Results tagged "Money"

Yay! February!
January was a doozie, right? Well – time to move on. This month we are trying out a few new things at FTB – including calling it FTB, not to be confused with the notorious OTB but in commonplace with OCD as well as CO’D–Isn’t he just dreamy. At any rate. A few new things are happening here at FTB – more reader interviews, more products and more design… yes. more more more. So without hesitation to kick things off, I reached out to my product guru Mari… she’s Ma-aaarrrr-va-lous…. sorry, I couldn’t help it. Here we go – LET THEM LOOSE!

When Ry asked me to do some regular posts on products it was perfect timing. (She begged, you know, it was pretty sad to see her so desperate for my brilliant expertise and witty posts How could I say no?) I’m a mom and a shopper with no disposable income. So any money I spend tends to go towards my baby birdie. For myself, I’ve found one of the best ways to get it out of my system is to gather my favorite picks together in an online shopping cart and walk away. All the thrill with none of the regret! Now, I can do that right here. You can look forward to products that are high on individuality, but almost always low on price. Because though I LOVE fine things, and definitely have champagne tastes, I think I’d have a heart attack if I spent $100 on just one thing. This week’s binge is courtesy of Etsy.

The Random Five:

1. Forest Wooden Bird Necklace, $10
2. Cherry Kimono Kanzashi Flower Hair Clip, $23
3. Orange Blossom Small Corsage Brooch, $25
4. Lost Lucy Formica Painting, $35
5. Beige Felt Hat with curls, $69

Side note… Ry bought the Orange Blossom Small Corsage Brooch and plans to wear it among her layers of black. But what is one hint of color? Let’s watch – she just might implode.

Okay. So today is Wednesday January 27, 2010. I know I ranted a few days ago about things all changing at once but this is ridiculous although I’m feeling less stressed because I think its finally sunk  into my stubborn-never-do-anything-different-or-modify-things-in-an-way-shape-or-form head that nothing is the same, and that’s okay. Can anyone out there tell me if something has caused this? Some MOON thing or the tides – or is this the year of the chicken or duck or something? Because it seems like a lifetime ago that things were normal and it’s only been a few weeks. And if I could just get an hour at the keyboard to myself then I might be able to retain my sanity because there are four days left in this FORSAKEN MONTH and what else could possibly happen? Because I knew that things would change… but all in a span of four weeks? Here is the run down and I apologize for the repetition:

1. I stopped eating dairy and eggs. I thought I’d try this because Will can’t eat dairy or eggs and I wanted to see what would happen. Well, its not that bad, but with the unexpected super fast loss of 5 pounds, one has to worry about what I’ve done to my body thus far AND none of my clothes fit me — I’m wearing a bag right now… with a nice belt.
2. The 5 pound loss could also be attributed to the change in dinner routine where we actually sit down by FIVE THIRTY PM as a family to eat instead of waiting for Will to go to bed and then make dinner by  – oh 10:00.
3. We started working on THE HOUSE. Which is great but now I’m obsessed with decor and finding it hard to concentrate on most other things including WORK.
4. Not concentrating on work is okay since I am a killer procrastinator and started another blog AND was just relieved of my office lease– which I had another 6 months on. So now I can run free through the meadow in my bag and nice belt, finally CLOSE THE COMPANY and become an Independent Creative Consultant (again).
5. Closing the company is actually a huge relief because its been the bane of my existence since co-founding it with that boob half-wit of an ex-business partner. Then there were those people at that magazine which made life just so unnecessarily annoying. Then there were all those other clients that couldn’t/wouldn’t pay for requested work and others that stole design ideas and found cheaper firms to produce. And then let us not forget the disgruntled employees, disappearing programmers and the freelancers that borrowed things from the office. I did, however, have the opportunity to work on amazing projects with a few amazing people — but once the economy stopped cooperating and throwing money at us, the daily stress of operation was overwhelming.
6. Being an Independent (again) is also a good thing because the nap that moved from the morning to afternoon two weeks ago is now OVER. As I just now say “go lay down” again to the head peeking around the corner as I type this as fast as possible. Because this morning he jumped out of his crib at 6 am. It scared all of us but I got him to lay down again — only to have him acrobatically leap out again with the grace of a gazelle and land on his feet less than five minutes later. And, after modifying his crib so that he won’t break his neck, nap time has turned into a game of “see how many times Mom will tell me to go lay down before she admits that this isn’t working and the nap is over”. Bedtime will be interesting.
7. I suppose this game of not napping isn’t as bad as the DON’T SAY THAT game where he says “f’ing idiot” and I say “DON’T say that” which only results in him saying it like 18 more times with a huge smile on his face. I’m so looking forward to him starting preschool next week so that he can play this with a complete stranger that won’t judge me AT ALL. Then there’s the whole potty thing which he decided he wanted to try. Damn this PARENT THING IS HARD. And now he’s in the hallway rocking chair singing it with pride.

So, given that there are four more days of January, and my sanity is being held up by a thin strand of the ability to laugh at myself in humbling situations. I can only look forward to February where the seas will part, money floweth free and the sanctity of WHAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN NEXT will remain a game  of “Go Lay Down”. Right?

Fail. Here I am, the blog has won again.

But then I sit down to write something and it comes out totally lame. Like nothing that I would ever publish much less read. I’ve already rewritten this paragraph 3 times now.

SO – I’m just going to say it… just going to get it out there. In response to the many that have emailed me concerned… which almost threw me over the edge, because you see it is the truth… I panic a little every time I check the mail.

A few days ago I posted that I might have this little phobia which causes me to wince a little before opening my PO box or see a pile of recently delivered items on my desk… even email can draw up a twinge of blood pressure when I hear that ding “You’ve got mail”. But, as a person that does not frighten easily, I have drawn up reasonings for the fear as well as tactics to deal with…