Mets Game

Last night we went to our first Baseball Game.  It was a minor leagues game and it was the Mets vs the Cardinals.  Of course we rooted for the Mets because Tradition Field is home training ground for the major league New York Mets.  We bought Tucker a baseball cap in spirit of celebrating his first sporting event.  It was a lot of fun - and the best part - FREE!  We got tickets through my work and it was a family fun night event.  It was great for Bill to meet some of the awesome people I work with, plus two of the people that hired me.  Tucker totally digged the whole sporting event, from sitting and watching all the players practicing, to getting a couple of baseballs, to getting all excited to give the big blue Mets mascot dog a "high five", to totally mowing down on popcorn, hot dogs and burgers.  Everything was so fascinating to him.  Including making friends with another two year old that we were sitting near by.  They had a blast walking up and down the stadium stairs and getting to the bottom and cracking up at each other.  That is all they did for a straight twenty minutes.  It definitely wore Tucker out with all the action, and needless to say, we did not make it through the whole game.  We left around 8:30 when the game was in the middle of the ninth inning.  He was very tired, but it was such a great family event!

Culvert Drainage Problems

I do not complain, but when it comes to a matter that concerns the health and safety of those I love and care for, I will take action, and let my voice be heard. With in the last 2 years, a sidewalk project was completed on our road NW Marion Avenue. It apparently was no cost to the taxpayer because the funds were available through the government. So, yea, we now have a sidewalk. But don't get excited just yet! Dry Season has passed and now rainy season has begun. In Florida, we have what are called swales and culvert drainage systems that flow rainwater into the canal systems. The problem.....Nothing's a Flowing! For a good 15 homes on NW Marion Avenue, including my own, we have stagnant water holding tanks in our Culverts. Just check out these pictures!!! It's been like this for months!!! These are all pictures taken on my property. Now multiply that by 15 properties, and now we have a major problem. The water is not going to go anywhere provided these cement culverts are all blocked in. The water has no where to escape. It has become a breeding ground for mosquito larvae, insects, tadpoles, algae, and a multitude of other organisms. The stagnant water is a serious health hazard. It smells and it is disgusting! So as of last week, I finally took action on behalf of my fellow neighbors. I contacted our city officials, who then forwarded on to the Public Works department. Just got in touch with the department today, and they told me that they are meeting with the workers and designer of the sidewalk project to begin their investigation by this Friday. So hopefully something will be resolved, but remain on high alert. The good news is that I have an angle up my sleeve in the event action to resolve the problem does not take place.....I work for the major local newspaper and Local news channel here. I'll update on any progress.

Completed Knit/Crochet Lizard

I am so happy to have finally completed a knit/crochet lizard for the one and only Tuckster! This was a really fun and challenging project. Fun because I absolutely adore how Tucker reacts to the one's he sees outside and how he says "lilard", challenging because it was pure invention from start to finish. This is the first project that incorporated my knewly learned knitting skill with my comfort zone crochet skills. The Lizards tail and brown and white striped back were all knit. I can't wait to present it to him and tell him it is because he is doing a good job from refraining from hitting people and because he is starting to ask to go potty every once in a while. Here are all the pictures of the lizard from different angles so that you can see all the details.

Butterflies

I am looking forward to a sunflower and butterfly painting I will begin working on this weekend.  The passing of my father actually has amazing symbolic significance associated with this freelance project.  Butterflies have always had symbolic meaning to me.  As we all know, a butterfly starts out its life as a caterpillar and then enters a cocoon where he transforms, changes, and emerges as a beautiful butterfly. 

Many ancient cultures have attached meaning to this transformation from cocoon to butterfly.  The symbol represents the impermanence and instability of earthly life and as such represents the process of a soul's journey living in the cocoon from an earthly body to a heavenly body once in the butterfly form.  I really like and connect with this association.

I do not believe in superstitions, however, I do believe in timing.  Allow me to share an experience with you so that you can see why I have such a strong connection to the symbolism of Butterflies.  About six years ago I recieved a call to do a painting of butterflies and sunflowers on a glass window above her front door.  Just as I was finishing the final brushstroke, I had received a call informing me that my neighbor across the street had passed.  That window painting (seen below) became a beautiful representation to me of that transformation, and knowing this, it gave me peace about his passing.  Two weekends ago today, I received a phone call to do another painting of sunflowers and butterflies, but this time on her slider.  Three days later, I learn of my father's passing.  Keep in mind, I had not spoken to this woman since I left her house with the completed butterfly and sunflower painting.

Although every once in a while I have my moments of thinking about Dad, I actually am not mourning him.  Because of "Timing" and my personal significance to these Butterfly window paintings, I actually feel transformed from within, and truly believe, as the ancient cultures did, that Dad has left his earthly body (in the cocoon) and has transformed into a beautiful butterfly (the heavenly body).

This morning when I walked into work, it was nice to see that confirmation.  There was yellowish white monarch like butterfly on the outside of a window pane.  I went up to check it out...and it flew away.

Fastest web site I've designed

No, I'm not bragging.....actually I am sitting here in amazement. Yesterday I met with a guy named Wayne. He wanted a website. A simple one. THIS was definitely simple. Granted the web coding was done for me already in the form of a free template....but from start to finish it took a total of 5 hours. Why couldn't it take me that long to design my website! Here's Wayne's Art: http://www.waynerouseart.com

Keeping Track of Milestones...

I have neglected to keep up with my handmade scrapbook.  As a result, little nuances in Tucker's growing milestones, have not been recorded.  The last truly recorded month in my Scrapbook was January :-(

Fortunately, I have been keeping somewhat up-to-date through this creative online journal.  Granted, it captures only the major memory moments, but at least I can print out what I've contributed here to fill up Febuary through June (Yeah....that's only half a year....NO PROBLEM!).  It's really the little details that I am really missing out on.  Now I am going to test my memory, review the past six months, and see if any tiny milestones come to the surface.

I will start with the most recent:

7/2/2013 - Tucker has been making progress in the forming sentences department.  He was done eating his fishsticks and had a few left over.  I told him to take the container and bring them to daddy in the kitchen.  He took the container over to daddy and said "Daddy, all done with fish sticks"

6/1-6/28 - This month a social development has occured.  At daycare he has always played played both individually and with others.  He has started though to identify his "friends"  His good buddy there that he plays with the most is Gavin who is only a couple months younger than him.  For instance, after he's been picked up and we're at home, I'll ask Tucker "Who did you play with at Carla's today" and he'll reply "Gavin"...Apparently there are NO OTHER kids to play with there.  But I'll also ask him who his friend is, and he'll say Gavin.

Tucker is making an effort to count and identify letters.  Also, he interacts really well with his "Super WHY" show.  It is very educational and entertaining all at the same time.  For instance, when Pig hammers his "alphabet tool box" and the letters pop up on the screen, Tucker sometimes repeats the letters.  And then when Pig asks "Where's the 'R'?"  He can sometimes point to the correct letter.  Another thing Tucker and I do is when we're coloring, I keep showing him how to make the letter 'T'

We tried doing the potty training thing too.  He knows how to, but apparently would rather go in the diaper.  Oh well, I worked hard on that too when I had the time off between two jobs, but now that I'm working full time, and he's not doing it 100% of the time for Carla, I have decided that it was a passing fad.  At least I'm still sitting him on the potty first thing in the morning and last thing at night.  I'd say it's about half my fault for not being consistent/persistant about it.

This was the month when he really started perfecting the Sommersault.  At the beginning of the month he was beginning to get the concept and when he would only do a "half" sommersault he would have this incredibly cute and goofy smile and exclaim "Awe..Miss"
Video of Tucker doing sommersault:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=145349178990594&l=418934534472315018

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=145349178990594" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0"></iframe>

and exclaim "Awe..Miss"

Photos

Please Excuse the MIA...

Yes....I new this time would come.....that period of time where it would appear that I had abandoned "The Blog".  But, I have a good excuse.....I got a new job!

Many of you have heard about bits and pieces already, but for those who haven't let me fill you in.  Last month I was let go at my previous place of employment....Wallace Automotive Group.  My time there went by so fast!  I worked there for 7 awesome years!  My boss, Glen and I were let go, because unexpectedly -OUT OF NOWHERE - "They" (upper management) decided it was time to do advertising differently and they are now outsourcing advertising work through a company on the west coast of Florida.  It was kind of a bummer about the change but in today's world - CHANGE IS INEVITABLE.

I now work for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers in Stuart, FL.  I'm essentially doing what I've been doing for the past 12 years, but with a twist.  The newpaper company outsources the main production of all advertising that needs to be built and designed to India.   I know, I know, outsourcing to India sounds like such a negative thing, but infact, it's not as bad as it seems.  Keep in mind this is a daily paper with SEVERAL publications and daily deadlines, with a high volume of advertisers.  It was a cost effective measure for the company to make this decision to outsource.  In turn it keeps the Qualified and Skilled employees on hand to both "Art Direct" and be "Hands-on" during both the laid back and high pressure times.  By reducing the production costs in the long run, the company is able to provide it's qualified employees with excellent benefits....something that is also very hard to find in this ever changing economy.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the work that I do here at Scripps.  The Company as a whole is very Goal Oriented and encourages movement and upward growth.  Who knows where I'll be 5-10-20 years down the road, but as for right now I am very content with my job.  Of course the downside is my hours 9am-6pm Monday-Friday, so that's less time with the Tucker, but I guess that's the compromise.  I don't think Tucker minds, he and his best friend Gavin have plenty to do at Carla's.

During my down times at work, I occupy myself with knitting projects.  Here is the newest little knitting project I started up yesterday.  It is going to be a Credit Card/Coin holder.  My old leather checkbook wallet has seen better days.  The pattern that is emerging is a "checkerboard" pattern.

Also another benefit of where I work....COUPONS!  We're allowed access to past issues of our newspapers.  This means that I have access to all the coupons from the big fat Sunday paper.  At first I thought that Couponing was a waste of time, but I do have the time, and a pair of sissors handy at my work desk, and on Monday or Tuesday when the workload is generally lighter....I clip away....and in multiples.  It turns out to be quite fun.  Plus 3 of the places I can use the coupons are right across the street from me at work....so I'm not consuming any gas in the process, and now I can officially avoid WALMART on the weekends....Yay!

That's all for now Folks!  But it was great to catch up and hope to update you more in the next couple of days.....Most likely updates, details, and photo's of Tucker....stay tuned :-)

Feeling Good

It is an amazing how in a matter of one month you can feel on top of the world and feel secure in your place of employment only to have that rug snagged from under you.  Shock, dismay, depression, anxiety take over and hang above like a dark heavy cloud.  Then something amazing happens...the "Fight or Flight" response takes over.  Confidence, Order, that unexpected Calm, Cool and Collected feeling soaks into every pore of your being.  This is resilience.

I am happy to report that I have just gotten a new job.  Starting on May 28th, I will be filling the Advertising Design and Production Technician Position at Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers.  I am very excited about this position and hope to grow with that company.  

Now I get to spend the next two weeks playing stay at home mommy and enjoy quality time with my Tucker.  Of course I may keep my eye open for something else that has better pay, but for some reason, I just feel like this is the next step for me.  Overall I am very grateful to have been offered the job, and am really thankful that I do not need to be on unemployment for very long.  It is just awesome that I get to continue doing what I love, and all the rest of the details will sort themselves out and come together. 

My May has FINALLY just begun....

And my April FINALLY ended on Friday.  Just for the record, it was the longest April ever.  The pending doom of my most wonderful Job Ever ended on Friday.  I must say though, it had an unexpected ending.  For starters, I decided to give Mr. Wallace and Lee (company president) a short email with a simple thanks and a request.  The request was to see if I could HAVE the Computer I had been working on in exchange for doing whatever freelance work they might need me to do on the fly.  The response came on Friday.....and I SCORED MY COMPUTER!  This is Huge!!!!  It has at least $8000 worth of design programs on there and the machine itself was top of the line back in 2007.  Let's just say when they bought this computer for me they did not go cheap.  So that was score one!  Score 2:  I finally got a call from Mike at the Newspaper and I have an interview on Monday at 2pm.  Of course it would be ideal if I could get this job and really not miss a beat with our financial situation.  I do have a backup plan though in the event that doesn't work out and can be doing while on the job hunt.  I have a business venture in the works that incorporates my graphic design, website creation, and internet advertising skills.  I am probably about 90% there....just finalizing details, what I really want to charge for my services (yeah...that's kind of important) and save up the money to do this all the right way in terms of obtaining an LLC.  So far, the handful of people we've shared the concept with think that it is a clever idea and can make a lot of money doing so, so may as well give it a go.  Even if I do get the job at the newspaper, this is still something I can do on the side.  If you want to learn more about it, just give me a ring because as much as I am dying to share the flyer on here, these "blogs" can be accessed by everyone, and I'm doing the right thing by protecting my "baby". 

So Here I am Celebrating the Beginning of my May.....and all it holds to my very new Future.  To help bring on the celebration, I am so proud of Tucker and his picking up the potty training really quickly.  He is so stinking cute!  I wish all of you could be with him and see him grow.  It is just so miraculous and now I could never imagine life without him.  (Yes, i know the classic potty picture!)

Moment for a SMILE!

Every once in a while you get those random opportunities when the camera is nearby and working right when you need it.  This morning was one of those opportunities.  Also in the midst of several distractions and unknowns related to my job, my center of focus is not so centered, but this morning, during these couple of moments with my son, I was reminded about what IS REALLY IMPORTANT.  I took these pictures this morning of him in the action of discovering a new hide out spot.  I couldn't help but smile.  Sometimes it's the little things that make such a big impact.  Thank you Tucker, for making my morning a good one.

Staying Busy

I may not know what my near future holds, but I do know one thing, getting all the little details together and making sure everything is super duper organized, is giving me more than enough to do at work.  I know that I am responsible for the adverting for the rest of April, but what comes of May could be totally different.  As preparations continue, I am delving deep into the world of SEO.  For all you non-computer people out there, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.  Over the past 5 years it has become increasingly important to stay on top of the latest and greatest most effective techniques to make your business/business website as available to potential customers as possible.  There is also SEM (Search Engine Marketing) as well, which is important as well, but SEO is more readily available for people to tap into because of all the free resources it provides.  We are all familiar with the main search engines/directories....Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yellowpages....etc.  What I have discovered though over the last couple days is that there are over 50 of these engines and directories out there. 

So why isn't your business getting the any traffic?  Because SEO actually takes a lot of work, time, patience, and a need to create an account to each one of these search engines, go through the process of verifying your business, and fill in the blanks to each search engines unique platform.  I like to think of it this way.  Each time you create a new account with each search engine for your business, it is like you are creating a mini free website, a consolidated version of your own business website, if you have one.  And the more complete you fill it (as much as you can for what each allows for the free part) the more the "spiders and crawlers" in cyperspace will pick up keywords, that essential, are the entries people type in the "search" slot on Google (or whatever your preferred search page is).  As for the Wallace Automotive Group (that has 9 stores) I apparently have only scratched the surface.  After doing a quick scan on Yext.com just on ONE of the dealerships, it turned up nothing but a page of RED....not good.  I got a snapshot of about 40 search engines with a mix of mismatched, misnamed, outdated data.  I love how yext has a "Fix it all" button, and then you get to see how much it's going to cost.....Holy S!!!  The trick is to use that data...go into each search engine, create an account, make the changes, follow through with the verify process, add more keywords to optimize as much as possible, and then from that point its just maintenance.  So DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY when you can do it yourself for free.

What I've got ahead of me, potentially if this is the direction Mr. Wallace wants me to go in, is 50+ search engines times 9 stores per search engine......this should keep me busy for a while.

SEO can be overwhelming because there is so much to it and it's an ever changing computer technology, but as long as it can be broken down and taken care of one step at a time, the task is not as daunting.

Went to the Park with Jane Winner today!

I so needed a day like today!  This morning Tucker and I left early to meet up with a friend from my past, Jane Winner.  When I was living in Framingham, MA, I got to know Jane through the Christian Science Church in Framingham, and helped her family's Paper2u Business.  We ended up meeting halfway in Melbourne, FL at a nice little park.  Tucker absolutely loved all the different slides, and even caught on to walking up monkey bars that were a little too advanced for him,  We at lunch at the picnic benches, but of course he was more fascinated in the two birds that were interested in his food.  Just before we went our separate ways, Jane gave him a little gift.  Little boys and their trucks!

Tough Week

This week has been a rough week so my apologies for not keeping so up to date on this running and active log.  On Monday, I learned some not so great news.  On the Friday before Easter my boss, Glen, gets a call from Mr. Wallace.  He learns that Mr. Wallace has decided to use an advertising agency and that his services are no longer required once he helps out with the transition process.  I learned that Mr. Wallace wants to keep me though, so there is some small sigh of relief.  If I could get all my "what ifs" under control and remain calm, I should be alright.  On top of this it has been a crazy deadline production week for me as it is the beginning of the month.  Here are all the ads I created this week so that you can see what it is that I do (for now anyway).  I hope that once this transition happen that I will still be doing what I love!