Boxed Wine

First of all, is it Box wine or Boxed wine...does it really matter?  No.  It does not. 

You may ask:  How much do you love your boxed wine?  Enough to take a picture of it and make an Andy Warhol-esque portrait with it. 

So, why do I love my cheap, delicious boxed wine so much more than bottled wine?  Let me count the ways:

1. It is portable.  A bladder of wine in a cardboard box is virtually indestructible and in my world (where I am completely clumsy and butter fingered and constantly tripping over my children, dog, my kids toys and random pieces of junk) I need something that will not shatter into a million pieces and stab me in the toe or heart...
2. It lasts FOREVER!  First of all, one bottle of wine is just one bottle.  When you pour a glass of wine the way I do (see below), that sucker doesn't last very long at all.  A box of wine has a great little tap on it (always go for the push button tap-not the screw top tap) and doesn't go bad.  So, in between my wine tasting group's meetings, my $13 box of wine will stay just as delicious as the first day I opened it.
3. It tastes delicious.  I think that there is nothing better than a good, smooth glass of white zinfandel.  It is fruity, sweet, smooth and delicious.
4. They serve it at restaurants and bars.  Yup.  You read that right.  Last weekend my friends and I went to several bars and restaurants in one evening.  We went to 5 different places.  In each place, I ordered the same thing.  (Yes, white Zin).  In 4 out of 5 places...the wine I got was CLEARLY Franzia...FROM A BOX!  Yes, I paid $5 for a glass of boxed wine that was arguably crappier than my boxed wine at home.  So, if it's good enough for them to overcharge me for, it's good enough for me to buy.  And, in the event that it wasn't Franzia, it was not making the case for me to spend the extra money for bottled wine, as it tasted like ass, and my delicious Vella tastes like sweet manna from heaven.

If I just paid $5 for that amount of wine, the glass had better be as big as my head.

Now that's how you pour a glass of wine, bitches!

So there are many other articles extolling the value of bottled wine and there are many others talking about other things.  Obviously, I did a lot of research before I wrote this post-I pretty much googled "Boxed Wine" and then ignored the search and started looking at the pictures associated with boxed wine-which were much more entertaining. Then I started looking at Halloween costumes based on boxed wine-which were infinitely more entertaining.

That's how I came across this thing.  Um...isn't that just a box with legs?  What is the point of taking your wine bag out of one box and putting it into another box?  You can almost hear these two douchebags talking:

Hipster Girl 1:  You know what would be so funny and ironic?
Hipster Girl 2:  You mean besides my crazy stupid plaid lumberjack prostitute look?
Hipster Girl 1:  Yeah...to drink wine out of a box because...like...it's so not cool.
Hipster Girl 2:  But, that box is really ugly.  I want it in a different box so that it looks cool while we comment on how lame it is to drink a boxed wine.
Hipster Girl 1:  Yeah.  That is so ironic and lame.  It is cool because it's so lame. 
End scene.

I hope that illuminates some things for you.  Basically, I have no idea how to end this post, so that's it.  Move along, folks.  Good night and good luck.

My Name is Dave

Hi.  I have a new name now.  It's Dave.  You see, I am a boss.  I run a small business with my friend (shameless plug here).  We are new to being bosses, and finding it challenging and fun at the same time.  We are both Dave, and we refer to each other as such. 
What is the most challenging think about being the boss?  You are responsible for everything.  It is terrifying and liberating to think that if something doesn't get done, there is really no one else to take it over for you.  On one hand, you are able to do things the way you want.  On the other, you are the one responsible when things go wrong.   It's a lot like being a parent in that way, except no one expects you to make money being a mom.

This is what I thought it would look like to work from home with my children by my side.

So, what does a day look like for a small business owner?  We are finding that there is no typical day.  On any given day, we are working on promotions, advertising, pricing structures, web design, social media strategies, lesson planning, space/leasing issues, customer retention, teaching classes, and planning for the future among other things.  We are trying to manage finances, figure out how best to hire and pay employees It is a challenge to work in my normal load of housework, bill paying, grocery shopping and still find time for my other part time job.  That doesn't even include time for my family.  There is some time for my family, but it's built in between my business tasks.

This is what it actually looks like.

 Now, that is not to say that all is not well and that I don't enjoy my new position.   I think that I am getting more organized and am being forced to come up with more of a schedule for housework.  My daughters are having to be more patient, and are getting to see what it takes to build a business from the ground up.  They are getting to be a part of a really fun music and movement program, and are a great focus group.  My husband is being very helpful and supportive, and is there with an "'atta girl" when I need one. 

I guess I'll leave you with this thought.  Being a small business owner, especially being a new small business owner, is hard, confusing and scary.  It is also tons of fun, liberating and creates a sense of accomplishment.  We are building something new, necessary and helpful to people in our area, and we are having a blast doing it.  

Look out, world, the Daves are here and you are all going to have to walk a little faster to catch up. 

What About Me?

What is the biggest challenge for moms in the whole world? It is trying to figure out who you are, apart from your children. That is a crazy idea, but, even if you have a baby, it's something that we all have to think about. You know why? Some day, if we do our job the right way and circumstances allow it, they will be on their way, and we will be "us" again. Yes, we'll always be their moms, but we will once again be on our own, with free time, (hopefully) some extra money, and we will be of legal age to do almost anything!

                                                                  Yup, even that.

So, let's start making a list of the things that we want to do now, but we know that if we were caught it would look bad and you would probably be labeled as a degenerate by the Parent Teacher Council (unless,of course, you have them in on the activities with you).

So, what will we be able to do when we are able to be ourselves? We can travel to exotic, not necessarily kid friendly locations

 I hadn't noticed old people crossing the road with their hands up each other's asses before. I'll be sure to look for it now.






We can try new and exciting foods, we can listen to as much hardcore, Gangsta rap as we want with our windows down and our systems up because you know what? We won't give a ___sorry, can't say it. The kids are still in the room.

You get the general idea.

We'll be older, but not too old, and we'll be ready to reclaim some of the youth we were so eager to put on the back burner in order to raise our children responsibly. This doesn't mean, though, that we have to get stale, boring, bland and overly mature. We can still laugh at potty humor. We can still get a little wild with our friends, we can still be us because, in the end, that is what our kids are going to remember. They are going to remember our little idiosyncrasies and the things that made us special to them. They're also going to remember all of the things that you did to permanently scar your children (mine are going to remember because I am keeping a running log for them-so that they can just hand that sucker over to their therapist some day). Just be you. Don't worry about being a super parent. be the best parent you can be. Because, when they are grown and on their own some day, you are going to be left with yourself. Isn't it easier to act a little foolish if you've always been kind of a goof ball? I think there's less to explain that way. They'll just say "Oh, that's mom, she's a little crazy," instead of "Goodness, Muffy, Mother seems to have stepped off the deep end, perhaps we should have an intervention. She is eating her ice cream before her dinner!"

This picture has nothing to do with anything, but it makes me giggle. And that, my friends, is why I am a good, authentic parent.