Late Night Thoughts

Shalom!

Well, I should be in bed--I should've been two or three hours ago, actually--but I have had so much to do that I haven't quite made it there yet. To further procrastinate my head hitting the pillow, I shall write a long (yet riveting) blog.

I am sitting here surrounded by piles and piles and piles and piles of Christmas decorations, bags of cookies and empty pizza boxes, a great new coffee table centerpiece, loads of unpacked luggage, a yet-to-be-assembled storage rack, and two little white furballs that are sleeping soundly. One furball is curled up in her pajamas and is on a pillow next to me. The other has curled up on the back of the couch, resting against my neck and shoulders. Were one to walk in and see my apartment at this very moment, the scene would appear to be an unorganized trash heap complete with furry critters everywhere (myself included, I reckon as I haven't shaved in a week's time) and yet there's so much explanation behind everything here--and lots of fun memories too.

The Charlie Brown Christmas tree sitting across the room from me--looking even more pathetic than it did two weeks ago, if that's even possible--is a reminder of this evening's gift exchange I held with a friend. The nice Christmas tree that graced my living room for the past month (on loan from said friend so that I had a good looking one for my party a few weeks ago) was taken down earlier today--before we had a chance to do our gift exchange. As it didn't feel like Christmas without a tree and all the festivities, I dragged my roommate's hideous tree into the middle of the living room, put Matza in her elf costume, and put Christmas music on. The only thing that wasn't so Christmas-like was me yelling at everyone to get some dang Christmas spirit and stop being so crabby--followed by orders to report to the living room full of Christmas joy and happiness. Once past that, it was great.

The empty pizza boxes and open cookies bags tell of a fun-filled evening spent with friends, during which we just relaxed (for the most part) and watched British comedies. It was one last hoorah before having to return to the real world of work in just a few hours from now. Tonight was the first time I had ordered pizza online. It was quite fun, actually. I do love me some pizza.

The Christmas decor piled around--to the point it consumes most of my living room and dining area--was acquired yesterday and today, as I decided to take advantage of post-Christmas sales and thus bought my first Christmas tree (artificial, that is) and cleared out two Targets in order to have plenty of coordinated decorations, lights, and ornaments. Even more than I love pizza, I love me a good sale. So, $250 later, I have $1200 worth of Christmas stuff. Needless to say, my tree will not be bare. As I am not remotely a patient person, I can not wait a full year before I see the whole thing put together, so I am putting it together in the next two days and I will enjoy it for the month of January. Crazy, I know, but I want to see this tree in all its glory. As I bought enough decor for two trees and then some, it should indeed have some glory to it. In my shopping excursion at Target, during which I filled the baskets and bottom racks of three carts (an utter and complete pain to shop with), I also found some cool stuff to use for a coffee table centerpiece. So, that is now prominently displayed too. It was a battle tonight to get everyone who saw it to agree on how it should all be put together. Ultimately, since it's my stuff anyway, I did what I wanted and I am quite happy with the results. Go me.

The furballs are my own beloved Matza and my co-worker's dog, Lacy. Lacy is basically a miniature version of Matza (if you can picture that, as Matza can't get much smaller herself). Lacy is about three pounds and is a white fluff ball. She's a hoot too. She's now gotten herself wedged between the cushions on the back of the couch, with her butt just dangling in the air--yet on she sleeps. It was quite the menagerie of animals here earlier today. Not only was there Matza and Lacy, but Peanut (my friend Adrian's dog) was here and of course my roommate's cats, Milo and Morris, were here too. Then, I was also dog-sitting for another co-worker (I didn't keep Bailey here, as he's 130-lbs. and would eat Matza in two bites--well, one if he didn't chew), so I took off for a while today to go take care of the big baby. It's about a 30 minute drive each way, so it isn't the most convenient thing to do, but I do it at least once a month and Bailey's just too cute, so I can't say no. He's a mix of pitbull, St. Bernard, yellow lab, and something else...an overgrown saliva gland perhaps? I can't remember. Anyway, it's quite the combo, but he's adorable. I told him he should've been named Fifi and I think he kind of liked the idea. He will stand on his two hind legs and dance with me (eye-to-eye almost) and he loves his walks around the lake.

As for the luggage, it's sitting unpacked and in the hallway, as I have been too busy to do anything with it since getting back from Utah on Sunday night. I usually don't get a bag unpacked until about a month or two after returning from a trip, so heaven only knows how long it will take me to get around to unpacking TWO bags. As the cats are curled up on top of the luggage while I type this, it makes me think I need to get unpacked quickly so as to not have my luggage smelling like cats. I'd put it in my bedroom, but there's no room there as I've re-arranged my furniture in order to put the yet-to-be-assembled storage shelving unit in my bedroom. The storage unit is going to hold all of the inventory for my business and has been a big ol' pain in the heiny to deal with as there just wasn't room for it. I had to move Matza's tent in order to have space and she's not a happy camper (no pun intended).

Speaking of my company, I am excited to announce that I have found a web designer who is incredible and is going to design my site for about $3000 less than he would normally charge for a basic site. It's my uncle's best friend and he owns his own design company that is very successful. He is giving me the "friend of the family" discount, which is also going to include about $40,000 in free upgrades and software that he's rolling over to me as his large clients have already paid for it. I couldn't be more excited! Part of the reason I'm up so late is because I just got done e-mailing him pages and pages of notes and design ideas, along with rough sketches I did on the flight to Utah, in order to give him an idea of what I'd like. This is the same reason as to why tonight was not totally relaxing, as I was working on all of that while trying to be sociable and watch the show too. The designer, Kayvon, and I had quite the discussion on the phone the other day and the information I sent tonight should move us much further along so that the site can be on its way to my (hopefully) February 1st kick-off! Wahoo!

I also have come up with two additional products I want to develop that don't already exist in the market--or at least that aren't nearly as well-designed or developed as they should and could be. So, that's on the agenda to get to at some point, but as I'm already putting 50-75 hours/week into just getting the thing up and running, I think the extra product development is going to be a slower process than I'd like. Fortunately, my consultants are going to sign my agreements next week so that I can get them working and have my proprietary information protected too. That will definitely help and I can get them working on further ironing out some of the new product details I won't have time for right away. I have ordered in about 35 items that I'm going to be testing out and those should get here in the next week too (actually, the shipping confirmation notice just arrived in my inbox, so they will be here this week!). I have my Articles of Organization ready to go (there was a bit of a snag with those, so I had to delay the submittal of such) and I have my PO box, my business Visa is on its way, and I have all of my equipment ordered and so all of it is either in production or shipping right now, with the last of it arriving on January 16th.

It almost gives me a heart attack each time I make $1000s in purchases, but I'm quickly learning that you do indeed have to spend money to make money. Gratefully, I'm a very fiscally responsible person so I know I'm not buying frivolously and I definitely do not pay asking price for anything, so that has helped too. So far, I've almost been taken for about $5000 in hidden charges and even in a phishing scheme too, but I am following my gut instinct on everything and reading the fine print in every contract and agreement that hits my desk. I never thought there'd be so many dishonest people openly functioning in the business world. I'm not so naive as to think all are honest, but the ratio of honest vs. dishonest people is of a completely different proportion than I would have guessed. It's really quite sad, but I am fortunate to have found so many honest and good people and companies.

Well, I do believe that is all for now. As it's 2:30 a.m. and I have to be up in just a few hours, I suppose I'd better sign off. My thoughts at this hour are many, but the overriding thought is that I'm incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful family and friend support system, a great life (I didn't say it was perfect--but it doesn't have to be perfect to be great), and a loving Heavenly Father that watches over me and blesses me, despite my seriously high amount of flaws and imperfections. I couldn't ask for anything more than what I have as I don't even really deserve this much.

On this, the first of a new year, I can honestly say that I am happy, blessed, and fortunate to be in the place I am at in life. This upcoming year has more challenges for me than I can even anticipate (just looking at the variables with starting my own company AND law school gives me more than enough to think about, let alone living everyday life and knowing that I have a third knee surgery coming up in a few months--I just have to find some time to schedule it in), but I know that despite the problems that will undoubtedly come my way, I can make it through with the support of my God and my family and friends. For each of you, may 2008 be the best year of your life and may you be blessed beyond measure with good health and personal growth! Happy New Year!