Life’s too short...to never sleep in a treehouse! 8/27 TR is up! Link in siggie

[winkers]

I've never seen "Titanic" either, and proud of it.

::

it was great up untill all the people died in the ocean....that part kinda sucked.

 

[winkers]

about what time can we expect an update? I need to have my dr.pepper and popcorn ready.

 

[All7OfUs]

I went back to read the whole post. It's right there under our noses. A park bag. What else could be bigger and more life-changing??

 

[winkers]

I went back to read the whole post. It's right there under our noses. A park bag. What else could be bigger and more life-changing??

I agree! the day my new vera's arrived became a national holliday.

 

[eandesmom]

ummm..... OK, now that you have everyone's attention...

hey, whatever it takes!

it was great up untill all the people died in the ocean....that part kinda sucked.

yeah but they looked kind of cool all frozen

about what time can we expect an update? I need to have my dr.pepper and popcorn ready.

mmmn. A Dr P sounds mighty fine right now!

I went back to read the whole post. It's right there under our noses. A park bag. What else could be bigger and more life-changing??

um. no. not it.

though it IS a departure for me.

I agree! the day my new vera's arrived became a national holliday.

you may have had influence in this area. you and a few other enablers.

 

[carissanboys]

Anxiously waiting to find out what the life changing decision is!!

 

[eandesmom]

Anxiously waiting to find out what the life changing decision is!!

It is NOT running a marathon

 

[carissanboys]

It is NOT running a marathon

Come on! You know you want to join in the fun!

 

[eandesmom]

Come on! You know you want to join in the fun!

um. no.

If I have to run again, it would only be to help Evan train for his next black belt test although now that he's done it twice, I'm not sure he needs it. I can run, I'm not even awful given that I'm a non runner, but I just have no desire too! Give me a bike ride or some Zumba!

I'll make you a cool t-shirt though and that way I can be there in spirit! My sister wears hers all the time, it's so much fun. She blingified it

 

[englishrose47]

Okay I'm intrigued too!!!!!!!!!

 

[carissanboys]

um. no.

If I have to run again, it would only be to help Evan train for his next black belt test although now that he's done it twice, I'm not sure he needs it. I can run, I'm not even awful given that I'm a non runner, but I just have no desire too! Give me a bike ride or some Zumba!

I'll make you a cool t-shirt though and that way I can be there in spirit! My sister wears hers all the time, it's so much fun. She blingified it

I've been hearing about this Zumba. Sounds interesting.

Ooooooo - a t-shirt! Cool. Now I'm going to be thinking about what I should bring to wear during the race! I have so much planning to do and so much to learn.

 

[eandesmom]

Am I crazy?

Caving to peer pressure?

Hearing what I want to hear?

Only time will tell.

As most of you know I’ve been looking for a new job since July. My position was moved to contract/commission only which really doesn’t work for me. It doesn’t work for a couple of reasons.

1. I do have to bring in some income, we can’t live on just Jeff’s income as we of course have child support expenses for K&T not to mention the crazy cost of kids sports.
   
2. On the flip side of that, I don’t receive any child support for the E’s. Or at least not consistently, if and when it shows up it’s usually around $25. Not something one can bank on!
   
3. I get a little cranky if I'm not doing something productive. I have learned over the past 2 years that whether I am working or not, I'm not going to be a better housekeeper or keep a cleaner house. I won't get as far behind as I used to on things but it's just not me. I have always always worked. I enjoy it. I find myself creating work and if I'm going to do that, I should probably figure out how to make money at it.
   
4. Even if we could afford it, I feel a moral obligation to contribute something financially to the household. Part of this is my own baggage, having supported others financially as the sole breadwinner I am aware of the resentment that can breed over time and it's just not what Jeff, or I, signed up for. It's not what I want for either of us, for the relationship, mental health as well as our bank account.

Even if I could bring in the right deals to make a decent income, my company has proven to me over and over that they really can’t handle the level of client and business that they think they want. I have brought in some MAJOR names and all I hear is what we can’t do, can’t afford, can’t provide. except I know we COULD, they just don't WANT to. In this economy with people willing to do whatever it takes to get business I have a hard time working for people (much as I like them) that cop an attitude that they can ill-afford to cop. It makes me reluctant to bring in new clients as it’s not much good if we botch it and I value my connections.

Granted, it's an adjustment to go from a Fortune 500 company for 13 years to the last 2 with a very small private company and the creative fields are full of misplaced arrogance but....bleh. Not to mention they are (still) my friends and I want to keep it that way. I just don't really want to invest any more of my time in it. Selfish? Maybe. Then again perhaps it is self-preservation.

So.

I’ve been looking.

HARD

It’s NOT pretty. I fall into the classic mid 40’s middle management business development/sales/marketing type of worker who was making a very good living and there is a glut of us in the market. The sheer volume of candidates out there is a bigger factor than age, I think, but I am slightly hampered by the lack of an advanced degree and more greatly hampered by being more of a generalist than a specialist and no one is hiring generalists unless they can promise unrealistic results.

Which I refuse to do. BTDT. Not by choice, always pushing back and then watched the results of people not listening to me…which wasn’t pretty. I can’t go back to that.

Won’t.

I have also, for the better part of 2 years, been home. Even when I was being paid a salary by my current company, I was largely telecommuting and on the days in the office I was able to leave in time to get the kids wherever they needed to go. If I were to go back to full time out of the house, I’d need to make about twice what I need, if I can work from home or part time, to cover childcare and all the other expenses that go with it (gas, parking, clothing etc). No one is really interested in talking to me about the part time stuff that is out there, I am overqualified. Things at my level full time are getting cancelled for budget reasons, filled internally or postponed. Even in companies where I have connections I’ve been unable to get interviews and the connections have verified that positions are on hold. The reality is that the kind of work I’ve done in the past can be viewed as a “nice to have” but not really a “need to have” when times are tough as they are now.

Maybe it’s my resume, my networking, my background. General feedback has been that it is not the case. I’m sure that all of you are seeing the same thing. At our school, at the TKD studio, within the soccer parents it seems like in every household at least one member is out of work, and not by choice, with layoffs still happening.

We are ok. We will continue to be. We are very very blessed that this is the case and that good choices earlier do provide us with things we can dip into, if we actually needed to. We can make changes to get us by. It does not however help us get to retirement goals, contribute to college funds, keep going on trips, build planes and the like. Thank goodness Jeff has a pension though!

Still.

I have always provided for myself and the E’s and contributed to my household. I’ve always been the higher earner.

Things change.

I miss my old disposable income. As time goes by....I miss it less. I need less. I want less.

I like being home. I like taking my kids to school everyday and knowing homework is done before dinner with out having to nag the childcare providers to be on top of it. I like knowing I don’t have to play schedule roulette every week to figure out how to get kids places without mooching off of my dad, sister, other parents or friends.I like NOT spending all that money on daycare.I like being able to contribute more at school and do a lot of the probono design stuff I’ve been doing.

I like knowing that our taxes for this past year will not be more than some people make, that used to just make me ill. I like knowing we will actually get a refund this year. It’s been a LONG time. LONG. It is amazing once we look at the tax factor and childcare, how much less we “really” need. But we do still need it.

So.

I

Am

Going

To

Start

My

Own

Business.



Holy cats.

See if I say it here, I have to do it.

I’ve told Jeff and my best friend and one sister.

I have to do it. I am very much the kind of person that once I say it out loud (and that part can take a LOOONNNNGGG time) I have to do it. I have to follow through. I can't not.

I’ve been thinking about it for a long time but it is…

overwhelming.

I’ve been thinking about it for a long time but….

never felt I had something I enjoyed enough, was passionate enough about, good enough at, unique enough….to actually work.

This may not.

I am going to try.

I have a LOT to do.

Business Plan, licenses, bank accounts.

Before all that, I need to put together what I really plan to sell and how I want to sell it. TO do that, I have to

Create it.

Lots of it.

In all kinds of colors, styles and designs that have one thing in common

They are customized for each and every order, a unique item that only the person purchasing it will ever have.

I am going to try to tell customized scrapbook papers, both digital and hard copy for special events like weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, new babies, trips/travel, etc. Hitting the weddings show last weekend with my sister really cemented that there is an opportunity here. Creating her paper, which was really a set of 6 papers, 3 customizes with things specific to her event and life and then one that blended all 6 plus a heck of a lot of other custom things was really the first project I’ve done that felt unique enough to have the kind of marketability and opportunity I’ve been looking for. The feedback on the paper has been pretty darn cool I must say.

I started my first baby announcement paper series yesterday…..SO cute! And fun. it gives me joy, it really really does!

This will be the focus to start. It is a niche market, I haven’t seen anything like what I’m looking to do out there and things like weddings and new babies are places people will spend money. Is it enough? Not sure but it’s a start. I’ve been gathering information for a couple of months and have a good idea on how I want to execute but need to get busy creating the initial offerings. Once I get that up and running, no small task as it will involve building an e-commerce website, I will look to add additional products.

Who knows. It could include activity books and puzzles. It will likely include wall art (stretched canvas etc) I may shy away from cards/stationery/invitations and announcements at least to start as there is a glut of it out there but it is a logical extension of the papers.

I need to nose around and see what might be out there in the way of grants/funding but it should be a relatively low investment to get it going. In an ideal world I’d be taking some classes in a few areas first but that’s not in my immediate budget or timeframe. It’s definitely going to be a work in process.

I do have a few other angles and side projects I’m working on in the meantime which hopefully will bring some funds in, in the short term but are all related in somewhat so are giving me more practice and ideas!

So.

There you have it. I’ve had a lot of people over the last 2 years telling me I should do something with this. I love it, I enjoy it but I don’t really have a clue what I’m doing. I am terrified. On the flip side, as the idea has grown it kind of occurs to me that I'd be crazy not to try it.

Have I completely lost my mind?

Is this my midlife crises?


And there I go. Oversharing again!

First order of business is getting my computer to run faster so it can handle these files the way I need it too.

Oh. And did I mention that I ordered a new park bag? And a dress that matches the paper that inspired it all.

Next. Is it really only Tuesday?

 

[carissanboys]

Kudos to you Cynthia!! I have tried to come up with an idea of something I could sell or a business idea for many years. It really needs to be something you enjoy. Good for you for coming up with something and taking that big step!

 

[winkers]

WOW!!

I think what you are doing is amazing! As someone who scrapbooks, alot, I think you could really go somewhere with your idea.

Being able to do something you enjoy AND get paid for it, is a wonderfull thing.

You go girl!! by the way, that is the first, and only time I will ever use that phrase...but I couldn't think of anything else.

I'd like to see a picture of the dress and it's inspiration.

Oh, imagine the disney things you could create!

 

[MaryAz]

Wow, good for you!! I am also a scrapper (not big but I enjoy it) I think if you really enjoy what you are creating it comes through in the product! I would also like to see the dress and bag!

 

[TarzansKat]

Right now, you remind me of a scene in "You've Got Mail."

"Closing the shop is the brave thing to do...oh, I know, you don't feel that way right now, you feel like a big fat failure! But you are daring to dream that your life could be different..."

Or something to that effect.

Cynthia, you are daring to dream that your life could be different. It is always scary. It will always take a lot of work, and it will always seem a little crazy at first. Until you make it your new normal, you will be heading into the unknown.

I think it's a wonderful idea. I think you're creative and you've got the business savvy to back yourself up. GO FOR IT!!!!

 

[glennbo123]

Sounds like a great idea and I know you are the person who can make it work. I wish you all the success in the world! Go for it!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I went back to school to be a teacher in my mid thirties. Now I work part-time teaching Kindergarten and I love it. My hubby quit working for the "Man" and opened up his own business around the same time. He's never been happier. We don't make the kind of money we used to but we are there for our kids, and have learned to scale back and live on a smaller income. To quote Martha "It's a good thing." I hope it works out for you and your family as well.

 

[Happydog]

Wow! How exciting. Well you have to do what keeps you invested, happy and motivated, and while it is a little scary the best things in life have to start with that first step! Good for you!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I'm so excited for you! I know it's scary but all the hard work will be worth it.

And TK, you got that quote right on. One of my favorite movies.