Just Heather
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Dear Diary
Jan 18, 2008 | Filed Under: Almost Crafty, Scout Mom

I tend to treat this blog like a diary, only not so private. That’s the part that makes writing hard these days. Most of what is on my mind is not for public consumption. Everything else seems mundane and boring.

I could tell you all about Girl Scout cookie sales and how I blackmailed the troop parents into a cookie mom by threatening to skip the sale altogether and charge $100 per girl to make up for the funds. I could tell you about the ice skating field trip we had planned for tomorrow for my other Girl Scout troop only to find out today that they don’t actually have public skate tomorrow. Nevermind that we verified the date with them 3 times. They suddenly have a hockey tournament that was scheduled months ago. Go figure.

I was excited about my scrapbooking retreat for next week, but I’m not sure all the pictures I wanted for my projects will arrive on time. I don’t know how fun 2 days away with strangers will be if I’ve got nothing to do. I am still trying to finish the girls’ baby albums, but I like to have variety so I can change things up when I start getting stressed or tired.

That seems to be a permanent state these days. I’m not sleeping, I have too much on my mind and I don’t know how to process it all. Since I don’t have an outlet for pounding it out it just stays bottled until I blow up. Then I get to stuff it back in again until next time…

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Double Standard
Nov 18, 2007 | Filed Under: Go Team!

It’s no secret that the Colts are fairly beat up these days. I’m confused about how a bruise has kept Harrison out for 6 weeks. Someone’s not saying something, but that’s not our only problem. We’re out 2—and, sometimes, 3—deep in several positions. I think our inactive list is longer than our starting lineup at this point. However, no one’s talking about how that might affect our season.

I get the “next man up” concept Dungy pushes. Really, I do. However, when your next man up is the 4th string or some random rookie pulled from the practice squad, it’s going to start affecting your game. Everyone just keeps talking about how great the Patriots are, but no one is mentioning that we only lost by 4 while we were down about 11 players.

On the other hand, Vinatieri sucks 3 weeks running and suddenly it’s all about an injury. An injury I’d never even heard about until he missed his 4th field goal in a row. Not to mention the numerous extra points he’s missed this year. Okay, so it was 2, but he’s missed at least 2 field goals from extra point-range.

Poor little kicker. Can we please just send him back to New England now?!

2
Backlog Bulletfest
Nov 12, 2007 | Filed Under: Go Team!, Going Gluten-Free, Household CEO, Lovable Critters, Mommyhood, My Biz, Party Girl, Scout Mom, Sick & Tired

I’m still swimming upstream, but in the interest of full disclosure I’ll work on getting this up-to-date.

  • Being sick sucks. The entire family had a stomach bug last week (which we so lovingly passed onto my hometown via my nephew). This week it’s a cold so bad I honestly thought it might lead to pneumonia. It seems to be clearing a bit, but I have been through about 2 boxes of tissues in as many days.
  • The armadillo my Girl Scout troop adored on our field trip died in a fire this weekend at the zoo. That makes me unbelievably sad.
  • Venatieri can go back to the Patriots now. That is all.
  • Except to say I just don’t see this great clutch kicker everyone talks about. Vanderjagt may be an arrogant smart ass, but I’d take him any day.
  • I’m working on arrangements to do a live segment on Black Friday. They want me much earlier than usual though, and I was planning to be at Target right about then.
  • The pacifier is officially gone. My goal was by age 2, which happened 10 days ago. Two days before her birthday, she went to bed without and hasn’t had it since. She asked about it nightly for awhile, but seems to be over it now. If only potty training were that easy.
  • I’m planning a Charlie & Lola Pink Milk Party for Brenia this year. It was supposed to be a Pirate/Princess Tea, but the stupid Birthday Express catalog came in the mail and she fell in love with the C&L crap.
  • The gluten free diet has been deemed an official success by the girls’ pediatrician. This time last year we were still in the testing stage and Lorelai weighed 14.4, falling in the 1 percentile. At her 2-year checkup she weighed nearly 26 pounds and falls right at the 50th percentile!
  • If anyone has ideas on how to teach organization and responsibility to a 4th grader, I’m all ears. After a month on the Spell Bowl team, winning Power Speller each week, we found out Stacia doesn’t actually get to compete this week. She is an alternate because she did not bother to turn in 3 50-point assignments. Oops.
  • Also, if you have ideas on organization for a busy mom, send them my way! We worked hard all weekend and I’m starting to get control of some things around here. However, I have yet to tackle the 50-gallon tub that holds my paperwork.
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2
Recognize
Aug 21, 2007 | Filed Under: Media Matters, Mommyhood, My Biz

Last Thursday, my mom lectured me about 5 times because I went to the store in cutoff sweats and a t-shirt. She says I’m not allowed to dress like that anymore because I am a “television personality.” I say, this is my personality!

On Friday, I took my oldest to a High School Musical 2 party with 2 of her friends. While they were playing a game, someone came up to me and said, “This is going to sound really weird, but are you on the news?” The girls thought that was really cool. Well, two of them did. My own daughter thought it was “embarrassing,” but I’m pretty used to that.

When I called my mom to tell her I got recognized she asks what I am wearing!

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0
As Seen on TV
Aug 10, 2007 | Filed Under: Media Matters, My Biz

It’s official! I have a 3-4 minute segment every Friday morning on a local television morning show. I was hopeful that it would be a recurring thing, but in television it is all about viewer response. The first week, the anchor said I would be back “on a regular basis” but I didn’t know how that would pan out. The second week, the co-anchor said I would be there “every week” so I’m pretty excited that it worked out as planned.

I am getting a name and a web page on their site which will have details about each week’s segment as well as a link to my business website. They seem pretty pleased with me and the nerves are disappearing. I was visibly nervous the first time, but much more relaxed the next time around. I think it will only get better as we go.

I’m looking forward to the challenge, but not the hour. I have to be up by 6 am to get there on time. I’m a sleep ’til noon kinda girl if left to my own devices.

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Pay Day
Aug 03, 2007 | Filed Under: Media Matters, My Biz

Yesterday I loaded my 3 girls in the van and headed to the television station. They had asked me to do a run through with the anchor, but it was so last minute that the news director told me to bring the kids knowing I would not have enough time to arrange a sitter.

They were very well behaved (who are these children and why can’t they live at my house?) and enjoyed seeing where Mommy “works” now. The rehearsal was designed to allow me to hear the questions the anchor would ask so I could be prepared. He asked different questions every time we ran it. Then he asked a completely different question today—live on the air.

Never fear, I am an expert in my field (apparently) so I was able to answer everything efficiently. I then shared some of the good buys for this week with a referral to my website for even more deals. I felt good about the segment, but I haven’t it seen it yet. They showed a video clip of my kids and some graphics showing the math on the deals I shared along with the live video we were filming.

Our DVR managed to skip right over it. It recorded the news from 6:00 to 8:25 am and from 8:50 to 9:00 am, but I was live at 8:41. It manages to malfunction about twice a year and just my luck today was the day! The station is sending me a DVD so I’ll be able to see it and share it soon. I have no idea what happened, but I was devastated. My parents are out of range for the station and were counting on me to send them video.

Now, not only do I get paid to be on television, but I get a free DVD too!

On a related note, PayDays now come in a protein bar so when I eat one for lunch I can pretend it is a real and actual meal replacement instead of just candy.

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2
Small Town
Jul 25, 2007 | Filed Under: Family Ties, Hoosier Girl, Media Matters, My Biz

This morning before my meeting at the news station, I panicked about the fact that I have never been on a job interview before. I am 30 years old and I have never had a real and actual job interview. I got all my jobs because I knew someone who knew someone, and then I became a stay at home mom.

I wonder if I can use that term now. Starting next Friday I have a job as a morning news weekly contributor on the subject of savings and coupons. I will have a 3-4 minute segment each week, primarily discussing the top 5 deals of the week and directing viewers to my own website for more information. It is basically a big advertisement for my business, only they are going to pay me.

They want to come up with a name for me and/or my show. I need something catchy, but I’m drawing a blank. I did suggest Smart Shopper or Shopping Smart, from a previous comment, which they liked but we’re still brainstorming. I also came up with Good Buy Girl, which seems fun though I don’t know if they’ll go for the Neil Simon wordplay.

I’m still kind of in shock over how quickly this is all happening. I am excited, and I’m sure the nervous part will come next week. My mom reminded me that if I can handle the national evening news, I can do this. The difference is this is live and being local actually makes it more important to my business. I have 9 more days to panic so for now I’m just enjoying the excitement—and the idea of a paycheck—not to mention the fact that my father actually seems proud of me.

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4
Serendipity
Jul 22, 2007 | Filed Under: Media Matters, My Biz

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by a reporter from the Indianapolis Star. She was working on an article about rising grocery prices and had stumbled across FeedIndy.com. She came to the house to interview me and then followed me to the grocery store to see what I do. Her focus was on how local families were combating higher prices at the store.

I figured the local coverage could have a bigger impact on our business than CBS and the Chicago Tribune. I couldn’t have been more right. Since the article was released, we have seen a remarkable increase in traffic and I have been contacted by many people—old friends I had lost touch with, family members who saw my face (quite large and a little creepy) staring up at them and the news director for a local television station.

I have been invited to join their morning news team as a weekly contributor on the subject of shopping and savings. We have discussed the idea via email and phone. On Wednesday I will be meeting the news team to see if we are a good fit and discussing further details with the director. He already has several ideas on topics for my live segment. Me! On live television! Every week!

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