Channeling My Old Self

I've recently felt the need to draw upon the days where I was required to keep CEOs organized, and the days where I had to keep 4 worldwide corporate headquarters executives organized simultaneously......if I could do it for them, shouldn't I be able to do it here?

I'm giving it a shot in my best problem-solving and practical way. No more sacrifices over here. No more making due with makeshift homemade solutions that aren't' working well enough just because they saved money. I need what I need. I'm spiffing it all up. If that means I have to hang those cabinets in my laundry room myself or hire someone to do it, I will.

I'm starting with my office and the basement simultaneously, since one seemingly runs into the other.

I am channeling the woman who used to be me. What tools did the companies I worked for allow me to buy to be at my best and most efficient? One of my favorites was a label maker. It allowed me to organize my drawers by color and, more importantly, read the labels quickly with ease. Colored hanging file folders mean the folder tabs are usually that color as well, which can be dark when you are using reds and blues and typing or handwriting the labels. The old file folder labels that we used to crank out in rolls on a typewriter were okay, but the label maker--THAT was something. I went out and bought one for just under $30 at our local office supply store. LOVIN' it. Here is an example of the difference!

Even though I'm not supposed to use it for anything other than my business, I thought I would share the ways in which someone who doesn't buy it for their home office could use it....pretty much for anything you want to! You can buy clear tape, colored tape, plain white tape. You can put symbols on your label ranging from the Poison skull and crossbones to a No symbol (the circle with a line through it), and even a present, telephone, or paw print (and many more). You can even print labels with borders that have your title surrounded by a candy wrapper or a banner style, and even a statement bubble or wooden board sign. Different fonts, different font sizes, bold, underline, time and date. You can even create a label with 2 lines of text. You can print off up to 9 copies of the same lable too. You just enter the data, hit print, hit the cut button, and remove the sticky backing and apply your label. Here is a picture of some herbs I cut and put in the freezer for storage.

I can't wait until all my drawers are divided appropriately by color and look neat and tidy with my new labels!

WAHM/Patenting-Temporarily being shelved - AGAIN.

Yes, I'm having a whiny day. I feel I have a right to feel whiny every once in a while. I am constantly working on so many different projects and working in so many different roles, and I feel that I could get it done if I had some help around here. Don't get me wrong, my husband does do some dishes, and he even does a little laundry and makes beds - he surface cleans here and there - but working around being a mother to a toddler, whom we refer to as my butt barnacle for obvious reasons, my two older kids' schedules, and my husband's unpredictable schedule just about brings me to tears some days.

Today I wanted nothing more than to break out my provisional patent edits that I received last week to review them. I've had one 6-hour period of time on one of our rare coinciding weekends in which I could really get into it. He could be with the kids, and I could get down to business. Believe me when I tell you it needs "getting into." It is so technical and so in depth, that it is sometimes hard to believe it is my invention being described. I even had a dictionary on hand to learn the literal meanings of certain words. (Did you know that furniture means any piece of useful equipment?)

Every time I pick it up, during brief openings seized during my working hours with lighter work loads and nap times, and start getting into one paragraph and making a notation that may or may not reveal itself in another paragraph within this 15-page document (not counting the numerous drawings that require simultaneous review due to the descriptions referring to enumerated components), I have to stop, only to find myself starting all over again later.

My 2-year-old is the cutest most loveable child, but he also happens to not want to sit silently at any point throughout a day. There is no getting away with a "uh-huh" and a nodd of my head.....my eyes must literally avert from my task at hand to prove to him that he has been heard and that I have seen what has him excited. This then MUST be followed with a comment. lol. It isn't like I'm all work and no play. I spend hours with him each day. We learn ABCs, colors, shapes, play games, do puzzles, etc. I just need someone to give me some time here to get this finished!

Hubbie has been called into work. He can't understand why I am near tears. This is my priority at the moment, and it really should only be a priority task for a day, not 2 weeks! Can I find a sitter right now to ease my stress and anxiety - nope - they are all in school! He works my weekends, and I work his weekends, but when he is here, I should be able to have the whole day to accomplish what I want, but it never works out that way. Somebody always needs something, and this even includes HIS employer, as well as him, the kids, my clients, my subcontractors, etc. A lot of it is my fault - I slacked off in some departments to make life easier for a period of time only to find that doing such a thing really isn't me, and now there are projects that are 10 times bigger to face and to fix. I'll explain later.

Okay, I feel I've been heard, despite the fact I have no readers yet! lol. Off to go pay my subcontractors and feel down about shelving the ONE task I would really actually enjoy doing at the moment. Sigh.

Welcome!

Me woman! (I talk caveman for my husband frequently - he seems to understand me better this way).

What else is there to say? It means there is no stopping me and there is no limit to my capabilities. It means I am a master of multitasking and am spread real thin. It means that I don't always make the best decisions and that I have faults. It means I put everyone before myself (trying to change that) and that I am hardest on myself. It means some nights I plop down onto the couch with a sigh and not enough energy to drag myself into bed feeling defeated.

Feel free to join me on my adventures through life and all of its "stuff" as I continue to struggle running a service-based business, being a work-at-home mother to 3 children, and a wife, as well as a wannabe inventor/entrepeneur in that elusive thing called "spare time." I'll discuss the fun and the varied challenges I've faced being involved in so much, which may not be "as much" as some of you (hey, we all have different threshholds), my frustrations in general, and what things have worked for me, as well as those that have not worked for me. I also welcome hearing about the "things" that have worked for others and the "things" that have not as well!

My life is far from perfect, and I can admit that. There is humor to be found in each lesson I've learned along the way!