Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Kids - A Blessing?

This week has been ... trying. Brooke (my darling daughter) has been testing her parent's patience these past couple of months. Most of the time she's an angel, but we've been having some issues with her in regards to using her listening ears at school. Both of her report cards have come home with exceptional marks, except in the paying attention and following directions category. We have had talks with her, spoken to her about it in front of her teacher at conferences, and had daily reminders before she leaves for school. These approaches have been falling on deaf ears. Because guess who got a call from her teacher today. Yup. Me. She knows what to do and how to behave, it's not like she's a belligerent child. I think part of the problem is that she's bored. She comes home everyday exasperated because what she "learned" in school is something she already knows.  She has her young scholars class (gifted program) once per week. But I'm sure that it's enough. So what does a bored child do? Entertain themselves. I guess I could also attribute it to her headstrong personality, her creativity, and her love of attention. However, Eric and I are now forced to come up with ways to "entice" her to behave. It irks me because we shouldn't HAVE to go to these extremes, but I also don't want phone calls from her teacher. Oh Brooke, sometimes your angel face is a little deceiving. I hope first grade will be a little more challenging. I also hope that Brooke can continue in the gifted program at her new school. She needs things that stimulate her. As one of my friends said, "Having a gifted child is hard, but rewarding." So much truth.

On the other end, work has been keeping me busy. I'm gearing up for a large sale in a couple of weeks. I was hoping to have my items pre-made so all I had to do was pack and ship. However, that's not looking too promising. I have some items that are almost finished, but I think the majority of orders will be made to order. This wil delay shipping a bit, but I hope that my buyers understand the time to takes to hand make these items. I am hoping for a good sale since this money will be going towards a our new house.

Speaking of the new house. They were supposed to break ground a couple of weeks ago, but the builder is so backed up, they were delayed for 3-4 weeks. This means it's going to be 3-4 weeks longer to move in. Boo. But, I will wait patiently, because it will all be worth it in the end.

Friday, April 5, 2013

I'm Back!

My last blog post was in December of 2009. My things have changed!

I have officially graduated and received my BA in Sociology. It was a five year journey and to have completed it feels amazing!

My business has also grown. Ridiculously. I have branched out into the wholesale distributor field, supplying high quality yet affordable craft supplies (geared mainly towards hair accessories and handmade boutique items). This has kept me extremely busy while also splitting my time with my handmade venture. My pacifier clips are still my best sellers. I have had to shut my shop down a few times because I simply did not have time to keep up with orders along with running the other parts of my business. Each time I shut down for a prolonged amount of time I get nervous that once I reopen, the influx of orders will be no more. But each time that fear is unfounded, I start getting orders right away! It's a blessing, to have something that started as a hobby turn prosperous. I am able to stay at home, make my own hours, take days off, and not worry about how my absence is going to affect my work. If my daughter become sick, or my husband has the day off, I am able to take a break. It's refreshing. But, it's still stressful. Some days I have a slow trickle of orders, other days I get bombarded. To say that I have had to learn time management is an understatement. Being organized has been the most important thing I have had to learn. And when I say organized, I don't mean my craft room. THAT looks like the craft tornado went through. Or, as I call it, organized chaos. I simply do not have enough room for all of my inventory!

The bright side, we're in the process of purchasing our first house! My husband has been in the Army for the past 12 years. We have lived in three different states, moved four times, and survived a year long deployment. Sadly, and excitingly, my husband has decided to close his chapter of being in the Army. He is close to receiving his BA and we decided that we would like some stability in our lives. Our daughter is young and resilient, but we want what is best for her. The idea of moving every few years is exciting and stressful. Yes, we get to move around the US to different bases, but along with that comes with the possibility of Eric being gone for who knows how long, leaving friends behind, making new friends, and learning new terrain. So, we have decided that we would like Brooke to stay in one place and keep the friends she makes. She is excited as well. I don't think she'll remember all of the moving when she gets older, but it was a fun adventure.

Our new house is a new construction. We're building in an outer suburb of the Twin Cities here in MN. It's the perfect house for us, one we can raise our family in and make a home of it. We have settled with every house we have lived in since we got married, so now we get to be picky and have everything we want. The greatest part? I get the whole basement as my workspace studio! It's large, over 800 sq. ft. and has everything I need. I am contemplating bringing in a professional organizer to help me set it up. I want it functional. I want a space that I love and can keep organized (or so I tell myself). There will be plenty of room, I just need creative ways of organizing my inventory with enough room to sort orders. I will be sure to post pictures when we're all moved in! Right now it looks like our closing date will be in September. All of the developers are extremely busy, hence the 5 month wait (we signed our PA in the beginning of February). Now that we have a "home", we are impatient to move in.

So that's a small summary of what has been going on. I will try my best to update this regularly. :) Have a happy Friday!