ON WEDNESDAY! (sorry I had to use caps I am that excited!). I am flying out to Atlanta, GA, for a dog grooming seminar and competition! (without the chillans and hubby!) Poor Josh is going to have to care for all three kids for 3 days with no help from me! Then my mother and mother-in-law are splitting up the kids for the weekend.
My kids are so excited for me to leave it isn't funny! (to them it means getting away with murder and presents when I return!).
I need this trip! Some people didn't think I should be going (leaving others to the mercy of my kids!!) but I need a little ME time, a refresher! I will be homesick by day three (I always am!), but it will feel good!!!
This trip has already had some speed bumps in the way...we didn't know if Josh would have a job come April 1st, flights were insanely expensive, trying to find sitters, sitters backing out, family voicing opinions that I should not go (which hurts, I would kill for some support), application snafu's, hotel snafu's, dog snafu's...I am hoping all the little bumps are DONE and now I can go with no issues.
I am renting a dog (yes you can rent dogs!)...a chubby black standard poodle with a short tail (not great but will do!). I am terrible nervous, not a bit packed, and in no way ready at all!!
I also do not plan to win the competition...this is the world's LARGEST grooming competition! I mean to place there is like AMAZING...and really short of a miracle...I may need a little miracle there!
I am also realizing this is probably my LAST seminar and trip and competition for a few years...which kills me in some ways! There is a competition in Ontario that is not too expensive to attend but it is being held in the middle of summer...and you cannot fly dogs in the summer (lovely heat embargo...right now it is a winter embargo...cannot win!)...so I scratched that off my list...and come fall? Well if you read my blog (very few do so I am may be talking to outer space right now) then you know we are planning/thinking/dreaming of having Bagley #4....travelling with a nursing baby is not going to happen...
So, off I go in a couple of days! Wish me luck! I will be happy with a smooth travel, no hiccups, a decent groom (a placement would be pretty sweet but good comments would be nice) and FUN! Spoonfuls of it!!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Selling the Dream
I did it! I put my little shop up for sale! In some ways it was bittersweet. I worked so hard for that dream. I have spent too many hours in that shop and I really have enjoyed working there. I made it successful and I am proud over my accomplishment.
In some ways I am scared when (or if!) I get that call and someone is interested...not for the change but rather the paperwork that will be involved to legal sell the business.
I am already anxious and wishing the place would SELL already! I am worried because shops in my area do not typically get bought or sold...they just close.
But this is perfect for someone who doesn't want the risk of opening a business (95% of new businesses close within one year...) because it is already established...I already did all the hard work! I will admit I didn't give it my all the past two years because I have been trying to balance work and family (family seems to win...) and the shop could be bigger, my clients, more money coming through the doors.
Once it is sold I will work from home (once the new home shop is built) cause I really cannot just stop dog grooming, I mean it is FUN...and I like making money doing things I love. It is also nice knowing that if need be I could support my family.
Now I wait....for it to sell...
So, wanna buy a pet grooming shop?
In some ways I am scared when (or if!) I get that call and someone is interested...not for the change but rather the paperwork that will be involved to legal sell the business.
I am already anxious and wishing the place would SELL already! I am worried because shops in my area do not typically get bought or sold...they just close.
But this is perfect for someone who doesn't want the risk of opening a business (95% of new businesses close within one year...) because it is already established...I already did all the hard work! I will admit I didn't give it my all the past two years because I have been trying to balance work and family (family seems to win...) and the shop could be bigger, my clients, more money coming through the doors.
Once it is sold I will work from home (once the new home shop is built) cause I really cannot just stop dog grooming, I mean it is FUN...and I like making money doing things I love. It is also nice knowing that if need be I could support my family.
Now I wait....for it to sell...
So, wanna buy a pet grooming shop?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Crafter ADD
I love to craft and create and buy things to create things with...and I have a massive hoard to prove it!!!
During and directly after high school I had a TON of crafting stuff. Back then I painted, and did miniatures and some bad sewing. The hoard filled the one and only closet in the apartment. Between my full time job and full time university load I never had time, and it sat there...and sat there...and every time I had to open that closet I was ashamed...so I stopped buying craft stuff and forced myself to sit down and decide what to keep and FINISH and what to throw out.
2 years later...I finished the last craft. I was pretty decent about buying no more craft stuff...then I because a dog groomer...and had retail and made most of the clothes. i bought stuff for that and it sold very well! I had a lot of fun making cute doggy stuff! (yes, for you non-dog lovers we do like to dress our dogs, some people are not blessed with children and dogs are more then willing to fill that empty spot).
The third baby and pregnancy from hell, stopped the sewing...(hard to sew and not get vomit on anything!). I packed up the sewing stuff and material in ONE tote (I am proud of that!) and stored it.
Last summer came a new venture...bows! Tutus!! Then a new serger for Xmas which I have had no time to use!! I am seriously having too much fun with girly stuff!! I found out how to get really good prices (and no, I cannot share tell you why someday).
The hoard now has two sections in the house, is a permanent wreck...more keeps coming cause I keep buying but life is very busy right now...I start something and stop, start and stop, too tired, not now...and all those other excuses.
I am going to try to be more diligent about finishing some things!!!! I am telling myself NO new projects till I FINISH something...and that feels like pulling teeth sometimes.
I will post them here...I am still on a personal ego high from having something featured on Prudent Baby!!
During and directly after high school I had a TON of crafting stuff. Back then I painted, and did miniatures and some bad sewing. The hoard filled the one and only closet in the apartment. Between my full time job and full time university load I never had time, and it sat there...and sat there...and every time I had to open that closet I was ashamed...so I stopped buying craft stuff and forced myself to sit down and decide what to keep and FINISH and what to throw out.
2 years later...I finished the last craft. I was pretty decent about buying no more craft stuff...then I because a dog groomer...and had retail and made most of the clothes. i bought stuff for that and it sold very well! I had a lot of fun making cute doggy stuff! (yes, for you non-dog lovers we do like to dress our dogs, some people are not blessed with children and dogs are more then willing to fill that empty spot).
The third baby and pregnancy from hell, stopped the sewing...(hard to sew and not get vomit on anything!). I packed up the sewing stuff and material in ONE tote (I am proud of that!) and stored it.
Last summer came a new venture...bows! Tutus!! Then a new serger for Xmas which I have had no time to use!! I am seriously having too much fun with girly stuff!! I found out how to get really good prices (and no, I cannot share tell you why someday).
The hoard now has two sections in the house, is a permanent wreck...more keeps coming cause I keep buying but life is very busy right now...I start something and stop, start and stop, too tired, not now...and all those other excuses.
I am going to try to be more diligent about finishing some things!!!! I am telling myself NO new projects till I FINISH something...and that feels like pulling teeth sometimes.
I will post them here...I am still on a personal ego high from having something featured on Prudent Baby!!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Groovin to the Oldies...
Happy V-day...Josh I spent a good 20 minutes playing with that...Happy VROOM Day! Happy Vacation Day!! Happy Venereal Disease Day!!! (Josh blurts that one out as we were paying for something at the cashier station...he thought he was pretty funny...)
Every year Josh gets me lovely, over priced red roses...and he buys me more and more every year. I do love flowers!! They are pretty! They smell nice!! I also have small children that love to pick the petals off...and no where to place flowers in this tiny house. They usually end up sitting on the counter till they die...(now my sister Leah hangs her up and lets them dry and they displays those...not my thing, in my house the spiders would think I gave them a new scented pad).
This year roses were not going to work....
Mister Arthur is 7 months old and has no brains. He will eat the roses...we all bet he will because he eats everything else.
Cards are nice...you spend too much money on paper and then throw it away...or keep it out of guilt and throw it away someday or hope it is ruined somehow, while in storage ...and takes up space.. Ugh!
I wanted to do something romantic!! Timing was a massive issue too, Josh has had like 3 days off since Christmas...the man is going to have to change her personal address from home to work.
This year we were cheap, but thoughtful. We did playlists! 14 songs for the 14th of February...songs that made us laugh and smile and walked us down memory lane. We had some fun with this project. We both like music, not fanatics but we do like it. it was better then the usually valentine hoopala.
I started mine with the MOST romantic song. I remembered our favorite song from high school, we used to ALWAYS slow dance to that one. Josh and I love to dance and it is so rare that we get to do so, his work party had a dance and we had a blast!!! We danced to some new favorites. I also added an old stand by favorite, gotta love the oldies!
Josh's playlist made me laugh! I can't post what songs he picked but needless to say it was funny, made me laugh, was so NOT romantic but would make me blush scarlet in public.
It was a good day. A truly romantic day, which is rather significant considering we are as unromantic as you can get but we try.
Every year Josh gets me lovely, over priced red roses...and he buys me more and more every year. I do love flowers!! They are pretty! They smell nice!! I also have small children that love to pick the petals off...and no where to place flowers in this tiny house. They usually end up sitting on the counter till they die...(now my sister Leah hangs her up and lets them dry and they displays those...not my thing, in my house the spiders would think I gave them a new scented pad).
This year roses were not going to work....
Mister Arthur is 7 months old and has no brains. He will eat the roses...we all bet he will because he eats everything else.
Cards are nice...you spend too much money on paper and then throw it away...or keep it out of guilt and throw it away someday or hope it is ruined somehow, while in storage ...and takes up space.. Ugh!
I wanted to do something romantic!! Timing was a massive issue too, Josh has had like 3 days off since Christmas...the man is going to have to change her personal address from home to work.
This year we were cheap, but thoughtful. We did playlists! 14 songs for the 14th of February...songs that made us laugh and smile and walked us down memory lane. We had some fun with this project. We both like music, not fanatics but we do like it. it was better then the usually valentine hoopala.
I started mine with the MOST romantic song. I remembered our favorite song from high school, we used to ALWAYS slow dance to that one. Josh and I love to dance and it is so rare that we get to do so, his work party had a dance and we had a blast!!! We danced to some new favorites. I also added an old stand by favorite, gotta love the oldies!
Josh's playlist made me laugh! I can't post what songs he picked but needless to say it was funny, made me laugh, was so NOT romantic but would make me blush scarlet in public.
It was a good day. A truly romantic day, which is rather significant considering we are as unromantic as you can get but we try.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
A kids theory of sweat and pain....
Do your remember yourself as a kid? Especially at recess? If you were anything like me, you ran through the playground at least twice, jumped rope for the full hour of lunch, played in gym and never stopped or slowed down, slid down hills for hours, public skating on Friday nights, you skated till the Zamboni forced you off...
Fast forward 20 years...jumping rope is a form a gym torture, screw the playground...I don't want bust anything, when I exercise I need rest periods...you get the picture. It is HARD now!!
I went sledding with my kids for the first time (sad excuse for a mother I know...). Instead of doing the parental thing I standing and watching and advising ( Please don't slide into the neighbors boat!!! Mommy cannot afford to replace that!) No I WENT sledding. I also took Miss Kathleen for her first time. Walking through the snow to the hill was HARD...well I thought I was going to die, cause 2-3 feet of snow that you sink through and is heavy...makes walking very, very labor intensive.
Flying down the hill, on a plastic saucer sled, with a squealing two year old was insanely fun!!! The ride of 5 seconds was awesome!! Walking back up the hill made me reconsider the awesomeness...and I thought of going into parental mode of watching but I HAD to go again...and again...and again...and faster...
As the kids and I trudged up the hill I realized that it was no picnic for the kids to climb up that hill either,they were tired and cold, and their legs hurt from dredging through that snow but payoff was FUN!! So what if it was torture to walk up that hill? We talked about how the last ride was, how cool and how fast! Once at the top we were all giddy with the next ride, my kids do not even think of that climb afterwards!
Last summer we did some geocatching, we thought it would be way fun! It was!! But sometimes we (as in the adults) would get cross with our kids who would cry and stumble and fall, while walking through brush and swamps...but they wanted to do this! It was fun because you were really treasure hunting! Our GPS died (yes it worked great for finding coordinates!!) and that ended the geocatching but last night we discussed saving and buying a nice little tool especially for geocatching. it makes hiking so much cooler!
So, here is to to fun and pain and maybe slimmer thighs for Mommy if she just focuses on the fun!
Fast forward 20 years...jumping rope is a form a gym torture, screw the playground...I don't want bust anything, when I exercise I need rest periods...you get the picture. It is HARD now!!
I went sledding with my kids for the first time (sad excuse for a mother I know...). Instead of doing the parental thing I standing and watching and advising ( Please don't slide into the neighbors boat!!! Mommy cannot afford to replace that!) No I WENT sledding. I also took Miss Kathleen for her first time. Walking through the snow to the hill was HARD...well I thought I was going to die, cause 2-3 feet of snow that you sink through and is heavy...makes walking very, very labor intensive.
Flying down the hill, on a plastic saucer sled, with a squealing two year old was insanely fun!!! The ride of 5 seconds was awesome!! Walking back up the hill made me reconsider the awesomeness...and I thought of going into parental mode of watching but I HAD to go again...and again...and again...and faster...
As the kids and I trudged up the hill I realized that it was no picnic for the kids to climb up that hill either,they were tired and cold, and their legs hurt from dredging through that snow but payoff was FUN!! So what if it was torture to walk up that hill? We talked about how the last ride was, how cool and how fast! Once at the top we were all giddy with the next ride, my kids do not even think of that climb afterwards!
Last summer we did some geocatching, we thought it would be way fun! It was!! But sometimes we (as in the adults) would get cross with our kids who would cry and stumble and fall, while walking through brush and swamps...but they wanted to do this! It was fun because you were really treasure hunting! Our GPS died (yes it worked great for finding coordinates!!) and that ended the geocatching but last night we discussed saving and buying a nice little tool especially for geocatching. it makes hiking so much cooler!
So, here is to to fun and pain and maybe slimmer thighs for Mommy if she just focuses on the fun!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Some Days Are Longer then Others...
I have a child who hates sleep, fights sleep, resents sleep...as a result I am sleep deprived! But the dirty truth is she is just like me!! I hate to go to sleep, I am sad when the day is done...I want to just stay up and keep going!
Darling little Kathleen has taught me to ENJOY sleep and try to get as much as I can...I am still working on that part...tonight I really wanted to go to bed early but my little daughter is still up and midnight is fast approaching.
On a brighter note my little headband was showcased on Prudent Baby!
I am absolutely THRILLED!! It has really brightened my tired spirit!
Wish i could say I am off to bed but the nighttime tantrum continues...I wish I had Charlie's gift of sleeping through the noise!
Darling little Kathleen has taught me to ENJOY sleep and try to get as much as I can...I am still working on that part...tonight I really wanted to go to bed early but my little daughter is still up and midnight is fast approaching.
On a brighter note my little headband was showcased on Prudent Baby!
I am absolutely THRILLED!! It has really brightened my tired spirit!
Wish i could say I am off to bed but the nighttime tantrum continues...I wish I had Charlie's gift of sleeping through the noise!
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