we bought a laundromat

I'm not sure what all this will lead to but on Monday, we finally closed on the purchase of Spotless Cleaners and Tanning (yes, that's right, tanning) in Camden. It's a well-established business whose last owners did a wonderful job building up a strong customer base. We're incredibly excited about the venture. For the time being, we're running it as the previous owners did... once we come up for air, we'll make some changes so that our personalities and values will be evident as well. To the future!

Sisters' Summer Sale at Buzzie Bee

Sisters’ Summer Sale!
25% off
diaper covers & swim diapers,
los chiquitos fitted diapers,
hemp & organic cotton prefolds,
contoured diapers

(now through July 31)
in stock items only

June marks the month that our youngest daughter came home to our family - while she was in our hearts forever, it was on June 2, 2006 that we all landed on US soil (very wet soil as it was raining so much in Atlanta, we wound up staying the night as the airport was pretty much shut down due to heavy rains). We celebrate it as Sisters Day - the day our girls were "officially" sisters. This year we had a cake (Hermanas Siempre) on which I tried to replicate the Guatemalan flag and went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. We realize that Guatemalan food isn't really like Mexican food but in Maine it's about as close as we're going to get. The restaurant (Blue Sky Cantina) uses a quetzal on their sign (the national bird of Guatemala for which they named their currency) so that was pretty good...

cloth in daycare - it can bee done!

Here at the hive, we keep hearing from parents whose daycare providers are reluctant to plain refusing to allow cloth diapers. This is frustrating on many levels - it's hard to find daycare that is reliable and affordable so when parents have found someone they feel they can trust, it can feel uncomfortable to make any "additional" request. We know because our children have both been in childcare settings - ranging from awesome to awful. By working with other RDIA and RDA members, this topic is going to be addressed on a national level, with practical applications at home. It'll take some time but we're working on it. If you have any daycare diaper stories - successes or opportunities - please pass them along to me.

good sale stuff

changes are coming to the buzzie bee hive - we've been looking over inventory... in order to make room for new stuff, we're offering sale pricing on some instock items. i'm relatively new to running a sale through a website... please call or email if you have specific questions about any items. let us know if there's something on the buzzie bee site that you'd like to see on sale. thanks!

So Proud! Real Diaper Industry Association website - check it out...

Mission Statement : The Real Diaper Industry Association will improve business conditions in the cloth diaper industry by sponsoring research, supporting business education and networking, and engaging in promotion and advocacy.

I am so proud of this group. It's wonderful to have colleagues who share this vision. If you are in a cloth diaper business, visit the website. If you own a diaper service or other cloth diaper related business, please contact me - together we really are stronger.

Breast Milk Pumping in the Workplace

On Monday the Labor Committee voted unanimously to pass the nursing bill out of committee, and send it to the House floor for the big vote. Here is the text of the bill that they passed (I think it’s pretty good):

An employer, including the state of Maine and its subdivisions, shall provide adequate unpaid break time or permit an employee to use paid break time or meal time each day to allow an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for up to three years following child birth. The employer shall make reasonable efforts to provide a clean room or other location, other than a bathroom, in close proximity to the work area, where an employee may express milk in privacy. No employer shall discriminate in any way against an employee who chooses to express breast milk in the work place.

Why Network?

Locally I participate in two networks designed to meet the needs of women in business. One is a statewide group, the Maine Women's Network, which has 3 chapters and the other is a local group, the CamRock Network. This is a lot of people contact for someone who is basically an introvert. It took me a while to feel comfortable in this role but now I find that I actually enjoy it. I have gotten to know, like and trust women that otherwise I might not have ever known. And I've had a zillion needs and interests met locally.

Through my connection to these groups, I've found:

• a fabulous financial advisor
• a realtor to help my mom buy a house in Maine
• a programmer who solved most of my shopping cart concerns
• customers who bought training pants, diapers and gift certificates
• lots and lots of wonderful babysitters
• a realtor who helped my best friend buy a house just a few miles away
• an insurance agent who is funny and prompt
• an editor who encouraged me to write a column for a local paper
• other moms with connections to adoption
• a diverse group of women who are rooting for Buzzie Bee Diapers to keep growing!

Interested in joining me at a networking event? I'd love to share this... just contact me and we'll work out the details.

Check out the CamRock blog on Village Soup