Chamber Day 2012 - Recap of What I Learned

I had the privilege of participating as a volunteer in our local Chamber Day on Thursday, March 29, 2012. For those who are unaware, this is a day that is set aside to visit local businesses and find out what their challenges are and thank them for choosing our community to have their business in. It was a full day event, broken into 2 halves and ending with the monthly Chamber After Hours event at Allen Honda.

I learned quite a bit from the local businesses we visited. I really enjoyed being a volunteer and will do my best to participate each year. I learned a lot of things I was unaware of about the businesses I drive by every day. It was a great experience that I would urge everyone to try to participate in at least once.

FFGTHF – Inscribed on my Piggybank

Currently I’m reading “You and Your Network” by Fred Smith. I highly recommend this book for everyone. It’s got a lot of great common sense information. I’m sure I will blog more about things I’m taking away from this book but this one tonight struck straight to my heart and I was compelled to write about it.

The Gas Saver Program – Great Fictitious Example

So I fill up my car with gas once a week. Currently I spend $80 to fill it up completely to the brim. I’m sure it will cost more tomorrow but that is beside the point.

You also fill up your vehicle with gas once a week. Currently you also spend $80 to fill yours up completely to the brim.

So we both drive all week and do what we normally do. However, you went to a web overview and learned about a program where you get every day fill up rewards. This program will earn you cheaper and free gas as well as other discounts on things you use regularly when you spend a certain dollar amount each month on gas. The cost to join was less than a wholesale club membership so you decided to take part in it, thinking that since you will use it so much it will be worth it. I wasn’t aware the program existed so I of course wasn’t able to take part.

Central Precocious Puberty ~ Say What?

Some things you just remember like they were yesterday. Things that are important are like that. Events that occur involving your children are probably the best examples.  

It was the middle of summer in 2003. My daughter’s caregiver called me at work to tell me she was concerned about Rachel. She quickly told me she wasn’t running temperature, she didn’t seem to be acting differently or in pain nor was there any apparent cause for the blood in her diaper. In fact she said, “it really just looks like she’s on her period” which is impossible but the only thing she could relate it to.

One Day at a Time – Part One

The day my husband lost his job is one I will never forget. It was a few years after 9/11 and our children were babies at the time. They are 14 months apart in age and as such were still in diapers. I was at work when he called and I knew immediately that something was wrong. He was upset and of course my first thought was that he was hurt or something equating to that but what he told me was just as frightening to say the least.

Awesome Customer Service – NOT!

When I was a child and was able to read, I remember seeing signs in just about every place of business that gave the ‘rules of customer service.’ Rule #1 was the Customer Was Always Right. Rule #2 Was When the Customer is Wrong, Refer to Rule #1. In this day and age of big box retailers that are at the mercy of shareholders, it’s hard to find businesses that adhere to these rules anymore.

Ripples Fan Into Waves

One of my fondest childhood memories is visiting my grandparent’s lake house on Lake Corpus Christi. Almost every Sunday we would go to visit and it was the best part of the week for me. The adults would most often stay inside and watch tv. Sometimes I would stay inside also, sitting in a chair next to my grandma’s recliner. I’d embroider or crochet depending on what I was working on at the time. The light was best right next to her, sitting about 4 feet from the sliding glass back door. Every so often she’d jump up and run out to reel in the pole she was watching because it would twitch. If she didn’t catch anything, out to the end of the pier she would go to cast the line then let it out as she came all the way back to the porch. She caught some big catfish that way and her fried catfish and beans was one of the best meals ever. 

Pay It Forward Green University

Together we can bring this country back. It takes one person, one family at a time. Our  Pay It Forward Green University is a way to learn about convenient ways to not only save money, but reduce, reuse and recycle at the same time. It’s activity and a way of life being spread by people like you and me all over the United States. We are sharing how we restore people’s faith in themselves as they learn how we pay it forward every day.

Fixin’ To

An expression used to put off the inevitable. My kids say in a minute or wait instead of fixin’ to but it means the same thing. Used in many cases to ward off the person who is pestering you about a task or tasks that need to be completed to buy more time.

Snapshot of Your Legacy – Is it Ready?

A death earlier in the weekend of a young man in our town has left me pondering all the rest of the weekend. This young man leaves behind a wife and child and his death was sudden. A car accident took his life, and will forever change the lives of those left behind. It only seems fitting to reflect and start taking stock of what I would leave behind if something unexpected happened.

Journal of Thankfulness

“Journaling three great things in your life each day creates 1095 entries a year. How would this impact you in 10 years?”~ Cindy Wrightson, CEO of CW Concepts, Inc **

What an intriguing thought. This is something I’ll be starting as of today for myself as one change for my life. Let’s explore what this could do for a person, specifically myself personally.