Thursday, June 4, 2009

Decisions, decisions...

I have been relatively happy as a stay-at home mom...yes, there are days I'm ready to throw in the towel. But mostly I'm glad to be around to watch my kids grow up and participate in day-to-day activities.

I am glad that I added Norwex to the mix of things I'm doing, because it's nice to be out with adults once in a while...and the little extra money I make is good too!

But in the last few weeks, I have been questioning whether I am meant to do Norwex full-time... I have been lucky to have had a steady stream of shows. Enough to keep busy, but not swamped. And then in the last few weeks it seems like all of my shows are getting cancelled. I know the weather is nice, and let's be real....who would want to sit inside listening to a talk on cleaning products when it's so nice outside :) An aside - I try not to make it boring! And there is always great food! While cancellations aren't a bad thing, it means that I don't get new bookings - the life line of home party sales. And I am not a pushy person, so then how do I get more bookings to make this sustainable?

I do enjoy this job and feel passionate about teaching people about how to protect themselves and the environment from all sorts of nasty chemicals. So I know I can find answers to my questions if this is the route I choose...

Then in the last 2 days, I have been 1)offered a job with a company that I do some contract work for and 2) emailed a job posting for a job that I've considered in the past. I know I could do both jobs..but do I want to? Or I am thinking about it b/c I'm the type of person who likes new challenges but will be bored in a year from now...

So now I am trying to decide what to do...I am thankful for the opportunities, but I don't know what's going to be best for me and my family. How to decide....

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

I tried...

So a while back, I was going to come up with a great source of coupons and make some meal plans for as cheaply as possible. And I wanted to stay organic as much as possible.

Well, I tried. I really did! I checked out several on-line coupon sources and even joined a "coupon train". And while I accumulated lots of coupons, I discovered that I don't really use the products that have coupons attached.

For example, I don't buy any cleaning products anymore, so that removes about 1/3 of the available coupons. I try not to buy prepackaged food, so most of the Kraft and Cash for Kids coupons go unused.

I did find some organic coupons..Stonyfield Organic has a downloadable coupon (but it's only good for one use) and Earthbound Organic sends weekly email coupons and some by mail. Unfortunately, they are both American companies, so I'm a bit torn about that.

But now that summer is approaching, I have a share at my cousin's CSA and am very excited to get fresh, local, organic produce. I also discovered that we have a local organic grain place, Oak Manor Farms. I am also planning on attending a workshop on the 100-mile diet in our area, so I hope to find a good source of organic meat, milk and eggs.

So back to the drawing board...I'll try to post recipes and costs once I get my sources figured out!

In the meantime, if anyone needs some coupons, let me know!