Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Thursday, February 21, 2008

serious giggles today

Maxine was driving down the street in a sweat because she had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place.

Looking up toward heaven, she said, 'Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking place I will go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life and give up sex and tequila.'

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

She looked up again and said, 'Never mind. I found one. '

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

My Little Guys are just not that little anymore




a serious fact that I am faced with each night when Erik falls asleep next to me in bed, carrying him to his bed has become a heavy load. I may have to start putting some limits on that since he has surpassed the 60 lb limit.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Thursday, February 07, 2008

it is 3:15 in the morning

Jordan is a total doll, he woke up at 3:15 am (again) and so I have been up for two hours, now the tricky things is that he was screaming his bloody head off, and his mom gets all excited when I go in to take care of him, she is trying that CIO crap to get him to sleep through the night. (do not get me started) so I went down stairs, made him a bottle, brought it back upstairs and by that time, he was quiet, so I stood outside of their door and listened, (I am such a helicopter parent/grandparent) and he was done crying. FINE. ;) I set the bottle on the counter in the bathroom outside of the bedroom door and I went back to bed. and tossed and turned. went to check on #4of5 (son) and he was up, he had fallen asleep on the spare mattress in my office, before I shut down for hte night, and woke up early was watching tv on his computer. I sent him back to sleep. yeah right. I went back to bed, tossed, turned, got up to work write down an idea I had for my business card, I went back to bed, tossed, turned, got up to make me a snack, 1 egg with grated cheese and peach salsa, and then got so hungry, I made cream of wheat too. while I was waiting for that to cook, I emptied and loaded the dishwasher (#4of5's job) and came back up to my office with cream of wheat and noticed that #2.1 (grandson) is relatively quiet but making some slurping sounds, his mom had got up to pee, found the bottle, and had put it to good use (see I was needed after all). on many levels I want them to get their own place and yet, situations like that I do not. she would have made him 'suffer' til morning, and it just breaks my heart. I can not believe that the little one will be 1 on Valentines Day. seems like it was just last month she was getting married, just last month that she was pregnant, and yesterday that he was born.

sweet mother of gawd, no wonder I am freezing to death in this house.. it is 36'F out there.

as for my business... you never forget your love. your passion. sometimes things just have to simmer on the back burner when your family comes first. I have been prioritizing my family first (kids, grandkids, scouts), my business second (daycares, families, weddings, boudoir), and my online community(setexaspc, props) last. I am thinking about leaving the ppa because I just do not have time for it. so many things are just kicking my tail right now.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

The Female of the Species - 1911

When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When Nag the basking cobra hears the careless foot of man,
He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it if he can.
But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws,
They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws.
'Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man's timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say,
For the Woman that God gave him isn't his to give away;
But when hunter meets with husband, each confirms the other's tale --
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man, a bear in most relations-worm and savage otherwise, --
Man propounds negotiations, Man accepts the compromise.
Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact
To its ultimate conclusion in unmitigated act.

Fear, or foolishness, impels him, ere he lay the wicked low,
To concede some form of trial even to his fiercest foe.
Mirth obscene diverts his anger --- Doubt and Pity oft perplex
Him in dealing with an issue -- to the scandal of The Sex!

But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame
Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same;
And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail,
The female of the species must be deadlier than the male.

She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast
May not deal in doubt or pity -- must not swerve for fact or jest.
These be purely male diversions -- not in these her honour dwells.
She the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else.

She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great
As the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate.
And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unclaimed to claim
Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same.

She is wedded to convictions -- in default of grosser ties;
Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him who denies! --
He will meet no suave discussion, but the instant, white-hot, wild,
Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child.

Unprovoked and awful charges -- even so the she-bear fights,
Speech that drips, corrodes, and poisons -- even so the cobra bites,
Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw
And the victim writhes in anguish -- like the Jesuit with the squaw!

So it cames that Man, the coward, when he gathers to confer
With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her
Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring hands
To some God of Abstract Justice -- which no woman understands.

And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
Must command but may not govern -- shall enthral but not enslave him.
And She knows, because She warns him, and Her instincts never fail,
That the Female of Her Species is more deadly than the Male.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Happy Valentines?

I can not decide: red to match the rose petals?or Peach to match the skin tone?

coffee or beer?

here is a really good question that I should answer before I print any massive marketing.. also why each year I start this in January/February and I never follow through.

I do not know who I am. I do not know what I do. I do not know what my brand is.

I have several domain names because I want to be able to separate one clientèle from the other, but then again. someone that wants me for one thing, may want me for another, so

do I dump them all into one big toy box, or do I get totes and bins and separate out like the legos from the hot wheel cars, the puzzles from the gameboy controllers?

I am a separator from the word go. but I may be making it too hard on myself if I have to create as many different interfaces as my business 'needs'.

possible listings:
barefootgiggles.com for babies and bellies

barefootcreation.com for families or maybe this would be better for
barefootsmiles.com for wedding/ bridals or maybe this would be better for boudoir?
katamundsen.com for boudoir/nudes or maybe this would be better for seniors
barefootangels.com for ???

barefootclassics.com for classic and car club project

then I can figure out which name I want associated with which part of the business. but then what if it is something that I do not want to do in 5 years. or what if someone that wants family, goes to the site that is for boudoir? you see.. this is why I drink a pot of coffee each day and I never get anything done!!!!

I had a party saturday night, and someone heard my name, and said, Oh I have heard of 'you', meaning Barefoot Creations. But do I lose something that I would gain if it was more 'Macys' and less BedBathBeyond or Pottery Barn and specialized.

I think I need to switch from Starbucks to Corona now, it is 10 minutes after five and I am feeling the strain on my brain. someone tell me what to do. I can not make a choice anymore.

I seriously do not know what my brain dysfunction is. now I spent the day fiddling around with the new business card. fine. that was so not productive. do I want to use a blue logo, a black logo, a flesh colored logo, or a red logo to match the rose petals.

do i want my name to be larger than the business name? or smaller?
to I make my name long, or double stacked? you see where this is going right? Horizontal or vertical... left justified or right? bold or italics?

do I want Equal or Splenda? half and half or skim milk? PAPER OR PLASTIC? beer in the bottle, on tap., oh hell, just get me a keg and I will do keg stands tonight. I am never going to get anything accomplished by valentines.. I so totally suck at this.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Harley or Mirror?

Marketing is not my strong suit: Vertical Business Cards?Or Horizontal? should my business name be bigger or smaller than my personal name?

Sunday, February 03, 2008

oh those LEI Jeans (size 5L)

I have one of those pair of jeans. LEI, the ones that appear skin tight, but really are not, and after a couple of hours actually tend to fall off and I am constantly hiking them back up. anyways, yes, they get the looks.

Stacy London and Clinton Kelly would love them, but most chubby moms at the school just hate me in them. my first reaction is the say to myself, I can not help it if you choose not to do something, and then the second reaction is, it is not my job to help it. I choose this, with all that goes with it (I can still empty my entire tummy in three shots in the toilet if I get a stricture) and I know that at 420, you would tell me that you just couldn't do it. and your probably right, I do not know what the percentages are, but I am sure that we are in the minority of DOING SOMETHING about it.

my wow moment was not that I did heavy yard work that would have busted most grown men's @$$ Friday, Saturday and today, but that I did it with minimal breaks, mostly to get water not to 'rest'. I have a hellofa lot more stamina now than I did 18 months ago.

Focus on the Bootie or the Legs?


Saturday, February 02, 2008

Highs and Lows

yesterday was day of mixed emotions. my grandson's first birthday party, I busted the scale, 156.6, that is up 13.5 lbs from my lowest low in 2006. I can not imagine how, since I busted my tail in the yard for 6 hours solid, two days this week, raking leaves, picking them up with a pitchfork, and standing on them in the trashcan, 17 (40 gallon) bags later the yard looks great, I feel wretched.

while I was working, I was drinking water or vitamin water. I ate two 1/2 sandwiches with smoked turkey and a slice of cheese to keep my blood sugar level, but towards the end, I was still getting woozie.

the birthday party was nice, BBQ'd me a killer little steak, I ate it with my fingers, it was that good. it held me off for a couple of hours and then sitting at the table, with sugar cookies, cheeze crackers, and birthday cake, just kicked my tail. by the time I went to bed, I was seriously dumping from all the cake (no frosting, just cake). I tried to get more water down, but that was just not happening.

I plan to get more water down today, so far I have had one pancake, and a couple of handfuls of trails mix. Maybe I should make me a tea or coffee.

I did make some good contacts yesterday, potential bride for December and two disgruntled brides that want their images redone, that would be nice. pick them up as lifetime customers before the babies start coming. it is 10:45 am and I am still waiting for Krys to get up out of bed to get her Wedding shots redone, I am still not happy with what we got from the wedding, so Jason is going to put on his dress blues and we got her dress cleaned this week, and will 'try again; Patty is coming down next month, and we will redo her and Krys' images as well before we start the album process.

Friday, February 01, 2008

two steps back

from the other side of the fence. I am at goal. I am in the size that I only dreamed about when I was 17.

I have muffin rolls.. I look like the michelin man. http://skitzzo.com/images/michelin.jpg

however, when I ask my dh, he is all like, oh baby, I want you every minute of everyday. but he wanted me like that before I got skinny.

at one point, I was nakid, and from the back, he said onetime that I look perfect, all my skin is from boobs to pelvic bone.

what I am finding this week is that I am on the scale every single day and it is creeping up. .5 a lb here and there to where I am starting to get sick with worry but I am still nibbling on that Kaluha Chocolate Pudding Chocolate Cake with Cappuccino icing and each time I do it, I swear, when this is gone, I will never bake again.

I switched and got a full plate last night, big mistake, but It was just irritating me to no end that I was not eating off of a grown up plate, I took 80% of what my husband took as a portion, and I ate 75% of it, I actually scrapped off about what I should have taken. but I am just frustrated with how much work I have had to go through.

it is not that I do not get support, I get tons. it is not that my husband is not adoring my body, he loves it, fat, thin, he doesnt care. seriously. it is just my own issues. what I am willing to settle for and right now I find that I am willing to settle and allow those 7 lbs to come back and I wonder if I am willing to gain 1 extra pound a month, maybe I am dumb enough to allow that to continue for the next 24 months and then I will be on my way to the next level. allowing it all to go back, because it already has to some extent. I do not eat three times a day anymore, I graze and grab what I can when I think about it. hover mints and candies at my desk because I do not stop to think about me, I feel pressured from myself to get everything done.

I am putting myself back under the 'super mom' mode. be there for the kids at school. be there for the kids at cub scouts. be there for the grand baby. be there for my daughters. be there for my customers. be there for my friends. be there for my career development. be there for my finances. be there for my home and yard. be there for every other bloody thing. it is just as if I have not learned a freaking thing in the last two years.