March Madness Comes To An End!

Wow this has been a crazy month indeed. Happy to see it coming to an end and am going to go int o April with a whole new perspective. I have been really moody and gloomy the last week. I am one of those people that can't say no to anything and so I am constantly way too busy. Today was really nice. Spent the whole morning just playing with my kids. Then taught my baking class in the afternoon. Tomorrow I have a lot planned. I am going to finish my spring cleaning list. Been meaning to update everyone on alot of stuff but haven't had a chance but am going to take a moment now.

Grandma update: health wise not much has changed. Which actually is really good. The cancer has spread to her liver, spine and her remaining lung. But she is still doing really well considering. I admire the courage and strength she has.

Daycare/Preschool update: I am still unsure what I want to do about this. Right now I am licensed for daycare but inactive status. I have still been watching my cousins two (1 yo and 2 yo) full time . Also been watching another 2 year old little girl part time. So that's 4 toddlers 1 - 3 years old full time and 5 sometimes. My ideal situation would be to not have any daycare kids here full time but to only do preschool for 6-8 kiddos in the mornings. Right now financially I can't do this. But going from 6-8 toddlers full time to 4-5 has been great. I still have my helper girl coming 10-15 hours a week too. No daycare today and tomorrow which has been a much needed break.

Migraines update: I had almost 2 weeks without a single migraine. Which made me really hopeful that things were under control. But this last week I had 3 migraines and almost every day had at least a dull headache. Waiting on a call back from the hematologists office for results from last weeks appointment. I have a feeling my platelet level is really high again. That means meds change, lots of side effects:( and lots of iron. But hopefully we will at least get down to the bottom of it. I know alot of it is stress but not migraines this often and too this extreme just stress.

Life in general. Have finals at the end of April which means all my papers/projects are due by then. So will be extremely busy with school for a few weeks. Also have tons of church activities planned this whole next month. Wow looking at my planner for April you would think it is a schedule for a small army but just mine, lol.

Etsy/Megs Creations update: Oh I could go on and on here but it is getting late and laptop is dying. Will finish this part in the next few days because I do have tons of things coming up to announce for Megs Creations. But for now I am off to bed.

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New Packaging

I have been experimenting and researching alot lately with new packaging for my mixes. I have my jars listed in glass quart mason jars. Which weighs a ton and costs so much to ship. I have been experimenting with plastic containers, bags and such. The plastic containers really don't weigh all that much less. Or I haven't found any that are that much lighter. Bags seem to be the way to go. I am trying to save a little money to purchase some bakery/food bags from www.uline.com A few weeks ago I got the uline catalog in the mail and have picked so many things out to get when I have a chance. I use styrofoam peanuts right now and just hate it. With going to bags that will eliminate the need for those. For the orders that are still in glass jars I would like to get some of the biodegradable starch peanuts. That would make me feel so much better.

I think I will still offer my mixes in the glass quart jars which are very popular for gifts. The layered look, fabric topper and ribbon make the jars very decorative and pretty. For those just wanting the mix for themselves and are not worried about the "look" I would like to offer a cheaper packaging and shipping alternative to the glass jars. I have found some nice bags but now I have been working on somehow labeling and decorating the bags. What I need to do is get some more graphics made, but again have to wait for more money.

One very exciting thing to announce is that I am now 100% licensed and insured in the state of Washington as a food processor. I have been working on a blog post about the whole food processor licensing experience and process. So stay tuned for that.

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Gift Certificates Today

As part of my March Madness SALE get a $5 gift certificate with all purchases today. Good towards any future purchase in my shop.

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10% Off Sale

Today I am offering 10% off all orders excluding shipping. Please add 10%off in your message to seller and I will refund 10% immediately. As well as all orders over $20 will receive a free jar of snickerdoodle mix.

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Yay it's Friday

My special today is Free jar of Snickerdoodle mix with any order all day! Plus I have hidden 2 Secrets Find word secret and get that listing free. You pay only shipping. Just convo me if you find the word secret hidden in one of my listings.

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Special of the Day

Today I am offering free shipping on each additional item after your first purchase. I am heading over to etsy to change my shipping now. Oh and check out the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars I made last night.

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March Madness Sale

So todays special is 20% off all orders excluding shipping. Just put in message to seller, march madness and I will refund you 20% immediately. Don't forget I will announce a new sale every morning for the rest of this month. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5858455

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Wordy Wednesday

I have been struggling for a while to figure out a focus for my blog. I love blogging and the whole idea of getting my words and ideas out is fabulous. My problem is I have way too much to say and not enough time to say any of it. Maybe I need several blogs, lol. This is something I have actually contemplated. Then someone mentioned Squidoo and I need to look into that but haven't had time. Some of the ideas for blogs I have might just work well as lens over there. Sometimes I think of starting a baking blog with just recipes and tips. Which I probably will do soon but the biggest factor stopping me there is: why do I want to give all my recipes away if I am trying to sell these baked goods. So I will probably work more on the technique and tips part. I could fill a whole blog with just the photos and funny mishaps of my baking. For instance I have been trying a new recipe a day for the last month and a half. A few of the recipes come out great the first time but most recipes have to be tweaked quite a bit for my liking. Made pretzels last week and oh wow were they so yummy. Those pretzels were so ugly though, could never have sold any. We ate them all up before I could take a picture though. So thats when it occured to me to starting blogging about these recipes a day and how the recipes are always works in progress. Another blog I have thought of is just blogging about life after a stroke and being a new mom while recovering. Or I could blog about being a small business owner in todays economy, or running a daycare/preschool and early childhood education or just about life in general for me which is quite chaotic in itself. See I have so many ideas floating in my head but not really going anywhere with any of them. I need to just decide and focus on one blog subject and really get going with it. So this blog will more than likely become all about megscreations and my mixes and I will start an all new blog with a specific subject that I am going to really concentrate on. Haha just reread all these ramblings and I sorta find amusement in the fact I just went on and on about needing to blog. Well stay tuned for the unveiling of my new blog soon.

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Luck of the Irish Sale

Today to celebrate St Patricks Day I am offering buy one get one 50% in my shop today. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5858455 Just put in message to seller BOGO50% and I will refund you 50% of the lesser item imediately.

This sale is also kicking off my March Madness Sales. I will be having a new sale everyday from now through the 31st. I will be listing lost of new things also.

Check back every morning between 7-8 am pst time for each daily sale. Will post the sales here and on my announcement on etsy. Don't miss out on the biggest sales of the year in my shop.

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Clean Monday

Today is the first day of the season of Lent, Clean Monday or Pure Monday. Therefore I am trying to stay busy today with just cleaning the house from top to bottom. Sort of a spring cleaning. I have a huge pile of stuff to go to goodwill later. I just had to take a break for a few so here I am blogging instead of cleaning.

Had a beautiful weekend at the beach with my grandma. It was extremely hard to leave her yesterday. She is all alone by herself down there. She is getting extremely sick and it is very hard for her to take care of herself at this point. Yet on the other hand she is so independent and strong of spirit that she is not wanting help at this point either. She does admit to it being hard to dress herself and cook. So that worries me so much. I am about 3 hours from her so plan on going back down there on Saturday. She is so lonely and has nothing to keep her mind off the cancer and the pain. First reaction is for me to talk her into coming to stay with us and letting me take care of her. But I do have to think of myself and my family. That sounds so selfish of me to say. With the migraines and health issues I have had recently I have to consider me. What good would I be to my kids, grandma or husband if I had another stroke. At the same time I can't bear the thought of her last days being in a nursing home though.

Update on me is I have new medication to try and see if it helps with the migraines. They also said to stay away from stress and to just try to take care of me. Hah that's funny "stay away from stress", how does anyone stay away from stress. I am going to try to not get stressed out and not take so much on but stress just happens:) I have been trying to do WAY more than one person can possibly do. I am a licensed daycare provider and for almost two years have had 6-9 kids here 5 days a week, 10-12 hours a day. Yes with a teenage helper a couple days a week but the daycare alone is more than a full time job. I am also just finishing up my bachelors degree online in business management. Then I ran across etsy this last spring set up a shop with a few cookies and never thought anything of it. When I started preparing my mixes for the holiday craft shows that I do locally each fall. The idea came to me practically in the middle of the night one night to list my mixes on my etsy and see what happens. Well the holiday season on etsy was quite successful for me and I am now addicted and love the whole concept of etsy, lol. I now have two shops, megscreations with my mixes and whimsicaltots with my toddler art stuffs. Then most important of all is my two precious little ones. Having a two and a three year old is a full time job in itself as well.

Before last week I had already begun to come to realization that I could not go on doing so much anymore. Going on 3-4 hours sleep every night was not working at all. I gave notice to all my daycare parents except my cousin. I had planned on starting a preschool in my home right away but I am now putting those plans on hold for now. Maybe this fall but then again maybe not with the busy holiday season coming soon after that.

Considering just doing etsy full time from here on out. I really do believe I can make it into a full time business if I had the time. I have so many great ideas in my head that I never get time to actually create. My wonderful husband asked me this weekend if that is something I would like to do, etsy full time. He said he would be supportive either way. We both admit that losing all daycare/preschool income would be very hard for us financially. He has even offered to help me if I need any help packaging or whatever. I am definitely passionate about baking and my mixes and I think he likes to see me doing something I really enjoy and am excited to tell him all about each evening when he comes home.

So I am giving myself a new challenge. To treat etsy like a full time job and to see for the next month what I can do to grow the business and then make my final decision. At this moment I am inactive with the state of Washington for daycare licensing. I will have to make my decision very soon. I am not watching any kids at this time. So my time is free to spend with my kids and develop my etsy shops. And of course visiting with my grandma as much as possible. Oh and can't forget about finishing school. So I am going to put myself on a schedule and stay to it regarding the etsy so I can see what it would really be like. Wow I have really rambled on and on but it feels good to just get it all out. So now back to my cleaning. I think I will blog tonight or tomorrow about some new ideas for my megscreations mixes. Stay tuned for some great sales and new mixes coming soon! Please order mixes if you want a yummy homemade gourmet treat. I need to keep myself busy!

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