Ok, I can't lie and say I am happy because I am not really.  I wasn't one of those chosen for a job offer.

On the other hand, I know I have so very, very much to learn.  Some of the others already had prior experience in marketing.  Others already were doing some work for TOS, like product reviews.

I was so richly blessed by this class.  I have learned so very much, both about marketing and about myself.  I tend to be shy and this class pushed me out of my comfort zone but in a good way.  I have made some new wonderful friends, so that is wonderful. 

My new friends and my new knowledge are very rich treasures indeed.

Well I did it.

I signed up for facebook the other day. 

Ok, you need to sign up.  I was able to make contact with people I haven't talked to in 8 years.  I could talk to people I haven't talked to in 17 years, but . . . many of them are part of the reason I homeschool. 

You can also keep up with current friends through Facebook. 

Check it out.

I was going to put some mentholated rub on Junior's chest when he had his cough.  First I let him smell it.

"This smells like frug." *said like rug,the kind on the floor*

I don't say anything, just look confused.  He then says

"I don't know what they look like 'cause I just made them up, but this is what they smell like."

*happy dance*  Junior's whooping cough test was negative.  *happy dance*

I still have things to do for my class so I will update more later.

I just love the smells of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

• The slightly smoky smell in the air outside from people using their fireplaces.
• The spicy scent of apples cooking with cinnamon and nutmeg.
• The toasted vanilla fragrance of cookies baking.

These all make me anticipate the upcoming holidays.   The Schoolhouse Store has got an ebook that will help you get that holiday spirit.    Homespun Holidays is a wonderful ebook that has so many ideas and recipes for the fall and winter, ideas that come from homeschool moms like you. 

With soups to chase away the chill, casseroles to keep you satified, and desserts to make you drool, Homespun Holidays is more than a cookbook.  There are also crafts and other activites.  

• Play Thanksgiving ABCs, or Going to Mamaw's Bingo
• Make a scarecrow  or paint your windows.
• Make a trashbag wreath or a handmade nativity.

What is an e-book?

An e-book is an electronic book that you either download immediately or buy on a computer disk.  You can keep it on your computer and read it from there or you can print it and then have it bound.  (There are also ways of binding it yourself for very little investment, which I will cover in a later post, I will also discuss different ways of printing to save money.)

Look at Homespun Holidays here before any more time passes.  I was absolutely thrilled with my copy.

Ok, I have been taking this marketing class for almost 4 weeks, and have loved every minute of it.  I am so thankful that I was able to take part.  From the beginning it seemed to be a God thing that I was able to participate, and when we chose partners. 

It has been an intensive class with a fair amount of reading, but it's been amazing.  It has gotten my brain thinking about thing I didn't know about.

• I now see what we did wrong at our 4-H fundraiser, a food booth at one of the local  town's celebrations.  We tried to sell a food plate with a beef sandwhich, bag of chips, drink and cookie for $5, we did sell some but not nearly as many as we were hoping for.  We really should have made it the lunch with a free cookie.  The word free could have drawn them over.  Not to mention we needed to let people know we were there, instead of waiting for them to meander over.
• I have so many ideas.  Ideas for my blog template, ideas for posts, ideas for sell sheets . . . .
• I learned my creative bone wasn't broken when I got pregnant, it just hid.

As much as I have learned, I know I still have so much more to learn.  I had never heard of a white paper until Wednesday night, but I can see applications for it.  I may have even read some before, but didn't know what they were.  I am not sure how many other marketing things I have never heard of. 

On a personal level, this class has done so much for me.  I can't even describe how great it is to be using my brain for something other than  grocery list and planning our homeschool week.  I do have periodic "projects" like learning html, or learning how to tat, but that's different.  If I can't figure them out then no one has to know. 

I have made friends, the ladies in the class are all wonderful.  I am seeing myself as more creative and smarter than I have in awhile.  I just feel that God's hand has been in this whole experience.

What a blessing!

I am working on redoing the way my blog looks and while I am trying not to effect this one until I am done, I make no promises.  I have set up a extra blog, just to practice with but I found somehow I had changed up this one. 

So if you pop by and see something that doesn't seem to match, it was an accident.

It's been a very long day today.

Some updates -- when we went to get Junior tested for whooping cough, they told us that they would contact us on friday if Junior had whooping cough.  If we didn't hear from them, then he was negative.  I assumed that they told the same to the mom of Becca's friend (let's just call her Cindy).  So I called Cindy's mom yesterday to verify that she hadn't heard, Cindy was tested monday, so she should have gotten her results thursday, as per the promises of the health department.  

Awsome! ! ! We are out of the woods because Cindy's mom hadn't heard from the health department.   

Today, Cindy's mom called and, well,  Cindy does have whooping cough.  The health department hadn't called because they are so busy but the mom went to the health department to double check.  They got a little upset and told her she had to leave the building and get Cindy home before she infected more people.

ARGHHHH.  So we find this out after taking Junior (who still has a bit of a cough) to Taekwondo and then to a fall festival at one of the local churches.  He may not have it but we aren't going to find out for a while because they have so many tests to do (an entire school) and they can only process 17 at a time.

Does Junior have whooping cough?  I don't know, I had a cold and he could have caught it from me and that may be the reason for his cough.  OTOH, apparently in the beginning whooping cough resembles a cold.

I hope he doesn't have it.

Ok, this post is for women only.  Women who are 35 and over.  Everyone else can either look at another post or go to someone else's blog.

Are they gone?

Well here goes . . .

We have all seen them.

You know what I am talking about.

The cartoons, the jokes about having someone park the family van on one breast.  How a mammogram is absolutly awful, painful.  Almost as bad as childbirth.

I had my first mammogram yesterday and it was not that bad.  It wasn't fun, wasn't really comfortable but really the worst part was all the paperwork.

I have been more much more uncomfortable with my kids squirming in my lap at times.

There isn't a history of breast cancer in my family, so this was just a routine "baseline."  All the same, because of mammograms and monthly self exams, it is now uncommon for breast cancer to lead to death. 

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and so if it is time to get your mammogram done, go call your doctor.  Go have it done.  It really isn't that painful.