Technical Difficulties

Go to www.TheMayFiles.com for the blog, if you are having some problems getting the updated posts. We are still having some issues. Sorry about that!

The Emotional Roller Coaster of Entrepreneurship

I had no idea the emotional roller coaster you ride as an entrepreneur. Savvy May Creations and the Cap Trappers are definitely throwing me for some loops! The ups and downs are just amazing. I have an entirely new appreciation for my husband the last 8 years. He started a business from scratch. I often would pry to have him tell me all the details of everything that was going on. He was always hesitant. Usually he spoke in vague generalities. I have to admit sometimes I was a little bit hurt by this. However, now I totally understand.

It seems like everyday or (few days) there is something amazingly exciting that happens...and then just as fast things don't happen...or fall apart...or move in a completely different direction. It has my emotions going haywire. And this is just a hobby for me. It is not like I am trying to support and provide for my family like Brent. He has all that added pressure.


So after all these years I find out just another way my husband is so perfect, and how well he knows me and how much he loves me. When it comes to the company that pays for our family...I am glad I don't have a huge emotional involvement. I like to know the generalities and be informed, but I would be a nervous wreck with the day to day theme park ride of running your own business.

A side effect of a blog, and spilling all the beans to your family, is that little lurking fear of failure. I have never been one who likes to fail or give up. I am also not afraid of anything hard. Even today...I found myself on the Spudman website analyzing all my past splits, and the splits in my age division...wondering if I could get a PR or place...not willing to accept that I might be slower with a 5 month old nursing baby...it is so ridiculous. Oh well. There is a thrill that comes with it.

When I got off my bike this morning after riding 25 miles into a grueling headwind, and started running (they call this a brick in tri training, for a good reason too...your legs literally feel like bricks) there was nothing that felt good about it. However I wouldn't trade the feeling of accomplishment that I will keep with me this entire day.

This blog went from roller coaster to serious rambling!

Not so Technically Savvy May

So Savvy May (my middle name is "May" btw) is definitely not-so technically savvy. I tried to get all fancy and change the name of my blog so you can go to www.themayfiles.com and find it. Well I did that, but I messed up all the links from my website in the process. So all these posts from the last 5 days are just wandering around in cyberspace on The May Files with no one to visit them. Thankfully my fabulous web designer Rachelle from iSpectrum Marketing has come to my rescue to fix the problem. She is very patient. Thank you Rachelle. I highly recommend her!

Oh Where is my Stimulus Check?

Tomorrow is the last day to receive your economic stimulus check. Tomorrow I will actually love George Bush because you guessed it, tomorrow is the day we get our check. . I think I would give him a big hug. Do think Obama would give us a stimulus check? Finally is all I have to say. I am ready to start stimulating the economy! First on my list...a new camera! Hooray. Then I can actually post some recent pictures again. Thankfully the check comes within days of my camera coupon at Costco. I am very excited for my new camera...10 MP as compared to 5 MP. But most importantly, it is really skinny. Much more portable. And I am all about portability...think Cap Trappers!

Get Back Up and Try Again!

Check out this video....



Is it any surprise our backyard is the neighborhood favorite? Beyond the plethora of childhood dreams including tree houses with troll bridges, zip lines, firepits, gardens, woodpiles full of snakes, strawberry and raspberry patches, we happen to have the "Coolest Dad" that makes it all happen.

I better confess. Although it doesn't look like it in the video, it took us about 15 minutes of coaxing to get Ellery to go down the zip line for this video. She used to do "superwoman" jumps off the platform, but thanks to some sweaty palms this Spring she ended up sprawled on the ground. She lost all her guts! This is torcher for me as a mother to have gutless children. I always prided myself on being the bravest girl around. I was always the first one off our "tarzan swing." I guess they are still pretty little, there is hope for them yet.

We keep trying to encourage them. The whole "get back up and do it again concept...just keep trying...." It hasn't sunk in. (Callista of course is much braver, but insists on being just like Ellery. So if Ellery won't do it--neither will she.) It is an important concept in life. I still struggle sometimes with it. There are so many opportunities for failure, but just as many opportunities for success if we keep trying.

Emmett: My Angel Child

Who would of thought I would get a perfect angel for a baby. (Check out that skull, a perfect round halo!) Emmett has been smiling at me since 10 days old. Real smiles. My sister didn't believe me, she claimed "gas" smiles. But my teeny 6 lb baby would gaze up at me with his big blue eyes and smile directly into my eyes. He hasn't stopped since.

Proofs of his Angelic demeanor...

....Smiling at his mother at the smallest hint of a glance
.....Grabs mommy's face, pulls it close and kisses, kisses, kisses!! (he does get a big fistful of hair every so often as well)
.....Cooing at his mom
.....Laughing and squealing at his big sisters, (even after surviving a full day of mauling, I mean playing, from pip)
.....Sleeping nuzzled against his mom, waking ever so often to gaze up at her
.....His propensity towards nakedness. He loves to "Go free" with no diap, and kick his legs as hard as he can


Maybe it is just because I am getting older, but I lam enjoying this baby so much. I love every moment with him. Ellery was the first baby and all the stress that comes along with that, plus she had all the health problems. Callista--she has gone a mile a minute since she was born. And she has no quiet voice. She basically screamed her lungs out in protest (which was the vast majority of the time) or squealed in delight (which was a lot too!). Emmett is by far, my most joyful, loving baby.

"The Big Idea" Lives On!

Yes, The Big Idea with ******* on the ***** network lives on. Not physically, It appears the NYC portion of the show will not be filmed, and the whole segment will not broadcast, but in spirit it lives on. And this is the most important! I figured from the first phone call the day before I was supposed to leave it wasn't going to happen. So it has been quite a while since I was worried about it. Really it took about a day to get over...even though I still think it was lame. However...the good news is, yesterday the big Exec from the major retailer I was supposed to pitch my idea to emailed me!

Yep. He contacted the producers on his own to get my info. It appears he did not want to wait around for the silly show. He wants Cap Trappers on his shelves! (So you see these reality shows aren't exactly what they seem. The retailer knew exactly who the companies were that would be pitching to them. ) I don't know if he did this with all 4of the companies who were supposed to appear on the segment, but who cares. It is definitely a good thing for us! We still get our big shot and a huge break!

On a side note...remember that sleuthing post from Monday? Well, this retailer, and specifically this individual was one targeted retailer. So coincidentally enough, he will receive his samples a lot sooner than he is anticipating! It is funny how things work out, is it not? There is definitely someone watching out for us.

A Shot in the Leg (Four to be Exact)

It is amazing how much trust I put in my doctor today. I think moms usually just breeze through and don't really think about it. The doctor injecting something foreign into our own little, helpless lifebloods laying there on the table. Emmett, my purest little angel, laid there smiling and kicking his feet, like the happiest thing alive. I cringed inside thinking about it. Torn. I allow the vaccinations because I have to trust it is the best thing. For my children. For the greater society. But there is a piece of me that is uncomfortable with this. I think of autism. The pain it would cause me for the smiling responsive face of my son to be locked away inside of him... There are so many unknowns.

On so many levels it is hard to know who and what to trust. I guess I try to hold on to my optimism that the government and drug companies are altruistic at heart. I hope I am right. But I won't be caught dead ever taking meds for high cholesterol etc. But I just gave my child vaccines. Thankfully, Brent has been off of him reflux medicine for a year now without incident. It turns out our naturopath doctor discovered he hadn't had reflux all those years (nearly 4 of them, consisting of 2 pills a day, antacids and mucas thinners galore) of taking medication. He had an usual bacteria called H. pylori. A 10 day dose of antibiotics and he was cured from years of suffering. All of the traditional doctors would have had him on aciphex his entire life. There is a place for alternative medicine in my families lives. A place for traditional medicine as well. Finding the balance between who to trust and when is the trick.

Free Cap Trappers for Utah Valley Residents

Hey Utah Valley Moms and teachers. I am giving away free cap trappers if you email me me with your name and address by Thursday at midnight. Tell me why you would love and use them. This is in honor of the article that just came out in the Utah Valley Magazine. Drop me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

Rebecca@SavvyMayCreations.com

Slueth Your Way to the Top!

Brent and I had quite the entertaining evening tonight. He has amazing information finding skills. This includes some serious internet savvy. With a first and last name he finds addresses, phone numbers and a slue of other information of key people we want to show Cap Trappers.

For a small company there is so much red tape when trying to get through and get to a person who actually has some say. I believe so much in these Cap Trappers. I think it really could revolutionize marker use! So our sole purpose is simply to get some Cap Trappers into the hands of someone who actually has some pull, or can connect us to the right person!

It was quite intriguing to watch him work. Thankfully, we don't try to abuse the information in anyway. We are completely harmless information gatherers, and I won't teach you how either (I couldn't anyways because I have no idea, my husband did it?). We just send some Cap Trappers!

So here is the lesson, with a little of your own legwork at home, you can find the contact information of just about anyone you need. Don't pay someone or some site thousands of dollars to do it for you.

Watch the Curb!

I seem to be developing a bad habit. Hitting curbs at just the wrong angle and sending myself and my bike skidding across the road in tandem. It is not pretty. Neither is my raspberried, swollen chin. Thankfully my helmet protected the rest of my head. Now if I could only just learn to use my head. You would think I would have learned my lesson from the garden hose last spring (same principle as a small curb) but I didn't.

I blame this on my birth to the biking world on a mountain bike. No matter what angle I hit anything, I could usually recover. (Although that does not explain all the battle wounds on my legs from my mountain biking years. We won't go into it.) Now , on a road bike, even after 3 years, I still seem to think those skinny little tires will take a curb the same way as my mountain bike.

I better learn a lesson from this. Learn from my mistakes yes. But more than that, just because to activities appear to be similar, it doesn't mean the same rules apply.

If I had a camera I would post some pictures of my road rash. But I don't. You will just have to imagine the beauty of my chin, elbow, knee, and hip!

Rebuild

We made the long trek home yesterday from Canada. My children were angels despite the 12 hours straight in the car. Which was actually 2 hours faster than we did going there!

Monday evening the aunts, uncles, and cousins congregated at the remains of my uncles home to dig through the ashes. Our search was for treasures that cannot be replaced. Amazingly, there were so many that we found! Albums from which we peeled baby pictures, journals, just barely legible...It is one of those miracles you pray for. A column in the middle of the home where the albums were, somehow they survived. The oven and microwave, melted and gone...but the pictures survive.

I really need to get a new camera so I can add pictures. When I get copies from my cousins I will post them.

It is time to rebuild.