It feels like winter!...but my inventory doesn't

I really love this time of year. I love the holidays. I love the energy in the air. I love that (at least today) in Southern California, we can possibly have a few cool, rainy days. I even like Christmas shopping. I really enjoy giving gifts to other people. The wrapping, the labeling, everything. We haven't bought a tree yet. Last year we forgot to close the heater vent closest to the tree and it turned to kindling very quickly. We ended up with a fake tree the last few weeks. There's nothing wrong with a fake tree, I just love the smell of a real one. The way the house is lit up at night with just the tree lights. It feels like it's out of a story book. I realized I dropped the ball on changing seasons with my merchandise though. Being a Southern California girl, I don't think about weather very often and for that reason, I didn't make seasonal changes in my inventory. Mistake! Most of the country isn't walking around in short and t-shirts, or short sleeve onesies, this time of year. Because I live in a climate that doesn't change much, it didn't occur to me that I needed to make changes in my apparel offerings. So to the drawing board I go! I will have some winter wear coming soon. What keeps me going...small awakenings that open my eyes to all my customers and a whole new target audience.

Next on my list...make a list!

This is the truth, I have a packing list for our upcoming Thanksgiving trip and at the top is to make a list of the things I need to do for work before we leave. How do we make list upon list and they never seem to get shorter or go away. I remember when I was single and working, I always had an ongoing list of things to do at work. I would be so happy when I had crossed everything off. Those days are no longer. Even when my actual list is full of lines through words, there is still the "mental list"...Get face wash at Target, pick up fabric for Ella's dress, email the packaging lady back so she doesn't think you're a flake, check with the printing company to see if the tags are ever going to be ready, keep trying to learn Adobe InDesign, feed the children. And the next thought is always...what am I forgetting? A parent's work is never done and when you work from home on top of that, it is a series of distractions and interuptions. The thing about it is though, if we worked out of the home in an office, we may get more work done and have more focus but we wouldn't get to enjoy the every day moments helping with homework, watching the kids have a ball with each other, and listening to the new things they come out with randomly in the middle of the day. What keeps me going...everything on the list is for the people and things I care most about. Oh, and I get to cross "write new blog post" off my list.

It's Election Day!

It's Election Day and my excitement comes from knowing I will start to like my friends again now that the election is here and we can move forward. I respect other people's opinions (most of the time) but I sure am tired of seeing their opinions all over Facebook. I suppose I'm just tired of seeing the ones I don't agree with. Even though politics annoys me the majority of the time, I secretly can't help watching every spec of coverage on tv. It's all speculation at this point but I still feel like if I turn away, I will miss something. I proudly wear my I Voted sticker and look forward to watching the democratic process, the good and the bad, play out for the rest of the night. No matter what side you are on, I hope that everyone wishes the best for our country. No matter who our leader is, we should never hope someone fails. On that note, I will pour myself a glass of wine and hope for the best tonight. What keeps me going...knowing that we live in an awesome country that I'm proud to be a citizen of.