Suddenly *Not So* Single Journey

Greatest giveaway ever!

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

So, we all know how I love my giveaways.  I love hosting them.  I love entering them.  And I love sharing them.

Kind of.

I guess I’m hoping all this selflessness will help my karma.  That’s why I’m telling you all about this amazing giveaway.  If you follow me on Twitter or Like me on Facebook, then you already know.  I’ve been chattering about it.

The way I look at it, it’s the holiday season once more.  It’s time to get hot and heavy into shopping.  And for those of us on a limited budget, there is no better way to extend our hard earned dollar than by winning items to give to those we love.  I do it as often as possible.  I’ve been able to get some really cool things through the years.  Yes, blogging and entering contests has saved me a lot of money.

So, there are 400 bloggers working together to make you away of the 25 Crazy Dayz of Giveawayz being hosted by Simply Stacie, Makobie Scribe, and Sassy Mom in LA.  Enter on those sites for the main prizes, unless you aren’t interested in a Macbook Air, iPad2, or Visa gift cards.  Nah.  Who needs all that?

Then there are links to 136 other blogs that all have giveaways of at least $25…most are much higher.  And the Rafflecopter form that they all use is super simple.  No excuses.  Get entering.

You don’t have to do it all at once.  And you don’t have to enter every giveaway.  I try to stick to the main three and only enter ones that I really like, that I can think of someone instantly who would want the item being offered.  Who has time to enter 136 giveaways?  And if you do, good luck!  I mean it.  I have heard of people of who win a ton of sweepstakes…lots of money and prizes.  All it takes is the time and patience to enter.  That’s why I do it.  And I love the surprise of being told I’ve won things.  And I love getting presents in the mail.

So, have fun with this.  Get a jump on your holiday shopping.  And maybe get a little something for yourself.

Don’t forget, when they ask who sent you…me: Suddenly Single Journey.  It’s alphabetical.

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I’ve been thinking about the HCG Diet

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

I have to start thinking about some diet plan to follow as soon as I birth this baby.  It’s not simply vanity.  If I was vain I would have been thinner before I was pregnant.

No, this is about practicality.

If I weigh less, I will have more energy.  And if there is anything an almost forty year old woman is going to need after having a baby, who will then become a toddler, and then a full-blown child…it’s energy.  Oh, and fitting into my clothes and looking all sexy would be nice, too.

So, my exploration of potential diet plans have begun.  See, I plan to nurse.  Because of that, I can’t take pills or potions that will mess with my nervous system and leak into the milk supply.  I can’t take anything unnatural.  I’m a food source.  Yes, I’ll transition from sacred vessel to food vessel very nicely.

And that is why I have explored using the HCG diet.  For one thing, HCG is all natural.  It is perfectly safe to take as a hormone that naturally occurs in the body.  And, more importantly, I will be able to eat normal foods while on it.  Lots of lean proteins.  Lots of vegetables.  I love my veggies.

There are three stages to the HCG Diet: the Loading Phase, the Stabilization Phase, and the Maintenance Phase.  During the loading phase, I have two days to eat whatever I want, as much as I want.  Sounds simple enough.  I’ve pretty much been doing that…forever.  Then during the stabilization phase, I have to manage my food intake and take HCG drops.  This is the part that will prove to be more challenging.

Ah, but to make it easier, there are four e-books that support the diet.  There is a recipe book, a book explaining the diet, tips for losing belly fat, and a diet kit book which contains calorie charts, sample meal plans, and pretty much everything I will need to support this endeavor.

Losing weight isn’t easy.  And even using this plan takes time.  Because our bodies are not meant to lose large quantities of weight all at once, those of us who may need to lose more than thirty pounds can expect to have to use this program more than once.  There is a six week waiting period in between the maintenance phase and starting up again.

Oh, but think of how good I’ll feel to be down thirty pounds in about two months.  Yeah, it will be a great start.  It might even be all I need.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

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I’m nuts for Sante!

Monday, October 10th, 2011

I recently left a post on Facebook about how one of the aspects of blogging that I love is getting free stuff in the mail all the time.  I mentioned that I get everything from books to nuts.  And on that particular day…it was nuts.

Always one to seek out healthier snacks, I’ve been trying to keep more cheese and crackers, more nuts and fruits stocked around the house.  I need convenience foods around the home.  I need to be able to keep working and yet feed the body good stuff.

And this is where the nuts come in.

Now, one of my chief complaints about nuts is that they are greasy, oily, and often waaay too salty.  I have to watch my salt intake or risk blowing up like a balloon.  Not an exaggeration.  I’ve done it.  And now I’m older, wiser, and more careful.

It’s hard to work when you have to stop and wipe your hands every few minutes to keep from leaving an oily film on the papers or the keyboard.  Who has the time for that kind of hassle?  Oh, not me.  And if you are anything like me, not you either.

So, I was thrilled when the package from Sante Nuts arrived.  In order to give me the best sampling opportunity, they sent me…everything they make: candied pecans, candied walnuts, roasted salted pecans, and garlic almonds.  I love when my job involves eating.  My belly hasn’t been this happy since a publisher sent me a box of butter wafers to eat while reading the novel.  (Books and cookies!  The best.)

Oh, but these nuts!  These aren’t like anything you can buy in the store…at least not in my grocery stores.  They are hand made in small batches so that they taste better.  There’s some serious quality control there.  Sara, the creator, uses family recipes that involve less oil, better quality nuts and pure cane sugar.  The result is an amazing product: candied nuts like no other.

And, this company is near and dear to my heart because Sara is a single mom.  She took a tragedy and turned it into an opportunity.  She had been a stay at home mom, but becoming a single mom meant that she had to earn an income fast.  Her son recommended that she sell the nuts she had been making them for snacks over the years.  The result is now a company that still believes in quality control and supports many other families as well.

Sante Nuts also has a really nifty website that includes recipes.  Just in case you want to do something fancy with your new nuts, you can use the product ideas.  I thought about it, but my nuts didn’t last long enough.  Sorry, Sara.  Next time I’ll do better because I have to tell you that Pear, Arugula, and Endive Salad with Candied Walnuts looked so yummy!

Oh, and there will be a next time.  And there could be a first time for you, too.  See, they have generously offered a discount to all my readers.  To get your 25% off, simply type in coupon code 2011-Blog-008 when ordering on the Sante Nuts website.  Believe me, you’ll thank me.

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We should have gone to Doolittle’s…

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

There are some experiences a mom never forgets.  Most of the time these are moments where emotions have run high.  Keenan’s first haircut was no different.

My son had a lovely head of big curly brown locks.  I loved them.  I had always wanted curly hair.  I had struggled with perms from a young age to achieve what for him came naturally.

It was Mother’s Day.  He was a year and a half old.  He wasn’t walking yet.  He couldn’t talk.  Such is the life of a preemie.  And we were all at our favorite mall in Victor, New York.  The ex sent me and Rachel to the pet store.  He was rather evasive about what he and Keenan were doing, but it was Mother’s Day, a day of surprises and special moments and not asking a lot of questions.

Rachel and I had been in the store for a brief amount of time when we realized that it just seemed weird that they hadn’t joined us in the pet store of all places.  So we set out in search of them.  And that’s when my day headed south.

They were at a salon, getting Keenan scalped.  He was crying.  And in all honesty, I’m not sure who shed more tears, him or me.  We hadn’t discussed getting him a haircut.  And the first haircut is supposed to be wonderfully sentimental.  I’m supposed to be taking pictures and collecting a lock for posterity of his downy baby hair.  Instead, I was speechless, ill-prepared and feeling incredibly and justifiably betrayed.  Gone were his curls.  I was devastated.

Haircuts aren’t supposed to be like that.  They aren’t supposed to be traumatic for mother and child.  They are supposed to be a happy memory.  If I had it to do over…he would have gone to Doolittle’s.  He would have sat in a big blue jeep.  I would have had a camera at the ready.  We would have been all smiles.  And I could have asked them to just take a little off the top, around his ears, and at the nape of his neck instead of buzzing him altogether.

And now, because of Juice in the City, moms can have the special memory I lost out on.  Buying this $21 deal for $8 means that not only are you getting a bargain, but you are getting a happy memory.  These stylists work with children all the time.  They are trained, prepared, and patient.  They know all the tricks in the book for making it a positive experience, instead of one that just might result in therapy…for both mother and child.

*sigh*

Keenan still speaks to me, but he never has taken to getting his hair cut.  And I don’t push him.  Teenage boys get a lot of leeway these days.

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Double, Double: A book review

Friday, September 30th, 2011

I get a lot of books.  The bulk of these books are for free.  Shoot, aside from the closing sale at Borders, I haven’t paid for a book in two years.  Blogging has spoiled me like that.

My most recent freebie was Double, Double, by Cameron Herald.  It is a business book, intended to help companies double their revenue and profit in three years or less.  And this man is qualified to write it.  Unlike some of the other so-called business book authors, he has actually built businesses, put these strategies to work, and experienced great success.  You may have heard of a little company called 1-800-Got-Junk?  Yup.  His.

Now he works as a business coach and mentor.  And he’s good.  I can tell.  His book was awesome.  In fact, I intend to recommend it to everyone out there trying to grow a business.  It couldn’t have arrived at a more timely junction in our life.

As you know, we’ve been trying to grow our business.  And for us, doubling our revenue wouldn’t take much.  2010 was a bust.  We did only a couple of meager jobs.  I remember installing a sliding glass door.  I remember finishing an office.  I remember a roof.   I would have to check the files, but it seems like that was pretty much it.  Hard to feed a family on that.

Well, we have already doubled this year.  And the year isn’t over.  We are going to end in the black…for the first time.  Still, that isn’t enough.  We need more.  And so when I had the opportunity to read and find out what worked for other companies, I was dying to soak in the knowledge.

What I loved about this book is that it is a true resource.  Unlike some books that merely whet the appetite and leave the reader wanting, this book was incredibly comprehensive and detailed.  There are websites listed as resources to help with things like outsourcing projects.  There are ideas for how to grow, company meetings, creating a company vision, and even how to interview for when it comes times for expansion.

We are there.  For the first time in our company’s history, we have had employees…besides the two of us.  We have sub labor.  And they are good.  Mostly.  We are ironing out the kinks.

What I felt reading Double, Double was not simply that these were good ideas and suggestions, but that I could walk away from reading and apply these techniques and strategies to my life and our company.  There are tips for the one thing that I struggle with most: balance.  I get sucked into social media.  I can spend all day Tweeting and Facebooking, and emailing.  The problem is that it’s only a small part of my job.  And lack of balance means lack of progress.

We can’t afford that right now.  Timing is critical.  We have big dreams that I now feel confident to put into practice.  S and I have begun having daily meetings.  He has daily meetings with the crew.  We are trying to treat this like the big company we hope to become.  And by implementing more and more of the suggestions and strategies in the book, I know we will get there.  We’re using his methods of goal setting, and I can’t wait to get my iPhone to install the apps he suggested.  I’m a technophobe no more.

With any luck, I’ll be writing Mr. Herold in a few years to tell him what an amazing impact Double, Double has made on my life and our business.  So far, so good…and we’ve only just begun.

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Tiny Prints Holiday Cards!

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

I found my holiday card!

When one of the members of the Yahoo! Mother Board put out a feeler for any bloggers interested in writing about Tiny Prints holiday cards in exchange for Tiny Prints holiday cards, I jumped at the opportunity.  First of all, I love offering support to friends and colleagues.  Second, I love holiday cards.

Oh, you wouldn’t know I love holiday cards based on my track record.  I have forgone the holiday cards for several years now.  I had a hard enough time mustering holiday cheer, let alone spreading any.  And I most certainly didn’t have the funds to purchase then send cards.  Such is the plight of the underemployed single mom.

Ah, but my life is different now.  I’m working on my year of firsts.  I’m getting my giant do-oever.  And so far, it has been pretty spectacular.  I have cheer to spare.  It isn’t even holiday cheer.  It’s daily cheer, happy to be alive cheer, thrilled with my life cheer.

So, when I first began to peruse the Tiny Prints holiday card collection…I was overwhelmed.  There are so many pretty cards in so many wonderful styles, I had no idea how I was going to find that one card that would stand out as the perfect card to represent our new family.  It seemed like such a daunting task.

There are some really cool concepts, like the flip cards, where the picture can flip from one side to the other while open and on display.  There are ornament card, which I thought were really neat, since so many people don’t know what to do with cards, these come as ornaments to display and keep.  My family would love them!  Then there were the cards that were photo collages.  Since most of my family is so far away, it’s nice to be able to send them pictures…lots of pictures.

Still, I felt like we had to find the right message, in the right color.  We would be sending these cards to friends, family, and customers.  I wanted warm and happy.  I wanted the perfect reflection of us.  And I found it.  It suddenly spoke to me.  Find the one that speaks to you by visiting Tiny Prints.

You can order in quantities as small as ten.  They offer so many options for personalization that you can’t help but get precisely what you wanted.  Have fun with it.  I sure did.

Oh, and any advice for me?  Obviously, I’m a little rusty with this holiday card thing.  I’ll take all the tips I can get.

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Slave Less, Say YES: DIY Beauty GIVEAWAY

Monday, September 26th, 2011

It's magic!

This morning was rough.  All Mondays are rough.  Ah, but my morning was made a little less rough by one simple fact: I didn’t have to shave my armpits.  And this little time saver I owe to Silkn SensEpil.

See, I was sent their do-it-yourself handy dandy home laser hair removal system for free.  And I put it to some good use right away.  I had once had a discussion with some of my friends.  We had pondered if we could have on area of our bodies lasered, what would it be?

It was a tough question.  Other than the hair on the top of my head, which we all know I have a love/hate relationship with anyway…I’m pretty much content to lose the rest of it.  I grew up self-conscious about my dark arm and leg hair.  I started sneaking my mother’s old razors to dry shave my legs and avoid teasing when I was about ten.  Girls are mean.

But if there was one area that I wanted to remove the hair from that I thought would be a huge time saver, it would be my armpits.  What a stupid place to grow hair.  And some days it just seemed like my razor was never sharp enough or my hair was a bit wiley or I just completely sucked at shaving.  I felt like I had a five o’clock shadow at any time of the day or night.  And who wants to be that self-conscious

So, when that magical box containing the Silkn SensEpil arrived, I quickly read through the instructions and went to work.  Yes, you must read the instructions.  Honestly, who would want to take a risk with their skin and a razor completely untrained and uneducated?  I figured they had these spa technicians doing it for a reason.  And one of those reasons is that it isn’t easy to do it to yourself.

Oh, I imagine the legs will be easier.  I’ll let you know.  I think the problem is that it’s hard to see into your arm pit.  At least it is for me.  So, there was a mirror.  And a teenage daughter to laugh at me and get lasered, too.

We decided the pits would be perfect because they were a small area to practice in.  The process went very quickly.  And it would be highly irresponsible of me if I didn’t tell you what to expect.  We did Rachel first.  I’m smart.  There is a popping sound when the laser fires.  And then the area gets hot for a moment.  The skin may get a bit pink, if it is in a sensitive area, but it goes away relatively quickly.  I’m convinced that the legs will be easier.  Not only will I be able to see better, but they aren’t as tender as my armpits.  And one day…I’ll never have another ingrown hair.  Ahhh.

A few tips.  Don’t look at the light.  This is common sense…but..really.  Don’t look at the light.  And wait about a week or so in between treatments.  Not only does it give your skin time to recuperate, but it also gives you time to see what’s working and where you need to devote more time and attention.  The hair will get thinner.  And then it will just kind of fall out altogether.  This doesn’t happen in one treatment.  Given the growing cycle of the hair, it could take a good year of periodic treatments to ensure that it’s all gone.

Oh, but it is so worth it to never have to worry about ingrown hairs or having time to shave or being self-conscious about missing a spot.  (I always do.)  It is so nice to remove hair permanently for a fraction of the cost of going to a spa.  It is just incredible to be able to do it from the comfort of your own home and on your own time schedule, not when an office is open and you can get an appointment.

If you want to experience the magic that is Silkn SensEpil, they are giving a special offer to my readers.  From now until December 31, 2011 they are providing a coupon code for shopping on their site.  There is a minimum purchase of $200, but the discount is for 20% off Silkn SensEpil Products.  Use coupon code “Beauty20.”

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Starting a small business and the lessons we’ve learned…

Saturday, August 27th, 2011

Carolina Home Enhancements

Not everyone is meant to work for someone else.  At the same time, not everyone is meant to run a small business.  That is the first and most important lesson.  I knew that from working for other companies for so many years.  My almost husband knew that from working with his father in a mostly independent fashion.  It wasn’t such as stretch when we decided to branch out and start our own exterior remodeling company: Carolina Home Enhancements.

Being your own boss is incredibly cool.  There’s no one telling you what to do all the time.  (Okay, maybe the almost husband tells me what to do a lot, but who can blame him?  We have a lot riding on this.)  And while that seems like a huge plus, if you aren’t motivated, then there’s no one there to motivate you.  This motivation has to be something intrinsic.  Yes, the power comes from within.

When you fail, there’s no one to blame.  And when you are first starting out, even if it is a great idea, there’s a good possibility that you will fail.  The odds for success, in all honesty, are not in your favor.  Most small businesses do.  If you are starting on shoestring, meaning low on capital and even lower on savings, then the odds are even greater.  We didn’t have any back up money.  We had work one day and then the work dried up.  It was a situation where we decided we had to create our own jobs.

There are expenses associated with doing business that most people never anticipate.  For some, these costs are overhead, for others, the cost of doing business.  Money must be spent on advertising.  Even if you have the best business in the world, unless people know it’s out there, it doesn’t matter.  Money must be spent on a website, unless that happens to be one of the skills.  It doesn’t matter how far removed your business is from being web based, even brick and mortar businesses need web pages and web presence.  That means SEO.

We decided to reach out to our computer guru that I had been working with writing SEO articles.  We struck a deal.  Never underestimate the power of barter.  It is a valid form of currency for those that know how to use it.

There are loads of companies out there promising to get a new website instant ranking.  Sure.  In theory it is possible.  In honesty, the best way is through systematic creation of back links and social marketing efforts like Twitter and Facebook Fan pages.  What is most important is that people not only know your business exists, but that they are also able to find you.

That’s why you need to have a phone number.  Even with emails, most people want the comfort of human contact.  And when we decided to update our website, at the suggestion of the computer guru, we decided we needed vanity numbers that would link to our existing phone and build our brand.  That’s why our last four digits are: 4CHE.  Brilliant, huh?  I came up with that.

Our phone is finally ringing.  All of our efforts have finally started to pay off.  And my almost husband/business partner/boss is pleased with our efforts.  It’s all about honing in on the talents you bring to the table.  I use my words.

This post was sponsored and was in behalf of Grasshopper.com, a company that sells toll free numbers for businesses.

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Taking a coffee break…

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

The kids are about to go back to school….tomorrow.

Honestly, I can’t wait.

They’re practically grown so it’s a completely different scenario from when they were younger.  When they were younger, I agonized over the first days of school.  I worried about them getting on the right bus, actually making it home.  I worried about them having friends and liking their teacher.  I wanted school to be a positive experience.

Now, I want some time to get my work done more.

Really.  When they are out of school, it seems all I do is run the roads.  I run them to friends.  I run them to work.  I run them to the doctor.  I’m on the go constantly.  It was one of my working from home fears.  My fears are rarely unfounded.  Give me a potential scenario and I can figure out how it’s going to play it with my clan.

There are times I need a moment of peace to recharge, to get work done uninterrupted.  So, when I saw the latest Juice in the City Deal, I knew that it was perfect not only for this mom, but for moms everywhere.  We all know by now that J.K. Rowling spent all her time at a coffee shop writing the Harry Potter series, at least to begin with.  And there’s good reason for that.

Going to a coffee shop is the equivalent of going to an office.  If you’re home, people will find you.  If you are gone, it’s as good as going to work.  And I can work at a coffee shop for hours.  It’s far superior to the library.  Can you imagine me being quiet and away from food for any length of time?

Right.

So, when I have a chance to run away to a coffee shop to get work done, I do it.  Yup.  Lake Wylie Coffee House beckons.    Sure, it may be the only coffee house in Lake Wylie, but it has so much to offer.  Like ice cream.  That could draw me in no matter what.  And it has real food.  There are gyros, sandwiches, pastries and more.  That’s food for the soul all day long.  I could put in a solid eight hours there.  Yup.  I’d get work done and my belly would be happy.

Guess where you’ll find me celebrating my newly reclaimed freedom?  Lake Wylie Coffee House, here I come!

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