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Supplemental Income Ideas For Families.

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September 6, 2008

Feeling a bit peakish today. I haven't lined up any appointments or shows. I have been fairly productive with house cleaning but despite the fact I love having a clean house it just doesn't give me the same feeling of success as working effectively through Work At Home United. I did get a customer newsletter out today.But I must watch out for too much activity and not enough accomplishment -- This was a piece of advice given during the convention and is certainly something I am quite prone to be doing. The office is more cleaned as is the guest room. I even have some lunch started with the goal of fixing a family dinner tonight! I will send out an email to my business builders as well to listen in on phone calls as scheduled this week. Those often kick me into gear.

I should be a bit easy on myself because I did have my appendix out just last week!

Wish me luck as I am sure you all are! And remember to refer people to my business and site!

September 03, 2008

The Appendix Story

Thank you so much for all of your kind thoughts and calls over the last few days.

I had two business appointments in Tucson Thursday (August 28) afternoon at 2:30 and at 5:00 so I took J (age 13) down with me earlier in the day to spend time at the Reid Park Zoo. It was not too hot but a pleasant day for the two of us. During this time I had received two phone calls from my 'Driving to the Caribbean' job concerning Friday's schedule. I was asked to fly with two other drivers to CA Fri A.M. (5:00) to pick up some test vehicles and drive them here to AZ. I thought it would be fun though, a long day. I had planned on listening to Elizabeth and Mary (again) a 15 hour audio book.

I met with met both appointments and headed home, after making a quick stop for a meal. We encountered a horrific monsoon storm on our road home. (I was taking Route 79) a beautiful scenic, though less traveled route. Just about the time we left the Eegee's (a reason in and of itself to travel to Tucson) I noticed a pain in my right side above my hipbone. I was reminded of the pain I had there the day before, which did not last too long, (about an hour) I figured I had driven a lot that day perhaps it was a sort of cramp and once I got home it would resolve itself. We arrived home at about 8:15 with no abatement of pain and therefore I consulted a friend via telephone, she consulted Web MD and suggested I begin to walk around to see if it changed at all. Lying down did not relieve it at all. She suggested the appendicitis diagnosis. Steve arose at 9:00 for his 2nd night job and I informed him of the situation. I had Thomas call my 'Driving job" to inform them I could not make the 5:00 meeting up time. I am sure it wasn't easy for them to reschedule but when an organ decides to rebel, there really aren't any other options.

We decided to go to the Gilbert Hospital on Power and Ray, we arrived at 9:40 and were taken in right away. We did see a doctor quickly who ordered a CT scan, blood work, etc..

The scan came and went, they took blood etc... The white blood cell count was very high and the scan showed the appendix as inflamed. They scheduled the surgery for 6:00 Friday morning. Steve and Cary left the hospital at about 1:00 a.m. By that time I had received a shot of morphine so I was vaguely aware of all that was going on.

The offending organ was removed and surgery completed by 6:20 a.m. The surgery was laproscopic and so I have only 4 beautiful scars! My bikini modeling days are certainly over.My main frustration during the time was that I was unable to contact all of my friends prior to the surgery to ask for prayers.

I got to come home on Saturday, and have been resting comfortably since then. The kids and Steve are doing a lot of everything and I should be able to make it to Park Day on Friday for the book club.

In many ways it could have been very bad had it happened 6 hours sooner or later...Driving across CA?? or driving in Rural Az with my 13 year old. Anyway all worked out well and I really do not miss my appendix at all!

Thanks again for all your calls and prayers.

August 26, 2008

Well, Happy Birthday to me and anyone else born on this day!

First of all I must apologize to any readers of this delightful blog for taking so long to update. I was working very hard and time certainly got away from me. Here is my post from my wonderful trip to Work At Home United's and the company we partner with Convention.

Here is a quick outline of what I expected/ anticipated/received from our convention.

I joined the Work At Home United Family family in January, and began my road to director in February under the guidance of Michelle M! I liked the products, liked what I understood to be the comp plan and paths to leadership. But my inherent skepticism was still present even as I began to enroll more and attend local events. I knew I wanted to take advantage of all that Melaleuca had to offer and figured the best path to speedy advancement would be to attend convention in August.

AS I built the business I continued to receive 8x11 award certificates along with little pins, I received an email informing me that I had been awarded All Star for convention: But the skepticism prevailed;...

"Do these pins mean ANYTHNG at all???,

Doesn't every one get ALLSTAR??

Does ALLSTAR at convention mean anything really?"

In April I debated whether to drive to SLC (I have a cousin who lives there) or to fly, take kids/no kids.... And all of the decisions that have to fall in place to make it happen. But I decided to fly -- no kids-- and purchased tickets.
If I had not purchased the tickets early on it is very possible with beginning of school, work schedules, kids activities I would have talked myself out of the 14 hour drive etc... But away I flew the friendly skies after having arranged all of the necessary placements...

On Wednesday I did get to to the Home Office tour.. Which was nice, but I really wanted to see the R&D department which I had never verbalized nor researched --(no you don't get to see it) But you do get to see the Distribution Center and the Corporate Headquarters which do give you a full and complete understanding of the pervasive effectiveness of our business partners Mission Statement which is evident from the corporate offices down to the distribution center and to us as marketing executives.

However I was promised a box lunch which was not given upon arrival but upon our return drive at about 3:00" So if you go in two years bring snacks and/or a mini lunch. The lunch was good, just late.

Finally I get to attend this "so called" Convention with my badge and ribbon... I brought all my pins and placed them on my lanyard nametag... I have chosen my 'business casual' clothing, Looking cool as I enter the convention hall. I really had no, nada, zip, idea of how many people would be there. There ended up at least 7000 - 8000 people there..... (Didn't matter...... I still looked cool!)

But man,,,,, so many people..... I had walked through the convention center the night before to make sure I knew the locations of the rooms I needed to get to the next day... There was a band there to greet us.... Now, even though I am part of WAHU I was not staying with anyone from WAHU and I had never met anyone from WAHU I only had a list of phone numbers. So despite being surrounded by 7000+ peope I did feel a bit lonely.

Fortunately though the terms introverted or shy have never been used to describe me. So I endeavored to introduce my self to as many people as I could ... share my cards, learn their stories... which I must say I was very successful. It is a bit hard even for a person like me, but after once or twice it was easy and really fun!

The ALL STAR seating at convention was a great benefit, and the talks were enthusiastic, encouraging, and honest, not hoopla. It was odd in a sense because it was very very positive but not at all in the least bit way .... false.... I did not really expect it to be false but was afraid that I might discover it was in fact all a facade.

Frank V. was so encouraging and deliberate about explaining the importance and significance of OLIGOFRUCTOSE COMPLEX. They even made us repeat it a few times. McKay Christiansen's stories and words of wisdom were very apropos. IN fact as I waited in the terminal for my return flight I began to 'journal' about what I gleaned from convention and he left us with 5 words to remember.... Don't ________, Do it now. and for the life of me I could not remember what that word was.... SO I looked around the terminal ... Saw a couple with Melaleuca labeled bags etc... approached them and asked for the missing word... within seconds we had come up with "Don't wait, do it now."

Basically how often can we approach strangers in the airport and ask..."Can you tell me what I have forgotten about the convention I attended yesterday?"

The workshops I attended were very very good, their titles matched their descriptions and the speakers were engaging and informative. The Allstar workshop was really really worth it; #1 it was totally inspiring and #2 you get first dibs on seats for the following talk which was very very beneficial.

I wondered before I went, if I would find it worth it....YES YES YES... You do get as a new director, a terrific understanding of the company and the products, the mission of the company, the attitude of the leaders., You get to meet as many people as you want from anywhere you want.

I want to thank Natalie H and Jen B for taking the time to meet me for lunches, the entire WAHU team for the team party as well as an especial thank you to Michelle M being such and awesome enroller.

Tuesday June 3, 2008

Residual Income: Last month went very well. I was able to introduce 6 qualified customers to this great product line. We have a great promotion this month and so have great hopes to enroll 10 members!

Homeschooling in the summer: I have planned 5 weeks of school starting this week. Though this week I have just 2 days scheduled. as a result of a birthday party this weekend as well as our Tae Kwon Do tests this Friday and Saturday! I will be testing for a blue belt which is 3 steps away from a black belt. I have been working on exercising by walking every morning as well as doing more exercising during the day. MY goal for this summer school session is to finish each child's math text book. I the two younger ones should not have any trouble, the older ones, we may find it harder to get all the way through so we may have to extend the session for the two high schoolers.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Residual Income: This job's main goal is to recruit customers for a company that manufactures wellness products for your home and body. Out of the six I called last week four have signed up and the other two I am still in contact with. My new goal is to have 20 customers at the end of May (just 3 days away). I am up to 15 customers so I may be able to reach this goal.

As for homeschooling, I am looking ahead to June and have spoken to the kids about focusing on finishing their math text books along with doing one unit (poetry) in English and have T finish his history paper.

Looking forward to Sporadic Income of Driving to the Caribbean We will be starting up again next week and so am looking forward to the long quiet hours of driving! This job will last until November and so may be able to take the kids to MA during the fall. We shall see how that turns out.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Residual Income: Last week I had a tough time getting myself started on the Work at Home United business. I find this odd because I really enjoy it. Eventually I realized it all had to do with the kitchen. The kitchen was very disorderly and so I find upon waking and walking into the kitchen finding it messy, puts a damper on my whole day that I cannot necessarily overcome. This week I have started with a cleaner kitchen and find my self quite motivated to move along!

In that vein I have set up six phone calls so far and so am enthusiastic about all the outcomes! I will be sure to keep you posted about what is going on!

Please be sure to check on the links page to review the website!

Wednesday May 14, 2008

Forgot to mention last week's adventure with the Seasonal Income for Flower Delivery! I took 2 kids on Thursday and the other two on Saturday. The kids decided to split it this way (more room in the van when we have just two kids). We had a lot of plans on Friday that also made it easier to split up the time.

The flower company was pretty well ready for us to go when we arrived, on that end they have improved. When we finished our first run, our second run was ready to go! This gave me great hope for Saturday's deliveries. I am very impressed with second son's ability to beautify the arrangement before he delivers it. He is very attentive to the look of the flower arrangement.

Our most difficult part was delivering to a particular cul-de-sac; we had been making great time, delivering 5 arrangements in the first hour, then we hit this dreaded cul-de-sac. It was 10:00 in the morning already 80 degrees, on a weekday. the kids approach the door, noone answers. check neighbors to right and left, check neighbors across the street, all of which has taken 30 minutes. One neighbor seemed to be home but would not acknowledge knocking or doorbell. Go figure. You must remember that in this scenario noone gets paid if the flowers are not delivered. The kids wanted to leave them at the door, but as I point out, the door faces west, it is only getting hotter and the recipient may not get home until well after 5:00 p.m. The arrangement would look horrible. Though we pride ourselves on never bringing back flowers, in the interest of Mother's Day... this time we did.

Saturday's events turned out different, though still a positive note. The kids worked well together though they did not receive any tips. Tips for flower deliveries are not required but once in a while they turn up for the kids. One of the points I have stressed to the kids in this endeavor is that success of the mission often depends on our ability to make the owner's goal our own goal. As a result our little family works hard to deliver the flowers, we rarely return with flowers. It is a source of pride for the kids as well as myself when they ask us.."Any returns?" And we can reply..."Hey we are the Willis's we always deliver!"

From the owner's perspective it is important to screen out drivers who cannot accept this as a requirement. Completing the task is not too hard but does sometimes require effort.In general this is the schedule on delivery days the flower place , upon our arrival to pick up deliveries provides us with the flowers carted and ready to be loaded, we hand the tickets to the 'manager' who hands them to a data person, who then inputs them and gives me a map along with the pages of papers for the customers to sign upon receipt of flowers. The map is usually right and accurate. Sometimes my experience with delivering helps to interpret the map but usually they are on target. Secondly on each tag is a phone number for either the recipient OR the person who sent them. So if we cannot follow the map, we can call the number, after that we can call the office who might have another number we could contact.

All this leads to the funny story of our return for the second run on Saturday afternoon, when another driver returns with about 10 of his sixteen deliveries claiming he couldn't find any of the places. Most of the other drivers and I wondered what was up with it, the owners were very patient and had him go through the list with them, but sent him home and asked him not to come back tomorrow. Mother's Day as you can imagine is the busiest time of year for a flower shop, you just can't be Not delivering the flowers for them.

IT was another fun time delivering flowers with the kids, they are always excited to pick up their check -- which they get on Friday!

Sunday May 11, 2008

Mother's Day! Yes I had a great Mother's Day today. S and the kids made a delicious breakfast for me, then allowed me to look for my main present! I did not have too far to search since they left the original monitor on the floor. And I discovered my very fancy, very colorful new monitor in my office. Unfortunately it sort of became much like a Lucy Episode where the new monitor means I must move around the office, which means clearing out a lot of stuff, which means moving the computer up off the floor. However after all is said and done the office looks much better, though it is not yet finished.There is still quite a bit of things to go through.

I am quite happy though it was a wonderful day. We went to Mimi's for dinner and S even came to Mass with us. I am looking forward to making quite a few set up phone calls for tomorrow and having a great business week.