January 29th, 2009

I Spent $100,000 Today

And it was so much fun! Ok, it was pretend money. My sister is in esthetics school and needed to draft a sample business plan with a $100,000 budget for opening her own salon. I think it was a great exercise for the school to have their students do, as it really helps you see how quickly money goes and how much work it truly is to own your own salon. My sister’s dream is to have a home-based salon, so that she can work a somewhat flexible schedule around her daughter’s needs.

It’s interesting to see how many of us dream of working from home, no matter how different our interests. Virtual assistance is pretty different from performing relaxation massages and pedicures, but we have that one desire in common. We want freedom. Freedom from arbitrary rules and regulations that seem to be so tied to regular jobs. I know, I know, I’ve been a WAHM long enough to know that it’s not all peaches and cream when you are your own boss. I still need to meet my clients demands and expectations. I have to work harder in my virtual assistant practice than I have ever worked in a job. But it is so worth it (most days, lol!) and I do get to take afternoons off regularly – then I get to work until midnight to make up for it!

Now, if only I had that $100,000 to spend for real…

January 27th, 2009

Late Monday Weigh In Etc

Okay, only my second week in and I’m late! But I did check my weight yesterday and I’m down about one pound, perfectly acceptable, if not as quick as I’d like. Always wanting quick results, but I have to remember the whole slow and steady wins the race concept! I am proud to say I worked out with my Wii Fit 3 times last week and overall ate better than usual. I’m still fighting sugar cravings, especially at night when I’m working and everyone else is asleep.

Work has been going quite well – I received an extra couple of projects and heard back from my very first client who kind of quietly lost touch in December. He’s ready to push forward again and so I’m getting busy, busy! I love it though – it challenges me to do so much and makes my days fly by!

Tomorrow will be quite hectic, I have a couple of client projects due in the am, a research project to start, a potential lawyer client to contact and kindergarten open house for my 4.5 yr old! And a wonderful best friend coming to watch my other two boys in case DH isn’t home in time (love that unpredictable schedule of his!)

Oh and there’s been a lot of chatter on Twitter lately about some great contests to help you attend BlogHer ‘o9 (like me!!) – enter and then get in touch so we can meet up in real life! Check out this one at Mom Dot (sponsored by Label Daddy) and this one sponsored by Mabel’s Labels! I’m lucky enough to have my trip already planned so I’m just watching to see who wins!

Night all!

January 24th, 2009

WAHM Weekly

I’m planning to make this a regular feature on my blog – a weekly post following up with some of my favorite work at home mom bloggers. I have trouble blogging regularly (the VA business is keeping me busy, not to mention those three little boys I love so much!) but I always find time to read other bloggers – might as well blog about them too!

So here’s my first WAHM Weekly post. January is almost over (thank goodness – only another couple of months of winter here in Alberta, lol) and my favorite WAHM bloggers have been busy, busy, busy getting 2009 off to a great start.

Lorna and Tamara over at Freelance Parent made a big decision – they are going to have an out-of-home office now to help them as they grow their awesome freelance writing business! Of course they are still WAHMs though, right?! I’m sure they won’t get all their work done at the new office – but I bet it’ll be nice to have a place to escape to sometimes!

Kelly from WAHM 2.0 was a speaker at the wonderful Totally B.A.D. at Totally Her on Tuesday. I enjoyed Kelly’s chat about podcasting and definitely am going to have to look at adding podcasting to my repertoire sometime this year!

Jessica Smith blogged about her new endeavor where she will be a Rodan + Fields consultant. Sounds like a good product and skipping the home parties is a great option for some moms, especially if you really care about the product! Reminds me I was thinking about doing some research into Epicure (super yummy spices and other food products that you sell as a consultant)!

Alyssa wrote about how unsettled she’s being feeling, even though it’s clear she’s got a lot on her plate, she feels she needs to do more. Us TypeA type moms often feel this way I think – I know I do. But really, how much can anyone expect of themselves? Aim high but don’t be unhappy if you can’t get it all done!!

Addison had a very interesting post about Telecommuting Isolation. Personally, I think I’m pretty lucky most of the time. I enjoy the quiet of working from home (well, as quiet as working at home with little ones underfeet can be, lol!) and don’t really miss having co-workers. Probably related to the horribly negative environment of my last job. I loved the work and certain colleagues but there were a select few who worked to make it as miserable as possible for everyone. Plus I’m lucky now that I have a great husband to share my day with and my best friend is usually available for a phone chat during the day if I need some “grown-up” talk!

Hope you enjoyed the first WAHM Weekly and if you are a WAHM with a blog please leave me a comment so that I can make sure to include you in the future! I love my WAHM peeps!