DD, MM, & LL for yesterday 10/3/2013

Daily Dozen

1. Not worrying about paying bills and whether the money will be there
2. Horses - coolest animals since dinosaurs (not including humans)
3. Talk of becoming a farmer with husband yesterday, lol...
4. Having done my part of the job correctly first time around. Guilt-free and blame-free when problem occurred... swimming like a duck through it.
5. Fun and loving family
6. The rental car is good on gas mileage
7. Four evenings off in a row from the restaurant
8. Sales part of my job... when it happens, it's always a welcome bonus and easy to manage because it's all remote
9. Tea (forget about coffee today, hehe)
10. Writing is easy when you actually sit down to do it...
11. Facebook, because sharing is caring (right?!)
12. Camera on phones - who thought of that first? Genius.

Magic Moments

• Thinking and talking about abandoning all and just traveling... or buying a farm and living an idle, slow life with my husband, raising our boys with adventures around every corner... Even though we know it's a fantasy, it's fun. I just love my family.
• Arslan and Gabriel were practicing their jumps and twists on pulled out couch cushions. Arslan was totally into it and Gabriel was a proud papa. He's training Arslan to be a good skier... 
• Oh, this one will make Gabriel so happy. This morning, Arslan looked outside, "Mommy, there's snow out there. Now I can go skiing!"

Lessons Learned

• It's the little things. Like unloading the dishwasher or running it. Loading the laundry... etc. that I do in the morning, which makes things smoother for Gabriel for when he needs to watch the boys on his own in the evening.
• It's hard to separate fantasy from vision when it comes to entrepreneurship. How much of the success is really luck or timing or feasible from a planning standpoint?! How do I figure this out? A business plan is usually the answer to this. But I've done it. It just feels like academic work, removed from reality of the business. I mean, all the financial pro forma stuff just don't feel real. I've been just collecting different ways to fail. I've always been underfunded and short on time (working another job, usually, or right now, I'm working two jobs and have two toddlers... and am trying to run/start a business).
• I need time, money, and to hire help. And then even more time and money to train the help. When I had a VA in India named Victor, I did it wrong. First, I hired the wrong guy... he was very inefficient and needed every little thing spelled out. And still he did it wrong or forgot. I didn't give him important things, but just things I wished got done if I had a lot of free time... so he ended up doing menial things. Maybe the whole gamut of problems and how I approached it were interrelated. So I'm willing to try again. I think I'll be a better boss because I am willing to give someone important tasks that I was going to do myself and give them extra time to figure it out. After all, I always seem to take longer to learn something than I thought, because I want to learn all aspects of it -- so what makes me think I can get quality results from someone who may be the same as I am, with giving them half the time (amount of time I initially think it should take)?
• Doing everything myself isn't sustainable because... 
• I'm not good at maintaining the same routine things over more than 3 months of time - my attention moves on and I want to learn more, new things and implement the new things I learned! And there goes what I was doing before.
• There's too much to do and it's overwhelming... a lot of the same things
• I don't have enough time
• Okay, so the reasons to hire...
• My motivation is better if I have others to answer to and am responsible for... 
• I will get more done if I hire the right people... 
• I want to train and help the people I hire.
• It's not very expensive to get quality people, I'm being told, by people like John Jonas and Timothy Ferris. So why not?!

DD, MM, & LL for yesterday 10/2/2013

Daily Dozen

1. My son Arslan's greeting when he saw me come home
2. The mountains are so tall, imposing, and yellow/orange/red... reminds me of when my brother Altai used to bleach his hair.
3. How cute my husband looked having just gotten up from a nap too, tousled hair and all
4. Snow coming... because I know that makes Gabriel so happy
5. Tamir has such an incandescent smile
6. Coffee (makes it on my DD a lot, lol)
7. Lots of ideas brewing
8. Gabriel giving me time to write at Riverside yesterday
9. The fireplace was right behind me... ahhhh
10. Voicemails - I know who called and what they had to say, even if I miss them or my phone doesn't show
11. Sharp scissors
12. Cloud-synced services

Magic Moments

• Started working on my next book last night... Book Marketing Blueprint
• Gabriel came up with a horror novel idea, and it's fantastic

Lessons Learned

• Cooking is a lot easier when there's a helper or part of it's been done before

DD, MM, & LL for yesterday 10/1/2013

Daily Dozen

1. My idea notebooks... the old one from 2 years or one from 3 years ago are all fresh to me, still full of new things I need to implement now
2. Wite-out tape (the liquid kind that dries all weird and lumpy because it gets too thick in dry Colorado air... The lumps are annoying because the thing was supposed to hide an imperfection to begin with!)
3. Coffee
4. Sleepy boys - so cute
5. Altai's advice last night
6. I haven't lost keys/wallet/phone for years now... but there was a period back in 2006/7 when things weren't so good in my life. Partying, bad relationship, etc had me losing something important to me every month. In fact, there was a time I lost my phone, got a "borrower" phone while the replacement was coming, and lost the "borrower" phone too... and had to deal with the phone company for losing two phones. lol
7. Big portion servings from Zheng's...a meal for one was dinner for me and my son last night, my breakfast, and I still have a large portion left for my lunch today.
8.  Crazy people. They test and reset our barometers for what's reasonable.
9. Plastic glasses. Even though the name is a contradiction, the items are indispensable to me - a mom to two toddlers.
10. Google is working to extend human life
11. Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People (How does that apply to today's online marketing? Wouldn't that be an interesting book?)
12. Having an opinion is so easy... which means having something to write/say is easy. Now the tricky part is having a unique, engaging, and brilliant thing/way to say it.

Magic Moments

• My brother Altai tends to give good advice because he's so down to earth about business and relationships, etc. He has his meter on what makes most sense, when giving advice... even though he's a party animal and will take any dare. I'll vote that he's most likely of all my acquaintances to show up dressed as a woman on Halloween and reindeer at Christmas.
• Glenwood Hot Springs at night is quite a scene. Old people sitting there in front of the bubbling, gushing waters... couples making out and cuddling... workers chatting with the swimmers from vantage point of a pedestal... I had fun with my son Arslan. He never fails to make an impression on others. He waved hi to everybody at the hot springs. When he saw JoAnn and her two-year old son, I told Arslan to say "hi" to her. He did better. Arslan ran up to him, hugged and kissed him on the cheek. It was his second time meeting the other 2 year old, and the last time was 1.5 years ago. So it was purely Arslan's exuberant affection--for everyone!

Lessons Learned

• The bus driver today almost missed me. When I got on, she was not too happy, "You need to wave the stop sign, I can't see you wearing black!" It's true. I never wave the stop sign thing. The stupid sign is chained to the stupid bench, located by the divot in from the road, surrounded by tall hedge. It is virtually impossible for me to see a bus coming or for the bus to see me in advance of passing me. How am I to wave down a thing I can't see?! However, the whole point wasn't about my wish to argue with her... I realized fairly quickly, it was that she was dismayed for almost passing me, and wanted to blame something/someone. The point is she didn't want to pass me and didn't pass me. When people get defensive over little things, it's often an inner perfectionist haranguing them and not about me... Good one to remember, especially so that next time I can just take the blame, apologize, and realize that it's not about me and I just took a load off of them too.
• I bet other bloggers and people would like a series on best blog writing articles compiled over time... looking into best autoresponders.
• Stopping myself from finishing the plate, when I'm feeling full, and boxing the rest is a fabulous way to keep slim and keep my spending trim.

DD, MM, & LL for yesterday 9/30/2013

Daily Dozen

1. I think the daily dozen is helping me to focus on the positive. I'm glad, because I've been seeing the negative in things a lot lately. I stopped myself from complaining to my husband at least 3 times yesterday.
2. Jing - pretty neat little software for training others
3. Onlinejobs.Ph - lots of people are looking for jobs and I can hire someone at about the same amount of money as two nights' tips at the restaurant, as full time salary for the whole month. Well, that's two good nights, and the someone is very unskilled. But still! wow.
4. Remember the milk - pretty good for when I'm actually using it. Maybe once I get a team going I can take advantage and have everyone on it.
5. Email - how did we survive before emails?
6. Speed of adaptation to new things/technology by humans (yes, related to #5)
7. I have a job.
8. Car that doesn't break down on the road, even if there's something wrong with it... cracked pipe, covered by warranty.
9. Backgammon
10. Highlighters - virtual and real ones
11. Alba - our daycare lady is always like "No Problem" to any request and never gets sick.
12. Ability to monitor my own thoughts... probably the most important life skill in keeping emotionally balanced about life and refocusing my attention from another direction.

Magic Moments

• A repeat from above, but I loved playing backgammon with my husband last night. Appreciated his comment to my son, "We're playing backgammon, not chess... because your mom's too good at chess."
• Watching Doctor House is always good fun, too.

Lessons Learned

• Making lists can overwhelm you with the things you have to do. But still very useful and necessary. There are so many different kinds of lists to create for an organized life... starting with the basics like a grocery list. Chores list for kids. Shared to do list with husband for house, car, events, social life, financial, medical stuff, etc. Work to do list... heck, the one phone call with the boss can leave you a long to do list to get done that day. Keep it up. Keep writing the damn things. Someday you'll wish you had something to do... NOT!
• Girlfriend 2 girlfriend gifts are always more about indulgence, whimsy, and artsy... crafty... It's a whole different world. Finding something thoughtful, beautiful, and unique is hard!

DD, MM, & LL for yesterday 9/29/2013

Daily Dozen

1. Quick thermometer for toddlers, because they won't sit still long enough for the old school ones
2. My little one was just hot, not feverish
3. Side benefit of working at a restaurant: food to take home
4. Elaine cleaned the fridge. I was planning to do it yesterday.
5. Gabriel offered to do grocery shopping and take one of the boys while doing it...
6. Days off with my little guys. I love hanging out with them and seeing where they are now at.
7. Cozi - great for sending hubby to grocery shop, live updates his list when I add last minute items, and I can see what he found and what he didn't in real time, and text him to look extra hard or where to look for the stuff I really need
8. Good computer
9. Gabriel brought home my candles
10. Kids were good today
11. Calculator - it didn't fail me when I totaled the cash wrong at the bar. I didn't count the money right.
12. Cordless vac... not sure how I survived all the crumbs and stuff from two toddlers before I got it.

Magic Moments

• Last night at the restaurant the place was busy and we had no servers. I was bartender... It was nuts. Ace up the sleave: I had Zac for busser. He got extra love from me because he saved the day until the bosses came to save the day.
• Gabriel came home with groceries and a nerf gun, claiming it was on the list.
• Sunday night football had the Broncos at nearly 60 points and Arslan was super excited

Lessons Learned

• Never let a toddler play with "free" version of a smartphone game. They'll be sure to buy whatever the game is advertising by accident. Buy the game they like, to get it ad-free.

Temperature gets so uneven in the house, we have our own inside house weather patterns.

DD, MM, & LL for today 9/28/2013

Daily Dozen

1. Snow... If it's going to be cold, might as well be pretty outside as well. Also, it makes the boys and my husband SO excited. Arslan said, "It's snowing! We can ski in the snow." That's our two-year-old. I think he'll be an amazing skier by age four and will routinely leave me in the dust, pardon me, in the powder.
2. Warm house... cold outside warm on inside--actually, isn't that an interesting idea for a recipe?
3. Quiet by both boys. Normally, that would worry me, but for now they're quietly eating food.
4. Tea
5. Brilliantly funny book, "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?"
6. Empty fridge -- time to go shopping but glad it's empty so I can clean it first. It was hard for our fridge to be empty because mama-in-law keeps separate groceries and so did the roommate we had.
7. Aspen trees -- so pretty in the fall
8. Interest free credit cards -- saved us from paying interest on our medical bills that the hospital was charging.
9. Insurance on the rental car -- hailstorm came through last night. I don't have to worry about hail damage to car, window chip, or anything like that.
10. Insurance adjusters are real people with kids, business, bills, and accidents that happen to them, too
11. Stool -- not the BM kind, but the one that lets me access the top shelves!
12. Smart Phone -- I budget and record all expenses and income like cash tips from my bartender/server job into YNAB, use a to do list to grocery shop, call and research stuff on the fly, read books on the bus, check the bus schedule, write to my boss, husband, vet virtual assistant candidates, sell on eBay, etc... all from my phone. Amazing.

Magic Moments

• Last night after I got home, my husband Gabriel poured me a glass of wine and gave me a foot rub as we chatted. It was so nice. He was very talkative and we shared about some memories we had, our day, thoughts about our career choices and how we chose our majors in college. It was like we were dating and just getting to know each other... fresh and interesting.
• Kaleidoscope with the boys... the LED flashlight in the back made for a brilliant display they couldn't get enough of!

Lessons Learned

• http://7secretsearch.com/page/about Pretty interesting way to gauge your website's worth...
• iPage emailed me with $1.89/mo hosting offer and a free domain. Seemed like a great offer, so I started thinking about what free domain I want... Luckily, I checked out their reviews before I got too far. Wow, they suck. Slow servers, will give you occasional pop ups from their affiliates, will not refund money, etc. Not getting hosting from them. Ha. 
• But hey, I guess it goes to show you that random email offerings will get me thinking about purchasing. Email marketing works.
• Also, your online reviews are the thing to watch for an online company! Treat online reviews like the ultimate holy grail--with undying reverence, and look for them high and low... Good ones will give you eternal life.
• Never, ever leave a toddler next to a candle for a second. My son seemed to be innocently watching and trying to keep himself from blowing it out. I turned my head for a second and he was trying what the candle would do to the toilet paper! Talk about heart attack. We had a light chat about fire and safety... but mostly I had a stern self-talk.
• The rug is always dirty. I just vacuumed the rug thoroughly 3 times, cleaning the canister out each time, and got lots of stuff and fuzz each time. Our rug isn't particularly dirty because I have a convenient cordless that I use at least twice a week. It just goes to helping me conclude that I will probably not buy carpeting. I wonder though if it's the quality of the rug, too. I mean, would a really nice handwoven Persian rug, like the one my parents used to have, shed fuzz every time? Also, would a Roomba be really worth buying if you had to clean out the canister that often?

DD, MM, & LL for today 9/27/2013

Daily Dozen

1. Rain... so refreshing and smells divine. Considering we live in a dry climate, it makes me think of travels to wet climates and Seattle...
2. Grass is still green. I've been focusing on how cold it's getting. But wow, there are flowers, green grass, leaves still on the trees, and kids still play in shorts in the afternoons. I love it. Soaking up early fall in the mountains.
3. I love how rolls of wispy, turning clouds hang onto the mountain sides in the early morning. It makes our valley feel mythic, full of magic and mystery.
4. These new Schwinn AC sport bikes are so cool... I loved getting my hands on those beautiful commercial bikes before they got delivered to the customer today.
5. Really appreciate Google, how it integrates across all online dimensions... business, personal, etc.
6. I can keep in touch with my dad and brother in Mongolia easily because of various services... LocalPhone is awesome because they are now just a local phone dial away on my cell.
7. Extended warranty coverage. I hated that I paid so much for it... so now I'm glad I'm getting some use out of it.
8. Competent and communicative service professionals.
9. Tamir was so happy this morning.
10. Emails... you can change your initial tone of voice from demanding to sweet by re-writing before hitting "send." Wish all communication worked that way.
11. My occasional $5.99/bottle deal I find when I buy a case or two online, with free shipping... makes me spoiled. $8.99 a bottle?! Pah... I can do way better.
12. Voicemail that comes in my email. I can just hit forward and share with family or coworkers.

Magic Moments

• Car is going to get fixed under the extended warranty coverage after all. I had 500 miles left covered, so that was lucky.
• When the kids learned there was no more ice cream, they both took it without tantrums or resistance. Usually, one or both are insisting on more. In fact, I was not done eating mine yet and they didn't try to force me to give up my share to them. My boys are growing up!
• Found this course: https://www.google.com/onlinechallenge/dmc/ Interesting... Maybe 2014 is my year to get one of these brilliant teams to do my business adwords campaign.

Lessons Learned

• Arslan's time outs downstairs really work. He just needs alone time to see things from a different perspective and calm down... then he's a pleasure to be with again.
• Shoot, I can't get emails for my boys on gmail yet. I guess 1 year old and 2 yrs old are too young. Protecting the kids from cyber-spying and data collection? Nah. I figure they're going to be famous anyway--just as well that we all get used to the pitfalls early on.
• "Flowers are the sex organs of plants," is a comment that should be reserved for conversing with botanists, or maybe a science class... Don't even ask why I had to learn this one. I thought I had something original to say, I guess, but wandered too far off topic. (Is there a NERD jar for me to put money in to, as punishment?)

DD, MM, & LL for today 9/26/2013

Daily Dozen - Dozen things I'm grateful for

1. Brother Mergen is coming to visit from Mongolia soon
2. Fall is progressing nicely... lots of rain, helping on with the droughts and water shortage of recent years
3. Blogger is actually pretty easy to set up with the domain name I just bought from Go Daddy
4. Udemy gave me the great idea to look closer into Blogger as a platform
5. Work at HealthStyles... I got to do some creative design work on Adobe Illustrator today
6. I forgot to eat breakfast, and arrived at work hungry... having forgotten to bring lunch. Argh. Luckily my coworkers have good stashes to borrow from.
7. Bus system with the new VelociRFTA is doing well. I am able to take advantage of the time savings after all.
8. Last night's family dinner with Isabelle, Melea, Gabe, Boogie, Arslan, Tamir, Elaine, Woo, and Melea's parents... delicious chilli. I made quick corn bread. Boys were so happy.
9. Car handoff at the parking lot worked out well.
10. I had an eventvwr scam from a heavily-accented guy who said he was calling from Microsoft and was seeing a lot of problems on my computer. He called from 324.456.7891. I knew he was a scam because I looked it up as I was talking to him. He hung up pretty quickly after I told him that he was scamming.
11. Noble Samurai lessons are very informative and helpful. I'm glad the software I bought 2 years ago are now at least useful.
12. Today is the first day of many days to come... and I'm as happy as I ever wanted to be.

Magic Moments - So I can capture the best of my life

• "You're welcome" in a friendly voice from a normally gruff person. She sounded genuinely pleased to help me.
• Slept through the night last night. My 1-year-old and 2-year-old both like to wake up and snuggle in the middle of the night... every single night. This is like finding an oasis in the desert. Finally got the rest I needed and look properly non-bleary-eyed.
• Little things... giving text of someone's phone number to brother, saying "yes, you can" to my husband wanting to do something
• Boss said the flyer was "perfect"
• Learning about Market Samurai more. It's pretty awesome. Gabe's going to have to deal with my "investments" from now until I start to make money from this thing called online marketing and stuff.

Lessons Learned - Because there's an opportunity to learn, every step of the way

• Ok, TMI probably but I need to start logging my periods and tell the doc. Today was a TOTAL surprise and I have to say, after being regular for years and years, ever since I had my boys and installed the "no-more-baby" rod, this thing is so irregular and feels like it comes every 2 weeks. Seriously. If I log it, then it's not just my hormonal "feeling."
• You get more done when you really have to pee.... you just start typing and talking faster... LOL j/k Apparently, I didn't really learn much worth learning today.