Bonjour!
Deux?? Bonjour?? Well, I'm channeling my inner Jean-Pierre this morning, what can I say?! (If you were to hear me say this post's title in person, I would say it with an accent that sounds like that of a French harlot mixed with the voice of Lumiere from "Beauty and the Beast". And I'd have thrown in "croissant" and "oui, oui...but not on this carpet" somewhere in there too.)
At any rate, this is two posts in two days--and there are two anniversaries today. The odds of this all happening in relation to the number two...they're phenomenal. (Or we'll pretend they are because we're creative like that.)
"What, pray tell, are the two anniversaries," you ask? I shall tell you without further adieux...my little croissant. [insert French laugh...wo hooo hoo] Oui oui. Baguette.
Anniversary Un:
It was on June 24th, 2006, that Darin and I left the motherland (Utah) and started our pilgrimage across America that ultimately lead us to our current locations of DC and Raleigh. We packed up Luh-fawn-duh the Honda (mostly with Darin's crap, of course...I packed light) and trekked for mile upon mile upon mile, with multiple adventures along the way. You can read about it/see a picture of the interior of Luh-fawn-duh packed with Darin's voluminous belongings by following these links to previous posts surrounding this illustrious event:
http://kadertot.blogspot.com/2008/06/noteable-anniversary.html
http://kadertot.blogspot.com/2008/06/picture-to-commemorate-anniversary.html
Anniversary Deux:
It was on February 24, 2009 that I first met Artis. (If you've done your third grade-level math correctly, you have deduced that it is in fact our 16-month anniversary today. A noteworthy event, despite not being a whole-year anniversary number.) So, I've had 16 months of wonderful bliss.
OK, so maybe not bliss those first few months in which I was an emotionally closed-off beast with protective walls far stronger than anything Fort Knox can tout. But they were still wonderful months. The bliss just came later...after the walls started to crumble. Let's just say that I cannot sing Beyonce's "Hello" lyrics to describe our initial encounter and time together. (She'd sing it something like this: "You haa-uh-d me a-uh-t hellooo hellooooOOOO helllooooOOOOOooooOOOOooooooo.") It's not that I didn't like Artis, but it wasn't head-over-heels infatuation from the moment we met. That all happened over time--and, in looking back, I wouldn't have had it any other way. We developed such a great friendship, despite our polar opposite personalities, and it was upon this foundation that everything else has been built.
Without getting all schmaltzy and nauseatingly sweet (I'll save that for the whole-year numbered anniversaries), I will simply say that I'm very grateful for the 16 months that Artis and I have had together--both the good and even not-so-fun parts we've gotten through together--and I look forward to many more!
Anyway, lots to celebrate today--the anniversary of a new life in so many ways. And a wonderful life at that, I might add.
Until next time, I bid you adieux, mon ami!
~moi
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
I am back. And in better shape than my favorite crackwhore.
Greetings, gentle readers! (OK, so that's giving myself far too much credit. Make that "reader" in the singular form. Gracious, I may as well just address this as "Dear Mom,"...)
Don't ask me why, but for the last two weeks it's been gnawing at me that I need to start blogging again. Not that it's ever read or is even that interesting...or that it was even missed for the last 1 1/2 years since I last wrote...but it is a good outlet to release all of these random thoughts and ideas that cross my brain in a given day. And there are plenty.
I should preface today's thoughts by saying that my most productively genius moments actually occur while I'm in the shower. Odd, I know, but for some reason that's when I can solve most of the dilemmas in my life...and I must say that I've come up with some pretty darn tootin' good ideas while wearing nothing but some shampoo and a smile on my face! (Interesting side note: I also tend to solve problems in my dreams & then wake up thinking about it, apply what I dreamt, and it usually fixes whatever has been taxing my ever-fragile brain for far too long.) Yes, I have indeed been known to take multiple showers in a day not only because I have this OCD need to be clean, but because I'll have a need for something to be solved.
And then there are other shower times that result in absolutely nothing but a random ride on the roller coaster through my brain. Sometimes that roller coaster derails entirely. And the cart falls off the track & smashes into the ground. And the airbags do not deploy. Enter today's wreck/subject: my favorite crackwhore, Whitney Houston.
It's a long, convoluted story, but in short--I was showering and thinking about my friend Greg's recent blog posting, which reminded me of a similar posting of mine in which Friend Cammie Jan commented in reply to what I said and quoted a Whitney Houston song in the process. That's where the cart left the track and started on the downhill race towards asphalt.
So, Miss Whitney. I've always loved her and was saddened when there were no more wonderful albums being released...and even more saddened (read: disgusted) when I watched her and Bobby Brown on their [gratefully] short-lived reality show. The scene that stands out most to me--of all the wasted hours spent watching...which was, embarrassingly enough, many--is one that involves Mr. and Mrs. Brown, a toilet, and Whitney requesting Bobby's help in handling something. Literally HANDling something. I'll leave it at that before I vomit. Anyway, I figured then that her career and future were in the crapper, so to speak. Needless to say, I was quite surprised to hear that she was planning a comeback. And I was hopeful. Yes, friend, I was ever-so-hopeful. Hopeful that "The Voice" was back and would produce songs that I could sing not only in the shower, but also belt out while driving, grocery shopping, getting my haircut, walking the dogs--heck, anywhere that I could share the joy of singing a Whitney Houston ballad. Sadly, it was not to be.
When Whitney was on Oprah I decided that she'd end up needing to have two comebacks. The first attempt, already in full swing at that point, wasn't going so well as was. Then, when she told Oprah she was no longer on drugs and was living the good life, I looked ahead to what is bound to be a future "Oprah" episode: "Whitney Lied". Apparently, I am not alone in thinking this:
http://www.showbizspy.com/article/192855/whitney-houston-lied-to-oprah.html
Her response was too odd. I just didn't buy it. So, in my envisioned future episode she'll tearfully admit to Oprah that she lied during her first visit, feels awful but thanks her fans for standing by her, and is now on the path to recovery after she does a short stint in rehab. (Let's just hope the second interview isn't also a two-episode saga like the first one.)
Aside from all of this, there's a small problem with her first attempt (and it's a feeble attempt, at best)--the woman can't sing anymore. To me, that's an issue here. I offer up, as evidence, this little piece of Hell (aka footage from a Whitney Houston concert in Australia)--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_2HWA0zN_o
Is it just me or does she speak her songs now, rather than sing them? And, I don't think that looooooong pause before the "And iiii--eeeee--iiiiii" was all just for dramatic effect. I think some of it was just so that she had time to store up enough oxygen to get through the next part. Much like a bagpipe. But bless her heart for trying.
Anyway, while I do try to think the best about [most] people and hope for positive outcomes in [most] situations, I do not think it is to be for my favorite crackwhore. Not this time anyway. Perhaps after the second "Oprah" episode she'll be here to stay. Meanwhile, I need to go shower again; I can't stop thinking about that revolting reality show episode. And I feel dirty.
Until next time... (hopefully sooner, rather than later)
~me
Don't ask me why, but for the last two weeks it's been gnawing at me that I need to start blogging again. Not that it's ever read or is even that interesting...or that it was even missed for the last 1 1/2 years since I last wrote...but it is a good outlet to release all of these random thoughts and ideas that cross my brain in a given day. And there are plenty.
I should preface today's thoughts by saying that my most productively genius moments actually occur while I'm in the shower. Odd, I know, but for some reason that's when I can solve most of the dilemmas in my life...and I must say that I've come up with some pretty darn tootin' good ideas while wearing nothing but some shampoo and a smile on my face! (Interesting side note: I also tend to solve problems in my dreams & then wake up thinking about it, apply what I dreamt, and it usually fixes whatever has been taxing my ever-fragile brain for far too long.) Yes, I have indeed been known to take multiple showers in a day not only because I have this OCD need to be clean, but because I'll have a need for something to be solved.
And then there are other shower times that result in absolutely nothing but a random ride on the roller coaster through my brain. Sometimes that roller coaster derails entirely. And the cart falls off the track & smashes into the ground. And the airbags do not deploy. Enter today's wreck/subject: my favorite crackwhore, Whitney Houston.
It's a long, convoluted story, but in short--I was showering and thinking about my friend Greg's recent blog posting, which reminded me of a similar posting of mine in which Friend Cammie Jan commented in reply to what I said and quoted a Whitney Houston song in the process. That's where the cart left the track and started on the downhill race towards asphalt.
So, Miss Whitney. I've always loved her and was saddened when there were no more wonderful albums being released...and even more saddened (read: disgusted) when I watched her and Bobby Brown on their [gratefully] short-lived reality show. The scene that stands out most to me--of all the wasted hours spent watching...which was, embarrassingly enough, many--is one that involves Mr. and Mrs. Brown, a toilet, and Whitney requesting Bobby's help in handling something. Literally HANDling something. I'll leave it at that before I vomit. Anyway, I figured then that her career and future were in the crapper, so to speak. Needless to say, I was quite surprised to hear that she was planning a comeback. And I was hopeful. Yes, friend, I was ever-so-hopeful. Hopeful that "The Voice" was back and would produce songs that I could sing not only in the shower, but also belt out while driving, grocery shopping, getting my haircut, walking the dogs--heck, anywhere that I could share the joy of singing a Whitney Houston ballad. Sadly, it was not to be.
When Whitney was on Oprah I decided that she'd end up needing to have two comebacks. The first attempt, already in full swing at that point, wasn't going so well as was. Then, when she told Oprah she was no longer on drugs and was living the good life, I looked ahead to what is bound to be a future "Oprah" episode: "Whitney Lied". Apparently, I am not alone in thinking this:
http://www.showbizspy.com/article/192855/whitney-houston-lied-to-oprah.html
Her response was too odd. I just didn't buy it. So, in my envisioned future episode she'll tearfully admit to Oprah that she lied during her first visit, feels awful but thanks her fans for standing by her, and is now on the path to recovery after she does a short stint in rehab. (Let's just hope the second interview isn't also a two-episode saga like the first one.)
Aside from all of this, there's a small problem with her first attempt (and it's a feeble attempt, at best)--the woman can't sing anymore. To me, that's an issue here. I offer up, as evidence, this little piece of Hell (aka footage from a Whitney Houston concert in Australia)--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_2HWA0zN_o
Is it just me or does she speak her songs now, rather than sing them? And, I don't think that looooooong pause before the "And iiii--eeeee--iiiiii" was all just for dramatic effect. I think some of it was just so that she had time to store up enough oxygen to get through the next part. Much like a bagpipe. But bless her heart for trying.
Anyway, while I do try to think the best about [most] people and hope for positive outcomes in [most] situations, I do not think it is to be for my favorite crackwhore. Not this time anyway. Perhaps after the second "Oprah" episode she'll be here to stay. Meanwhile, I need to go shower again; I can't stop thinking about that revolting reality show episode. And I feel dirty.
Until next time... (hopefully sooner, rather than later)
~me
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Improvement.
Ha! Look at this! Only one week since my last post and here I am again! I call that progress. Go me!
Well, speaking of progress, I am currently thinking about my New Year's resolutions. Typically, these fly right on out the window for me once 12:01 a.m. hits on January 2nd, but this year, I've got a reasonable list mixed with both personal improvements as well as projects to accomplish. It is through this delicate balance that yours truly will be an almost-perfect person by December 31st. (Note that I did not specify a year...)
How am I going to achieve this level of perfection, you ask? Well, I shan't keep you waiting--here (in no particular order, just like most other things that come out of my brain) is part of my list of projects/improvements:
~Project: Make my life easier in 2010 by keeping excellent business records in 2009. I obviously keep records of everything...they just aren't exactly organized, so I'm now going through and re-creating my business finances for the past year. It is not pretty, no. It is not fun, no. Heck, it's not remotely enjoyable and may ultimately lead to me being obese from overeating due to stress...BUT, I will prevail and do better next year. To my credit, I am pretty savvy when it comes to analyzing, sorting, etc., so it is going smoother than I originally thought it would...but it's still ugly.
Now, a project would not be complete without steps ultimately leading to its accomplishment. So (mainly to help myself out here by having it written out), here is how I plan to accomplish this overall goal:
1) Use QuickBooks beginning right now. I have already done my inventory (handcounted almost 2,000 individual items) and know what needs to go into QB. Now, it's just a matter of uploading it all and then utilizing the invoicing features through QB as the year progresses.
2) Keeping a spreadsheet that tracks all money owed to me by other vendors who purchase inventory from me. I often forget what is owed until I start looking through my emails.
3) On Sunday nights, I shall sit down and balance my checkbook, make sure I've updated QB with the week's sales and inventory changes, etc. No more of just filing the statements as they come without looking them over. (Horrible, I know.)
~Project: Re-vamp my website and entire company structure. Yes, it sounds a bit odd, but it must be done. I have some great ideas and have been dragging my feet all year to get them done. Not this year. I know what those ideas are (and trust me, they're great--but obviously I'm not going to post my business ideas online as I've already been burned a bit too many times even with fellow vendors that I trusted) and I will accomplish them. One in particular could not have better timing, given the economy. Odd that the economy crashing could ultimately help me with an area that will increase my sales. Anyway, to accomplish this goal I shall:
1) Offload as much of current inventory as possible to other vendors, etc.
2) Finish new product selection by end of January; have product descriptions and photos completed by end of February. Upload all of it to the site by mid-March at the very latest. You wouldn't think it would take this long to do this, but unless you've updated a site of your own you won't get it if I explained it. Again, trust me--it's a beast. It takes approximately 30-45 mins per item to get it all in the system and uploaded. Considering I have over 100 different products and plan to continue offering the diverse items, switching it out is a considerable amount of time--and keep in mind that I still have to work FT to put the food on the table.
3) Depending upon tax return, but hopefully by end of March, I will have a new logo and site created for the wholesale division of my company. Currently, it all operates under one name and there are plenty of issues that come along with that. In order to better market my products, I need to have a separate company name and logo. More on that some other day.
~Personal Goal: Cut my eating out and unhealthy food consumption drastically...but in baby steps so I'm not totally bitter. How?:
1) Take lunch to work no less than three times per week.
2) Make dinner at home on the weeknights no less than three times per week.
3) Allow for eating out one meal on the weekends.
4) Purchase Chips Ahoy and ice cream no more than once every two months.
~Personal Goal/Project: Get my life organized...especially my home. For me, my home reflects my life; you can easily judge how I'm dealing with life just by looking in my bedroom, for instance. Currently, you'd think I belonged in a state mental institution. What my bedroom condition says to me is that I live too chaotically, have very little organization, live with too much excess, and don't take the time to have a place for everything--let alone everything in its place. Accomplish through:
1) Creating files for 2009 filings (this will also help with Project #1) so that the situation is not made worse moving forward.
2) Sorting daily mail into three piles--needs immediate attention, review by end of week and make a decision, and junk/needs to be shredded. On Sundays, while balancing my checkbook, I will review my "make a decision" box and get it emptied for the next week. For the "needs immediate attention" pile, I will not go to bed that night until I have made some progress with it.
3) Doing my laundry and then cleaning out my closet by the end of January. Then, moving forward, the clothes will either go on a hanger or in the hamper, rather than piling them about. The same goes with shoes--they go back on their respective shelf. Laundry shall be done weekly instead of monthly or bi-monthly and the clean laundry will go to its correct place instead of sitting in the clean laundry basket just to wrinkle and then get re-dryed to de-wrinkle, etc.
4) By the end of January, completely clean out under bed and on desk so that all paperwork is sorted, boxed, or shredded.
~Personal Goal: Give myself some personal time to clear the mind and to allow myself just to be...no phone, no IM, no facebook, no email, no TV in the background...nothing. Just me. (And maybe Matza, as she deserves more Matza time too.) Doing so by:
1) Nightly giving myself five minutes (hey--it's a start) after I get everything ready for the next day (and right after taking care of my "needs immediate attention" stragglers) to just relax. I'd say a project would be to read more books, but this past year has proven that a) I don't have time and b) when I do find time, I fall asleep within two pages of any reading--no matter how interesting the subject. I'll ponder looking into giving myself two hours or so on Sundays to read, go to the park, write letters (yes--by hand), etc.--it may be good to do this right after balancing my checkbook. However, at this point, I'm going to be doing well just to accomplish half of these goals. What I'd really like to do is devote at least one solid hour with no interruptions each night just to work on Second Coats' items. As it stands, I put a few minutes here and there, then overload on the weekends (though I've been a major slacker lately there), and then panic the whole week that things didn't get finished.
2) Reading scriptures or the Daily Guideposts message each night (during my five minutes, perhaps) so that I stay more spiritually grounded.
OK, at this point you're probably thinking "why do I care?!" and that's fine--just keep that to yourself. Listing this all out was more for me than you anyway... :) Regardless, I have a few other goals and I hope that come December 31st (elusive year again), I will have achieved at least half of my goals. Aim low, achieve more often, I say. (OK, plus I want to be realistic here...I do know myself, afterall.)
I know many people don't like setting resolutions, but I don't see why that is. To the naysayers: A common excuse is that you only fail at your goal and then feel bad about it each time--but why should you feel bad? At least you took the time to look for ways to improve. I firmly believe that subconsciously we each work towards our inner-most desires through our daily actions--recognized or not. So, if it's something you truly desire to change, I think it'll work itself out eventually anyway. In the meantime, why not keep on keepin' on with a better vision for yourself in mind?
And with that, my friends, I shall close. Adieu.
Well, speaking of progress, I am currently thinking about my New Year's resolutions. Typically, these fly right on out the window for me once 12:01 a.m. hits on January 2nd, but this year, I've got a reasonable list mixed with both personal improvements as well as projects to accomplish. It is through this delicate balance that yours truly will be an almost-perfect person by December 31st. (Note that I did not specify a year...)
How am I going to achieve this level of perfection, you ask? Well, I shan't keep you waiting--here (in no particular order, just like most other things that come out of my brain) is part of my list of projects/improvements:
~Project: Make my life easier in 2010 by keeping excellent business records in 2009. I obviously keep records of everything...they just aren't exactly organized, so I'm now going through and re-creating my business finances for the past year. It is not pretty, no. It is not fun, no. Heck, it's not remotely enjoyable and may ultimately lead to me being obese from overeating due to stress...BUT, I will prevail and do better next year. To my credit, I am pretty savvy when it comes to analyzing, sorting, etc., so it is going smoother than I originally thought it would...but it's still ugly.
Now, a project would not be complete without steps ultimately leading to its accomplishment. So (mainly to help myself out here by having it written out), here is how I plan to accomplish this overall goal:
1) Use QuickBooks beginning right now. I have already done my inventory (handcounted almost 2,000 individual items) and know what needs to go into QB. Now, it's just a matter of uploading it all and then utilizing the invoicing features through QB as the year progresses.
2) Keeping a spreadsheet that tracks all money owed to me by other vendors who purchase inventory from me. I often forget what is owed until I start looking through my emails.
3) On Sunday nights, I shall sit down and balance my checkbook, make sure I've updated QB with the week's sales and inventory changes, etc. No more of just filing the statements as they come without looking them over. (Horrible, I know.)
~Project: Re-vamp my website and entire company structure. Yes, it sounds a bit odd, but it must be done. I have some great ideas and have been dragging my feet all year to get them done. Not this year. I know what those ideas are (and trust me, they're great--but obviously I'm not going to post my business ideas online as I've already been burned a bit too many times even with fellow vendors that I trusted) and I will accomplish them. One in particular could not have better timing, given the economy. Odd that the economy crashing could ultimately help me with an area that will increase my sales. Anyway, to accomplish this goal I shall:
1) Offload as much of current inventory as possible to other vendors, etc.
2) Finish new product selection by end of January; have product descriptions and photos completed by end of February. Upload all of it to the site by mid-March at the very latest. You wouldn't think it would take this long to do this, but unless you've updated a site of your own you won't get it if I explained it. Again, trust me--it's a beast. It takes approximately 30-45 mins per item to get it all in the system and uploaded. Considering I have over 100 different products and plan to continue offering the diverse items, switching it out is a considerable amount of time--and keep in mind that I still have to work FT to put the food on the table.
3) Depending upon tax return, but hopefully by end of March, I will have a new logo and site created for the wholesale division of my company. Currently, it all operates under one name and there are plenty of issues that come along with that. In order to better market my products, I need to have a separate company name and logo. More on that some other day.
~Personal Goal: Cut my eating out and unhealthy food consumption drastically...but in baby steps so I'm not totally bitter. How?:
1) Take lunch to work no less than three times per week.
2) Make dinner at home on the weeknights no less than three times per week.
3) Allow for eating out one meal on the weekends.
4) Purchase Chips Ahoy and ice cream no more than once every two months.
~Personal Goal/Project: Get my life organized...especially my home. For me, my home reflects my life; you can easily judge how I'm dealing with life just by looking in my bedroom, for instance. Currently, you'd think I belonged in a state mental institution. What my bedroom condition says to me is that I live too chaotically, have very little organization, live with too much excess, and don't take the time to have a place for everything--let alone everything in its place. Accomplish through:
1) Creating files for 2009 filings (this will also help with Project #1) so that the situation is not made worse moving forward.
2) Sorting daily mail into three piles--needs immediate attention, review by end of week and make a decision, and junk/needs to be shredded. On Sundays, while balancing my checkbook, I will review my "make a decision" box and get it emptied for the next week. For the "needs immediate attention" pile, I will not go to bed that night until I have made some progress with it.
3) Doing my laundry and then cleaning out my closet by the end of January. Then, moving forward, the clothes will either go on a hanger or in the hamper, rather than piling them about. The same goes with shoes--they go back on their respective shelf. Laundry shall be done weekly instead of monthly or bi-monthly and the clean laundry will go to its correct place instead of sitting in the clean laundry basket just to wrinkle and then get re-dryed to de-wrinkle, etc.
4) By the end of January, completely clean out under bed and on desk so that all paperwork is sorted, boxed, or shredded.
~Personal Goal: Give myself some personal time to clear the mind and to allow myself just to be...no phone, no IM, no facebook, no email, no TV in the background...nothing. Just me. (And maybe Matza, as she deserves more Matza time too.) Doing so by:
1) Nightly giving myself five minutes (hey--it's a start) after I get everything ready for the next day (and right after taking care of my "needs immediate attention" stragglers) to just relax. I'd say a project would be to read more books, but this past year has proven that a) I don't have time and b) when I do find time, I fall asleep within two pages of any reading--no matter how interesting the subject. I'll ponder looking into giving myself two hours or so on Sundays to read, go to the park, write letters (yes--by hand), etc.--it may be good to do this right after balancing my checkbook. However, at this point, I'm going to be doing well just to accomplish half of these goals. What I'd really like to do is devote at least one solid hour with no interruptions each night just to work on Second Coats' items. As it stands, I put a few minutes here and there, then overload on the weekends (though I've been a major slacker lately there), and then panic the whole week that things didn't get finished.
2) Reading scriptures or the Daily Guideposts message each night (during my five minutes, perhaps) so that I stay more spiritually grounded.
OK, at this point you're probably thinking "why do I care?!" and that's fine--just keep that to yourself. Listing this all out was more for me than you anyway... :) Regardless, I have a few other goals and I hope that come December 31st (elusive year again), I will have achieved at least half of my goals. Aim low, achieve more often, I say. (OK, plus I want to be realistic here...I do know myself, afterall.)
I know many people don't like setting resolutions, but I don't see why that is. To the naysayers: A common excuse is that you only fail at your goal and then feel bad about it each time--but why should you feel bad? At least you took the time to look for ways to improve. I firmly believe that subconsciously we each work towards our inner-most desires through our daily actions--recognized or not. So, if it's something you truly desire to change, I think it'll work itself out eventually anyway. In the meantime, why not keep on keepin' on with a better vision for yourself in mind?
And with that, my friends, I shall close. Adieu.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
до свидания 2008; Živijo 2009!
Shalom friends and few readers!
While I realize it's been a few weeks since my last posting, it is nonetheless much shorter of a time period than my previous gap in sharing the gab. And, it is indeed an apropos time to post; a time in which to reminisce about my previous year--the smiles, the tears, the laughter, the pains...yes, it's all there friends. (Well, except for tears, but still...there would have been tears if I could bring myself to do it as there were plenty of opportunities in which to let a little saline activity occur.) To re-cap this year of so many changes in my life, I shall go in chronological order of monthly activity. I will not remember all, I'm sure, but there are some biggies mixed in.
January: Possibly the biggest event of my year occurred in Januar; I officially began my own company. Depending upon the day, this was either the best decision I've ever made, or the worst idea I could have possibly had. :) The stress and time commitment can't even be described; yet, neither can the satisfaction. Many who know me think I have no issue with being proud of myself; truth be told, I have a hard time allowing myself to be proud of any accomplishment. Starting my company, however, was enough to let me be proud of myself. I know what has gone into it and what plans I have yet to fulfill with it and I can safely say, it's not been easy nor will it be any time soon. However, if it were easy, it wouldn't be worth having. I am so excited about the plans I have for my business in 2009! This will be my make it or break it year...let's hope that one year from now, I will be typing another blog stating how well things went.
February: I like to not think of February. This was the month in which I had a disastrous break-up that resulted in me being stalked for seven months until I had to take legal action. That seemed to do the trick, however, and life is good. The bulk of the month outside of this was spent getting in inventory, getting it all set up, and uploading it to my site.
March: Ah, March. This was the month in which the site officially opened. It required a ton of attention getting it all going; I also had gone through several seamstresses by this point (or seamstri if you will, which I'm sure you will). However, I found two amazing seamstresses that are still with me. (I also learned to not put all of my eggs in one basket and split out my product lines to two different people. This was one very important lesson.)
April: I don't remember much about April and there's not anything outstanding on my calendar, so we'll skip this month. I'm sure it was lovely though.
May: Hmmmm...same seems to be true for May. At this rate, we'll be caught up on the whole year in no time.
June: June was a great month! Actually, I just remembered what happened in June, so that explains what I did in April and May...I got ready for June. My grandma's 80th birthday was in June and we threw a huge surprise party for her. The party was held in Idaho in the town where she and my grandpa lived most of their married lives, but she now lives in Utah. Being in NC made it a bit difficult to wrap up all the party details, so I went to UT for the week prior to the party and helped get it all pulled together. It was an absolute blast! It was also during this month that my family abandoned me for a trip to Hawaii. Not that I'm bitter...
July: According to my calendar, I painted the office walls in July and I certainly recall how fun that was. In even more fun happenings, however, I headed off to Tucson for a few fun-filled days with friends there. I had an absolute blast. I came back at the first part of August. But also in August...
August: The weekend after Tucson, I headed off to Boston to help get my sister, Kami Jo, settled in for law school. I'm so proud of her! She's done so well thus far! My mom and I went for a few days and played tourists too. I cut my hand while putting together her dresser, I do recall. Otherwise, it was an incredibly great trip and I can't wait to go back...when it's warmer. I also went tubing on the Dan River in Virginia with a group of friends; it was one of the funnest things I've done in a long time and can't wait to do that again this next summer!
September: September was a month I'd much rather just forget as well. It was during September that I had the disastrous time at the Raleigh Wide Open. Just a week or two ago, I finally settled with Allstate for 10% of my actual losses. (Note to all: Do NOT ever use Allstate for insurance. You are not in good hands.) I'd prefer to just move on out of September; besides, there's a blog entry regarding those days anyway if you want to read up on that mess. Oh, but one interesting side note before leaving the subject--the other night I was going through my DVR recordings, cleaning out the old ones, when I came across the evening news for the night of the RWO. I had heard I was on the news (or at least my destroyed booth was) multiple times during the morning news. In fact, my roommate saw it on the news and then called me; this was how I first found out there was damage. Anyway, I had recorded the evening news but couldn't bring myself to watch it. I finally did the other night. My destroyed little mess was on there four times in one story! I'm so proud... (Note the sarcasm.)
October: October started off so fun with a trip to the Virginia mountains with friends. We rented a beautiful log "cabin" (read: "mansion") and got to see some amazing country. It was an absolute blast and it reminded me of fun trips like that I'd make with a group of friends back in Utah. Definitely worth it to go. I came back to a little bit of hell...a tonsillectomy. Somewhere in the earlier months, I had thrown out my back and had done months of physical therapy, plus I screwed up my knee and was doing therapy for that too. It was while in the middle of this that I got strep throat for the third time this year and my doctor sent me off to the ENT specialist. He took a two-second gander at my illustrious tonsils and immediately asked when I wanted them out. As the flea market is closed in October (the FM is where I do the most sales for Second Coats), it worked out perfectly to do this then. My mom was a lifesaver--and I do mean lifesaver--and came to stay with me for about two weeks. I could NOT have made it through the ordeal without her. Well, without her and double-doses of Oxicotin. I lost 18 lbs during a three-week time period and was just miserable. However, here I am two months later and have re-gained 17 of those lbs AND I can eat and drink like a normal person again. I could not be more grateful to be past those hellacious weeks.
November: November is always a favorite month for me, because of my birthday of course. This year, Kami Jo came down to Raleigh to spend Thanksgiving with me. We had an incredibly relaxed and fun day...before deciding to shop Midnight Madness at the local outlet mall. It was Hell. Pure and simple. We left there, drove back to Raleigh and straight to Wal-Mart for me to buy my KitchenAid mixer...which I got for cheap (comparitively)! I was so excited. I have used it twice so far, which is saying a lot considering how little I actually do cook.
December: December has flewn by in a whirlwind. Darin came to see me one weekend, which was great, and I also had my first Shaggy Soiree for Second Coats! It was a goal I wanted to accomplish by the end of the year and I did it. I've been able to book parties off of that and hope that this side of my business continues to grow. For Christmas, I flew to Utah for the 24th-28th to experience a great time with my family...and a whole lot of cold and snow. However, it was nice to be able to spend time with them all!
Today: Today, of course, marks the end of the year; but I must say, it does not mark the end of lessons learned and experiences had during the previous 364 days. It has been a crazy roller coaster of fun, craziness, trials, more fun, and more trials. I head to the beach in about an hour from now, as that's where I'm celebrating New Year's. I wanted to be one of the first to welcome in 2009...and where else could that occur than watching the sunrise at the beach? I look forward to bringing in a new year of new beginnings, refreshed continuations, and all sorts of fun times. Sure, I know there will still be plenty of trials, but I also know that I will get through them just like I did in 2008. I feel so very blessed to have the friends and family members in my life who love and support me through thick and thin. They are all so truly amazing and I can't wait for another 365 days of experiences with them! I already have planned monthly trips through the end of April and am now working on my summer plans; I guarantee there will be some great memories formed during this time.
So, here's to saying so long to 2008 (a year I'm not particularly wanting to repeat) and hello to 2009, a year full of opportunity! Happy New Years!
~me
PS--For those of you who are the uneducated sort and don't know what my entry title means ;) , the pronunciation for the Russian "goodbye" is "do svi-dan-niye", while the Slovenian "hello" is pronounced "zhee-VEE-oh". And now you know. (Enter NBC's chiming bells that always accompany "The More You Know".)
While I realize it's been a few weeks since my last posting, it is nonetheless much shorter of a time period than my previous gap in sharing the gab. And, it is indeed an apropos time to post; a time in which to reminisce about my previous year--the smiles, the tears, the laughter, the pains...yes, it's all there friends. (Well, except for tears, but still...there would have been tears if I could bring myself to do it as there were plenty of opportunities in which to let a little saline activity occur.) To re-cap this year of so many changes in my life, I shall go in chronological order of monthly activity. I will not remember all, I'm sure, but there are some biggies mixed in.
January: Possibly the biggest event of my year occurred in Januar; I officially began my own company. Depending upon the day, this was either the best decision I've ever made, or the worst idea I could have possibly had. :) The stress and time commitment can't even be described; yet, neither can the satisfaction. Many who know me think I have no issue with being proud of myself; truth be told, I have a hard time allowing myself to be proud of any accomplishment. Starting my company, however, was enough to let me be proud of myself. I know what has gone into it and what plans I have yet to fulfill with it and I can safely say, it's not been easy nor will it be any time soon. However, if it were easy, it wouldn't be worth having. I am so excited about the plans I have for my business in 2009! This will be my make it or break it year...let's hope that one year from now, I will be typing another blog stating how well things went.
February: I like to not think of February. This was the month in which I had a disastrous break-up that resulted in me being stalked for seven months until I had to take legal action. That seemed to do the trick, however, and life is good. The bulk of the month outside of this was spent getting in inventory, getting it all set up, and uploading it to my site.
March: Ah, March. This was the month in which the site officially opened. It required a ton of attention getting it all going; I also had gone through several seamstresses by this point (or seamstri if you will, which I'm sure you will). However, I found two amazing seamstresses that are still with me. (I also learned to not put all of my eggs in one basket and split out my product lines to two different people. This was one very important lesson.)
April: I don't remember much about April and there's not anything outstanding on my calendar, so we'll skip this month. I'm sure it was lovely though.
May: Hmmmm...same seems to be true for May. At this rate, we'll be caught up on the whole year in no time.
June: June was a great month! Actually, I just remembered what happened in June, so that explains what I did in April and May...I got ready for June. My grandma's 80th birthday was in June and we threw a huge surprise party for her. The party was held in Idaho in the town where she and my grandpa lived most of their married lives, but she now lives in Utah. Being in NC made it a bit difficult to wrap up all the party details, so I went to UT for the week prior to the party and helped get it all pulled together. It was an absolute blast! It was also during this month that my family abandoned me for a trip to Hawaii. Not that I'm bitter...
July: According to my calendar, I painted the office walls in July and I certainly recall how fun that was. In even more fun happenings, however, I headed off to Tucson for a few fun-filled days with friends there. I had an absolute blast. I came back at the first part of August. But also in August...
August: The weekend after Tucson, I headed off to Boston to help get my sister, Kami Jo, settled in for law school. I'm so proud of her! She's done so well thus far! My mom and I went for a few days and played tourists too. I cut my hand while putting together her dresser, I do recall. Otherwise, it was an incredibly great trip and I can't wait to go back...when it's warmer. I also went tubing on the Dan River in Virginia with a group of friends; it was one of the funnest things I've done in a long time and can't wait to do that again this next summer!
September: September was a month I'd much rather just forget as well. It was during September that I had the disastrous time at the Raleigh Wide Open. Just a week or two ago, I finally settled with Allstate for 10% of my actual losses. (Note to all: Do NOT ever use Allstate for insurance. You are not in good hands.) I'd prefer to just move on out of September; besides, there's a blog entry regarding those days anyway if you want to read up on that mess. Oh, but one interesting side note before leaving the subject--the other night I was going through my DVR recordings, cleaning out the old ones, when I came across the evening news for the night of the RWO. I had heard I was on the news (or at least my destroyed booth was) multiple times during the morning news. In fact, my roommate saw it on the news and then called me; this was how I first found out there was damage. Anyway, I had recorded the evening news but couldn't bring myself to watch it. I finally did the other night. My destroyed little mess was on there four times in one story! I'm so proud... (Note the sarcasm.)
October: October started off so fun with a trip to the Virginia mountains with friends. We rented a beautiful log "cabin" (read: "mansion") and got to see some amazing country. It was an absolute blast and it reminded me of fun trips like that I'd make with a group of friends back in Utah. Definitely worth it to go. I came back to a little bit of hell...a tonsillectomy. Somewhere in the earlier months, I had thrown out my back and had done months of physical therapy, plus I screwed up my knee and was doing therapy for that too. It was while in the middle of this that I got strep throat for the third time this year and my doctor sent me off to the ENT specialist. He took a two-second gander at my illustrious tonsils and immediately asked when I wanted them out. As the flea market is closed in October (the FM is where I do the most sales for Second Coats), it worked out perfectly to do this then. My mom was a lifesaver--and I do mean lifesaver--and came to stay with me for about two weeks. I could NOT have made it through the ordeal without her. Well, without her and double-doses of Oxicotin. I lost 18 lbs during a three-week time period and was just miserable. However, here I am two months later and have re-gained 17 of those lbs AND I can eat and drink like a normal person again. I could not be more grateful to be past those hellacious weeks.
November: November is always a favorite month for me, because of my birthday of course. This year, Kami Jo came down to Raleigh to spend Thanksgiving with me. We had an incredibly relaxed and fun day...before deciding to shop Midnight Madness at the local outlet mall. It was Hell. Pure and simple. We left there, drove back to Raleigh and straight to Wal-Mart for me to buy my KitchenAid mixer...which I got for cheap (comparitively)! I was so excited. I have used it twice so far, which is saying a lot considering how little I actually do cook.
December: December has flewn by in a whirlwind. Darin came to see me one weekend, which was great, and I also had my first Shaggy Soiree for Second Coats! It was a goal I wanted to accomplish by the end of the year and I did it. I've been able to book parties off of that and hope that this side of my business continues to grow. For Christmas, I flew to Utah for the 24th-28th to experience a great time with my family...and a whole lot of cold and snow. However, it was nice to be able to spend time with them all!
Today: Today, of course, marks the end of the year; but I must say, it does not mark the end of lessons learned and experiences had during the previous 364 days. It has been a crazy roller coaster of fun, craziness, trials, more fun, and more trials. I head to the beach in about an hour from now, as that's where I'm celebrating New Year's. I wanted to be one of the first to welcome in 2009...and where else could that occur than watching the sunrise at the beach? I look forward to bringing in a new year of new beginnings, refreshed continuations, and all sorts of fun times. Sure, I know there will still be plenty of trials, but I also know that I will get through them just like I did in 2008. I feel so very blessed to have the friends and family members in my life who love and support me through thick and thin. They are all so truly amazing and I can't wait for another 365 days of experiences with them! I already have planned monthly trips through the end of April and am now working on my summer plans; I guarantee there will be some great memories formed during this time.
So, here's to saying so long to 2008 (a year I'm not particularly wanting to repeat) and hello to 2009, a year full of opportunity! Happy New Years!
~me
PS--For those of you who are the uneducated sort and don't know what my entry title means ;) , the pronunciation for the Russian "goodbye" is "do svi-dan-niye", while the Slovenian "hello" is pronounced "zhee-VEE-oh". And now you know. (Enter NBC's chiming bells that always accompany "The More You Know".)
Friday, December 12, 2008
Meanwhile, back at the blog...
So, it was a mere two months and one week ago that I last wrote a blog entry. Not bad, Kade. Not bad. Way to stay on top of it. Well, I had the best of intentions to stay up with it, but then life kind of got in the way. As you well know if you were in any sort of contact with me in October, I had my tonsils yanked out and the whole experience sucked beyond all suckiness. I can safely say that I would not wish a tonsillectomy upon even my worst enemy. (Not that I have a worst enemy, but if I did, I'd not wish that upon them is what I's jus' sayin'.)
Lying there day after day, hepped up on oxycotin and morphine, I had plenty o' blog entry prepared in my head. I even had pictorial representations (commonly referred to as "pictures") ready to help illustrate my experience. However, two things stopped me from doing this:
1) Did I mention I was hepped up on oxycotin and morphine? Enough said on that.
2) After sending one of said pictorial representations to a friend, the response was, "Ewwwww. Gross. Did you have to send that?" I deduced from this less-than-enthusiastic response that broadcasting said images would essentially just add more pollution to the internet.
So much for documenting my journey sans tonsils. Instead, I had silence. Lots and lots of silence. Heck, it hurt to swallow Jello, so there was no talking for some time...just grunting. Yes, I know. Very Neanderthalic of me. Fortunately, Dear Brenda (aka "Mom") was on hand to listen to my grunts and, except for the unfortunate incident that included a toilet bowl plunger and my ear, I do believe she translated these grunts quite effectively. Thanks, Ma!
After getting through this little rough patch, as we shall call it (as opposed to "the time during which Kade was experiencing absolute Hell and prayed for a respite from his excruciating pain"), I went on to live life...and lots of it.
So, here I am two months and seven days later, ready to conquer the world again...or at least the occasional blog entry. Since the holidays are upon us and Lord knows what that means--time with crazy relatives who are not safe from being mentioned in a blog entry--I have just one thing to say: Stay tuned.
Lying there day after day, hepped up on oxycotin and morphine, I had plenty o' blog entry prepared in my head. I even had pictorial representations (commonly referred to as "pictures") ready to help illustrate my experience. However, two things stopped me from doing this:
1) Did I mention I was hepped up on oxycotin and morphine? Enough said on that.
2) After sending one of said pictorial representations to a friend, the response was, "Ewwwww. Gross. Did you have to send that?" I deduced from this less-than-enthusiastic response that broadcasting said images would essentially just add more pollution to the internet.
So much for documenting my journey sans tonsils. Instead, I had silence. Lots and lots of silence. Heck, it hurt to swallow Jello, so there was no talking for some time...just grunting. Yes, I know. Very Neanderthalic of me. Fortunately, Dear Brenda (aka "Mom") was on hand to listen to my grunts and, except for the unfortunate incident that included a toilet bowl plunger and my ear, I do believe she translated these grunts quite effectively. Thanks, Ma!
After getting through this little rough patch, as we shall call it (as opposed to "the time during which Kade was experiencing absolute Hell and prayed for a respite from his excruciating pain"), I went on to live life...and lots of it.
So, here I am two months and seven days later, ready to conquer the world again...or at least the occasional blog entry. Since the holidays are upon us and Lord knows what that means--time with crazy relatives who are not safe from being mentioned in a blog entry--I have just one thing to say: Stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)