In love

I totally fell in love with my son again tonight. From time to time, one of the kids will do something that simply brings me to tears. Tonight, it was Brady who stole my heart.

After running to me when I picked him up from school, he gave me the biggest hug... EVER. You know... the kind where you wrap your arms really tight around someone's neck? Then in the car on the way home, Brady innocently looked and me and asked, "Mommy, daddy cooking?"

Note to self: MOM. MUST. COOK. MORE.

Honestly, I think he said that because Chris cooked last night and I kept telling him that daddy was cooking. Mmmm hmmm... Yes, that's my story. :)

Then, when I asked for a kiss tonight... I got a bonafied, REAL lip smacking kiss. You know how when kids are little they put their mouth to your cheek and just go "Mmmmmaaaaah!" There's no smack... just a sound effect.

Well tonight, I got smack. It was THE sweetest moment of my day.

Kennedy's BFF(L)

Kennedy has totally bonded with a new friend, Kaitlin (seen here on the far left at 50s day). They play together, write notes to each other, they want to start a Book Club together.


Of course, it helps that her mom is wonderful. She's real. Very easy to talk to.



This week, we had Kaitlin in the car and they were discussing their friendship status. They decided they were BFFL. Best Friends. For. Life.

Sweet.

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Halloween!!

I love this time of year. It's getting cooler. The holidays are approaching. And winter snuggles are THE best.

Halloween kicks off the fall and we had a blast this year. Brady was just as much into Trick or Treating as Sissy.

She chose a ninja costume. B wanted to be his super hero Buzz Lightyear. I (reluctantly) decided to not coordinate their costumes this year. Turns out, it was best for everyone. No pouting!! Yay!

Our Hardy friends joined us for the neighborhood trick or treating. Dads stayed home and watched the game and drank beer... uh, I mean -- they passed out candy to the kids in our neighborhood.



The adults had a party, too! Midway to Mardi Gras party was 70s. Us girls and our husbands (who were very good sports) were the kids from The Brady Bunch. Can't you tell? Cindy, Marsha, and Jan? So fun....



And our porch needed some decor as well. Carved pumpkins and Kennedy's clown pumpkin from school. And yes -- those are deer antlers coming out of the head. Kennedy got those on her trip to the camp with Nina and Papa.


Happy Fall Y'all!!

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My life now

What a whirlwind this past month. I will upload photos from Halloween, Kennedy's 50's day at school and some other goodies... (now that I have a new camera battery charger).

My mom and sister have commented that I am just as busy, if not BUSIER, now than I was when I was at LSUS. Well, yes. I think it's true. The reason is that now, time is money. Being on a commission basis means ... no work = no pay. Having a salary allowed me to have a little downtime and it wasn't that big of a deal... cause I'd still get a paycheck. :)

So, if a client says they're interested in coming up with some gift ideas for their employees - I try to get back to them the same day, even if it's after "business hours." If I don't help them, they'll go somewhere else and I'll never get their business again!!

I am happy to report sales for the month at $50,000+!! Of course that wouldn't have been possible without leads from Jean.

So here are some misconceptions about working from home:

1. It's easy.

No... it is not easy. I don't feel like I want to sit on the couch now... but I do feel like if I don't take a shower first thing in the morning - it won't happen. There have been several days where I look up and it's 3:00 and Kennedy is coming home from school .... and I never even washed my face. There is just SO MUCH work, that I have to get cleaned up first thing.

2. I have more time now for other things.

Well, I make time. I could realistically just work round the clock, as I imagine many sales folks do. But I sign up for stuff at Kennedy's school, I volunteer to be the parent on the field trip. I agree to be Room Mom. ... because that's the reason I took this opportunity. I could fill my day with sales, but I force myself to step away. But I don't have much spare time... as you can tell from my very limited blog entries...

3. You can set your own schedule.

Yes... that is true. I do set my own schedule. But there is not a regular routine like before. I knew that I had to get up every day at a certain time, leave for work by a certain time, I'd work out certain days of the week, get home at a certain time, etc. Now - it's up to me. That takes TREMENDOUS will power... which is why I am not working out as much as I'd like.

Things are different since Chris and I both work from home now. We see a lot more of each other now, which has been good in some ways... and an adjustment in other ways. I do truly miss the daily conversations with co-workers at the office, particularly seeing my BFF every day and knowing every detail about each other's days. That has been tough to deal with..

But there is more time now for snuggles, more time for me to spend at Kennedy's school, I have been able to cook (a little), we play outside in the evenings more, I get to help Kennedy with her homework....

So while the transition has been bumpy, I think it's all worth it.

Random Recent Photos....

Our little Brady at a birthday party....



Cousins at the park!!

"Hey Mommy! Are you coming?"

Ohhhhhh myyyyyyyy... I snapped this picture of Kennedy at Old Navy. She was just too stinkin' sweet-looking. I'm not sure why she wanted to pose with this dog, but I just couldn't resist taking a quick pic.

Field trip with Kennedy and Mrs. Clark's class to Papa Simpson's Farm!

Fourth Half Marathon

I coached my dear friend Scott through his first half marathon today. It was my fourth and, by far the most fun race.

Maybe it's because there was no pressure for me to finish within a certain time.

Maybe it's because someone else was relying on me to help him through.

Either way, we had a great time. Okay... Let me rephrase that. I had a great time. I hope he will look back on it (after the achy knees and tender muscles heal) with satisfaction.

Congrats Scott!!


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Location:Tyler, Texas

An update... finally

So much has happened these past two months. I have no decent pictures to show for it because in the midst of this big transition in my life, I lost my camera battery charger. So, I promise to make up for it with a ton of photos this fall. It's going to be a busy one, but I'm excited about the changes underway.

I haven't had a chance to write because I have been working my way out of my dream job at LSUS into a work-from-home sales/marketing job. (Huh? What? Why, you ask?) One word: my kiddos. I am getting choked up right now just typing this.

Okay... here's the deal folks. I'm a working mommy for sure. I could NOT be a stay at home mom. I do not have that gift of patience. I like working. I always have. I always will. BUT - these past 18 months, and even more intensely these past six months, I was working 50 to 60 hours a week on the university's website. It was the largest project of my career, by far. I had many meltdowns, but she is a BEAUTY. She launched and I can honestly say that it was one of the proudest moments of my career. In fact, most of my "proudest career moments" have come from my job at LSUS.

So why leave?

Because with this job, I was on call non-stop. I rushed around like a mad woman in the morning to get everyone ready for work/school. When I got home from work, it was a mad dash to cook dinner. MOST nights, Chris cooked because he works from home. Then, 30 to 45 minutes of time with the kids before bath and bedtime routines and in the bed they went. For some moms, that's not a big deal... but I grew up having my mom at home everyday when I got home from school. She chose the stay-at-home mom route, which meant she was always there for us. I have always wanted that, but wasn't sure how.

Then at a dinner party for our dear friend Scott, I sat across the table from my college sorority sister Jean. I had mentioned to her about a year before that if she ever needed help with Cayenne to keep me in mind. She owns Cayenne Marketing.... AND Painting With a Twist... AND is opening a "Twist" in Bossier in 2011. Apparently she always remembered that I said I was willing to help her, so we began talking about me coming on to manage most of her existing accounts since "Twist" was taking up so much time.

After a few weeks of discussion with her and Chris - I decided that while I did NOT want to leave my dream PR job, I DID want to have more time with my kids. So, I bit the bullet and turned in my resignation. It hasn't been an easy transition. I gave four week of full-time notice at the university and reluctantly agreed to work part-time a second four weeks to help train my replacement. (Remember me? The one who can't say no? That's me...)

So I started Cayenne part-time while I wrapped up LSUS part-time... launched the university website, packed up my office and headed to my card table desk for this new challenge.

It is not luxurious. I do not have tech support. I do not have an administrative assistant to process paperwork. I don't have maintenance assistance. BUT - I do have this.............

Two pint-sized assistants willing to answer the phone for me, scribble all over my notes, play with my post-it notes, and reinforce this not-so-easy decision. It has been a VERY bumpy ride, but I know it will be worth it.

I've already been able to go with Kennedy on a field trip with her class, coordinate a project for her teacher Mrs. Clark, and cook dinner once or twice. (Hey - it's a slow process, okay?)

So to our family and friends who keep up with us via this blog, I apologize for not updating as frequently as I like. I will do better going forward..........