Day 301 - Nightly Roundup

Week one into two week winter school break and we're maybe getting a wee bit of cabin fever. This is a lot of together time;-). I'm not sure how those early settlers in one room cabins, sans a central furnace, a basement with 2000 toys, Curious George cartoons, a fridge stuffed with snacks, and a telephone to stay in touch with family and friends ever made it through those long, cold, Midwestern winters. I am in awe of them sometimes. Now as I'm researching Lewis and Clark, I'm even more amazed at the general physical toughness of our ancestors. Patience must have been a more common virtue.

One issue I struggle with is feeling I'm "getting nothing done" all day. The house ends up a mess, there are dirty dishes, toys everywhere, and just when I think I'll have time to sit down and enter some bills into the computer, someone will be hysterical that big brother took his toy or baby brother broke a snow globe.;-). One of my true intentions for the new year is to see that just spending time with my kids is "getting something done", and I would love to hear little mind benders any of you use to bring that message home on a daily basis.

I had a lovely surprise recently when I noted a new icon on my web page and realized it was Elizabeth Tarpley, whom I had written about in November. I found an article about her in the October 2009, Forbes magazine and been inspired when I read about her founding her own company, Integrated Solutions, Inc., which has developed a kid's keyboard that enhances children's cognitive abilities. And to top it off, it's spill proof - great for toddlers! When I went to her site she mentioned coming across mine and left a message that she had indeed "hunkered down" and worked very hard for her success. Thanks so much Elizabeth for continuing to be a role model to all women (and men too) to follow our dreams!

Tonight's roundup.

Marriage - check.
Parenting - We did get outside to walk the dog. Kirk brought along his sword, which is now a light saber as he saw Star Wars and has requested I refer to him as a Jedi Knight. Under great duress, he began writing his thank you notes.
Business - We contacted someone who might be able to make the action dolls! This would be wonderful. Still working out things like wholesale costs, margins, manufacturing, etc. but it still feels like great progress.
Book - Worked on chapter one, read it upon completion and thought, this is really, really, really bad;-). Still thinking of hiring someone, but my dear friend and husband have confidence I can do it so we'll see. Read a fascinating article about how much writing pays, and it was a bit disheartening as I think really good writers are a gift to us all. Here's the link.

http://www.genreality.net/more-on-the-reality-of-a-times-bestseller

FI - Mostly a no spend day. Got all the library materials back on time to avoid fees and did spring for one Dr. Pepper and two small bags of chocolate covered raisins (bribes for the kids behaving at the library).
Health - 30 minutes cardio - with numerous stops to help Kai when his truck was stuck, Kirk when he couldn't find his light saber, let Brandi out when she started to suspiciously sniff about, etc.
Spirit - Saw Barbara Streisand on Oprah (a taped older show) and she talked about manifesting reality. She told Oprah she believed we manifest our reality and when Oprah said surely Barbara hadn't thought she'd be where she is today, Barbara disagreed, saying it kind of was what she'd imagined. I took it to mean she had sort of visualized herself to the point she is today -and that was very encouraging. It was a good reminder to keep my thoughts on what I want and not on fears, irritations, etc.
Garden - Got a wonderful gift from my in-laws that I plan to spend on plants next year - and will have a lovely time plotting and planning this during the winter.
House - Got some of the Xmas decorations down.
Bus. Vocab. - quality loss function, short term debt, comparative advantage, copyright.