All about the Darringtons

Bright blue, VERY fragrant Scentsy wax. I was on the floor making samples of Mays Scent of the Month, Mystery Man (AMAZING, by the way!). I accidentally knocked over my melting pot, spilling wax all over my beige carpet. Side note: You know you are in a position of leadership and education when a cleaning catastrophe occurs and you immediately yell, "WAIT! Don't start cleaning that up yet. I need to get my phone. I can make a blog post about this to help my team and customers." PS: KLEENEX is ineffective in this situation. ;) So what do you do when this catastrophe occurs? Stay calm. Get a glass of wine. And these other items: A roll of paper towels An iron A clean paper source (I used some Scentsy packing paper since I had it laying around, but a paper bag does the trick just fine!) Some carpet cleaner (not always necessary, but usually is with the darker, highly pigmented wax. First, take a few sheets of paper towels and soak up what you can by yourself....

Some of the many reasons I love my scentsy business: 1) My entire life, from the time that I can even remember dreaming, I've always wanted a job where I can travel. Scentsy certainly fills my passport, and provides me with as many travel opportunities as I want to take. I can take any or none, it's completely up to me. But it has to be one of my favorite parts of my job. 2) Im becoming the person I've always wanted to be. I've spent the better part of my entire life battling a sense of worthiness, insecurities, and staving off the inner beast that tells me that I'm not good enough. Slowly but surely, over the course of the past five years, since I let this wonderful company into my life, I'm winning the battle with all of these things. 3) Scentsy plays to my strengths. I'm a good talker, I like to be in front of people. I'm a storyteller, and a natural born leader. All of these things have worked wonderfully in my favor. PS: I had no idea I...

In the last couple of days, I've noticed a trend in my Facebook feed. And it's one that I'm rather enjoying, although I find a little intimidating. It's a trend of people airing their messy laundry. But not a bad way. I think we all get caught up sometimes in trying to make our lives look a little cleaner than they are. Like, if we somehow convince the world that our lives are not messy, the mess will cease to exist. I've given myself so much unnecessary stress over the past year, trying to make my life perfect. Comparison is a thief of joy, and my joy has been limited. Seeing some of the things that my friends are saying lately has reminded me that I need to take greater joy in the things that are a little bit messy. And the fact that sometimes I don't get a shower every day, or that, for the first time in my life, I'm feeling the stress and pressure and embarrassment of debt, and hey, my four-year-old kind of runs the house, which by the way, looks like...

It all started one frustrating day in mid December... December 15 to be exact. My sister in law had come to visit. When it was time to leave, she encouraged her son to help clean, while my kids watched. Nothing I was saying was improving their work ethic, so I told my sister in law her son had done enough and sent them on their way. After they left, a two hour battle ensued with my son about cleaning his room. "But I didn't make the mess, I need help to clean it up!" "Son, you had help, you didn't use it." "But, but, but..." So I did something CRAZY. Something desperate. Something I've only ever threatened him I'd do. I sent him down to eat dinner. I told him *I* was going to clean his room for him. He was happy, skipped down the stairs, probably thinking he just won the battle of the year. What he didn't know, was in the 20 minutes he was eating downstairs, I emptied EVERYTHING in his room. In hindsight, I should have taken a "...

15 years ago today, I lost my daddy to a terrible disease. One could argue that in reality, I lost him 30 years ago... but the battle ended 15 years ago. The disease was Addiction, the culprit - heroine. I cant believe 15 years has gone by. Its hard to admit how angry I am. Addiction robbed me of every single thing a girl should have. In the moments I had my daddy, and there were only few, I was most certainly daddy's little girl. I hold on to these memories and cherish them like few others. He didnt get to see me get married or walk me down the isle. He wasnt there to size up my suiters and steer me in the right direction or protect my heart. He missed the birth of all of my children - especially his grandson... who was born on his birthday. I know how tickled he would have been to share a birthday with his grandson. I know he would have been a great grandpa. I dont have anywhere to go when I just want to be right... and be protected and feel like a princess. All because Addicti...

Today, my kids and I were out at one of those places that serve terrible food, but have fun playhouses. :-p I was watching Madi play in the area designated for toddlers, when I noticed she was keeping a keen eye on her brother, who was playing up above in the bigger kid area. She decided that was where she wanted to be, so with sheer determination (and a mommy very close by), she scaled the big kid steps and made it all the way to the top. Not really a big deal for a third child, I have learned, but what I found fascinating was her determination... And I watched her get scared, turn to call out for me, then change her mind, and PUSH THROUGH her fear, and make it up one more step, til she got to the top. She was so proud of herself, and the big kids were sure surprised to see her. She played up there for a long time, avoiding big kids and, every once in a while, stopping to see just how high up she was. When she had enough, she carefully and slowly made her way back down, gave me a big...