[tags]comedy cats,funny videps,funny pets,humor[/tags]
|
|
I have to admit, I love what I do. Being a stay at home mom is a real delight. But I honestly don’t know that I would enjoy it as much without my home business. It’s wonderful having something I can focus on that is about my interests.
Not to mention bringing in some money. It really helps to not be limited to a single income.
I know a lot of stay at home moms think about starting a home business. Some even take action. But the hardest, most challenging part is really getting started.
I don’t just mean joining an opportunity. I mean commiting to it and working hard. Doing what it takes to make it work.
You can’t kid yourself. Working at home is hard work. There isn’t a home business out there that does all the work for you.
But the wonderful thing is that the right business is fun to work on. There will still be some parts that are tedious, but if you delight in your work overall you can get through the dull parts.
Let me share with you two of the things I love most about running a website:
I can do it anytime.
I can take a break anytime.
When you’re a stay at home mom, those are highly valuable things. My primary working times are when my kids are playing together, my son is taking a nap, or they are both asleep at night. I can get bits of work done during the day, yet be there when the kids need me.
For example, I have a rule that if my kids want a story read while I’m working, I quit working and start reading. It may take a couple minutes if I’m in the middle of a thought, but I can do it.
When you have an almost 3 year old and a 5 year old, that’s really valuable.
One of the most intimidating things is just getting started. When I started this site, I didn’t realize where it would take me. It has succeeded in ways I never expected. It has made me work on things I never expected to work on.
Running a website is not as hard as some might think. I took some website design courses in college, but that is not what everyone needs.
If you need to get inspired to get moving, I suggest reading the free WAHM-IT! Masters Course. You might be amazed at how many different ways stay at home moms can succeed in home business. Or if you just want to get started now, visit the work at home page of Site Build It and see what they have to offer.
I firmly believe in the products SBI has to offer. It’s not just hosting. It’s tools to build a successful site. It’s a process you go through to help you succeed with your business. Even my dad loves it.
Why not use the new year to stop putting off starting your own home business. Do the work and get started. If you choose well you will love what you do as much as I do.
[tags]work at home,starting a home business,new year,wahm,site build it,sbi[/tags]
Hey, have to see what they actually liked, right?
All in all, not a bad start, I think. It’s really interesting seeing what really caught their attention.
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
I mentioned yesterday and the day before that I was going to help my kids make a graham cracker house this year before Christmas. It’s finally done and I thought I would share how we did it.
Ingredients:
graham crackers
assorted candies such as gum, spice drops, Spree, whatever you want to put on it
royal icing
Here’s the recipe for the royal icing:
1 egg white
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp lemon extract (or vanilla extract, but lemon leaves the mix whiter)
Beat egg whites in a bowl until foamy. Slowly add powdered sugar and lemon extract until completely blended.
I made one batch of this to assemble the house the first day, and a double batch the next for attaching the candy. How much you need depends on how extensive you let the decorating get.
I covered two cookie sheets with wax paper. Only needed one for building the house, but for making the walls I needed two.
Next I took one graham cracker and cut it into triangles using a butcher knife. One nice firm hit with the heel of my hand to break the crackers in a fairly straight line. Probably any knife long enough with an uncurved blade will do for the job.
Because I knew the kids would want a big house, I used the icing to connect two crackers for each side, and used the triangles to make points to support the roof. I was pretty heavy handed with the icing. I forgot to borrow my mother’s cake decorating supplies to make this easier and neater. But I figured the excess would help to strengthen the crackers once it dried.
A cracker and a half made each of the roof panels. I measured along the triangles to figure that out.
I kept the royal icing in the fridge, covered lightly with a damp paper towel while these dried.
Once they were dry enough, I assembled the house. Without the right tools this was pretty difficult. I used a plastic baggie with a corner cut off to direct the icing as best I could. Not as good as regular cake decorating tips would do, but it helped to get the job done. (Note to self: Next time don’t forget to borrow the cake decorating tools!)
One roof segment cracked when I was trying to attach it, and by that point I had too little icing to do more than fix it. Not enough to save for reattaching it. So I fixed it and decided to reattach it today.
All that was yesterday. I wanted the icing very strong before I let the kids anywhere near anything.
This morning I reattached the roof, then coated it with frosting and shingled it with Necco wafers. This was the point at which I wondered if it would have been smarter to add them yesterday, before assembly. I had to hold them in place for several minutes to keep all the shingles from sliding down, off the roof.
This did later generate the thought that maybe decorating the sides in general would be easier to do as they lay flat on the wax paper. Only thing I don’t know is how that would impact the assembly of the house. Might have too many things in the way then.
Next I covered the surrounding wax paper with the royal icing and let the kids go at it. I did the decorating of the house itself, since the kids didn’t have the patience to hold the candies in one place long enough to do anything on the walls. But they did have a lot of fun placing candies and asking if they could eat another piece yet.
The pine tree and snowman made from spice drops were probably the most difficult. Dratted things took incredibly long to dry. I had to keep a hand on them for at least 15-20 minutes. The snowman was particularly stubborn.
Then I decided to add a little chocolate. I had decided early on that that would be the easiest way to give the snowman a face. So I melted some chocolate chips in the microwave, grabbed a toothpick and went to work. Then I added more chocolate to the house just because I could, and it was chocolate. Who needs more reason than that?
With everything finished, there was still more icing available. I decided that the last bits could be poured over the roof to make something of a snow effect. It was that or throw it out, and that just seemed like more fun.
All in all, I think it turned out rather well:
[tags]christmas recipes,graham cracker house,candy[/tags]
I was reading a guest post over at eMoms about why the guest (Susan Payton) is glad she works at home, and had to share too. After all, despite all the things I still need to get done, I have a lot of fun.
1. I can do silly things like make a graham cracker house with my kids.
Got started on that one today. It’s kind of tricky since I forgot to borrow my mom’s cake decorating kit. That really complicates piping the frosting. However, a plastic baggie with a corner cut off does a sloppy but adequate job. I’ll post on the process probably tomorrow when the whole thing is done.
2. I was able to stay late at my daughter’s class today.
They got to wear pajamas to school and watch The Polar Express. Didn’t get to stay for the movie since my son was impatient, but we did sit and listen to the story being read.
3. I’ve missed most of the shopping crowds.
So nice to not be dealing with those crowds. I’ve loathed joining the crowds ever since I quit retail.
4. I can have fun making holiday treats.
It’s more than just the graham cracker house. But some things are surprises for other people. Besides, the more I think of them, the harder it is to avoid temptation.
5. When my daughter’s school break starts I can sleep in a bit too.
Not a whole lot, since my kids don’t sleep in. My son is up around 7 most mornings anyhow… if he sleeps in.
6. I can work around other people’s schedules.
Given the many schedules we have to deal with to handle extended family get togethers at this time of year, it really helps that I can go at just about any time.
7. I can think about business when I have a free moment.
It may seem like working too hard, but it’s so nice to be able to do just a touch of thinking about business when things are quieting down. I don’t feel bad about it, since it’s for me and my family. Doing my work is fun for me, and that I can mostly take a break from it, but still work if the mood strikes is really nice.
8. My kids really appreciate having me home.
Well, actually they’ve never known different. But earlier today I was able to lie down with my son for a little to help is nap get started. With all the exciting things going on he’s been trying not to take naps. I think they’d be shocked if they found out how different some kids have it. I think we’re all lucky.
[tags]working at home,christmas [/tags]
