Playing catch up

I've been neglecting my blog, so I've now got a lot to catch up on. First some good news: next year is officially the year of the wedding. I now have 4 weddings to attend in '07. Greg Saiki and Tracy Marchant start it off May 19th. CJ Martin follows on July 7th. My cousin Kim and her fiancee Danny get hitched in August, while Thien/Maximus and Brenda tie the knot in September. I can't believe I've already got plans for next Sept. That's insane. Another celebration next year is Mike Kobliska's graduation from USC dentistry school. I know there will be a lot of celebrating at that graduation. Way to go, Koby.

Other good news: my niece Kylie turns 1 this Friday. It's so hard to believe both Avery and Kylie are now a year old, especially since I remember their birth days as if they were last week. Man, times flying. Plus, it only makes me wonder if I'm ever going to get pregnant. Maybe it's not in the cards for me cuz at this point my eggs are going to start drying up.

For the holidays, I decided to go back to Barnes and Noble for 10 hours a week. I know Arbonne dies down with the holidays, so I figured why not earn some extra side money and get a discount on books for gift giving time. I actually set aside the books I'm going to buy for gifts yesterday only to realize most of the money I'm going to make there for the holiday season I'm simply going to hand right back to BN. Oh well, at least the purchases are for a good cause: literacy. Plus, I know my family will die if all I give is Arbonne.

As for my Arbonne business, I've hit a few road bumps, but nothing I can't work out. I've joined the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce to help me network for new clients and business prospects. Sometimes at these chamber events when I'm talking to people I wonder how the heck I ever got here. I mean, I am the girl who would get sick in high school if I ever had to do an oral presentation, the one who would drop a college course if I knew I had to talk in front of the class. Now, look at me: I'm going up to complete strangers pitching them on Arbonne. In a million years, I would have never guessed this is where I would end up at the age of 33. This only goes to show the future is unpredictable. A positive note is that I have met a ton of new people through all the networking events I've attended, and I've learned a ton about the value of networking, helping others with their businesses as they help me with mine. Now, if I could just get one lead that turns into a business builder I'll be golden.

And finally, I have to give a shout out to Jason, who has been an inspiration of sorts in my life for a couple of reasons. One, he's got me reading graphic novels. I used to love reading when I was a student, but once I became a teacher, the last thing I wanted to do after working and grading essays for 8 hours was to read for fun. Now, I'm reading again, and I love the new stuff I'm getting into. I finished the Hellboy and Watchmen books I borrowed from Jason, and I just finished book 3 of Y: The Last Man. (I will write a post all about Y because it deserves its own post it's that good.) The second reason Jason's influenced me is because he introduced me to Tony, who has lit a fire in me that has been dormant for awhile: the fire of creativity. I miss writing, and Tony has helped renew my interest in getting back into it. He's offered some great suggestions to help me get started. Now, I can't wait for the holiday hoopla to go away so I can have more time to myself to start writing again. I'm determined to have something published before I die, so I thank Jason and Tony for helping me rekindle my love for literature and writing. Now, I just need to take that leap and get started on my creative journey again.