Growing Pains

My assistant went on vacation today.  She has worked almost every single day since I hired her, and I am nervous about handling my entire client list without her for 7 whole days.  She has been so awesome for my business - quick to do any task I need done, helpful in all aspects, friendly, energetic, fun to be around, I could go on and on.  Essentially, she is working out perfectly. 

Remember that cat from my last post?  It turns out she had 5 beautiful black and white kittens.  As soon as they were 6 weeks old we started trying to find homes for them.  We placed 2 in good homes, but Sam was beginning to get too playful with the remaining 3 (carrying them around in his mouth, leaving them soaking wet and scared half to death all over the yard, away from their mama), so we had to take the last 3 to the shelter.  I keep telling myself that because they're so adorable they will soon be adopted.  We didn't take the mama to the shelter because she isn't a tiny cute kitten and we felt sure that she would not be adopted quickly, but would probably be put to sleep.  So, we are getting her fixed next weekend and letting her stay with Sam, her best friend.  So, now we are a family of 4, although it certainly wasn't intentional.  (Her name is Channel Six, for future reference.)

Sheepish Apologies

I've been absent forever!  My bad.  I never hired any help back in March when business was booming because along came April.  April was an unloading of crappy clients, and I no longer was cleaning 8 hours a day.  My dreams of expanding were temporarily squashed.  (I'd rather not even talk about May.)  But then came June when I got busy enough to re-examine my need for an employee.

I decided to write a job description and finally advertise that I was accepting resumes.  Out of about 35 applicants, only 2 didn't seem ghetto or sorry.  (Seriously, I asked for a resume and got several applications that said, "I no you asked for a resume but mine ain't been updated in along time, so you can just call me if your interested." Gag.)  So, I interviewed two people for the position.  One was young, ambitious, willing to learn, easy to get along with, etc.  The other met me in sweats, felt shoes were unnecessary, was already blessed with the knowledge of the whole world, and seemed quite pushy.  My decision was easy.

After a background check (formality only, but I wanted to start a precedent) and a formal letter to all my clients, my new employee began work.  I can't adequately describe how blessed I feel.  I just know that after all our wishes, hopes, dreams of the perfect employee, my husband and I couldn't have imagined anyone better.  So far she has worked two full days, and her attitude is great.  It's been awesome.

Also around March we began the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover.  I resisted at first, big time.  Numbers make my head hurt.  I pay my bills on time and in full, but other than that, I hate thinking about it.  It stresses me out to no end.  But, my husband felt strongly enough about it to convince me, and I'm so glad.  It took a couple of months to get into the swing of things.  When you're used to putting every purchase on your credit card and paying 6 weeks later, it's really difficult to begin a new month paying for everything now.  We essentially bought two months at once, which was a strain at first.  After that first month, though, what a difference!  Emergencies happened (a lot of them), and we had the money at the ready to cover it.  We've had an emergency fund for years now, of course, but now we contribute a planned, regular amount, and it has grown quite a bit.  In the past 2 months alone, we had extensive electrical work done to our truck, toilet repairs in our house, the main water line outside burst, flat tires, my car's air conditioner's failure, and other unexpected expenses I can't remember.  All in two months!  If we were on our old "plan" we'd be so far in debt right now.

About 2 weeks ago, we went outside to put Sam to bed (he still goes in his fence at night so he doesn't get into trouble in the gardens) and smelled that unmistakable smell - cat pee.  (Side note, my new tangerine hair conditioner smells like cat pee during hair drying... not before, not after, but when activated by heat - cat pee.  Gross.)  We thought that was strange, since we have a 100 pound dog in our yard, but didn't dwell on it.  A few minutes later, we saw a tiny calico slinking around our hydrangeas at the back fence.  Sam was already in his pen and he started jumping on the gate trying to get out.  He absolutely LOVES cats.  They are, understandably, quite scared of him, but he adores any cat he's ever met.  We went ahead and let Sam back out, knowing he'd just bark all night if we didn't let him investigate.  So, he ran around in excitement for a long time, scaring the cat pretty badly.  Finally, we re-put him to bed and tried to shoo the cat away.

The next morning, we went outside to let Sam out and saw the cat again.  In the light of day, her pregnant belly was obvious.  We knew we were in trouble.  We tried running her off again, but she was obviously starving, because she practically climbed our legs to get Sam's breakfast.  Sam, enamored, allowed her to eat dog kibbles to her heart's content, even though I'm sure he was hungry too.  We talked that day about taking her to the shelter, but that night, her belly was flat flat flat.  Oh boy.  The kittens were here and, we later guessed, under our storage building.  We're not monsters - of course the cat is staying until the kittens come out and are weaned, and THEN they can all go to the shelter (well, maybe one kitten can stay...)

Sam is so in love.  They nuzzle each other, eat all their meals together, she goes into his pen with him at night (she can go in and out as she pleases, of course), he follows her around and tries to play, she has tried to fetch, he rubs his head on our legs now.  The whole scenario is hilarious.  But, we never intended to have a cat, much less multiple cats (no idea how many kittens there are.)  We'll just have to see what happens.  I would like to keep a kitten, and I really believe that Sam would get sad and lonely if all the cats went away.

So Tired I Might Throw Up

How's that for a straight-to-the-point title?  Dr. Fallon would be so proud.  ("Hit it; don't play with it.")  Candace, are you out there?  Anyway...

The past few days have been completely out of control.  I've had multiple consultations and booked multiple new clients.  That, of course, is awesome, but my back HURTS and I'm TIRED now.  Two days ago I cleaned an elderly lady's home and she had the heat UPPPPP.  By the time I finished mopping her kitchen floor, I was feeling ill.  After I was done with the hardwood floors, she wanted to talk for another 30 minutes.  Normally, I'm OK with that because she's old and doesn't have many people to talk to.  (My dad's one and only weak spot - old people.  He worked in home health care for years and after tending to them, he would visit with them.  The old people loved him, and they knitted him gifts, gave him puppies, etc.)  Anyway, I almost fainted in her freakin floor before I could get in my car and crank up the AC.

Yesterday I worked almost 8 hours (at a desk, not so bad; cleaning non-stop, murderous) and by the end of the day, I honestly thought I would throw up from fatigue.  Is that even possible?

Today I cleaned for 6.5 hours and booked another consultation.  Since I've been on the brink of needing to hire help, that last consultation pushed me over the edge.  Although it will mean a pay cut for a month or so, it will free up some time for more marketing, more clients, more employees, etc., until I'm not cleaning anymore!  Hooray!

So, I'm hiring.  Pass the word.

In other news (oh yeah, I have a work blog for that crap...) my husband is going as crazy as I am.  His office is being turned upside down by a big mistake someone made in a case.  And he's having to fix the problem.  The big, publicized, millions-of-dollars-on-the-line problem.  He's stressing because he travels so much that he's never in the office to deal with it.  And now they're considering cut backs, and he's the newest "member of the team."  Yeah, I've heard that one...

Somebody keeps killing my daffodils!  I think it's that damn blue jay!

Last night I made some delicious chicken and brown rice soup.  It was 8:00 before we ate it because, hey, I'm a working girl (as my husband so lovingly describes it), and I didn't even start the chicken until around 6... anyway, it was good.  If I didn't have Bunko tonight I'd eat some right now.  I don't even have time to wash my hair before Bunko, which pisses me off.  I hate going anywhere after I've worked all day.  Yesterday I've been at one woman's house for about 4 hours and had just washed the steaming hot shower when her husband came home and she just had to bring him into the bathroom to introduce us.  Yes, I love meeting people when I look like a hot mess.  I wish they served alcohol at Bunko... (Baptist church group - never going to happen.)

This morning I popped 3 Aleve - I didn't feel any relief.  I ate a pb&j sandwich between houses today and realized I'd accidentally bought the wrong kind of bread last time.  Damn.  Why didn't I notice that when I made toast for breakfast?  Maybe because I wasn't truly awake when I ate breakfast.

This weekend I'm going home to my mom's house.  A childhood friend is having her bridal tea Sunday, so I'm using that as an excuse to go home for the weekend.  While traveling last week my husband spent the night there without me, and it made me jealous.  That's my room!  I don't even think I've spent the night there since the night before my wedding.  Weird.

I'm hungry.  I hope we're having something delicious at Bunko.

What is WRONG With Me?

I am on this blog at least 4 times a week to read other people's blogs, but do I take the time to update my own?  Nooo.  Right now I'm listening to Martha Wainwright's "B.M.F.A."  She is so bad ass.  I wish I could be more bad ass.

You know what's really bad ass?  My business has literally quadrupled in the last month.  That's the real reason I haven't been updating my blog.  I haven't even updated my business blog.  I've lost 30 pounds by cleaning houses too - bonus!

I've got baby fever more than ever, and that fever, that mania is pushing me forward in my business.  Ulitmately, I want to have crews cleaning for me.  I'll have to hire one at a time, and eventually my most senior employees will become the managers of the new ones.  Then I can concentrate fully on marketing, HR, and meeting new clients.  Oh yeah, and having babies.  I honestly think I'll have to hire my first person by mid-summer.

Sam is just 2 weeks shy of being one year old!  That's hard to believe.  Today he woke us up around 3:30 a.m. because he'd chased a nasty possum up our privacy fence.  The possum wouldn't hop off into the neighbor's yard, so Sam wouldn't stop his manic barking.  Z eventually had to go outside and throw rocks at the possum hoping it would jump.  He also threw a rotten potato.  But that's another story.  One does crazy things at 4 a.m.

This has been the coldest, wettest, nastiest winter ever, but spring is finally getting bolder it seems.  Our daffodils and crocuses (croci?) are beginning to bloom, but the unlucky ones are getting decapitated by a particularly ballsy blue jay.  He might meet a rotten potato later.  We don't have any azaleas or camellias, but it seems like all the neighbors do, and they do really well down here.  Those are just beginning to bloom too.  I wish we had a dogwood tree.  My mind is just going a million miles an hour thanks to work, so I've resigned myself to stream of conciousness blogging.  You'll get used to it.

You know what I miss?  The O.C.  Don't hate - it was a good show for about one and a half seasons.

My favorite part of the winter olympics?  The opening ceremony when k.d. lang sang "Hallelujah" which I'm listening to now.  She brought it.  OK, now "Tik Tok" is on.  It's a terrible song, in that I'm terribly ashamed to admit I freakin love it.

Tonight I'm having dinner with my old work friends because one of them is moving away for a new job.  That bank failure seemed like the end of the world, but it's been beyond a blessing for me.

I am thinking of opening a bookstore as my next business venture.  If you live in my town, don't steal my idea.  It'll take me a few years to raise that kind of money.  If you are from Montevallo, it might be similar to Eclipse.  It depends on how bad ass I'm feeling at the time...

Seriously, yesterday I took a shower after working all morning, during which I missed four phone calls on my business cell.  I called them all back and booked FOUR consultations in ONE hour.  No, really.  But that's a post for my business blog, which you'd better be reading.  Maybe I'll update it tomorrow.  (Probably not - I've got a consultation tomorrow!)

I got to fire my first client a couple of weeks ago.  What a rush.  It was liberating, awesome, intoxicating even.  OK, that's a bit of a stretch.  But it was a power trip.

I miss blogging.  This has been fun.  Let's do it more often.

It's Flippin' Freezing!

For the past 10 days or so, the South has been plunged into a deep freeze.  It's been a constant reminder of my favorite portrayal of hell - Dante's icy prison.  When it is literally painful to go outside, how can you not think of Dante?

Our spoiled doggy Sam has been sleeping indoors for the past seeeeeeveral nights, and before I hear any crap about me and my "strictly outdoor" dog, we really didn't have any other options.  We don't have a garage, which was my parents' answer to dogs and freezing temperatures.  Sam is also just 9 1/2 months old and a LAB which means he devours even the least appetizing items, such as car magnets, thorny rose bushes, clothes dryer vents... you get my drift.  So, making a doggy bed for him on the porch, complete with a space heater or heat lamp was definitely not an option.  So, at 6:00 on the first night with lows below 30 (that was my personal limit for him to sleep outside.  Not that I'm a monster when it's above 30 - his dog house is crammed full of warm cozy hay) we found ourselves at Tractor Supply looking at those kennels you can put in the bed of a truck when you take your lab duck hunting.  Right...  By the way, those things are around $90 for the "lab-sized" version.  We high-tailed it to Wal-Mart, hoping to find something cheaper.  We did!  We found a foldable version that is made out of tent material.  My mom calls it a pup tent.  Ha ha, get it?  Anyway, it was more like $30, so even though we thought there was a chance of Sam chewing his way out of it, we decided it's only short term, so if it doesn't work, we'll buy the expensive one next winter!  We also bought him a new bone to occupy him inside his new tent.

That night we set up the tent in the master bathroom, in case there were any accidents.  Let me remind you - our house was brand new when we bought it.  It's very nice.  Although most of our furniture was handed down from various relatives, the house itself is quite nice, so Sam doesn't ever come inside.  The last time he'd come in was the 4th of July because he was still very little and the fireworks scared him.  So, a towel on the cold tile (I know, I'm spoiling him), then his pup tent, then his own, "already kind of has a smell to it" blanket, and his new bone.  All waiting for bed time.

After he ate his dinner (with hot water poured on top to warm him up of course) we waited about an hour for him to go to the bathroom and get all his playing done.  Then we brought him inside.  We turned off all the lights except the TV and waited for him to settle down.  Surprisingly, he was on his best behavior.  I know labs are smart, but he was acting like he knew this was a privilege and that if he acted up he'd be out in the cold.  So he stretched out beneath the couch and took a nap!  He hasn't fallen asleep in front of us in MONTHS and he has more energy than should be possible, so this was pretty incredible.  He woke up everytime one of us moved, but in general, he was great.  At bed time he was so excited to find a bone in the tent that he didn't even notice we'd zipped him up and gone to bed!

This worked out really well.  We let him outside first thing the next morning, and we've been repeating this every night since then.  There have been no accidents in the house!

Hope all of you have been staying warm.  Can't wait for this Inferno-esque weather to end.