Last week, my computer was hit by a virus. It was ugly. Very ugly.

And my external hard drive? Yeah, that apparently bit the dust.

So I was looking at many, many photos and documents that were possibly not recoverable. Yeah, it was crying time.

Thank the good Lord that the peeps over at Staples know what they are doing. It took them several days more than they estimated, but they cleaned up the mess and restored my files. And I got my computer back last night.

But get this…I don’t know if it was part of the whole virus thing or what, but one of my email accounts was compromised. Not once, but twice.

So even if I could get on a computer, I was blocked from sending emails because my account got shut down. Twice.

Lessons here? Well, back up. Back up often. And I have…trying out the cloud now, and boy do I hope the security is in place. I will likely get another external hard drive just to back up once with the major stuff and shove it in a fireproof box. But I think I will go with online back up for the most part.

And also, change your passwords every so often and make them tough. I think the passwords I was using were probably “okay,” but okay doesn’t cut it anymore. They need to be crazy good, secure passwords.

I’m still uploading my programs again, like MS Office and Photoshop, etc. So I am still in the midst of the aftermath. And I’m still scared to lose it all again. But another lesson learned…I survived. I didn’t shrivel up and die. I didn’t keel over and roll up into a little ball and cry myself to sleep at night. Even for a writer who needs her computer and needs her email, I found some work-arounds to get things done and meet my deadlines. I call that a win.

There was a time when we didn’t think she would ever exist.

Mr. S and I were told by a supposed “expert” that we would never get pregnant. That we would have to go for  IVF if we ever wanted a child together.

We’ve actually been pregnant five times since that stupid expert told us that. (Yes, there are times I want to go over to said expert’s office and blow a raspberry in her face).

Yes, five times. And one baby. In fact, I’ve been pregnant 8 times in this lifetime and I have two living children to show for it. And while that’s sad, we like to concentrate on the awesome kids that are here (though I do like to think I have a bunch of kids waiting for me up in heaven to meet some day).

I remember when I first saw Miss T’s heartbeat. It was surreal.

I also remember being so scared she wouldn’t make it. But she did.

I remember the day she arrived, two years ago. And she was just the most precious thing. A head of dark hair (yes, DARK hair which all fell out and now you can see the crazy hair we have now).

Miss T is just awesome. And yes, as her mom I suppose I am a bit biased. But really, she’s all this crazy fun and super smart sassiness in a two year old body. It’s just amazing.

Every day I thank God for her and her brother D. They are both the lights of my life.

God is good.

This is the free Mini Marketing Plan that you will find in the book. And let’s face it, it’s safer to just print this out and write on it, then to write on your Kindle device. Yup, just click on that link and you will have the pdf pop up - no need to provide an email address or anything (which is a MAJOR marketing misstep if you read my Landing Pages book…but I’m a rebel like that).

I hope you find it helpful.

In the meantime, have you checked out my other books available on Amazon:

• Becoming a Work at Home Real Estate Agent
• Working Your Real Estate Business
• The Complete WAHM Agent
• The WAHM Guide to Landing Pages and Autoresponders

It’s a lot easier to use sheets when you can print them out and have them right in front of you.

No need to give me an email address or anything like that. Just click this link for the Real Estate Prospect worksheets and you will have the pdf pop up. Make sure you save it to your computer so you can print it out again and again.

By the way – have you checked out my other WAHM Agent books?

• Becoming a Work at Home Real Estate Agent
• Marketing Strategy for the Work at Home Mom Real Estate Agent

A bit easier to write things out on something printable, huh?

So here it is. No need to fill out a form, provide your email address or anything along those lines. Just click this link and you’ll get the Goal Setting pdf form.

Enjoy!

I was busy with some articles I needed to edit. And other whatnot stuff around the house. But I didn’t find myself so distracted as I had been the first time ’round. I think it may be that my body is just more used to limiting calories or something. I thought it would be a rough day, so it was a nice surprise that it wasn’t.

I am doing another cleanse day today (you can do two in a row every so often) and it’s going a-okay. I think the worst part was waiting at the polls to vote and feeling a little icky. But that would likely be due to holding a 26 lb sack of potatoes (aka a sleeping baby girl) in my arms as the sun was beating down on me in a stupid long line (my early ballot never got to me – ugh!!!). And less likely that it was just due to being hungry or anything.

I weighed myself today and also took my measurements. Five weeks in and I have NOT been doing the whole Isagenix thing nearly as aggressively as Mr. S. But I am very happy with my results so far. I have lost 10 pounds and I have lost over 21 inches all over. I definitely can see and feel the difference. And it’s motivating me to keep going.

It tasted great.

But boy, did it look something awful.

It was a green gray-ish chocolate shake. Not visually appealing in the least. But I got past the ugly pallor and took a drink.

And it was quite tasty. You can’t really taste anything from the Isagenix Greens! But you can definitely taste the yummy orange flavor that the Want More Energy drink mix provides.

So…sometimes you may find when you whip something up that it might look scary, but it’s actually quite yummy if you let your head get past the look.

Keep in mind, this is since I initially measured on the 4th, 4 days into my Isagenix program. I have lost over 7 pounds. Not stressing about not having more weight loss. I can tell I am looking better in my clothes and have already received a bunch of comments from people who can tell I’ve lost weight. So that will keep me going.

Interestingly enough, I haven’t done any additional cleanse days since my very first. I am being pretty careful about what I do (and don’t do) on the program, including cleanse days. I’ve got some medications I am on (that cause weight GAIN, oh joy), and I don’t want to have to deal with any possible contraindications. Yes, I am probably going a bit overboard, but that’s okay. I want to lose weight, but not have to deal with any repercussions due to my other health issues.

Mr. S and I are continuing to add to the new Mind Body Time health and wellness website and we’re pretty excited about it. We even have a new Twitter account (http://twitter.com/MindBodyTime) and we’re working on a Facebook page. Things are moving along!

Mr. S came up with his business name and then I went and bought the domain name for it. You’d think I had all this website stuff down by now but I usually had a lot of it done for me, with me just concentrating on the writing side. But I’ve been wanting to learn more of the backend aspect of putting up WordPress themes, finding (and using) the right plugins and so on. (If you think I’m typing gibberish right now, that’s okay…it was all gibberish to me at one point as well).

So we’ve got his business site up and running and have some articles on it. We plan to add much, much more. If you have a moment, I’d love for you to check it out over at Mind Body Time.

I’m getting smarter, though. Mr. S bought a couple boxes of Fiber Snacks and I tucked one in my purse yesterday before heading off to munchkin’s football game.

And it was the perfect snack to keep me going! Tasted like a chewy granola bar, but better. Packs with nuts and really chewy…but not annoyingly so.

And, a side note today (though it’s pretty big in my book)…tomorrow will be three weeks on the Isagenix thing and as of today I have lost 7 pounds. Woohoo!!!