Wednesday, November 19, 2014

A Day in the Life of....


  • 5:30a - is that really the alarm? did I set the coffee maker to brew last night? oh, I smell it - yes.
  • 7:30a - out the door to ENT for a pre-tonsillectomy consult with 3 & 4 year old in tow. Schedule tonsillectomy - sure to be a joy at 37 years old. 
  • 9:30a - stop to reward good child (and mommy) behavior with donuts. 
  • 10:00a - return home to find oldest teenager having skipped school, stating illness, in order to complete forgotten assignment. 
  • 10:30a - load said teenager up and take his sorry *@#$ to school.
  • 11:00a - drive thru car wash to remove salt sludge from weekend snow fall.
  • 11:30a - arrive at work.
  • 11:45a - husband arrives with lunch - yay! 
  • 12:00p - husband leaves-this is his long day teaching, he won't be home till 10pm; I start cranking out batter - ovens get filled with cake.
  • 12:45p - two boys down for nap at bakery.
  • 1:00p - cake consult with bride. *she books - yay*
  • 2:00p - boys might actually fall asleep; keep ovens going with more cake.
  • 2:50p - teenagers text they are home from school; chore lists are handed out via text.
  • 3:30p - newest employee arrives.
  • 4:00p - one last oven full of cake goes in.
  • 4:30p - employee hand paints on cake like a freaking boss; cooled cakes are getting filled and crumb coated.
  • 5:00p - 13 year old texts her head and throat hurt, she wants to skip ballet....*score* I don't have leave early to get her there on time. Text back with fever instructions. 
  • 5:10p - boys wake up from long nap.
  • 6:00p - clean up - let's go home.
  • 6:30p - out the door.
  • 6:40p - pick up prescription.
  • 6:50p - pick up dry cleaning.
  • 7:00p - pick up wine.
  • 7:15p - pick up gallon of milk.
  • 7:30p - throw together dinner for three hungry boys.
  • 7:40p - girl offspring appears with flaming fever.
  • 7:45p - girl into the car heading to dr.; leave 14yo with two pre-schoolers eating dinner.
  • 8:15p - strep diagnosis; head to pharmacy.
  • 8:45p - arrive back home, load girl child full of antibiotics, send her to bed; find three boys well-fed and messy kitchen.
  • 9:00p - everyone into the bath/clean the kitchen.
  • 9:30p - everyone into the bed.
  • 9:45p - grab wine and head to hot bath; reflux be damned.
  • 10:00p - start latest episode of "The Good Wife"; sink into tub
  • 10:15p - husband arrives home to bubble bath/wine scene and states "looks like you've had a good day".


You will never find his body.

Rock on, motherhood, ROCK ON.



Thursday, November 6, 2014

Carrie Be Mine


As busy moms, I think so many of us are grasping for anything we can do to make our lives more streamlined and harmonious.  I completely went paperless a couple years ago, taking full advantage of Macbook, iPhone, and iPad products and their ability to seamlessly sync - allowing calendar access no matter which device I have on hand. This has been so very useful when needing to check appointments at-a-glance. I absolutely love that my calendar and my husbands calendar are synced and color coded so that we each know when the other is out-of-pocket or when to book mutually necessary appointments. However, for detailed day-to-day to-do lists, I've found I was still searching for the perfect fix. I caught myself making hand written, hour-by-hour, daily strategies on post-it notes....cause no one has ever lost a post-it note, right?!? Of course not. *insert sarcasm here*  I tried sticking it to my iPhone case - I have no idea why that didn't work. Ha. I downloaded a variety of to-do list apps, but there is something therapeutic about scratching off accomplished items at the end of the day on actual paper. If your business is a potentially messy one, as mine has proven time and again to be,  there is the added benefit of a list just lying there, open and easily visible, without turning on a device with possibly sticky fingers to see what is up next. 

A fellow Oklahoman and Mompreneur, Whitney English, developed the Day Designer specifically with busy, working, creative mom's in mind. For years I was a faithful Franklin Covey day planner devotee and have been hesitant to return to paper after my streamlining brigade...but I mentioned the post-it notes, yes? Besides, I have saved every single planner that I have owned and the notes therein serve as a sort-of journal - I enjoy thumbing through them and walking down memory lane. Obstetric appointments, buying our first house, life goals - they are all fun to look back over and remember the life and times of our younger selves.

After a couple of months of perusing various day planner options, I settled on the Day Designer though I will admit it was a close call between Day Designer and Simplified Planner. They both have great qualities, a slight variance in size, and several differences in content, but ultimately...I'm a huge believer in supporting our Oklahoma home-front first and foremost and while I probably would have been happy with either planner, the Day Designer won. I'm all about an Oklahoma girl and her biz. Not to mention Day Designer has colors more fitting to my personal aesthetic. I know...deep, intelligent, profoundly wise decision maker here...the Day Designer choices are darn purdy. 

Carrie Floral 2015 Day Designer

Roughly the same size as an iPad, there is a single page per day format (with Saturday/Sunday sharing a page). I'm super excited to scratch the post-it to-do lists and keep everything where I can find it.  




In the front of the Day Designer are a series of worksheets. I think these will be fantastic tools for a young entrepreneur, or someone not-young but new to business ownership, or someone just seeking to clear the extra fluff in their life and streamline focus to the important things. I am neither young, nor new to entrepreneurship, so while I personally don't feel that I will utilize the sheets, I do think  they will be very helpful to someone working their way through their purpose and goals. I created and sold my first product nearly 28 years ago - and I was hooked. I knew at a young age that I loved to create and I loved business - my two Jewish genes got together with my one Native American gene and the idea of art and business collided into something that simply ran away with my heart. The point is, I cleared the fluff a long time ago using a similar method of worksheets.  I know many accomplished business women who have found this hugely beneficial and I totally recommend working through skill sheets such as these.




While I won't be parting with my digital appointment calendar, I am happy to have found a tool to combine to-do list with meal plans and notes. If you found this review helpful, please do give a shout out and let me know. Happy Planning!

xox,
A


Note: my review was in no way prompted by the folks at Day Designer, nor am I receiving any compensation for my comments or photos.