catch up time

I have had a few interesting experiences lately. It's been one of those things. Interesting times, the old Chinese proverb, all that.
Some of the "interesting" things have been just that. I saw a UFO the other day. A bona-fide, I have no clue what that unidentifiable flying object was type UFO. I was driving home from work, 9.30 pm, in the middle of a deserted dark country road, and a green cylindrical light lofted across the sky and down to the earth... somewhere. Very odd. No follow-up, no fireworks, nothing. Just that one single green tube of light, which then vanished.

Other interesting things have been more business related. I have been investigating new supplies so I can expand my range. It's not been going particularly well, as apparently, most companies in my industry prefer to deal with bricks n mortar stores, not online-only presences. So I've been struggling.

In the midst of all that is the sudden few vacancies of smaller store-front options in my town. Ive been doing maths and fiddling around with figures and attempting to decide what sort of leaps i could possibly make in order to have a storefront work without borrowing any money and without going under really quickly.

And i've been attempting to get myself set up with an EFTPOS machine (mobile GPRS) and looking into a regular market stall type option for increasing sales.

Throw in some knitting that I still haven't finished for a customer, and some spinning and weaving that I have barely started for another. The next nappy hunt which I'm now registered for and am suddenly realising I need to stock up for. The stall I have in 2 weeks which means I need labelling and stocktake done. The tax returns still not started. And the order that I went out on a limb for to get almost unknown stock in place and then have to quickly label and inventory as soon as it arrives - then photograph and list!

Told you times were interesting!

Apparently I am totally succeeding in my new job. I am not ENJOYING it, but I'm ticking all the relevant boxes in all the right places. And I'm getting told excellent things about my performance by the right people. I would like to feel good about this, would like to feel like my acheivements mean something, but because my heart is not in it I'm finding it a very hollow thing.

I have decided that until I can see a real option for the my own store, I'm going to stick it out despite the dislike. It gives me extra funds, now that DH is working, to spend stocking up the store. I have spent a bit so far. I'm very very tempted to spend a whole lot more over the next few weeks/months. Have to restrain myself and figure out where the best place to put the funds actually is.

The family needs two new cars, which is slightly annoying, but necessary. It's been a long time since we bought a decent car. We are the type of household who tends to repair and patch up the old cars we have rather than replace them, but all old cars get to a point where the patching is too expensive. So new car shopping is part of the future too. Oh, by new,I don't mean brand new! I just mean new to us.

SO yes, interesting times indeed.

School holidays

And so far, i've seen my dear kids only a couple of times.
It's been an interesting holiday break, to say the least. We've been trusting master 15 to look after the younger two, which is something I never honestly thought I would be comfortable with. But it seems to be working really well.
I miss my kids a lot at the moment. I'm just spending so much time either at work or travelling to and from work that it's taken over from any time I have with them. I'm finding it all a bit sad, but at the same time I'm on a rollercoaster that will eventually stop. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I don't HAVE to work as many hours as i'm doing right now. I know this. But at the moment, having the extra income is doing a lot for my peace of mind. I like the fact that i'm currently not struggling to pay bills, I'm ahead with my mortgage (albeit a tiny bit, but still!) and I've almost paid back the people whom I borrowed from earlier in the year when things went pear-shaped.

I'm also saving and investing in the business in a way that I wouldn't be able to do without this extra income. which is very exciting to me. I like that I can see positive things happening with the thing that i love - and beleive me, I can see it! time is the deciding factor now, not money. For the first time ever I can look at my business and say - YES! to a whole lot of new things that i've always wanted to do but never had the finances to cover.

So i'm giving myself a pretty strict time line at the moment. That is, by the end of this month I will have sorted ALL debts and bills. And by the end of the following month I will have arranged the new shed, saved a lot more money, and sorted out our disintegrating vehicle dramas.

By the end of the month after that, things will be looking much much brighter. And I may even be able to drop hours outside of the home and spend a lot more time doing business activities.

I can't wait for everything to eventuate! Well, i can - but you know what i mean. it's exciting!

Ali