Oh, the weather outside ain't frightful...
...even though every stinkin' weather forecaster and reporting venue said it would be. Good grief, we got about 3-4 inches of snow before Thanksgiving when the doomsday weather forecasters were trying their best to whip us all into a weather-fearing frenzy. It's all but melted now, too.
Here's a link to my latest Home Solutions blog post. I hope y'all don't mind me linking to these posts in here,; obviously you're free to ignore if you have no interest in organizing tips and tricks. I'm almost keeping up with my goal of one blog post a week.
I tried a lot of different things in my business this year. I hired a business coach and was sorely disappointed, but live and learn. I participated in two different vendor expo events - one was kind of a bust, the other was a great investment. I updated my website, had new brochures and business cards printed, and hired an employee. I joined a national senior move management organization. All in all, I think everything I tried was money well spent. The next thing I want to focus on is targeting senior facilities with a letter of introduction, and launch my idea of pay-to-attend seminars in different commercial business venues. I spent money all year; now I need to turn that into income. Fingers crossed that 2014 will be a year of growth for Home Solutions. I'm up to 263 "likes" on my business facebook page, but they dribble in, one at a time. I'd love to see it grow to 500, so that's a 2014 goal, too.
Right before Thanksgiving, my dad wasn't feeling well - no energy, out of breath, had been complaining to doctors for about a month that he didn't feel as well as usual. I think they only half listened, since he's 92. But, he's been a fairly healthy, mentally alert, as-active-as-possible 92 year old. As they were heading out the door to go to the oxygen company to get small portable tanks, he stopped at the door and told my mom he just couldn't go any further. The oxygen company rushed to them and said he needed to get to his doctor asap. Cardiologist sent him to pulmonary doctor, who sent him for a CT scan of his chest, and a doppler test on his legs looking for clots. No clots, but the CT scan revealed fluid around his lungs. He has congestive heart failure, but this is different. So on the 3rd visit to the hospital (yeah, CT scan in the afternoon but his dr. wasn't around to read it, doppler test in the a.m., back home and THEN his dr. read the CT scan and sent him BACK to the hospital) they extracted 2 liters -yes, that's right TWO LITERS - of fluid that was squishing my dad's right lung. Once they extracted it and he spent a few days at home resting, he feels a kazillion times better.
Hubby's b'day was the Sunday before Thanksgiving and surly youth #2's b'day is tomorrow - this is always a busy time for our family, but a fun time. Young'un has put in a request for homemade stuffed crust pizza for his birthday. I'll have to noodle around online for instructions - anybody ever make that and want to share with me how? I'm imagining pressing the dough out about 3 inches wider than the pizza pan, sprinkling in shredded cheese and then folding the crust over that and sort of crimping it shut.
Oh, and we finally found a car for him, too. He got a 2007 Ford Focus with 72,000 miles on it and not a single titch of rust on the body. It's a deep wine red with gray interior and it met all the criteria he set, so that's a BIG relief. They actually gave us $1,400 on our old car as a trade in; I thought for sure I'd have to junk it for $300 bucks. Whew.
I won't put up any holiday decorations until the calendar says December, so yesterday we got everything down out of the attic and actually hung the outside garland. With Thanksgiving coming so late this year, that December date kind of snuck up on me!
P.S. edited in: I forgot to ad a link to this AP story from Sunday's paper. My dad was a sniper in the OSS and parachuted behind enemy lines. He was in Egypt, Yugoslavia, Italy, and Greece. http://www.buffalonews.com/associated-press/congressmen-seek-medal-for-wild-bill-donovans-oss-spy-agency-20131129
Here's a link to my latest Home Solutions blog post. I hope y'all don't mind me linking to these posts in here,; obviously you're free to ignore if you have no interest in organizing tips and tricks. I'm almost keeping up with my goal of one blog post a week.
I tried a lot of different things in my business this year. I hired a business coach and was sorely disappointed, but live and learn. I participated in two different vendor expo events - one was kind of a bust, the other was a great investment. I updated my website, had new brochures and business cards printed, and hired an employee. I joined a national senior move management organization. All in all, I think everything I tried was money well spent. The next thing I want to focus on is targeting senior facilities with a letter of introduction, and launch my idea of pay-to-attend seminars in different commercial business venues. I spent money all year; now I need to turn that into income. Fingers crossed that 2014 will be a year of growth for Home Solutions. I'm up to 263 "likes" on my business facebook page, but they dribble in, one at a time. I'd love to see it grow to 500, so that's a 2014 goal, too.
Right before Thanksgiving, my dad wasn't feeling well - no energy, out of breath, had been complaining to doctors for about a month that he didn't feel as well as usual. I think they only half listened, since he's 92. But, he's been a fairly healthy, mentally alert, as-active-as-possible 92 year old. As they were heading out the door to go to the oxygen company to get small portable tanks, he stopped at the door and told my mom he just couldn't go any further. The oxygen company rushed to them and said he needed to get to his doctor asap. Cardiologist sent him to pulmonary doctor, who sent him for a CT scan of his chest, and a doppler test on his legs looking for clots. No clots, but the CT scan revealed fluid around his lungs. He has congestive heart failure, but this is different. So on the 3rd visit to the hospital (yeah, CT scan in the afternoon but his dr. wasn't around to read it, doppler test in the a.m., back home and THEN his dr. read the CT scan and sent him BACK to the hospital) they extracted 2 liters -yes, that's right TWO LITERS - of fluid that was squishing my dad's right lung. Once they extracted it and he spent a few days at home resting, he feels a kazillion times better.
Hubby's b'day was the Sunday before Thanksgiving and surly youth #2's b'day is tomorrow - this is always a busy time for our family, but a fun time. Young'un has put in a request for homemade stuffed crust pizza for his birthday. I'll have to noodle around online for instructions - anybody ever make that and want to share with me how? I'm imagining pressing the dough out about 3 inches wider than the pizza pan, sprinkling in shredded cheese and then folding the crust over that and sort of crimping it shut.
Oh, and we finally found a car for him, too. He got a 2007 Ford Focus with 72,000 miles on it and not a single titch of rust on the body. It's a deep wine red with gray interior and it met all the criteria he set, so that's a BIG relief. They actually gave us $1,400 on our old car as a trade in; I thought for sure I'd have to junk it for $300 bucks. Whew.
I won't put up any holiday decorations until the calendar says December, so yesterday we got everything down out of the attic and actually hung the outside garland. With Thanksgiving coming so late this year, that December date kind of snuck up on me!
P.S. edited in: I forgot to ad a link to this AP story from Sunday's paper. My dad was a sniper in the OSS and parachuted behind enemy lines. He was in Egypt, Yugoslavia, Italy, and Greece. http://www.buffalonews.com/associated-press/congressmen-seek-medal-for-wild-bill-donovans-oss-spy-agency-20131129