Busy

I have never been so busy... I work non-stop from the moment I get to work. I take orders, invoice, resolve customer service issues, and now I am doing sales. I am in charge of selling to small gourmet and nutrition/health stores and am working on just being the rep for the Hispanic market. It may seem odd, except for the fact that my husband is Mexican. It's really going to be him. I sell VitaCl... cookers. I can't list the name because my boss has a google search for her product. It really is a cool product though. It is a rice cooker / slow cooker that uses a clay pot insert. It is healthy and natural, and yes, I can see how to market it to Hispanics. Asians are really liking it. It is doing well in the Chinese market. I am new to marketing and sales, but am doing ok on my learning company. I even sold 4 cookers from the trade show today (a week later)... Yeah!! So I am swamped at work. And then I come to the house and I have school. I am going back to pursue Accounting, however, it is interesting to note that I really enjoy my business law class even more. Law has really nothing to do with morality, which I found challenging in the beginning. My enjoyment of this class really surprises me. I like this class better than the Accounting, which I have 20 years experience in. Nutrition is killing me and this week is mid-terms. Yes, I study all the time. After work - Weekends - Even early in the morning. In addition to laundry, cleaning, studying with my son... Next week is spring break and I hope to enjoy it. I'd better rest while I can because my fourth class kicks in the following Monday - and it's a semester course packed into a half semester. Double the work - double the .. well I don't know. The course is Psychology (a GED option) and I hope it's not as hard as it appears. So, back to studying... chapter test for Accounting tomorrow and mid-term on Friday. I feel like the white rabbit---I'm late -I'm late...

Business Trip

I went on my first ever business trip. I went to a trade show in Anaheim. The show started on Friday morning and lasted through Sunday. My boss was there until Friday afternoon then she left to go to another trade show in Chicago. Once my boss left I had a lot of fun. We "rented" space from another exhibitor and they were so much fun. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the traffic. There were so many cars it took an hour to drive a couple blocks. I would definitely do a trade show again (as long as my boss doesn't come). She is just a nervous person and tries to manage everyone - including those who don't work for her. I made a few contacts who want to work with me (not her), so we'll see how it goes.... Sales all go into one place anyway, so no worries.

Business Trip

So I am now scheduled to go on my first business trip. While I have always wanted a job that required travel I find myself frustrated. I am supposed to go go a trade show this Thursay. That may sound great, but it is in Anaheim. That may not seem like anything, except for a Disney person like myself. I have to be at the Convention Center from 10-6 every day, across from the Happiest Place on the Earth.... talk about torture. My husband has decided to tag along and take the kids. While I am thrilled for them all, this does not make ME happy. My entire family will be having fun, riding rides, eating, drinking, etc. while I am working the entire time. My time is compensated, and yet they are benefiting from it.... not quite fair, but, if my kids are having fun, I'm good. I hope my youngest enjoys her trip since this would be the first trip to Disneyland that she can actually ride "big kid" rides. I just wish I could be there to see it.

Marketing

My work background is accounting and admin. I work for a very small company (as in the owner and myself), that sells a product. I handle customer service issues, sales, accounts payable, accounts receivable, search for sales leads, basically anything. I am getting a crash course in marketing, and find the whole process rather boggling. Buyer personas, demographics, etc. It's a slow cooker people... how do I know what a vegetarian is looking for in their crock pot??? Anyway, hopefully this will sell and I can actually make some money. That's the problem with getting paid low on an hourly basis, with bonuses being dependent on sales. I need to figure out how to increase sales - hmmm, back to sales & marketing. Great....

Busy...Busy...Busy

Wow!! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted a blog. I actually started one last month, but no time to finish. Problem is a lack of time. My life has become extremely booked of late. I started working full time 6 weeks ago. There goes 40+ hours in the week. As of February 1st I became a full time student. There goes the rest of the week... My schedule consists of getting up at 7, leaving the house at 7:40, arriving at the workplace by 8. I get off at 5, get to the house at 5:20, and break out the books. Evenings and nights are studying as are weekends. Wow, the times goes by quickly when you are booked solid. Hopefully I'll find a schedule that I can live with, but a semester goes by fairly quickly, so it may not be an issue. Husband is also a full time student and my son finds this whole thing rather amusing. Three students in the house... Fortunately, husband is taking Hospitality Management/Culinary Arts so I don't have to worry about cooking dinner. One item off my place!

The Princess Bed

Quite a while back, while wandering the mall, my daughter spotted perched high on a shelf, "The Princess Bed". Not having place to put the bed, we put her off. Now this is a mall in the town we live, so we tend to frequent it more often than other places. Every time we would walk by the store we heard "my princess bed is in there". To get the bed she did everything we asked of her. At last she got the bed... and never looked back. She loves that bed. We have had it about a month or so now, and it's amazing how fast she falls asleep in it. No fuss - no muss. No more whining, no more rocking her to get her to relax... She gets in her bed, pulls her (yes, you guessed it) princess blanket over her, and fluffs her (yet again... ) princess pillow and conks out. Wow!! Who knew this bed had so much power. She has been so happy with this bed. Go figure.. but I'm so happy for her.

Nicholas

It is finally where I can write about it. Thursday was a horrible day. Our only cat had to be put down. I have had a cat in my life every single day of my life. As of Thursday, November 12th, that is no longer the case. Nicholas had been suffering from what was thought to be URI. Turns out, after a month, that was not the case. He, too, had cancer. What we thought were swollen glands due to congestion, was rather, two tumors. One was expressed outward. The other was growing inward. It was pressing on his trachea, which was causing his breathing problems. It also caused him to be unable to eat. I had observed him trying to eat and saw there was a problem. We then proceeded to use the eye dropper to feed him homemade chicken soup. We fed him every hour or two to make sure he got some nutrients. Turns out it didn't help. He still lost 2 pounds, and the cancer took him from us. In addition, it turns out Nick was also blind. He always had this faraway look about him. It seemed like he was looking though us, which could be attributed to his not feeling well. My comments were it seemed like we were invisible. Others thought he had a faraway look. Guess what... blind. I feel like such a fool for not noticing, but I was so concerned about his bloody congestion and his swollen glands that we took it to be he was lonely for his sister....
So another chapter over. It seems like I am closing a lot of chapters in my life in the last few months. I am down to one bird and one dog. And we even have a home for the bird, once we make the trip to deliver him. The bird has always been my son's even though he was more attached to me. I stayed out of his way and let my son be the primary in his life. But my son acknowledged the bird likes me more and I feel bad. I tried so hard to avoid the bird. But when I am around him, he holds my finger to keep me with him. Rosh is such a sweetie, but I wasn't going to come between them. Unfortunately, animals make their choice, so my son is willing to let him go because they just don't have that unshakeable bond. We'll see if it actually comes to pass. I am tired of closing chapters. I am one of those people who wants to keep the chapters open and continue the journey.... oh well.... and life goes on. Sad thing is my two kids are devastated (especially the one on all counts). My son grows close and gets an attachment. Once that attachment is gone he is left floundering and is absolutely lost and confused. Poor kid. I can only explain things so far...