Fazzles Creative Living Newsletter Archive
 

Creative Living - Home, Business and Family...

Welcome to the 26th Edition of "Creative Living."

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Well, today in America was last day for 2003 taxes. I hope
you got yours in on time!

In this issue we have:
 1.) Article:  Cereal Mom
 2.) Hot Craft Tip:
 3.) Recipe: Dairy Queen Blizzard and Hot Spicy Wings
 4.) On Parenting: -
 5.) Home Tool Tips:
 6.) Car Tool Tips
 7.) Tasteful Joke
 8.) Reader's Questions:
 9.) Editor's Word Pick
10.) Last Minute Reminders
11.) Inspirational Quote
~~~~~~
Cereal Mom by Sharon Davis


I recently heard a woman say that being called a "work at
home mom" was professionally demeaning. Being one myself,
my initial reaction was to agree with her. "That's right, I'm
a professional, I'm not just a bored housewife dabbling with a
hobby here," I said to myself.


Upon reflection however, I came to realize that I disagree.
Deeply.


Working out of your home while caring for children makes for
some unique (and comical) situations. If you can't have a sense
of humor about these things, then maybe a field job is more
your style.

But let's face it, just how professional can you be when
much of your work is done with a toddler on your lap? And
that is, after all, o­ne of the great benefits of working at
home; you can consult with clients wearing bunny slippers if
you like. Who's to know? Sometimes we just need to keep things
in perspective. I know that the work that I do is top quality, and I don't sweat what others think of my work environment.

But I do wonder how that woman deals with some of those little
challenges that come with being a work-at-home parent.

For example, maybe she feels that going out of the house
with soggy Cheerios stuck to her behind would be
professionally demeaning. She must have found a way to avoid this.
I should call her...

Not being able to locate a pen because they're all in use
fishing Barbie clothes out of the toilet. This might be seen
as unprofessional.

Or, while trying to convince a potential client how you would
be the best choice if he's looking for quality, professional
results your 2-year-old is proclaiming proudly, "I went
poo-poo Mommy!" over and over.

I've known others who have tried to mask their true work
environments using some creative metaphors. For example:

"As soon as my colleague completes his current assignment"
really means..."As soon as my 5-year-old is done with his Mr.
Potato Head CDRom"

"We'll be outsourcing the finishing work" really means...
"My teenaged daughter will be earning her allowance by
collating and stapling your reports"

"I have an urgent matter to attend to" really means...
"My 3-year-old has been awfully quiet for the past few minutes
and she was recently asking for a haircut"

Does this mean I should lock my kids in their rooms while
I'm o­n the phone? While that can at times seem like a
perfectly sensible idea, usually basic time management helps
to avoid these situations. My view is that if a client thinks
that the quality of my work will be less just because I have
children, he can look elsewhere.

Maybe I'm shutting the door o­n some business, but I refuse
to have my children feel that they come second. And I do, in
fact, think of myself as a Mom first, and a business owner second.
Besides, I think that the day is getting nearer that people
really won't mind their projects delivered with a few soggy
Cheerios o­n them.

~~~~~~~
Copyright (c)

Sharon Davis is the Cereal Mom to two girls, the owner of
2Work-At-Home.Com and the Editor of the site's monthly ezine,
America's Home. In her spare time she reminisces about what it
was like to have spare time

********************
Craft Tip:

How to transfer pictures to material and make it
stay.
http://www.catswhoquilt.com/photoquilts.html

~~~~~~~~~~~
Recipe:
~~~~~~~~

HOT AND SPICY CHICKEN WINGS     
    
1 bottle Tabasco sauce
1 bottle soy sauce
1 bottle Louisiana Hot Sauce
Dried red pepper to taste
24 to 30 chicken wings
Day before serving: Cut off tips and split
chicken wings. Lay in 9 x 123 inch baking dish.
Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over chicken wings,
marinate covered in refrigerator overnight.

Bake in sauce at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Serve hot.
Can be reheated.
~~~~~~~~~~
EXTRA Recipe. I've always wanted to know how blizzards
from Dairy Queen were made: -)

DAIRY QUEEN BLIZZARD

1 Heath candy bar
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream
1 teaspoon fudge topping

Freeze the Heath bar. Break the candy into tiny pieces
with a knife handle before removing form wrapper.
Combine all of the ingredients in the blender and blend
for 30 seconds on medium speed. Stop the blender to stir
the mixture with a spoon; repeat until well mixed. Pour
into a 16-ounce glass.

Your homemade blizzard may not be as thick as its
commercial counterpart. If you would like a thicker
treat, after pouring the mixture into your cup, simply
place it in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it
reaches the desired consistency.

Variations: Try substituting different candies.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~
Weight Loss Tip:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Special vitamins ...
http://www.zvita.com/vitamins
(read about how they have all the nutrients
your body needs, including those that help you
utilize fat)

Spring is here! Cleaning out your
garage or attic is great exercise for the
waist line.

Plan a garage sale. What a lot of fun!

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Announcing a mind power book for those interested
in what makes a successful person tick.
I could not put this book down when I bought
it. Of course, I am very interested in the
financial side of the Internet along with enjoying
the FUN side of it too.  Still, it is great to reach
inside a successful mind. Not just in mon*ey, but in
how they look at life in itself.

http://www.tipsfortop.com/moneypower

~~~~~~~~~~~
Safety Tip:

Talk to your kids about strangers. Did you know most
kids don't even know what a stranger is? They are told
never to talk to strangers. And they listen very well when
told. But, the truth to tell, they truly don't know
what a stranger is.

Is it a policeman?
A librarian?
A friendly woman with a cute puppy?
The new neighbor's brother?

What is a stranger? Think about it!

~~~~~~~~~~~
Parent Tip:
~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's hard to tell others how to raise their children.
It's tough when you are a mother and your children
grow up. It's even tougher if your son is the father
of your grandchildren as most sons do not have much
say in the raising of children.

Just realize that there are more ways to raise children
than just your way. It's hard. But, if you want to keep
peace, you will learn to accept the situation. Be ready
to answer if you are ever asked. Otherwise, it's best
to know that children grow up in spite of their parents.
And, your grandchildren will be just fine.

If you are a daughter-in-law, do try to include your
husband's mother. The chances are she just wants to be
part of something special and feels like an outsider
looking in. You can smooth the way. There really does not
have to be in-law wars.


~~~~~~~~~~~~
Household Tip:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's spring cleaning time. It's time to start going
through and labeling winter things. It's also time
to go through the stuff you saved from last year
to see what fits, and what can be given to charity,
or have a garage sale!

************************
Car Tip
~~~~~~~~
Be sure to rotate your tires and have the pressure
checked according to the manual that goes with your
car.

~~~~~~~~
Marriage Tip?
~~~~~~~~~
Accept that you two will not always agree. You can
even agree to disagree at times. When you realize that
no two people agree on every single subject, you can
relax and just enjoy that you love each other for
the very reasons you disagree.

Never go to bed mad. Life is too short.

~~~~~~~~~
On the wrapcandy forum, a vote was taken to have it
be a locked membership forum. The majority of the members
wanted a passcoded area. Ryan sent out to everyone, and
is still getting some straggling people asking on how to
get into the forum.  If you have not been to the forum since
the passcodes were put in, don't be surprised.

It's really hopping in there now. What a great bunch of
people!

You'll need to write webmaster@wrapcandy.com and get where
you will need to go to get your password.

~~~~~~~~~
Today's Joke

A pious man who had reached the age of 105 suddenly
stopped going to synagogue. Alarmed by the old fellow's
absence after so many years of faithful attendance the Rabbi
went to see him. He found him in excellent health, so
the Rabbi asked, "How come after all these years we don't
see you at services anymore?"

The old man looked around and lowered his voice.
"I'll tell you, Rabbi," he whispered. "When I got to be 90,
I expected God to take me any day. But then I got to be 95,
then 100, then 105. So I figured that God is very busy
and must've forgotten about me, and I don't want to remind
Him!"

********************
Editor's Word Tip on Commonly Misspelled Words
~~~~~~~~~~~~
alcoholism
arbitrary
proposal

~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can support this newsletter by making your family
healthier with proper vitamins.
http://www.zvita.com/vitamins
(there's an opportunity to turn it into a fun little
business for you, too)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Quote:

"A successful man is one who makes more money than his
wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find
such a man."

~Lana Turner~  


If you have questions that you would like answered, send
them in. Your questions can be answered. If I don't
know the answer, I will find it for you.
It can be anything from recipes, to family problems or
to questions about health or how to improve your life.

Would you be interested in a Creative Home Work Living
Forum?

~~~~~~~~

Until next time!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for being my reader!

Teresa King

Creative Home Living
is sponsored by
http://www.tipsfortop.com
eBooks and Marketing
and by
http://www.wrapcandy.com/candykit
Personalize Candy Bar Wrappers
for Fun or profit with Ryan Sawyer

If you would like to recommend this newsletter to a friend,
please do so. The best way is to write them and tell them
where they can sign up. http://www.fazzles.com
 

Back to List