Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007

Our First Newsletter!

Last week, we sent out the first Ekcetera Newsletter. You can view it here:

http://newsletter.ekcetera.com/phplist/newsletters/december2006.htm

If you’re not already on our mailing list, you can sign up to receive it on our website.

Thursday, December 21st, 2006

Creative Christmas Fun

Did I mention I’ve been swamped lately? Because of my lack of time to bring you the latest at Ekcetera, here’s some holiday fun. I especially recommend the conspiracy carols, elf yourself, my holiday sweater, north pole dancing (be sure to check out Santa’s icy river jig, sprinkler, and thriller moves), save the snowman, awww heck, they’re all great!

Remember to be creative and allow yourself plenty of time to check them all out! Merry Christmas!

Oh, and if you’re at work, be sure to look at a little, “yes, I’m working”

Some great stuff from the folks at office max. http://www.officemax.com/max/solutions/minisite/minisiteTemplate.jsp?msno=17

Wednesday, December 13th, 2006

A Different Kind of Stress

In honor of my recent 26th birthday, I’m going to talk about getting old. 26 is a strange time. My elders look at me and laugh, saying, “you’re not old….I wish I was 26″ and those that are a bit younger (usually around the 5-10 age) say, “Wow, you’re old! I remember having that conversation with my 6 year-old cousin at the dinner table when we were practicing math. My age added up to 5 hands - I was still 25 at the time. This is a very odd feeling. My husband and I cherish with each other that these are the times when we’ll probably feel our physical best in life and can live with high hopes and energy. But, it’s hard not to feel life rushing by and to wonder if I missed out on anything as a youth in my constant desire to grow up and experience grown-up things. All those are gone now….getting a license, graduation, turning 21, graduating college, getting a house, even a wedding is over. I’ve done all of the “biggies” and now I’ll only live them through my children. It’s odd how these things happen so early in life.

I make note of this “getting old” - however you want to look at it - today because last night I experienced my first instance of Alzheimer’s. I took some time off from this crazy job I find myself in and decided to put together our Christmas card - I know it’s getting late, but it’s coming. I also had high hopes of working on a Christmas gift for my in-laws (shhh, it’s a surprise). This meant I needed my mini hard drive and USB adapter which I normally take everywhere with me. It’s usually in my purse and I couldn’t find it. Dan and I searched the house, the car, and I finally decided I needed to go to the office to see if I left it there. This was such a terrible feeling because I’m usually very good about remembering where I put something like this. It’s always with me so the only place I lay it down is in my purse or my briefcase. It wasn’t at the office. Finally, back at home after about an hour or so of looking and thinking that we may have threw it out in the recycling, Dan found it between the seats of my car. We really just wanted to drive it around town…ha ha. I decided that this was a new kind of stress I’m feeling with work that makes me lose my ability to remember fine details that I am normally good at remembering. I finally knew what others were talking about!

So a couple of things have reminded me this week to slow down a bit and look at life differently. I feel bad that my life is so wrapped up in this business right now and I’m sure at times I’m somewhat dull to talk to because it’s all I’ve got at the moment. I know that will change once things calm down - my life has so much more to it than the business. Anyway, in church on Sunday the sermon was about preparing for Christmas and how busy this time of year is. I took away the message that we need to take the time to enjoy life right now and CELEBRATE preparing for Christmas, rather than stressing about it. This will make Christmas a much happier day, rather than rushing all the way up to it, then it rushing by and moving quickly on to the next thing. Let’s stop and enjoy the time NOW until Christmas and then Christmas will seem like much more of a celebration. So, I’m going to work on praising people for the positive things they bring to my life and to enjoy each moment as much as I can.

I was also reminded of this because there was a shooting on one of the major highways here on Sunday. A man was driving in his car and it was believed he was in a traffic altercation. Some poor soul decided to pull out a gun and shoot him. The joke we all make about cutting someone off and getting shot is very true.

So everyone, my purpose for this message is just to remind you to slow down for Christmas and try to promote something positive.

Carpe Diem!

Monday, December 11th, 2006

What’s your sign?

On Friday the store’s sign went up! It’s a bit more green than I would like, but apparently when it comes to signs, there’s only a limited number of colors that you can get in vinyl letters. I still think it looks fab. I noticed that while we were there, there were an abnormally large number of cars pulling into the empty parking lot and looping around to check out this new store. I put a banner up outside that says, “Coming Soon!” The word soon is relative. I wonder what most people expect for a timeline when they read those words.

Anyway, things are starting to take shape. My husband and I etched and stained the concrete floor this weekend. Wow, what a job. After doing this, I wouldn’t hesitate to stain a concrete basement or garage floor - it was actually quite fun, but when you’re talking about 2800 sq ft. of concrete, it’s an entirely different beast. Let’s just say it felt like we were saving ourselves from the great flood, as our shoes and the bottom of our pants were soaked in water and etching acid (no worries, the acid only harms concrete and metal - cloth and plastic/rubber were fine). We have to seal the floor last. I’ll post pics of the final product when we’re finished.

Back in the office today, I’m relieved to be sitting at a desk - much needed relief for my aching muscles. I’m going to take some time today and push aside client projects (shhh, don’t tell)… to do some much-needed work for Ekcetera administration.

Wednesday, December 6th, 2006

McEkcetera Burger and Fries

I’ve heard one particular word three times now….FRANCHISE. Lately, when I’ve been telling people about the store, a common reponse I get is, “You should franchise that!” One person looked at my marketing materials and said, “Is this a franchise?” Wow, that’s really flattering. However, I don’t know that’s the direction I want to go…definitely multiple stores and establishing a recognized brand, but I’m not quite sure I want to go so far as to franchise the idea. This isn’t something that can easily be done by someone else who doesn’t have the passion behind it that I do. I’d have to carefully select people to sell the license to, but I think I’d much rather hire them to run my store - still under my company, rather than sell the rights to open their own store.

Who knows what the future will bring…