After the birth of our little C-man I quit work. As in, really quit. Walked away, didn’t do from home projects or anything else. Attempted to start up a little home biz doing crafty things and had a lot of fun crocheting projects. Didn’t sell a single item but it was fun regardless.

DaMan shouldered everything I had previously been helping with and soldiered on alone for the first time since we started the company. After a few months of that I had a “please come back” job offer on the table. Which I declined. Again. And again. And again and again. I really really meant it this time. I WAS DONE. Finished. Kaput. No.more.work.

Finally they came up with a scenario even my cold hearted anti working woman’s heart couldn’t say no to. After some negotiations it was decided that I would come back and run the company for 2 months while DaMan worked from home part time and did full time childcare. This new structure was set to commence at the beginning of Nov.

November saw my return to work life off with a bang. Our little family traveled by train from TN to CA to attend the Weston A. Price 2012 Conference being held in San Jose. It was time to take the http://www.beeyoutifulskin.com makeup line public in a big way. 3 days and 3 nights on a train going there and the same to return. Along with about a bazillion lbs. of luggage since we were packing 1500 catalogs and all the supplies and full makeup inventory to supply a booth in addition to our personal belongings. Ooph. It was epic, super hard, super amazing trip.

Caleb waving hello to me in the train car on a brief walkabout on one of the stops

Our poor kids are going to be champion travelers whether they like it or not the way we drag them all over the place. At the conference one of the ladies that came by the booth asked where those “free range children are??” Momentarily confused, thinking she must be referring to one of the many free range farmers represented at the conference and perhaps one of their children she quickly corrected me “No no those two little blond kids who just free ranged around saying hi to everybody and visiting. They were so cute!!” Oh (gulp) THOSE free range kids. Those are mine. Yup. Free range kids.

Free Range Kids

We were blessed to work with a lot of people who pulled their weight plus some in the days leading up to the conference and then through the super long, super hard days of the conference itself. What happened at our booth is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. We had a *crowd* of ladies from morning till night, oftentimes standing in line to check out the makeup. The excitement and positive response to the line was wonderful and overwhelming. The three ladies who worked with me at the conference spent loooooong hard hours on their feet and woke up the next day to do it all over again…and again. They were amazing. It was so wonderful to get to meet so many women in person who are excited about a truly pure makeup. Made all the hard months of work that went into the line feel worth it.

BeeyoutifulSkin Booth at the 2012 WAPF Conference in San Jose

We are scrambling to get caught up from the conference whirlwind now that we are back in TN. Top priority is to get a http://www.beeyoutiful.com catalog out the door. Speaking of if you have a story to tell involving you, friend or family member and a Beeyoutiful product I’d love to hear about it! If it is something we end up publishing you’ll be getting something as a “thank you” as well.

I’m overdue to work on some other writing projects. Will try to be back and blog about something that is actually interesting or informative soon.