Will Work For Shoes is moving!!

This will be my last blog post here on Blogger as I am moving over to Wordpress. There are a few reasons behind the move, but it's easier not to go into them!!!

Drop by my new home ... Will Work For Shoes on WordPress.

A very quick catch up!!

Well after being badgered by my daughter and receiving phone calls and emails from my real life friends over the last couple of weeks ... I figured I had really better spend some time sitting down catching up on everything here!

It hasn't been brilliant ... but I guess that much is obvious or I would have posted about anything fabulous eh! The business is still ticking over and I have got an accountant on board now who already has my first batch of paperwork. To make it easy to explain the paperwork is broken down into four bits. The first three bits are the absolutely MUST have filed asap for the tax man. I've done two out of three of those and am working on the last third. The final fourth bit will bring me absolutely up to date as far as being current goes - so that is really where I want to be, but all in good time.

I'll admit I have been deeply buried in paperwork recently, especially during the day. I am trying to split my time so that during the day I am home and around with the children because I HATE dragging them into work with me and they hate being there! I've been doing the numbers, designing flyers, working on the website ... ohh and cleaning the house during the day, and then as soon as hub is through the door at 6pm I'm off out into the workshop!

The earliest I am generally home is 8.30-9pm and it's often later than that in the evening, so to be truthful, the last thing I've felt like doing when I sit down and relax after work late at night is getting on here and moaning & complaining about how stressed out I am!! Who'd want to read about that! LOL

So anyway! I have so many things to update on, but only about ten minutes I can justify sitting here before hub will be home and I'll need to go into the workshop!!

Wednesday Market

Well .... the market stall is covering costs and that is about it! This is a pic from a couple of weeks ago and each week the stall looks better and better. All of the scented votives are in the middle section, and at both ends I have smaller displays with incense and floating candles. It's a VERY long day to be up at 5am, out of the house by 6.15am and then not home until usually around 7.30pm by the time I've unpacked everything back at the workshop.

It's very disheartening to know that I have such great products - not blowing my own trumpet, but I DO ... yet people just aren't buying. It's the same whoever you talk to and whatever business they are in ... it's slow everywhere. I stand there ALL day and just about cover the cost of the pitch and the cost of the stock that I had to sell to cover the cost of the pitch (if you read that properly and say it out loud it does make sense!) I get nowhere near covering the cost of my time standing there all day when I actually could have spent that day filling orders.

Why do I do it? Because the summer is always slow and because once I've got my pitch established and people start to see me as a familiar face on the market ... we'll be just about ready for silly season and the early Christmas shoppers will be all over me like a rash!!

Well that is the plan anyway!!

Right, hi ho, hi ho it's off to work I go! With a bucket and spade and a hang grenade hi ho, hi ho!

Friday Five (25th July 08)

Metaphorically Speaking ...

1. When you go to the beach, lake, or pool, are you more likely to lower yourself gradually into cold water or to take a determined plunge and get it over with? Ooooh I do both! I start off with a gradual lowering of my body parts but then will take the plunge and get it over with in one go!

2. How is this like (or unlike) your approach to other tasks or ordeals? LOL I really didn't see this question coming!! It's bizarre but yeah that's pretty much me! Procrastinate for ages then jump in feet first!!

3. When someone gives you flowers, are you more likely to let them turn completely brown and gross before throwing them out, or to discard them the moment they take on that sick-flower look? Well it's been a LONG time since anyone gave me flowers!!! I don't ever let them die and turn yucky brown - I'll bin them long before that.

4. How is this like (or unlike) your approach to other gifts, purchases, or relationships? Funnily enough - NOTHING like it. I tend to hang on to things for far longer than is healthy. That probably applies to gifts, purchases AND relationships. Maybe I need a big purge!

5. Think of your favorite movie (or a movie you really like, if you can’t think of a favorite). Some people say that the reasons you love your favorite movie are related to what you value in romantic relationships. How is this true or untrue in your case? Welllll I have a ton of favourite movies, but the ones I'll always watch over and over again are the sappy romantic comedies! How true is this to what I value in romantic relationships? It's actually bang on true!! I CRAVE romance! I can't remember the time I felt literally swept off my feet or caught up in a moment *sigh*

Dangit I'm melancholy now!! When WAS the last time I felt like that??? I seriously can't actually remember and the only thing that comes to mind was over a decade ago when I was kissed outside in the pouring rain - no, torrential downpours and the rain didn't matter - just me, him and the moment.

A funeral, a 6 hour drive and a new melter! YEAH!

Well finally I am getting somewhere! When my melter packed up and died last night it was all I could do to not wallow in self pity because it's been the way things have gone recently!! It's seemed that no matter how many steps forward I've taken, I've ended up behind even more!

It seriously had me questioning whether it is all worth it because it really is just one thing after another and for a nano-second I considered shutting it all down!!! How can a candlemaker make candles and get ready for two market days with no wax melter? LOL

Anyway after some late night surfing and research last night, I tracked down a local bee farm and they had the melter I use in stock! YEAH! Soooo this morning, on the way to Wiltshire for my Uncle Bill's funeral, I drove 20 mins out of the way to pick up the melter. It cost more than one I could have bought online and had delivered, but I was able to get it TODAY and that makes a huge difference! I'll take time over money any day!!

The funeral went okay ... the weird part was being in a room full of family and not knowing half all their names. The last time we all met up was at the last family funeral. In a morbid sense it made me wonder who would be next. The last funeral was my uncle Ashley and before that it was my dad.

Anyway, after I got back to the workshop and plugged in the melter I had a big smile on my face!!!

FINALLY I have ... (in no particular order!!)

• A working phone line
• A dead PC but a laptop that can be used instead
• Working broadband and an internet connection
• A functional wax melter
• No excuses not to be working!!!

It feels good! It feels goooooooooooood!! God I am so short on time that I couldn't have managed if I hadn't got hold of a melter today! Tomorrow I have Megan's friends coming over for a girlie day and a cinema trip plus a sleepover so I won't be able to work ... that literally leaves Sunday to do EVERYTHING!!

Ugh! LOL

OMG BUSY!!!!!!

The last few days have officially all rolled in to one! Today has been a day from hell but it's too late at night and I am too tired to get into it right now - it'll have to wait! UGH I am busy, stressed and there is too much to do and not enough time to do it all...

Plus my wax melter died ... yeah don't ask!

Megan had a birthday!

Well I am now the scared owner of a ten year old daughter! I *think* she had a lovely day ... we certainly spent an absolute FORTUNE on her!! She has a birthday treat coming up this weekend too - I'm taking her and three of her friends to the cinema then back here for pizza!

I do have piccies from her birthday, but I'm posting this after getting back from market so I'll update this with pics when I've had a chance to look for my cable!!

Do I need to make more adjustments?

A commenter on my blog suggested that perhaps I need to learn how to make adjustments with my family so that I didn't find myself so stressed and burned out. I have to say ... it's always easy to make suggestions from the outside, and anyone looking in would see it as an obvious thing, but life just isn't that simple!

I have already adapted and made a LOT of changes to my life to fit a good work / life balance ... and truthfully yes, the life half HAS been slipping lately as I have been focussed on work, but I still make sure that I spend quality time with the children every day and that's what it is all about - in my opinion anyway!

I AM working a lot of hours at the moment, and during the school summer holidays it will be worse because I'll have the children during the day and ONLY be able to work evenings and weekends (aside from Wednesdays at the market), but I'm also doing this for them! They want to have nice things, they want the latest this and that - and because they ARE good kids (most of the time!!) I'd love to be able to treat them and reward them more often.

Yes I know, it's not about money and materialistic posessions - it's about growing up in a safe and loved environment ... but c'mon, when all your friends have really cool clothes and you are wearing school trousers that are too short and tops that don't fit you anymore - then the materialistic stuff DOES matter.

I've felt ashamed and embarrassed some days when I've sent the kids off to school because their uniforms have needed replacing for so long and there just hasn't been the money for it. Both of them have so few clothes in their wardrobes that fit properly and let's not get started on the shoes that are falling to pieces!!

THIS is why I do it. This is why I work hard! It's so I can turn around a flagging business, bring it right up to exactly where it needs to be and for my kids to have the benefit of it!!

A good day ... but damnit I need my own space!!!

Well wow! Today I was at St Symphorians church hall in Durrington - a local church fete and I really hadn't expected much from it, so it was a real turnaround when takings were actually better than they were at the market this week!!!

I am in a weird/strange place right now - read it however you like. Damnit sometimes I wish family & real life friends didn't read this because I could be a lot more honest than I actually am about my "situation."

I CRAVE my own space. I NEED my own space.

And yesterday she did sleep!!

I was fairly okay when I woke up in the morning yesterday, but the tiredness hit as the day went on and I felt more and more tired. I picked the kids up from school and the last thing I remember is looking at the clock at 4pm.

I'd fallen on the sofa and woke up around 9pm ... ooops!

Market Day!!

The sun was shining - it was a lovely day and I covered costs and made some profit! Even getting up at 5am wasn't so bad today.

I have so many ideas for stall display! Last week was utter shite because of the weather so it didn't really count ... really this week is counted as my first week, so all things considered I did okay ... Next week will be even better! Last week I had two pasting tables that pretty much fell to pieces - this week I had my proper stock shelves and it looked so much better, but still so much room for improvement!!

Ohh here's a pic of the votives! with their new labels! See, I remembered and I got the pic sorted eventually!!!

Ohhh and because it was outside and the sun was shining ... I got a nice tan too!

School report day & Proud Mama!

BOTH my fantastic kids got great school reports today! I knew Megan had done well this year, but it was so good to see it in print. Her teacher's quote was that Megan had "worked her socks off!" I'm so proud of that girl! She has never been strong at maths but she is *improving* and as far as I am concerned she's doing just brilliantly!

Nathan's report really surprised the crap out of me!! His teacher commented on how his concentration and focus have really improved over the year ... and last year's report was full of "variable" for his effort - intersperted with the very odd "good!" This year it was ALL good with a VERY good in there for design technology! I nearly cried as I was reading it! He's done so well.

They have BOTH done so well. It makes me really proud!!!

Anyway, it's nearly 10pm on Tuesday evening ... I have JUST finished all of the re-labelling of the stock ready for market tomorrow. It had BETTER be a good day ... if it isn't then I don't even want to think about where I will be. I need to make money this week!

I haven't done even half the things I wanted to achieve this evening ... and I still need to shower - the thought of a 5am shower is NOT a good one!

I did get pics of the new labels ... but again it will have to wait ... I could waffle on here all night but it won't get my work done or me showered! LOL

REALLY pissed off

Have a huge major vent to make about my landlord at work, but for now I'm knackered and need some sleep after a long day. I do have new piccies of the new labels but it will have to wait until tomorrow!!!

I am so pissed off.............

Okay good stuff first then I'll get to my moan of the day!!

I have new labels! OMG they look sooooo fantastic! I should have taken my camera in to work with me today, but I forgot ... my bad - I'll take pics tomorrow! I had created a new design for the labels based on the new logo. I showed L ... who suggested I tweak it slightly by changing one little thing and all of a sudden they look properly "branded" rather than generic and "samey"

It's funny --- whenever I have new packaging, all of a sudden I love doing the "monkey work" .... hehehe I'm sure the novelty will wear off!

Okay so the moan.

I am so utterly pissed off at home right now. I'm working my proverbial backside off daily and I feel that I get very little support for it from hub. He claims to be supportive and will stand there and argue the toss with me about how he is being supportive ... but he isn't! His salary puts a roof over my head and food on the table ... but it doesn't mean that what I do isn't important!

I don't have the luxury of being able to leave early in the morning and finish at 5pm. I have to fit my working hours into the time that the children are at school, then I go back evenings and weekends if I have to. I am working my backside off to try to build the business back up. I've invested hours and hours of my time to build it into something for the future - for my future and for the kids.

Hub has been complaining about HIS LACK OF WEEKENDS!!! It makes me so angry. He expects it to be absolutely fine for me to just not go into work for an entire weekend and either have to fit more into less hours or fall behind with orders ... just so that HE can go and do HIS stuff.

How is that supportive???

The latest one??? AFTER we had already had an argument about how unimportant my work is and how he doesn't get time at weekends ... he told me he wanted to go out on Saturday 26th - some bike or canoe thing - I didn't really pay much attention to the "what" because I couldn't believe it - not only did he blatantly not listen to me earlier in the day about how I need the weekends ... the 26th is the weekend after his daughter's birthday ... the weekend I have got 3 of her friends coming over to all go to the cinema and then pizza and a sleepover! Yeah okay hub, what do I do with Nathan while you are off doing whatever it is you want to do while I am with our daughter and her friends?!?!!

Is that selfish of me? Am *I* being the selfish one? Should I just cause myself MORE stress and MORE worry by having to work harder and faster during the day while the children are at school just so that he can have a weekend to do whatever he wants to do??

On the upside I wore new shoes today - so at least the bad parts of the day had a bit of sparkle to them.

Mama got new shoes today!! Piccies too! I love being a girl!

I went on a "birthday shopping spree" with my mum today :-) It's become a bit of a tradition that instead of buying me a gift (although she does get me something to unwrap on the day too!) we go out together shopping and she treats me with some cash to splurge.

I had £50 to spend and I did soooo well!! I love wearing the strappy vest tops as they go with pretty much anything - they can be casual or dressed up ... found a pack of 3 for £8 - bargain so I got a blue & turquoise set and a pink & purple set too, so that's 6 tops for £16! I also got a turquoise coloured wrap cardigan for £6 and these purrrrrty silver flip flops that were THREE POUNDS in the sale! LOL

I still had some cash left when we met up with my sister and her hub for lunch out in town and they brought my birthday pressie with them... I'd mentioned to Sis about my self imposed shoe buying ban a couple of weeks ago and said if she were stuck for anything to buy for my birthday then sparkly sandals were the way to go!!

Loooooooook what I got from my sis!!!!

HOW gorgeous are these! I mean seriously if she could have got inside my head and pulled out a picture of exactly what I wanted then these would have been right up there! PINK and SPARKLY and COMFY!! Ohh I love them!!

I still had some cash left and went into Brantano on the way home and found these ....

They were a teeny bit over budget ... they were £32 and NOT sale ... and I only had £25 left from mum, but by the time I'd seen them - before I had even tried them on I KNEW they were mine! I even tried on others first ... slightly cheaper and in budget shoes ... that were pretty and that I liked ... just not as much as these!! I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them! HAD to have them!! They go beautifully with the new turquoise top I bought (that I'd changed into!) and of course I had to wear my new shoes out of the shop! LOL I had so many compliments from the other customers about how great they looked!

God I love being a girl!!!

Soooo all the effort I've been putting in at work has been worth it ... I finally got paid in shoes today :-)

Friday Five - 11th July

This week's Friday Five are about dreams!!! Let's have a bash at this ...

What are some recurring dreams you’ve had? Recently I've been waking up and feeling that I can't breathe. It's a very real feeling although I can't remember the dream... just the fact I am gasping for breath and have to stick my head out of the window!

What is the significance of dreams in telling you about yourself? I put a LOT of significance into my dreams!! I firmly believe that the subconscious mind has a great deal of insight into what is going on in your real life. I've seen lie detector tests where the person genuinely believe what they are saying as the truth ... but their subconscious mind lets on the real truth. Dreams are important. They help us to figure out what we REALLY want instead of what we think we want!

How do you feel after you’ve had one of THOSE dreams? One of WHAT dreams? Hehehe a sexy one? I feel GRRRRRR and that's the best way to describe it! LOL Cobwebs R Us!

What was the last dream you remember? Last night I dreamed I was being chased because I had parked my car in the wrong place. Chasing dreams generally represent anxiety (no shit sherlock!) because running away is a natural response. I think I dreamed about this because I am trying NOT to run away from things at the moment!

When did you last dream about something that later happened as you dreamt it? You can only recognise so called "prophetic dreams" after they have actually happened, and the only thing I can think of where this has happened has been something I can't discuss on a public post!!

My "unbirthday" birthday!

I can't believe I didn't actually write about this yesterday! I was so "on one" about getting ready for the market, that by the time I'd finished up last night I just headed straight for bed!!

I got some wonderful gifts from my children!!!! Megan made me a cross stitch pattern that she did completely by herself and I absolutely love it. It's way better than anything she could have bought, and it's actually really good!! My mum has been helping her with sewing & stitching, but she did this on her own! Hub took the kids into Boots to buy me something and Nathan picked out hair bunches!! He couldn't have picked anything more perfect! I scratch around in the morning for a bunch when I am straightening my hair and need to separate some of it off. He told me that he knew I needed them and would use them every day and think of him! How adorable was that!!

I got lots of cards and either a facebook message or a text from my friends ... plus Lou bought me a cake at work!! Well happy! LOL

The rest of my birthday was spent working!! I was in the workshop all day then bought packing home to finish up ready for the market! I did manage a good few hours "quality time" with the kids after school though :-)

It wasn't about presents or parties or cake (although cake was good!!!) it was about spending time with my kids and knowing that although money has been tight for so many people ...

... I was given gifts that didn't cost the earth but meant the world.

THAT is what it is about.

More rain in a day today than in a month!

Well that's what the radio said this afternoon anyway!

I was up at 5am and all motivated to go do the market! I got there early, got a pitch, got set up and was absolutely drenched by around 8am! Had it not been for another trader who loaned me a tarpaulin and some clamps to protect at least ONE side of my pitch then I would have been totally screwed! At least I was only cold and wet! LOL

Technically NOT a good day to try out the market! The rain was just ridiculous and when the other traders started packing up by 11am - I knew it was pretty pointless sticking around! I stuck it out for another hour, but gave up at that point!

The people that were out braving the rain just weren't browsing ... they were carrying umbrellas with heads down and walking very quickly - I couldn't blame them for not wanting to stop and have a sniff!

Anyway, it wasn't a total loss - although I am out the pitch cost, but I learned a lot! I already know exactly what I need for my display now - and it shouldn't cost the earth AND I may even be capable of building it myself with some hardboard, wood batons and some nails! Have hammer - can travel! HAH!

After taking the stock back to the workshop and picking up the kids, I pretty much spent the afternoon asleep on the sofa. It'll be hard doing that every week with the early start, but fingers crossed for better weather next week!!

it was "Yell at Dee Day" today ... and the resulting melancholy!!

I got yelled at twice today by two different people - both pretty important people in my life ... and both within a couple of hours of each other!! I am not going to elaborate or go into detail of the who/what/why/when/why and how because both people did apologise for the yelling part (even though I admit there was a reason behind the yelling - i.e. Dee has fucked up again) and it's all dealt with and okay now ... but it really did get me thinking.

I am wondering whether I've been too "up in the clouds" about everything lately. I do have a tendancy to kind of go off on a tangent with things and I KNOW get a little over enthusiastic ... but if I don't put myself out there and actively make changes then nothing is going to happen. I cannot just sit here and wait for things to happen for me because life just doesn't work that way.

It just feels like no matter what I do I am in the wrong at the moment. I seem to go from feeling up to feeling totally crap and that I am the worst person in the world!

Translated - I am a bad mother.

I'm worried about my relationship with my children. Part of me doesn't want to say anything here because I know Megan sometimes reads my blog and a lot of my friends & family read what I write here ... but if being honest on my blog means that the people close to me can get inside my head more ... then that's what this is all about!!

I am working a LOT at the moment. Every spare minute I have is spent working ... I'm either on my laptop working on the website, designing promotions, doing accounts & paperwork ... or I am out of the house at the workshop.

I worry that I don't have enough quality time with them - that I am too focussed on myself & the business right now and that they will end up resenting me for it. They are at such a critical age at the moment - both of them and I want nothing more than for them to both look back on their childhood and say to people that they had a brilliant childhood!!

In short, I worry I am not doing a good enough job as a mother.

Nathan is a funny one ... because of his "problems" ... I honestly think that as long as he is fed, watered and has access to a computer and his nightly "snuggles" with me on the sofa then he'll be just fine. If I want to actually TALK to him, I need to sit with him on the stairs where there are no distractions and then I'll get all of 5 minutes before he loses interest! He is very hard to actually get inside of because of his ADHD/Aspergers ... but at the same time he is very very loving and we have a wonderful relationship. I can say without question that Nathan hugs are THE best in the world!

It's Megan I worry about. She is nearly ten and those double figures are a scary birthday number for a mother - well, for me anyway! She is so grown up and at the age now where she is really developing as a young lady as well as an individual with her own distinct tastes, likes & dislikes. I'm worried that I work too much and don't spend enough quality time with her. I want her to look back on her childhood and truly know that her Mum was there for her no matter what. I worry that I don't get to spend enough time with her and that there is just "too much to do" with the accounts, working on the website etc when I am at home ... that's when I'm not trying to clean up and stay on top of the housework! The rest of the time she's at school or I'm at work!

I just want my kids to know that the whole reason why I am doing this is for them. I need them to know that I work hard to try to give them a better future and to make up for the mistakes I made in the past. I still make mistakes every single day, but I realised not too long ago that I'm not superwoman and that it is okay not to be able to do everything. Gawd knows I still have a hell of a lot to put them through yet, but I'll take it one day at a time.

Even though I am very much aware of mistakes I've made in the past and I work so hard to try to fix them, I still screw up! I'm not perfect. Far from it. Today for example ... being yelled at twice by two different people for two different reasons. It really brought me down.

Anyway ... I think I need a bath and an early night. It's Monday tomorrow - a new day and a new week.

Hangover is not the word!!!!

Yesterday was great fun!! I went over to Lou's straight after work to take photos of her daughter (R, who is 16) before she went off to her prom! Ohh she looked beautiful - well, all of the girls did ... and it scared me looking at how grown up they all looked because it forced me to think about how that will be me sending Megan off to her prom one day!

Anyway, after we'd seen Ria off, we went for a few drinks in Brighton, then found a nice place to have a meal, then back to Lou's where we indulged in several bottles of wine and put the world to rights before finally dragging ourselves to bed at 4.30am!!

Oooops .... needless to say I woke up feeling decidedly squiffy this morning but as it was self inflicted I couldn't give myself any sympathy so I hauled arse into work to do some packing!

I am definitely DEFINITELY aiming to do the market next week. I've finally found somewhere that I can get the perfect size tables from too! I'd been in a bit of a flap because I'd found tables half the size I wanted from Argos and figured I'd just get two of them ... but UGH they were out of stock, and the closest other stores didn't have them either! If I don't have tables, I don't have a stall! Anyway, a flash of inspiration this evening and I've found them at B&Q plus checked stock and they have them...

Happy bunny!

So anyway, an early night tonight sans alcohol fresh for tomorrow - a full day at work to get as much as possible done!!

Feeling VERY unbirthday!!

It's my birthday on Tuesday next week and I'm feeling the most "unbirthday" that I think I have ever felt! I'm going to be 33 and it's already such a non event! I spoke to my sister on the phone this evening and she asked if it was okay that we didn't do anything the weekend after my birthday as they've made some plans... and my uncle is very *very* ill so my mum is going to be away this weekend, possibly next weekend and chances are she'll be away over my actual birthday anyway!

I'm almost glad in a way that my family are going to be busy! It gives me an excuse not to celebrate it! That sounds weird, and it's not like I want to avoid my birthday in an attempt to avoid getting older - my age doesn't bother me or anything like that ... I just don't feel like I really have anything to celebrate this year!

When I was asked what I wanted for my birthday this year ... ya know I couldn't actually think of anything? Well okay that's not technically true ... I want display tables, a table cloth, a printed vinyl sign and things to set up for the market, plus a list of fragrance oils longer than my two arms put together!!! *sigh* they all refused telling me birthdays are for stuff for ME!

So what DO I want? I can't believe I am saying this but there isn't actually anything I've seen that has cried out "BUY ME!" recently! It's possibly because I'm on such a self imposed spending ban that I don't allow myself to even window shop at the moment! I'm really low on my favourite Jean Paul Gaultier perfume and I need some new comfy flat sandals for the summer (sparkly of course tho in true Dee style!) ... and that's IT!! I'll be working on my birthday anyway ... so it really doesn't matter! LOL

Sad isn't it! There is a whole world of shopping out there at my fingertips and all I can think of for my birthday is perfume and shoes!!

Houston I got my period!!!!

Well I thought it was worth announcing to the world in general! Almost ironic how I complain loudly about the lack of it and then it arrives!!

I didn't get to write yesterday evening ... I was absolutely knackered!! It was a good day, but just not for financial reasons!! The East Preston market was crap, but to be honest I didn't really think that it would be anything more than that ... it's East Preston on a Wednesday morning FFS! LOL it didn't matter either because Tuesday was such a superb day and I was floating on cloud nine because of the result I'd had the day before!

Anyway, today has been a fairly good ... to brilliant ... to not so good ... to okay again kind of day!!

Clear as mud? It all started off really well - I got into work and sighed at the state of the stock room - it was such a pig sty in there and really needed sorting out. Terri was in and I knew she was just the girl I needed to get me organised!!! I completely re-organised the stock room so I can clearly see exactly what I have and what I need to make up for stock. It looks awesome in there now!! So that was the brilliant start ...

The not so good part was an email from my landlord at work demanding money ... but I am disputing part of the bill (charges for services I haven't used) and they haven't exactly been forthcoming with resolving the issues I had. I had a couple of hours this afternoon when I was getting all depressed because just as it all starts to run well again and I am making such headway into resolving my business problems ... I'm faced with yet another kick!!

So anyway, I spoke to my solicitor again today to double check where I stood on some other questions I had and with his help, I've decided on a plan of action ... again I can't go into detail in a public post - well, not at this stage anyway, but when your solicitor turns around to you and says "you are being conned" then you know you are fighting a battle for good reason!!

... therefore the day turned into an okay again kind of one!

I am REALLY REALLY looking forward to tomorrow! I'm going over to Lou's in the evening to take some pics of her daughter getting ready for her prom and then all dressed up in her finery! I can't wait to play with my camera, and her daughter is stunning so I already know the shots will turn out great!! If Lou gives me permission (and of course her daughter's consent too!), I'll post a couple of the shots here!

It's also been way toooooooo long since Lou and I had a proper girlie chat that wasn't squeezed into the 5 minutes we get when she pops in at work! I am so looking forward to it! A chance to relax and chat with my girlfriend and not have to worry about time or clock watching as I'm staying overnight. We'll have the world put to rights by Saturday morning! LOL

It just gets better! (And quick moan about my period!)

What a fanfuckingtastic day!!

In chronological order of happening! ...

1. My appointment with my solicitor went very well. I definitely have a case and that is what I wanted to hear - somebody with a legal background who can turn around and say HEY you can't charge somebody for something that they haven't received. It was a very positive appointment.

2. When I got back to the workshop, I got a call from the manager of a weekly market in town nearby that gets a LOT of passing traffic. It's on a weekday but it is very popular and it's a slot I desperately want! He called to say that there is space for me as a casual trader when I want it. It basically means that I need to turn up there at 7am in the morning and hope for a pitch with no guarantee of getting one, so sometimes I'll end up coming straight back home again ... but, once I've been as a casual for a few weeks, I will be able to sign on as a regular. This is massive! It will be like having a shopfront without having a shop! I need to do a fair bit of work before I can think about it - stock building and organising a decent display table (oh and getting the tables as I have to provide all of that) but it's a very positive move forward!

3. I got all of the stock packed up for the market in East Preston tomorrow morning. I don't feel like I have enough stock - but I *always* feel that and I *always* come home with plenty ... so I'm happy about what I've got! Plus, the new shrink wrap packaging looks amazing

4. A cheque arrived for £192 and it was paid into the business account within two hours of opening the envelope! It's all about cash flow right now and as long as the cash is a flowin' I am a happy chick!

5. Orders are coming through the website again! It slowed up last week - but I put a lot of that down to it being the end of the month and Glastonbury being on as well could have had a LOT to do with it!!

6. Had a really nice chat on the phone with my mum this afternoon! We caught up on gossip and I told her about the weekly market ... she has offered to have the children after school until their dad gets back from work - as long as it will fit in with her work hours!

I'm afraid to say it too loudly (touch wood) but ... it all seems to be going okay right now! I know I have a LONG way to go and I'm still sinking right now, but I'm closer to "the light at the end of the tunnel" than I have ever been and it feels GOOD! I have to thank L for most of it, errr umm some of it hell okay - all of it! The eternal butt kicking and the way I now question everything ... it's all down to L!! God, if L hadn't come into my life at the right point, then I dread to think where I would be!!

WARNING PERIOD TALK!!!
Okay time for the period talk! I didn't have a period at all for a few months after Christmas, then a mega nasty heavy one - then two came 2 weeks apart! I worked out it's been around 5-6 weeks since my last one and it's worrying because my body seems to be so screwed at the moment. Trust me when I say there is absolutely ZERO chance I could be pregnant - bwahahaa (cobwebs is not the word!) it's just that it feels so "unfemale" not to get my period every month!

So anyway, lack of period aside, the upshot is that it's been a really really REALLY good day :-)

All missions achieved!

God I love it when I can get to the end of a day and think yeah - I achieved all of my missions today! I have made a lot of stock votives & packaged most of them ready for East Preston on Wednesday ... and all of the orders that came in over the weekend have been poured / packed & boxed!

It's all good!!

I have an appointment with a solicitor tomorrow to get legal advice on a "business" issue that I have. I don't want to go into too much detail in a public post, except to say I am being charged quite a large amount of money for a service that I have not received. There has been some back and forth discussion between myself and the other party via email, but before I reply - I need legal advice. This is an amount of over £500 that I am being charged per quarter ... and if it isn't illegal to charge someone for this, then it should be! I spoke to a solicitor over the phone today and it's a free initial consultation ... so I'll get the advice I need ... reply to their email and if I don't get the response I expect (ie they will deduct the amount I am disputing) then the solicitor will send a letter and war will begin!!

Anyway that's about all I can say in public on the subject!

My priorities right now??

** Sort out this £500 bill - either through my own battle or a legal one!
** Keep working on the accounts (getting through it a bit every day)
** Make a butt load of money!

Simple eh!

Ohh I did LOADS today!

Today has been a really good day! I was in the workshop this morning and got a ton of stock votives poured ready for the East Preston market on Wednesday. I made myself a list of the scents I wanted to take with me and got them ALL poured!

I spent the afternoon when I got back chilling in the garden with the kids - it was really nice and it was great to spend time with them. I forget sometimes what great little people they are!!

Megan is growing up TOOOOOO fast these days - it scares me! One of her classmates has already started her periods, and knowing that my daughter and her friends are that developed ... woah it's scary stuff for a mother!

And Mr Nathan ... well it was a surprise to see him actually EATING ... let alone eating a chicken wing - AND thoroughly enjoying it too!!

Yeah ... a good weekend!!!

Today was mum's 2nd birthday celebration ... she's obviously getting a bit like the Queen in her old age and now has to celebrate her birthday twice!! We had a lovely evening at my sister's house ... nice food and a cake Sis made by herself!!!

And it was good to see a real smile on Mum's face too!!

We went for a walk along the beach in Littlehampton where Sis lives and it's the first time I've ever been down there. I was quite surprised at how NICE the beach was! It's very much an "unspoiled" area of beach with sand dunes and real sand! Certainly worked up an appetite for CAKE anyway!!

The kids had a great time - it was good to actually get them off their backsides and out into the fresh air!

Keeping fingers firmly crossed!!

Well ....... it hasn't exactly been a fabulous week for sales totals, but I'm safe in the knowledge that last week was REALLY good, so as long as next week works out okay then we'll be just fine :-)

Talking of next week, it's my first time at the East Preston monthly market on Wednesday next week and I am really looking forward to it. This will be a regular slot the first Wednesday of every month and it's already an established market so I'll be able to build up a regular clientele. I still want something at least weekly to guarantee me sales if the website is slow ... but we're working on that (the Royal "we" that is LOL)

Meanwhile tonight I've had a night off from number crunching and I've been working on designing a poster to promote candle parties to put up in shop windows around the local area. I'm really pleased with how it turned out ... it's looking gooooooood!! I'll get a few printed off tomorrow and then drop some off in town over the weekend. I hate not being mega busy with orders! I never really truly know what to do with myself!

Next Friday night will be fun though ... I'm going over to Lou's as it is her daughter's prom night and I'll be taking photos of her daughter getting ready and the all dressed up on the night. I can't WAIT! I'm soooo looking forward to it because a) I haven't done anything "fun" with my camera since my 25 smiles project ... and b) it's been aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages since Lou & I did anything and we'll have a damned good night chatting and putting the world to rights!

Soooooooooo anyway I've drunk a lil too much and am in danger of waffling on about things that really shouldn't be said in public, so it's time to say goodnight! LOL

Friday Five - 27th June 2008

Blimey ... I'm sat here on a Friday evening and actually have enough time to write my Friday Five this week!!

1. What was the last thing you purchased from a vending machine? OMG you know it's been THAT long since I bought anything from a vending machine, I probably couldn't even tell you! It's more likely to be when was the last time I gave my children money to get something!

2. What was the last thing you made copies of on a photocopier? Oooh I know the answer to this one! LOL It was last week and it was my passport to send a copy to Netbanx for my merchant account switchover!

3. When did you last use a pay telephone? Eeeeek goodness ... I have NO idea ... it's been years!!

4. How often do you visit an automatic teller machine? As in bank? Very rarely. I use online banking and log into that around once a week.

5. Which of your daily tasks would you most like to see automated? Ooooh good question. It would definitely be the mornings between 7.30-8.40am ... that hellish hour where I have to get me and the kids ready to leave the house by 8.41am!!

Thursday Grrrrrrrrrrrr!

Grrrrrrrrrrrr is the best way to describe today! Part of me can't believe it is Thursday already. This week has gone SO quickly!!

I went "dog shopping" with Mum this morning. We drove to Ford near Arundel for a small local dog rescue place to meet "Amber". Amber is a 2.5 year old whippet that Mum met a couple of days ago and fell in love with! We went over there today with Molly (my dog) to see how they would get on but unfortunately the school called and I had to cut it short just as we'd started a walk, and go to sort out Nathan. Let's just say he'd had an "accident" of the toilet kind and I wasn't impressed!!

I KNOW it is part of his ADHD/Aspergers diagnosis, but still ... he's eight years old now and MORE than old enough to be able to take himself to the toilet, but unfortunately, I still find myself cleaning up his shit in more ways than one! He was very apologetic this evening and promised me that it wouldn't happen again, but it's all words I've heard before and don't really believe any more.

So anyway ... yeah a Grrrrrr day! I accomplished the sum total of naff all really yet was constantly on the go!

This evening I've tweaked the website a little, updated the testimonials from recent customer emails and worked on some number crunching.

My my what an exciting life I lead!!!

Dreams & a lack of periods (not related!!)

I spent the best part of the morning number crunching on the accounts, then I went into work for a bit to send out some orders and then spent the afternoon with L talking about dreams for the future for the business and L's dreams of moving abroad in the future! Afternoons like that are the best ever ... just chatting & chilling out with a really good friend and feeling positive & happy!

I have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many dreams and ideas .... so many things that I want to achieve for myself with the business, and L is terrific for brain storming! It was one of the few times I was sat there without my laptop and L just kept churning out idea after idea! I had to actually *shock horror* write the ideas down by hand! It was terrific!!

I like afternoons like that!!

Soooooo anyway, mega swift subject change ... I have no fucking idea what is going on with my periods at the moment! I had two very close together a while back, and then there has been nothing for ages. I decided to stay off the pill because err, well there isn't much need to be taking it at the moment *ahem - moving swiftly on* ... so anyway I stopped taking it in the hope that it would help to sort things out ... but it's been nada, nothing & zilch for weeks now.

I have had a really REALLY bad backache for days now ... I'd put it down to the way I have been hunched over my laptop number crunching - but it is actually really really hurting. I'm wondering now whether it's a sign of a killer period incoming!

An insignificant Tuesday!

It's always a good place to be in when a day is relatively unventful!

All of the orders are either out or on their way out today and it's a really good position to be in. Although it really did screw me up having the website down for those two weeks, and I potentially lost a phenomenal amount of business ... it has kind of been a round about benefit too because it gave me the opportunity to really get things caught up and completely up to date, and as a result, as orders have been coming in - they've been turned around and sent out within a couple of days. There is nothing in the workshop over 24 hours old now and that's great!

*** Happy Dee ***

A great weekend ....

I've worked a LOT but it's actually been a nice relaxing weekend ... ie I've not been at a show! I've been in the workshop both days and it's almost good in a way that the site went offline for a while because it meant I was able to completely catch up on EVERYTHING without anything new coming in. It's also meant that as the new orders have come in this week since the site has been back online ... well I've been getting them poured and dispatched within 48 hours which is terrific as far as me AND my customers are concerned!!

It's a huge relief ... things seem to be going okay and I almost didn't want to say that out loud incase it jinxes it somehow! (touching very large bit of wood!) I'm back to 8th/9th in Google for my keyword searches at the moment instead of the 4th place I found myself last night, but it is still all good and I'm not that worried. I've done a lot of "tweaking" over the last couple of days on the website and hopefully won't be too long until the search engines pick up my changes!

Soooo currently tomorrow I will be packing up the orders that came in over the weekend (cus baby they are ALL done!) and then if nothing new is in overnight ... I have a "to do" list the size of ... well it's pretty big! LOL

Yeah baby!!!

Well the hard work I have been putting in has paid off! The website is finally back in the top half of google! I could always rely on coming up at least 3rd for my key word search terms, and when the site disappeared off of google completely after the web host nightmare ... well .... let's just say I was panicking!!

Yesterday evening I found I was back on the first page, but when I checked this evening (after more work put in!) and found I was 4th in google ... well happy dance wasn't the word! I've worked my proverbial backside off to get the site back up there and I am soooo relieved it's been worth it!!

I am literally physically exhausted though! I spend every waking minute either number crunching, buried in the website, designing the new catalogue or working in some form or other and the lack of sleep has taken it's toll on me! On the upside, so many people have noticed how positive I have been lately and that's been great.

I still owe most of it to L! Without L around to kick my proverbial backside, well I dread to think where I would be!

Anyway, it's late - I'm knackered and still have the summer 08 catalogue to finish before bed!

OMG I'm a bad person ... I'm SORRY!!!!!

But OMG what a week!!!!

Seriously I've had the most amazing week and I've worked my ass off ... which is the ONLY reason I haven't blogged for 4 days ... oooooops!!! Jeeeez, I actually can't remember the last time I left it that long before blogging!

But look .... this is what I have been doing!!! LOL

I am sooooooooooooooooooo pleased with it! Check it out in all it's pinkness at http://www.deelights.co.uk

It's been a weird week!! L has helped me enormously with some proverbial butt kicking which has really motivated me into getting things done!

I've been drinking a lil bit this evening (yeah Dee had a night off!) so I can't promise how much I'll actually get written ... but I will try!!

L helped me to work out exactly how much I need to make per week to cover the overheads that the business has and that has been a really good figure to work out. Can you believe I actually didn't know that number before?? It's crazy. The best thing is that based on the highest outgoing figure (which doesn't take into account the savings I am working on making at the moment) ... I have covered what we need to make this week - plus I am up on next week.

Considering that until TODAY the website wasn't listed in google for my key search term "scented candles" ... that's been phenomenal!!

You should have seen me earlier when I did a google search and found myself on the first page of google! YEAH baby!! I've spent the last few nights tweaking the website and working on optimising it for the search engines and it is such a relief that it has paid off! I literally ... LITERALLY did a happy dance around my front room to such an extent that my 8 year old son told me off for swearing!!!!!!!

Ooooops!

Wellllllll it was a huge thing!! After the site being offline for 2 weeks, then not being listed in google as the spiders had been out ... and obviously my hard work over the last few days has really paid off!

*still doing the happy candlemaker dance*

Seriously ... the happy candlemaker dance is something to be seen - it really is! Maybe one day I'll get someone to video me doing it! LOL

So anyway ... tonight I've been feeling really positive and it's been GREAT! I'm exhausted - completely and utterly, but I'm happy and loving the fact that it's Friday night and I don't need to get up early!!

I was asked an interesting question by a candlemaking friend in Ireland on MSN tonight. He is a hobbyist and at the point where he is almost ready to start as a business. It was an interesting chat because he's a fellow candlemaker, yet he's not technically competition as he makes carved candles PLUS he's in Ireland!

Anyway ... he asked me what it would really take to make me happy (this is after 3 hours of MSN chatting!) and it really caused me to stop and think.

What do I want/need to make me happy?

I want to be "comfortable". That's all! Yeah it would be great to be rich but lets face it, that is a pipe dream for most of us!! Comfortable to me means knowing that all of the bills are paid and that if I happen to see a pair of shoes tha I "must have" ... that I can buy them and not worry about whether I can afford them! Call me superficial & shallow because I want to live in a nice house and have nice things around me - the pinker & sparklier the better!! Does that make me a bad person? I don't exactly want to live in a Swarovski encrusted world, but a lil more glitter & sparkle never hurt!!

I want my kids to grow up knowing they are loved and for them to feel secure & happy. I want them to grow into confident adults ready to take on the world no matter what challenges are thrown at them. I want to be their mother and their friend at the same time and to never lose touch with who they are as individuals.

Good friends. This is vital. I need my close friends - they are the ones that keep me sane through the dark times!

I want my business to succeed and to finally turn a profit enough for me to draw a serious wage and be able to achieve all of my other dreams without bleeding the business account dry and stabbing my own self in the foot!

I want to come home at the end of a long and hard day & snuggle up in the arms of a man who loves me more than anything, thinks I am a complete and utter goddess and who will succumb to my every whim!

Is that really too much to ask for??

Trust me there's a lot more I would love to add to that wish list .... but that's what it will take before I am truly happy.

The website is back!!!!

FINALLY!!!! I phoned the new host first thing this morning and within minutes, the site was up! It will take a while before the search engines pick it up again, but meanwhile I plan on doing letterbox drops, direct marketing and really pulling out as many of the stops as I possibly can!

I'm really pleased with how it turned out! L helped me make some tweaky changes to it earlier and the logo / branding has come out brilliantly.

I've also already had an order from the site - from a regular customer, so at least that's some pennies today with the first day being back online!!

Gawd I am sooooooooooooo utterly knackered! I really am. I didn't post last night after getting back from the show because a) it was another crappy day and I just about covered costs, and b) I was physically and mentally exhausted!!!

I still have so much work to do before I can think about sleep tonight though!!

www.deelights.co.uk - any comments on the site design welcome!

The worst craft show on record!!!

I was up mega early this morning to make sure that I was in Climping (Nr Littlehampton) for 9am ready to unload my stock and set up for the 2 day show. One thing that's always nice about shows & events is when you find yourself with nice neighbours on the next stalls ... and well, had it not been for conversation with the other stallholders I would have been even MORE bored than I already was!

It actually seriously was my worst show on record - EVER! I made just about enough to *barely* cover the cost of the table for the day - and that doesn't count the cups of coffee I bought, petrol, my time ... my TIME! I spent 8 hours there today and there was barely anybody through the doors. It was so soul destroying!! The problem on days when it's like that at shows - is that by the time it gets to half way through the day and you still haven't made any serious sales ... is that you really can't be "bothered" then to really put in the sales pitch when people do approach your table! You figure that they aren't going to buy anyway so you may as well save your back and sit down!!

*sigh*

Well anyway I went into the workshop this evening and I'm taking some different stock with me tomorrow. We'll see how that goes! In the meantime I am SHATTERED! The website STILL isn't online so I'll have to phone the new host on Monday morning as their tech support isn't open on weekends GRRRR ... still, by the time it DOES get online it will be ready - I'll make damned sure of that!! I worked late through the night last night on it ... I'll give it a bit longer this evening on it before I hit the sack, then as soon as I am home from the show on Sunday I'll be cracking on with it again!

Ohh and once that's done it's back to number crunching!

It's never ending ... but I'm happy! Ok a little depressed about the crappy day today, but I actually do feel focused and positive - and THAT is what it is all about!

The best Friday the 13th EVER!!!!

OMG it turned out to be such a wicked day in the end!! I had a meeting with my bank manager this morning and it went very well. The whole purpose of the meeting was an annual business review, but we talked about my cash flow problems and ways to resolve them ... and she waived my bank charges for this month and also increased my overdraft for a month to cover all of the direct debits due to go out. This means that during the period that the website has been down and I have zero coming in from WorldPay (which is paid to me 28 days after processing) ... I don't have to worry about the bank outgoings. That's a huge relief.

She offered me a business credit card - and I said no! I was proud of myself!! I was sitting there thinking hmmm it would be a nice easy way out RIGHT NOW - I could order a load of fragrances and a butt load of wax, but it wouldn't help in a months time when the payment was due in full!! Sooo instead I'll be getting a debit card which will help enormously and save me having to give my mum cash and borrow her card!!

THEN .... completely out of the blue this afternoon ... my wonderful friend L lent me the money to get the website back online AND pay the set up fee for NetBanx so that the cash flow issue won't BE an issue as NetBanx clear the funds to my account within 7 days instead of 28! NetBanx will take a couple of weeks to set up, but it means that when I hit the period where I have naff all coming in from WorldPay ... it will only be a week until the NetBanx payments come in and I can suffer through a week!!

It's just been such an amazing day, and to think, this morning I was ready to vent! Sitting here right now I can't even remember what I was going to vent about! Hehehee Ahhh it's just nice to have a smile on my face and feel positive! Where would I be without my close friends!

Part of what has been so amazing is L's complete and utter belief in me. It means a lot to know that there is someone outside of my immediate family who cares enough about me and believes enough in me, my products and my potential to achieve more in the future ... to hand over a wad of cash to help me out!! That shows a lot of trust and it means a lot.

Friday Five - 13th June 2008

Oooerrr Friday 13th. I have a whole pile of whining and venting to do, but I'll save that for a separate post! Gonna cheer myself up with the Friday Five for this week - it's all about "Who?"

Who gave you your last balloon, and what was the occasion? I haven't been given a balloon for YEARS!! The last balloon I gave was on my dad's birthday in September last year. He died in 2003 and we always send helium balloons up for him at sunset.

Who gave you your last scolding, and what was it for? Errr probably a couple of days ago from a friend reminding me how crap I am that I don't know all of my numbers yet for the business!!!

Who gave you your last attaboy, and why? Me! I did when I got through the end of the figures for the the financial year that I have been putting into Excel spreadsheets!!! I deserved it too!

Who gave you your last haircut? I don't know her name, but it was errr around February and it was at Jagos in town.

Who gave you your last massage? I had a professional massage in January 2007 and it was WONDERFUL!! I should really go get another one ... 18 months ago is not good!

Holy Crapoly it's Thursday already?

Ya know ... on Tuesday afternoon I was thinking about how slowly the week was going by - then I realise this morning that somehow the week has caught up with me and it's Thursday already!!

The last couple of days have flown by - hence why I forgot to blog because the days somehow squished themselves into one recently! The basic rundown is that the website is STILL offline but the re-vamped version ready to launch when the site is back up ... is looking better than ever. I've also been cracking on with my number crunching into Excel ... and I'm getting there - slowly but surely.

I've found quite a few leaks in the business recently thanks to L's help. We've been trying to identify where I am hemorrhaging money from, and found quite a few ... the problem is that I need better cash flow to plug up the gaps ... but one of my problems IS cash flow and the fact that WorldPay take 4 weeks to pay me my customer credit card payments into my bank! I need to get that to weekly ... but I can't do that until I have the cash flow to get the site back online and the set up fee for the new payment processor GRRRRRR because meanwhile I am stuck in cash flow hell with no website!!

Can't get an egg without a chicken .... and the only way to get a chicken is from an egg! Sucks sometimes eh!

At any rate - I'm in a focussed and positive mood. I have a lil event this evening locally in Ashington, then 2 days Saturday & Sunday in Clymping so we're getting there!

Lovin' Monday!

Wow, what a fab day I've had! I was up early to go to the gym as hub was working from home, so to start the day off with a boost was a good start!

The website is now back in my name and registered with my new host - I need to come up with the funds for the hosting to get it officially back online ... but it's all going according to plan so far!

I did some number crunching today with L and worked out that I can save around £4,500 a year purely by buying my wax in larger quantities, changing payment processors and questioning some of my maintenance bills. That's crazy. Scary crazy!!!

Also ... finally the website re-design is coming together. I'm really happy with how it's working out and it'll mean that by the time the site is back online, there will be a whole terrific new look for it!!!

Yeah we love weekends like this!

We being "me" anyway! Yesterday was a really good day, then today I got as much as I'd wanted to achieve accomplished at work, then extra bits too! It's always good when that happens!! I've also been doing a lot of brainstorming about the future of the business and where I want to go with it... and dreaming up concepts and designs.

It's good to be all floaty every now and again, but from tomorrow it's back to proper number crunching and serious figure working. I need to get this part finished before I can even think about going any further!

The website re-design isn't going too well. I looked at it today - realised it was completely shite and have started a fresh version! I'm too much of a perfectionist!!

Well, anyway, it's 10.40pm and this perfectionist is heading to bed ... an early night for once!

Grinning like only Dee can grin :-p

Ohhh what a GREAT day! LOL I just love it when I can start a post like that!

I'm still very much bobbing to keep my head above water (and the website is going to be down till the middle of next week) ... BUT it's all looking up and that is (partly!) why I have a grin on my face this evening! I also had a cash sale today, so that added to what I took last night will get paid into the bank on Monday. I've got a booking Thursday night in a pub in Ashington for a ladies night, and then next weekend is a 2 days event near Arundel.

So aaanyway yes it was an utterly delicious afternoon! The sun was shining, I got LOADS done at work ... and even managed a fair few unexpected things too *wicked grin*

This evening I HAVE to get to grips and make a final decision on the layout for the redesigned website, so that once we are finally back online - it's all ready to go!! The utterly worst thing would be to have the site fixed ... but no content to upload because I'm certainly not going to put the old site back up when I'm so close on a new version! LOL

Aaaaanyway the longer I sit here procrastinating about it - the less time I have to do it! LOL

Thank Crunchie it's Friday!!

Whew what a week!

It has all ended on a fairly good note though! Let me start from the beginning! Yesterday I spoke to a woman who was organising a school PTA Ladies pamper evening in Rottingdean ... tonight! It was short notice but I didn't have any plans so I said I'd love to go.

Soooo today I spent the day packaging stock for this lil event. I decided to make a conscious effort to try and shake things up a bit for shows!! I usually take about 30 baskets full of of votives, and the baskets are great for shows as it gives people lots of chances to sniff a wide variety of different things ... but it hasn't been bringing in the sales.

This is what I took tonight instead ....


I took stacks of 3 votives in different scent groups (fruit, floral, spice, food, perfume etc) and as many hurricanes as I had in stock plus my flip flop floating candles. I took as much in 2.5 hours this evening as I did ALL day at my last one!! Crazy!

My friend L gave me a huge tip today that possibly saved my ass tonight. It was duly commented that the packaging looks terrific on the votives, but the scent just wasn't gonna get through 2 layers of cellophane packaging!! It worked a treat!! At the last minute I grabbed a handful of "sniffy" votives in the same scents as the ones I had packaged up ... and OMG it worked a treat!! I invited people to come up and sniff the samples and let me know which ones they liked so that I could point them in the right direction!!

The flip flop floaters went down a treat ....

But then, they are sooo gorgeous that they usually do!!

I feel really positive! I didn't exactly make a million ... but I made more than I did from sitting on my ass tonight *grin*

I have a LONG way to go before my head is above water ... but for the first time I feel positive.

What a week and it's not even Friday yet!!

I cancelled everything for this morning so that I could be in first thing to fax the paperwork to Nominet... R from the other unit said I could borrow his fax and we double checked that it had worked. T also came in for a couple of hours and we sat down and packaged up a batch of wedding favour orders... a monotonous job so it's good to have someone to chat to while you do it!

Anyway, just before leaving work this afternoon I called Nominet to check that they had received the fax okay with all the domain transfer details and they hadn't had the fax! Grrrr!! R was out at the time so I've now got to leave it until tomorrow!

*sigh*

It has absolutely knackered me out as well. This whole week has been totally exhausting - I actually nodded off on the sofa earlier and was late picking Megan up from Brownies! I'm gonna get me a nice early night tonight and SLEEEEEEEEEEEP!!

I can't wait for things to finally settle down so I can chill out and sit here with a grin on my face again!!

Oh FFS it's just one thing after another ....

So this morning my website had been down for five days and I decided it was about time to go nuclear on my hosts. I had got fed up with being fobbed off about how "engineers are working on it." I sat me down with the phone before I went into work and spent around 20 minutes on the phone to tech support. The guy actually seemed fairly helpful (compared to the knobs I'd spoken to before) and he said that I should delete ALL the files from my server and then re-upload them all.

Sounded reasonable ... so I did that. Nothing - nada, zip. Website still offline despite the fact that the brand spankingly newly uploaded files are there on the server! I've had websites for 9 years - I'm not exactly a newbie at this!

So anyway, I call back and (after spending 15 mins on hold for the tech support guy (I use that term VERY losely) to read the notes) I am told that this person will look into it and email me a response. I even checked he had my hotmail email addy so I can check it whether I am at home or work.

Did I get an email? Did I ****!

Soooooooo by this time I've got to work and I'm trying to stay chilled and focused. I call them back AGAIN, am put on hold for notes reading and account checking AGAIN ... and am finally told that they will refresh the server and to check the site in 20 minutes.

30 mins later no website. I give it another half hour - so over an hour after my last call ... and I call back AGAIN. Another forever on hold and I'm told that a supervisor is going to look into it and will call me back. I verify that they have both of my mobile phone numbers!

No call... but what I DID get was an automated email from them thanking me for getting in touch and confirming my account deletion.

By this time I am flapping, checking DNS servers, registrant details and there's nothing ... I still own the domain but my host basically de-tagged me and deleted me (despite the fact that I PAY for this service!) and left me with absolutely no hosting for my website whatsoever .... without my consent!!!

The host in question is madasafish. I didn't choose them - they bought out the company I was originally hosting with. The tech support are useless. I must have phoned eleventy hundred times in the last 5 days and not ONCE have I spoken to someone with an accent I can actually understand. I am not racist - in any way shape or form, I just believe it is bad business to employ people with a very strong foreign accent to work in customer call centres!! I understand the reason for doing it - it creates jobs in countries where work is desperately needed ... and I'm all for people working for a living, but damnit when you need TECHNICAL SUPPORT ... when you are tearing your hear out with a problem that these people are supposed to be able to help you with, then you need to actually understand what they are saying!!!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

There was a point during the afternoon where I actually broke down in tears and just sat on the floor! It has honestly felt like just one thing after another for so long ... and this was the icing on the cake!!

So anyway ... after pulling myself together combined with a couple of phone calls to Nominet later, and a chat with Easily.co.uk who host all of my other websites ... I am getting the domain transferred to Easily!! It will cost me £10 plus VAT for the transfer fee through Nominet, and then the new domain registration fee from Easily.co.uk (which is fairly minimal) for 2 years hosting.

Soooo tomorrow morning I need to fax this huge ass form I've had to print and fill in back to Nominet ... I've paid Easily online for the domain, so they should be ready to catch the domain as soon as it is released.

Phew! All I then need to do is come up with £100 odd for the hosting cost ... I'll worry about that one tomorrow!!!