Tag Archives: www.mymixednuts.com

hell week

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My hell week was different from Ryan’s! He started on Hell’s Kitchen on Thursday, a wonderful career move.

Pictures like this keep my dreams alive

My Hell week has found me in the nut house, preparing and packing 5,000 1oz bags of nuts for shipping this week. We have had to stick the labels on 3×5 zip bags, then fill them with the mix. Talk about mind numbing. But the end is near! We should get them finished today, or latest tomorrow and ship on Tuesday.

Then comes another order of 200 of the horrible little 3oz sample bags for the MTV Awards. Good exposure, with Annie as the celebrity. But oh, boy, this is not particularly what I signed up for.

But then end is in sight, counting the months and days til I leave here for Panama. I’ve started the Spanish cd’s – but I did the first one in the car, driving to the warehouse. That’s a mistake! I have to concentrate too hard, so driving becomes hazardous to me…and other drivers. So will carve out the 30 minutes a day at home. Keep myself and others safe!

Our gorgeous weather lasted for two days, and now we are back to dreary. This is soooo depressing. But one bright spark in the picture, is Janet is here for the weekend. We haven’t seen her for 8 months. Living down Baja most of the time, and then over in Lake Chelan the other few months, we don’t see her much any more. And I miss her.

We are all moving along different paths, some merging, some diverging. Sometimes it hurts as dear friends move on and away, and to me, it is so important to keep in contact, to keep those ties that strengthen. When I think of when I left home, it took months for a postcard to get to Mum for Fiji or wherever I was. Now, we just need the internet and we are in contact. It seems like even the remotest part of the world is accessible now. In that regard, we are so fortunate. But as the world grows smaller, families and friends get spread far and wide. A good thing I suppose, as we are able to keep in touch, but still, it would be nice if everyone was closer. So much of the personal contact is being lost into the ether.

Ah well, I think it’s the crappy weather making me feel blue.

So to make things better, Susan, Janet and I went to T’s down at Point Hudson on Friday evening to celebrate her being here for the weekend. We tried to sit outside but the wind was cutting, so ended up inside. We have so much catching up to do! She is coming to spend the night here tonight, so it’s a pizza night as I am going to be packing nuts – what a surprise – all day. So will stop for Ferino’s on the way home.

Roll on, Panama.

Gorgeous weather

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Finally…

Yesterday was beautiful and today is equally so. The crystal clear blue skies we get in the early summer, morning light golden on the new leaves across the water. A super high tide, water glassy with reflections. No complaints here … except the water should be 30+ degrees warmer! Not too much longer to wait for that.

Veges are finally growing; it has taken weeks and weeks for them to start, the weather has been so awful and cold. The tulips are over, but some of the irises are out with more budding. The rhodies are just starting to flower – just in time for Rhody Week in Port Townsend. Hopefully the weather will hold for the parades and festivities.

Unfortunately, I have to be inside a lot of today as we are putting together 5000 little bags of nuts for a promotion. So we have to stick on the labels and then fill the little suckers. I have help, there is no way I could do it all myself! But I get paid, that’s a new concept!

Editing is going well, although I won’t be doing much this week, with all the nutty business, but it looks like it will serve me well when I am out of the country. I’m getting really excited about the move. Bill, a fellow I am corresponding with on Bocas, told me there are quite a few South Africans who have moved there and he will introduce me. So it won’t be too traumatic to move there on my own. Still not sure if Susan will go at the same time. But I am pretty set on doing the language immersion for a few weeks. I think it is very important.

I am so proud of my sons. Ryan starts on Hell’s Kitchen as Supervising Producer. Moving from American Idol and up the ladder. Next title I think is C0-Executive Producer. He has really worked hard, and continues to work hard at his career. And all that hard work is paying off.

And Cody! On his different path. An EMS and soon-t0-be firefighter! But that suits him. I never suspected a leaning towards this, but he is such a caring person, and so physical, this is perfect for him. Not to mention the financial rewards are much higher than carpentry production. Once he is a firefighter, he will have time to pursue his hobbies, his art and furniture making.

I am blessed. And when I go to Panama, I will miss them, but suspect I might see them more than I do now, when they come down on vacation.

Juxtaposition

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Juxtaposed! Serenity and War. Yes that is a nuclear sub.
Sometimes things just don’t seem to fit together, like the image here. Out on the Hood Canal on a gorgeous (one of the few) day, sun, no wind and then we notice the floating bridge opening, and this monster came through, escorted by four Coast Guard armed vessels, two large what look like merchant ships loaded with containers that travel beside it and two huge push/pull tugs! We stood off but one of the CG boats came quite close with guns pointed towards us. Nasty!

Bangor sub base is not far from us. They do a lot of repairs there and their frequent Canal transits cause a lot of trouble when the bridge has to open and traffic backs up for miles! When a sub goes through, it is open for at least 45 minutes and they always seem to manage to do it at peak traffic time – like Fridays in the late afternoon or Sunday evenings when everyone is leaving the peninsula and heading back towards the ferries and Seattle!

The nuts are going along, but slowly. We need to move to a warehouse that can be licensed, but the powers that be don’t seem to want to do that yet so it is very frustrating. Especially being here on my own with no one to bounce ideas off. I talked to Ryan for 5 minutes and he comes up with ideas! I think that is the hardest part of this business, being the sole person really involved in it. Although now, the marketing people are maybe coming in as equity partners which means they will be more involved. And hopefully with them, communication will be easier than with Annie, who I don’t think reads any emails I send her. Or if she does, doesn’t respond. But the whole situation is very frustrating.

Ryan and I are getting his old concept back on line – valid, the on line magazines for girls between 15-24 to see pictures of boys. It is not called valid any more, but eyesoulheart – so eye candy (the boys) bare their souls to other girls, get/give advice, talk about boyfriends etc (heart) So Ryan is creating the logo and we are both working on the site so that keeps my mind off being pissed off at other people!

Weather has been so/so – cloudy mornings some sun in the afternoon, but I think that we have had our summer and that is soooo sad! Anyway, going to look at laptops today before this old workhorse mac dies on me! That would be catastrophic. Too bad the company won’t buy one for me. I’d love to stay with a mac, but they are so expensive compared to a pc so will just have to settle this time around.

Solitary Life

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My early morning view
Well, Chris finally got himself moved to the condo in Port Townsend. Well, almost moved. He still has a few things here, including the boat, which will stay as there isn’t anywhere up there for him to keep it. Besides, it looks nice here at the dock. But he says he is going to sell it…
I realized through all this upheaval that I really don’t want to live on my own, regardless of where it is. Even though Chris and I were at loggerheads a lot of the time, it was company, somebody here. When Ryan and Cody were little, throwing tantrums or being naughty to get attention, we used to say, “A soggy potato chip is better than no potato chip,” and that sort of applies in my situation. Now it’s just me and the cats and I just don’t want to become the old lady stuck away somewhere with a whole bunch of cats and nothing else. I keep thinking how fun and romantic it would be if living in this cute little house in this beautiful setting – with some wonderful, handsome, wealthy man who absolutely loves me to death! Actually, I wouldn’t mind even having a woman room mate! As I look outside now, it is crystal clear, early morning, high tide, a reasonable temperature and supposed to get up to 70+ today, and I know that there are very few places in the world like this. And when I leave here, I will miss it. 
Anyway…
The nut biz was very nutty there for a while and has slowed down considerably, which financially is not good, but actually is giving me breathing room to do other stuff that has been put on the back burner. We started doing the variety packs and Annie likes them so much that now the programmers are working on the site to make it possible for customers to have their own mixes in the small bags. They are a real pain to make, so the prices are going to be considerably higher. It took me a while to figure out how to do this, but in the end it is turning out to be quite simple as it is all done in the database. The hardest part is going to be the packing! 
I had hoped to get the WSDA food facility processing permit here but it would take a remodel on the house to do that. So with the new small packs, and corporate interest in big orders, I am starting to look at small warehouse/office space. There aren’t many around and it would mean I would be “going to work” if we did that. The company has been asked to be the “nut vendor” at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival in September, which will be fun. The Festival is huge now, and very well know around the country so it is a good way of getting the name out there. 
Doing my research on the countries I might want to live and Nicaragua and Honduras are high on the list at the moment. Honduras is having political problems so have to keep an eye on that. Last Saturday at the Farmers’ Market, a guy was selling a VW camper, in really good shape and I thought (not too seriously) about getting one later down the road and making the drive down to Central America to check out the countries. It would be an amazing adventure but I would not want to do it on my own. Twenty years ago I would have.
I hate having to admit – and accept – the fact that I am getting older and that my “medical issue” slows me down a bit. Of course, my mind still thinks of me as 18 – until I look in the mirror and go – “Holy shit! Who is that!” And I think of all the women who have stuff “done” and don’t want to go there. I hate pain! So it’s looking life and facts head on and accepting what is, is. YUCK! Damn, that really sucks!

Moving forward

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It’s ages since I did any writing at all. There has just been sooo much going on…

It’s actually the beginning of May since the last post; just after Scott died. It seems a lifetime ago.

Now here we are, the day after independence day, past mid-summer and I am still wearing fleece and furry slippers, with the heat on. The weather people have been predicting sun and warmth for days but I have given up on them. Every day is the same, gray and dreary in the mornings, usually drizzly, then sometimes burning off in the late afternoon when everyone rushes outside to catch some rays. But the temperature doesn’t rise enough, although the light is wonderful then.

So it is definitely time for me to leave this place. The weather has a profound affect on how I feel both physically and mentally. With that in mind, I am formulating a plan and it goes something like this – and always subject to change!

First the house: As I am not going to be able to keep it, I will stay here as long as I can until the bank takes it back. Along with that comes the loan from Ghen that I have that needs to be paid back. This is the money I borrowed through Ryan to pay Chris off when he went to Florida and quit claimed the house to me. He is the only one who has made any money on our properties! The money I won’t be paying on the mortgage will go to Ghen. It is actually a relief to let the house go. It has been difficult trying to hang on to it as I do love the location on the water, and the house is so liveable and comfy; I have become quite attached to it. I’ve been here six years now, the longest I have been in one house in my entire adult life! But I have pared back my lifestyle to where I live so simply and with so little “stuff.” I sold just about everything at my big garage sale last summer and have never replaced it, so the physical move will be easy.

Once the house goes, I will move myself and the business down to Southern California somewhere. The business will have to go into a warehouse/office type place as I won’t be able to afford to get a house with a garage, and besides, the way the business is growing, pretty soon it will be too big for a garage anyway. Once there, I will continue to grow the business, but look at bringing someone else in to run it. More on that aspect in a bit.

Then in the next couple of years, I want to be down in Central America somewhere, close to or on the beach, where I can live cheaply and the medical system is good. Next year I can get social security, not a whole lot, but there are countries there where I can live on it, very frugally. But I am used to living that way now, so it won’t be a big change. I have a feeling that the place will be Panama – they have a great medical system, the weather is good, there is lots of sun and beautiful beaches and it doesn’t get cold. Susan will be gone most of this winter for 3-4 months and Janet is already spending 8 months in Mexico and the thought of being up here and enduring a winter without my two dearest friends is very depressing.

Mymixednuts will continue to grow. And if possible I can do a lot of the work from anywhere in the world. It’s the physical aspect of it that needs someone to run it. And if it is in SoCal, then it will be close to the other partners ( I am supposed to get an equity share in September) who can keep an eye on things.

Doing this business has been an amazing experience, something I would never have thought I could do. But it’s amazing what we can accomplish when we are faced with a do or die situation. Every step of the way has been a challenge, and new ones present themselves every day. It is getting to the point now, where at times it is too much for one person to handle, and I have been really blessed to have Susan step in to help, and been able to hire a young man for half a day to help with a big order. Taking it to the next level is going to need more expertise I think. I’ve been operating by the seat of my pants, doing what’s in front of me but now I am going to need help planning out the next steps. It is a viable business, but needs more than the Mom and Pop take on it. Our marketing people are doing a great job, and the accountant is doing the basic books, but we are going to need inventory management etc etc. And that is beyond my accounting/math/whatever skills.

But creating the site and business has definitely given me the confidence to move ahead, on my own. It’s scary thinking about the future by myself, but now I know I can do it without anyone else around to help. Ryan has always been there in the background, online and on the phone, and his support has been invaluable. But it would really have been good to have a partner here. But I know I can do it without someone, so I guess that is the lesson in all this.

So I need to continue to develop other streams of income, while keeping MMN going; work that I can take with me wherever I go. The Kangen water business is one of those and I continue to drink copious amounts and totally believe in. My health would not be anywhere near what it is now without the water.

And then there is the writing side of things that I have let go. Ryan wants me to write a book but I don’t know if I have the staying power – I am so used to writing articles that something book length is intimidating. Then there is writing for the web and that is all about building a brand for myself. But if I put as much effort into that as I have into MMN, it should work.

I am exploring options. Working the long hard hours that I have in the past month are not what I have in mind for the next part of my life. It takes too much out of me physically, and thus, mentally. And I want to spend more of my time doing things that I have laid aside for years – like creative cooking and sewing and even using my camera which sits languishing on my desk, used only to take pix of nuts! And I want to make enough, or more than enough, to be able to travel back and forth from wherever I am to see family and friends, wherever they may be – Southern California, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico.

And of course, writing too. Today is a holiday so I don’t feel guilty taking time to even write this blog. And this is cathartic, putting it all down and out there makes my plan more real. I’ve been floating too long with no direction, simply putting one step ahead of the last, but now it’s time.

It was a rough week

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Last week was a difficult one to get through. But even the short few days since Scott died have lessened the shock of it. It was such an eye opener and reminder to live life to the fullest, every day. And although it shouldn’t be, it is a difficult thing to do. Especially working, it feels like being on a treadmill.
But the good thing is, the weather is improving, business is picking up and the world is full of color!
Sometimes, when I take a photo, I know I “got” it!
Farmer’s Market is open and although I missed the first day, Saturday was so much fun, and took my mind off the depressing reality of the death of someone my age. I met Susan and Janet at Janet’s house and we went on to the market. It was one of those brilliantly beautiful northwest days, when the blue of the sky is so dark and transparent, you swear you can see right through it, the mountains brilliant and snow-capped, silhouetted against blue. Beaver Valley Rd was picture perfect, cattle lazing in the sun, tractors out mowing, really amazing! The market itself was wonderful, early flowers and veges in good supply. Lots of new vendors, lots of young farmers which to me, is one of the best things to see.
This week, I got back to work, and the pr is going well. So packed and sent out several packages of nuts and I just got an email saying the local TV station wants to do a segment about me and the local paper is doing an article. I am to meet Patrick, who I have worked with before, on Friday. It will interesting being interviewed, instead of interviewing :) and I am not too sure about being on TV! What do I wear? And oh good grief! I need Tate up here to do my hair!! Who knows, maybe I will be discovered! Ha ha! 
Yoga is good – and I got the last spot in the next session! I am getting to really look forward to it. It totally absorbs my mind and body while I am doing it, about the only time my mind is not racing around all over the place. Now I just need to start doing it at home every day. I think out on the deck would be fun, nobody is ever out so no one would see me trying to become a pretzel.
I just saw our two resident Canadian geese cruise by with four tiny babies in their wakes! I wonder how many will survive the predatory eagles and coyotes?

Frustration

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Just when you think things are moving along well, something falls apart!
The site was going along nicely, with tweaks and adding APIs. Then there were no orders and I thought, ok people are just not buying right now. But after a couple of days, I thought this is weird and asked the IT guys to check it. No, they said, it appears to be working fine. Well, I didn’t think so, so went in and placed an order, and what do you know, the shopping cart wasn’t working!
Damn!
So contact IT again, no, it should be working. No it’s NOT! So two days of checking and finally they got part of it working again. But wouldn’t you know, a different part is not working properly now.
Sheesh, it seems like every time I get things stable, something breaks, and then it’s like a cascading effect, one thing leads to another. Oh well, I just have to keep on it, every day, checking, checking, emailing. skypeing. But I think I might need to consider putting them on retainer!
And another frustration – I had a phone appointment set up with Dr. Jadin in South Africa for 7 am – so I called, right on time and got the answering machine. They supposedly don’t close til 5:30 their time, and it was 5. So I waited a few minutes and called again and the doc picked up. Now, she has a very strong French accent so is difficult to understand anyway, but then the confusion of her not knowing I had scheduled a consult, and her not having my file with her… so now I have to wait for an email from her. Third world country receptionist obviously didn’t tell her about it. Lucky for me I have a calling card for cheap minutes. But at least I have checked in and can get the next round of antibiotics, I hope.
Yoga was wonderful this morning, again a beautiful morning with sun streaming in through the high windows of the gym. This time we were facing away from the direct sun but it filled the room with such a warmth. Amy, our instructor, keeps adding new poses and boy, the last one of the day was a lulu! I don’t know what it is called, but I could barely get close to what it was supposed to be! And what a workout. Sweet, as they say.
Today I got my Philosopher’s Notes which are short takes – 6 pages and a 20 minute video – of 100 of the best books from the last 100 years or so. So now, instead of reading the whole book, there is a synopsis of all the main points! Very cool – the first one I read was The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, which I read a long time ago – and thought I still had but don’t. So now will be able to gather all the wisdom from them in my lifetime :)
THE BIG IDEAS
The Domestication
Of humans.

1st Agreement:
Be impeccable with your word.

2nd Agreement:
Don’t take anything personally.

3rd Agreement:
Don’t make assumptions.

4th Agreement:
Always do your best.

The First Step
Toward freedom.

We Stop Ourselves
Let’s not blame others.

Breaking Domestication
Step-by-step.

Repetition
Makes the master.

Yoga, spring bulbs, web 2.0 and more

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That’s a bit of a mix, I’d say. When I look at the title of this blog, it really fits my life at the moment – a bit of an oxymoron. Yoga and spirituality doesn’t necessarily fit with web 2.0 and life on the internet – or does it?
But it’s what I do and it feels comfortable so maybe it’s the new way of life, combining the spiritual, the natural (the garden) and the technical.
The yoga – it was fun, relaxing and invigorating all at once. It’s something I have wanted to do for years. I remember trying it years ago but the instructor had her own spiritual agenda that did not fit my ideas at the time, so I baled out. This time around, there is no agenda attached and as I have my own beliefs about the mind body connection, this works for me. And I like that it is beginning yoga, so if I choose to continue the practice, I will know the basic poses and the correct way of doing them so I don’t hurt myself. I am amazed how stiff I was, finding muscles I haven’t used in used in years.
And what is making the class even more enjoyable, is Susan joined me in the second session! It’s always more fun to do things like that with a buddy.
On to the bulbs. With our very mild winter – so far – my spring bulbs are showing their little faces! The irises have been up for a while, but yesterday I was out in the garden and saw that the tulips are just breaking the soil! Now I hope we don’t get some horrendous freeze that kills them off. Which could happen as we still have a couple of months to go before we are through winter. But the days are definitely getting longer, too, which is a blessing.
I am looking forward to working with the PR guys on the site. I believe that working with the people in India has been a good thing, getting the basic framework for the site up and running, and the backend all sorted, but I thing Brian and his crew are going to be able to make the site work a lot better, and improve the look and feel. I am going to work with them on this, bridging between them and the programmers, plus implementing some of the changes myself when I can. It is going to be a huge learning experience – being paid to go to school – love it! I am so glad that Annie and crew are on board with the whole thing and understand what needs to be done.
So this evening I will be online late, checking in with India, going over what needs to be done.
My other project is waiting for Scott to get back from Minneapolis where he went for his 60th – so I hope that next week, I can get the proposal on to elance.com and get that going. And I will definitely make sure the funding is in place before I do too much more.
Yesterday was curry day! Susan and Pam are coming for lunch today, and as I love lamb curry, I made a big pot of it, and it is yummy. While it was cooking, Susan called and suggested a movie – so put everything on hold and drove to Port Townsend to see Up in the Air with hunk, George Clooney. He is always a pleasure to watch – sort of like going to watch Sean Connery. The movie was good – lots of funny parts but really drove home the idea of relationships and loneliness – and it just reminded me too much of how isolated I am down here and how important relationships – romantic, family, friends – are. So that made for a bitter/sweet movie for me.  Oh and I love the song on the soundtrack, Help Yourself by Sad Brad Smith

Something I have put off for ages

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I started a yoga class! Finally! It’s been something I have been threatening to do for years. Not only will this be good for my body, but my mind too. It makes me get out of the house at least twice a week and go to Port Townsend. Otherwise, unless I have something specific that needs to be done, I am here in the house, alone on the sand spit, with my kitties. Not good.

So when I saw the class advertised through the the local community college, at a very reasonable rate, I immediately (well, not right away) signed up. It is held in a wonderful old building in Fort Worden at the Madrona MindBody Institute. It is the original gym and it has been restored beautifully as you can see from the picture – this is the room where the class is held. Ceilings have to be 15 feet high and lovely wood floors. The windows are original and you can see how the glass has slipped – the bottom of the panes are waffly where the glass is thicker!

Poor kitties are not feeling good today, I took them for their shots yesterday and they have really been knocked for a six! Buddy had to have a sedative before we went to the vet as he is petrified in the car – throws up and poops! – but it lasted well into the evening. Poor boy was wobbling around all over the place, couldn’t stand up. And today they are both just sleeping and not eating – something very unusual for them. But as we are always told, “It’s for your own good.” And I know they will be just fine by the end of the day.

The site is slow, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have things to do! Just not packing enough orders but I understand there is a PR firm coming on board to help with that. And I am working on the Dockside site plan but Scott is away in Minneapolis for his 60th birthday so will have to wait until he gets back. But if he wants the site up and running by April 1, he is going to have to get on the stick and commit.

It is brighter today – and we are supposed to be a little drier for a few days. It really hasn’t been THAT cold, more spring-like temperatures, just very soggy. Too soggy to walk but at least now I will be doing the yoga – so off I go to get ready!

This is amazing!

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I just got back from a lovely walk on the beach in balmy sunshine! It is so warm I didn’t need a jacket and here it is, the middle of January, our worst month! I have the doors open, and the heat off! I’m loving it! Of course, I know it won’t last but I am certainly making the most of it. Even the birds are fooled! They were all out chirping away – poor things are in for a shock in a day or two. And the plants are being fooled as well! My iris are up and even some primroses are trying and this sun and warmth is really going to screw them up.
With the low tides during the day at the moment, the beach is a wonderful place to walk. I think it’s about a mile and a half of beach walking out to the sand island and back. It’s littered with clams and clam shells and flocks of Canadian geese lined the water’s edge. They look identical to the Egyptian geese in South Africa – and are as noisy and messy! But it’s fun to see them and lots of other water birds along the shore. Of course, seagulls predominate but there are also the golden eyes and mergansers, plus the big blue herons. I didn’t see any today, but often the bald eagles are out fishing too, or hanging out in the trees along the shoreline. Really a beautiful place and so peaceful. Although the sounds of the water are not the crashing surf sounds of Clansthal, the gentle lapping and swish is very soothing and stress relieving and I always feel so much better after walking there – but during the winter I seldom get the chance, as we don’t get days like these very often.
The site has a bit of a new look! We have more of a call to action on the front page so hope that will help with the sales. Ryan put it on stumbleupon yesterday and we got 1000 visitors – but not enough orders. Check it out and click the thumbs up button, and make us a favorite! It’s all part of the viral marketing and it appears to be working – even though our “campaign” on SU is done, we are still getting a lot of hits and people are joining us on twitter and becoming fans on the mymixednuts facebook page!
I am starting to put together the next project – mostly in my head at the moment! I was walking and working at the beach! It’s for Dockside, getting the magazine online as a flip page magazine and also the complete website with forums, blogs etc. A much bigger site than originally planned so will most likely use the same people in India but plan to put it out to bid on elance so they know they have to be competitive. I don’t think it will be quite as complex as the nut site, but I am sure there will be challenges with it, too.
Yesterday was a huge hurdle for me – I actually went into the backend of the web site and made changes to the coding – and they worked! I was scared that I might screw something up but it all worked although there was one change I made that turned the site into a mess! But I before I made any changes, and as I went along, I copied and pasted the code into word, so with the big screw up, I quickly deleted everything and replaces with the old code I had saved, then went back in and found what I had done wrong, and next time, it worked! Whew! Fortunately, I did all this before we had all the 1000 visitors!