To our valued members,

In today’s uncertain economy, many businesses are taking stock of their strategies and priorities, including sponsorship and advertising commitments. While the Total Practice Management Association has worked diligently to obtain sponsorship and advertising support for the Association and Conference, we have been unable to secure sufficient support to pursue our goals. At this point, it is not feasible for the Total Practice Management Association to continue operating.

As a result, the following changes will be implemented immediately:

Well, it’s been a little over a week since most of us made our New Year’s resolutions, and I’m really wondering how everyone is doing with them. Personally, my resolution was to eat more fruit and do something active for at least ten minutes every day of the week. I’d have to give myself an A for my resolution efforts. While I’ve done something active each day, I haven’t been eating as much fruit as I’d like. I would say I’m eating more than I did before, but I’d still like to improve.

As I posted on the “Work~Life Balance” wall in the PMA community website, I really focus on making positive resolutions. Rather than saying, “don’t eat bad food,” I say, “eat more fruit.” Along similar lines, instead of making a resolution to work out more, I’m being more specific in my goal and asking myself to be active for at least 10 minutes each day. These goals are much easier to measure for me, and I feel more confident attaining them.

So, that’s how I’m doing with my New Year’s goals, or resolutions. How are you doing with yours? Or if you didn’t make any resolutions, I’d love to hear your thoughts on why you feel it’s not necessary.

Christmas is in just a few days, which has started to make me think of all the fun traditions my family has for this time of year. Sure some of them have changed a bit since we've grown older, but they all make us feel like kids again no matter our age.

Our first two traditions always begin on Christmas Eve. We all get to open one gift, and that gift is always a set of matching pajamas. All the women in the family get the exact same pair of pajamas, and all the men get their own set of matching pajamas. We all put them on, take some silly pictures in front of the fire place, then settle in for our next tradition...Just before we're about to go to bed my dad reads ­‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. It's so comforting to sit around the fire and listen to him read this great story. It puts everyone is such a festive mood, and then we go off and dream of sugar plums dancing in our heads.

The next tradition happens on Christmas morning. While it happens a little later in the morning now that we're older and appreciate our sleep and coffee, my dad always has to make sure that Santa has left the house. We certainly wouldn't want to scare him away and not give him enough time to place our gifts in those perfect little piles. Each year we eagerly wait to be allowed into the living room, and then it's time to open all gifts.

While trying to decide what to blog about this morning, a coworker came across this fantastic article. The article, "9 Foods That Reduce Stress" offers nine suggestions on what to eat when you're feeling the stress or pressure of what's going on around you. For some, this may include work or maybe the holiday season in general.

Take a look at the article and see what you think.

For me, it's so easy to want to eat all the treats and goodies that are being brought into the office. But I think if I actually make a conscious effort to eat these "stress reducer" foods and continue to exercise at least four times a week, then treating myself to a cookie every once in a while, won't be so "stressful."

The first snowfall!

I absolutely love the first snowfall of the year! It always puts me right in the mood for the holidays. This morning we woke up to about an inch of snow. I was so excited to get all bundled up in my long coat and boots. This feeling probably won't last for long once the temperature drops down to -30 degrees, but for now I'll enjoy it.

I always remember in elementary school (or really any age level for that matter), that at the first snowfall the whole class would rush to the windows to check it out. It was almost as if we had forgotten what snow looked like each year. It was always such a happy time; and then we'd all start making play dates to go sledding.

Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and I couldn't be any more excited for the festivities to begin! Besides Halloween, I think Thanksgiving may be my favorite holiday. I love coming together with friends and family and eating tons of amazing food (thanks Mom!). Plus, you don't have the pressure of buying people gifts, like you do at Christmastime.

And while I love spending all that time with family around the table, I really like the food part. My mom is always trying to find new recipes for us to try for our Thanksgiving dinner; and every year her new recipes are shot down because we all want the exact same thing we ate the year before...mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, creamed onions, fresh rolls and for me, my fiancé and my older sister....tofurkey! (tofurkey is a faux turkey – it's basically a ball of vegetarian protein, made from wheat and soy proteins and spiced to give it a "turkey" taste) That's one part of the meal that has changed over the years. Of course there is the traditional turkey for the meat eaters of the family, but it's tofurkey for the rest. And before you saw, "eww, that sounds disgusting," you should really give it a try. It's not that bad, honestly.

Another new tradition I'm incorporating this year is participating in our hometown's Turkey Trot. It's a 5K race that happens the morning of Thanksgiving Day. It's a great way to burn off some calories before eating them all right back, and then some. We'll see if this actually becomes a tradition or a onetime deal with the family. Either way, we're spending time together, and that's what it's all about.

Well, I certainly had a relaxing weekend. I would almost go as far as saying that I did absolutely nothing. Much of my weekend was spent catching up on TV shows and surfing the internet. I did manage to get outside for a couple walks to enjoy what I imagine are the last couple days of nice weather. I was also asked to play volleyball for a couple hours on Sunday, but other than that, I didn't have too much going on.

Honestly, I can't even remember the last time I was able to do that. Usually I have family in town, or have some sort of gathering to attend.  It's kind of nice, though. I feel completely refreshed after this weekend, and it's making my Monday much less "manic."

I may not have done anything spectacular, but what about you? What's your favorite weekend activity?

I must say, exhibitors are becoming much more creative with their promotional products, or as we like to refer to it as, schwag. Generally, we come back from conferences with pens and pencils, sometimes a pad of paper, or if they're really crazy, a highlighter. However, my coworkers who recently came back from the NACBA Tucson show came back with tons of awesome goodies for me! (Ah, the perks of staying in the office)...

Of course there were a few pens in there, but I found quite a few surprises too. I think perhaps the most surprising was the chipotle hot sauce! I think this may be the first time I've ever gotten something edible...and I'm really excited about it! A few of the other items included a yo-yo, an inflatable frisbee, and graphic tee, as well as a reusable grocery bag. I'm really digging the "green" mentality that companies are promoting!

I'm constantly trying to think of items that will just steal the show. My goal is to try to find things that people are almost fighting over to get. A few months ago we had ordered some air gun toys - I never even got to see them because they were so popular! No worries more are coming, but what would you like to see as a promotional item at our conferences?

First of all, Halloween was a blast! Spiderman/girl was a huge hit, and I'm really looking forward to seeing some pictures. We had a wonderful evening hanging out with some friends and eating way too much candy. I think one of my favorite parts of the evening was riding on the bus to our party and having a child really think that Spiderman was on the bus. His mother quickly let him know that it was a costume, but nonetheless, he was very excited!

Secondly, have you had a chance to check out how Total PMA celebrates Halloween? If you haven't, check out this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY8KQ1UXkxI

We most definitely won the award for "Best Group Costume" at work! We had a blast creating the costumes, and an even better time walking around showing them off.

It's not everyday that you get to be 5 years old again. The anticipation building over time, until you get to unveil your costume to everyone at school. Competing early on to win bragging rights for most authentic action figure or prettiest princess.

As the Total PMA team searched for a group costume that fit our collective sense of humor and personalities, Emily Dixon our Member Concierge came upon Tetris.