getting the ickies out

I began my day in the mire. I felt rather isolated and grumpy. I realized that there are a lot of things that I'm not doing that I meant to do when I moved here. This needs to change. I'm at a job that I like but don't love. I started the Mary Kay business to do something I love, but that isn't in full swing yet. I applied for a job at the Journey Museum last week and plan to apply for a couple of jobs at the public Library tomorrow. I need to be doing work that I love. I also haven't been making any art. I need to schedule some studio time. I need to be drawing, painting, collaging or something. Carl and I have a large white board in the living room with our To Do Lists on it, today I added, "Live the life you moved here to live!" to my list. I also redid my budget, which should free up the money needed to do just that. I wish I felt like I had time to volunteer. There is a new community arts space going in downtown and I'd like to devote some time to it. Perhaps in a few weeks, once Bre is back at work and my schedule becomes normal, I'll have a wee bit of time to help with the new space.

Work wasn't too bad today. Things went smoothly although I did start the day off by killing ants in the break room. No one ever takes the garbage out at work, and well that means this morning we had an ant issue. ICK! That sort of thing shouldn't happen in a bridal shop. I think I put at least a momentary stop to the problem.

Carl and Leo are asleep on the couch. They're both sick. Plus, Carl had to work until midnight last night and then all day today. He's pooped and rightfully so.

The best part of my day was coming home to make dinner. I made guacamole, mexican rice, and pinto beans with spices and then wrapped it all up in tortillas. Delish!

PJs, plants, and pet rent

I'm lounging about in my pjs this morning. I don't have to be at work for a couple of hours yet, so I've been a wee bit lazy. Carl and I have both been working sooooo much lately that I feel like we need a mini vacation just to catch up on each others lives. Hopefully he won't need to go in on Sunday and he and I can have a date or at least do some household projects together.

The weather has been beautiful lately and should be staying that way for a bit. I want to sit outside and read while sipping tea and munching on tasty bits. I do think I'll pop down to Bully Blends for a wee bit of breakfasting before work.

No word on the business loan yet. I'm feeling impatient. I think mainly because if I can secure the loan today or early on Saturday, I can order my inventory, and I'll qualify for extra free stuff. I only get the extra free stuff if my order is in by midnight on Saturday. I have four customer orders, but unfortunately they don't total the amount needed to get the free bits. I may have to just suck it up and not get my goodies, but I have hope that I'll hear something from the bank before time is up.

I want to be working on gardening. I don't understand the growing season here yet, so I haven't started my plants. Carl and I have grand plans for a beautiful container garden and lots of lovely window boxes full of flowers and herbs. We need to brainstorm on this a bit more. We also need to decide how much longer we plan to stay up on the hill. There aren't any tenant laws here, so landlords do crazy things like charge $300 per pet for deposit and then tack on an extra $30 a month pet rent. So yeah, that would be $900 worth of pet deposit and $90 a month in pet rent for us. That equals $1980 in addition to base deposit and rent for a year. Insane! I think we should just buy a house, but that requires waiting until I've been at my job long enough to apply for a loan, and then of course going through the whole house buying process. It gives me butterflies! There is a cute little place with a huge yard in an up and coming neighborhood that we sort of like and is in our price range, but we're afraid its going to sell before we're ready to buy. We shall see...

Tea, Scones, and Dollar Signs...

I've been moving full steam ahead with my new Mary Kay business....I love it! My local team is so supportive and loving. Its nice to feel like I'm developing friendships here after all this time of only having Carl and Leo to keep me company. Not that I don't love my Carl and Leo time. Its the best! I just need girly time too.

I'm celebrating my first meeting with Pat Wahl, a business loan agent, at my bank. He's wonderful and I can tell he'll give me any help I need to succeed in my dreams of opening Sassafras. Right now he's working on getting me a very small loan so I can purchase some inventory from Mary Kay to better serve my customers. I should hear back from him this afternoon.

After my meeting, I stopped at Bully Blends to get a large cuppa tea and a tasty scone. I'm munching on them as I type. Their scones are far more dense than mine and made with whole wheat flour. They are awesome! I can't remember the name of the black tea that I'm sipping but it too is wonderful. I have yet to come across anything about Bully Blends that I don't adore. I'm excited for them to move to their new location even though its further away from our little hovel on the hill.

I wish I had the whole day off from David's Bridal so I could go exploring. I'd like to go visit Hill City today. Maybe I can do that some on Monday when I'm off all day, if this streak of beautiful weather holds out. I have to close the store tonight, so that leaves very little time for traveling to not so distant lands. I'm back to enjoying my job there. I've decided that I need to let go of the frustration that working for a corporate company always seems to cause within me. I know that if I complain at work with the other girls it only breeds more frustration and makes me crabby. I need to halt this behavior and just let my days flow by. I'm developing some very deep friendships with some of the girls there and I feel that nurturing those relationships and re-devoting myself to over the top customer service are key to fighting the frustration. Its also very good to know that Bre will be back from maternity leave in a couple of weeks, thus lightening my work load by half. This will allow me to focus on my job more effectively.

I think perhaps its time to watch a wee bit of tele and do a little cleaning before work. Maybe a wee nap too.

I want to scream...

I have never worked anywhere where getting my paycheck is so hard.....They've had my direct deposit information since Jan 6th yet my check still isn't being deposited. I was given a raise the last week of Jan. but it didn't show up on my check until the last week of Feb. They still haven't sent me the back pay they owe me for the month in between. Checks are supposed to be delivered by 11:30am every other Friday. It is now 2:42pm and they still aren't at the store. Fed Ex has been called and says the package is in town, but they don't know what time it'll be delivered. Seriously, get it the fuck together payroll. You have over 300 stores but you haven't figured out how to do the payroll for them in a timely manner? I find this unacceptable.

In other news I'm purchasing my Mary Kay kit today...that is if my paycheck from David's Bridal ever gets here....I'm excited about selling Mary Kay again. I did it for a very short time about 5 years ago. I feel like I'll be much more successful at it this time around. I have a lot of support and already have a customer base.

Oh the possiblities....

So I've been doing a lot of thinking about how to come up with some start up cash for Sassafras. I will of course be filling out tons of grant and loan paperwork, but I also need some money stashed away to live on while I'm getting things going. I hope that family and friends, who know how amazing I am and agree that this is the correct direction for me to take in my life, will offer up tiny loans to help. All of which I would like to pay off in the first 2 to 5 years of business. I have trouble asking for money from the people I love. Those who really know me, already know this about my personality. :D I'm also debating becoming a consultant for Mary Kay, all the money I make with that I plan to sock away into my savings account. Here's to putting positive thoughts out to the Universe and hoping for the best!

Sassafras Whimsy Emporium

As of today I own the Domain and Email for Sassafras Whimsy Emporium! YAY! I need start up cash....which equals lots of saving, lots of researching business loans, and lots of hoping for investors! I emailed the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce this morning, but haven't heard anything back yet. I need to contact the local office of the South Dakota Small Business Assoc. and find out what they can do for me. Then my next step is to actually start the physical writing of my business plan. It's all very exciting and seems to be producing a large flock of butterflies in my stomach. Is that the correct term for a grouping of butterflies?? I'm unsure.

In other news my Lia Sophia party went okay. I only had two of the ten people who said they'd be here show up. We had a really good time though! Plus, we have all kinds of delish snacky bits leftover for the munching!

Carl and I had an adventure yesterday. We went to a tasty Sushi place, called Ichiban, that was very affordable and then to the movies to see Wolfman. It was a fairly good film. I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

I spent the morning at Bully Blends, sipping tea, snacking on a scone, and reading my new How To Start a Small Business in South Dakota book. Plus the weather is wonderful today, so I was able to walk there for once. After tea, I wondered about downtown for a bit. Popped in a couple of stores, but found nothing I needed. I peeked in empty storefronts and daydreamed of full shelves!