Christmas Gifts: Made in America!

This time of year, we all think of giving big, beautiful gifts to our loved ones. These days, that typically means electronics, toys, and other consumer goods generally made in other countries. This year, during a time of economic crisis in the US, let's think outside the box and keep American money inside America. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in commerical wrapping paper?

NON-TRADITIONAL GIFTS:

• Restaurant gift certificates, from the fancy new dinner place to their preferred lunchtime haunt.
• Gift certificate from the recipient's preferred hair salon or barber.
• Contribute to a gym membership or purchase bootcamp sessions.
• Car detailing, car washes and oil changes for anyone with a car, truck or motorcycle
• Maid service for a day, month, year, life. (one of my personal requests!)
• Rather than a new computer, think tune-up and upgrading by the local friend trying to get his repair business up and running.
• Tickets to local concerts, sporting events and movies.  Even certificates that just pay for the concessions might be welcome!
• Photo sessions with a local photographer are good for everyone from babies to golden anniversary couples.
• Think about gift cards for paintball, laser tag or rock climbing at local venues for anyone over 10. Make it a family event!
• Spa certificates for mani/pedis and massages will soothe the savage beast.
• Newspaper and magazine subscriptions. You should be able to find out if they are printed in the US (daily and weekly media are more likely to be printed here due to time constraints)
• Are you the big spender who usually buys the TVs, video games and other high-dollar gifts? This year, think about driveway sealings, lawn care and driveway snow clearing services, or a golf course membership. Also, consider plane tickets to visit grandma or a weekend getaway for your sister & brother-in-law (while you watch the kids!)
• Prefer a tangible gift? Consider the many local craft people who spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. Others make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes. Search out that local tailor who makes custom dress shirts or evening gowns for a one-of-a-kind clothing gift.
• Check out sites like Groupon, LivingSocial, Morgan's Deals, and AmazonLocal - most items on these sites are from local service providers.
• And, while it might seem cheesy or cheap, consider homemade certificates for things like "One whine-free bathroom cleaning" or "one husband-made family dinner where the children act like people instead of monkeys". When redeemed, these mean SO much more than any material product.

TRADITIONAL GIFTS:
If you want to still give traditional gifts, check the labels. Look for that Made in America label. Sometimes it might cost a bit more, but isn't it worth it to keep the money in the US? Need help finding American goods? Try searching on these sites (not the greatest, but they can help you find some things): www.ibuyusmade.com, www.americansworking.com, or  www.madeinusa.org.

OTHER HOLIDAY IDEAS:

• Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a larger tip than usual.
• Go out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre.
• Find a venue showcasing local bands.
• Give your the postal carrier, trash company, and sitters monetary tips.

This Christmas consider where your money is going when you spend it on gifts. Encourage American small businesses to keep following their dreams. When we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

Note: I received this message with a lot of China references. I have rewritten it to remove the negative comments about another country while trying to keep the idea that we can think outside the box for holiday gift giving as I thought it was important enough to share. It's hard for me to be negative while also talking about the holidays...

Holiday Booty Buster Challenge

Join me as I try to keep off the excess booty over the holidays. This challenge runs from November 19, 2011 (Thanksgiving week) through January 6, 2012 (just past New Year's). There's a points system, so you'll have to track it (I'll post my tracking sheet up here soon so you can use it) and lots of great prizes. It's run by my friend and co-worker, Amanda Brooks McLatchie, who's a very motivated and motivational runner. Check out her blog post on it then sign up - we can all use the challenge, the accountability and the booty-busting! :)

HBBC Details   |   HBBC Sign-Up Form
I've also signed up to take part (virtually) in the Resolution Run that Amanda helps put together. It's a fun run on New Year's day in Miami, Florida BUT you don't have to live in Miami to take part. As much as I'd rather be in Florida to do it, I'll be taking part in KC virtually (and potentially indoors...). If there are other KC peeps doing this, I'd love to make plans to get together and run it somewhere in the cold! :)

Resolution Run Details   |   Resolution Run Sign-Up

4th Graders!

Boys have entered the high ranks of elementary school - 4th grade! With homework (they get REAL textbooks to carry this year I'm told!), football, karate and piano, this fall will be jam packed and full of fun. I'm hoping they have a reading club again and maybe a running club - need to get in touch with the PE teacher. They are ready to learn and spend time with friends they missed over the summer.

Here's to a new school year full of fun and learning!

Happy (Work) Anniversary To Me

Wow! Eight years ago today I started at this little company called "Digital Evolution Group". On this anniversary, I started thinking about all the ways I have grown in this company and as a person as well as all the ways the company has grown and the individuals in it within the last 8 years. And you get to read all about it! :)

ME

• At HOME...
• I've celebrated seven wedding anniversaries and seven birthdays here.
• I've watched my sons go from little one-year-old twin baby boys to amazingly mature, funny, sweet and intelligent 3rd graders
• I've watched my little round-faced 2nd grade step-daughter grow up into a fantastically smart, beautiful, funny, social, and respectful teenager.
• I've had crazy ups and downs in my marriage but we're happier together and getting our groove back.
• I've put on and lost weight and unfortunately put it back on. But with the help of coworkers I'm losing again and getting in-shape with a new attitude.
• My mother and older brother both got married.
• One of my three best friends had brain surgery and went through an incredible journey of job loss, money loss, marriage strengthening and she is just coming into her own as an amazing health coach.
• One of my three best friends went through an amazing process to lose a startling amount of weight and is currently pregnant with her FOURTH child.
• One of my three best friends went through a hearth-breaking divorce that is still affecting her family.
• I lost my faith and my church but I'm slowly coming back
   
• At DEG...
• I've held five different titles, currently the Special Projects Manager. I think this one fits me best and it probably won't change anytime soon (except maybe in name cuz my boss is like that).
• I've sat at six different desks and finally procured one of the best seats available with a big desk and a wall of windows.
• My salary has definitely increased every year at a good rate but I'm still hourly (by choice).
• I currently have eight active annual clients that I help on a year-round basis. Six are events, two are national organizations. All are non-profits.
• I get to help with content migration, testing and training on a myriad of other clients, getting to help launch great websites.
• I sit on the steering committee for four events and work very closely with the others in planning beyond the website. I wouldn't have these opportunity without this position!
• In 2004 I developed an internal system for resource allocation that is still in use to this day. It was only meant to work for about 3 managers and 6 resources but we've made it work.
• In 2008 I developed an internal system, EVAN,  for our digital direct (email) team that is still in use. In 2009 I developed his twin brother, ERIC, for a smaller division of digital direct. Both of these are still in use today.

THE COMPANY

• On my first day, there were five officers, an engineer, a creative, a network services guy, and my job-share partner. A total of 10 of us. As of our staff meeting on Tuesday, there are now almost 70 of us! I started here to have more of the "family" / entrepreneurial feel. Even at 70 people, we still have entrepreneurs within us all.
• We've gone from focusing on smaller, marketing websites with a crazy blast email system to a true consultancy with:
• marketing sites - those will never go away, the clients and sites just got BIGGER
• client strategists to help coordinate multiple projects under a single large client
• a social media division with two great guys directing our clients through the myriad of tools (why yes, there IS an APP for that...)
• a thriving retail division that has created a new wedding registry site as well
• a vast digital direct department that goes well beyond just sending emails
• a creative department instead of just one guy
• three business development (sales) guys instead of just one guy
• an administrative DEPARTMENT with 4 great women instead of two gals sharing a single job
• an engineering staff that has full use of several different programming languages, some of which I've never heard of!
• a SharePoint division leading the way into a whole new world
• We started in a little 600 ft office space (just before I got here) to our main office now. But, our main office has added space 3 times and is being changed again. Last year we added a very large space on the second floor and the people here have been moved around twice. Just last month we added two MORE spaces on the second floor, finally getting all our SharePoint people in one office and all our engineers into another office. Soon we'll have a breakroom that includes more than a fridge and microwave. :)
• We do a lot of social things together - the aforementioned events I work on being the tops. We also participate in Kansas City Corporate Challenge, have associate happy hours and weekly Friday beer:30 times, create fantasy sports leagues, and just had a fabulous Bring Your Child to Work Day. This year we created the "Culture Club" to plan even more events, like attending ball games, cook-offs and bake-offs, a putting contest at the Corporate Woods putting green, and even better happy hours!

THE PEOPLE
When you're around a group of people for a long time, you're going to get to know them pretty well. And you get to see a lot of personal things take place:

• I can't even begin to count the number of birthdays and anniversaries we've witnessed!
• At least four associates have gotten married
• One marriage including two ceremonies. One was a beautiful Christian ceremony. The other was an amazing Hindu ceremony unlike anything I've ever witnessed. And the reception was out of this world, taking place on the stage of Starlight theatre.
• One marriage included a ceremony that should have been a gorgeous beach setting - but due to a tropical storm blowing in was instead in a parking garage. They've weathered the storm and just celebrated their third anniversary.
• At least fifteen new babies have been born and there are four on the way (that I know about...)
• Surprisingly there have been very few inter-office relationships even though a good number of our associates are singles in their 20s.
• I'm pretty sure we've not witnessed any divorces and only a couple major relationship breakups. Again, this surprises me in this day and age.
• There have been a few associates who have lost their parents and grandparents. I'm always amazed by the resiliency of our associates and how they keep going even in the face of personal tragedy.
• I couldn't even begin to tell you the number of college degrees and masters degrees that flow around here, many finished while working here.
• And of course, some associates leave - some by choice, some not so much. Such is the cycle of the workplace. One of my favorite engineers left to fly planes in the Air Force. A friend left to focus on her family of six. Another friend left to pursue a new life in Portland. I miss them all, but know that God leads everyone to the life they're supposed to lead.

This of course isn't everything, just what came to mind when I thought about the last eight years. There have been ups and down here, as in all aspects of life, but overall it's been wonderful and I hope for more fantastical years before they get tired of me. :)

Just Say "Yes"

Every once in awhile I like to have a non-Mommy day with my boys. A day where we just do whatever their little hearts desire (within reason) and I don't fret too much about money or properness or what anyone else thinks. Today was one of those days:

We started with an easy wake up then headed out for donuts. Krispy Kreme is definitely one of those things I love but they don't necessarily love me. And I always forget I'm not really big on their coffee. But, they had a new Banana Cream donut that was delish!

From there we made a "mommy stop" at Sears and trade in 4 pairs of ripped jeans for new untorn jeans. I LOVE the Sears KidVantage program. Absolutely love it - especially the wear-out guarantee. If you don't know about this program, you HAVE to check  it out. It save so much money, especially on jeans for twin boys!

While at Sears we found these great fedora hats for the boys. With their bright blue eyes and slender frames they could be Old Blue Eyes himself at 9 years old. I started calling them my Rat Pack (and sometimes made it my Brat Pack). I also thought they could be the fate-guys from "The Adjustment Bureau". :)

We headed over to Cinemark for a matinee - $4 tickets make them probably the cheapest around KC. We were so early the ticket booth wasn't even open yet! We had some time to kill, so we hit the arcade there, which seemed to eat more quarters than let us play games but still fun. We hit the concessions and got a large popcorn, drinks and Skittles - gotta have Skittles IN our popcorn sometimes. :)

While most people were there to see Hop today, we settled in for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. I wasn't really looking forward to it, but it was surprisingly entertaining. There were a lot of shared laughs and even a few adult-only laughs. Boys are already looking forward to the next one.

After the movie, we hit up the Half Price Bookstore. Since I got my Kindle it's been awhile since I looked at a real book! I didn't get one but the boys both picked up a Will Solvit book. They really seem to gravitate towards series books, which makes it easier sometimes.

From there we had to do some regular errands, like visiting the grocery store. We grabbed stuff for dinner and the makings for chocolate pudding pie (which was YUMMY). While we were there we found some cool $1 sunglasses, which transformed the boys from Rat Pack cool to Blues Brothers crazy.

Back at home, we settled in to watch Tangled which we had picked up from Red Box. That was SO cute! The boys liked it "except for all that singing". :) When it was over they said it was great so I teased them about liking a "Disney Princess movie". They hit the Wii while I made dessert and then dinner. Just before we ate we started their Magic Rocks aquariums - they're already looking cool and we'll finish them tomorrow.

After dinner we settled into Liar Liar then attacked the chocolate pudding pie (with French Vanilla whip cream). Just before bed, we read a few chapters of Matthew in their new "Super Heroes Bible" (NIrV). This Bible is really nice because it's written in a words they can usually understand and it adds really cool "super heroes" callouts (and Not! Super Heroes like Herod and Lot). The boys asked me to start reading them the Bible every night and this one is helping us stay on track.

All in all, it was a good laid-back day. Limited fighting and lost of silliness. Probably spent more money than I should have, but that's always a part of Yes day.

The biggest downfall to "Yes" day? Having to return to being a regular mom tomorrow. Hopefully they remember how much fun today was and aren't so argumentative for a few days. :)

Texting and Driving Law in KS

There's a lot of buzz recently regarding the new Kansas law dealing with texting and driving. If you haven't heard of this yet, essentially it states that if you are operating a motor vehicle and a cop spots you with a cell phone and you're obviously not making a phone call you could get a citation for $60 (plus any court costs) for texting or emailing. This citation can potentially affect your insurance rate as well.

The two biggest questions I've read/heard regarding this new law are: How is texting any different from making a phone call? AND How is texting any different from other distractions, like eating or putting on make-up?

For some reason, a lot of people have asked ME these questions, maybe because I work for a company that makes mobile websites. Whatever the reason, I figured I'd post my answers once and send everyone here to read them. :)

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HOW IS TEXTING DIFFERENT FROM MAKING A PHONE CALL

First, try these timed scenarios (pretend your computer keyboard is your steering wheel and the monitor is your windshield if you're in front of a computer; put this away until later if you're driving your car). Start from your default view when you first open your phone.

1. Make a phone call (don't have a complete conversation, just start a call). 
2. Read a regular text message.
3. Send a regular text message.
4. If usual for you, read AND respond to a text message together.
5. Read an email message (if you do this on your phone)

I can almost guarantee that #1 was the fastest thing you did.

THAT'S the answer to the first question. Making a phone call takes less time and therefore takes your eyes from the road and your hands from the wheel for a shorter period of time. (To me this is basic logic, but a lot of people have asked that one.)

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HOW IS TEXTING ANY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER DISTRACTIONS, LIKE EATING OR PUTTING ON MAKEUP?
Again, stop and think about this. When you eat in the car, do you typically stare at your food for 30 seconds at a time or do you put the fries where you can easily reach them and pop them one at a time into your mouth without looking (hopefully you know where your mouth is without looking in the mirror...). Same with a drink - you don't have to look to find the cup holder and you can easily put the Starbucks to your lips. One hand is typically on the steering wheel at all times.

Makeup is a different matter. I think putting on makeup while trying to drive your car is just as dangerous as texting. You need to look at yourself while doing it, it takes one if not both hands (one to hold the compact the other to do the application) and it definitely takes longer than 30 seconds (and if it doesn't, why are you bothering?).

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There are a lot of distractions in a vehicle I won't even touch on - spouse, children, pets, radio... Anything besides a completely silent car with your eyes on the road, reviewing traffic through all your mirrors and keeping your hands at 10 and 2 is going to be "unsafe". Although, personally, I'm pretty sure that if *I* did everything perfectly all the time I would fall asleep at the wheel. :)

All they are saying with this law is that you need to really think about what you're doing while driving. Do you truly need to read that text that says "Whatssup?" and reply "nm. u?" while you're driving? In traffic? At 70 MPH?

If you're expecting a message that IS important and you get that happy notification signal, take a minute to pull off the road into a parking lot or even the shoulder and read it. Better yet, call the person you're expecting to message you and TALK to them. Or ask them to call you instead of text when you know you're jumping in the car.

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BTW, the law does exclude the following messaging activities:

• To receive an emergency, traffic, or weather alert message; 
• To receive a message related to the operation or navigation of the vehicle;
• To report current or ongoing illegal activity to law enforcement;
• To prevent imminent injury to a person or property

Although, if you're really doing any of these things, make a phone call! It'd be faster and probably guarantee better reception from law enforcement.
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There. I've had my say on the matter. I won't say I've been a good girl and never texted while operating my van. Usually, if I have to text something, I wait until I'm at a stop light or stop sign (this is now illegal too, BTW).

If this law simply gets more people to think a little more outside their own bubbles and live in the real world while driving their cars, I think it's fulfilled it's purpose.

My fear? There will be more "clandestine texting" (holding the phone below the window level instead of up where you can see road and phone) and it will cause more harm than good. I guess we'll see...