2011 Check-In

Wow, 2011 has been rocking so far! How is it going for you?

I maintained steadiness with clients in January, then took on a new endeavor: house hunting! Truth be told, I had been opposed to buying a house just yet, feeling like my husband and I needed to get a better grip on our finances first, but he and others kept saying now is the time to buy. My pivotal moment came late one night when I wasn't quite tired enough to go to sleep yet, and found myself perusing houses posted for sale on Craigslist. I told my husband if he could get us into "THAT" house, then I would do it. "THAT" house didn't end up being the one we put an offer on, but definitely moved us into the direction of buying now. We saw 16 or 18 houses, and put in an offer on one a couple weeks ago, and are planning to close by March 18.

In addition to staying busy with my regular work duties and house hunting, I was also preparing for the trip my husband and I took to Florida, including a cruise to the Bahamas, and my workshop back on land again in Boca Raton. We had a wonderful time, enjoying our respite from parenthood while our two boys stayed with family in our absence. With the completion of my workshop, I earned new credentials: CIPI--Certified Injury Prevention Instructor, though I still need to have a dry-run through presenting my own workshop as we had practiced together in Florida. I am excited for this new branch of business opportunity.

My husband and I had our taxes done yesterday, and thanks to my increased income last year, we moved into a different tax bracket, so our refund isn't quite what we anticipated. Ordinarily, that wouldn't be much of an issue, but with buying a house, we were counting on that money to buy our major appliances. I'm sure we will work that out somehow, and one way to help off-set that unexpected imbalance is for me to be available on weekends for appointments also now. I have opened my Clickbook scheduling availability to include Saturdays and Sundays between 9am-8:30pm (not that I expect to be booked full through those times, but just offering greater flexibility for additional income).

So, as you can see, I've been quite busy this year! I'm hoping that things will begin to settle down now (HAHA, I know!), and that I will get back into my regular blogging. 

One more thing: our son's preschool (Oregon City Preschool) is having a fundraising auction on Saturday, March 5, located at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds 4H Hall, 604 NE 4th Avenue, Canby, OR 97013. If you would like to attend the auction and support Adam's school, you may buy dinner tickets for $10 (dessert included), or dessert and beverage only for $5. Raffle tickets are going for $2 each, or $5 for 3 tickets, and you can choose between entering the raffle for $200 cash, or an Amazon Kindle. There will be other raffles and live/silent auctions on-site. I've donated a 90 minute massage with body butter gift certificate, and there will be hundreds of other awesome items to bid on. You do not need to be present to win the $200 cash or Kindle raffles, however. Any support you can give is greatly appreciated! Please call me for more information and to buy dinner, dessert, and/or raffle tickets: 503-318-9626.