thankfulness...

well it looks like i will have to wait til this weekend to post a new RAK - sorry! things are crazy busy during the week and since my baby's sitter just had her own baby, noah is hanging out with me for a bit before he goes back to being watched during the day. it isn't that i mind - we have fun chillin' at the office, going to visit the W/H, etc - i know my baby won't be a baby forever!

i did this LO last night at 1 am - my 15 min layout. after my 5 LOs from this weekend, I have decided i will do 25 layouts before i buy anything else b/c I DON'T NEED IT! i know that must be a no-no to say especially when you own your own SBing company but that is the reality in my life right now! but i expect that this challenge will inspire me to create more and buy less and also to be more creative with what i have!

speaking of haves, i briefly mentioned that you can't please everyone all the time. this has been an interesting week for me. see i deal with mostly all complaints (and compliments) for MR - and you know what, i DO take complaints personally. but people need to remember that we all are only HUMAN. if i forgot to acknowledge someone at a show, it is b/c i was just having an off moment. if i didn't get to an email, it might be b/c i have 300 in my inbox at the moment.

we had one person rip me a new one for a product issue which i tried to resolve by offering them something which we did have in stock and then we asked for a picture to show the factory.

boy did that set this person off. we ask for pictures NOT because we don't believe there is a problem but how do you deal with a problem at a factory a half a world away but to send pictures. i can't show them the issue if you don't send me pictures. i even went as far as to offer one of my very own things (out of my personal MR stash) to replace for them but it wasn't enough b/c we are sold out of that item. i will admit, i stewed about it for about 2 days b/c that is how i am but i got over it. there is too much goodness and good people in life to worry about stuff like that. and in the end, you really can't please everyone.

so onto the good stuff. the reason i love this time of year is the sales on school supplies. ahhh who would have known that school supplies would lead to a career of scrapbooking but it makes sense, no? i can remember buying 200 count packs of lined notebook paper for $0.25! we kept a stash of like 10 packs in our closet. i used to LOVE to carry around lined paper in my purse " just in case" i needed it - it was a sickness - i know.

nowadays, i keep an eye out for school supplies sales around this time of year b/c my DH and I choose to support samartian's purse . it is an organization that donates shoe boxes of toys, candy, soap and school supplies to those less fortunate around the world. we have done this for the last 5 years now.

this past weekend, i hooked us up at the target dollar spot with the 75% off clearance! i got stickers, gel pens, etc. my shoe boxes are all starting to come together! this year i am hoping we can get 30 shoe boxes together and we will put personal notes and a photograph in each one (thanks to heather m. for letting me know that the kiddos that receive the boxes love the notes!). this is a tradition we want to pass onto noah - to make sure he knows how fortunate he is to have all the things he does have. it is so easy to concentrate on the negative when we all should display an attitude of gratitude.

so instead of concentrating on the negative stuff, i am CHOOSING to focus my energies on the good stuff. b/c in the end that is really truly what matters most.