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!

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

I need a harder nose!!

I am sat here watching Hotel Babylon and I SO need to take inspiration from Rebecca the hotel manager! She is a mega hard nosed super bitch who doesn't take crap from anyone. I wouldn't want to be completely like her because she is so VERY driven with very little room in her life for anything else... but as far as running a business goes?

I need a harder nose ... or a backbone - or both!! I need to start playing the game properly instead of pussy footing and half arseing around.

It's been a fairly good work day today. Half term is over now and it's all back to normal with the kids so I can get finally "proper" work done again. I feel totally exhausted and knackered as I've been fairly nonstop during the day, and then the last couple of nights have been late ones working on the website, but I'm pleased to say it's so very nearly ready to go and it looks terrific!

p.s. The actual "live" site (I use that term loosely right now) is STILL offline. I am so totally pissed off about that as I've been on the phone to my hosts several times and I am simply told "engineers are aware and working on it." Btw it wasn't actually me that screwed it up - apparently it's their end - I just happened to be uploading at the time it went tits up!

In the mean time I apparently just have to sit tight and errr wait!

Deep Breath (a quick one!!)

I can't stop to breathe properly just yet though! A few deep breaths and then get my head back down is about all I can manage!

The kids are on half term and it's just not practical to take them into the workshop with me, so I spent a good part of the day engrossed in my paperwork and getting some of my figures inputted into excel spreadsheets as that's all stuff I can do from home. I only got two and a half months worth of data entered, but I felt good about it as I had still technically been "working" during the day today even though I wasn't pouring wax.

It's crazy that I feel I somehow have to justify it to myself when I don't go into the workshop during the day. I am the only one that I have to answer to, and I'm definitely my own worst critic! I went into work for a couple of hours this evening to pack up orders and that made it okay ... but meanwhile I'm going to be a few days behind on orders after half term is finished... and that means that I have stress and anxiety incoming ... oh joy!

I have SO much to do and SO few hours to get it all done in, but the weird thing is that since I actually started tackling this all head on and making real roads with the paperwork and accounts, I've not had a single panic attack or any "stress bubbles" (like nervous butterflies in my stomach). There is seriously a phenomenal amount still to do ... but I know I can do it! Even what I did today on my spreadsheet still has things missing that I need to go back and add in (like my merchant account processing charges, cash receipts and a breakdown of my business credit card statements etc) but it's going well!

Once I have got all of my ducks in order, everything will be working perfectly and my new systems are running beautifully ... it will be worth the agony in the long run!

It's been a good day in all though - with my achievements for the day plus other reasons that I can't mention here... I have a smile on my face! It's always good to smile and I haven't done it often enough recently!

Is this a record for good days in a row???

Today has been another good day and it worries me. I am now worried that things are now going too well... damn how long has it been since I have had four good days in a row??? Grrrr, see the pessimist in me thinks that this can't be right - that this is ME and I'm not allowed for things to run smoothly in my life! Whenever things work out something ALWAYS goes wrong so I'm kind of just waiting for it, and that is NOT a good thing for my anxiety!!

I got so much done at work --- and a butt load of orders poured. Yep, you read correctly ... there have actually BEEN orders over the last few days!! I don't know ... maybe it was due to the fact that mid April people really do have absolutely NO money ... still, at least I know it's not just me ... I've spoken to so many other small businesses and they are all in the same position.

Still, the fact that things have somewhat picked up mean that I'm not QUITE in need of my stress kit yet ....

I need to print this A4 size and pin it up somewhere!

So back to today ... I got a full run of hurricanes made plus a buttload of orders poured ready to pack and dispatch tomorrow ... I love being so motivated and ready for work! I am definitely at my best when I am busy!

I'm still thinking a LOT about my other "option" at the moment and it IS a very real serious possibility. There are only two things stopping me from going for it right now ... one is the business - I need to be able to prove to myself that it can support me ... and the other I can't say here. All I'll say about the other "thing" is that the likelihood of it EVER happening is more than slim ... but it's still something that affects me hugely on a daily basis. Damn that's already too much said on a public space!!!

So anyway swiftly changing the subject .... crap I can't now I've been thinking about it! Okay I'm heading to bed - LOL easier that way!!!

AARRRGGHHH SO BUSY!!!

I have so much to write about but no time to write it! I have been soooooo busy over the last few days! I'll post an update as soon as I actually have a spare 5 minutes! LOL

OMG!! OMG!! Mondays are officially fantastic!!!

... well THIS Monday is anyway!!

Came into the workshop this morning feeling a little achy and a bit worse for wear as I didn't sleep well last night. Mondays are usually always so BLAH but today when I sat down in front of my work PC with my pot of coffee ... I found a huuuuuuuuge number of orders had come in over the weekend! The pile is so thick that stacked together it is almost a half an inch stack of orders JUST from the weekend! That also includes a couple of nice wholesale orders too :D

THEN .... I got a call from the local paper in response to the email I had sent them with a copy of my 25 Smiles montage just incase it was of local interest ... and they want to publish it!!! He did an interview over the phone and a photographer is coming to the workshop on Wednesday morning to take photos of me with the candles and with my camera!! He said they would give me a plug for my websites too - so there is the chance to bring in a lot of extra business!!!

Such a damned good day .... and it's not even quite lunchtime!!!

Grrrrrrrrrrr & double GRRRRRRRR!!!

Had some sad news - B's mum passed away over the weekend so understandably she's not coming into work for a while. I don't think it has really hit her yet. I'm totally single handed in there and I've been literally nonstop ALL day! Hub worked from home so I was able to stay at the workshop till late and I've been a lean mean pouring MACHINE! LOL

I got home around 4.30pm and I have to be back out just after 6pm for my last candle party!! I have a fairly long drive (hour & 15 mins or so) to Fareham tonight, but it's the last party of the season and then my website deadline is this Friday for dispatch before Christmas .... so it's just going to be madness over this next week and a half to get it all done!!!!!

Right, time for a coffee then gotta get ready to go back out again!!!!

Friday night and feelin' fine!!!

I've been chatting to a few people today about how I know I am busier than last year because the figures show it... yet this time last year I had two permanent part time staff members and this year I am on my own (other than friends helping out for odd hours!) and I don't feel like I am doing as much! It doesn't make sense! It's crazy!

The only answer I have is that I am highly motivated right now and very much on top of things in the workshop. Most orders are being poured and dispatched within a couple of days (some even next day) which is terrific ... I just don't feel as overwhelmed with it all. I just seen to be in a really good place emotionally and mentally right now.

I also can't stop thinking about a shop! It is definitely where I need to be within a couple of years minimum. I've spent this last year pulling myself out of the crap and next year has to be about balancing that out and ticking over okay! I know what I am like though, and when I get a bee in my bonnet about something then I don't tend to hang around! I NEED CASH ... about £20K will do it! LOL

Today has been a good day too - I can't remember the last time I had this many good days all in a row and I am almost scared to mention it incase it all stops! LOL! Maybe karma is finally paying me back! I had a good day at work today, got eleventy hundred boxes packed for dispatch (ok that's an exaggeration but it felt like that!), plus more orders completed to pack up over the weekend. The kids behaved themselves this afternoon after school, and then this evening I've drafted the December e-newsletter ready to send out over the weekend, worked on the website for a bit and finished off what I needed to do for my new fabby range of candles!!!

Feels bizarre to be in such a good place for so many days in a row! Let's see what the weekend brings!!

Thursday already? Egads!!!!

Crikey where has this week gone?! I can't believe it's Thursday evening already. It's been a crazy week for business and the good news is that since I last blogged I am now over £300 up on last November instead of £600 down!! **doing the happy candlemaker dance** (Oh it's a serious dance but nobody else ever sees it! LOL) Anyway, the figures put a huge smile on my face because it proved my hard work has paid off!!!

I've worked like a madwoman most of this week (or should that be an elf - hey maybe I should get a hat! LOL) and I even got nick-named "Little Miss Glitter-bottom" because of the trail of glitter I leave behind me! LOL I can't help it! I am a candlemaker and it's Christmas .... glitter comes with the territory! Heck I love it! Share a little glitter lurve!!!

Orders have definitely picked up but I'm still getting the odd day with absolutely no orders through the website and that isn't good! If I had a shop ..... it just wouldn't happen that there was a whole day without a single sale!!! On the other hand though it is balanced with days where every time I check email there's another order, so a fair swap is no robbery eh!!!

So here I am - on what is my tenth wedding anniversary with a glass of wine (it's 9pm and only my 3rd glass - am doing well!) and a smoke, writing this and working on the website! LOL

Soooo anyway LOL I have designed (only on paper so far) a new range of candles that I am really excited about. I probably won't have a chance to make it, design the labels and get it launched in time for Christmas, but I will try! If not, it will be my NBT (new big thing LOL) to launch for the new year. Ooooh I may hold back on it actually ... ohhhh I don't know (that'll be the wine then! HAH) I'll make a decision on that in the morning!!! All I will say here is that it features original and very very funny (in my humble opinion!!!) poems written by yours truly!! I'm sh*t hot! LOL

So okay the fact that I am now up on last year and have a new product to launch .... plus I've been mega busy this week ... yep ... I do believe I am still smiling!!!!

(ok 4th glass of wine now!)

Busier than a great big busy thing!!!

My lack of posts for two days isn't because there has been nothing to post about ... more that I've hardly stopped! Busy has not been the word for my life recently! By the time tonight is over, I'll have done 4 candle parties since last Saturday night and I think I have about reached my limit!! I've been out of the house working every night this week - either doing a party or in the workshop pouring wax and gawd I need a night off! At least tonight is a fairly local one so I won't be finishing too late.

Thursday is always a busy day - I've not long got home from work and then Nathan has football 4-5pm and Megan has Brownies 6-7.30 so in between I have to get them fed, finish off the housework and then make sure I have everything ready for tonight so I can leave as soon as their dad walks through the door!!!

Proud Mama Bear moment ....
Megan and Nathan had parent consultations up at the school on Tuesday evening and I am so proud of both of them!! Megan has been struggling with maths for a while now and she had trouble grasping some of the new concepts last year, but she's made huge leaps and improvements in the first couple of months in year 5, and she is working really hard to achieve it too. Her reading is just through the roof and she's working well in everything. Nathan seems to be very calm and concentrating well at school (he's in year 3) which is a remarkable change in this time last year. There has only been one day since the start of the school year where he was apparently uncontrollable and there's a question mark over whether he actually took his medication that day or not. Because of his "problems" he has something called an IEP (Individual Education Plan) at school where they identify areas that he needs to improve on and work towards. Last year his targets were things like sitting still and not doing unprompted forward rolls in the middle of the classroom! This year it's things like capital letters and full stops - real education instead of trying to control behaviour. it's an enormous thing for Nathan.

Both of them have done so well - I'm soooo proud!!!