Thanksgiving

Can you believe that it is already time for Thanksgiving? Often we see posted on Facebook and other social media sites people stating all the things they are thankful for; So of course I will spend a bit of time here sharing what it is that I am most thankful for in my life.
One, I'm thankful to God that I have my family! I am very blessed to have my children, as much as they are crazy-makers through-out the year with their hair-brained ideas! I'm still glad I have them! Now, if they would find jobs and move out of my house I would be even more blessed ;) ....Just kidding!!! Seriously, I'm hoping that the kids would find jobs so that they can become responsible adults and learn how to answer to a boss and move on in the world...however, we are still waiting on this to happen!....SLOWLY!!!
Second, I'm thankful for my health. Most of you don't realize that as a disabled vet, I struggle with fibromyalgia and numerous other medical issues. That being said, it could be worse! Living with pain on a daily basis, I have found that having my home business of Scentsy helps me to keep my mind off of it and allows me to focus on making other people happy with a product that they enjoy!
Third, I'm thankful for my fur-babies! As much as I talk about my island of misfit pets...without them our house would be lonely! They keep things interesting everyday and I am blessed to have them in my life.
Finally, the one thing that a lot of people also don't realize about me is I donate to the community. I'm thankful for my ability to give back to others. I don't say this to say, "Yeah me"...I'm putting this in my blog, because it hasn't always been this way. Believe me I have been on the receiving end of donations in my lifetime, I have received food, clothes, whole meals, bags of groceries, and money during the holidays for my family and always felt that if ever I could turn the tables I would. This way if someone else could benefit the way I did they could, Pay it Forward! For the last two years thru my Scentsy business I have made it a point to donate to Toys For Tots since my kids have received thru this organization and other similar organization. I have been so thankful that God has blessed me and my family despite the economy to be able to continue to do this!

So I'm thankful, very thankful everyday...for my family, pets, a job, Scentsy...which allows me to donate to others...and my customers. God has truly blessed my life and I'm thankful!

Everyday we should count our blessings and never forget a simple random act of kindness!
Never let an opportunity to pay if forward pass you by!

Buy someone a cup of coffee just because, expect nothing in return, imagine the expression on their face when you do this? I've done this....It brightens someone's day!

Be Thankful for your  blessings each and everyday, not just at Thanksgiving!...Until Next time! :D

Me Time

As a mom, I find that it is so important to take time for yourself! I love the fact that Scentsy gave us our Layers line last spring! I have fallen in love with this line completely! I used to use Philosophy and Bath and Body works as my shower gels and lotions exclusively but have switched since Scentsy introduced their line...and not just because I sell the products but because really it moisturizes far superior and it smells better!  I have NEVER really been a fan of body butter because I do not like my skin to feel greasy or sticky, but OMG my skin is really dry from all the medications that I take.  So anyway, I decided to give this a shot...I fell in love and I use this everyday even before I go to work after my shower in the morning!
Also, who doesn't need a break from the kids!? I know I love to take a break and my ME TIME...is to take a warm bath! When Scentsy introduced our bath tablets I wasn't exactly sold just because I am not big on bath additives except I did LOVE the Bath and Body works Spearmint and Eucalyptus Stress salts. Sooooo, I tried these just to see how these would be and I will say I really like them a lot! One, I love our fragrances which is nice! Also, the bath tablets leave your skin feeling soft but not greasy because they have a little mineral oil in them! Needless to say, I'm once again enjoying my ME TIME with my Scentsy Bath tablets and I would suggest them to any mom to check them out! It's a spa at home and for young mom's out there with kids sometimes you just need a little get-a-way! :)  Put a warmer in your bathroom, add one of our great spa scents to the mix and you have an entire spa experience for a great price and can be repeated over and over w/out costing $100's of dollars!
One of my favorite fragrances in the spa line right now is Awakening...it's light, soft, clean but still feminine. It's the perfect fragrance in my opinion and I have had so many compliments whenever I wear it! Actually, it's funny...when I go over to drop off orders I will put some lotion on and some
 of the ladies will stop and just smell my hands! :)
Anyway, taking time for yourself...just makes you feel good, is relaxing and helps you to rejuvenate and  lets you be the best mom you can be! I didn't always take the time for myself, and I probably should have...even if it's a 10 min bath! Sometimes hitting the reset button, even on us mom's helps a lot to make it thru the day!
I hope you enjoy the review of the products...but most of all...take some time for yourself so you can be the best you possible! :D
....Until next time!

Children

I went to see my daughter tonight....Actually, I was dropping my son, who turned 18 today off at her house today. SOOooo, I just happened to be dropping by the apartment today! I haven't seen her in 9 days!! You have to understand that that is a marathon in my book! Considering she now has a baby of her own, I am in utter dismay by the fact that I have not seen this child!
Ever since my daughter found out she was pregnant she has lived with me up until about a month ago. I have had full access to the grandbaby and enjoyed seeing him grow and develop as well. Additionally, I have had the wonderful opportunity to see my daughter go from a pretty silly teenager to a mom that has figured things out really quickly and considering her age, has done a great job! Of course I give her my input, unwarranted I'm sure, but still given! ;) Needless to say she is doing a pretty go job.
I am glad they have moved out, but don't like the fact that I don't get to see the baby everyday! I know you can't have your cake and eat it too...but it sure would be nice! He sure is super cute and makes me smile every time I see him. Not that I would want any more children of my own...I am enjoying the whole grandmother thing! I just miss having him here everyday, it will take time to get used to him not being at home everyday! :/ ....He's so silly! Until next time enjoy some funny moments...:)

Escapee!

Two posts tonight....only because...thinking about my dead-weight dog in front of the door of the bathroom reminded me of yet another great door story!
My dogs, having all been rescues, must've come from somewhere...which means they must've escaped! All of my dogs LOVE to go on adventures and I swear that at times they have gone on long ones and short ones! However, none of them have been more memorable as the attempted escape by my dog JACK!!!
A couple of weeks ago Jack, my smaller and quite "special" black lab attempted to make a run for it out the front door. However, this time what he didn't expect was I was going to be PREPARED for him this time! Or so I thought...
I was headed out the door w/ my purse in hand and Jack insisted he was going along with me. As I'm trying to fight him off w/ one leg he manages to wiggle thru one of my legs so I lock my other leg over him and he squeezes past that one. At this point I'm now knocked-kneed and off balance! As he continues to make a "run" for it I quickly grab the skin on the back of his neck and he's still running forward now I'm full on...LEAPING towards the dog having to now TACKLE my dog like a linebacker on my front doorstep....Sad thing as I manage to land on top of my dog, he looks at me like I'm nuts! And I'm thinking....You crazy A$$ dog...I just stopped you dead in your tracks...but really I'm thinking...I just banged my damn knees on the door jam trying to keep from chasing your stupid self from running around the neighborhood. I know you're shocked this 40yr old ass just did all those crazy ninja moves! ;) Winner this round was still  me! Dog-not so much! :P  My Jack is such a special dog! Sigh....

Until next time!...

Daylight Savings Time!

So in preparation for my post about daylight savings time, I thought I'd look up a little bit why we do this practice. Ok so granted it's great for saving electricity and for travel and bla bla bla...but I will tell you on my sleep habits it's killing me! My pets are also off the chain all last night and today they are all out of sorts! My one puppy was roaming the house all evening and bumping into things, finally we had to put he up  in her kennel just so she would settle down and stop knocking stuff off of the bathtub, drinking out of the toilet, going in the closet knocking stuff off the hangers...omg she was a wild woman! Then she whined because she was "alone" geez, we have spoiled pets! I think hubby went and laid down by her for a little while. She is having a hard time adapting to her new medication for the epilepsy so she is a bit, well..."off". ...Then this morning she was out of the kennel somehow and right in front of the bathroom door. Now, I don't know about you but first thing when I have to get up that's where I need to go! Seriously a 75lb dead weight on the floor that refuses to move in front of the bathroom door is NOT what you want to encounter when you have to pee!!! Seriously she would not move you have to do a dead-man drag across the floor w/ this dog just to get to the bathroom in the morning! AND NO I'm Sadly, NOT exaggerating!!! :(

The Holidays

I'm getting really excited for the holidays this year and actually decorating my house! I am going to pull out every single Scentsy warmer I have and display them everywhere! I can't wait! :D  Not only that, but I have been on Pinterest a lot lately and have found myself very inspired to decorate my house with everything known to mankind! I might be able to find my children once I'm done! Ha ha ha! Normally I don't really care too much for the holidays or decorating, but this year I really want to DO IT!
I also purchased a ton of ribbons to make my own bows for all of my Scentsy purchases this year and I can't wait to package everything up this holiday season! I'm telling you this whole pinning thing has inspired my inner craft diva! :D
Unfortunately, my partner in crime has moved out now and started her own family so I'm on my own this year to do all of my decorating and holiday packaging this season! I miss her a great deal and it sucks not having my daughter around to help me...I'm hoping on the days she does laundry we'll work on it together! She usually likes to work on these things with me and she has such great ideas on how to put anything together that's artsy. Me, not so much! I'm just really good at the Scentsy stuff and I'm only waiting a few more days to where I can justify putting out the Christmas warmers..LOL...Is it too early now???

Until next time....Nicole

Pet update

Another Vet visit...today Miss Molly had to go to the Vet for  a check-up because she's been having seizures on a daily basis now and sometimes twice a day. Unfortunately I've also noticed her hearing and eyesight has diminished as well. :( ...Well, come to find out she has a small bacterial infection in her ears! UGH, have you ever tried to put ear drops in a dogs ears? They do not like it! Our dog Buddy for some reason get ear mites and he will chew your hand off if you come near his ears now since he knows you will put drops in his ears! YUP! ...So anyway, additionally Molly will be put on meds now for her epilepsy. We are hoping that this will help prevent her having seizures everyday! :)

In other news...Halloween....was a blast! I hope you all had wonderful fun! This was my grandson's first trick-or-treating event and he was dressed as a dinosaur! He, of course, was adorable! However, I HAD purchased for him THE BEST costume ever...a Mickey Mouse costume but they decided to not wear that outfit ...even though that was so much cuter! Oh well, at least I have a picture of him in that outfit. :D  He went to the doors w/ his little bag and wasn't even afraid, but then again he didn't have a clue what was going on either! Considering he is merely 8 months old, Halloween at his age is pretty much baby on parade! :)

IN SCENTSY NEWS!!! Thing have been super crazy! We've had so many specials going on...it's pretty exciting. They are obviously depleting product lines in order to make room for NEW things that are coming in Feb for our catalog which is super cool! It makes it really exciting. I'm anxious to see what they are going to release that is new this next season, it is always a surprise for the consultants as well as our customers. I know we get a little bit of a preview, but still a surprises nonetheless. Anyway, until next entry!  :D

Island of Misfit Pets

My home is the land of misfit pets! I currently "own" 4 dogs and 2 cats...3 labs, a border collie and 2 tabby cats, along with a clan of feral kitties that live on the porch!. My fur-baby clan started about 8 yrs ago with the insistent purchase of two window kitties Lady and Dory at the pet store. THIS was prior to my whole rescuing days and such and not really even wanting to commit to even getting a pet. HOWEVER, upon my kids really NEEDING a pet...hubby got both cuz they were litter-mates. Needless to say, we ended up w/ one of them getting out after we moved into our new home shortly after...Ms. Lady "escaped" one day out the back door when one of the kids decided that he would allow her to explore that back yard while he played on the trampoline. Unfortunately, she never returned after much searching! You would think at 8yrs old he would be a bit more responsible but..I guess not.

Then along came "Buddy"...he was zooming around our neighborhood at TOP speed over and over again. Next thing you know, he landed on our front yard! Of course, he had a sore paw! Limping around from all of his zooming he was pretty much starving as well! My husband and I have always been softies for pets and we looked at this dog and we're thinking ...."Seriously?" We have no food except cat food....but of course he downed not one, but three bowls of this as fast as possible and a ginormous bowl of water! Next thing I know the dog is in my back yard! I said to my husband, "There is a DOG in our back yard!!!" he just looked at me like, "DUH?" The next day the kids gleefully took the dog into the house while we were at work, gave him a bath and named him! THUS, making him OURS!! Miraculously, his "injured" paw was just fine and he made his place on my king-sized bed as well! To this day we still have Buddy, or Paw or Old Man as we affectionately call him as he's starting to get older! Buddy decided that right as we are getting ready to walk out the door 2yrs ago to DISNEY...my dream vacation ...for my daughter's graduation present and family vacation...he blew out his ACL! OMG, I have zero luck w/ these pets! $3200 bill...OMG ...hook him up ...gotta save my PAW!!! ... :/ sigh....

Needless to say, this had led to us getting him a companion because surely we could not have one dog by himself all day long! I wasn't in the "market" for one much less two! We ended up getting Honey, but her story is very short! She was a rescue that was incredibly ill and after much expense ended up having to be put down after two grand trying to save her :( and we left devastated!  Buddy was sooooooo sad. SO off to the rescue to get him a companion! Enters JACK! Jack is "Special" we believe him to be Autistic since he displays many characteristics of Autism. If you are offended by my references to Autism, my 21 yr old son is Autistic and Jack and he sometimes I think relate very well! They don't want to be bothered much at times...He is not social and does not like to be touched, and would rather be by himself than with someone. As a matter-of-fact he will lay next to you, just don't touch him. He, is NOT what we expected! He likes to go into his special room "the bathroom" at night and the light and fan must be on and PLEASE do not forget to close the door behind him or he will come out and bark until it is done right! Generally Jack is a pain in the ass kind of dog! He is afraid of everything...storm, loud noises, his shadow or anything else! :( 

WHY we ended up with YET...yes, another dog....is beyond me!? Enters Greta! Oh Princess Greta :/ Grrrrr..This Border Collie has to be the world's dumbest dog on the face of the planet and she has the bladder the size of a pea. You mention the word outside she freaks...she has to go and bark...bark ...bark! rrrrgh! Yes, this is hubby's dog that we ended up with because a lady at his work..her ex-husband died from cancer and he had these dogs and she couldn't take them...guess we have the word "Sucker" on our forehead. She's not horrible like Jack...but she's a goofy dog. :) She loves being outside and she will find the world's smallest puddle of mud and be covered from head to toe in filth if she can possibly find it and washing her is a nightmare! 

We've been living our 3 dogs, 1 cat lives for a long time...Next I end up w/ a 4wk old kitten named Mowgli who is abandoned from his mommy cat. Mowgli, is a cranky and very FAT cat now and if he doesn't get his own way hisses at everyone. BTW he only likes me! :)  He, however is very hateful...I think he is bipolar...nice one minute and not-so-nice the next! OH, and he's on a special diet now because otherwise he has urinary problems now which last summer cost us over $2K in vet bills for kidney stones! OUCH! Yup...and his food is $50 a bag...ugh...:(

Finally, we ended up with Molly our black lab. She just walked up to the house one day and wouldn't leave. Hmmmm, what can you say about this girl. She is very sweet and she LOVES to eat. Sad thing is she has seizures and she is heartworm positive. It makes you wonder if her previous owners didn't want to take on that responsibility? Other than that, she's got the BEST personality besides Buddy. When she's hungry she brings you her dish  and she INSISTS on eating NOW! 

Today, she grabbed the lid off the trash can. She gets a little crazy with bringing us things, shoes, socks, anything on the floor!  LOL! She makes for great laughs but she is very loving. I have grown very attached to this dog more than any of the others and we've had her the least amount of time.
I haven't talked about Dory much...well, MISS queen bee is the owner of the house! She may be a cat but she will let you know she was first. I think everyone knows secretly she started this mess! ;)  She is a non-stop love machine! She is pretty old now but super fluffy and all she wants to do is have you love on her, feed her and let her sleep. Other than that you don't see her around too much.  

So after reading this you are probably thinking, why the hell do you have all these pets?? Well, each one of these dogs and cats (with the exception of Dory), wouldn't have had a chance maybe if we didn't take them in!
Some day, I hope to own a much larger piece of property so that I can actually have an animal rescue of our own. My husband and I have used a lot of my Scentsy commission and our retirement from the military to help many stray pets that have crossed our path that we haven't kept as well! I guess our little fur-babies are pretty lucky too! :D As quirky as each of our pets are and we affectionately call them our "island of misfit pets" we love them all the same! 

Pinterest Facinates me!

Have you ever found yourself on Pinterest for like hours? I will sit there pinning and pinning everything under the sun on this site and one pin leads to another! It is truly and amazing place to find anything about pretty much any topic you want to know about!
Lately, my latest "research" topic has been anything having to do with Christmas decorations and I have been taken to almost a fantasy world of anything having to do with this fantastic season! From a purely white Christmas to pretty pink or gingham there isn't anything you cannot find on this site about the topic. Of course then once you start looking at the decorations, lights, packaging, next it's onto the food and so much more! How can one not get carried away on this site or delve into a topic, much like a book and get carried into a whole other world!

If you haven't tried Pinterest you should check out this fantastic site and everything that interests you is really at the tips of your fingers! Build a board and check out your friends!

Convention Bound

So it's that time of year again where we all gather to go to convention for Scentsy! I'm headed to Vegas! WOOT...so I'm pretty excited about that! We get to see all the new stuff coming out. More to come on that.
However, on a side note...so as we all know I have children...That being said, WHY are they so dumb? So my 14 y/o decides last night that he is going to hang out at a friends house and doesn't mention that their parents are not there for the WEEK!! Grrrr! Anyway, we get a knock on the door by the COPS at like 130am saying that our son was at the school doing GOD KNOWS WHAT...and he was brought home. So needless to say, I'm very annoyed today by this child! The 19 y/o who was "in charge" of course was drinking and the other punk-ass genius friend of his decided it would be a great idea to walk their friends to the High School for whatever reason in the middle of the night>>> now does that sound like a good idea? NOT!! And of course my follower, genius child just goes along for the ride and as the other kids RUN from the cops ...NOT my child he just gets busted. Which I think is probably for the best anyway. Teach him a lesson.
ON another side note, we brought in yet another stray dog named Molly...and since we are the Island of misfit pets...this one seems to have seizures. So NOW I'm going to have to take her to the vet to find out what is going to cost me. Grrrr! Again, I do not understand what is up w/ pet owners these days but anytime anything goes "wrong" w/ their pets they just dump them off on the side of the road for someone else to deal with. The sad thing is she is a super sweet elderly black lab that is otherwise in perfect condition, listens and is still full of love to give, but if you gave her to a shelter they would probably put her down due to her medical condition. Very sad indeed! :((  My husband and I have become suckers for these strays I guess.

We had another stray kitten that we took in about 6 months ago that we ended up having to put down that had seizures that ended up being life threatening to her she became so ill ...it was the most difficult thing on my husband because that was his little kitty he rescued. :(

Anyway hate to be a downer on my blog but it has been a super crazy situation over the course of months with these pets...Looking forward to convention and Vegas tho! More to come and I'm looking forward to all that Scentsy has to bring us w/ some new products :D

OMG, I have Forgot to BLOG!!

I totally forgot that I had a blog started, but I'm back. SO what have I been doing? Well, let's see....so much has happened. I went to Convention in August, which was soooo Totally amazing and I got to see some really great Scentsy products and hear some super speakers that really motivated me. Not just in the selling aspect of Scentsy, but one speaker talked about positive thinking and how the American public in general just thinks so negatively that it really got me to thinking a lot about how I wanted to change my overall way of thinking. I was very motivated as well to create what the theme of our convention was about, a Stampede. One person being able to take the lead in a movement in giving back to the community and seeing how it would impact a change or make a difference. Although it was all about Scentsy, it was very inspiring as well in how you can really become a better person and really make a difference too. I know some people may find that stuff cheesy, but to me...ummm, I think that when I retired from the military I really needed something that could inspire me as well and I know that I'm part of something bigger than myself.

So what is going on NOW??? Well, let's see....I ended up donating 55 bears over the holidays so that was pretty cool, my daughter is expecting in 4 more wks  :)....
SCENTSY is super duper expanding and I can't wait...I totally need to get better at this blogging thing...I'm not even funny :D     OH, and I've become TAXI MOM....seriously??....mom, take me here...Mom, I need pants.....Can you bring me my laptop to me at work? ....Mom, I need to go to an appt...SERIOUSLY people? I have a life....I may not have a job, but I have a life! :D Just saying!!! :D....Ok, so that's my blog and I'm stickin to it!