Heritage Makers

Big things are happening at Heritage Makers since the official launch of the company this month. There are so many new features to the website not to mention the countless tools, backgrounds and layouts that are now available to you, the client. Heritage Makers has taken into consideration the suggestions of consultants and customers alike to offer the best online publishing system that's easy to use at an affordable cost. And the quality of the product that is created is fantastic. There is no better gift to yourself or your loved ones than to create something so personal and memorable that is sure to be an heirloom for years to come! If you haven't looked before, I invite you to click on the Heritage Makers link listed under the "Links" column on the right side of this screen and take a look at my business site. If you have looked before, you may want to look again. As of today it is all new and easier than ever to use and it shows all the new items that are now being offered. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me anytime at the number/e-mail listed on the business website. If you would like to hold a Heritage Celebration in your home to learn about these great products and to see samples and demonstrations on how to create any of the products, give me a call. Thanks and enjoy the sunshine today!

Quote of the Day-“It is not the honor that you take with you, but the heritage you leave behind.” -Branch Rickey

On a Lighter Note

Lately the tone here has been a bit more serious and I wanted to lighten things up a bit. Most bloggers share personal events so I was trying to think of something personal yet light. But I have had sick kids home from school this week and my brain is fried. The only moment that pops into my head is one I would not be sharing were it not for my exhausted state of mind. And hell, everyone deserves a laugh now and then so to whomever reads this-here’s to a good chuckle.

Last week I was at work at “The Birds and the Bees” boutique. It was a slow and quiet day and I was enjoying taking my time unpacking the inventory that had just been delivered by the UPS man. I was in the office and I was on the last box of items. I was sitting in a typical office chair with wheels and I was bent over to reach the last objects in the bottom of the box when I began to feel the chair slowly rolling backwards. Now, I was wearing dress slacks that had a nylon quality to them and the fact that they were smooth definitely was working against me that day. The chair proceeded to slide further and in my haste to sit up quickly and gather my balance I, in fact, did just the opposite. I tipped the chair sideways. If that isn’t a clear enough picture for you let me put it this way. Chair, me, floor. Let me just say it wasn’t one of those falls where you land on a knee and pop back up hoping no one saw you. This is me laying flat out on the floor with an office chair on top of me. I was simultaneously thanking God that there were no other co-workers in the shop with me while praying that the customers that had eluded us thus far did not pick that exact moment to amble in and catch a glimpse of my plunge. I still have not mustered the courage to ask the owners if there are hidden cameras anywhere in the office or shop. On the flip side though, if it was recorded, I might be able to make the shop a bit of cash from one of those blooper video shows. This was definitely NOT my best moment. For those of you who know me well, it won’t come as a surprise and you can toss this tale in the hat with the rest of the “Mindy Moments” and pull it out to embarrass me at your leisure. Call it a gift.

Quote of the Day-"Better slip with foot than tongue." -Benjamin Franklin

Erin Go Bragh

No one is luckier than him who believes in his luck! Happy St. Patty's!

Quote of the Day "Wherever you go and whatever you do, may the luck of the Irish be there with you."
-Irish Blessing

Getting It Right

When are women going to once and for all put down the boxing gloves and realize that we aren’t in this race against each other? On a daily basis I see magazine articles and TV specials about working moms versus stay-at-home moms. One side is always pointing the finger at the other. Who is right and who is wrong? I can tell you the answer right now. Everyone is right and no one is wrong. The anger and turmoil inside women over this issue doesn’t have a thing to do with what we think is right or wrong. It has to do with our own guilt and self-reproach, our doubts about whether what we are doing is the right thing for our family. I guess that’s the key. What’s right for our family? The answer is different for everyone. Many times I have been in a group of people where the question inevitably comes up.. “so, what do you do?” When I reply that, for the time being, I am a stay-at-home Mom there are various replies. A common response is “that’s nice” rapidly followed by the conversation shifting to someone else. Why is that? Do they think I have nothing to offer the conversation other than that of strained peas and how to get silly putty out of the carpet? (Incidentally, WD40 works nicely on that last problem.) I mean really, if I were talking to a mother who also happened to be a doctor, I wouldn’t expect that the only thing she could converse about were surgical procedures and gastrointestinal symptoms. Surprisingly, I actually can carry on a normal conversation with other adults on a wide variety of subjects. The other frequent comment I hear when I say I am a stay-at-home Mom is “I wish I could afford to stay home.” What I really want to say back to them is “I wish I could afford it, too!!” I mean, we live in a tiny brick ranch (that is 50 years old!) in a working, middle-class neighborhood. We don’t drive new cars and we don’t vacation at the Hamptons. I volunteer at my kids’ school 2-3 days a week and there are times when I am standing in the middle of 30 loud kids and paint flying all over the place and wonder what in the hell I am doing? But then I look at my daughter’s paint-smudged face smiling at me and I know she’s glad that I’m there and I know why I made the choices that I have made. I guess that brings me back to my main point. It’s all about choices. I chose this but I understand about wanting something more for yourself as a woman. I understand about not wanting to be defined simply as a “mother.” What I also understand though, is that this is the most important job I will ever have and I don’t have any other choice but to get it right. So we do what we do and we choose what we choose in order to get it right. It’s different for everyone. It’s never easy. But it might be easier if we quit pointing the finger at one another and formed a cohesive unit with one common goal-getting it right.

Quote of the Day- The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated." -William James

Life On Our Street

Life has changed here on our street. He has gone and it’s so silent next door and it happened so quickly and quietly and just like that….everything has changed here on our street. I wonder if he knew what was happening. I wonder if he knew when he got up to tell his kids goodbye for school that it was the last time. I wonder if he can see me now wrestling with the passing of someone that wasn’t necessarily a friend and yet not a stranger. Days would go by without seeing him, but still I knew he was there, inside the brick house, he and his dog. Now it’s quiet. Now his beloved car sits in the same spot everyday and I wonder if anyone will ever drive it again. I wonder if his sons know how he beamed when he talked about them. I wonder if she knows how he often reminisced about their younger days together. I wonder how those young boys will grow up without a father. I wonder if she will ever smile again. I wonder how you get up and go on after something like this. He was always and ever present and now the absence is louder than anything I can ever remember about him. He made me laugh and he drove me nuts. He looked out for us and we talked a lot and he ticked me off more times than I can count. I wonder if we did all those things to him too. I wonder if maybe there was more to this dance, more than just habitual waves of greeting and departure, more than just customary pumpkin bread at holidays. I stare through the picket fence that separates us and I wonder if that dog over there even realizes his friend is gone forever. I think he is looking back and wondering the same thing about me. All I really know is that everything has changed here on our street.


Quote of the Day-“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away” Author unknown