Fast forward to Mother’s Day.

I was at a beautiful outdoor garden center this morning looking for a hanging basket or potted plant for my mom for Mother’s Day. I was carefully scrutinizing each and every plant…thoughtfully looking at their color, shape, size, and number of blossoms. I was truly enjoying the whole experience and had selected 3 particularly lovely potted plants and had set them aside for the next round of consideration.

Suddenly… out of nowhere, a man appeared. He rushed past me, saying a quick “good morning” and literally grabbed the very first potted plant and hanging basket within his reach. He was gone as swiftly as he had appeared. I stood there in horrified silence. Clearly…this man had completed an entire year’s worth of Mother’s Day shopping before my very eyes in less than 30 seconds.

Seriously??!! What happened to making sure the color was perfect and the plant you finally chose was filled with buds that would open at just the right time on Mother’s Day?!?

I completed my selection process and proceeded toward the check out counter 20 minutes later with the plant that I was sure was the perfect selection for my mom on Mother’s Day.

I had invested time, thought, and love in my purchase…and I had already selected a greeting card with the perfect sentiment for my mom.

So…what is the moral of this story? Perhaps it is simply to TAKE TIME to reflect on the meaning of Mother’s Day. If you have been blessed with a Mother’s love in your life…TAKE TIME to thank her and make her feel special on MOTHER’S day.

A mother’s love knows no limits and sets no bounds…

What an extraordinary gift. Celebrate it with joy!

While watching this program, I found myself wondering what it would be like to “go undercover” in my own company. Realistically, that could never happen since there are only a dozen of us working closely together every day and I highly doubt that even the most creative disguise would successfully fool my employees. However, seeing the CEO of a large company with all the same departments, processes, challenges and goals go undercover and work with his employees was fascinating to watch. There have been many times when I have expressed to an employee of mine that I could never do what they do. I hope they realize my words are genuine. I’d like to believe that I always listen to every idea and always respond effectively to every need an employee has both in and out of the workplace…but I know in my heart that isn’t the case. I get busy and stressed and wrapped up in all my own deadlines and responsibilities and I frequently fail to take time to really watch, listen and respond to the extraordinary people I work with every day. When I go to work today, I think I’ll touch base with everyone in the building to see how their weekend was and to ask how I can make the week ahead more pleasant and productive.

I won’t be undercover. They’ll see it’s just me. But I hope it will do some good just to know I care.

The desire of my heart is to create a workplace that is way more than just a place people come each day to do their job. Our greeting cards are beautiful vehicles of hope and joy and comfort that travel all over the world. We have the amazing privilege of spreading that same positive energy in all we do every day. What a blessing!

Well, you’re WRONG.

Yesterday, I found myself rushing through a packed parking lot with my head down and hood up, trying to shield against a cold winter wind. I was in between meetings, tired, crabby, stressed and on a mission to get all my errands done before I had to be back at work. I was wiped out from deadlines and details and completely void of the daily joy I like to feel.

You guessed it…my “shopping cart” was empty.

Suddenly, I heard a rapid clicking noise and looked up just in time to witness an unusual sight that jerked me right back into the reality of my blessed world. A grown man who had just emptied his cart and packed his purchases into his car had turned his empty shopping cart around and was pushing it in a running start so he could jump up and “ride” his empty cart all the way through the lot back to the front of the store where carts are stored.

As I stared in utter amazement, I silently promised myself I would never return a shopping cart the normal way again. The unexpected sight of seeing a perfect stranger do something so perfectly delightful was just the medicine I needed to awaken my spirit and shake me back into the reality that life doesn’t need to be so serious after all.

Next time you find yourself weighted down by daily burdens, put them down…empty your cart…take a running start…and enjoy the ride!

You’ll feel much better. I know I did.

The past couple of months have been a whirlwind of activity at it takes two.

We’ve been busy creating and producing new products along with a beautiful new catalog for 2012.

A new website for business professionals has been launched at www.ittakestwodirect.com.

Many wonderful greeting cards and gifts have been released and are being promoted through our reps and on our site for retailers at www.ittakestwo.com. Check out some of our new creations!

We are ready to pack ‘em up and ship ‘em out to you !

The importance of writing thank you notes was affirmed in a powerful way for me when our son, Sam, was looking at colleges. During one of our visits, the head of the engineering department met with us to answer our questions and show us around. I remember feeling especially grateful that we’d connected with him and amazed that he was willing to give a prospective student a significant amount of his time. I wrote him a thank you note simply telling him we had enjoyed meeting him and sincerely appreciated the encouraging input he gave to our son.

Fast forward…a year and a half later. Sam was a freshman at the college we’d visited and had that gentleman for a professor. One day, I was visiting Sam and he needed to stop by his professor’s office in the engineering department so I tagged along with him. When we approached the office door and realized his professor was there and not busy with another student, I decided to say hello since we’d met before. I never expected him to have any recollection of our family visiting or of meeting me a year and a half ago. Before I had a chance to open my mouth, he exclaimed “you’re the one!” and hurriedly began digging through a pile of papers on top of a file cabinet in the far corner of his office. After a brief shuffle, he produced a card. He waved it enthusiastically and asked if I was the one who sent it. Much to my surprise, it was the very thank you note I had sent over a year ago…the note I honestly thought wouldn’t mean much to a brilliant professor with a list of accomplishments and a series of letters behind his name that I didn’t even begin to understand.

He thanked me for taking the time to write and said it was the first time he’d received a written note after a college visit. This highly educated and accomplished man whose life’s work is molding the minds of future chemists, physicists and engineers had a heart that was truly touched by a simple note of thanks. So, what’s the message? Never assume that a simple thank you note isn’t important and don’t let the fear of not knowing what to say in a thank you card stop you from putting pen to paper. It may be the most important thing you can do to warm a person’s heart and make them feel valued.

My favorite thank you card contains this verse:

“I know few words that take as little time to say and are as deeply felt as these…thank you.”

Don’t just say it…put it into writing. Written words last much longer and can mean much more.

But wait~ on that night so long ago when Christ was born, there was no show, there was no room…only a stable and a shared bed of hay. There was no music, polished and practiced … only the voices of angels giving glory to God. There was no announcement in a bulletin … only a bright star to follow to the place where Jesus lay. Come to think of it, there was nothing special or extraordinary about that night at all. And it certainly wasn’t the perfect Christmas. The only perfect thing about that very first Christmas was God’s love graciously given to us in the form of a tiny baby in a humble manger.

“Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. There is room in my heart for you.”

Where will you shop for it takes two cards, gifts and scrapbooking supplies today?