Two day’s a week I’m not technically a WAHM. I drive 1.0 hour to a J-O-B and 1.5 hours back home (traffic). That’s 5 hours of driving per week. What a goldmine for listening to webinars on podcast!
The upside – I’m focused and really listen to what they are saying, plus it makes the time go much faster.
The downside – I have to count on my memory for actionable items, because I can’t take notes. Yes, I have a voice recorder, but that’s what I’m using to listen to the podcasts. It’s a great little device – plugs directly into my USB port as an external drive – no cables or special drivers needed.
Now, what should I DO with all this newfound knowledge? Hey, that’s the fun part!
Years back, I took the Myer’s Briggs test. I’m an ENTP. As I age, I’m becoming more of an ENFP. But the E, N and P are not budging.
While it’s great for brainstorming and free thinking, I have a tendency to listen to the little “but what if…” voice inside my head. Now that voice doesn’t mean any harm…it’s all about improving the idea. But at the end of the day, it can stop you from launching something when it was already good enough.
A friend nailed it today when she told me “pencils down.”
Now, let’s DO this!
Every now and then I wonder what would happen if I just deleted my Facebook account, Twitter ID’s, blogs, forum, and LinkedIn profile. Would anyone notice? Would I regret it? I think about that when I’m feeling overwhelmed with too many things going on (like now, for example). 
But something really struck me today. I saw on Facebook that another Stager I know via the Internet passed away last week. No, I never met her, but we interacted on Active Rain and we ran in the same e-circles. She was only 55. Her wall was filled with kind words from many like me who never met her, yet felt as if they knew her.
Will I delete myself online? No. It’s something bigger than a place to express yourself. It’s a place to be a friend to others.
I’m so excited. I just ordered a new laptop to replace my aging, heavy-breathing desktop. It’s powerful – lots of stuff inside to make it faster and better. But I’m most excited that it has a back-lit keyboard. Now I can blog in the dark. Too cool.
It’s also the first NEW computer I’ve ever bought. I’ve lucked out in the past buying them from companies I’ve worked for when they go off the service contracts. But a computer is not like a car, where it’s not a bad thing to have someone else “break it in” and get that first ding on your behalf.
This will be the longest “three-to-five business days” I’ve ever experienced. 
Meanwhile, I need to find the time to prepare my files for the big move. Lots of cleanup needed!
Today was Mother’s Day. It was a good one:
- I got to drink OJ and coffee in bed.
- Went to Friendly’s for breakfast and I got to go to the bathroom by myself.
- I got time to upload my latest “Your home, only better” blog post.
- I took a nap with my 5 year old.
- I went to the grocery store alone.
- My hubby vacuumed my minivan and put gas in it for me.
- My family gave me potted flowers rather than cut flowers (Geraniums, my favorite).
- Complete strangers said Happy Mother’s Day to me. (Trust me, this is big for Connecticut!)
- I talked to my mom on the phone.
- I cried when the kids gave me their hand-made gifts.
Thanks for such a wonderful Mother’s Day. Ok, it’s over now. Time to go fold laundry and wash the dishes.
I’ve either lost my sanity, or I’m about to gain it. Let me explain. When I began my “j-o-b” I hired a cleaning lady again. I’m now letting her go.
Why? Aside from the fact she uses too much water on my hardwood floors, I’m just too darn inconvenienced.
Do you realize how much work it is to get the entire house picked up at one moment in time? And then to have her running around the house cleaning while I’m trying to get the kids ready for school, and to hear vacuming in the background as I work? Plus, it only stays clean for about 25 minutes…then it’s back to “normal.”
It’s just too much! Plus my 9 year old wants to earn money by doing chores (we’ll see how THAT goes).
And I actually don’t mind cleaning. It’s exercise, and you get instant results (both physically and environmentally). I’ll put on my tennis shoes and crank up some Chaka Khan and do it up big!
Funny thing…I expected a big “kudo’s” from hubby when I sprung the news on him, but instead got a “that seems fair…I mow the lawn myself.” {Sigh}
While I was going to tell her this morning (she’s there right now) I had to come into the office today and didn’t think it was smart to give her the boot then leave her alone in our house. I’ll just call her later today to “break up.” Is that a cop-out? I don’t think so. But I might use the “It’s not you, it’s me” approach. It’s pretty handy.
So how long do you think I’ll last sans house cleaner? When I’m knee-deep in dirty house, I’ll come back to read this.
There are times (many in fact) when we want to make a little change in our routine to improve our lives. Exercise more, eat better, spend more time with the family, take vitamins, implement a new initiative marketing initiative, try a new email vendor, and so on. The list list is as long as it is varied.
But there’s nothing more difficult than a tweak to an established routine. It sounds simple…a little change here or there to make your life a little better. But it’s too easy to fall back on old, comfortable ways because we can do it without much thought. Like autopilot.
Big changes, on the other hand, are much easier. Move, change jobs, drastic new hair cut, surgical nip or tuck, have a baby, buy out a business partner, adopt a puppy. You get the idea. They create momentum. They stop our cached patterns of thinking and force you to think differently. It’s not as easy to rely on your autopilot.
Nonetheless, I think I will try to eat better and start exercising right here in my “as is” life. Oh, and also I’m going to be more diligent and creative in my email marketing efforts. Wish me luck!
by Susan on April 29, 2010
Sometimes you’ ve just got to roll with the punches. I had given an interview to the local paper for my day J-O-B, and they wanted to take my picture to go along with the story. I gave them my availability for the week, but that I’d be at my home office. I was waiting on date/time confirmation.
Well, in the middle of the day, my doorbell rings. It’s the camera guy. I had no idea he was coming that day. I was wearing a black Nike t-shirt and capri’s. My office was rather messy, with notes from my kids written all over the grease board (mostly “get me an iPod Touch please”). Thankfully I had made the bed (the office is off my bedroom).
So I politely excused myself, threw on a “business costume” consisting of a white blouse and black pants, spritzed my hair and put on some lipstick. I did a quick pick up of my office and erased the grease board. I was like superman in a phone booth.
He took a lot of shots (please let at least one come out ok!). Later on, I realized that I was not wearing any jewelry. Oh well. It is what it is.
As soon as he left I changed back into my WHAM clothes and got busy again. That’s when I’m the happiest and most productive.
by Susan on April 28, 2010
I declare today to be a great day. Why, you ask?
- I’m building a Wordpress blog for my “j.o.b.” today. And yes, I’m as giddy as a kid who spots the ice cream truck after soccer practice.
- I’m working from my home office rather than the inconvenient one provided for me far, far away. Which means I’ll have more time to actually work (vs drive) AND be much more productive!
- My groceries will be delivered this evening via Peapod. It doesn’t get much better than that! Especially since “my” grocery store closed (darn economy) and I’ve been wandering the aisles of a new store with remarkable inefficiency – like a lost soul.
Sometimes it’s the little things that can set the tone for the day! So go ahead… declare your day to be great. I dare you!
by Susan on April 25, 2010
About a year ago, I set up a blog/site for the church I was attending. Essentially, it was a free hosted Wordpress.com site mapped to the church’s URL.
Why go that route? Because it gave them a web presence using their own URL for only $30/year, while leaving the door open for switching to a more robust self-hosted platform whilst keeping their domain static. (Oh goodness, I just reread that sentence and realized what a geek I really am!).
I had been doing all the updates, but the time had come to pass the webmaster duties to the church secretary, so I prepared a training agenda for her and a couple other interested folks at the church. They were starting at square one. None had even heard of Wordpress. We huddled around an old PC with one of those old-fashioned deeper-than-it-is-wide monitors and navigated our way through an outdated version of IE.
We started at the very beginning. What is a blog? What is Wordpress? What is a page vs a post? And so on. With each step, we built upon what they were learning, and they were getting it.
I was so excited to see that look in their eyes as they were understanding how it worked. Not only were they learning how to use the tool, but the more they learned, the more applications for the tool they thought of.
What started as a simple training session turned into the realization that I really get a kick out of helping people discover how to use online tools to move their business forward. It’s much more rewarding to teach them how to update the site themselves than to do it for them.
I guess you could say I taught them to fish. I could have continued to update the site for them, but by empowering them with the control, it motivates them to discover more ways to use the site.
I left them with a bit of homework, and a promise that we’ll meet up again in a couple weeks to go over any questions. I also challenged them to go the next level once they’ve got this part figured out. Add an email sign up box and consider social media.
Down the road, it would be great to see them graduate to a self-hosted site, but you’ve got to start somewhere. And domain mapping a hosted blog is an inexpensive way to get started.
As for me? I realized that I have a strong empathy for organizations who need help figuring out how to use the Internet for their businesses. I don’t want to just do it for them. I want to teach them how to do it for themselves. Hmmm. Something to think about.
by Susan on April 18, 2010
Strange. I carved out a bit ‘o time to write today, and for the first time…I had nothing. Yes. I had writer’s block. Usually I experience the opposite…lots I want to write about, but alas…no time.
I suppose it happens to everyone at some point. I’ll take it as a sign to chill out. I think I’m feeling a bit burned out at the moment. In fact, I even took a nap this weekend.
Sometimes I wish I was a “regular” mom who stayed home with her kids and focused only on the family. That’s a beautiful thing.
