How to Deal with being Wiped Out

Image from: brainlesstales

Wiped out can mean lots of different things: being tired, run down, to 'everything' being taken away from you.  Today I experienced the latter, and boy was I on an emotional roller coaster.  I was scared, I felt lost.  I yelled, I got into arguments with my loved ones... why me?  But then after hours of should-of's, could-of's, I realized that I was perceiving that everything was being taken away.  I still had my family/friends, a shelter, and food. These three things being the most important things I could ever need or want.  And if these things were still there, what was really being taken away?  An object, an idea?  How did I make this realization you wonder?  Well....


1) Take a nap.  I knew that I wasn't making any decisions with a clear head.

2) Listen. By taking a nap, I was able to hear criticisms, or concerns with an open heart (not being defensive) and get feedback on what to do in this situation.

3) Stop and Ask. By asking myself, "What does 'everything' being taken away really mean to me?"  I was hearing what other's thought, but how did I define it?

Step three was a turning point in my day.  What matters the most is all around me.  What more can I need!

Thank you for reading my "vague" description of the day!  I would love to hear what you do when you've been wiped  out!

The Drinking Habits of Our Founding Fathers

As we all know, beer was safer to drink during colonial times than water was.  And it was a major dietary staple from the cradle to the grave.  Infants were fed it, and it was recommended to breast feeding mothers.  In the formative colonial years, beer was brewed at home and most households built a brewroom on the side of their house.  Hops grew wild in the forests around the towns, which was a huge plus for these homebrewers.  As currency was established in the colonies and trade was possible with England, taverns began to pop up.  Taverns were not just a place to get a drink, but to socialize and hold meetings.  The tavern actually became one of the most important meeting places a town could have.  And, many of the constitutional ideas were formed in taverns. (As we know, Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence.  But did you know that he wrote it while drinking Madeira at his usual table in the Indian Queen Tavern in Philadelphia?)

But how do we really know that the founding fathers as a group drank a lot?  Well, believe it or not, there are records of their shenanigans.  In 1787, two days before they signed the Constitution, the 55 delegates to the convention went to a local tavern. According to the bill, they drank 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 whiskeys, 22 porters, eight hard ciders, 12 bottles of beer and 7 bowls of alcoholic punch.  They did have a reason to celebrate!!  And keep in mind, that may seem like a lot, but the average American at the time drank many more the times as Americans of today do. Getting drunk, but not losing control, was much more acceptable than it is today.

So there you have it!  As we celebrate our nation, don't forget to drink a beer ...  it's a tradition!

(Handbrewed Soaps is NOT endorsing getting drunk, just to celebrate... responsibly!)

References:

http://www.northamericanbrewers.org/brewingcolonial.html
http://www.drunkard.com/issues/56/56-founding-drunkards.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stanton-peele/alcohol-addiction-were-th_b_610598.html

Follow Your Gut: Do What You Love

Image from seanwes.com

     Recently I got advice from multiple people that I should go back to teaching elementary school. They made very valid, practical, and 'safe' points about retirement, benefits, and a steady income that teaching would give me and my family.

     I have been strategically planning on leaving the teaching career over the past four years. I went from 100% employment, to 80%, to 50%, to finally 20%.  When I wasn't teaching, I was starting my soap company. Now, I'm at the crossroads that I have been anticipating, running my soap company full time, and what do I do, doubt myself and ask others what I should do.  And with this advice, I realize that my fear of the unstable is what has stopped me from starting my business! Yes, I'm scared shitless of a lack of a steady pay check and all the other things mentioned by those that are concerned about my choice. But what they (and I) have failed to see is that I've been planning this for four years!!    As Connor Franta says in his memoir, A Work in Process, (yes I am quoting a 22 year old YouTube star):

"In a world conditioned to follow the herd, mentality, playing it safe, a lot of people find it hard to stay true to themselves and accept the things particular to them. It's easy to give in to peer pressure and simply settle with what everyone else is doing, but never forget that each of us is different. You are your own individual, with your own particular set of dreams,desires, and aspirations...So know what you like, know what makes you happy, stick to your guns, and state it with confidence.  You'll walk taller, and as long as you follow your gut, you won't stray far in life." 

So here I am, following my gut! I'm looking forward to this new chapter!  What new chapter are you starting? How do you work through the doubt?

3 Things I Learned from Having a 'Farm'

1 of our 8 Veggie beds

About six years ago, we jumped on the urban farmer movement that was sweeping the Bay Area.  We went on Urban Farm tours through out Oakland and Berkeley.  We (shall I say I) because obsessed with the works and teaching of Novella Carpenter, a woman who turned a vacant lot next to her West Oakland Apartment into a farm, complete with turkeys, chickens, and rabbits.  To me, she was a revolutionary...  doing something that Oakland really need at the time, to invest in FRESH FOOD in communities where there was a grocery store wasteland.  (There are parts of Oakland that do not have a grocery store within a 5 mile radius, but only convientient stores.  Many peoples menu choices are Cheetos, Soda, and Hungry Man's Frozen Dinners.)   One day, while driving on the freeway a couple of weeks after I finished Carpenter's Book GHOST TOWN FARM, I was very aware of the farming way of life.  Eric and I noticed a Toyota Truck that had hay flying out of it (this is a sight you NEVER see in the Bay Area.)  Of course I made Eric catch up to car wondering who/what farmer was in the middle of the city, and it turned out to be Novella Carpenter!  I had a heart attack at that moment and quickly found a piece of paper which I wrote:  I LOVE YOUR BOOK THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU!!! As we drove past her, I held this sign to the window.  I'm proud to say she saw it.  She gave me a thumbs ups and a huge grin!   It was a sign, we were going to create our own farm!!!  And ultimately, we would become happier, calmer people.

Plum Wine In The Making

And for the next four years, we had an 1/8 acre "farm" in our backyard completely with a plum tree, apple tree, fig tree and four chickens named Puffy, Cinderella, Bramha, and Lady.  We grew Quinoa, Zucchini, Fava Beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and even our own Omega- 3 rich chicken food.  I made homemade apple sauce, pies, plum jam, and plum wine.  I even started experimenting with making cold processes soap (yes I am self taught!), laundry soap, and Eric started brewing beer. And don't forget, both Eric and I were both full time teachers as well.  We learned a lot about farming and ourselves.  Here are the top 5 things we learned about have our own 'farm.'

1) Don't Believe Everything You Read:  One of the biggest reason this city slicker started an urban farm was because everything I read (books, blogs, how-to's) painted a picture that by having a farm, and living sustainably would simplify my life and the life of the community around me.  I would let go of my worries, find inner peace, and heal a community problem of lack of fresh food in our community. Was I a little nieve?  HELL YES I was...  Maybe on Saturday morning I found peace, but that was probably because I wasn't around 30 kids.

2) Running a Family Farm is Hard Work:  Don't get me wrong, gardening, cooking, and collecting eggs where very much a stress reliever, but not so much around report card time. There was a lot to do.  We had to get up in the morning and water everything and collect eggs.  And don't get me started about chickens...there was chicken shit EVERYwhere.  They dug up my artichoke plants (which at that point... if the neighborhood skunks got them for dinner...  good for the skunks!) I had so much zucchini, and lettuce that I couldn't give it away fast enough (we left boxes of fresh food for people to take!) Processing Quinoa to get toxins out of it is no joke....  it took ALL DAY just to clean one cup of the stuff.  But the pies were good and plum wine would knock your socks off, I can't complain about that!

3) Giving Up is Not the Same as Knowing Your Limits:  This experience led me to a new found appreciation for the farmers of the world, their hard work, and their commitment to bringing people food. As the years went on in our little farm, the more responsibility it took on.  Eric and I were at the point, where it was becoming a full time job and needed to reconsider how we were going to keep up with all of this. Both of us have dreamed of a lifestyle such as this.  We talked (and still do) about owning 50 acres, but this experience taught us that right now, at this point in our lives, we were not ready for it.  To keep our sanity, we needed to scale back. We needed to get rid of those elements that were overwhelming and keep doing the things that only brought us joy!  So, we found a nice home for our chickens in the next city over.  We believed growing our own food is still a priority, but we only grew enough for the family.  And I made cold processed soap a priority (how I went from classroom teacher to running my own soap business is a whole other story!), and Eric kept up with brewing beer on a regular basis.  Most importantly, we had faith that one day we would have our 50 acres.

Yes, one day...  What experience have you created in you life that have shown you your limits?

DIY: Turning Your Beer Bottles into Drinking Glasses

There are a lot of fun things you can do with beer bottles once you've drank the beer.  Today we are going to go over how to turn you beer bottle into a glass.  We have been using Ken Supplies Bottle etcher.  In our experience we found that this tool provided a less jagged lip, which means it won't cut you lip when drinking from it.

Step One:  Use the etcher to score your beer glass.  See Video here.

Step Two:  Dip the bottle into boiling water for one to two minutes.

Step Three:  Lifting the bottle straight up and down, plunge it in to ice cold water. Wait for it to break off.

Step Four:  You may need to do Step Two and Three a couple of times.

Step Five:  Look at the lip.  If there are chips in it, you may need to sand it.  We use the P80 sander.

Step Six:  You will need to sand it with a machine and by hand.

When you are all done, rinse the glass out and feel free to use.  You can also take it one step further by gluing the top of the bottle to the bottom.  Then you get a beer goblet.

Persevering through Writer's Block

   

Today I have writer's block.  I have no idea what to blog about.  I'm day seven into the blog challenge, and I'm at a loss for words.  I have a list of topics that I can write from, but nothing is speaking to me.  All I really want to write about is how I don't know what to write.
     When I was a classroom teacher, I always had my students spend the first 15 minutes of class writing in their journals.  I has a laundry list of ideas for them to write about on the wall including: 1) what they did over the weekend, 2) the most unusual food they ate, 3) the biggest surprise they ever got etc.  And just like I'm experiencing now, my students would tell me, "Ms. Swi, I don't know what to write about!"  And my response would be, "Then write about that.  Write about how you don't know what to write, why you don't know what to write, and what would inspire you to write."  Usually their entries would look something like this....

"I don't know what to write.  I don't know what to write.   I don't know why I don't know what to write, I just don't know what to write.  Nothing would inspire me.  Why are you making me do this???"

And right now, that is how I'm feeling!  So, I'll give myself my response that I would give to them:
     "I know how you feel.  I've been there.  But by writing the five sentences you just wrote you got to practice.  You reinforced your writing skills of spelling and sentence structure.  You voiced your feelings.  You explored what the point of this 15 minute exercise is all about.  You got through a rough patch.  You persevered.  I'm proud of you!"

Yes, I got through this!  I persevered and I'm proud of myself!

What the F*&$? Cleaning up one of the Biggest Oil Spills in Handbrewed Soap History

Have you ever had your worst fear come to life?  I always think of that scene in the movie, "Witches of Eastwick," where the character played by Cher wakes up to find herself in a bed of snakes. Though it wasn't snakes, I woke to every soap maker's nightmare: An oil spill the size of the Exxon-Valdez (ratio equivalent of course!)

This picture doesn't give the spill justice.

The oil covered 90% of my 12 X 16 foot studio.  It went under the shelves, soaked into boxes that were on the floor, and soaked into the wood of most of my cabinets.   It was all my fault.  I used new oil heaters that were a little different than my previous ones.  My old ones were in Fahrenheit.  These new ones were in Celsius.  Slight detail.  I'm not going to harp on how pissed at myself I was. As they say, "There's no need to cry over spilt oil!" I had to concentrate on the clean up.  Surprisingly enough, an oil clean up in a soap studio is very similar to an oil spill say.... in the ocean!

Step 1:  Contain the oil with towels so that it doesn't spread any further.

Step 2: Leave the oil alone until it hardens. 

Step 3: Scrape up the oil from the floor using a trowel and put into a bucket to dispose of it properly.

Step 4: Use HOT soapy water to wash the floor.

Step 5: Once the floor is dry, use your favorite grease remover cleaner to wash the floors again.

Step 6: Repeat step 4.

Four hours later, my floors were pretty good at this point.  As for everything else, I either had to dispose of or wash in hot soapy water.

Lesson learned. Make sure you know what temperature you are working with!  I hope this story helps if this nightmare ever happens to you!!!

Father's Day Beer Tasting Challenge

So that important man in your life is a beer geek.  He claims to know everything about beer including the style, the brewery, and alcohol ratio.  So, this Father's Day, put him to the test!  Create your own Beer Tasting Challenge!  Here's what to do:
1) Buy a selection of beer for your participants.  Choose some favorites and maybe some obscure ones.  Note:  Trader Joe's let's you mix and match your six pack!
2) Cover your labels, but don't take them off because you'll need proof.  You can get as fancy as you want.  I'm just using materials that I have around the house.  We tend to brown bag it around here, so that's what I'm doing. I'll tie it with raffia to make it look special.  Here are various levels of craftiness below!

Pic from Celebrate Mag!

Pic from Draft Mag!

3) Pour the beer into glasses and have him/participants taste.  With each one, have him write down the style, the brewery, and alcohol ratio.
4) When he's done, give him the big reveal!

Even if he doesn't get them right, he'll be a happy camper after tasting six beers.  And a few laughs will be had by all!

Interested to see how Handbrewed Soaps stands up to the test?  Find out on Monday!  I can't wait to see how Eric does!

Happy Father's Day

Behind the Scenes: The Building of the Handbrewed Soaps Studio

             Sometimes there needs to be a separation between soap and family. Last Fall, my awesome Father came up with a brilliant idea.  This idea was spurred by the fact that he couldn’t distinguish where my kitchen and living room began and where my soaping ventures ended.  Everything was mixed together.  “Hey Alyson, have you ever though of getting a soap studio?”           

The Blank Slate

                 Of course I had, but our business was not making enough money to pay Bay Area rent.  Though we had an extra bedroom, our family was expanding, and we needed it for a bedroom! Instantly, we both looked out into the backyard, which at the time was filled with weeds (aka a blank slate to build and grow things on!)    To make a REALLLY long story short, by the following Fall, I had my soap studio, empty, but a studio!  We went with Casita Shed of Castro Valley,CA to construct the studio. If you look at their prices, it beats the price on any Home Depot / Lowe’s shed by square footage and the labor was included in the cost.  The fact that it went up in two days was AWESOME. I recommend them to anyone who has the ability to add one to their backyard!  It was so affordable, that we built two…  his and her studios… now everyone’s happy!  I highly recommend this Bay Area Company.  We had a great experience!         

The solution that keeps our family from hurting each other!  lol

The Blogging 30-Day Challenge. Want to join me?

       Today marks the day that I begin my 30-day Blog Challenge.  For the next 30 days, I will blog about beer, soap, and my other shenanigans.  Why?  Because Donna Maria, of the Business Indie Network told me too…  Well that’s not the only reason.

      The truth of the matter is, I’ve been “social media stocking” the Indie Business Network (IBN) for the past year.  I’ve been hanging out around the fringes of this group (liking their Facebook and Instagram accounts) and going to their public site for info on how to grow my small business. I’ve participated in their Instagram chats (open to the public) on Wednesdays, and I have even had my “Master Mind” peeps, tell me to join.  I’ve learned so much from IBN within the year, but it wasn’t until Tuesday Night that I received the sign…  The sign from Donna Maria… that by joining IBN, I could get even more out of the network….  And that sign looked something like this:

 
      Hell's Yaaaa!   I was finally going to be held accountable, by a group that I knew was super awesome, for what I knew needed to be done to take my business to the next level.  And I can’t say thank you enough to Donna Maria for the sign! I’ve been wanting to blog and now I have a community of people that are doing it with me!  Most importantly, I now have a community of people to figure out this whole small business thing! 

 
     Please don’t get me wrong, about this blog challenge.  I’m wondering what the heck I am going to be blog about?  I worry about what people will think. I’m a horrible speller, and my grammar is not that correct…  but what I do know is that if I plug away at it, I’ll get better.  And all of these doubts have just stopped me in the past.  The benefits of this challenge outweighs my fears.

     By updating blog posts frequently, I know my business and my writing skills will grow.  My website will go higher in the search engine. I’ll get to know my audience and they get to know me better, and posts keep giving back (traffic continues to go to each post over time!)  So I encourage you to go on the same challenge for your small business, or another 30 day challenge such as exercising, cooking, or taking a class. I thank you ahead of time for going on this journey with me, and I hope you do it as well.  I hope to inspire you to blog (or be challenged in another way) for 30 days straight, and if you do, let me know in the comment section, as I would like to follow you on your journey!

-A