And so it goes
Did you hear that "whooshing" noise? That was October. Gone.
Our little household has made it through to November in surprisingly decent shape considering the entirety of the last several months. L still doesn't have an office job, but he's been working on websites for friends and acquaintances who run their own businesses, many of whom it turns out haven't had a website update in years. With help from his incredibly wonderful mum, we are managing to make all our bills and even able to feed ourselves, and even more importantly L's happier than I've seen him in years.
In all this depressing news about people being out of work it's a bit easier for me to remind myself that unemployment does have a silver lining, at least in our case. Someday he'll have a day job again and I won't just get to go over and hug him whenever I want, as the world's best break from checking email and doing business via phone. Someday soon I won't get to fix him his lunch most days, or run in horror at his horrific love to cheerios (ick! those things smell!!). Someday soon we won’t be able to just take the dogs for a long walk in the middle of the day because we both need a break from our laptops. *sigh*
So, we're soldiering on, with lots of help from our friends and family. Z has also taken a reduced course load this quarter from massage school, delaying his graduation until April, so he can work more at the store. It saves the cost of another employee, and means that I can keep drawing cash at my normal rates, helping stabilize that financial picture. He's also happy to have a slightly smaller work load for a little while, and he's been around a fair bit more and a lot less stressed. There are many worse ways to live, honestly.
The store had a very trying summer, a story that I'm hearing from all the smaller businesses I'm talking too. Vendors were cranky, customers were skittish, and everyone was just outstandingly stressed out. Even through September and into October, probably as the weather here in Seattle was unseasonably warm, the daily totals were below projections. Needless to say, I was getting a bit anxious. Then suddenly, like a fast moving fall storm, it all came back. We still aren't over projections, but we are on projections, and have been for the last 2+weeks. The store is busy most days, as any of you that have been there recently can attest. Halloween was a blast, if full of the chaos and making and giving away some 25+ gallons of tea and dozens of pounds of candy. We are moving into November with a calm but firm hold on our income for the first time since spring, and I think it will be a reasonable if no overly exuberant holiday season.
My health has been up and down a great deal, sadly. Nothing deeply serious, just one thing after another after another for more than six months now, and the fast trip to Boston didn’t help matters. It's kept me home for some time, and it's too soon to be sure this round of roller coaster ride is over. People keep commenting on how they aren't seeing me in the store, but oddly I have been in a fair bit, or working from home nearly every day. I expect this trend to continue for the next 6 months at least, as my doctors would like to see my not ramp up into the 16 hour days in the shop I often put in this time of the year.
So sadly, I'll be there more in spirit than reality for much of the holiday season. As always, I'm available via cell, text message, or email if you need me, and since I'm not tied to a time line at the counter I can often swap my day's schedule around if you want to see me when you visit the shop. A couple of times recently people have even texted me to ask if I'll be in the store as they are on their way there, or have just arrived, to be shocked when I walk out of the back room. I guess you just never know where I'll be.
In some sense I'm taking a great deal of pride in the fact that my little cute teashop has grown so much that I don't need to be there to touch every single thing for it to continue to thrive. I now have 10 people working for me, instead of the 2 I had in '03, and the team is working smoothly inside a space that was merely a vision just 16 months ago. Soon we will be upon our one year anniversary for the move, and it's been such an up and down year, but oddly full of joy and accomplishment. Hopefully we look back on this one with a lot of lessons learned and some well earned wisdom. I know I feel like I should have grown a whole new head just to hold everything I've learned in the last 18 months.
So, other than that, the play's been pretty good. :)
I've been trying to keep up on my reading, somewhat unsuccessfully, but trying. I've been enjoying:
The latest Diana Gabaldon novel in the Outlander series, An Echo in the Bone. (thanks mom!) A series that I've been reading since I started working at the bookstore my junior year in high school, and one that never fails to enthrall me and most people to whom I loan the now 7 books in the series.
Laura Anne Gilman's Retrievers novels, which I've made it about half way through, and are a nice modern read for days spent on the couch
Laurie R. King's Mary Russell mysteries (a Sherlock Holmes series set between the world wars) as well as her Kate Martinelli novels (a modern day SF detective) have been a constant source of fun as they come from the library one at a time.
Neil Gaiman's American Gods as an unabridged audio book, which is lovely but so long it's put me behind and all my other audiobooks are starting to pile up. Oh well, not completely. The guys and I gave a second listen to A Study in Emerald on our way out to K's in Issaquah the other day. It's short but so beautifully crafted as to be the perfect jewel you never seem to tire of admiring. Or maybe that's just me.
Next on my list are (and further suggestions are always welcome!):
Laurell K. Hamilton's latest, Skin Trade
Robin McKinley's Chalice
I'd also like to try Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, if anybody has a copy they'd like to loan me that would be super grand.
If not I suspect it will be on my holiday gift giving list, as I'm trying hard this year to give and asking for very useful things, often food or books. I figure why not go with things close to my heart? And if you have a particular jam or cookie request, now's the time to make them! Just Apple Butter (both the caramel and traditional recipes) left to put up this year. Hopefully this week.
Well, that's probably more than enough for this long overdue update. Hopefully all of you are finding a good book to snuggle up with, and someone to fetch you a nice cuppa tea. :)
Our little household has made it through to November in surprisingly decent shape considering the entirety of the last several months. L still doesn't have an office job, but he's been working on websites for friends and acquaintances who run their own businesses, many of whom it turns out haven't had a website update in years. With help from his incredibly wonderful mum, we are managing to make all our bills and even able to feed ourselves, and even more importantly L's happier than I've seen him in years.
In all this depressing news about people being out of work it's a bit easier for me to remind myself that unemployment does have a silver lining, at least in our case. Someday he'll have a day job again and I won't just get to go over and hug him whenever I want, as the world's best break from checking email and doing business via phone. Someday soon I won't get to fix him his lunch most days, or run in horror at his horrific love to cheerios (ick! those things smell!!). Someday soon we won’t be able to just take the dogs for a long walk in the middle of the day because we both need a break from our laptops. *sigh*
So, we're soldiering on, with lots of help from our friends and family. Z has also taken a reduced course load this quarter from massage school, delaying his graduation until April, so he can work more at the store. It saves the cost of another employee, and means that I can keep drawing cash at my normal rates, helping stabilize that financial picture. He's also happy to have a slightly smaller work load for a little while, and he's been around a fair bit more and a lot less stressed. There are many worse ways to live, honestly.
The store had a very trying summer, a story that I'm hearing from all the smaller businesses I'm talking too. Vendors were cranky, customers were skittish, and everyone was just outstandingly stressed out. Even through September and into October, probably as the weather here in Seattle was unseasonably warm, the daily totals were below projections. Needless to say, I was getting a bit anxious. Then suddenly, like a fast moving fall storm, it all came back. We still aren't over projections, but we are on projections, and have been for the last 2+weeks. The store is busy most days, as any of you that have been there recently can attest. Halloween was a blast, if full of the chaos and making and giving away some 25+ gallons of tea and dozens of pounds of candy. We are moving into November with a calm but firm hold on our income for the first time since spring, and I think it will be a reasonable if no overly exuberant holiday season.
My health has been up and down a great deal, sadly. Nothing deeply serious, just one thing after another after another for more than six months now, and the fast trip to Boston didn’t help matters. It's kept me home for some time, and it's too soon to be sure this round of roller coaster ride is over. People keep commenting on how they aren't seeing me in the store, but oddly I have been in a fair bit, or working from home nearly every day. I expect this trend to continue for the next 6 months at least, as my doctors would like to see my not ramp up into the 16 hour days in the shop I often put in this time of the year.
So sadly, I'll be there more in spirit than reality for much of the holiday season. As always, I'm available via cell, text message, or email if you need me, and since I'm not tied to a time line at the counter I can often swap my day's schedule around if you want to see me when you visit the shop. A couple of times recently people have even texted me to ask if I'll be in the store as they are on their way there, or have just arrived, to be shocked when I walk out of the back room. I guess you just never know where I'll be.
In some sense I'm taking a great deal of pride in the fact that my little cute teashop has grown so much that I don't need to be there to touch every single thing for it to continue to thrive. I now have 10 people working for me, instead of the 2 I had in '03, and the team is working smoothly inside a space that was merely a vision just 16 months ago. Soon we will be upon our one year anniversary for the move, and it's been such an up and down year, but oddly full of joy and accomplishment. Hopefully we look back on this one with a lot of lessons learned and some well earned wisdom. I know I feel like I should have grown a whole new head just to hold everything I've learned in the last 18 months.
So, other than that, the play's been pretty good. :)
I've been trying to keep up on my reading, somewhat unsuccessfully, but trying. I've been enjoying:
The latest Diana Gabaldon novel in the Outlander series, An Echo in the Bone. (thanks mom!) A series that I've been reading since I started working at the bookstore my junior year in high school, and one that never fails to enthrall me and most people to whom I loan the now 7 books in the series.
Laura Anne Gilman's Retrievers novels, which I've made it about half way through, and are a nice modern read for days spent on the couch
Laurie R. King's Mary Russell mysteries (a Sherlock Holmes series set between the world wars) as well as her Kate Martinelli novels (a modern day SF detective) have been a constant source of fun as they come from the library one at a time.
Neil Gaiman's American Gods as an unabridged audio book, which is lovely but so long it's put me behind and all my other audiobooks are starting to pile up. Oh well, not completely. The guys and I gave a second listen to A Study in Emerald on our way out to K's in Issaquah the other day. It's short but so beautifully crafted as to be the perfect jewel you never seem to tire of admiring. Or maybe that's just me.
Next on my list are (and further suggestions are always welcome!):
Laurell K. Hamilton's latest, Skin Trade
Robin McKinley's Chalice
I'd also like to try Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, if anybody has a copy they'd like to loan me that would be super grand.
If not I suspect it will be on my holiday gift giving list, as I'm trying hard this year to give and asking for very useful things, often food or books. I figure why not go with things close to my heart? And if you have a particular jam or cookie request, now's the time to make them! Just Apple Butter (both the caramel and traditional recipes) left to put up this year. Hopefully this week.
Well, that's probably more than enough for this long overdue update. Hopefully all of you are finding a good book to snuggle up with, and someone to fetch you a nice cuppa tea. :)