Sorry it's been a while since I've been on this thing. I've been quite busy! Got the new business in the works, so that's been eating up half my free time, then Joosi is eating up the other half of my free time, then Elijah, Paul, Christmas, stuff. Everything's going very well though - I'm done Christmas shopping, and Elijah is off school for a few weeks. Joosi is doing quite well, and I'm expanding to another biz - I'm even registering as a limited company, wooohoo. And I even have an accountant - haha, I'm officially official, now that I have an accountant. The best part is his name is Mick Jaggar. Oh yes, it is.
Honestly there's nothing exciting going on over here. Elijah had his school play last week - here's the video of him saying his lines, and one of the kids singing.
Elijah's Lines
School Play Singing
Let's see, what's happened since the wedding. Uh, hmm...really nothing! How boring! Paul's back at Pfizer, so he's not working in London anymore, which is nice. He has a bunch of time off for Christmas too - a whole week and a half! We're just chillin' here Christmas morning, then I think we're going over to the Martin's in the afternoon.
I posted a few new pictures - I didn't have much to post, I haven't been taking my camera around. Last night Paul and I played around at cameroid.com - if you haven't done it, you must. Check out the pictures on our site for a taste of our evening laughter last night!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
"Were-wuff" Elijah
Ello there -
Yesterday was the Halloween party for all the primary school kids at the Village Hall. Ahhh, small town life. It was kind of a strange little get-together for small kids, there was nothing organized, just a DJ playing loud cheezy dance music. Elijah and James got ready together at James' house - the were both werewolves. Elijah calls it a "were-wuff". I only thought of a Halloween costume for Elijah the day before (I am so not a super-Mom), so we ended up buying him a store-made thingy. James got the homemade deal with blood and all. Ha. I think Elijah looked more like Chewbacca than a werewolf, but hey, that's just me. Anyways, here's a few videos of Elijah and James busting a move solo on the dance floor:
Hmm, what else is new? There's only like 10 days before the Americans take over Capel - weehawww! Everyone getting really excited now? All the wedding stuff is falling into place, so that's good. It'll be so nice to have 2 weeks off with the fam - even Paul is taking all that time off. Soooooper.
Elijah goes back to school Monday - it was "half-term" this week - so all the kids got a week off. He's been a good boy, though I think he's excited to go back to school. We haven't done too much - it's been REALLY cold. We went down to Folkestone one day and we met up with my friend Mary and her little girl Stella. We went to the pirate ship park and the beach even though it was freezing with the wind blowing at 92 miles per hour. Mary may want to join me on a business venture of some grand proportions, and you know me, I'm all crazy ideas and enthusiasm, so heck, bring it on. Oh, and Mary & her hubby Jonathan volunteered to make homemade truffles for our wedding favours, how nice is that?? Joosi is going extremely well - much better than I expected only a few months into business. I had 3 orders last week, 2 this week (one custom, so a tad more money!) - my goal when I started was to have an average of 2-3 orders per week by the end of year one, so yeah, things are going well indeed!
Paul is doing grrrreat - he has an insanely amazing afro at the moment, it's great. And almost a full beard - bring it. He's like an English Yeti. Hahaa, I love it. The house renovations are kinda just movin' along slowly but steadily. The flooring in the back bathroom is going down at the moment, then the toilet and sink can go in, then all we need is some baseboards and a door and it'll be done! We went to IKEA last weekend and got some stuff for our bedroom and some lights for the back room - I love IKEA, like, so much.
Speaking of last weekend, it was our 1-year anniversary! We went up to Canterbury for the night on Saturday - it was nice to get away by ourselves. The hotel was poo, but oh well, it was still nice to have some time on our own. We saw the movie Stardust - thought that was pretty good. Uh, yeah.
That is all. Bye bye.
Yesterday was the Halloween party for all the primary school kids at the Village Hall. Ahhh, small town life. It was kind of a strange little get-together for small kids, there was nothing organized, just a DJ playing loud cheezy dance music. Elijah and James got ready together at James' house - the were both werewolves. Elijah calls it a "were-wuff". I only thought of a Halloween costume for Elijah the day before (I am so not a super-Mom), so we ended up buying him a store-made thingy. James got the homemade deal with blood and all. Ha. I think Elijah looked more like Chewbacca than a werewolf, but hey, that's just me. Anyways, here's a few videos of Elijah and James busting a move solo on the dance floor:
Hmm, what else is new? There's only like 10 days before the Americans take over Capel - weehawww! Everyone getting really excited now? All the wedding stuff is falling into place, so that's good. It'll be so nice to have 2 weeks off with the fam - even Paul is taking all that time off. Soooooper.
Elijah goes back to school Monday - it was "half-term" this week - so all the kids got a week off. He's been a good boy, though I think he's excited to go back to school. We haven't done too much - it's been REALLY cold. We went down to Folkestone one day and we met up with my friend Mary and her little girl Stella. We went to the pirate ship park and the beach even though it was freezing with the wind blowing at 92 miles per hour. Mary may want to join me on a business venture of some grand proportions, and you know me, I'm all crazy ideas and enthusiasm, so heck, bring it on. Oh, and Mary & her hubby Jonathan volunteered to make homemade truffles for our wedding favours, how nice is that?? Joosi is going extremely well - much better than I expected only a few months into business. I had 3 orders last week, 2 this week (one custom, so a tad more money!) - my goal when I started was to have an average of 2-3 orders per week by the end of year one, so yeah, things are going well indeed!
Paul is doing grrrreat - he has an insanely amazing afro at the moment, it's great. And almost a full beard - bring it. He's like an English Yeti. Hahaa, I love it. The house renovations are kinda just movin' along slowly but steadily. The flooring in the back bathroom is going down at the moment, then the toilet and sink can go in, then all we need is some baseboards and a door and it'll be done! We went to IKEA last weekend and got some stuff for our bedroom and some lights for the back room - I love IKEA, like, so much.
Speaking of last weekend, it was our 1-year anniversary! We went up to Canterbury for the night on Saturday - it was nice to get away by ourselves. The hotel was poo, but oh well, it was still nice to have some time on our own. We saw the movie Stardust - thought that was pretty good. Uh, yeah.
That is all. Bye bye.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Paul's surprise & update on your trip to England!
Sooo, yesterday I forgot to post the video of the initial surprise for Paul - so here it is!
Also, I've updated everything on the Wedding site - there's all sorts of info about what we're planning on doing, where we're going, and a basic idea of how much everything will cost. Check it out here! Info for US Travelers.
Also, I've updated everything on the Wedding site - there's all sorts of info about what we're planning on doing, where we're going, and a basic idea of how much everything will cost. Check it out here! Info for US Travelers.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
How embarrassing
I was just on the phone with a client (named Scott), and at the end of the conversation, I said, "Speak to you soon, thanks Simon". WHAT? Goodness me, how embarrassing. Don't you hate when that happens. I'm hoping he just misunderstood me with my American accent and all, maybe he thought I said "thanks man" or something cliche American. Ha. Oh well.
Speaking of clients - I've had 3 orders this week! I also had a meeting with the hotel yesterday and though nothing is solid yet, they're at least gonna get a website, and I'm sure some print stuff, menus and a logo perhaps. Either way, business is going quite well. I also had a great feature in Wedding Ideas Magazine here in the UK. I'm gonna get a copy today and scan it in so you can see! I'll get some pictures up sometime today too.
Elijah is doing well - though he's a bit of a trouble-maker at school. Him and James are not behaving, and don't listen when spoken to, and do punk-like things, such as color on toys, etc. So James' parents and I have decided to keep them apart for now - no walking to school together, no playing after school, until the teach tells us they've been better behaved.
This weekend is me and Paul's one-year anniversary! Crazy, eh? The Martins are taking Elijah for the ENTIRE weekend, holy moly, so we're gonna have a good time. Friday we have no plans, but Saturday we're spending the night in Canterbury, and we'll probably go dancing at a Cuban restaurant and bar all night. FUN!!!
Everyone's coming out here in less than 3 weeks - weehee! I'm getting excited for the wedding too - that's gonna be great. So the plan has changed a little bit, cause we realized we need to be around the Friday before the wedding to do last minute planning things. So, Wednesday will still be Leeds Castle, Thursday is still Canterbury, Friday will be possible Dover Castle or another local thing, then the rehearsal in the evening, Saturday wedding, and Sunday London. Ya'll are gonna have to peel yourselves outta bed Sunday morning, all hungover from the night before, and somehow work up the energy to go to London. You can do eeet.
K, I gotta go, got lots to do! I'll try to post pictures later today!
Speaking of clients - I've had 3 orders this week! I also had a meeting with the hotel yesterday and though nothing is solid yet, they're at least gonna get a website, and I'm sure some print stuff, menus and a logo perhaps. Either way, business is going quite well. I also had a great feature in Wedding Ideas Magazine here in the UK. I'm gonna get a copy today and scan it in so you can see! I'll get some pictures up sometime today too.
Elijah is doing well - though he's a bit of a trouble-maker at school. Him and James are not behaving, and don't listen when spoken to, and do punk-like things, such as color on toys, etc. So James' parents and I have decided to keep them apart for now - no walking to school together, no playing after school, until the teach tells us they've been better behaved.
This weekend is me and Paul's one-year anniversary! Crazy, eh? The Martins are taking Elijah for the ENTIRE weekend, holy moly, so we're gonna have a good time. Friday we have no plans, but Saturday we're spending the night in Canterbury, and we'll probably go dancing at a Cuban restaurant and bar all night. FUN!!!
Everyone's coming out here in less than 3 weeks - weehee! I'm getting excited for the wedding too - that's gonna be great. So the plan has changed a little bit, cause we realized we need to be around the Friday before the wedding to do last minute planning things. So, Wednesday will still be Leeds Castle, Thursday is still Canterbury, Friday will be possible Dover Castle or another local thing, then the rehearsal in the evening, Saturday wedding, and Sunday London. Ya'll are gonna have to peel yourselves outta bed Sunday morning, all hungover from the night before, and somehow work up the energy to go to London. You can do eeet.
K, I gotta go, got lots to do! I'll try to post pictures later today!
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Oh yes yes yes
I landed a HUOOOGE (well, huge for me) graphic design project! I've been contacting pretty much every single wedding venue in the UK about my wedding stuff, and the other day, I got an email from a hotel in Hythe (about 20 minutes from where I am) asking if I did other graphic design. Well, we set up a meeting, I went in yesterday, and they want me to redesign everything they have. Brochures, menus, promo cards, new logo, website, EVERYTHING. Like, thousands of pounds worth of everything. I'm getting quotes from my printer at the mo', then I'll meet with them again next week with the quotes and my "professional suggestions" on how they can improve their image. They desperately need some creative help in all areas, the hotel is in a great location, but it's basically been left to fall apart - it needs serious updating all over the place. The owners are slowly trying to redo everything, hopefully they can turn it around. It'll take years to improve their rep. Anyways, that was pretty exciting. We'll see how much I can milk, haha. I also have a meeting with a wedding client tonight at the local pub to place their order. Keep your fingers crossed that it's a bigg'un!
Paul has been keeping his eye out for a super cheap little van thingy to drive. We're really really needing 2 cars - I'm needing the car more and more for meetings, and taking E to school. Last week we had to walk to school and it was dumping rain and freezing cold, and by the time we got there, we might as well have jumped in a pool. I proceeded to phone Paul and demand a vehicle other than my feet or a bike. Haha. He has a friend that may have a van thingy for him for really really cheap - it's a V-dub, I can't even explain it cause ya'll don't have 'em in the US. Another thing to keep your fingers crossed abooot!
Tomorrow is Elijah's last day of half-time school. Next week begins full-time school for the rest of his life!! He's still loving it. He has homework (like writing his name, "reading" wordless books, etc) - he loses concentration really fast at home doing his homework, oh boy. Just wait little man 'til you have to do fractions and crap. Enjoy the wordless books while you can!!!!!
The back bathroom is prolly gonna be done this weekend. The toilet needs to go in, it needs to be painted, needs some lights, and, uh, a door. I think that's it. Then we're gonna do some funky wallpapering on the small wall, and the back room will be done for now!
Not much else new - the weather's been weird - really cold one day, really hot the next. I have swollen neck glands. Blah - I think I have the plague.
Is everyone gettin' excited to come to Engerland?!!?
Paul has been keeping his eye out for a super cheap little van thingy to drive. We're really really needing 2 cars - I'm needing the car more and more for meetings, and taking E to school. Last week we had to walk to school and it was dumping rain and freezing cold, and by the time we got there, we might as well have jumped in a pool. I proceeded to phone Paul and demand a vehicle other than my feet or a bike. Haha. He has a friend that may have a van thingy for him for really really cheap - it's a V-dub, I can't even explain it cause ya'll don't have 'em in the US. Another thing to keep your fingers crossed abooot!
Tomorrow is Elijah's last day of half-time school. Next week begins full-time school for the rest of his life!! He's still loving it. He has homework (like writing his name, "reading" wordless books, etc) - he loses concentration really fast at home doing his homework, oh boy. Just wait little man 'til you have to do fractions and crap. Enjoy the wordless books while you can!!!!!
The back bathroom is prolly gonna be done this weekend. The toilet needs to go in, it needs to be painted, needs some lights, and, uh, a door. I think that's it. Then we're gonna do some funky wallpapering on the small wall, and the back room will be done for now!
Not much else new - the weather's been weird - really cold one day, really hot the next. I have swollen neck glands. Blah - I think I have the plague.
Is everyone gettin' excited to come to Engerland?!!?
Monday, September 24, 2007
5 weeks!
All ya'll Americans will be landing in England exactly 5 weeks from today - getting excited!? Here's the plan so far - Tuesday we gots Momma & Pops, Brian, Crystal, Dominic, Aunt Anne, Becca, and Molly flying in. Wednesday Chris, Miriam, and Isabella. So, Tuesday we've rented a mini-bus to get everyone at the airport, and we'll probably just spend the day hanging out at our house eating fish and chips, drinking a good pint of British beer. Tuesday, we're thinking we'll send everyone off to Leeds Castle, and either just Paul, or Paul and I will go up and get Chris, Miriam, and Bella. Then we'll meet you at Leeds for the rest of the day - I think we'll get back from the airport at 1-ish, depending on customs. They may not be up for Leeds Castle as soon as they get here, so we may take them to the house, it's really up to them. Anyways, Thursday is Canterbury day - we'll stroll around, have lunch, do the Cathedral or whatever else you want, then in the early eve, the girls and boys will split up for their respective Bachelor/Bachelorette (Stag & Hen night) parties. I don't know what the boys are planning, but for the gals, we'll all go out to dinner, then just go around to pubs or something - nothing too exciting. The old folks (hahaha) can decide if they want to stay out all night with us youngens. Then Friday will be Londontown - weehee. I need to make a plan for that day - let me know what you'd all like to see. We can start the day with a double-decker bus tour or something cheezy like that, so you can get pictures of all the famous stuff. Then we can do the London Eye, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, walk around the meeeellion pound shops in Kensington, er, gimme suggestions! Then Saturday is of course wedding day, Sunday will probably be relax day for a lot of us - or you can just take the bus or train wherever. Monday Becca and the Chris family will be leaving, and I haven't planned much for after that. We'll probably go to Brugges on Tuesday. That's it - so let me know what you think!
Elijah has the most obnoxious schedule at school this week - he's only there from 1-3. So by the time I get back to my house, I have like an hour before I have to head back. I think I'll just have a cuppa at Mark's house, cause he lives right by the school! Elijah is doing well, learning more and more everyday. He'd rather play Transformers than read anyday, so it's hard keeping his attention. James is sleeping over on Friday - they're both just a bit excited about it. I think Mark & Emma are too. Haha.
Business is going well - I've had lots of positive things going on lately, I think in say, 6 months, things will be going REALLY well. It seems as if brides order samples WAYYYY before their wedding, so it takes a while before they actually place an order. Yesterday I got a great email from a girl I sent a sample kit to - she LOVES it and can't wait to order, but she's not getting married for 15 months, so she's gonna wait a bit. I've actually had quite a few emails like that. I've contacted about 100 companies in the past week about creating partnerships (we refer each other, I pay them commission, etc). I've had a decent response, and any referrals will be supah dupah. Anyways, I'm starting to plan my other venture, mwahhahaa - I cannot stop! This one is more business than creative, but it still has to do with graphic design. I'm gonna start a student freelance type of company to get students freelance work before graduating so they have professional level stuff to put in their portfolios. I'll give you more details when I plan more.
The back bathroom is comin' along! Paul plastered most of the wall, so now we just need to finish that plastering, paint the walls, do the flooring, stick in the toilet and sink, and it should be nearly done. Slowly but surely the house will get done!
Elijah has the most obnoxious schedule at school this week - he's only there from 1-3. So by the time I get back to my house, I have like an hour before I have to head back. I think I'll just have a cuppa at Mark's house, cause he lives right by the school! Elijah is doing well, learning more and more everyday. He'd rather play Transformers than read anyday, so it's hard keeping his attention. James is sleeping over on Friday - they're both just a bit excited about it. I think Mark & Emma are too. Haha.
Business is going well - I've had lots of positive things going on lately, I think in say, 6 months, things will be going REALLY well. It seems as if brides order samples WAYYYY before their wedding, so it takes a while before they actually place an order. Yesterday I got a great email from a girl I sent a sample kit to - she LOVES it and can't wait to order, but she's not getting married for 15 months, so she's gonna wait a bit. I've actually had quite a few emails like that. I've contacted about 100 companies in the past week about creating partnerships (we refer each other, I pay them commission, etc). I've had a decent response, and any referrals will be supah dupah. Anyways, I'm starting to plan my other venture, mwahhahaa - I cannot stop! This one is more business than creative, but it still has to do with graphic design. I'm gonna start a student freelance type of company to get students freelance work before graduating so they have professional level stuff to put in their portfolios. I'll give you more details when I plan more.
The back bathroom is comin' along! Paul plastered most of the wall, so now we just need to finish that plastering, paint the walls, do the flooring, stick in the toilet and sink, and it should be nearly done. Slowly but surely the house will get done!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
ARSE
Yo. How is everyone? Us Mah-ins are doing well. It was COLD this morning. My face was like, frost-bitten by the time we got to Elijah's school. Shoot. I've been looking online for a £200 car, but what am I talking about? We can't afford a £50 car. The wedding is closing in, the mortgage on Paul's other house kicked back in, and, uh, I'm making peanuts at the moment. I sense the orders - they're out there - it's just taking some time. My first order is going to print tomorrow - that's exciting. I think when the brides-to-be send out their invitations with my copyright on the back, business will pick up. I'm going to a meeting for a Kent-based wedding organization tomorrow eve - I think that'll bring good things. I already landed a few freelance jobs from talking to the head of the organization, so it seems like it's gonna be a good thing! I've also been encouraging myself by ordering my competition's samples, and mine are better. I'm serious. Better print jobs, better card stock, better color. I just gotta get the word out - but man, it's so so true it takes money to make money. I gotta save up for some more advertising.
This past weekend was fun. Our little fam went to St. Margaret's beach on Saturday - it's a beautiful rock beach in between 2 looming chalk-white cliffs. I forgot my camera, but here's a couple photos of it -
It was a perfect day too. We just sat on the beach and rummaged through all the cool rocks. Paul wrote "ARSE" on one of the rocks and tried to make me believe it was actually IN the rock. What a geek. Haha. Then I found a little barnacle thingy- and named him Barney the Barnacle and took him home with me. I took a picture of him and posted it. He's great - he's on my mantle now. Anyways, then Saturday night Paul and I went to our friends Mary and Jonathan's house for dinner. That was a lovely time. We have a lot in common (besides the fact that she's American and he's English) - and they're a hoot - we had a good time laughin' a stupid crap n' whateva.
Elijah is doing really well at school. We're about to practice writing his name (he has homework already!), and then we're gonna take a stab at reading practice. He's starting to grasp sounding out letters to make a word - I think he'll be reading before we know it! He's still all about James Bates, we'll be having another play-date at his house tomorrow. We went to Kidz Planet yesterday and they had a good ol' time.
That's it - nothing exciting, just regular life in da UK. Weehoooo.
Oh, here are a few videos of trampoline fun:
This past weekend was fun. Our little fam went to St. Margaret's beach on Saturday - it's a beautiful rock beach in between 2 looming chalk-white cliffs. I forgot my camera, but here's a couple photos of it -
It was a perfect day too. We just sat on the beach and rummaged through all the cool rocks. Paul wrote "ARSE" on one of the rocks and tried to make me believe it was actually IN the rock. What a geek. Haha. Then I found a little barnacle thingy- and named him Barney the Barnacle and took him home with me. I took a picture of him and posted it. He's great - he's on my mantle now. Anyways, then Saturday night Paul and I went to our friends Mary and Jonathan's house for dinner. That was a lovely time. We have a lot in common (besides the fact that she's American and he's English) - and they're a hoot - we had a good time laughin' a stupid crap n' whateva.
Elijah is doing really well at school. We're about to practice writing his name (he has homework already!), and then we're gonna take a stab at reading practice. He's starting to grasp sounding out letters to make a word - I think he'll be reading before we know it! He's still all about James Bates, we'll be having another play-date at his house tomorrow. We went to Kidz Planet yesterday and they had a good ol' time.
That's it - nothing exciting, just regular life in da UK. Weehoooo.
Oh, here are a few videos of trampoline fun:
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Elijah is officially a big boy
Today is Elijah's first day of school! He was soooooo excited. I posted some pics of him in his new uniform 'n stuff. I'm quite happy about the whole thing - I think he would've gone completely mad if he had to stay here with me much longer. He's ready for school and friends and structured playtime. I think it'll do us both a load of good. We met up with James Bates and his parents on the way to school and walked together. Elijah and James are so cute - their conversations are amazing.
"I have a Power Rangers water bottle".
"Well, I bought a Power Rangers shirt for FIIIIIVE pounds!"
"Look at my Go Diego Go backpack!"
"I have a bag too - mine's for schoooool."
"I'm going to big boy school with you!"
They're so cute. I'm glad Elijah has James - it's nice he has a little best friend already. His parents are pretty cool too - Paul and I will have them over for dinner once the back of our house is presentable...hopefully in the next few weeks.
So I had my trade show yesterday. It went very well I think. I honestly couldn't tell ya if I'll get an order from it, but the response was great, especially from other businesses. I'll be having a meeting with a photographer this week about starting a partnership of sorts - they'll plug me, I'll plug them (it will work out perfectly since my invites have photos in them). They're also involving a guy from the Kent Wedding Network cause he's really interested in my stuff. So yay. I'm about to call a lady that seemed really interested in stuff for her wedding, and she's getting married in 5 weeks, so she needs 'em fast. Hopefully she'll actually order! Of course, my wandering mind is already conjuring up another business plan for another venture. We'll see how far I can take it!
Not too much else goin' on. It's kinda chilly today - I think summer is coming to an end, sadly. We were gonna go camping in our back garden this past weekend, but didn't, cause we suck. So this coming weekend we may actually go real camping down in the warren. Weehoo! Then in a few weeks we might go up to Leicester cause I got Paul a go in a Lamborghini for Valentine's Day this year, and we haven't had a chance to get up there yet. There's also a Space Museum in Leicester, so we wanted to make a weekend out of it. We'll see!
That is all. Arrivederci.
"I have a Power Rangers water bottle".
"Well, I bought a Power Rangers shirt for FIIIIIVE pounds!"
"Look at my Go Diego Go backpack!"
"I have a bag too - mine's for schoooool."
"I'm going to big boy school with you!"
They're so cute. I'm glad Elijah has James - it's nice he has a little best friend already. His parents are pretty cool too - Paul and I will have them over for dinner once the back of our house is presentable...hopefully in the next few weeks.
So I had my trade show yesterday. It went very well I think. I honestly couldn't tell ya if I'll get an order from it, but the response was great, especially from other businesses. I'll be having a meeting with a photographer this week about starting a partnership of sorts - they'll plug me, I'll plug them (it will work out perfectly since my invites have photos in them). They're also involving a guy from the Kent Wedding Network cause he's really interested in my stuff. So yay. I'm about to call a lady that seemed really interested in stuff for her wedding, and she's getting married in 5 weeks, so she needs 'em fast. Hopefully she'll actually order! Of course, my wandering mind is already conjuring up another business plan for another venture. We'll see how far I can take it!
Not too much else goin' on. It's kinda chilly today - I think summer is coming to an end, sadly. We were gonna go camping in our back garden this past weekend, but didn't, cause we suck. So this coming weekend we may actually go real camping down in the warren. Weehoo! Then in a few weeks we might go up to Leicester cause I got Paul a go in a Lamborghini for Valentine's Day this year, and we haven't had a chance to get up there yet. There's also a Space Museum in Leicester, so we wanted to make a weekend out of it. We'll see!
That is all. Arrivederci.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
News & Videos
G'marnin' everyone. It has been one tiring weekend. Paul had Friday off, and I feel like we've been running around non-stop since then. We had Elijah's party to plan, and the house needed a total clearing out. Plus I had biznass stuff to do. It's funny how you feel like you have no time, then when you go to write a list of what you did, it doesn't seem like that much.
Elijah's party went really well. We had a bit over 20 people here - lots of food and talking and such. There were 5 kids, and they all had fun jumping on the trampoline and playing together. Elijah's best mate James came over, so that was nice for him. Before the party, Capel had a village-wide garage sale, so TONS of people in the village had garage sales. The village was madness all morning - people everywhere trying to get a deal. I got a guitar for £6 (that will not stay in tune no matter what), we got Elijah a bunch of books, and Paul got a gas trimmer for the garden and a trowel, weeeeeee! I really wanted a bookcase, but didn't find one. Elijah got a ridiculous amount of loot for his birthday - I doubt he'll be playing with his old toys for a while. Yesterday he got a race track, a tether-ball game for outside, a remote control Lightning McQueen, a Shrek punching bag, another Transformer, a Transformer Mr. Potato Head, and loads of candy. Lucky boy!
Paul's doing well - back to work in London today. The hours have been pretty consistent - he's up at 5am, and gets home at 6ish everyday. Some days he gets home earlier, if they feel like slacking a bit. I think he'll feel better about the whole thing when he gets his next paycheck when he sees the lovely London pay.
My work is going well - some good news, some bad. First - the good. I got my first order last week! Weehaw! I've been sending out about 5 samples/sample kits per week, so that's really good too! The bad news - I've been following some posts a girl has been writing on a wedding forum here in the UK. At first, she was sooooo excited about my invitations, she was plugging me like crazy telling everyone how amazing they were. Then I sent her a sample kit, and she wrote and said she was disappointed in them. Yeah, whatever girl, I'll show you disappointed. She said she didn't like the printing. I'm not gonna let it get me down too much, everyone has their own opinions. The thing is - most wedding stationery is mostly white or cream with colored words and designs - my stationery is all-over color, so no matter how you print it, it will not look as perfect as white/cream stationery. From what she said, I think she was expecting perfection. I'm still trying to make the sale with her - I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I'll let you know and celebrate if she ends up ordering with me! But overall, I've had a really positive response and things are going well. My tradeshow is next Sunday, hopefully I'll get some business from that.
Elijah starts school a week from today! He's pretty much ready to go. He has his uniforms and his school bag - all he needs is a lunch box! He starts 8:45-noon for 2 weeks, then it's 1-3pm for a week, then 11am-3pm for a week, then full time from 8:45am-3pm. I'm ready for him to go to school, not in an evil way, but I think he's ready for it. It'll be so nice for him to be around other kids again.
Ok, enough jibber jabber - here's some videos of Elijah! I also posted some new pics on the website.
Elijah's party went really well. We had a bit over 20 people here - lots of food and talking and such. There were 5 kids, and they all had fun jumping on the trampoline and playing together. Elijah's best mate James came over, so that was nice for him. Before the party, Capel had a village-wide garage sale, so TONS of people in the village had garage sales. The village was madness all morning - people everywhere trying to get a deal. I got a guitar for £6 (that will not stay in tune no matter what), we got Elijah a bunch of books, and Paul got a gas trimmer for the garden and a trowel, weeeeeee! I really wanted a bookcase, but didn't find one. Elijah got a ridiculous amount of loot for his birthday - I doubt he'll be playing with his old toys for a while. Yesterday he got a race track, a tether-ball game for outside, a remote control Lightning McQueen, a Shrek punching bag, another Transformer, a Transformer Mr. Potato Head, and loads of candy. Lucky boy!
Paul's doing well - back to work in London today. The hours have been pretty consistent - he's up at 5am, and gets home at 6ish everyday. Some days he gets home earlier, if they feel like slacking a bit. I think he'll feel better about the whole thing when he gets his next paycheck when he sees the lovely London pay.
My work is going well - some good news, some bad. First - the good. I got my first order last week! Weehaw! I've been sending out about 5 samples/sample kits per week, so that's really good too! The bad news - I've been following some posts a girl has been writing on a wedding forum here in the UK. At first, she was sooooo excited about my invitations, she was plugging me like crazy telling everyone how amazing they were. Then I sent her a sample kit, and she wrote and said she was disappointed in them. Yeah, whatever girl, I'll show you disappointed. She said she didn't like the printing. I'm not gonna let it get me down too much, everyone has their own opinions. The thing is - most wedding stationery is mostly white or cream with colored words and designs - my stationery is all-over color, so no matter how you print it, it will not look as perfect as white/cream stationery. From what she said, I think she was expecting perfection. I'm still trying to make the sale with her - I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I'll let you know and celebrate if she ends up ordering with me! But overall, I've had a really positive response and things are going well. My tradeshow is next Sunday, hopefully I'll get some business from that.
Elijah starts school a week from today! He's pretty much ready to go. He has his uniforms and his school bag - all he needs is a lunch box! He starts 8:45-noon for 2 weeks, then it's 1-3pm for a week, then 11am-3pm for a week, then full time from 8:45am-3pm. I'm ready for him to go to school, not in an evil way, but I think he's ready for it. It'll be so nice for him to be around other kids again.
Ok, enough jibber jabber - here's some videos of Elijah! I also posted some new pics on the website.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Diaper goo fluff
So this morning has made me think today is gonna be another one of those days, but I shall try my hardest to fight it off. Elijah woke me up saying "I'm all wet" - grrrrrreat. We started wearing just big-boy pants to bed about 4 days ago, cause it'd been months since he went wee-wee in his Pull-Up. Of course, now that he's not wearing a Pull-Up, he pees his bed. Awesome. Then I went to get a load of laundry out of the washer, and there was this weird goo fluff stuff allllllllll up ova my clean laundry. I emptied it into the laundry basket, and out plopped a wet, soggy, gross goo and fluff covered Pull-Up diaper. For all ya'll parents out there - make sure you never put a diaper through the wash. Elijah has been a "big boy" for a while now, and puts his own dirty laundry in the hamper. I guess one morning he forgot to take his pull-up out of his jammies, and I didn't catch it as I stuffed the dirty laundry into the washer. So it took me like 8 times as long to hang the laundry this morning cause I had to shake and pick off all the goo fluff. Ha.
I won't waste any more time with crap - I shall talk about good things! Friday night Paul and I went to dinner with a couple we met at church - Mary and Jonathan. We went for a curry, England's #1 cuisine. We had a lovely time, Mary is cool as hell, and Paul and Jonathan got along really well. Mary & Jonathan were supposed to relieve their babysitter at 10:30, but we were having such a knee-slappin' good time, we looked at our watches at it was 11:20! Ooops. Their babysitter is Jonathan's Mum - hopefully they didn't get a whoopin'. Paul's parents were nice enough to keep Elijah for the night. We got to sleep in. HAAAA - that's a joke. The cat (who I'm now calling CousCous) woke us up at about 4:30. I locked her out, but she screamed and yelled and threw a kitty tantrum until about 5:30. Then I finally fell back asleep, and there was a loud knock at the front door at 7:30 - the POSTMAN!! What postman comes at 7:30am on a Saturday morning. I let him know that it was the 1 day I didn't have my 3 year old at home. Hahaha.
We also took Elijah to see Transformers this weekend. He was SO excited. We didn't tell him what movie we were seeing, we wanted him to guess. So after the first scene, he looked at me with his mouth WIDE open and said, "Is this Transformers Cybertron!?!?!?" He loved it - he was really good, got a little fidgety at the end, but he had a good time. He keeps asking me when we can buy the DVD.
I got a wireless doorbell from eBay for like £3, it's awesome. It's so loud we're all gonna go deaf if someone comes to our door. Heck yeah for eBay!
I've decided to brush up on my geography skillzzz. I realized I almost totally forget where things are on this side of the world. I bet if you go to this site and try to locate all the countries, you won't do as well as you think you will.
Seriously, try it - no cheating! And think, that link is for the "easy" test.
Here's a new funny video of Elijah. He was playing with the cat and she poked him in the eye. Ha!! Anyways, that's all for now. I'll post an update if I get the order!
I won't waste any more time with crap - I shall talk about good things! Friday night Paul and I went to dinner with a couple we met at church - Mary and Jonathan. We went for a curry, England's #1 cuisine. We had a lovely time, Mary is cool as hell, and Paul and Jonathan got along really well. Mary & Jonathan were supposed to relieve their babysitter at 10:30, but we were having such a knee-slappin' good time, we looked at our watches at it was 11:20! Ooops. Their babysitter is Jonathan's Mum - hopefully they didn't get a whoopin'. Paul's parents were nice enough to keep Elijah for the night. We got to sleep in. HAAAA - that's a joke. The cat (who I'm now calling CousCous) woke us up at about 4:30. I locked her out, but she screamed and yelled and threw a kitty tantrum until about 5:30. Then I finally fell back asleep, and there was a loud knock at the front door at 7:30 - the POSTMAN!! What postman comes at 7:30am on a Saturday morning. I let him know that it was the 1 day I didn't have my 3 year old at home. Hahaha.
We also took Elijah to see Transformers this weekend. He was SO excited. We didn't tell him what movie we were seeing, we wanted him to guess. So after the first scene, he looked at me with his mouth WIDE open and said, "Is this Transformers Cybertron!?!?!?" He loved it - he was really good, got a little fidgety at the end, but he had a good time. He keeps asking me when we can buy the DVD.
I got a wireless doorbell from eBay for like £3, it's awesome. It's so loud we're all gonna go deaf if someone comes to our door. Heck yeah for eBay!
I've decided to brush up on my geography skillzzz. I realized I almost totally forget where things are on this side of the world. I bet if you go to this site and try to locate all the countries, you won't do as well as you think you will.
Seriously, try it - no cheating! And think, that link is for the "easy" test.
Here's a new funny video of Elijah. He was playing with the cat and she poked him in the eye. Ha!! Anyways, that's all for now. I'll post an update if I get the order!
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