girl, disconnected....the beginning

Well, it's been a hard first day of being disconnected. I've already broken my rules. Confession Time:

Within the first hour yesterday, I googled something for my son....but that was ALL I googled. (by the way you CAN fix a Leapster 2 if the screen freezes.)

Within the first few hours I went on Facebook...however I did NOT check anything, I was looking up information on this animal rescue site I'm trying to get in touch with. (I am desperately trying to adopt this SUPER adorable pug mix!!!) Likewise, I checked my email multiple times more than planned, because I'm waiting to hear a reply from the foster mom of the pug!! Seriously...how cute is he?

So, I have checked my email more than I should've because of his cuteness.

I also broke my no Plurk rule because I needed to ask for prayers. I'm asking them of you now as well (and dear Facebook friends who will see this via Auto-Post.) A good friend of the family, Mrs Jo Ann, is gravely ill. She's battling cancer, and they've started chemo. She is extremely sick and the cancer has spread throughout her body. She is my "mama from another grandmama" I say. She and my mother were best of friends for the last 20 years of my mom's life. Mrs. Jo Ann is one of the sweetest, kindest, loveliest people I've ever known. She will do for others far beyond what she SHOULD do, and will give and give til it takes all from herself. Not that anyone deserves the pain and agony of cancer, but Mrs. Jo Ann has done nothing but serve God her entire life. She is extremely important to me, one of my mother figures. She has always been proud of me, believing in me when I didn't believe in myself. I was able to visit her last night and made sure to let her know just how very much she means to me.

So I did cheat. I got on plurk and asked my friends there for prayers. Because I know they will do it. I know they care about me and know that she is important to me, so I know they (and you) will pray. I just pray she does not suffer and just as she asks, God's will to be done.

So I was not as disconnected yesterday as I should have been, particularly since it was shipping day so I had to spend 1 hour shipping packages. But normally, in between printing shipping labels I'd have been surfing the net, playing on facebook or plurk...but instead I just printed labels, convo'd customers, and got WORK done. It was nice to get it done in a timely fashion instead of being constantly distracted.

I've also perused the net a tad more than I planned today because we are on the crunch to schedule our plans for our yearly church trip in mid October. I've been emailing potential condo owners and waiting to hear back. (Sidebar: VRBO.com is a fabulous way to find great vacation rentals if you ever need such a service.) And that is the ONLY site I used to make these plans, so I was not endlessly searching!!

But once this blog is done, I shall turn it off! I've checked the shops for the day, and will not be shipping again until Monday, so I can get back to relative disconnect (other than obsessive checking about the dog....)

What I have accomplished during my semi-disconnect....I finished reading a book (which probably auto posted to facebook and twitter...) I took the boys to play with friends today, and cleaned up the house.

So, I'm making it! I am jonesing to check facebook, but I'm starting to realize the world will NOT spin off it's axis if I don't get on these sites!

Tomorrow will be running errands with my dad, cleaning and working on my son's attitude. (why did no one tell me age 5 is baaaaaaaaaaaaaad?)

I wonder how my friend Heather is doing on her girl, disconnected?

Please remember to leave me comments if anything earth shattering happens whilst I'm disconnected. And please pray for Mrs. Jo Ann. I do appreciate it.

~~Amy

girl, disconnected....coming in June

Hey all, you know me, a little A.D.D. and need to change things up from time to time. Well, last month I decided I wanted to do a month of being virtually offline. So for the month of June, I will be doing a blog series, "girl, disconnected". It should probably be, girl--mostly disconnected because I will not be COMPLETELY offline. For one...I can't blog the progress without being ONline. So here's the deal:

I will be allowed online for the following things:
1. To blog the progress of this project, sort of a diary of how I'm doing dealing with disconnecting. I plan to write 2-3x a week...depending on how bad my withdrawal is!!
2. To check in and run my most popular shops, Badge Reels (which is getting it's own website!) and MicroMops. I will also leave all my Artfire shops open, after all I do pay a monthly fee....I have to be a realist and recognize that I am trying to run a business here and I need to keep up with my income. However, it will be, a log in, check for sales, answer customer questions, print shipping, and get offline! No online promoting, etc.
3. My other blogs and sites may 'post' but will be due to scheduled postings I've already planned ahead of time.
4. Weekly check of email so my inbox doesn't implode.

What I will NOT be allowed to do:
1. Facebook, twitter or plurk. Ouch....that's gonna hurt.
2. Look up patterns, tutorials, recipes, etc. I have a wealth of information ALREADY, it's time I use some of it.
3. Shop Online. This one is gonna really hurt too.... I'll miss you Amazon.
4. Print Coupons. Again, I have PLENTY cut already and a decent stockpile.
5. Play online games....bye bye farm on my Ipad....
6. Any other internet access. My family still can, and we do sometimes use Skype as a form of communication, so that is ok, since connecting in REAL life is  my goal here.

I suspect this will be both equally hard and rewarding. There are days where I don't get online much, as is, like the days I take my Dad grocery shopping...and those days are really nice. Running errands, then sitting in my Dad's beautiful green yard sipping sweet tea....seriously I wonder WHY we get so caught up in social networking. I wonder what it'd be like to be more like Kelly, my best friend who is a rare soul, rarely online, no facebook, twitter, blogs, nothing. She barely remembers to check her email. Granted she has three children and is trying to sell her house, so she has zero time for it as is. But she's an old soul...she even fought getting a cell phone tooth and nail. If she didn't have children, she probably still wouldn't have a cell! Perhaps she's on to something....

I remember years spent in my youth bored to TEARS. Do children even experience that now? Do they know what it's like to just SIT and BE?

I don't plan to just sit around during my month of disconnection. I'll still have my business to attend to, but I hope to really focus on my kids, family, home and what I want. Sometimes, I wonder if I really want to continue in my business. As success grows, what do we sacrifice? What would it like to not rush so much for a month? Could I really close down ALL my shops for a month? REALLY, truly disconnect? (that's a later experiment!).

There is so much I want to create, complete, finish. I tend to take on WAY too many tasks, because, well, I don't know. But I do miss the early years after my son was born, before I took up the handmade life, when I just sat, reading a magazine, while he played on the floor....what happened to that? Where did it go?

It went into starting a business...which has been an incredible experience. I have learned SO much the past 3 years that I've been running my handmade shops. I've actually found some success with it, and there is the possibility to have continued, advanced success if I play my cards right. So part of why I'm disconnecting in June is to focus on that...how can I blend a successful business, my family and my dreams into one?

Soooo, stayed tuned, the journey beings June 1st!!!

~~Amy