February
Dang it, I missed January again. It's the official month to kick start new habits and work in fresh new ideas and every year I seem to slip away from the blog this time of year. I think it's because I'm actually busy doing. Cleaning out closets and organizing new toys. Getting back into a routine. And breathing. January is my cleanse month to step back a little bit and figure out what is working and what isn't in my life. To reevaluate priorities and time management. This month has been full but I'm glad it's over. February is my new fresh start.
Lots of illness. I spent about four weeks straight on some sort of antibiotic or another. Strep throat-bronchitis-sinus infection-plueritis. Y'all. That sucked. My girl was battling some yucky virus followed by my sweet boy with strep throat, sinus issues and a stint in the PICU last week. More on that later; it deserves it's own post. We lost my husband's mentor and former boss to cancer a few weeks ago and it's hit him really hard. But true to the circle of life, a friend had a baby. Babies are the freaking best and I can't wait until we're all totally healthy in my house so I can go snuggle that little itty-bitty.
So I'm doing awesome and awful all at the same time and I'm learning to love that mix. Because it means I'm here and I'm showing up the best way I can for the best things I can think of in the best ways I know how.
Work and Work. I'm so thankful for this one. Real Estate has taken a front seat priority in 2017 with beautycounter in second place and the blog delegated to third. The opportunity to juggle these in with my home life and the blog is a huge blessings and I am so thankful for that. You might be curious how I'm balancing it all professionally. I'm going to try to write a real post on that. I'm not doing it perfectly but I'm happy to touch on how I make it work. Mostly I compartmentalize rather than multi-task so certain things get my full attention at certain times. The truth is I've had to let the blog take a major back seat in order to prioritize the other two for a while. After taking care of my family and myself, selling Real Estate is my job and it directly affects others with immediate and lasting impact so it automatically gets the top spot. It's an incredible career and offers me the flexibility to work the hours I want with clients that turn into friends. I love the project based timeline of events and the immediate end game. Walking my clients through the process of buying or selling a house is such a high, it's like winning a big game. But winning isn't everything and I need balance to feel fulfilled.
So if Real Estate is my job, then Beautycounter is my hobby. I literally tried it initially because one of my best friends asked me to do it with her for fun. Much like some women join a gym, or book club, or play tennis together; talking makeup and skin care products over coffee is my jam. Real Estate is where I get to exercise my competitive muscle and compete against both myself and my colleagues. But it's a competition ALL THE TIME. While that fulfills my need for success, I wouldn't be happy with just that measure of my worth. The same reason people have passions and hobbies outside of their career, Beautycounter allows me to maintain my sharp networking and marketing skills while working alongside other women for a common goal. We are working together to better the beauty industry for our children so that one day they won't have to read labels in the personal care products they buy. It's a hobby that pays me to make it a part of my life instead of the other way around. Plus, I get to work with my friends to give other women a chance at the same job flexibility and potential monetary contribution to their families that I have been afforded. Oh, and we have Bono. (Bono and his wife are investors in the company).
And if you're still here and still up for reading, welcome back! I hope you're 2017 has been off to a great start. And if not, let's cheers to #februaryisthenewjanuary with a fresh new month today!