Sunday, August 12, 2012

She totally called it. . .

A while back a friend told me of how she had friends who once they got into one direct sales company, they joined others. I laughed because I know A LOT of people like that. I wondered how they organized everything and still managed a life. I said I'd never do that because of the money involved and the time but yet...yesterday I did it.

I signed up for Grace Adele. They're part of the Scentsy Family and they have some really nice stuff. Purses and clutches with matching accessories AND matching jewelry. Super cute and high quality stuff so I went for it.


I love Tastefully Simple and plan to continue selling and working it. It's delicious and I'm actually bummed I signed up when I did because their current incentive rocks. You basically sign up for FREE! For more info on that check out my facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/PattyZBTastefullySimple

New Smoked Bacon Warm Dip from Tastefully Simple ~ YUM!

But getting parties booked and even events was so difficult. There are SO many consultants and even at events you sell stuff and then what...nothing. Maybe I needed to be more proactive? Maybe I could do more but after getting into a mini fight with another consultant over an event...I was tired of fighting so much. I joined for fun, food and spending money. I was getting upset, disgruntled and was losing interest.

The new TS Catalog comes out in a few weeks officially and I'm super excited. There are some amazing products but trying to book the parties and such to spread the word was driving me insane. Some of the girls do amazing, and others do incredible but for me it didn't come as easy. And I know nothing in life is easy but it was getting so annoying that every event already had a TS Consultant, everyone already had a dedicated consultant to buy from and friends and family were not interested in hosting.
The Mary Bag in Teal ~ So cute!

So my solution - start something new or in my case join something new. I'd love to start up making my own soaps again but that's not happening now....maybe in a few years. For now, I'm with Grace Adele. My website is officially set up. I have my first party in the works and I can't wait for the Welcome kit to arrive. I also have a facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/PattyZBGraceAdele

My TS goodies arrive Monday and GA....the week after.

It's going to be a fun few weeks. :)

This though, I SWEAR is it. It's good to have a little change in life and mix things up...



Interested in checking out the new goodies from TS and GA?

http://www.TastefullySimple.com/web/PBoccadoro

https://pboccadoro.graceadele.us

Friday, August 10, 2012

It's raining...and it's to be expected sadly.

It's Musikfest time. For those in the Lehigh Valley it's 10 days of music and fun. For some perhaps....for other's it's 10 days of dealing with tourists, drunks, no parking and aggravation. Some people take vacation this time of year to get AWAY from the mess. How bad is it? So bad that it's been discussed banning alcohol from the event because people can't handle the fact that open containers are permitted in public...that and underage drinking. One of the most recent stories on Lehigh Valley News goes right along with that - Three people at Musikfest cited with underage drinking during Pennsylvania State Police patrol I'm fairly certain this happens every year but never having gone...I can't say for sure. You get a group of people and alcohol together ... stuff happens.

What's another "yep, that'll happen" moment associated with Musikfest? Rain and not just showers but flooding. Musikfest 2012 ready to resume as National Weather Service calls for heavy rain, flooding - UPDATE

You can practically guarantee it'll rain a good part of the time that Musikfest is happening. Why? It's odd actually but I wonder if anyone actually has a record kept to see if it's true that it always seems to rain during the 'fest'.


Sadly there'll be no festing for me this year as today was the only day I could go. I looked forward to the food which is what most people speak of. The music of course but THE FOOD.


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Technology. . .the root of all evil

Is growing technology a positive for society? Is the fact that we can't leave home without a cell phone without feeling 'naked' just common practice anymore?

I admit. A day without my cell phone bugs me. I feel like I'm missing a text that may be horribly important when in reality it's probably just my monthly freebie code from Redbox or the weather. Facebook? I can see that on my Kindle so no worries if I forget the phone. I do worry if I have car trouble and have no way to contact anyone but the last few times I HAVE had issues I've had either concerned citizens or state troopers there within minutes.

I sometimes hate being so easily found online. I try to keep my FB page simple with no details / excessive photos but who am I kidding. I have everything and anything up there. I only accept friend requests from people I know. I delete if I don't hear from/talk to the people every few months (which has led to hate mail) and I don't post vacation info until we return home.

And stalking. Some people live to stalk ex's and family online. I did at first but then got over it. They have their lives and I mine. What happens happens and it's all good.

Sometimes I long for the days when the telephone would ring and a friend would suggest we meet at the mall. The early days of computers when bulletin boards were 'the thing' to do at night in your room and parents would yell about that beeping and noises coming from your room.

What do you think? Are we too available? Are we too 'out there'? Or is this technology bringing us closer than ever before and is it a great and wonderful thing.

Personally I think it's wonderful but over-used and too much dependence is placed upon it.


Monday, August 6, 2012

To School or Not to (go) to School

The idea of homeschooling was never on my mind when I was pregnant or even when kiddo was 2 and 3 years old. I always imagined getting him ready and sending him on the bus to start his adventure but things changed a bit and as is usually the best way to react ~ we rolled with it.

I first heard about PA Cyber School when kiddo was 4. It was Summer and a friend mentioned that she was enrolling her son for preschool. I had always done 'some' kind of school with kiddo when I was a SAHM and even when I started working part-time so the idea stuck with me. Our district didn't offer K4 and while the local church did I was turned off by them. They advertised weekly on Craigslist and a woman who must have worked there talked to me at the park one day. She said that I HAD to enroll my then 4 year old in a program so he would be properly socialized. The theme of socialization would come up many times over the next few years to the point where I cringe as soon as someone's mouth starts to form the word.

I left the playground that day slightly bitter because her 'properly socialized' child was running around like a maniac and practically eating mulch while my poor kid who was home with his parents all day was playing nicely and having a grand time. Apparently ignorance was bliss in his world since he had no idea what he was miss. Sarcasm fully intended there.

Having thought it over I decided to enroll kiddo in the PA Cyber Charter School. Why not. It was a free education. If I messed up it was 'only' K4 and it would be nice to have a curriculum to follow. Surprise surprise we loved it. I was amazed by what kiddo was learning and doing and it turned into a fantastic experience.

Soon it was time to start thinking about kindergarten and we went to the local school to meet teachers and sign him up. Kiddo was excited and as we sat there watching him color along with the other paste-eaters I was happy that I had done K4 with him - he would certainly have no trouble going to school. Then we got his schedule.

Kiddo managed to get afternoon kindergarten! Awesome for him not being a morning person. He'd leave before 8am and get home around noonish. I just had to check with my neighbor that it would be okay for him to hang at her house until I got home....that's when the 'fun' started.

First, hubby and I realized that getting kiddo TO school would require sending him to before-school care. Ouch but you do what you have to. Ugh. With nothing offered by the school we thought of our neighbor who's become a great friend and our kids get along amazingly. We found out that the bus would not pick him up from our neighbor's house to bring him to school because it was considered a 'very busy road and all bus stops along there were no longer". No kidding it's a busy road - that's why I don't want him WALKING it to get to our house in the morning so he could catch the bus. We couldn't expect her to walk him down every morning since she watched other kids and she didn't have to worry about getting her kids on the bus. We didn't know who we could depend upon to be here a few days a week to make sure kiddo was up, dressed and waiting for the bus. Afternoon kindergarten would NOT work after all

So I inquired about morning kindergarten. After a few phone calls I was finally told that it 'may' be possible to switch him to morning then I just had to worry about getting him home since I could change my schedule to get him TO school. The fun began again because this time the issue was getting him home. THERE WAS NO BUS.

So with no solution in sight to get him to school the homeschool option seemed perfect. And that neighbor didn't have to worry about the school bus because SHE TOO sent her kids to the PA Cyber Charter School.

Another awesome school year passed and kiddo did amazing. He was doing homework of peers a year ahead of him, many people who met him complimented his behavior and said he was 'really smart'. His grades were well above average and I smiled because I honestly felt he learned more than had he gone to traditional school.

But what about socialization? Oh yes, my poor child was lacking in that respect. Playdates, hanging at the neighbor's and a theater group helped with that and I dare anyone to show evidence of his lack of socialization skills.

So here we are again with another school year starting and where is kiddo going? Yes, homeschool again. I really need to stop calling it homeschool though. It's not the traditional sense of homeschool. We do classes online and he has a teacher who grades his homeworks/tests. I hate the eye rolling response I get from so many people. I hate the look people have when they ask kiddo about where he goes to school and he replies, "I don't go to school. We do school at home.". I honestly love the individualized attention he gets. If he needs help we can go slow, if he's good we keep going. Weekly homeworks sent to his teacher keep her updated on his progress as do the Dora/Dorma (Diagnostic Online Reading/Math Assessments) he takes every few months.

I feel like he has so much more opportunity and it's not like it's the easy way out. This method of education requires my participation big time. It's more than just sitting and doing homework with him at night - we do workbook pages together and projects. He'll also be taking a language this year, in first grade!!

I'm thankful that my husband is on board and happy to have so many friends who think of this form of education as perfectly fine. I see school anymore as a place to just send kids off. Like the poor little things living in day care from the time they're 6 weeks old. Parents have to work. Both parents in many cases these days are forced to head out so kids see them during the week for a few hours and maybe part of the weekend. If kids are in sports they're also being run around to practices and games much of their time. So much running around and packing stuff in. What about enjoying the day and time together? What about kids being kids. School doesn't seem like the happy place anymore. It's a place where parents expect teachers to raise their kids and hold THEM responsible when kids have problems.

Too many thoughts on this topic have led this post to go WAY out there but there are some decent points, I hope.

What do you think? IS homeschool/cyber charter school causing kids to miss out or are they gaining from the time spent with parents and like-minded families/friends?