Attention men who read my blog! Mother’s Day is fast approaching and that means the time to shop for the Moms in your life is now. I decided to help you out a bit and point you to a couple of really great gifts that they are sure to love. Yes, this post is not about working from home or affiliate marketing. But I am a Mom, so it is relevant

• Flirty Aprons – Sure an apron conjures up this idea of June Cleaver, but as I have learned doesn’t have to be so. These cute and stylish aprons are perfect for cooking, cleaning, and crafting all while keeping your clothes clean. Order one now with coupon code FA-4110B and receive 40% off.
• Tea – I am a huge tea drinker, in fact created a tea site, just so that I can blog about all the great tea and accessories out there. Teavana has put together some really great Mother’s Day Tea Gifts to make shopping easy. You can’t go wrong with anything that they are offering, but the Tea Lovers Gift Collection or Dragonfly Cast Iron Teapot would both be a huge hit.
• Fruit Basket – It may be cliche, but my husband’s grandmother loves getting a fruit basket. She doesn’t really need any more trinkets. She looks forward to seeing just what we send every year. This is the perfect gift for the Moms that live too far away to see on Mother’s Day.
• Earbud Case – Oh wait, maybe this one is just me. I have this habit of losing mine, so I’ve decided I can never have too many as a backup. Perhaps I should ask for a case of them this year…
• Time. The best present that any Mom can ask for is time with her family. Make her breakfast, clean up the house, take her out to dinner, clean up the house, have a picnic at the park, and clean up the house are all great ideas for this. Mom will absolutely love it.

I hope these ideas help you out. Mother’s Day is Sunday May 9 this year, so you only have a few weeks to plan. Mark it on your calendar and don’t forget!

A few weeks ago I mentioned the Affiliate Summit East 2010 Nike Challenge in another post. I just wanted to give a heads up on how I am doing and to ask more of you to join in. For every mile run in the challenge, Shawn Collins and Missy Ward are donating $1 to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade for a grand total of $5,000.

There are currently 60 people registered for the challenge and the miles are starting to rack up. With Affiliate Summit 5 months away, there is also lots of time to get some running in. As of this writing I am in 24th place with 19.99 miles. I totally should have run just .01 more miles today to break 20.

Here are some of the items that you will need to complete the challenge:

• Nike+ Sensor – This goes in your shoe to record the distance that you run.
• Sensor Case – Nike makes shoes that have a spot to place the sensor, but I don’t own those. Instead this pouch fastens to my shoelaces and holds the sensor. I put it on and it stays on, so no need to set it up for each run.

The sensor connects via bluetooth to my iPhone while I am running and then post run I connect it via USB to my computer to upload the data to the Nike+ website. If you do not have an iPhone or compatible iPod, you can also get a Nike+ Sport Band in order to participate. It is a wrist band you wear while running that opens to reveal a USB connector.

Come and join us. Even if you have never run before. Check out the Couch to 5K program to get started. In the immortal words of Nike “Just do it!”

I have been a mom for a while, working at home for longer, and married for longer than that.  Taking care of things has been my “job” for a long time now.  My husband tends to work long hours, so a lot of things fall on me. That is the way things need to be right now for a variety of reasons, and well, I deal with it.  Which can make it very difficult to find me time.

I’m very lucky in that my daughter attends school 5 mornings a week, so that I can work, but I don’t consider that me time at all.  And for everyone out there that has their own business, you probably know what I am talking about when I say there really are no regular business hours for me.  There is always work to be done and I get it done whenever I can.  Maybe not the best approach but I have goals I am working hard towards.

About a year and a half ago I decided to take up running.  Now for anyone that knows me, this was completely out of my character.  I was the girl that tried the track team for a week back in junior high and quit cause of all the running.  A mile long warm up run before the actual practice?  Thanks, not for me, goodbye.  So I joined a gym that has locations near my house and my daughter’s school and started on the couch to 5K program.  I made it all the way through but then the summer came and I found it difficult to find time to run.

School started in the fall and while I’ve tried to be consistent, running just hasn’t been much of a priority for me. I can’t say that I’ve ever found that runner’s high that some describe. I feel better when I do it for sure, but it is something I struggle with.  Well now I have something to inspire me. Affiliate Summit has created a running challenge that benefits the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade.  It works in partnership with the Nike+ sensor. For every mile run by the participants, they will be donating $1 to the charity.

I got the Nike+ sensor for Christmas from my husband and it works with an app pre-installed on my iPhone. I don’t have the shoes made for it, so I’ve been placing it under the tongue of my shoe. Thanks to a tip from Shawn Collins though, I ordered a sensor case that will attach to my shoelaces. I can’t wait for it to come to see how it works out.

I got back on the treadmill this morning after an almost 2 week hiatus and can’t wait to start racking up the miles. If you are a runner or want to try it out, why don’t you join us? A great cause, a good way to connect with Affiliate Summit participants, and a great way to make time for yourself.