Dear Sweet Retta tagged me about a million years ago on this one. I'm supposed to come up with 5 reasons. I'll tell ya right now, I'm not tagging anyone. I'm such a rebel.
1. Heather talked me into it. She pressured me. 2. I stopped putting things in Zane's baby book earlier than most. This is my excuse. 3. It's fun and creative without being overly stressful. 4. It's the above and I still am making some money at it. 5. I've met some cool people this way.
Those are the reasons. Who am I tagging?
YOU! If you are reading this, go do this meme. Link back. Go on. Do it. Ha ha ha. Maybe #6 is that I get to be bossy and no one seems to care. (or no one reads it.)
Ok, I have to be honest. I haven't been watching RockStartup lately. What? Don't know what RockStartup is? It's PayPerPost's reality tv show. I was a huge fan in the beginning and then it got away from me. I hadn't watched it in a while until this paid opportunity became available. (By the way, don't think I didn't notice that as a smart way to get people watching again! Clever, PPP!)
Now, they're asking us to post about our favorite episode, what we love, and what they can do to make it better. So, I dutifully sat down and watched the episodes I hadn't seen, and even re-watched some of the older ones I had seen. The truth is, I still love the show. It's hard to pick a favorite, but since I have to, I choose the PayPerPost wedding episode. Here it is:
Why do I love this episode the most? It's the human element. I think that is what is so different about PayPerPost vs. their competition. They put their faces and their names on everything and encourage us to know them and each other. I've gotten to know some great people since being involved with PayPerPost, and the bride in the episode, Julie, is one of those great people. So, it's personal.
Why do I love the show in general? Again, it's the human element. I love to see the antics of the group. Ted, Britt, and Veronique are, in particular, fun to watch. We get to see the behind-the-scenes goings on. People love that. I am no exception. I love that they have 12 episodes and have been in a number of locations already. I think it's shot and edited well. We get fun little glimpses into the life of the staff, but also the real business of working at a startup. I worked at a startup for over 8 years, so this feels very familiar to me. It's hard and it's draining, but it's also fun and you become like a family. It's a very real creative experience. It's an amazing thing to live, or to just watch. I have to admit that RockStartup makes me a bit homesick for my startup family.
If I love this freakin' show so much, why hadn't I been watching? Mostly because life has been so hectic, and I haven't been keeping up with everything online. What could they do better? Well, I'm signed up to get an email newsletter, and I'm not sure I've ever gotten one. Sure, I can find out about it on the PayPerPost blog, but I don't always visit. (gasp!) Hey, I've got a toddler and a new job. So, I'm not sure if it's just me who's not getting alerted, but it might be something for the gang to check out. I tried to resub, but they said I already was subscribed.
How else could they make it better? This may be a little bit of a pipe dream, but it would be great if the episodes could be closer to real time. I'm watching the reality unfold and learning the PayPerPost news and then watching the shows a while later. By then, what's happening feels a little bit like old news. Part of the fun of reality tv is the shock value. When we already know the news, some of that value is lost. It would be fun to see it unfold as we are learning about what's going on with the business. For example, I'd love to see the behind-the-scenes news on the hot postie topic of segmentation right now. I don't know if that's possible, however. I like to be realistic.
Thanks for a great show and a great opportunity, PayPerPost. We've expressed ourselves, had fun, made money, gotten to know each other, and experienced change and controversy. It's been a great ride so far, and I look forward to continuing it.
I don't really clip coupons. (I use some online ones.) I don't always look for the best deal. I'm not really a penny pincher. We waste money sometimes. We do crazy things.
But for some reason, I will leave the hand soap in my bathroom or kitchen for way too long because I feel the need to get every last drop of soap out of the container. It always irritates me, because then you never get enough soap. Or the pump falls over. But I never even realized I did that until today. I was doing it in my utility room, even though I had a brand new, better soap right next to it.
How much does hand soap cost? $3? $4? Maybe more for some really nice stuff. (We didn't have really nice stuff in there.) How much am I saving by using every last drop? Not much. Like I care. WHAT was I saving it for? Finally, when I realized my neurosis (and that I do it all the time), I just threw that thing out. I feel so free.
Well, my big two days off in a row have been taken over by family illness. Caspian started it, as usual. Crazy other people's kids who get my kids sick. The good news is that Zane just let me put a blanket on him for upwards of 10 minutes. I know. He has hated blankets for ever. I'm getting him used to them little by little, in five minute increments or less. Kevin will tell you it's because I swaddled him so hardcore as a newborn. Maybe. Well, here he is, watching Lazy Town (one of his current faves). Being Lazy, but it's ok because he's sick.
If you've been reading my blog at all, you know I dig movies. I also seriously believe in doing good in the world and in supporting non-profit organizations in that mission. Of course, I also worked for a non-profit for 8 years. Add to that, my passion for spirituality and personal development, and you'll see why I love this new movie, even though I haven't seen it yet.
I just watched the trailer for The Ultimate Gift, which opens March 9th, and it gave me goosebumps. It's got love, money, romance, family, a cute kid, sweeping panoramics, star performances, and a message that doesn't seem to hit you over the head. It seems to make sense.
The movie is based on a best-selling book by Jim Stovall, and the message of both is "The only way you can truly get more out of life for yourself is to give part of yourself away.” It's a simple idea that's been around forever, but it's always the simple ideas we need help and inspiration to implement isn't it?
Warning: Puke talk. (As if the title wasn't warning enough.)
Ugh, poor Caspian. He didn't get to go to Theater Camp on his final day because he hacked up his lungs all night and then had a fever in the morning to boot.
Ugh, poor me and Zane. Zane decided that 4:45 am was a fine time to get up with HIS fever after absolutely refusing to take medicine for it. Ok, he's just about 2. I can make him take medicine, right? One would think so. I would have thought so. But my sweet little Pisces child screamed bloody murder when I tried. In general, he just takes his medicine, no problem. He doesn't like it, but he's a trooper. Not last night or this morning. So, after throwing his fit and drinking a lot of rice milk, he just started throwing up all over me. Poor kid. And poor me. I hate that look they get when they start to throw up. I don't know if it's everyone's kid or just mine, but he looks so confused and betrayed, like "WHAT is going on? Make this stop!" Especially the first time he got really sick and threw up as a baby. You feel so bad for them.
So, just about an hour ago, Caspian was playing with Luke and HE puked on Caspian. Yikes.
Zane is up having nap #2 right now. I'm glad of that. We finally got him to take some of Caspian's medicine. The dosage chart lists 2 as the youngest age for the medicine. Yay! We'll be legal for that medicine in 4 days. We are such rebels.
I have been a spiritual seeker and personal development enthusiast for over a decade now. I've read numerous books, attended classes, studied astrology, and even married a psychic healer. So, I've been around the new age block a little bit. I haven't been as immersed in the past few years because my mothering has taken a front seat to my other passionate pursuits, but I still love to know what's going on and share new information with others.
I just learned about The Lotus Path online, and The Lotus Path workshops. It looks quite interesting. I've always been drawn to anything with the word Lotus in it, and I loved the look and feel of the website. Here is their logo:
The workshops are held in the Sierra foothills between Yosemite and Fresno, California. The purpose of a workshop is to clear the energy of the chakras and work with your own divine energy. Facilitator Betty Malicoat takes pride in being direct about what she offers. My psychic healer husband has that sort of approach himself after being in the industry for a number of years.
The site itself is very attractive, informative, and easy to navigate. If you feel at all called to this sort of experience and will be in that general area, I encourage you look into it further at The Lotus Path online.
~t
LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.
I suppose the title of this post is a rhetorical question. I know the reason(s). I suppose it's my fault. If you had told me 2 years ago that it would take over 2 years for my kid to sleep through the night, I probably would have had a heart attack 5 days before little Zane was born. Yikes.
It's the cosleeping and the breastfeeding, I think. That's what all the books say. But I can't really seem to stop either. I'm not looking for advice. I'm more venting, and also, I guess raising the "If this is you, too, you are not alone!" flag. I know other moms in this situation. For the most part, it's ok, and he will grow out of it. It just takes longer than other kids. It just gets, well, tiring. Ha. I'd like to put my kid to bed, at least some nights and not have to worry that I'm going to have to run up there 3 times before I actually want to go to sleep.
I know, there are things I could do to remedy this situation. But, there are reasons I haven't and probably still won't, so please don't tell me about them. It's just every now and then I cannot believe it, and I thought I'd tell you. There is the odd chance, however, that perhaps he'd sleep WORSE without cosleeping and breastfeeding.
When money's running tight around here, I like to go shopping. Ok, that was a joke, but sometimes I still have to do some shopping. We are a family of 5, you know. We have needs. In that case, online coupon codes really come in handy.
The boys are always outgrowing things, and Caspian can be quite hard on his clothes. I love to buy for them use Gap coupons. That way, I can get stylish clothes that are a bit more rugged and save a few bucks while I'm at it. It's a great deal.
Well, I've talked about Mercury retrograde more than a few times on here, so I'll just leave it to you to find the links if you don't know what the heck I'm talking about here. Search my blog. Or the internet. You'll find it.
If you know what I'm talkin' about, then you know what I'm talkin' about. I miss being around people who understand Mercury retrograde. Of course, Kevin does, so he is a good person to talk to about it. There are just so many things that happen during a retro period that make me go, "Oh, this is sooooooooo Mercury retrograde!" And then, when I see it happening to others, I say the same thing, and it's sad when they don't get it. I just want to comfort them with a "It's just Mercury," but they don't know what the heck I'm talkin' about, ya know?
Allright, sorry for the long rambly post about nothing, but there ya go. Mercury retrograde. I've dropped things, I've cut things, I've had my car in the shop for the few days we really needed it, I've had blow ups with family. These are the stuff of the trickster retrograde. And now I must go make something very specific happen for my little one who will blow a gasket if I don't.
The quality of light in a room can make a huge difference in how it feels, from cheery to sedate, from peaceful to happy, and more. There are so many fabulous lighting options out there these days, that it's really fun to shop around and get something just perfect for your house.
You can even get some amazing prices by getting Discount Chandeliers. These fixtures will go a long way towards updating and beautifying your home.
We've replaced some fixtures in our house already and hope to do more. This year, Kevin is working a lot on the outside of the house, so I'm hoping to eventually get some great outdoor lighting. I can't wait for it to be an outdoor paradise.
Caspian has really been enjoying theater camp. I'm hoping it gets some of his melodrama out of his system rather than feed it. Pray for me. He has a big show tomorrow which I just happened to have off to attend.
Zane has been doing well at home with Kevin and my mom. He is very sweet and affectionate when I come home and tells me he is happy to see me. They went to the store yesterday and the pharmacist gave him a sticker. He was very excited about it being the same as a magnet I've had on the fridge for a while. (I love refrigerator magnets--but not too many. The right amount and the right mix and the right cuteness factor.) The funny thing is that Zane says that anything that is in any way the same is the "same size". He seems to think "samesize" is the word for "same". So cute. Cute. Cute. Cute. Here's the magnet with the sticker.
The PayPerPost blog ad network has been connecting bloggers with advertisers for months now. Being a leader in the field, they've been experimenting with changes as they come along and pioneering new and exciting ways to benefit all parties involved. Things have continued to change as the market continues to figure out what to do with this new paid blogging beast.
One positive for higher profile bloggers is that now you can make even more money than before. If you qualify, you could make as much as $1000 for a single sponsored post. Of course, those posts aren't necessarily the norm, but there are more and more opportunities that are at price points like $35, $75, and $150. That kind of money is definitely worth the time spent blogging on something you might have written about anyway.
What does PayPerPost get out of the deal, you may ask? Well, of course, they take a cut as a fee for connecting bloggers with advertisers, but did you know that it's significantly smaller than some other companies doing the same thing? PPP only charges a 35% fee, leaving more money for the blogger and for advertisers to get more for their money.
In the interest of an honest marketplace, PayPerPost requires disclosure from all bloggers.
Woo hoo! Well, I'm going to try to do this in a quick way since I have to work in a couple hours and if I don't do it right now while Zane is eating breakfast, I probably won't. I lost 2.2 pounds this week! Yaaaaay! I've been just trying to be better. Haven't been totally "on program". I plan on doing that in a couple weeks. Not exactly sure when. I had gained a LOT in the past few weeks--almost 10 pounds. So, this is good.
This next week, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and see how it goes!
Well, it's been a little hard getting used to this work thing. I had a decent enough week for a new job. At first, it was questionable whether they'd have enough hours for me. I might have had to commute. But, on my second day, someone else quit. Pretty cool, huh? I guess my Tarot cards led me in the right direction. I just hope I can start making enough money. That's the big concern right now.
Zane seems to be adjusting well. He is a little more possessive of me when I'm home and very excited when he gets to have Mommy milk for his nap instead of Daddy meditation techniques. Ha. Everyone else seems much more relieved that I am now the official breadwinner. Everyone but me, of course. Hrmph. So, everyone else gets to be relieved while I am mildly resentful. I guess I better drop it. But, I need to keep reminding them we're not out of the home stretch yet. I don't have my real schedule yet. I'm looking forward to having a set schedule, which I don't have right now. And we still need other streams of income, I believe. Has anyone else totally been screwed by 1099s this year? I'm still waiting on three of them. That's ridiculous. We could use the refund.
Caspian is really happy to be at Theater Camp for his midwinter break. We're pretty happy about it, too. Kevin has been doing his dad and doggie dad thing and also some writing and some healing work, but not much. We are now preparing for Zane's big birthday #2. Wooo hoo. He is talking more than ever, making little phrases and sentences, and even trying to get the right tense for things. Like just now, when he was climbing the chair behind me, fell off it, and said, "I fell." I better git. Just thought I'd do a little update. Everyone out there have a good day!
I almost forgot about this today. Click the image above to get to meme-originator, Digi-Cass. Don't ask about the duck. There really is no reason. He was just here.
Is it really February 17th? (I had to double check to make sure I actually had the date right when I asked that question.) My point is: It's GORGEOUS out. Apparently, other parts of the country are not enjoying the beautiful weather we have today. We took a walk this morning to see our neighborhood llamas with Zane and Luke. Luke likes to trot right next to the stroller. That dog can run, too!
Right now, Kevin is out back ripping up the yard. He's getting ready to build his big ole wall back there. He's happier than a rutting pig. That's just his kind of thing. Taurus moon. Here is a pic:
Are you the kind of person that likes to know things before everyone else? Or maybe you just look ahead and read the last page of a book before you even start it? If you are, or you simply cannot wait to find out what's going to happen to your favorite soap characters, Soap Opera Spoilers is the place for you.
Soaps.com seems to have it all together. They know about the soaps. They know what happened on the soaps. AND, they know what's GOING to happen on the soaps. As I said in my previous post about Days of Our Lives, I think they have a good thing going. I like the layout of the site, the sheer quantity of the writing, and the great amount of photos. I think they are on the right track.
I think that perhaps that best improvement they could make would be to expand to more shows. As they are only 5-6 months old, I imagine that will happen in time. Stay tuned!
My friend, Retta, likes to say that I have all sorts of cuteness on my blog. Well, not lately. Hrmph. I thought I better remedy that, in case all this stupid work talk is bringing anybody down. Looks like these pics were taken by Kevin on my first day of work. I remember they went walking around while I turned my closet updside down. Professional clothes. Hrmph. Not as cool as skeleton sweatshirts, n'est-ce pas?
Bo and Hope. Steve and Kayla. Billie. Max. Sammy. Chelsea. Stefano diMera. If these names sound familiar to you, you could be an old school fan or a new one. If you're a fan and you miss an episode, there is a great site with fabulous Days of our Lives updates.
For soaps fans, soaps.com is great. They give daily updates on all your favorite shows. Not only do they get pretty in-depth with paragraphs upon paragraphs of juicy details, but they also have screen shots from the episodes, and a good number of them per update. I loved that. In addition to the daily updates, you'll find spoilers, message boards, tons of photos, cast lists, and so much more.
It's an attractive and well-laid out site. Plus, where else are you going to find people in comas, under spells, buried alive, carrying mystery babies, having amnesia, and the like. Check it out!
We are creating a life where we do what we want when we want. We have what we want when we want. We are abundant and free. We enjoy life, love, family, fun, music, travel, reading, movies and so much more.
