t h e m a y f i l e s is foremost a family blog, chronicling everyday life. Life including natural, healthy eating (with recipes thrown in at random), home educating (with ideas popping up sporadically), an attempt to homestead on .2 acres (with very meager yields), raising 3 of 4 children with a rare genetic disorder, and lots of highly personal family triumphs and failures. You may also find an eclectic array of musings on politics, exercise, sewing, emergency preparedness, backyard chickens, and religion. This blog isn't a campaign to glorify anyone or anything. Just simply a record.

4.30.2008

Unexpected Annoyances!

At first glance Ellery appears to be enjoying the blissful warm showers of Springtime. Look Closer!

Yes, that is snow! She was freezing her little toes off when I shot this picture! What I want to know is when will this end? I am ready for Spring. Mother Nature doesn't seem to agree. About every 4 days this Spring we have had a snowstorm! Combine never ending snow and brand new baby and you see why I am fighting unbearable "stir-craziness!"

The weather isn't the only unexpected annoyance. I have found that since beginning this company, deadlines have a different meaning in the small business world than I had always thought. Essentially, it is pretty useless to set a deadline. Manufacturers, independent contractors, everyone has there own ideas, and I am definetly not in charge (yet?). It is like saying, from this day forward April 30th there will be no more snow. Yeah right. So what this means is I am desperately trying to stifle my rigid natural tendencies and become more flexible. I think these snowstorms are trying to teach me something on more than one level.

4.29.2008

The Organized Mom: Cap Trapper Review

On Monday we had a great review from www.organizedmom.net. Whenever I send my cap trappers away, it's like a little piece of me gets packaged up inside too. So right now I am basically chopped up and scattered all over the country. Here is a bit of what Organized Mom had to say about Cap Trappers...

I have a wonderful beautiful 2 year old daughter… who has a fun white board… who NEVER and I mean NEVER replaces the caps on her dry erase markers. She is so anti-caps that she will take all the caps off of the markers and then line the markers up for whatever reason ... The caps end up in Maddie’s special hiding place which I have yet to find ... The markers become “broken” as we say to Maddie and we end up buying new markers so she can return to her love of drawing.

The good news? We have FINALLY found a solution! It’s called a Cap Trapper TM... Maddie is even enjoying putting the marker back in! She has also been spotted parading her set of three makers all trapped in their cap trappers...

Check out the whole review on the blog www.organizedmom.net. I love this whole network of moms helping moms, women supporting women, it feels so much safer than just throwing myself out to the corporate wolves (which, btw I soon will have to do to keep growing!).

White Board On-site Research

Today I went to visit some offices at the local university where cap trappers are being used. Eventually our professional edition will be sold with methods of adhering. I only want what works for people and what better way to find out then to ask! I went to get feedback and ideas for exactly what we should include in our professional package.


Their favorites were small white hooks on the side of the white board or flip chart. In a pinch, a rubber band was totally effective. For portability they also liked the small white clip. No one was particularly crazy about the suction cup. Do you have any thing you have used and would like to see marketed in the professional edition?


I took pippy (Callista my 2 1/2 year old) and she had quite a blast. In fact I got home to find 40 pictures on my camera, odd, since I only took about 10! Pip is quite the conversationalist and can break the ice in even the most awkward of situations, which is why I love to have her with me. There is nothing as disarming as a darling little girl gallantly carrying on a conversation with a 40 year old business man! She also quickly discovered the "Mr.Smelly Markers" hence, the purple nose! If I could just freeze her forever at this age I would!

SAHM Product in the Board Room?

I had a gratifying experience related to me today. Something to give hope and confidence to SAHM's everywhere. My dad told me a great story today. A coworker was giving a presentation, and had drawn a graph on the white board. He was fumbling with a fist-full of markers and finally turned to my dad in exasperation and said, "Where is your cap trapper? I need it!" My dad grabbed a cap trapper from his office and his colleague loaded his own markers in and breezed through his presentation with ease, cap trapper in hand. Glad to know they are helping out in lots of ways!

Who ever would have thought a lowly SAHM like me would design something useful in the board rooms of America! Power to all the mompreneurs out there!

4.28.2008

Slings, BundleMe's and Cap Trappers? or To License or Not?

Two of my very favorite baby products are from www.jjcoleusa.com, my "urban" bundle me and my premaxx sling. I love them. At church Emmett was snuggled up close in my sling and I think half the congregation thought I had on a really big hand bag. I got away with that until the bag start squirming and making high pitched cries! I don't know how any mother of three children handles life without a baby carrier, unless by some genetic miracle she has enough arms to hold a baby, two little girl hands and a cell phone all at once! I love both of my JJCole products.

Today I visited their corporate headquarters and visited with the owner of JJCole, Jeremy for an hour. What a nice guy and a great entrepreneur. I met his father about 3 years ago in an Einsteins Bagel Cafe. I had just finished reading a classic book and one that I recommend to everyone, "How To Win Friends and Influence People." Consequently my social skills were highly tuned and we quickly connected. We found a common link, his son was an entrepreneur and my husband was. We chit-chatted and he noticed my awkwardly hanging blanket over my car seat. He told me he had the perfect product for me and a couple days later I received the stylish gray car seat blanket. (It matched my car seat perfect!) Subsequently my husband and his son (the owner of JJCole) have corresponded and shared entrepreneurial glories and woes!

Today was the first time I had the pleasure of meeting Jeremy. We talked about his business and I introduced him to Cap Trappers. He loved the product. We went on to discuss business strategy. The question of the day, whittled down to License or Not?
As my business moves forward I have to start making some decisions on what I really want. Ultimately I want all marker users to have cap trappers. I feel like the need and the potential is there. They must be accessible, right next to the markers. What is the best way to make this happen, and the most satisfying. If I were to license the idea to a large craft company, there would be immediate distribution. What could take me years to do on my own. But then I lose my little "baby." I have so many extensions and cool appealing designs and variations for children, offices and scrapbookers. What would happen to those? As a mom though, do I have the time and inclination to beat the doors it would require on my own? Things to think about!

4.23.2008

The Blogger World

If pbskids.org had a blog, ellery and callista would be the number one posters I'm sure. Of course I have to teach them to type first! I had no idea of the community of bloggers on the web. My friends have some beautiful sites devoted to their families and I love checking up on all of them. However I am just beginning to delve into the networks of mothers and parents and vegetarians etc. I'm excited about the networking potential. I have always loved researching on the internet before I buy everything, but the whole blogging world adds a new and great twist on this. It is an instant forum for discussion. I think we are all more connected. But that does pose an interesting question, because we are all sitting alone at our computers! Hmmm.

4.22.2008

Being a Newbie Entrepreneur and Extremely Vulnerable


A Newbie Entrepreneur...

Brent and I will have been married for 10 years in the fall. When I met him, he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. It seems like he was born with the tenacity and courage to be an entrepreneur. While in college, he designed a simple product for snowboarders. In 7 years his one product has expanded into the third largest snowboard accessory company in the world (www.demonsnowboarding.com) But me, I never thought I would be an entrepreneur. My personality drew me to areas with little risk. I taught school. (Actually there is some risk involved here, I taught Junior High, and that is definitely risky!) Over the years Brent always was asking me what my big idea was. How was I going to change the world? What bothered me and how was I going to fix it. Year after year I told him, you are the one with the ideas, not me.

However, there have always been lots of things that bothered me. And out of one of those came the idea of cap trappers. I was actually soaking in the tub, a rare occurrence, I had the stomach flu. So during the moaning and miserableness it came to me. With my husbands encouragement I decided to go for it, and make my idea a reality. And I happened to have a personal influx of money just at this time. I was attacked by a dog while running and got a generous insurance settlement. I definitely don't recommend this funding method to anyone! Equipped with my personal money I went forward.

Vulnerability...


What I didn't realize was the vulnerability I would feel as an entrepreneur. Here I have an idea that I am passionate about and I really feel like if others are educated about, they will love too. But each time I pitch the idea, make phone calls etc it is like a little piece of me is exposed, awkwardly available for others to accept reject or ridicule. But I am getting more confident, and actually this whole entrepreneur thing is growing on me and I love it, basically because I love the idea! So I find myself in a great position, I think poised for great things. Who wouldn't feel excited, when you have a kid this cute, with such unbelievable hair, and a product as great as Cap Trappers!

Rebecca

4.21.2008

Arrival Time!


It's 3:15 and I can actually sit down to write. The picture above is one reason. Callista is out like a lightbulb and she never takes naps! My baby is sleeping and my 5 year old is at a friends. My mom cleaned my whole house for me this morning before she left for home. It's quiet. Has this ever happened before? About 5 days ago I sent out Cap Trappers to our friends and family around the country. The idea is to get feedback from as many people as possible. How much do they love them, would they buy them, what do their kids and friends think? I think the packages should be arriving today or tomorrow. Arrival time for the Cap Trappers, and I hope soon it is arrival time for our little company, Savvy May Creations.

...Okay so now it is 8:30, the quiet lasted about 15 minutes.

...And remember that whole sleeping through the night blog...that lasted one night :) I guess life is like that. I get glimpses of perfection and then prolonged passages of not-so-perfect!

4.20.2008

2012 Boston Marathon Race Report

BLAZING HOT!  These will be the two words forever associated with the 2012 Boston Marathon.  Let me reiterate....it was blazing hot!!!

All Revved up and Ready to Go in the Athletes Village

The day lived up to all the email hype from the BAA, they say the temperature topped at 89 degrees at 12:30 on the course.  With a race that starts at 10 am, unless you are elite, you are still on the course at 12:30 pm.


Evening and Morning Pre-Race

Bus Ride 
I slept quite well the night before.  I was a little unsettled about what to wear because of the heat.  I ended up buying something else at the expo and wearing it.  The day ended in a bit of a fiasco.  The food was marginal, not great pre-race, and we had an unbelievable 2 1/2 hour ordeal trying to return the rental car.  My emotions were getting pretty high.  I was just wishing Brent was there.  When he is around pre-race I don't have to think about anything.  Probably you would think I was an olympian the way he dotes and scurries to meet my needs.  He wasn't and I keenly felt his absence.  We didn't end up driving the course which was a disappointment to me as well.  I moved into my own room.  Took a bath and watched youtube videos of the course.  Brent arrived at 2 am, I didn't wake up.

The entrance to the Village.  The music was pumping, as
well as all the scare tactics about the heat!
At 5:20 my alarm went off.  Got dressed.  Decided not to take any caffeine because of the remote possibility of speeding dehydration.  Ate a small bowl of steel cut oats, softened in water.  Drank a water bottle full of water and then a bottle of gatorade.

Brent woke up and we went downstairs and met Mckenzie and Josse in the lobby at 6 am.  We chit-chatted a bit and then headed to the park for bus pickup to athlete's village.  Brent walked us down, gave me a good luck kiss and left.  We waited only 20 minutes or so for a bus.  It was at this dreadful moment I think I must have put my phone down, never to be seen again.


Josse and I sat together on the bus.  The only topic of conversation amongst anyone was the heat.  What to do?  How to approach the race?  I thought we had it dialed in.  McKenzie and Melody would start in my corral, instead of ahead.  We would all go out together at around a 3:30 pace for the first 5-10 miles.  Keep each other cool and safe and slow.  Then let the race and our bodies determine the rest.  This was a significant change in plans.  In a typical race we wouldn't have run together.  Everyone has their own strategy.  But today was different because of the heat.  If you remember, my original plan was to go out shooting for a 3:10.  3:30 was really dialing it back.  I thrive on a methodical plan.  I am much more controlled when I know what to expect in a race.  

I was so glad we met up with Melody in all the
thousands of people.  We kept an eye for her
trademark green hat!
We arrived at the athletes village.  I ate a half a whole wheat bagel, and half a banana.  Drank some more gatorade.  We found Melody.  It was the first time I had seen her all weekend.  I found out Emily, the elite whom we got our training program from had decided to defer.  She ran in the heat in Boston 2004 and ended up in the hospital.

Melody was pretty quiet in the morning about her plan.  I had a suspicion she would probably not start with me.  She never told me in person she would, only in a text.   But the entire 3 hours up there no one mentioned they were starting alone.   I was probably blabbing on and on about how we were we going to help each other and have a great time, douse each other with water...  The other girls were probably so focussed on their own plans they didn't notice how I must have created this illusion in my mind of how things were going to go.
At the Starting Line

 9:30 rolled around and we headed to the starting line.  The Boston Marathon had 27,000 runners registered.  The runners are divided into 3 heats with 9,000 runners in each.  Runners are seeded in their corrals by qualifying times.  Mckenzie had the fastest time with a 4,000 number, Melody 6,000 and myself with 8,000.  That put us in corrals 5, 7, and 9 respectively.  Josse was in the second heat starting 20 minutes after McKenzie and Melody and I.  I had told Josse all weekend I just couldn't wait and start with her, the extra 20 minutes of heat just left more time for the temperatures to creep up.  The ninth corral was the last.  It was definitely a sacrifice to start back, because the runners you are surrounded with, theoretically, are not as fast.

As we walked to the corrals locals had set up little tents with water and and markers to write your name on your body (for callouts from the spectators).  We soaked our heads and clothing with water to stave off the heat.  My heart sunk when I saw corral nine.  It was at the bottom of the hill.  I could see 5 far up in the distance.  (Your time does not start until you cross the starting line, it is a run/walk to the start as they release the corrals about every 45 seconds.)  It was then that Melody and McKenzie said goodbye and walked away.

I must have had some serious delusional thinking in the days before.  I'm not sure what I created in my mind and what made me do it but for some reason I really thought we were all starting together.  No one was racing this, at least that is what everyone said.  All the emotions of training my guts out for 12 weeks at 5 am, then having a ridiculous aberrant weather day of 85 degrees which made all that training basically useless (because I couldn't race), and then seeing my friends head off to their corrals... I just fell apart.

I stood in my corral and bawled.  I looked around me and there were groups of friends everywhere.  Bib numbers even in the 500's and 800's (meaning these people were really fast), were together with their training partners.  For some reason I just couldn't handle it at this particular moment.  I tried to make some friends around me, but nothing gelled.  Now I had no plan.  My worst race ever, Ogden Marathon was hot (the last hour) and I was alone the entire race.  I was thrown off my new game plan just minutes before the race began.  I don't fault either of my friends for their decisions.  I love them no less.  I am an inexperienced racer, they are both very experienced.  I think in retrospect I was very naive.  Racing is a game, and I just don't know all the rules.  (In all honesty, as I figure them out I think the majority of them are stupid.)

The First 10 Miles

9:55 the National Anthem plays.  10:00 am race starts.  Still crying, wishing it was from joy, I cross the line at 10:07 am.  I'm in a mass of people, unlike anything I've run in before.  I decided to stay with the idea of going out at a 3:20-3:15 pace which is between a 7:38 and 7:27 minute mile.  Most of my training runs were at this pace, so I was confident it would be very comfortable.   The masses were a bit overwhelming.  Full disclosure:  I cried on and off the first 5 miles.  I was very hot (no aid station the first mile) the first 2 miles and I was struggling to hit the 7:30's with all the people.  In an effort to conserve energy and not add too much distance I kept to the right shoulder of the road.  But sometimes I got so frustrated stuck behind people I darted around.  I'm not sure why I hated those first miles so much.  It seemed to me the crowds were lame and full of people in Kenya t-shirts.  I was certain I would never race Boston again.

Cruising past the men,
who were dropping like flies
I began to cool down and get over most of my emotional drama by about 4-5 miles.  After mile 2 there were aid stations every mile.  I was completely drenched, (complete with soggy shoes, will I ever run a marathon in dry shoes?) and the crowds started to thin a bit.  The aid stations were wild.  I never really got used to them.  I was constantly colliding with people, stopping and starting again.  I took a single sip of gatorade every mile and avoided drinking water, to keep my electrolyte balance in check.  I used at least 3 cups of water to douse my head and body with water and wash the gatorade off my hands and face.  It was a seriously messy operation!

I kept close tabs on my watch to make sure I didn't get going too fast, but with all drinking and soaking and people it wasn't too hard.  At about 9 miles I ran into McKenzie.  I was very surprised to see her as she started 4-5 minutes before me.  I slowed down and we chatted for a while.  She kept telling me to go ahead.  I kept holding back thinking she would pick it up with me, but she was content to keep her pace.  It felt too slow for me.  I was now at the 10 mile mark and felt ready to stop looking at my watch.  I wished her a good race and pressed forward.

Miles 11-24 

At this point I was feeling good.  I decided to ignore my watch and just be conscious to keep my heart rate down and not breathe hard.  Glancing at the bib numbers surrounding me I began to notice 1,000's and 2,000's.  I figured I must be having a pretty good race to have gained so much distance on the faster runners.  I began working the crowd and had a permanent smile plastered on my face the rest of the course.  Unfortunately my name was written on my left arm, and I was running on the right shoulder so I didn't hear my name shouted out constantly as people said I would.

I think I expended a tremendous amount of energy slapping fives, raising my arms and yelling and screaming and cheering.  Whenever the crowds were at least 2 deep I did everything I could to get them cheering.  It began to feel like a wave of energy was just following me along the course and pushing me along.  The spectators would hear the cheering and see me coming and keep it going.  I didn't pay attention to the miles, or pace, I never felt hot or tired, I was just pumped up.  I grabbed dozens of orange slices, popsicles, ice cubes, water cups, wet paper towels...whatever was being offered I grabbed and relished!  I dashed for all the hoses and sprinklers I could find.  All the dashing ended up adding an extra 1/3 of a mile but I wasn't worried.

A picture Brent shot on the course.  He
knew I was somewhere close but didn't
spot me until mile 25.
The girls college of Wellesley was a treat.  I relinquished the shoulder for the men and encouraged them to take advantage of the kissing they could muster.  (The girls college lines the shoulder with signs begging to be kissed.  It is quite entertaining.  And you can hear the roar at least a 1/2 mile away!)

The hills start at about mile seventeen and continue for 4 miles.  They felt like speed bumps to me.  I cruised up at a comfortable pace but it felt like I was flying because I was passing so many people.  At the infamous "Heartbreak" I was giddy and egging the crowd on like crazy.

The cruise downhill after Hearbreak was the best.  You pass through Boston College with thousands of rowdy college students making tremendous amounts of noise.  I was going for broke by now working the crowds.  I thought when in the world will I ever be running a huge race like this with all these spectators willing to cheer for me and not be worried about saving all my energy for racing.  I had no idea what time I was in for.  I knew my average pace had been dropping but I was just having a good time.  I kept waiting for my legs to cramp, to get an ache somewhere but nothing.  I felt great.  I wasn't tired.

The Finish

I found myself at the 40K mark, feeling like I hadn't even started a workout yet.  I finally looked at my overall time and realized that if I kept it up I was in for a new personal best.  It was shocking.  I had no clue, because I wasn't even racing.  My heart wasn't beating fast, my legs didn't feel spent.  Clearly I was in much better shape than in September for Top of Utah.  Top of Utah I didn't go all out but it wasn't just plain easy like this race felt.

The final stretch.  I literally lost my voice and my arms were sore the next day from all of my "raising the roof!"
At mile 25 I searched for Brent but couldn't find him in the crowds.  I decided to kick it in hard and my last .5 mile was a 6:03 pace.  That turn on Boylston I gave it everything I had.  When I crossed the finish line I felt like I should be collapsing or tired or something but I wasn't.  I was just pumped up that I had PR at 3:13 by 3 minutes and I hadn't even tried.  I was even jogging in the finish chutes to pick up my bag and medals and get to the family meeting place to find Brent.  All these men around me kept coming up and saying how amazed they were at how strong I finished.  It was not a day for many personal records.


The Aftermath

At the family meeting place with Josse and McKenzie.
After quite a journey (it's a long walk!) I made it to the family meeting area.  The street was coded alphabetically.  I ran to the "D" ready to jump into Brent's arms....and he wasn't there.  Deflated I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  With no cell phone I had no way to get a hold of him.  I borrowed several phones around me to call but he didn't answer.  Finally, he answered when I called.  He was fighting all the road closures and couldn't find his way.  At last he made it.  Probably 35 minutes after I finished.  It was very anti-climactic.  To make things worse, he didn't have my phone.  All along I assumed I must have left my phone with him.


McKenzie had come in by now.  She finished about 20 minutes after me.   We went looking for Josse and didn't find her until about 45 minutes later.  Josse was also very frustrated as the heat really had taken a toll on her race.

Brent had taken a taxi and been at 3 spots on the course looking for me.  I missed him every time!  Melody ended up having a good race as well, coming in several minutes before me but I never saw her after the race.

In the Park
Brent and I spent several extremely frustrating hours walking all over searching for my telephone and the earring his mother had given me.  We didn't find either.  It put quite the damper on the day.  Finally we put it out of our minds and just celebrated.  We went out to eat at the great Italian restaurant we found a few years ago, I even got an ice cream cone with an unusual sugar craving I had.

The day cooled off significantly in the afternoon and the wind picked up as a cold front moved in.  It was a gorgeous evening.  We layed on the grass in the park and relished all the good things about the day and my race.

By the Numbers


Slapping high fives like a wild woman!  Sometimes I almost got knocked over!
5K
Split
5k
23:32
10k
23:10
15k
22:49
20k
23:09
25k
22:51
30k
23:16
35k
23:08
40k
22:27


Mile 
Split
Mile
Split
1
7:39
14
7:11
2
7:29
15
7:19
3
7:27
16
7:13
4
7:21
17
7:33
5
7:24
18
7:29
6
7:23
19
7:13
7
7:17
20
7:21
8
7:23
21
7:41
9
7:44
22
7:06
10
7:13
23
7:17
11
7:20
24
6:59
12
7:24
25
7:08

Overall:  1274 out of 22,480
Women:  85 out of 9307
Team:  5th for all women
2nd Women for Utah (Way to go Melody hitting the #1 Spot!)


Average Finishing time 4:18:57
Average Finishing time over the past 12 years 3:51
5 minutes slower than 2004 the other year temperatures were 75+
Average Finishing time for 34 year old women 4:24 versus 3:57 in 2010

13% of runners re-qualified for Boston compared to 2010 with 41%

I include all of this information to make myself feel better and anyone else who ran in the heat last Monday.  We all need an ego boost to help us cope with our times.

Summing it all Up

Those people and events I invest a great deal of time in run the danger of becoming highly emotional.  Why do I ever wonder where Callista gets her wild emotions?  Boston was no exception.

For the Love

  I think this race committed me to the kind of runner I want to be.  I read "Born to Run" on the plane ride out and loved it.  There is no doubt I have a dogged, competitive side to my personality.   However, when competition strips the fun, when it gets in the way of relationships or other higher priorities I'm willing to give.  The give doesn't always come without regrets (that darn perfectionist) but at least I hope it always comes.  I absolutely love running.  I love the camaraderie.  It gets me out of bed every morning.  I love the high of an intense workout 2 hours before I was certain I would never be able to accomplish.  I love pushing and pushing and seeing just how far I can go.  I love my children's disturbed questioning if they ever wake up and find me still in bed.  "Why aren't you out for a run mom?"

Don't Change the Rules

I learned I can't make an individual sport a team sport, even for brief moments.  It really isn't fair to me and most importantly not to anyone else.  An unfair and uncalled for pressure or awkwardness before and after can result.  Unless it is a totally unselfish effort to aid someone else who is sincerely asking or in need, I'll just keep my mouth shut.
The muscles clearly had some extra blood flow
as they are seriously bulging!  I'm all about the
toned body but this is a bit intense.


Don't Panic: Plan on the Fly

I had no need to panic when all my well laid plans dissolved.  I pulled it out just fine spur of the moment.  I knew there would be so many factors out of my control.  There were.  It was just a far bigger factor than I imagined. I can do that in life.  I don't have to have a spreadsheet to help me conquer every hill.



Accept the Little Victories

Given the circumstances I feel I ran a fantastic race.  So why do I feel incredibly frustrated and disappointed?  Because I wanted more.  I know I was capable of running a much faster race.  For the first time I felt ready not just to "run" a marathon but to "race" one.  I lost that in the weather.  But I will take this little victory of running smart and safe and decently fast.  And I will give my body a great big hug for not falling apart in the heat!

4.19.2008

Startup Princess and Squeezing into my Pre-Pregnancy Jeans

My 4 jogsuits and Startup Princess Wand

Thursday night I attended my first Startup Princess event. It was quite the postpartum outing for me. Let's be honest, it was the first time since Emmett was born that I didn't wear a jog suit. In February my husband found a fabulous jog suit for me, and over the next two weeks I sent him back for 3 more! So now I have 4 I just rotate through during the week. I mean navy blue is definitely a different look than black! But I digress. For my first Startup Princess event (a fantastic network for women entrepreneurs www.startupprincess.com) I thought maybe the beige jog suit wasn't quite professional enough. So with trepidation I pulled on my pre-pregnancy jeans. Proudly,I could button them but(t) it wasn't pretty (and there is definitely a pun intended!).

What this all led to was my first trip to the mall with 3 children to find a shirt to hide the belly fat that is just hanging on! There is no way I would dare to attempt such a feat alone. So I brought my mom and sister Monica. Between the three of us, my girls still seemed to be racing from mirror to mirror in the Nordstrom's dressing room. Of course my 5 year old picked out a slew of rainbow colored shirts that would make Barbie Island Princess proud! Amazingly I came away with a decent shirt. I am embarrassed to admit, but sometimes new clothes just give this girl a boost of confidence to tackle a new situation.

By the time of the event I loaded my mom with pumped milk and nukies (what we call pacifiers in our house) and headed off. At the event I met some sharp women who I hope to develop relationships with. Founder Kelly King Anderson is currently running for Mrs. Utah, and has an impressive resume, and a sparkling desire to help women entrepreneurs. Janet Meiners presented (check out her blog www.newspapergirl.com) on SEO and internet marketing. I was lucky enough she used our Savvy May Creations site as a demo. I learned a huge amount, because I am quite illiterate when it comes to all this stuff. In fact my web designer Rachelle Johnson (www.ispectrummarketing.com, she is awesome) just taught me how to post a blog a little bit ago. So this night was quite enlightening.

I met some women with some great ideas. I love Amy Roskelley's Super Healthy Kids plates (www.superhealthykids.com). They are darling portion control plates for kids. And Sarah Kimmel creator of the Daily Home Planner and blogger of www.organizedmom.net is a bit of a local celebrity. I gave them samples and hope to have Sarah review my product on her blog. Networking is crucial right now for me. I have spent a lot of money, I really need to start making some :) The night was a success, I loved the Startup Princess event and venturing out of my jogsuits, even if it was a tight squeeze into those jeans.

4.16.2008

Sleeping Through the Night


I never would have fathomed 7 years ago the power of the four words "sleeping through the night." Last night my two-month-old Emmett actually did it. Now this is unheard of for my children at this age. My girls, well, it seems like they still don't sleep through the night, but that is a whole different story. Here's what "sleeping through the night" means to me today:
  • I am finally nearing the conclusion of the "no order, no schedule" infant stage
  • The bags under my eyes look a little smaller
  • Since they are smaller I see better, which means all those little lines in my face, I began to notice after I turned 30 this year, are more obvious
  • I still didn't get a shower until 1 pm
  • I might have the stamina for a long run today
  • It seems possible to maybe get a little something done today
  • Emmett looks at me with a little smile, like he knows he gave me a gift (keep it coming kid-o!)
I think Savvy May is also finally "sleeping through the night." The last 5 months have been an exciting and exhausting adventure. There hasn't seemed to be much order or schedule. Just when I think I have things figured out this little company starts screaming for my attention. But now it seems like the two of us have a little understanding. Things are getting underway and we are moving ahead. Progress seems possible.