A New Day Always Dawns

Yesterday, our quiet little town was on fire. More than 500 acres and 60 homes burned flat to the ground. As we all struggle to get by in this economy with reduced hours, job losses, mortgage issues, and any number of other life challenges, those issues are nothing compared to being run out of your home with little more than the clothes on your back.

Today things seem to be contained, but we have a hot and possibly windy day on schedule for today. I'm going to see what I can do even if it's donating some of our clothes to the Red Cross. If we can help one family, or feed animals that have been safely recovered at the shelters, we will. Give to your local Red Cross, Salvation Army, and other local charities that help people in desperate times of need. Even $1.00 adds up if we all give just a little.

State Fair Savings

Here's a success story right from my own family! When we went to the California State fair in 2005, we purchased two of the large plastic cups that are really expensive if you only have the drink they come with. The deal is that after you buy the cup for $6.00, each refill there after is only $2.00. Now don't get me wrong, both of these numbers are high for a soda, but I've managed to out smart the program.

I still have those two cups from 2005 and we have used them each year since. Let's do a little math and assume that we get three drinks over the course of the time we are at the fair. $6.00 each initial investment equals $12.00. Two more drinks each equals $8.00 for a total of $20.00. In 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, we took the same cups and had our three drinks, but this time all six drinks (three drinks, two cups) only cost $12.00. Keeping in mind that a single drink costs from $3.50-$8.00, over four years, that's a savings of $68.00! The savings not only adds up for fair-going, but we use the cups during our everyday life, too. This is a win-win-win situation!

Next time you have an opportunity to spend a little more up front to save a little on the backside, think about it for the long run, not for the few hours you are at the fair or amusement park.

Social Media. Do You?

Do you twitter? I bet you at least have a page on facebook. If not, why?

Facebook has been a great place to reconnect with friends from high school, former jobs, and other cities you may have lived in. You can simply post bits and pieces of your life and interact with people via e-mail updates on your facebook wall. You wall is the place people post notes and messages that all your friends can see. There is also a message feature that works much like e-mail and it's private. Facebook has so many other things to do, I won't even go into all of that. If you're so inclined, you'll snoop around and see the virtual world you're missing out on! Search me and add me as a friend! www.facebook.com

Twitter is a little different. It's what's known as micro-blogging, so you can only tweet 140 characters at a time. Twitter is much more like the old fashioned aol chat box...remember those? The difference is that the culture has changed and it seems that more professionals are using social media to connect with clients and potential customers. You can find me on twitter by searching @Zbgloves and @Kdpartak. www.twitter.com

Check it out and see what you think. You don't need to spend hours on the computer, 15-30 minutes a day can bring many new, wonderful friends into your life!

I'm Not MIA

Hey friends, I'm up to my eyeballs in details for the upcoming ABC show in Las Vegas. We are only just over two weeks away from packing up the car and the list of things to do is growing by the moment! I have some exciting news and updates, but I have to be in a place where I can sit quietly and write. I'll get everything updated before the end of this week!

Say Something Original

I'm loving my friends on twitter. If you don't engage in the social media circles like twitter, facebook, and myspace, let me invite you to join us. For the most part, we all just your average Joe's (except for the celebrities), and we are building real relationships. My only complaint is when some people on twitter have nothing to say. They follow thousands of people and Re-tweet those people all day long. Re-tweeting or RTing is when you send along to your followers what other people you follow have said. It's certainly fine when someone says something obviously funny, or poignant, but every little thing? Not so much.

For me, it's so much more fun to have real conversations and share our lives than it is to quote Henry Ford, Zig Ziglar, or any number of other over-quoted successful people. Aren't we all successful in our own rights? I think yes! Say something original and make my day. Heck, I might even RT you! Smiling!

Happy Monday!

It's a new week and like the new year, nothing but opportunity for success awaits you! It's all in how you think about it, every new year people make resolutions, set goals, and in essence, feel the sense of a new beginning. Why not see the start of a new week the same way we see the start of a new year?

Today, just for grins, take a moment and jot down some goals for the week. Maybe look back at your new year list and revive something that's fallen to the bottom of your list, and find a single action you can take on that item. It's possible that one single action on that item can being it back to life and move it forward significantly. I would love to know what you think of this and if you actually follow through. Share your wins, I can't wait to hear!

Is It Good Or Is It Bad?

Perspective. It's a simple answer to almost any question. It's all in how you see it. There are many influences that shape how we see things, but if you can embrace the idea that you have a choice, you can change your life. Let me give you an example. I grew up with a dad who didn't know a thing about showing love to his kids. He had a very difficult childhood, to say the least, and without any idea of what loving parents were, how could he parent any differently? All through my childhood years, I thought I had the worst dad ever. It wasn't' until I grew up that I could see that despite his difficult life, he did love me and he did show me that love, in his own way. He didn't speak kindly and visit with my friends like some dads did, but he would leave a candy on the kitchen table for me when I woke up for school. He didn't take me on father-daughter outings, but he did come to one of my little league games. He sat in his truck the whole time, but I could see he was there. My dad wasn't good or bad, he was just trying to be the best dad he knew how. I choose to see him as a loving father despite how the textbooks portray what a good father is. Would I have liked a few father-daughter outings, not really. He just wasn't that kind of dad! Smiling!

Mad Housewife Wine - Winning Story

I have a friend in Minnesota. She is a mulit-business owner who also has five kids all under the age of 10! I carefully packed my bags for the trip to visit and brought her a bottle of Mad Housewife Merlot. As soon as I landed in MN, I opened my suitcase at the airport to present her with my offering, she practically rolled on the floor laughing and crying at the same time. I understood why she was laughing, but I asked her why she was crying. She replied through her tears, I never understood how insane my life is until you gave me this bottle of wine that says it all! We are still laughing and tweeting about Mad Housewife!

Thank you for the great entry! Please email facebook@rainierwine.com with your shirt size, color selection, and shipping address so we can get your super stylish MH tee out to you right away!

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Cheers all!
@TheMadHousewife
On Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/search/?init=srp&sfxp=&o=&q=Mad+Housewife#/MadHousewife

I'm A Winner!

Many of you know I win things. Everything from a CD, to movie tickets, to trips around the world. People ask me, "How do you do that?" And my reply is always the same, "I intend to." This subject is actually what launched Intentional Winning in Life. The other answer to the same question is, "I play." You can't win if you don't play. Combine my beliefs, I play and I intend to win, and you have Intentional Winning at Winning!

Three weeks ago I put ZipperBack Gloves (www.zipperbackgloves.com) in the running for a $1000 grant through the Intuit's Love A Local Business contest. Once I entered the contest, I had to rally my network of friends to nominate ZBG to be one of five weekly winners of the grants. Today we learned we won!

When I spoke with the woman from Intuit, she said that two of the other companies who won this week were in it from the beginning and were just a few nominations away from winning in the previous two weeks. Persistence pays off and today that's to the tune of $500 cash and another $500 in business services! You can't win if you don't play and when you do play, you have to believe you can win!

Happy Friday, No Worries!

I asked the question about worrying as it seems we all have our bouts. I think the trick is to recognize what you can change and the things you can't. If you can see the overall picture from that perspective, you can easily see that some things simply won't benefit from the energy you spend worrying about them. The next logical step is to find ways to use your energy to take care of the things you can influence.

I know there are those times when the outcome of a troubling situation affects your next step and in those times, the best you can do is have a plan for all possible outcomes. I can do this if that happens, and that if this happens. To that end, that's the best you have. Do the best you can with what you have today, make a positive impact and in the end, you will be left with a feeling of satisfaction knowing you took action.

Can You Not Worry?

I'm not typically a worrier, but I do find myself in situations where I'm genuinely worried. Most notably, it's been in the areas of personal finance or relationships. Do you worry?

My mom is a worry-wart in the truest sense of the word. It used to drive me crazy that she would worry about EVERYTHING! Now that I'm grown up with all of life's responsibilities, I understand her worry. However, even though I understand it, I find that worry is just more exhausting than either dealing with my issue, or letting it be what it will be. Can you not worry?

One of the things that works for me is distraction. When I'm finding that I'm focusing on something that's uncertain and upsetting, I put my mind to something else, something mindless or enjoyable. In fact, the best distraction for anything that's troubling me is to spend time with Mason. Mason reminds me that I have so much to be grateful for and as long as I have my happy, healthy family, I have all I need. No worries!

How Do You Motivate Somebody?

The truth is, you can only motivate someone who wants to be motivated. I'm told on a daily basis that I make a difference in people's lives, and that I inspire people to take action. I love that! I now know that my mission in life to use my ability to communicate and my bright outlook on life to motivate people to make their lives better.

I've met people who simply love to be in my company, but have no desire to do a single thing different in their lives. One person in particular stands out in my memory. A woman called me with a really serious issue. I listened to her tale, felt like I was being sympathetic, and gently offered up a solution. She didn't like that, she had three problems with my one solution. we talked a little more and again, I offered up an idea. No, not that one either. This went on for more than a 1/2 hour. At one point I asked her if what she wanted was for me to just listen or did she want help solving this problem. She assured me that she definitely wanted an answer, and that she appreciated my willingness to help. We went like this a little longer, I'd offer a solution and she would offer 3-5 problems with my solution. She didn't want to resolve this issue at all, she just wanted to spend time being cared for by me. She was caring for her "baby" (I call these problems with no solutions someones baby. They just want to keep it and care for it.) and wanted me to care for her.

It took me a long time to recognize that what makes some people happy is being unhappy. That's a choice but it's not my choice. Unfortunately, people like this don't make good company for those of us taking action, making things happen, and living a happy life. In fact, in my experience, these kinds of people draw from my energy source limiting my ability to motivate those of you who really want to be lifted up and cheered on. In the end, you can't move someone forward who is happy right where they are. My suggestion is to move on and continue to be happy where you are and where you're going, because I know you are on your way to somewhere really wonderful!