Yes, I'm a slacker

So, yea, I've been neglecting this blog. I suppose it's like any other habit, you have to do it 21 days in a row to make it a natural thing and I'm terrible about forming new habits. It's almost harder than breaking bad ones.

Take going to the gym, for example...I can go for about 3 days in a row and then I get bored or something comes up and throws off my schedule. Now, I reaaalllyy want to start going to the gym on a regular basis. I have a girls weekend away coming up in April that I'd really like to be in better shape for. It's in Florida and you know what that means...bathing suits. Ugh, oh, the dreaded trying on of bathing suits. So, I really must make more of an effort to get to the gym. For my lazy self, I've considered getting a treadmill or elliptical machine to use at home but I just can't see paying that kind of money when I have a perfectly good gym membership. Free, in fact, since my hubby is military and we have use of a top-notch facility.

Now, it also doesn't help that we keep getting all types of goodies in the mail. Goodies of the chocolate variety...my weakness. Can you say Almond Roca??? or chocolate covered almonds or biscotti or, oh, I'm getting cravings just thinking about what's lurking in my kitchen right now. I...must...resist.

So, maybe, just maybe, I'll get myself to the gym today...but first, I have to go to the post office, shovel the sidewalk, wrap Christmas gifts, clean the kitchen, oh, gee, I just don't think I'll make it today...

Turkey Day is coming...

and I just finished up the grocery shopping for all the goodies I'll be making. (I even remembered to take my turkey out of the freezer...if you haven't done so, do it now!!!) It'll be at my house this year and we'll have 14 of us. I'm in charge of the turkey, mashed potatoes/gravy, sweet potato casserole and flan. I'd be happy with just that. They are all my favorites...but others are bringing goodies too and I'm sure, as usual, we'll have too much food. It's so nice to have all my siblings and their families together. It doesn't happen often enough. The only sibling that won't be here is my brother in Texas.

To make my life busier and more complicated, I'm having a party two days later. This is for old friends and new and is surely going to be so much fun, I'll regret not having more parties.

I'm finishing up some holiday orders that came in but I'm definitely feeling the crunch and know that everyone is holding tight to their almighty dollars. I, myself, am being very frugal this year for the holidays. We're making gifts for the grandparents...I'll try to post pics once they're done.

In the meantime, here is a sweet pic I thought you might appreciate. Two seconds earlier and their sweet little faces were facing each other and they looked so cute! The other pic is some squishy slime we made. It allowed for hours of entertainment.

Enjoy and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

a dreary day...

Not much new to report. It's cold outside and I'm sitting here looking out my window at the soft snow falling, knowing that there's only more of that coming. I'm not ready. I never am. But I have cleared out the garage to make room for my truck and I've pulled out the snowblower so at least, on that end, I am prepared. But mentally, no, I am not ready. I will stay snug in my house today making some t-shirts and pendants and feeling very fortunate that I have the best customers ever.

My weekend was quiet, unless you count Saturday night (which I suppose you do). I had some friends over for a little birthday bash (my friend, not mine). We had some wine and played Taboo. Our plans included going out somewhere but somehow, we never left the warmth of my living room and the comfy couches...all that was missing was a nice fire in the pellet stove...but alas, I haven't stocked up on pellets yet. I guess that'll be on this weeks errands list.

Now that Blockbuster has lowered the price of non-new releases to just .99, I've been catching up on some movies that I always intended to watch but never did. It's a nice way to relax after the kids go to bed and I'm up for a little company...just me and my telly.

Well, I suppose I can procrastinate no longer...I am off to finish up the t-shirts.

We have a winner!

The winner of a FREE Bitty Braille tee from the new Rainbow Collection is Erica! Congrats. The winner was chosen by a very scientifically accurate & fair way...I asked my daughter to pick a number between 1 & 19 and she chose...12. So, there you have it. Thank you all for participating and be sure to check back often for more giveaways!!!

Gearing up for a relaxing weekend away

I'll be leaving in the morning and thought I should post something tonight cuz we all know how hard it is to actually get oneself, 3 kids and a dog out of the house in the morning...so, yes, three days away with my best friend from Ohio who I haven't seen in two years. We'll be staying at a B&B in this darling little town nestled between Lake Erie and Lake Chataqua...beautiful.

You probably don't know that my hubby is in Iraq and has been since May. He'll return next May so it'll have been a year on my own. It's not like I'm not used to it but weekends away from kidlets is a real luxury for me right now. I need this break. I will come back refreshed and in a better mindset.

Hope everyone has a great a weekend as I plan on having :-)

oh those parent/teacher conferences...

Ok, my title sounds like I had a bad parent/teacher conference...but no, it actually went well. However, I haven't had to deal with these conferences for years now since my youngest daughter is homeschooled. My son, however, wanted to give Kindergarten a try and so far, he's enjoying it. Let me tell you, it was hard for me to let him go...not because I'm one of those overprotective moms but because I don't want his curiosity, creativity and passion for life to be squelched via desk sitting, worksheet writing and a myriad of other things I find wrong in public schools today.

Well, he seems to enjoy his classmates and has really gotten into the groove of K. His teachers love him. They find him funny and smart (I knew that ;-) Luckily, his teacher is an old classmate of mine so it makes it that much easier to send him to school. So, for now, my little man is happily going to K and having a good time (that's the most important thing, right?)

Coming soon...The Rainbow Collection AND a Giveaway

So, I've been thinking about adding white tees for a long time. A nice classic white tee and YOU get to choose the color studs/embroidery you want. I've made up a few samples and am gearing up for a photo shoot with my little models...but in the meantime, here is a pic of some samples...

Oh and leave a comment on this post and on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008, I'll pick a number and the chosen one will receive a FREE tee from the Rainbow Collection :-)

Oooh, my first blog post

This blog has been a long time in coming. I've had other blogs, mostly about homeschooling with a little biz thrown in but this will mostly be about Bitty Braille...still with a bit of my life thrown in, since, after all, I work from home and this is where life (and business) happens.

So, welcome to the first official Bitty Braille blog post. I will tell you that for the past 8 months or so, Bitty Braille was on the back burner as life took over somewhat chaotically and I didn't have much time to devote to marketing...though Bitty Braille has been here all along, just waiting for me to have more time to devote to it. How patient my home business is. But, I also realize that you get out what you put into a business and I've decided that I'd really like to spread the Bitty Braille love. I'm so in love with my product and I've received such lovely and heartfelt comments that I just feel very compelled to do my best to get it out there into the world. I'm grateful for every customer and potential customer that takes a small moment from their day to look at my website and see that what I'm offering is a little something that can become a "teaching moment"...about empathy and understanding and diversity. Thank you.