Crusty Bread

A few days ago, the Baby and the Little Lady were playing outside together. The Babe came in and told me the Little Lady was hungry. I'm sure he knew that through telepathy. So I gave him a piece of bread and told him he could eat half and he should give half to his little sister. He took off and I watched from the window to make sure he was sharing. It was so funny. He went out and sat next to her and carefully took the crust of the bread off and gave it to her. Then he ate the good part of the bread. I laughed so hard!

The sad part came when I called the hubby to tell him this story. He said, "Well that's what little sisters are for." It's sad but true. I'm sure my big brothers gave me the crust too. The hubby's poor little sister for sure got the crust.

Halloween PIctures

This is our little chicken eating some chicken nuggets.

I Hemstitch

Ok, today, I need to tell you where I've been all this time. Things have really been a little crazy. This time I do have a valid excuse. I started my own business. Now don't run away scared that I'm selling Pampered Chef or Stampin' Up. I promise not to try to sell to you individually. But it has really been an interesting experience and I wanted to write about it.

When I bought my hemstitching machine, I had no idea if it would even work. I didn't know anything about hemstitching machines. When I got it, I sent it off to a "repairman" for a month who overcharged me and took forever. When I got it back, it worked for about 2 seconds and broke again. So after another repairman who taught us how to work it, the hubby figured out how to fix the thing. And I only get furious at it every other day. I have seriously almost cussed at the thing. But it hasn't got the best of me yet. If you didn't already get this, it's very temperamental. Sometimes it randomly chooses not to work correctly.

So I had the machine and had to do all the legal stuff (e.g. apply for a business license ect.) and I was in business. I decided to sell my products at craft boutiques this fall and set out to find a few inexpensive ones to keep me busy.

These have been crazy! I've done 3 boutiques and each has been unique. I can't figure it out. What makes one so profitable and another so unprofitable? So I'm thinking about whether I want do anymore or if I want to decide that wasn't for me.

Craft fair people are a whole new breed. These people drive up to the place in a truck with a trailer and unload literally a whole store complete with walls and tables. It's crazy! They bring in boxes and boxes of product, tables, linens, hanging baskets, drills to assemble walls and the kitchen sink. I dunno, I guess it's a way of life.

Anyway, I also decided to make my own website and sell my products online. So having very little knowledge of html, I learned enough html to get me in trouble and made a website. It was super super fun! I didn't realize how much I would enjoy designing and making a website work. This has kept me busy in between craft boutiques.

In another aspect, I have to buy fabric, track all my products and account for all money. This part I also very much enjoy. It can be a little stressful though too. Like last week, I ordered $200 in fabric. So I had to process all of it and make sure I had updated my website. I also had to put each piece of fabric into my accounting and account that the money had left. I think this is fun but again stressful.

The part that I do not like the most is the actual manufacturing of the blankets. I have to first lay them out and get them nice and even. Then cut them, sew them, and package them. This part is very tedious and I usually leave it for the last second.

I have learned a lot! I never understood how much time/work people put into running their own business. I've enjoyed every minute of it. I really never thought I would start my own business. I wasn't one of those entrepreneur type people. But I'm enjoying it.

I miss you!

Dear Blog,

I've missed you sooooooooo much! It's been so long I can't even remember what you look like. After taking a quick peak, girlfriend we've got to have a little makeover. eek. I missed our long discussions on parenting, our cute pictures posted of my kiddies and the banner change every month. I have to admit it, I just couldn't live without you. Apparently, some stranger named Matt missed you too.

The last time we talked, I showed a picture of stuff from my garden. Now the garden has long since been ripped out and it has snowed since. Another post I wrote just before we lost contact, the Little Lady was barely walking. Now, she's running and climbing. And talking!!!!

So today I come back to my old friend like children always flock to sugar. Like a dog always returns to his vomit. And I promise to be a better friend this time. I won't take month long breaks from visiting you anymore. I promise not to post ugly pictures of myself anymore. I promise not to write crazy things about racism. And most of all I promise to continue shopping at Target. So we meet again Buzz Lightyear. Ohh wait. Nevermind. Ok I promise to stop watching so much Toy Story. My children will go hungry again because I must write. My bathroom will again be dirty because I must blog. I hope you're happy.

Love your dearest old friend,
The writer of this blog.

The Fruits of Our Labors

Racial Issues

Yesterday, I watched a movie called Something New. I'd seen the preview somewhere and was interested in the concept. I was seriously offended by this movie and I wanted to bring your attention to it and then to a bigger concept.

The movie was about a black single woman who decided to broaden her perspective and go on a blind date. The blind date was with a white guy (she didn't know, she assumed he was black). She left the date within 2 minutes excusing herself saying she had work. The rest of the movie is a love story about how these 2 fall in love then she breaks it off because he is white. Then at the end she overcomes her racism and decides to really love him for who he is.

Not only do I think the concept of this movie is bad, I found there were prejudice jokes, tons of issues how black people discriminate against whites and poor cinematography. I found that the woman was constantly focusing on race when the man never noticed it. Her friends were unsupportive of her dating a white man and told her that even though she dated him it wasn't like she was going to marry him.....he's white. It showed the worst scene where a black comedian gave a monologue about how bad white men are. I just don't get it. If a movie were made about a white woman not dating a black man because he was black the press would have a field day with it. I doubt the movie would ever actually hit the big screen. So why is it ok for it to be the other way around?

I wonder if it is because there is this long-standing notion that blacks are still being discriminated against when perhaps they aren't? Maybe that's too much of a blanket statement. Yes, there are still racists out there. But in general, I think people are more open-minded about it. The thing I found with this character was, why did she dwell on skin color constantly? The boyfriend guy said to just not talk about it for 1 night and she freaked out. She couldn't do it. She was surrounded by a black culture just as racist as the people discriminating against them.

My husband told me about a situation in Washington where a high school was accepting students on an application bases. There came a certain number of applications that were equal in standing. The people decided picked minority students over white students because they wanted a more "diversified" school and wanted to meet standards for white to minority students. What makes me even madder is that colleges offer scholarships for minority students. Where are the scholarships for white people? Why should a minority have more opportunities to get a scholarship than a white person? It is because schools look better if they have more minority students (including women). That is sad.

It's stuff like that that bothers me. I don't care about skin color. But doesn't it go both ways? Aren't black people sometimes just as racist as white? Let me know if I'm wrong here.

Yeaaaaa!!! It's up!

Yeaaaaaaa! It's finally up and ready! Go check it out and tell me what you think. www.ihemstitch.com

Will Walk for Food

Coming Soon....

Yes, I've been absent lately. But for good reason this time. I have been feverishly working on the business. And hopefully, cross your fingers, tomorrow the website will be live. I am super nervous.....so once it's up you all need to go at least look at it so I feel cool.

Anti-BlogHer Post

For all my regular readers, BlogHer was a conference that took place recently intended for women who blog to come together not only to learn something about blogging but also to network and meet other woman bloggers. My regular readers can all tune out now because The Blog Her Conference is a waste of your reading time.

Last year the conference was in L.A. and I didn't go because they were sold out by the time I found them. Then after the conference there was a flood of posts about how "great" it was. I found that, to read about it from an outsiders point of view, I never wanted to go. It sounded way over my head with sessions that were focused more on bloggers who wanted to launch their career via their blog. While I realize the conference isn't only for mommybloggers, I still had a hard time figuring out why a mommyblogger would go. I also realize that there are non-SAH mommybloggers but still what is the point of going if your blog is not a launching pad for a career in writing?

This year, the conference was in Chicago and after the bad taste everyone had left in my mouth from last year, I didn't even mention to my husband that there was a conference. And boy was I right. Again, the flood of posts reassures me that BlogHer is not the place for me. With posts calling out a woman who was "curt" and discussion's about monetizing and advertising, it makes me wonder shouldn't the conference be renamed Blogging Conference for Businesswomen (who use big words). I read the entire post about the "curt" woman and I have no idea who she is. I went to her blog. Nothing exciting. I know the poor woman doesn't need any more bad PR. Was anybody there who wasn't a big name blogger? If so, what did they do while the big time bloggers argued over whether they think they'll get a book deal soon? Is there a list of people I should read up on before I am allowed to go because I would look like a total idiot?

Honestly, is this really the place for all women bloggers? I most assuredly say no. Why target top bloggers with huge traffic numbers and invite all women. I think the conference is misadvertised but a good place for business women.