Goals for this year

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions anymore. Too much pressure. Instead I write down goals that I want to accomplish. I’ve been pretty good about doing this for my work/business, but now I’m extending it to my personal life too. I know, should be something I focus on anyway, but being a Mom, it’s easy to forget about yourself. It’s good friends that remind you. Thanks Genny!

This year I want to:

1. Enjoy more time with my kids individually. I have 3 amazing little girls and I often wonder if I’m depriving them of quality time with each parent when we do stuff as a family or with another sibling. Don’t get me wrong, those are all special moments, but there’s something you discover about them when they’re on their own that makes those moments extra special. I love taking them out to dinner and asking them questions, talking to them about their classes and friends. I’m just always reminded of how incredible they are, their personalities, the way their minds think. Loads of fun!
2. Grow my marketing business. This is my first year so growing it should be easy!
3. Learn all I can about my new camera. Photograph, photograph, photograph so we can always remember how special these years truly are.
4. And finally, run two half marathons. One is my goal, two is my stretch goal. I ran my first last year, and I’m hooked.

Go visit Genny at My Cup 2 Yours where people are Talkin’ About their goals this week.

Bringing you joy

I’ve been out of pocket for a few days. So sorry! Just been super busy with my little marketing biz. I do my best to prepare for periods of time when I know it’s going to be busy. I knew this project was going to be in the throes of final reviews, approvals, etc…, and I also knew it would be on the very tail end of my daughter’s b-day, so I tried to wrap up everything well before her birthday. Well of course things were extended and everything hit all at once! I TRY TO MANAGE THE CRAZINESS BUT THE CRAZINESS MANAGES ME!

Breathe, breathe … that’s another blog entry.

BTW, We’re having a Survivor theme party this weekend for my girl’s birthday party. Please send me ideas!!!.)

I haven’t even had time to photograph my favorite subject, PENNY!  Now you know I’m busy! (She’s enjoyed her time off. She’s catching up on her beauty sleep.)

I’ve digressed…

During one of the rare moments these past few days that I had the chance to visit some of my favorite blogs, I caught this on Genny’s blog. I had such a huge smile throughout it that I couldn’t deny you the joy. And it’s for a special cause, Breast Cancer Awareness. You may have already seen it, it’s been around for a while on YouTube. An oldie, but a goodie in my opinion.

Enjoy!

Blessings in disguise

I told you I got laid off early part of June. Since then, along with the hundreds of thousands of other marketers looking for work, I’ve occupied my time with networking, updating the resume, filling out career portal applications, researching jobs online, crafting the carefully worded cover letter; in short … looking for the next job. But in between all of this, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the simple pleasures of being a mom. Little things that with my “normal” work-day schedule, I’d taken for granted. Things that I’ve longed for as a working mom, that I’ve often envied in my stay-at-home-mom friends. In short, time.

This summer I’ve had the time to watch my kids play in the pool, vacation with them, go on daytrips, and to the movies. I’ve cooked and baked with them, taken pictures of them, watched them sew, laugh, and scream at each other (the latter I could do without). I was initially pretty upset about my layoff, but as the days passed, so did the anger. I’m no longer bitter. Honest, I’m not. Because this time, I’ve been able to count my blessings. I’ve stopped to accept the fact that though this is not the ideal time to be out of work, this “time” has been given to me as a gift. Not maternity-leave kind of time, because that’s all a blur of sleep deprivation, nursing and diapers, but watch-me-dive, braid-my-hair, come-to-my-soccer-game kind of time. And I’ve loved every minute of it.

They’re back in school in a few days, and I’ll have a renewed focus on my job search. I’ll look for full-time work, but am also going to work on building up my consulting business, www.bellalunamarketing.com. I’m excited about the possibilities and the many things to come!