Sunday, May 28, 2006

wanna live a long life?

... don't take yourself too seriously
... don't sweat the small stuff
... don't turn everything into "drama"
... don't be a follower, be true to yourself
... get some exercise everyday
... know what you believe
... and have a sense of humor


Saturday, May 27, 2006

sometimes saying yes means saying no...

...well no baby, yet. i think the boy is toying with me - i know as soon as i decide to go for a run, i will go into labor. i am not worried though, i know that he will plump up the longer he is in my belly and that's cool...

... so with that i have been working fast and furiously to wrap stuff up. i am so not good at delagating and leaving stuff for others to do but i have no choice right now. it has been hard but needs to get done. i have my to-do lists almost ready and such. and i can't remember the last time i didn't check my email for a couple of days straight.

... deb and i had a couple of opportunities come our way this last couple of weeks. some big, some medium and some small. but we do look at them all. the good thing is that we both can bounce ideas off of each other. the other good thing is that our DHs are experts in the contract law field and the supply chain fields so we have most of our bases covers.

...and as much as it pains us, sometimes we say no to opportunities. but when has saying no become a BAD thing? we say no because we feel it is not a win/win situation for us and others.
i am amazed that there is not economies of scale for those of us who are smaller to medium size companies. so we will and have said no. and i am sure we will say no to some things in the future. but just remember saying no isn't bad. deb and i are confident that when the good Lord guides us to a "no" a better "yes" is just around the corner.

... ok, enought heavy stuff for today. off to finish my delegating!

Friday, May 26, 2006

let's hear it for the boyz!


ok, so this sneak peek isn't very "hidden" per se, but this is one that deb and i decided we needed to do since we are both having boys really soon. you know we have made blossoms books, heart books and even paisley books so we are doing one for the boys! now if you can't tell what shape this is, then i can't help you! LOL...

have a great memorial day weekend, ya'll!

Thursday, May 25, 2006

still here!

no baby yet! LOL! i know i have been awfully quiet the last week but things are going at 1000 miles an order. since our container arrived last week, i don't even know how many orders i have seen fly across our desk - we are *ALMOST* caught up and it is a good thing b/c i think this baby is coming early! i have even suspended running momentarily b/c i don't want him to arrive too early!

i have set aside an hour tonight to make another page and write a letter before our baby arrives. i was speaking to one of my friends from college and she was asking me how i was feeling and i was suddenly a bit choked up about the whole thing. (david is going to rib me for saying this b/c i know he is stalking my blog). here is the thing, i am usually not the emotional one in the family. in fact i rarely cry at anything but i guess when you douse me in baby hormones and all of the life changing stuff, i guess i am somewhat of a softie way deep inside.

so i wanted to put some thoughts down and just write down how i feel - excited, a bit nervous, happy, worried mixed in with occasional fleeting moments of being overwhelmed. i know and i welcome the changes that are about to come our way. but i know that this will NOT be easy with running maya road. i honestly can't disappear and not work for 6 weeks but then i wouldn't have the flexibility i do now to sneak in naps late in the afternoon back in the corporate world. yes, i am PROUD that i take naps!

so with that, i need to wrap up some work before the long weekend and off to make a page. oh yeah, here is something else, i will post another PEEK this weekend of some of our new goodies!
and i encourage you to sign up for a newsletter - go to www.mayaroad.com and sign up (on the right hand side) and if you are a consumer, make sure you check out our next newsletter b/c you will have the chance to win a fab MR prize pkg just for reading our newsletter!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

the newest trends in women's sizes...


... i really totally cracked up when i took out the measuring tape last night and took my measurements - i am so not like that sir-mix-a-lot song "baby's got back" but i do have some back, belly and chest now...

... only for a couple of more weeks thought so i thought i would capture it...

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

a small peek...

ok, so i can't stand it anymore! i am sharing a peek! well it is sort of a peek at something we are releasing for CHA summer but can't spill *all* the goods here. i think that like a good impressionist painting, you can find your own meaning in this attached photo that i doctored up. this will be *one* of our 70+ releases this summer. is it a bird? is it a plane? hmmm...
can't say more than that but i think you will love it.
C

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

10 random facts about me...

...i am in a good mood today - only a couple of weeks before the baby is born - our doc check up went well - the TX heat hasn't hit yet - and i ran 3 times in the last 4 days...oh yeah and YIPEE OUR CONTAINER ARRIVED! now to a lot of you, that might not mean a lot to me that means not having to tell customers "i am sorry but the stuff you want is out of stock" - it isn't anymore - at least a lot of it. i watched them unload the container yesterday and there was stuff jam packed in there - all MR stuff - i could have gone swimming in it like Scrooge McDuck from the Duck Tales did in his vault of money - but I would be swimming in tins and tins of chipboards and slides - LOL!


... deb and i were just chatting about how far we have come in 3 years. it is a bit overwhelming but very cool. the cool part is that we do this for the most part ourselves. from visiting the factories that make our stuff, to designing our stuff, to doing our catalogs, we have all the control 2 anal-retentive Valedictorian need (LOL!). but i don't think we would have it any other way. and it helps us to understand our Maya Road business model b/c we understand the costs behind it. and 2 brains are better than one even when we duke it out...

and i was thinking that with all the months of baby talk, i needed to think about what it was that makes me - well - ME. so i am going to do a page about 10 random facts about me this week. and here are the facts:

1. i ALWAYS wear socks to bed (except for the last month, this baby thing has my temp all jacked up)
2. nope, i do not comb/brush/style my hair every day (maybe 1/x month).
3. i always chew 4-5 pieces of gum at once.
4. if i could i would eat ketchup on EVERYTHING (but i gotta exert some self-control).
5. i understand enough about sports and cars to be dangerous.
6. i am so not a neat freak.
7. my hands are as big as or bigger than a lot of dudes.
8. i have eaten ant eggs before (in mexico - no it didn't taste like chicken). also had some armadillo, cicada shell soup and very stinky cheese.
9. i am not a great speller but no big deal - we all have stuff we are good at in life!
10. i plan on running a marathon next year and hope to be in shape to qualify for boston (to be only 8 mins and 52 sec away breaks my heart!)

have a great evening!

PS our CHA Summer products kick so much butt! i just got some samples and i am in love!

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

musings...

so i went to a craft store today and the cashier ringing me up saw i was buying some cardstock and some stickers and she said "oh are you a big scrapbooker". i NEVER know how to answer that question. um, well i am sure she didn't want to know that i owned a wholesale company that specializes in scrapbooking and all the nitty gritty details of that. so i just nodded and said "yeah sometimes" - which is true b/c i find my SBing ebbs and flows.

right now i have 2 projects to work on - i was inspired by MG on 2ps from NSD to do a concept album which i am trying to finish up and then i need to work on the baby announcements. the hard part is that we haven't decided on a name. the other hard part is my mom wants like 40 announcements. add that to the ones my MIL wants and the ones we want and i am looking at 80 baby announcements. wowizers that is a lot.

david wants to just print them out or do them digital but i am like "dude we have a scrapbooking company and enough patterned paper and cardstock to have 10 babies with 80 announcements each - why not use them?" i have the concept done in my mind. now comes the execution.


if you all are looking for a mom's day (or grandma's day) gift to make, try this mini brag book! i made it using Maya Road's foundations chipboards, Maya Road Journey Ribbons and also what i am most proud of - the SoHo Bloom Ribbon slides as the cover closers (just tie ribbon through 2 of the ears). then you just need some BG patterned paper and BG stickers and cardstock and it is so easy to do!

please give some mad props to...


my DH for completing this page tonight for our baby...

i know he is blog stalking to see what ppl say about his page (wink wink).

Thursday, May 04, 2006

new uses for SB supplies


i had mentioned on one of the boards that i used some rubons to decorate my toes - excuse the long monkey toes - you can thank my parents for those - but here they are! even my DH said they weren't bad. they even stayed on in the shower.

have a great thursday!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

congrats!

to the 2006 Maya Road Journey of a Lifetime Top Ten Finalists!

Stephanie A - East Meadow, NY
Andrea W - BC, Canada
Becky C - Sanford, ME
Rachelle M - Fresno, CA
Beth Q - Mesa, AZ
Jackie R - Farmington Hills, MI
Jeanne M - Tequesta, FL
Kim M - Anthem, AZ
Chrys R - Tracy, CA
Kelly Anne G - Woodbury, MN

i love all of the work you all did and for the other entries, you all were awesome too! thank you for your support of our contest! it means a lot to us!

we will be annoucing a grand prize winner next week so stay tuned!

i have been thinking that i have posted a LOT about babies and being pregnant and such lately. it is hard b/c that is the thing on my mind with only a couple of weeks to go. i think about it often b/c of all the physical changes i have gone through - from getting heart burn just sitting around to rolling out of bed in the mornings to feeling my feet swell a bit - how do you NOT think about it. no, my bag isn't packed for the hospital yet and we only started washing the baby clothes but it will all happen in time. i am even giving in to some cravings finally (had me a half a bag of limon chips yesterday - yum yum).

but i decided last night to do a LO to remind me and my baby that i (and we) did have a life before him but also to remind me that i (and we) will have a life after he is here... i will be happy to share it with him and david now. i can't WAIT to put him in the jogging stroller with his blanket and water and take him running! i can't wait to have him watch me play soccer or david play tennis. i can't even wait to teach him calculus (LOL!)

so much to think about. but with all of the thinking, i actually read a book called "the simple faith of Mr Rogers" - my DH had been reading this book and i didn't have an interest until i happened upon a Mr Rogers' Neighborhood episode the other day as I was flipping channels. Mr Rogers always was one of my favorite shows - just so CALM. i then decided to read the book on Fred Rogers - what an interesting man - how you saw him on the show was how he was in real life - a truly peaceful person - something that i am not at times. but reading his book gave me some things to reflect upon in my life - good changes that i hope to embrace and pass on...

Monday, May 01, 2006

those of you waiting to hear about the MR contest...

... it will be soon, we promise!

we hope to have contacted everyone tonight or tomorrow.

but we will let you know if for some reason there is a change of plans!