Icon

Michael, Sakro and I worked on Kountr's icon tonight. Earlier in the day I sketched a couple of ideas but didn't show them to Michael. Later in the evening, Sakro showed Michael his idea. I entered the conversation late and showed them one of the icons I thought of earlier. Ironically, it was identical to Sakro's! We decided that it was not sufficient and continued to brainstorm other ideas. Michael's ideas, of course, were far fetched at first but then he hit upon a great icon. We added to his original idea and Sakro, with his visual genius, created the icon. I love it! We are going to sleep on it and talk again tomorrow. So, you are going to have to wait for the unveil of Kountr's icon.

Any guesses on what it will be?

Feedback

We have been getting lots of great feedback for Kountr lately. What an adrenaline rush! It's amazing to watch Kountr unfold. Michael has been working crazy hours to get the ideas functioning and loving every second of it. At the beginning of Kountr, we brainstormed features that we thought Kountr would eventually include and yet we didn't think of half of the wonderful ideas that have been implemented. It just goes to show that the user knows best!

What do you think of Kountr's enhancements? Do you have feedback that will make Kountr better?

Learning

I am amazed everyday at how quickly kids learn things. My youngest is just turning 6 months and she loves to babble. She makes eye contact with me, smiles and just starts talking. I know she is trying to share her world with me.

My eldest is 2 years old and his vocabulary and sentences have just exploded. He went from barely saying one word at a time to 3 word sentences. I love talking with him and learning about what he sees in our world. Every morning I ask him, "Did you dream?" I don't think he knows what a 'dream' is but he answers me everyday. He dreams about butterflies a lot. This morning, before I could ask him he told me, "I dreamed butterflies!" It made my heart melt. He was so excited and proud of himself. I cherish these days.

Can you imagine if we continued to learn new things at such an accelerated rate? Oh, the things we could do!

A blast from the past

Promoting Kountr has had some interesting side effects. The first was seeing who has added or wants to add me as a friend on Facebook. I resisted joining but did to help promote Kountr. People I haven't talked to since high school and even strangers have asked to be my 'friend.' The great thing is that I have reconnected with some of my extended family whom I haven't seen or talked to in years. It is nice to hear from then and know that they are happy and healthy.

The latest surprise is a feedback email I got today. An old friend discovered Kountr through Anyram's blog and, though sceptical at first, is hooked on Kountr. She ends the email saying that she hopes we are doing well. Her email brought a smile to my face. I, too, have been thinking about her and how she is doing. We had some great times together and I would like to think that we are older and wiser today. Old friendships can never be the same but they can get better. We'll see where this all goes... So, old friend, if you are reading this, get in touch again. I would love to hear from you.

Michael and Kountr are teaching me that just when you think you know where life is leading you, it gives you other options.

Snow

I can't believe it. There is a good 3 inches of snow on the ground! I would not be too surprised with this weather in Toronto but Victoria? We went outside and played in the very wet snow. It was great fun. L was soaked by the time we came inside. The best thing after playing in the snow is hot chocolate. Mmmm...

Family and Friends

This is a very broad topic but one that is very close to my heart. There are so many songs and sayings that talk about how lonely we can be even though we are surrounded by friends and family. It is easy to feel isolated whether it is for geographical or emotional reasons. Then, family and friends find a way to connect again.

I am ecstatic about the support we are getting from our friends and family for Kountr. Michael and I have been feeding off of each other for energy to keep going but now, our friends and family have stepped up and re-energized me. I feel very lucky. Yes, I'm a sap... a proud sap.

Thank you all!

Copy and Paste 2

I am still up... I couldn't sleep so, I sat down in front of the computer and wrote the post. Done! It turns out that I can edit the notes underneath the link so, I deleted the the notification saying the site is down. Oops.

Copy and Paste

I am annoyed. I wrote a great reply to a friend on Facebook but the link to Kountr kept bringing up a notification saying that the site is down. I copied the post so that I could go back later and try again. Of course, I forgot and copied something else. Oh snap! I know it's my fault. I should have pasted it somewhere or just posted it with the notification. I'm too tired to write... I'll try again tomorrow.

Collaborating

This is a short post because I need to get some sleep. My daughter has decided to start waking up 2 hours earlier and my son is not sleeping through the night. Despite these setbacks Michael and I have been working tirelessly at Kountr. There are 3 new features that we are excited about: Your Kounts, Your Recent and KountDown. The wonderful thing about these features is the way Michael and I collaborated.

These collaborations were great because we did it without any tension. We are both tired and have been a little less patient with each other. Your Kounts and Your Recent was formed from my inability to keep track of my kounts and my friends kounts. I blame this on baby brain. So, we discussed how we could figure out a solution without logins. The idea is completely Michael's but I pushed him in the direction. KountDown is more of a collaboration. We couldn't figure out how to do a KountDown without needing a second server. In short, Michael came up the idea of starting the kount as a negative value so that the kount counts down as it is incremented. This makes the back end of a KountDown the same as a KountUp. I suggested we display the absolute values so that users are not confused by the negative signs. It was great to see Michael getting more and more excited about the solution as we continued to talk.

I cherish these talks because it is a conversation that we both are able to contribute to and be excited about. I sometimes feel like we are living different lives with me as an at-home mom and Michael at work but that is another post for another day.

Blogs

I'm new to this blogging thing. It is very daunting... not only to blog but to find and read blogs that may be of interest. As part of our marketing strategy, we are reading blogs and responding to anything interesting. Michael has found many great new ideas, trends and tools by reading his blogs.

On Friday, he mentioned that we have to set up a blog reader for me. I had no idea what he was talking about. Nor, did I realize the amount of time this would require. Setting up the blog reader took no time but the amount of reading that I need to do is enormous. It is also difficult to determine which blogs I can relate to or which ones I will want to read.

So, I am trying out the Google Reader. I searched for "mom" and "entrepreneur" and added 23 subscriptions. I will not be able to read all of these blogs but I will scan them and read the ones that sound interesting. After some time I can weed out the blogs that I am not interested in reading and likely, add to the list.

The real question is: When will I have the time to read all of these blogs?

Tick-tock

Time keeps ticking while I try to prioritize my life.

The original version of this post was negative then, I read "How-To Start a Company and Family at the Same Time" by Ben Yoskovitz. I realized that I need to change my perspective so, the new goal is to re-energize myself and look at the positive side of things. Here is were I stand and what I need to do:

Kountr:
Last week I worked on Kountr until the wee hours of the morning but found that I was too tired the next day. This week I am trying to work on Kountr during the day instead. I am ironing out the kinks in this adjustment.

Children:
Now that I am sleeping at night my energy level has increased so, I am running around with them and having fun. I will continue to enjoy getting sleep!

Husband:
Hmm... we need to find some time together that is for us.

Me:
I am starting a fitness class next week with my friends. And I am looking forward to our friends visiting from out of town. Maybe I should slot some time for my hobbies...

The Beginning

This is my first personal blog. It is a big step for me. I am a private person and this is very unnerving.

At first I wanted to start blogging to advertise for Kountr. Now, I realize I am doing this as an outlet for me and anybody who wants to listen. I am an at-home mom with 2 kids and I am working with my husband, Michael, to 'make Kountr kount.' I am not the entrepreneurial type but Michael certainly is and he is helping me break out of my shell.

Kountr is a website that simply keeps kounts. We have made the website as simple as possible and are adding features based on user feedback.