Look what I did today

I was outside! I was not sitting in front of my computer all day working. Today, Friday, is supposed to be my day off. It hasn't been for a while. Well, today, I took some time off. I went outside. I took my kids to the beach. I enjoyed the beautiful, Hawaiian day.



Yes - those are my daughters in the water above.



Blue skies! Very little clouds - none in this pic.



My son and his bucket




The water was beautiful and not too cold. It was just an absolutely beautiful day and I'm so glad I spent it somewhere besides at my desk. Sometimes, as a Work at Home Mom, it's easy to forget to take time off and enjoy life! It is definitely an important thing to do though and probably a big part of why we choose to work at home - so that we can have that choice.

What a weekend

Well, I hope you had a lovely weekend. My weekend was quite busy and included a baby's 1st birthday party where I got to eat lots of good Hawaiian food and my fill of Chantilly cake! Then on Saturday, we took our youngest daughter to an audition, visited our dog who is in Hawaii's Animal Quarantine, and went to town to take my daughter to a class.

DH's sister was also in town for the weekend for the baby's party so it was nice to see her and her husband this weekend. They are trying to have their first baby and I really hope they have some good news soon. I think they just need to relax about it and not try so hard. I'm crossing my fingers for them and hoping they get some good news during the next month or so.

I also found out something this weekend that is giving me new focus for business and for my home life as well. I have some inspiration to really "get it together" and "take care of business" in both areas. I'm not ready to share what this new inspiration is just yet, but I'm sure I'll let you in on the information sooner or later. Anyway - it's a great feeling to sit down and plan and actually take action. I say it all the time "If you don't like the way something is going, do something about it" but that's easier said that done sometimes. I'd like the kids to clean up after themselves more, I'd like to be more productive in business, etc, but now I am on a mission to actually accomplish these things instead of just "wanting" them to happen.

Busy Schedule Next Week

Wow, this is the first time I really have a good idea of what I will be doing next week.

Monday - the kids have to go to the dentist in the morning and I have a Dr. appt in the afternoon

Tuesday - Interview with Coach Mike for my Fastpitch Talk Radio Show

Wednesday - Interview with Coach Hardin for Fastpitch Talk Radio

Thursday - take the kids to More Models for possibly signing

Friday - nothing, hopefully it stays that way, it's supposed to be my "day off" ;)

What I need to do to prepare:
1. remind the guests of their interview so I don't have a "no show" problem.
2. Make sure I test the whole phone recording process. I haven't done it yet, so I should do a test run.
3. Take pics of the kids to take to the More Models appointment.

Plus there are other "regular" things that I have to tend to.

It's going to be a busy week that, hopefully, goes by quickly.

Husbands can be so frustrating

It's one of those days. Husbands can be so frustrating - especially when you are a SAHM/WAHM. They don't really want to know all the details of what goes on each day. Most of you who WAH know that their eyes can tend to glaze over when you talk about business.

Well, just like anything, there are times when you are more busy than others as a SAHM/WAHM. Sometimes it's due to issues with the kids, the housework, special events, other home issues, etc. Or sometimes it's due to business stuff and sometimes it's a combination of everything at once.

See, when DH works overtime, I understand that he may be more stressed or more tired and may not want to go out and do all kinds of things or be up for helping out more around the house or anything like that. Well, one of the tough things about being a SAHM/WAHM is that when you go into "Over time" mode - there's no really clear cut way for DH to tell. We don't go from being "at work" for 8 hrs a day to 12 hours a day or anything like that. It's just that our days get busier, we start juggling more balls, and things get a little crazy. So we are in a situation where we are more stressed, or more tired, or not up for certain things. When your SO doesn't understand this and he gets annoyed with your behavior because he's expecting "normal" and he'd getting "stressed out" instead things can get frustrating very quickly.

If only there was some kind of visual chart that would automatically pop up on the wall to let DH know what kind of day/week/time I'm having - include stress level, work load, unforseen circumstances, deadlines, emergencies, ongoing projects, etc. Wouldn't that be cool?

I guess that's where communication comes in, but it's tough because most guys don't understand that this "at home" stuff is just as demanding as a "real" job. Even if you try to explain it, I mean I know DH would be understanding if I was working "real" job 12 hours a day. He'd be more understanding of my situation and my behavior as a result of that situation. But even if my "at home" circumstances are just as demanding, I don't know if he'll ever "get it" no matter how much explaining I do. KWIM?

Fun in the bouncy castle

This weekend we went to this free community event where there were lots of vendor booths (crafts, products, etc), food booths, entertainment, and rides and games for the kids.

There was also a couple of bouncers - two big ones and one little one for the little kids. My son, age one, qualifies as a "little" kid so I bought him a script so he could go jump. The script was a dollar, but that's another story.

Watching him in the bouncer was so much fun. It was so cute! He loves to jump, but he's not even two yet, so it was just so funny to watch him. When he jumps he brings his knees up toward his chest and gets his arms into it. Plus when someone else jumps on the same hump, he gets bounced even higher up into the air. I wanted to record it with my camera, but it was too dark because it was night time. I tried to get some pics, but that wasn't very easy to do through the net. Plus each time I finally get a good shot of him up in the air, some other kid is between him and the camera. *sigh* That's okay, he had lots of fun and I had fun watching him enjoy himself so much.

Makes me want to go out and buy one of those things so he can jump every day. It's funny, every time I see a small kids with some extravagant toy, I think "What were his parents thinking?" or "What a spoiled kid that must be" and here I am thinking of buying my son a whole bouncy thing because I saw him have fun in it once. LOL Sometimes, as moms, our desire to see our kids happy overwhelms the ability to do what's truly best for them.

...I'd still go out and buy one of those bouncy things if I could afford it and had a good place to put it. Hey....maybe I could rent it out to neighbors for parties and stuff.... :)

It's a little tough to see, but in the picture below, he's really getting some air - he's the guy in the back with the gray shirt and long pants.

Working on my ABC's

Right now I'm working on softball ABC's. These short reports will be freebies that I give away at www.AllAboutFastpitch.com and at www.FastpitchTalkRadio.com.

ABC's of Begin an Effective Softball Coach
ABC's of Being a Good Softball Parent
How to Be a Player Coaches Love from A to Z

I'm not totally set on the titles yet, but that's the gist of it. I'm also taking my time with this because I want it to be good. So my goal right now is to finish one letter per day. At that rate, I should be able to finish the one for coaches by the end of the month since I already have a bunch of the work done.

I plan to use the coaching report as a lead in to a new e-book I want to get done. This e-book is going to be for coaches and will talk about leadership. That's another one that will take some time for me to do and do well. This e-book will probably be a paid product so I'm going to take my time and think it through well.

I've also been reading some books that talk about similar subjects and it's good to know that many of them say what I feel. I just have to find a way to put these things together with my own voice, incorporate some of my own experiences, and make it personal specifically for softball coaches.

WAHM Challenge Progress

For my Back To School Challenge at Mom Masterminds, I want to finish 4 talk radio shows for www.FastpitchTalkRadio.com. So far I have 2 of them done. I have the foundation for my 3rd show. I just need to add on a little more to it then record. Oh, that reminds me, I need to set up the interview for my 4th show! The tough part is the time difference - I'm 6 hours behind the woman I'm interviewing and her afternoons are busy. So I'll have to wake up early one morning and catch her around lunch time her time.

Also, I'm finally off my free trial period at Audio Acrobat and can now download my audios. That's great news because now it's much easier to record and share my audios. Also, I can now e-mail my audio segments for Baby Talk Radio instead of having to call them in. I really like recording with a mic much, much better than calling in to record. So now my Baby Talk Radio segments should sound better too! I sent in a new segment today which will probaby be used within the next couple of shows and along with it I sent in one of my son saying, "I Love You Mom" - so we'll see if that makes it onto the show.

The kids are home and 9-11

Can you believe it's been 5 years? Even way over here in Hawaii we were affected by 9-11. From what I understand the NFL football games that are going on tonight will do a little something to pay tribute. I don't really have much to say about it. I just hope those most affected are recovering well. So many lives were lost - it's a reminder to cherish the loved ones you have and also the time you have.

The kids - the kids are now off track. They will be home unti the beginning of October. This means I get to sleep in, but it also means that I have to find things for them to do and control the chaos. LOL - it's funny, most moms are adjusting to "back to school" and my kids are back home. They started school on July 7th, so this is their first intersession. They'll have another in December (they're off for the whole month) and one more in March (3 week break).

We'll see if I'll be able to get work done. I actually think it may be a bit easier. My son loves cruising with his sisters, so maybe I can get some work done while he's up instead of having to wait for him to take a nap. We'll see how it goes.

WooHoo The Mic is In!

Yay! My mic arrived. I've been waiting on it's arrival to really start recording my Fastpitch Talk Radio shows! I'm already having a blast doing the short audios as a lead in to the launch of the show. I know the mic will provide much better quality than calling in to record audios over the phone.

Oh, that reminds me. I have to ask my neighbor if he can do my show intro. I don't know if he has the capability, but he is a radio DJ and has a good announcer voice. LOL

I gave the mic a try and it's so much more fun and convenient to record through the mic than through the phone line! I'm so excited to get the show rolling now that I have my mic. I think it makes my voice sound a little different than the recordings over the phone - but not in a bad way, just different. I guess it's just always weird to hear your own voice because it always sounds different than what you hear in your head.

Goal for next week - finish at least one more show.

The WAHM Challenge in On!

WooHoo - the Back to School Challenge at Mom Masterminds is On!

Everyone is setting on 'stretching' goal to push their business forward in some way or another. We're all posting our challenge in the forum and it's so cool to see how all the ladies there are progressing in their business. There will be some exciting things happening for everyone who is taking part in the challenge. The challenge is running for 18 days and will end on Sept. 29th.

It's a great "kick in the butt" to really get moving and build your business in some way. It's also so inspiring to see what everyone else it doing! It's cool because you know you aren't the only one facing the challenge and working hard to reach toward your goal. We're all doing it together which is just an awesome feeling.

My challenge is to complete 4 Fastpitch Talk Radio Shows by the 29th. I want to get the new show up and launched on time in October!

For more details on this exciting challenge, click on the link below:
Mom Masterminds Back to School Challenge

Birthdays are expensive

Tomorrow is my 2nd daughter's birthday (she'll be 7) and though we're trying not to go nuts with it, it's still expensive!

Her party isn't going to be anything huge, but the other things really add up.

I went to the store today to get something for her to take to school. Then my oldest daughter wanted me to buy cookie dough so that she could make her sister cookies. Then I bought an ice cream cake for us to eat tomorrow. Then I went and bought her a small present we can give her on her actual birthday since her party isn't going to be until Saturday. Then we're planning to take her to dinner tomorrow in celebration of her actual birthday day. I'm also planning to do a little more birthday present shopping for her tomorrow during the day.

All of these "other" things outside of the party are a few hundred dollars.

My goodness! Good thing I just got paid some affiliate commissions through PayPal this week!

She's is so excited about her birthday. It seems like she's been counting down for months. Almost every month she'll say, "Only X more months 'till my birthday." Then once September rolled around, she counted down the days every single day. Today, she mentioned it in the morning, when I picked her up for school, and around dinner time. So I know this is a big deal to her. We have to make her feel extra special tomorrow. She is the 2nd of 4 children and can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. So for me it's super important that we show her just how happy we are that she was born - just as if she were the only one we were blessed with.

I'm baby sitting today

Hence - no work is getting done, but I'm not sweating it. I've never had the opportunity before to babysit my nephew, so I'm enjoying that rather than worrying about work. It's funny though, the week was already short due to Labor Day. Now it's been shortened a bit more.

However, right now I have a bit of time to take care of pressing issues because both my nephew and my son are asleep! Woohoo ~ I was hoping for that, but wasn't sure I'd be able to pull it off.

Anyway - I'm excited because I finally got the microphone I've been waiting for so that I can record audios right to the computer vs. having to call them in over the phone. I think I'll hook it up right now and try it out! If you have no clue why I want the microphone, it's for Fastpitch Talk Radio which I'm planning to launch next month! Off to check out my new mic...

Wow - so fast!

A few days ago, we were at a birthday party for twin girls who were turning two. This party took place in our neighborhood and there were quite a few kids running around. My son was running around right there with him. It was on this day that it really hit me. My son, my baby, is going to be two before the end of the year. Two! That's not like "little baby" stage any more. That's going into "toddlerville." That's having a mind of his own, doing things on his own, walking, talking, growing every single day.

I know kids grow fast, but it just feels like it's been really, really fast with him. My baby isn't a baby any more. He's becoming a little man. He's interacting with his sisters more. He's calling them by name and telling him what he thinks (and telling them what to do).

Since I see him as my last child, I still look at him as "the baby." But I have to remember, that he's not a baby any more. I have to acknowledge his growth and development and treat him accordingly. Even though I want to baby him and continue to do everything for him and hold him all the time, I have to let him grow up. It's not going to be easy.

If you are done having kids, you probably know how I feel. I do want my son to be a strong, independant guy so I know babying him isn't going to acheive that.