Who is on your team?

Just 2 of our team!

Ahh I had such good intentions!

But time has eluded me and in my exhausted state I actually wasn't sure what to write about anyway!
Ruby is now 17 months old and it's so different yet again.
I did some work this morning and then Ruby and I went and played in our vegetable patch. That means I weeded and Ruby munched on dirt and marvelled at the many ladybirds and the various tomato plants we have.

Now I'm back in the office and Ruby is making it hard for Rob to get any work done while she taps away on his keyboard. Thank goodness for Uncles!

I'm really proud of our achievements this year. It's been a roller-coaster and some months we've all really felt the pressure and struggled to stay positive. But we've always sat down together and re-assessed what we were doing and how we were doing it. That really works for us.

The thing I've noticed the most is how we've really brought some amazing people together in our 'team'. I'm pleased we manage to attract these types of people - proactive and positive people with great ideas and great attitudes.

I'm working on two business projects with two different Virtual Assistants who are so dedicated and skilled. And at Webtastic and VYVA we have a number of people who are there, keen to share ideas and contribute to our combined goals - they know who they are! It makes the journey way more interesting and fun.

This year I launched Run Your Business Life (www.runyourbusinesslife.com.au) and I have partnered up with Monique de Groot for that. I have a few others who are interested in contributing too, which would be delightful. It's all about juggling life and work when you run your own business. It's so very different to working for someone else. Different challenges and different impacts. So to provide a space to share ideas and experiences about it seemed like a good idea!

Another new project for me, and one I've had on my to-do list for some years now, is working on  a VA Magazine. Another VA, Renee Chapman, set up a VA Magazine and I saw so much potential in it and asked to be involved. Together, as co-editors, we have just released a new issue and we are hoping it is received with the excitement it was made with! You can see it here at www.todaysva.com.au

I'm also working as a consultant for Arbonne so I run workshops about Swiss Beauty Skincare and Makeup which are lots of fun. I love that I have a house full of these beautiful vegan friendly products and that I can share that with others. It's a bit outside the square for me, so it feels quite separate to everything else we do, but I'll see where it takes me! www.rosieshilo.myarbonne.com.au

So who's on your team? Our team is a combination of people who contribute to our business and our personal life and because of the types of people they are, it's usually a blend of both!

Thank you to our team - you are so amazing and you delight me constantly.

Cheers!
Rosie

Did I say I was better at time management?

How ironic that my last post mentioned something about time management, yet it's now 3 months later when I finally find some time to make a new post!
At just over 10 months, my daughter is such a laugh - she delights me every day with her friendliness and sense of humour which can, in a matter of one second, change to moody and teary - but still amazing.
I have such an incredible respect now for Mums who manage a business, for Mums who go to work each day and for Mums in general. And Dads too of course, but you know what, mainly Mums.
The things we juggle!
There are pros and cons of working from home or going to work, if you don't have the choice to focus on being a Mum 100% of the time. 
Friends of mine who had regular jobs enjoyed maternity leave and time to spend solely as a parent. But now, as our little ones get older, most are either back, or looking at going back, to work. The thought would be so horrible for me - I just couldn't do it. 
Meanwhile I am lucky enough (the harder I work, the luckier I get) to be able to go back to work right here at home. The con? I never left! Even when Ruby was 1 week old I was still managing jobs. In fact I was answering emails from hospital - because I have a business to run. 
I have had no time off from my work, but I have not had much time off from the best job of all - being a Mum.
Working from home as a Mum is so different from working from home without kids. There are so many more time constraints, interrupted nights, and constant distractions.
There is no 'clock on and focus at this time, clock off at that time" - at least not for me.
It's "clocking on, oh hang on, not yet, in a minute, maybe in an hour, hopefully, ok clocking on. Clocking off suddenly at any point for a moment or for a few hours, to be continued goodness knows when"......
Even now, at 8.35pm I could be interrupted by a crying bubba who is frustrated with teething or feeling snotty or just not liking the whole "sleep thing".
If I had to leave to go to work though, the sleepless night wouldn't be followed by a nap when my little one naps - it would be followed by a full day at work. 
It would require me to leave my little one in the care of someone else.
It would only give me a small amount of time to spend with the most amazing person I've ever met.
As hard as it is - I wouldn't change my work situation for the world. Thank goodness I can work from home and be a Mum too.
It's a good life, ain't it.

I didn't know!

Next week Ruby is 7 months old. In 7 months she has learnt so much it's simply mind-bottling! (yes, you heard me).
I find it hard to believe that she has learnt more than I have, but of course, it's a fact. 

Before Ruby came along....

• I didn't really know what time management was; 
• I didn't know what the inside of a Baby Bunting looked like;
• I didn't know what skin smelt like at the end of a dribbly, sweaty, milky, pooey, messy day (or even 1 hour into a day - ie 6am);
• I didn't know you could puree meat so easily;
• I didn't know orange vegetables stained so easily;
• I didn't know I'd drop all sense of dignity so easily;
• I didn't know that the second my baby falls asleep she would morph from little noisy horror to sweet angel (Ahhh, yeah, I know I got a good one);
• I always loved my bed, but I didn't know what true LOOVVEEE of my bed felt like. (Ahhh, dear bed...)

That reminds me. 'Night!!

Time Management...?

The last few days have been so interesting as I have learnt some new recipes and plied Ruby with good food. She's loving it! 
She's sleeping better during the day now and also during the night, which she was already pretty good with but had started waking for a night feed again.
Today she slept really well so I was able to get a few things done, but with so many things on the list - what gets priority?
There is food shopping to be done, basic cleaning like dishes, clothes and heaven forbid, vaccuming. Cooking meals for me, hubby, Ruby and sometimes Rob who works here often.
Then there is the business. 

I opened my emails this morning and had a very narky customer (who is usually very positive and friendly) who said that her web pages had reverted to old content and that there were errors and it was ridiculous etc. I called her but she wasn't answering so I checked through the site and didn't find anything amiss except an old address on one page which I updated.
I had to duck out to get a few things and on my return I had a phone message letting me know from my client's assistant that there was one thing that needed changing.
So I fixed it up and sent an email confirming and asking for more details about which pages/what content had actually reverted, and to maybe check to see if she was looking at a cache file.
I haven't heard back.
I never like it when someone sends an aggressive message and then, possibly on noticing that there actually isn't anything wrong, doesn't even send a quick message saying it was now ok. I want my clients to have prompt support and to feel confident that their sites are working for them - but I need them to let me know what's going on at their end too.
It makes me wonder whether I should have prioritised the dishes after all!
That being said, I have some people I do work for and some who support me with work, who are simply sensational. The VAs on my network are inspiring, supportive of each other, caring and smart. The contractors who I have doing jobs for me are wonderful - they really know their stuff and they are always keen to find solutions.
I am thinking that with my new priorities, I would be best to focus on my network and to work on creating new sites (which I really enjoy and can do out of hours), rather than maintaining them, as I now know that I am unlikely to drop everything (being my child in particular) to update a notice that would have been updated long ago if the client had paid their invoice on time. Thankfully, I have people around me who are great with updates so forces combined, we can be Captain Planet! 

The power of FOOD!

Today I gave Ruby some baby cereal with apple puree mixed in - she loved it!
She had her normal drinks and even though we were out and about all day, she was in a great mood all day.
Then before her bath I gave her some yoghurt - she ate the whole tub! (Baby tub of course). So impressed! 
It was heaps of fun actually. I put a little bit on her belly (had her nuded up for a messy feed pre-bath!) and she laughed and laughed! It was awesome! So damn cute.
I wanted to take a pic because in the end I had her pretty much covered in yoghurt (doesn't take much, she's still pretty small!) but I didn't want to ruin the moment so you'll just have to imagine it.
A good friend also gave her little poppet her first feed today with much success! So please for her. Rice cereal for everyone! Yayyy!

The 'out and about' bit of today, well one part of it, was to visit friends who had a baby yesterday - their second little boy. He is such a cutey and they all look very happy and healthy. So it's all good!!! :)

Can I have one? Can I Mum?

I am also bidding on ebay for one of these activity centres (pictured) because someone had a bit of fun with one the other day.... and Ruby liked it too....!!! :)

Weaning!

Not long ago I started introducing pureed food to Ruby. 
There are so many things that you should or shouldn't be doing that it can get a bit overwhelming, especially if, like me, you have a pretty limited diet and should explore more food options.
I want the BEST foods for Ruby so I want to make sure I am covering my bases. It's a bit of a challenge too that she still has reflux and I am not sure if yoghurt affects this or not - but she simply loves yoghurt!
I started with the bought organic purees which she responded to very well, but then I wanted to try and make some fresh purees and freeze portions for her.
My first effort was with some sweet potato which she liked. 
I also tried some carrot and pumpkin. She didn't seem overly keen on pumpkin, but then again, it is a little stringy so that's a challenge.
She watches me like a hawk when I am eating - almost as bad as Mango...
With all of the talk about carbohydrates and proteins etc ("oh have you tried fish?" - uhh, no.....) I thought I had better get some books and do some reading.
I was at the library for ages trying to find something that looked helpful but was recent enough to still be relevant.
I found "Weaning" by Annabel Karmel. 


I started putting little sticky notes in on the pages that looked interesting but now the book has almost as many pink sticky notes (heart shaped! :) ) as pages so I am thinking it would be a good one to buy!
I've added the link to Annabel Karmels blog in the blogs I follow bit over on the right side of this page - yep, the other right... lower.... yep, there!


You know I didn't even THINK to mix some of the pureed veg with fruit? She loves the fruit, so why not mix it up a little? I am keen to try that tomorrow.


Not only that but the pics of the bubbas eating in this book are so damn cute I want to cut them out and frame them! Or maybe put them in my wallet and tell people "Oh yes, that was when she had her first spoonful of fish puree.." - ok, perhaps Mummy needs a little more sleep now.
Love ya's!

Back to Business! Sans Sharks....

Today I was able to get a few things out of the way as Ruby decided to catch up on some serious sleep deprivation - her recent "naps" have been more like "na" because you can't even get the word out and she is up and at 'em again!


I am putting together some mentoring and coaching programs for my VA Network, Virtually Yours, but today was quite frustrating because Yahoo Groups was not sending through messages for my groups - our main form of communication.


Yahoo Groups is such a great service and it's amazing that it's free, so I can't complain, but I am hoping like crazy that the emails that were attempted to be sent today, still come through when it's up and running again. 
I had asked members to express an interest in the programs I am running and I'd really like to know what sort of response I got.
Meanwhile, I've been so impressed with the amount of business support fellow VAs are offering to businesses affected by the floods. 
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_182910088400640

Homes and Businesses Under Water.

Here I am being held back because Yahoo Groups isn't working for me today, while in some parts of Australia businesses need flippers to get to their waterlogged PCs - if the PC is even still there, rather than 30km upstream!

Plus the added bonus of not having sharks in my hallway as I go from 'home' to 'work' as was reported in one news article the other day... let me see if I can find it..... here it is - http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/weather/flood-shark-sightings-have-residents-on-edge-20110113-19ozp.html - I can just hear the Jaws music as I read the article and see those pics.


And while we are on theme, seeing as you are reading this, you might like to read and you might like to support people in flood areas so feel free to check this out! http://authorsforqueensland.wordpress.com/

Wanted Criminal

If it's not getting client jobs done, creating opportunities for VYVA, keeping house or looking after Ruby, it's that darn dog!
You all know I love Mango Frankenstein but this morning he was more Frankenstein than Mango.
The backyard duel between him and the nesting bird escalated this morning when, with really poor timing, the baby birds decided to stretch their wings and go for a test flight. 
I was in the kitchen when I saw out of the window Mango having a go at a baby bird on the lawn. 
I screamed out at him and was ignored as I fled into the backyard in my undies.
I got Mango away from the baby much more successfully than the parents did as they tried swooping Mango repeatedly. 
I picked up the baby, which was still alive but not looking so well, and put it back into it's nest.
I knew there had been 2 babies so I did a search of the backyard and thankfully didn't find the other one - I hope it's flight was more successful.
The parents didn't seem to be heading back to the baby so I checked on it and found it wasn't doing very well. I picked it up carefully and checked it for puncture wounds - it had a small one on it's back and on it's chest - never ever a good sign. A couple of minutes later the little bundle of feathers was dead.
I was very annoyed at Mango, who is well fed but has the hunting breeds within him which is one reason why I don't do wildlife fostering any more - he just can't seem to control himself around little fast things - ironic when you think of the words you'd use to describe Mango himself.
Anyway, he is now on my most wanted criminal list and better do some serious sucking up if he wants any cuddles today. RIP little bird.

Big Bite, Little Mouth....

I wonder if perhaps I have bitten off more than I can chew?
Any day that has no appointments in the diary is a day I love. 
Trying to fit in client web updates can be difficult but at least I can do that in the evening if need be. It's not set to a specific timeslot.
But trying to have regular meeting times to make myself available to my VYVA members (something I love) or booking in times to work at the Kinglake adventure camp kind of make me stressed.
I don't like that when I make these appointments, I have to make sure Greg or someone is available to look after Ruby. I know Greg is running his business and is under the pump, so what can I do to put less pressure on that, but while keeping my business and life going?

That's when good neighbours... become.... good.... hmmmm

Some time ago we got a nasty letter left on the car windscreen telling us to shut our dogs up "or else". We have our suspicions about who is was from, but we are really not sure. It was a horrible letter, especially as we were trying everything you could think of to actually shut our dogs up! :) 
Anyway, the person we suspected is a gentleman next door who we have never spoken to. Tonight, as I was giving Ruby her final feed for the day, in a nice relaxing darkened room..... bang! bang! bang!
Mr Neighbour decided to do some handyman work which involved hammering, some king of scraping and sawing - just outside Ruby's window!
I crossed fingers and toes hoping he wouldn't take too long - he has the right to do what he likes afterall. But alas, it continued and poor Ruby just couldn't settle with that irregular hammering going on.
I had to say something.
Man was I nervous!! I went outside and got his attention and asked nicely if he would be able to stop soon, as Ruby was sleeping "right in here"; I said it as nicely as I could.
He was fairly nice about it and said he had about 15 minutes to go and then he'd stop.
Well of course I said "ok" and wandered back inside. 
I think he may have actually moved further down his yard (away from us) to do the last of the hammering, because it wasn't quite so loud, which I appreciated.
Ruby needed to be resettled again (drank 300ml little piggy!) and then the peaceful quiet set in.
I was thinking that even though he continued for a while, he definately was quieter, so I might drop a thank you card in his letterbox.
After all, that's when good neighbours... become.... good friends!

"Ruby Baby"

Having lots of fun with my Ruby Baby clothes! Can't wait for the 'Gremlin Baby' onesie to arrive!

Quick Learner!

After yesterdays big cry when it was sleep time, 'Grumpy Bumpy' only took about 5 minutes to give up on that technique this morning when she was due for her nap. And it's paid off - she's been asleep now for quite a while, possibly catching up on some lost sleep these past few days!
She is such a delight though when we have visitors - she loves new faces and will grin and chuckle for our guests when they give her attention. 



This morning Mango provided some much needed entertainment for Grumpy, who, I think because of the weather, has been a bit fussy. 
Mango loves to run laps around people, jump towards their hands and lick lick lick. Ruby loves this and for as long as Mango could keep the energy up, she was happy. 
I think they will be very good friends!

The Gremlin of the Opera....is there....inside our house....

Ruby is becoming an independent little lady and has decided that:
1. She has an awesome voice
2. She should help hold the bottle even if that means sharing mouth space between her hands and the bottle teat and
3. She doesn't require sleep during the day to keep her going.

I don't need your help thanks!

Makes for an interesting day!!!


When it comes to sleep time, a short nap while drinking will suffice - all so she thinks.
Once the bottle is done it's all cheeky grins and opera sounds until Mummy or Daddy leaves the room after which the Opera turns into an Operatic Tragedy! 


Clever little monkey got her revenge on her evil Mummy for ignoring her tanty today by giving herself quite a nice scratch down her nose between the eyes - 'look world! Mummy beats me!'... Oh Mummy's back! Time for more "Gremlin of the Opera!"


Ahhh this is the life... :)

Not a fan? Well not today!

Yesterday I had a "not such a fan of Ruby" day and I'm pretty sure she had a "not such a fan of Mummy" day too. Thank goodness Greg was here and he and Ruby spent some quality time together while I tried not to go completely insane listening to her "opera practice" which was intermittently broken up with grumblings and fussing.
Isn't it funny how one day her screeching/playing is gorgeous and then another day you find it completely irritating? 
I felt like such a bad Mum, but tried to remind myself that I've only had a couple of bad days (quite a few crappy "hours" here and there, but not counting those...) over a period of about 180 days so far where I am learning along the way and spending hour after hour mind-reading the needs of my baby and keeping her healthy and safe.
I feel more normal again today and back in "Mummy Mode" which is nice.
I am really not looking forward to the start of the new working year when Greg will be less available and I'll have to work out how to fit in jobs for my clients while looking after Ruby.
I have so many people say "You are so lucky you work from home - that would be so much easier."
Well yes and no.
I'm not "lucky" - I built my business up over the past 6 years and scraped by with stuff-all income to get to this point so I CAN work from home.
BUT I don't get maternity leave, or sick leave, or annual leave (yes I can take leave but there is no pay for that) and when I am working I can be interrupted at any time by a rather demanding (and yes, beautiful) baby.
There are always pro's and cons.
Anyway, hopefully I can create some systems to ease the stress of keeping the business running, while keeping my very important and (luckily for me) kind clients happy.
This year there will be a lot of change coming.
I can feel it in the air!