My resolution was to NOT work on a weekend..

It has been no secret that we have been struggling with finances over the past while - hub is back in school and I am ramping up my biz.. I WAS supposed to go back to school but my application for funding has been denied *more on that when I don’t hate the government!*

My biz, thankfully has taken a turn and I am now swamped with clients, wonderful clients. I am now a bonafide business woman.. making money, jetting off to meetings and presentations, all while still working from my wonderful home and being with my kidlets!

The problem.. they have asked if I can only do work on the weekdays.. to which (at the time I was slow) and said yes, that is my goal… only now.. ” I am now swamped with clients, wonderful clients.”

I have to catch up.. I have no choice but to work this weekend because next week is a mashup of meetings again..

Am I out of my gourd?! Should I stick to my resolution or should I cave? Both are important.. in a different way of course…

I think I may work half the day and then take the rest of the day off.. sounds doable..

Your thoughts?

A

• Breathe a sigh of relief
• Breathe a sigh of sadness
• Breathe a sigh of anxiety over what’s to come
• All of the above??

Personally I choose D) All of the above.. this is a difficult time of the year for many people and its because you have such a high of happiness (being with friends/family/good food/drinks/fun/presents) and then crash to all the stuff that just isn’t “merry” (bills/debts/back to school/messy houses/plans for the new year) so it’s overall difficult.

I thought about it on the way home from my dad’s place on New Year’s day (we had a roaring party there the night before).. Everyone is so keen on “starting the new years off with a bang”, making sure plans and mindframes are “just so” and then a few things happen…

1. We start out the day feeling like junk (from eating or drinking too much)
2. Because of that, chances are we’ve let a newly formed resolution slide
3. and now because of that slide, our confidence has faltered.

Ideally what should happen is the following:

1. Start the day off well rested (I know it’s not that fun.. but it’s worth it..) and not feeling like junk
2. Get your resolution off to a great start because you feel awesome
3. Kick your resolutions behind and have enough confidence to master Everest
4. Continue your year that way

Reality is though, the latter scenario doesn’t happen. My idea intead though is to just let it go..

Give yourself (and I think I may be talking to myself here..) a break and just “BE”… Things will work out, goals will be met and sucessess will be made.. stop fretting and just be.

We’re all way too hard on ourselves over the course of the year anyways, why start the year off with that hanging on??

I personally have already had a few glitches (on a personal and on a biz front) but am letting them go.. the adage is that every day is a new day, so I’m going to follow the mantra of the adage..

Time to start over

Cheers to tomorrows goals and successes.. and if that brings along a glitch.. well.. there’s always the next day!!

Take it easy on yourself…

A

Let me take stock of what is going on at this very moment..

1. Hubby is in college
2. Child B is in school every other day
3. Child E is in school every day
4. I am chair of the school council
5. I am working PT @ a super awesome kid’s store
6. I am working FT @ my own biz (That’s another complete list unto itself :S)
7. I know there is a whole slew of things I am forgetting.. but that leads me to this..

Because of this chaos that is my life, I am experiencing a plethora of weird phenomenon

1. My house is officially a “sty” (belonging to what animal I am still not sure)
2. My brain goes through periods of functionality and numbness
3. My calendar looks like it was murdered by red pen
4. My kids are using my room as a change room
5. Simple tasks take multiple days to complete

I know there are “aids” out there that will help me gain control again but I’m wondering if there is a solution that will make meals, clean house, speak for me, think for me and write for me.. Does that exist?

Last summer, I sent my entire family away for the whole weekend, turned off the phone, computer and tv and refreshed my house and soul. I cleaned like a mad woman and I slept well and I even went out to dinner with myself (at a nice restaurant!) I read a magazine and I had a bath in silence. I think it is time to do that again!!

Wish me luck.. and in the meantime, if you have any ideas on how to defrizz my brain.. please let me know - At this point, I need all the help I can get!

SPECIAL NOTE: I started this post on November 11 @ 8am and as I write, it is now November 12 @ 2:00pm

What is that?! I know that I have not said that in front of him so what do I say to him? The usual, where did you hear that from, we don’t say those types of things etc.

But aside from that - I was stumped! What (in your opinion) should I have said??

I await your guidance…
A

I am sure you are ensuring that your fam has all of their back to school threads in order.. as am I - (kids and Hub this year too!) so naturally my needs for clothing come last (tell me I am NOT alone!)..

Well, apparently somewhere along the lines my body has revolted and I have gained a few (more than.. ) pounds and now my summer wear does not fit me. I am also down to my last three pairs of pants (jeans) all of which have decided this week they would rip in some fashion or another (butt cheek anyone?!)

So I pretty much have no clothing.. correction - appropriate clothing.. I am wearing jeans in the sweltering heat because my shorts are too snug, I wore a frumpola shorty dress to a wedding because my other dress was too unbreathably tight and lord only knows what other fashion 911 I committed this season.. only to be asked REPEATEDLY - “How come you’re not wearing this?”, “How come you don’t wear that?!”, “Why are you wearing those?!” and other variations of that question to which my response was always a very plain “Because it doesn’t fit” - no rebuttal.

So the other night, I discovered yet again, some other piece of fabric that did not fit.. that did it.. in a mini-fit of semi rage I let out an exasperated moan only to hear my hubby let out a muffled laught and say “You’re so hard on yourself”.. Am I?! I wanted to ask him outright.. “Wait a minute.. You actually like this spare tire?!” …but he continues.. “Why don’t you wear that?!” - I spin and look at him.. “BECAUSE IT DOESN’T FIT!!!!”

The fabric tides are about to change - along with the tunes of my family.. you see.. I am a comfy person.. I LOVE sweaters (the furrier, the better) and when fall comes, out come my sweaters. My sweaters thankfully actually fit me - so I am very excited!! The problem of course - my dear Hub HATES them… so of course.. the question of the day will stay the same “Why are you wearing that??” my answer will change though this time to “BECAUSE IT FITS!!!”

Hope your weekend is great!
A

Our B2S day is next Tuesday.. and in this family it means all but me (yes, my hubby too!) will be heading out that door on their way to school!!

My babes will be entering JK and Grade 3 and my older babe will be entering his first year of Recreation at one of the colleges in Toronto! My Hub is changing careers after getting his honors advanced diploma over ten years ago..

Tuesday will be a big day in our house and thinking of it and getting prepped for it has left me wondering - when they’re all “gone” what will I do??

I have some pretty neat things in mind - not many of them fun.. you know things like - have the house clean for more than 5 minutes.. read a book and enjoy a cup of coffee… this really is my first time saying “have a great day” to all three of them at the same time..

I’m kinda nervous

What are your B2S habits - what do you do when kidlets leave for the day?!

Hope you’re enjoying your day!
A

Hope you are having a great week, or beginning of one anyways..

How’ve you been sleeping lately? Hopefully loads and heaps better than myself.  Normally, I have a core group of reasons as to why I can’t sleep or why I awake in the middle of the night; work tasks, what to cook the next day, financial worries - you know the norms..

Rarely though do visions of demolitions keep me awake..

Demolition Disaster causes Highschool Flashbacks

So a long ago life lived in Nova Scotia led to my tumultuos and red tape riddled highschool stint. I being the “new - english” girl, joined the wicked ranks of a small town school known for it’s proud Acadian French Board. Long story short the French board alienated every student/parent/being that was english and created a 1950’s-esque segregation that saw the english population create their own school and move forward - leaving the French board (literally as of Sunday) in the dust.

My mother - via a longtime friend of hers - fwd’d me these pics - of my highschool being torn down..

A little horrifying to me - I LOVED highschool and consider it to be pivotal to who I have become - somewhere among that wreckage are memories of me and my girlfriends batting lashes, laughing hysterically and learning a new mathematical formula (yes, we did learn!). My mind tore through the years worth of memories like it was yesterday and kept on recalling the memories all throughout the night. I finally did fall asleep, but it was a fitful dreamfilled night - not good… so I awoke to FB murmurs of what had gone down and why this tragic end had come to my beloved school..

Yes, I was english and this school was not “rightfully where I belonged” but it is and always will be part of who I am - so I grieve for it.. Cheticamp will never be the same without those particular halls of NDA - may you rest in peace (or chaos - as I remember it! )

Hey there! I hope you are having a great week thus far.. Our week over here has been good - busy, but good..

So, as to drag out the obvious, I will get right to the news of this post;

Seeing as though I am a positive person, I will start with the good (Glass half full) point of view.

The Good News

I am going back to school - College actually.. after a lengthy decision making process, my family and I came to the realization that this would be a great step to help me solidify my career, update my skill set and in turn, service my clients even better I applied to a leading College in the Marketing field and after a lengthy application and waiting process, I have been accepted to start at the beginning of January!!

Before I go any further, I do want to stress that I WILL STILL BE OPERATING FOUNDATION STUDIO - there is no question to that - I love my clients and the variety of projects I get to work on and that is part of the reason I am heading back to college - to get updated with all the newest technical, trendy and current marketing methods and practices; to service you better.

The ONLY thing that will change will be our hours of operation - what that will look like will be determined by my schedule and once I receive it, I will let you in on the details too!

The Unfortunate News

Seeing as this acceptance was somewhat out of the blue, a large plan is going to have to be set aside; The Work From Home Expo is being cancelled. I cannot at this time, give the WFHE the attention it deserves and as many of you know, I don’t go through with something unless it is with all of my engines a flame!

I hope you understand and continue to stick with Foundation Studio as you have in the past. I have some great stuff up my sleeve - and you better believe I’ll be sharing all of the tips and tricks that I learn from College with you!!

Cheers to a new beginning or should I say…

A refreshed future!!!

Ariane

We are preparing to go camping.. in the midst of one of THE busiest times I’ve ever encountered - we are throwing it all to the wind and going camping 4 hours away! :S

This is the very first time we’ve been camping with the kids - read - in 8 years and it should be tons o’ fun! We have a mini tent city - a double tent with tunnel connector and boot lockers - one sider will be zip tied shut so as to thwart any mid night strolls on the part of the kids (8 & 4) and we will be in the other side.

When Hub & I got married 5 years ago, we had already been together for 4 years, so we had everything - everything but camping gear so we registered at Canadian Tire (BEST thing we’ve ever done!) and scored LARGE! Sleeping bags, lanterns, deluxe cutlery set, Tfal camping pots and so much more!! We’re finaly putting it all to good use!

We are heading to Bon Echo Provincial Park and will be there from Friday morn to Monday aft.. with a four hour drive to and fro..

We have the camp meals planned, breakkie, lunch, dinner, s’mores.. (notice s’mores is in it’s own category ) we are airing out the tent city as we speak and we’ll be washing the sleeping bags and getting all the rest prepped before we leave.. all this I expected..

What I did not expect was the planning and last minute rush of tying up loose ends.. deadlines still need to be met and clients still need to be taken care of and what’s worse about this is about 5 biz days after we come back - we’re leaving again for another week at our annual cottage!

I can tell some of my clients are less than superbly excited for me and a part of me wishes that I could stay and work, but I need this regroup you know?! With all the stress and financial disaster heading our way we have to hunker down and prepare.. that means budget vaca followed by free (paid for by Grandma) vaca.. time away..

I am truly looking forward to the binding I will have with my itty bitties - something we have not had in a while and that in itself is worth that dreadful feeling I get when I prepare myself to tell yet another client I am on my way to vaca..

Where are you going this year for vaca? How do you prepare and what are your fave memories of your own family vaca?! Do tell..

See you soon!!
A

Does this sound like you?! How do we do it? I mean, this is my “life” calendar. My “Professional” calendar is booked until around mid August, but I am looking to go to school for some professional courses - a.k.a My Diploma - and if that’s a go, I’ll be a woman with two kids, 1 Hub and no breathing room.

Do you schedule in your time with your kids? We have a walk around the bloack and some time at the park after dinner.. (Is that enough?! Guilt!)

Do you schedule time with your man? We have a quick meeting at the sink while we’re brushing our teeth - good lord! Does that even count?!

Between School, school council, summer school, fledgling business, weekends here, there and everywhere and now even the possibility of college in there (did I mention this option is probably going to happen for both myself and my hub?!), the calendar on the wall looks like someone was spewing ink everywhere!

What do you do to make time for you? Your spouse? Your kids.. Is there such a thing as quality time anymore when the next “appointment” starts immediately after the “quality” time?

Share your thoughts and tactics please cause I would LOVE  to know how to give my calendar (and me) some breathing room!!

Cheers!
A