greek yogurt...OUTSTANDING stuff!! check it out: http://chobani.com/

Summer in full swing

I am unclogged and in the flow of the river. Heck, I am in the rapids!!  I have my oar over my head, a smile on my face and I am having a blast!! WOHOO!! Getting out of my own head and being involved and present for others has made such a drastic difference in my mood and overall happiness.


Summer is in full swing around my house.  Between traveling and swim team we are busy people, and loving every minute.  I am using some new strategies to motivate my girls and that has been HUGE!!  They are packing for trips, cleaning my house(score!!) reading library books and the biggest...getting along!!  One tip that has really made a difference is having them agree on a list of whatever needs to be done.  Wait, let me back u. First I have to determine what motivates them. Money is the motivator in this house. So we agree on what needs to be done. I offer $10 for a completed list. And here is the sweetest part of the deal...for every time I have to remind, follow up, interfere, navigate, nudge or otherwise get involved in what they have assured me they will handle, it is a dollar off the top. This has worked beautifully in my house, well, it has worked so far and we are 2 weeks in. We will see how long it last but for now it is a dream come true. Before we left for a trip last week, the girls and I agreed on their individual list and they had a time frame in which to complete it. By the time we got in the car to leave, they had each lost $10 out of the original $30 they were offered. I also threw in that they would be paying for their own food when we stopped to eat on the trip. This was an added bonus because they made much better food choices since they would be paying for it. The first few times there were shouts of “thats not FAIR!!”. But my reply took care of that, “ I made up this game so it is FAIR!!! and if you say that again it is another dollar off”. You could hear a pin drop. I will keep you posted on how this continues to work in my house.

For things to get done, it all comes down to motivation. Motivation and clear expectations. And also some money, and …. I just use what works for a while and then switch it up when we need a change.

Change is good.

Kids are out of school next week. 

 Heading to DC to visit family.

 Need to pay attention to my jewelry. 

Need to write that book. 

Need to get the girls to swim team practice.

  Teaching gym class the next 2 days. 

 Need to get flea meds for the pets.

  Want to finish reading my book, Sarah's Quilt. 

Youth Team meeting tonight. 

 Did I really agree to be PTA president next year?

  WHAT???  Are you kidding me???!!!

Eliza's marching in the high school band next year, gotta pay for camp...no flutes!

  Brooks and Dunn, Saturday night.  First concert for the girls. 

 My oldest is turning 14!!!  I thought she was turning 8. 

 My youngest is 19.  Math doesn't apply.  Neither does logic.  She is just much older than her years... 

Busy summer.  Busy summer. 

Richmond, DC, Wrightsville, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Kiawah Island, Greensboro, Davidson River, Asheville...

I will send a post card!

check this out...

http://readopenroads.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/winners-never-quit-or-do-they/

This blog post was forwarded to me this morning by my dad.  Great writing, powerful words.  These words blessed me, I hope they bless you.  Enjoy.

How old am I?

I walked in the post office yesterday and while I waited behind the woman from ScootWorks mailing 738 packages to her mail order customers, I announced to my friends who work there..."Sunday is my birthday!", "Happy Birthday!" rang across the small room. I smiled and with my hand on my hip, I said "I am making my age look really good!!". Lots of laughter followed.  I do enjoy the people at our small post office in Zebulon, they seem genuinely glad to be at work.  We were making such a racket, laughing and carrying on, we were told to be quiet by the boss lady behind the "partition"...  I can stir up craziness just about anywhere!!
Now, I am not sure that I truly am making this age of 49 look good, there are many women my age that look way better, it just felt wonderful to say it.  And in my head, I believe it.  I believe I am doing some good stuff to stay young or not age so quickly.  I want to be the best I can be in this moment.  Isn't what's in our own head all that really matters anyway? 

I am off to take my daughter for her first mani-pedi.  We are celebrating her passage into womanhood today, in perfect girlie style!!

Went on a hot date with my husband of 15 years, last night.  We went to see the new Robin Hood movie.  It was a great film, but the Robin Hood movie with Kevin Kosner is still my all time favorite film of all times...Maid Marian in the bell tower, screaming, "ROBIN!!!", best scene ever!!

Going to see "Wicked" with my sister and daughters tomorrow. Really looking forward to it.  I will post my review right here.

Have a wonderful weekend and get busy defying the numbers!!