The good in me

I been selling Avon for less than a month and I can already tell a change in my mindset. I won't go into the nervousness and concern I feel about failing, but what I will go into is how I currently feel about me.
 I'm not going to say that I'm a new woman with a new attitude (que music)...that my self-esteem issues are fixed or that I've dropped 15 pounds (although I have lost 5 now) and I'm smokin' hot. But now that I've become an Avon rep. I realize that taking care of myself on the outside has helped me a little on the inside. I think I'm talking in circles so let me explain...

When I go out in public I always have Avon with me. I have some perfume samples and my business cards  in my purse, and I ALWAYS have a few of the current campaign books on me. I'm not one of those people who feels comfortable just walking up to a stranger and asking them about Avon, but if the opportunity arises I want to make sure I'm prepared to hand them a business card and a book. With that said, I want to make sure that my appearance reflects my business. I want someone to look at me and think, "ya, she's stylish and cute, I'd buy Avon from her"...or maybe even, "her makeup is cute, she smells good, I want to be like her." I know that's a stretch, but I can shoot for that, right??

It's made me think about what I wear when I go out in public. Not that I'm dressed up all the time, but if I'm throwing on a t-shirt then it should be a cute fitted one. I make sure my toenail polish isn't chipped and I hope that my hair looks like I tried (hence the haircut tomorrow, but more on that another time). It's made me care more about how I present myself and THAT is a huge step towards believing in myself. It's a good thing!!
I know there are many people who are perfectly happy with throwing on their sweatpants and running to the grocery store, and if they're happy then I don't judge. It's just not me. I've never wanted to become a frumpy mom. I always knew that I was going to get myself down to my pre-pregnancy weight, one way or another, and I'm not a sweatpants and baggy t-shirt person. Yes, I have my comfy pants that I wear around the house, some days, but I don't go out that way. If I don't take the time to take care of myself, then why should anyone else care about me either. I may not be that cutey young mom, but I want to be that cool mom. I firmly believe that Avon is helping me maintain that goal. Now, if I can just get some more customers I'd be even better....  ;)

How do people do it?

I just want to nap.

I've expressed, a few different times, my feelings of inadaquacy when it comes to being a wife and mother. I sit here, on this dreary Monday, feeling just that.

I have piles of things to do and NO motivation to do any of it. I told Jim, last night, that I figured I would feel that way today, after the busy weekend, and I was right. On the good side, I am doing laundry (the last of 4 loads is in the washer right now) and I did clean off some toys that I purchased at garage sales (some of which have been waiting to be cleaned off for a couple weeks now). However, my car is still full of the boxes of garage sale items that I didn't sell over the weekend and I just do NOT have the omph to unload right now. My Avon stuff needs to be organized, as well as the rest of my desk and my kitchen cupboards are starting to explode.

I know I have high standards for myself, my family and my house, so what is messy to me may look just fine to someone else. But there is no denying that there are some really messy spots in this house right now.

I highly admire people who juggle 20 things at once and do them well. Those people that have to be busy all the time and are good at it! I wish I were one of those people. Are those people on some sort of medication? Are they high on coffee and other forms of caffine? I need their secret!! Are you one of those people? Can you please share your motivation? Even if I feel the motivation stirring inside of me, my body is fighting back and winning over my mind. Ugh, I'm tired of being lazy.

Free (or near free) for me Friday

I just got back from the store for the week and had a pretty good trip. I didn't need much, but I had a few things on my list and some kind of "fun" items to pick up. I saved 54% this week so I'm pleased.

All this is from King Soopers. The Sunkist was on sale for $1 and I had two 50 cent coupons, hence they were free since Kings always doubles coupons. The Sobe was not free but was on sale for 88 cents. I had 3 BOGO coupons so I got them for 44 cents a piece. The Lifesavers were also not free, but http://www.coupons.com/ has $1 off of 2 coupon, so those were 50 cents a piece...and I love them. They are perfect for me to have on hand now when I'm talking to people about Avon...you'd buy from me if my breath was minty fresh, wouldn't you? ;)

The Dove was free for me. On sale for $2 and I had two $2 off coupons. The Fiber One yogurts were in the markdown area because they are expiring in 3 days. Marked at 89 cents a piece, I made 11 cents profit on them because I had two 50 cent coupons. AND since I'm trying to lose weight, they will be great snacks.

These were my freebies in the mail this week. The Cascade, Pantene and Iams came from my P&G sampler that I signed up to recieve (Oh, there was a Metamucel packet in there as well, I forgot that in the picture). There were also coupons in there as well. LOVE those! The Secret came from a Walmart freebie (GREAT for traveling) and the Revlon came from a Walgreens promotion. I love getting freebies in the mail.

Ever wonder what to do with free items you recieve (or "buy") and can't use. DONATE THEM! Local food banks and shelters would love your donations...and it didn't cost you a dime. :)

Ding Dong...

Avon calling.

That's right, I'm now and Avon lady! Who would have thunk it? Me? I'm not sure. I've always liked Avon products and I always thought they were a stand up company, I'm just not sure if I ever thought I would be a person to sell it. I'm not much of a face to face sales person, really. So it may be funny that I've decided to sell products for extra money. I posted on my Avon Facebook page all about why I chose Avon over other companies, but to summorize, it's a great company that's been around almost 125 years and they have great products! I also love that the products vary so much in price and so it's not a splurge to by their products. A lot of times, you can buy their makeup, skin care and bath and body products cheaper than you can at drug stores and big box stores AND they are quality items. When they have personal care items that have been consistant sellers since 1961 you know it's good stuff.

I don't ever want to be that annoying pushy friend who is always talking about Avon, so I'll keep it to a minimum. I just hope that people who haven't tried Avon products will look over the items they have available and give them a shot. You may find your new favorite lip gloss, fragrance or skin care product and it will cost just as much (or less!) than what you are paying now.

And, as always, if you are intersted in being an Avon representative yourself let me know. It only cost me $10 to start!

Preschool

So I've been looking over our childcare/preschool options here locally. I know it's almost time for Nora to start heading that way and even if she doesn't hit preschool this year (her birthday may be past the cutoff), I'd love to find a place to take her 1-2 times a week to get more interaction with kids.

As I'm looking through the places here in Strasburg I come across the daycare that runs through the parks and recreation district. This is the photo on their webpage...

Am I the only one bothered by this. I want to send Nora to a place to help her the interact with other kids and learn the basics before heading off into full flegged schooling. Is this what schools are like now? Computers in preschool? We don't sit and have storytime, or finger paint or use flash cards?

I think I'm an old fuddy duddy...

Free this week

I never thought I would be that person taking pictures of my groceries and writing about them (well, I did, but then I realized there are bloggers 100 times better at it than I am so I'll let them take the lead). However, I am always excited when I score free stuff so I have to share. If you want a heads up on the freebies every week, let me know and I'll either send them to you myself or point you to my favorite bloggers.

Here's what I ended up with...

From left to right: the Snikiddy snacks came from Babies R Us, was directed to a free coupon online and was able to print 2 of them. I didn't know B-R-U had them so that was a nice surprise when I went there today.
The marshmallows, graham crackers and Hershey's were from a Walgreens deal this week. The crackers and chocolate were $3 each and if you bought both of those items you recieved the Jet-Puffed for free. Then I had a $1 off coupon from this last Sunday's paper. They ended up being free for me because I had a $5 register rewards certificate so that paid for the 3 items.
The Grape Nuts also came from Walgreens. They are on sale for $1.75 this week and I recieved a $2 off coupon online. Normally they would probably price adjust that down to the $1.75 but the cashier didn't. Since they won't actually give you money back I had to buy one more item. I bought the Snaps (one of my FAVORITE candies) as a treat to myself. So, no, those weren't free but I paid $1.83 for all 5 items. :)

The last 6 items were from Albertsons. This week (ending today) they have a coupon in their ad for buy 1 get 2 free on the Finesse. Since you can stack manufactorer coupons with store coupons, I used a $1 off coupon, from this week's Sunday paper, along with the BOG2. AND, also in the newspaper was a rebate offer for $3 on Finesse. One bottle of Finesse is $4.00 so, if you do the math, that's BOG2 + $1 coupon + $3 rebate = 3 free bottles of Finesse!...and the rebate is in the mailbox today.
The Nivea body wash was on sale for $3.99 and I had a $4 off coupon for that (yes, they adjusted it down to $3.99 so I didn't make a penny on it).
The Flips were on sale for $1 and that was free with my .50 coupon that Albertson doubled this week. And the Marcal paper towel was free with a coupon from the newspaper as well. They have those coupons a lot but I didn't know Albertson's carried the single rolls so I hadn't been able to use one before (my King Soopers doesn't carry them).

So that was my free stuff from the last 2 days. Not too shabby huh?

M.I.A.

I know I've been M.I.A. lately. Seems like it's usually one thing after another. Then there are days that I feel like posting but I'm not near the computer. Then when I am in front of the computer I forget what I was going to write about. Then there are other days I don't feel like I have anything important, or witty, to say at all....like today. But here I am. :)

My family had our annual garage sale last weekend. I had boxes, and boxes, and boxes of items. I came home with $214 and boxes, and boxes, and boxes or items. I don't know how that happens. I figure I may have gotten rid of 7 boxes of things, but I still have about 15 here at the house. So, ya know, what can ya do? Well, I'm participating in another garage sale in about a month! Woohoo! I'm hoping to get rid of 7(or more) boxes of things. ;) After that we'll see what I can consign and what might be able to go on Craigslist.

Tomorrow 2 of my girlfriends and I are hosting a baby shower for a friend. It will be nice to have some "girl time". PLUS, the fun part about the shower...I was selected as a host for a Gerber Generations Houseparty. If you don't know about houseparties, you need to go to houseparty.com and sign up. I've attended one and been the host of 3. Anyway, the party is supposed to be held on the 15th, which matched up perfectly with the shower we're hosting. So, tomorrow I have boxes of goodies/freebies courtesy of Gerber, for any of the party guests that want them (or that can pass them along to their friends). How cool is it to have your baby shower sponsored by Gerber? lol

Off to make cupcakes...