New Addition to the Family

Here at Alleluia! LLC there's always an eye out for a new product to add. While most embroidery shops are busy adding screen printing or direct to garment printing, we have decided to add cosmetics to our family. Most, if not all women wear makeup and would benefit from this addition. We are now independent Avon distributors.

When you place an order for a nice looking, custom designed shirt you can also place your order for your beauty needs. Our Avon website is not up and running yet but will be shortly. We will let you know when it becomes functional.

We are proud to be able to be a little different from the rest yet continue to offer you great products.

New Shirt Combination Package

We have introduced a new business product which is a combo package. It consists of six (6) T-shirts and two (2) dress shirts.

We feel that our customers will benefit from this combination of shirts because they've ordered this combination before. This combination package reduces the price of purchasing T-shirts and then dress shirts thus making it a good buy.

In this package the T-shirt offers a rainbow of colors while the dress shirts offer a choice of short or long sleeves and his or her styles. We're sure that you'll like this offer and that it will be just right for your crew.

Foolish Fears that We Haven't Put to Bed! Yet!

Well I hate to admit it but I have a crippling fear of horses. I realized this fear for more than 10 years now but did not realize how bad it was until today.



Instead of being in my embroidery den working, I decided that I wanted to work away from home for a short period of time. I've worked for this employer in the past and did not have a problem with any of the assignments. The employment is seasonal and we have less than two weeks to go to the end.



Well! yesterday my team was assigned to a new project and for the life of me I couldn't "get it". Each time I tried to make sense of the new information I just went blank. This morning I tackled it again and the same thing happened. I thought "What's the matter with me? It's never been so hard for me to grasp a new concept before." Finally I realized that the assignment related to my fear. Needless to say, that was the end of my day at work. My brain totally shut down and I panicked.



I was totally embarrassed to admit to my co-workers, and to myself, that my fear reduced me to a state of emotional paralysis. Even though I know that FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real, I haven't been able to put this particular fear to bed yet. I look forward to the day when it will no longer have this hold on me.

It's Almost Over

Well the new business name is now official as of yesterday, 5/4/09. Of course I'm still in the process of updating paperwork with this one and that one but it's almost over. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

I am extremely glad that I finally went through the process. I feel the weight off of me regarding the vulnerability of my personal property should one of my customers decide to go into litigation against me. All the paperwork and the cost to facilitate the change is worth it too.

Sole Proprietors who intend to continue in business for a while should consider the legal benefits of a forming an organization that suits your needs.

Lots of Paperwork and Time

I am certainly glad that I finally accessed the state's web site and completed the paperwork to form my LLC. That was the easy part; the part that intimidated me most. Well the work had just begun at that point. Little did I know what lay ahead. For the past week I have been completing paperwork to notify, it appears to be, the entire world of the status and name changes. I expect to spend a good part of the coming week finishing up the mountain of paperwork that's yet to be done. Inspite of it all, I am glad that I finally took the plunge. Every time I think that I have everyone notified, I remember a bunch more.

Change and Fear -- A Part of Life

When I started my business some time ago, I wanted it to have its own identity but wasn't sure when I would take it to that level. I know now that I should have done it the first day. I was nervous about forming a corporation because of the enormous amount of reporting involved. After researching the options, I decided that a Limited Liability Company was what was right for my situation.

After my decision, I thought some more and some more and the years came and went. Finally in 2009 I decided to take the plunge but did not muster up the courage to do so until this month (April 2009). I have come to the realization that what kept me from completing my decision for so long was fear. I'm not sure what I was afraid of but now that I have completed the process I'm relieved and proud that I completed what I set out to do so long ago.

Now that the process is complete I have the job of notifying "everyone" of the change. I keep reminding myself that I will remember to notify "everyone" of the change because, in the back of my mind I think that I'm forgetting "someone".

I know that I am not the only person who is, at times, paralyzed by fear. I wish that there was a magic potion or something that could stop the effect of fear in our lives. Don't you?

By the way, on May 4, 2009 my company will become Alleluia!LLC/ Custom Embroidery. Yeah!!

Is English Composition Still Taught in Grade Schools?

when I enrolled in a graduate course, some time ago, I was appalled at the writing ability of some of my peers and wondered why their writing skills lacked so much, after all they were graduate students. I now know why.

I have recently had an opportunity to read the responses of eight graders. I have been shocked by their lack of ability to construct a decent sentence. I have had to sit for a few minutes re-reading their sentences to figure out where one sentence began and where it ended. Once I got that far, I had to figure out the meaning of each statement because their thoughts appeared scrambled.

It appears that some of our children are not being taught how to construct effective sentences nor are they being taught proper grammar. Is it because some teachers have chosen to accept poor quality of work from their students? Could it be that some teachers don't have a good grasp of the English language themselves so they are in no capacity to correct their students? I say this because I have read letters from teachers and school faculty with incorrect grammar.

The problem has been presented, in a nut shell, from my vantage point. What's your response to this?

Hands

We take our hands for granted, don't we? We drive, care for ourselves and others, we make a living, we pay our bills, we even create bills with our hands.

Some years ago I was injured and lost the use of my right hand for a few weeks. Since I am a trained right-hander, I just used my left hand at work; no problem! It was then however, that I began to realize how important my hands are -- like every other part of my body. From time to time over the past years I've thought about hands until one day I heard the performance of a poem called "Whose Hands are These?" It talks about the hands that rocked the cradle, hands that raised families, our sister's hands, our father's hands, our aunt's hands and so on. These are the familiar hands in our lives but what about those hands that have sacrificed for us that we will never meet? Think about it!

I have not been able to get this poem out of my mind so I decided to create a design that begins to express my gratitude to some of the hands in my life: My father's hand, my mother's hand and my children's hands.

Not Just High Schoolers. Adults Don't Listen Either!

After sharing my daughter's experiences of student teaching, I had the nerve to decide to earn some extra money by involving myself for a second time in school matters. You think I'd learn, but no I didn't.



For the next eight weeks I will be one of the team members grading standardized testing from several states. We had our first day of training and was told that our opinions about grading didn't matter. Our interpretations of the student's answer didn't matter. The only thing that matters is the grading rubric that's presented to us.



Well think high schoolers don't listen? Neither do adults! We had adults arguing with the trainer about whether or not the rubric was correct or whether or not those responsible for creating the rubric were correct. I couldn't believe my ears. We were told just a few hours earlier that our opinions didn't matter. Well needless to say the trainees were reminded in not too nice a tone what we were told earlier.



Why don't we listen or are we just forgetting information so quickly that it appears that we haven't listened? My opinion is that people like those think they know it all and are full of themselves. They're show-offs.

High Schoolers! What Should We Do With Them?

One of my adult children is finishing up a MA in Education thus she is required to complete a teaching internship. She has returned home each day with her mind barely intact due to the riggors of the class room.

From the beginning of the internship all I had to say each afternoon was "Hi" and I'd get an earful of what each (nameless) child did or said. She'd say things like "In the middle of telling them the instructions one child said 'Miss, I don't understand what to do' without waiting for me to finish" This went on for many weeks.

For the last week or two, she's been very silent, silent I tell you...she's asleep on the couch shortly after I say "Hi." After her nap... the stories begin. My teacher-to-be just cannot understand why her students will not pay attention to or follow instructions (this is a high achieving class). One would think that higher achievers would be able to follow instructions, but no; most of them don't.

So what should she do with these students? My suggestion to her was that when she has her own classroom I promise to make her a banner that says something like: Listen to the instructions, Read the Instructions or even Extra points if you read and follow the instructions.

Staying On Track With Blogging

I'm not the type of person who freely share my thoughts with everyone but I am learning that in some cases it's a good thing. Because I don't share my thought readily, I have not blogged in some weeks.



When I decided to start the blog, I promised myself that I would make myself share my thoughts but I fell right back into my old habits shortly after entering the world of blogging. Well I'm back again and I'm planning to stick with it this time.



I have been working on the web site adding new products and other projects during my time of "silence". Products that has been added to the store are patches and T-shirts with religious decoration. They were added for customers who have needed them in the past.



I had fun working on my various projects and plan to blog more frequently.

Freezing in Florida

Wow! It's cold in Florida. When we relocated from one of the northern states to Florida we expected that we would have warm weather all year round. As a native of a warm country, I did my time in the "ice box" of New York (yes NY City and later NY Sate). I love NY but hate the winters.

Today those of us who care about our plants found warm blankets with which to keep them warm since our temperatures will dip below freezing for more than two hours (known as a hard freeze).

As I sit here and enjoy my pity party, I feel for those who live in the colder states. My daughter in Wisconsin reports having to plug in her car at night to keep the engine warm. She has also reported temperatures of -40 degrees F, too cold for schools to open. To those of you who live in those states, I feel for you and say a prayer for your safety.

I look forward to warmer weather soon for all of us.

The New Year's Here -- 2009

Happy New Year everyone. May you be blessed, less stressed and see the desires of your hearts come true.

In 2008 we experienced many changes. We saw the economy change drastically for many of us. Those of us living in Florida experienced some hurricane damage but are thankful that it wasn't extremely devastating this year. The nation experienced roller-coaster gas prices and wondered where it would end and how much we would cope as prices rose. I paid as high as $4.35/gallon in New York when I relocated there earlier this year. I was disappointed with that move and I'm back in Florida. Our 2008 presidential election was one that will be remembered for some time to come. We feel that there are those who would like to have keepsake designs so AALDA Embroidery offers four different presidential T-shirt designs.

These events are but a few of the many which occurred in 2008 and as we have moved into 2009 some of them will continue to "play out". As they "play out" I pray that each of us will be blessed, less stressed and see the desires of our hearts come true.

Enjoy 2009!