Bad, bad blogger.

Would you believe me if I told you that I have about a dozen unfinished drafts of blogs that I never finished or posted? Yeeeeeah.

Not quite sure what the problem is. Yes, I started a business without quitting my full-time job so that severely limits my free time. It doesn't help that my biz partner lives 90 minutes away so a couple Saturdays a month I schlep half-way to her so we can camp out at Starbucks for hours and get lots of work done.

My house is a pig sty. Not even kidding, I'm a messy girl but when my fantasies start revolving around getting everything put away so I can mop the floor, you know its out of control. I did manage to conquer Mt. Laundry* a couple weeks back so that felt pretty good.

Things are looking up though. We recently sent out an invoice and were able to note that we had completed 67% of the project. That felt great! It will feel even better when I can deposit 67% of our fee into the bank.

Don't get me wrong, the biz is doing awesome, we started almost 8 months ago with nothing but a couple of laptops and some moxie so I'd say we're doing great.

In other news, I signed up for Brandgasm 101! I am CRAZY excited to learn more about design and copy-writing. I know just enough about both to be dangerous so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get myself back into the swing of things. It didn't hurt that I talked my partner into letting the business pay for it since I could use my newly acquired skills for our own truly terrible website. So terrible in fact that I won't even link to it here.

Stay tuned for further updates!

Sometimes I forget...

How hard it was to let my Echo go. Especially when I'm cruising the pets section of Craiglist to ooh and ahh over the pictures of adorable kittens. Luckily, I don't forget about the littlerbox or cat hair covering every item of clothing I own so it keeps me from actually getting another cat.

That I've started a business with a friend and have actually gotten paid by clients. What?! Was it a dream? Oh wait, it wasn't. Remembering comes in handy when I find myself wondering what I'm doing with my life and bemoaning the fact that I'm about to turn 35 and have no husband or kids like the majority of my peers.

That I have a weak stomach and things like spit-up and poop gross me out. Remembering this helps with the last one. Makes me glad that I'm the only mess-maker in my house, and I'm REALLY good at making messes. I imagine the city would intervene if a kid's mess were added to my own.

That I have this blog. Oops. I'm working on getting back into the swing of things. 

Just how awesome I am. I mean it. I have amazing friends, a HUGE loving family and a God that loves me in spite of myself. I'm pretty freaking blessed.

Remember me?

I used to update this blog every now and then. Turns out, starting a business, taking on a giant new project at work and oh, yeah the 40 hours a week I do the work I get paid for, leaves me with little time or energy for my poor wittle blog.

Things are going crazy-good in the new business area. God keeps plopping people in our path that just seem to be exactly who we need at the time. My partner and I have been getting along really well and as long as we keep plugging away I don't see us folding up shop any time soon.

Personally, I tried hiring a housekeeper. I should have know when she offered to come for as little as $15 a week that she wasn't going to be the best cleaner in the world, but I was busy and desperate. I had to let her go after only a couple visits. I haven't had the nerve to try and find another.

I'll try to be better about posting. To any one out there still visiting my little corner, thanks!

Going for it.

I'm getting ready to file the Fictitious Business Statement for my new venture and weirdly, I'm not freaking out. I think it helps that I have my current job as a safety net. It's something a friend and I are going to be doing part time until we establish a customer base. Eventually we'd like to turn it into full-time work but for now we're starting small.

Wish us luck.

I can't say much about it just yet, but know that it's the reason things are a bit quite these days.

What happens when I stop trying to save myself.

I mentioned last week that I'm back in the market for a roommate. So far all the responses I've gotten have been from older men. I'm not cool with that. I've had a couple of male roommates in the past but there was always another female in the house as well. So yeah... lot's of men looking for places to live. Just my luck.

I've recently been putting my writing skills* to good use. I wrote a script that was professionally produced and I've been writing grants as well as content for an online course being put together by a non-profit. Of course I've been doing all of the above for free in exchange for the resume boost. I'm not making any extra cash.

Yesterday I got the "brilliant" idea to see what other ways I can write for money. I've been heard a lot about the 50 Shades of Grey book. I even tried to read the first chapter on Amazon. I'm a bandwagon jumper-on-er, sue me. I wasn't impressed. But I thought, hey, I could do that. I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon writing my first erotic story. It took me quite a while to even get to the beginning of the "good" stuff. Then I had to abandon the new enterprise to go to bible study. I know, I know, what kind of hypocrite does that make me?

It turns out, God was not going to let me take myself there. I was sitting in the church last night feeling quite icky for what I'd been doing, rationalizing my booty off. "I'll only write about married couples!" or "Just because I write it it's the reader's responsibility to police themselves" and thoughts like that.

In the end, I came to the realization that I can do better.  I don't need to pollute my thoughts or enable others to do the same.

STOP THE PRESSES!

I just got an email from someone who needs a place to live for the summer. Looks what happens when you let God solve your problems instead of blindly grasping for any rope that appears.

Wow. Just wow. I'm not saying anything is going to happen with this chick, but it's a start!

*Don't judge my skills by what you see here, this is my happy place and I can post bad writing if I want to.

Fighting back against the Monday Blues

Like almost everyone with a Monday - Friday job I've developed a serious case of the Mondays. Don't know what I'm talking about? Lucky you. It's that feeling that starts on Sunday night. The, "The weekend needs to be just a bit longer" feeling. The Monday morning hit the snooze button twice as long as usual feeling.

You know what? I think I'm over being pissed at Monday. I mean I still don't love it, but why be angry at something so unavoidable?

This is my plan. From here on out (or until I quit blogging) I'm going to dedicate Monday to being thankful for the blessings that occurred over the previous week. I'm thinking this will be just the reminder I need to keep in mind that good things are all around me all the time. I just have to stop being a moody-Judy long enough to appreciate them.

I'm going to aim for 10 blessings every Monday.

1. Skype-ing with Em in New Zealand. She's been there for almost three weeks and I miss my friend terribly.
2. Weather warm enough for swimming and friends willing to come over and enjoy my pool with me.
3. Attending an old friend's baby shower and being reminded of how much I love and enjoy her (mental note - make plans to hang out more often).
4. Discovering the Julia Child - The French Chef library on Amazon Prime (best $79 I ever spent).
5. My nephew running up to hug me when I walk into the room. He's almost 2 1/2 and just slays me with his adorableness. 
6. My brother giving me and delivering a sturdy planter-box he no longer wants. I can't wait to transplant my herbs!
7. Being told I do amazing work and getting appreciated for something I love to do. Hopefully I will be able to post the video, of the script I wrote, here soon.
8. Watching my dog jump into the pool after his ball. Something about flying doggies that just makes me happy. 
9. Hours long phone conversations with my bestie. She just gets me, you know? 
10. Discovering a new season of Tough Love OnDemand. One of the only reality shows I watch.

Phew, that was kind of tough!  I'm glad I did it. I already feel tons better about the new week.

Roommate Wanted

I've come to the conclusion that it is time to get another roommate. The last one moved out over six months ago in a storm of drama and controversy. I'm not even kidding. I felt like I was living in a reality show. Miscarriages, creepy new boyfriends, cheating, job loss, the list was seemingly endless.

The worst part? We got on so well! Right until the creepy boyfriend practically moved in. I'm not good at conflict. I will do anything to avoid confrontation, it's something I need to "work" on. He had been spending every weekend usually Thursday-Monday in my house. He creeped me out. He was too nice. I know call the police someone is too nice! Trust me it was icky. It didn't help matters that my actual roommate was always trying to pay for things (vet bills, expensive beauty creams, groceries, health club memberships). Again you're probably thinking, free stuff = woohoo! It just didn't sit well with me. I like friendships to be equal. I also don't like feeling like I'm being bribed.

Towards the end of our time together her behavior just got more and more bizarre. To the point I was actually afraid that upon coming home I would find all my stuff gone or worse.

But it is time to try again. My bank account really needs the help. Wish me luck!