Killing Two Birds with One Stone: Audiobooks

 I love my job. It's my dream job and if I have to work for a living, I can't think of anything I'd rather do. That being said, right now my job dominates my existence in a major way and gives me little down time. Also, I get really fidgety when I have to sit at my desk for long periods of time making my craft. I constantly think to myself... "Okay, just this one strand and then I'm going to check my e-mail. Or my Etsy account. Or get a glass of water.... or peer out the window.... or sing a little song to my goldfish....and *then* I'm going to get right back to work! " I probably take a break every half hour or so and my fidgeting really cuts into my productivity. I was able to get away with it during the slow summer months of vacations and barbecue holidays but now my shop is really picking up again, I have several custom clients at once right now, and customers are abandoning the cheeky bright colors of spring and summer for more sultry, rich autumn tones. 

   I have not read a book in at least 6 months. I was ashamedly lamenting this to a close friend of mine over a glass of wine. I live in a house with over 4,000 books. In my home, we display our books proudly as the family wealth. I may not have read a book in almost a year. My friend suggested I get books on CD from the library or download them from one of the many online sites created just for this purpose. It seemed like a good idea, but I would definitely not have ever followed through except that he burned some of his personal favorites onto a disc and handed it to me to take home. 

   Okay, books on cd are *awesome!* The first one I listened to was Hitchhiker's Guide as read by Douglas Adams. It was really cool to hear the author infusing the character's voices with the personality that he had originally imagined for them. I was able to sit at my desk and be extremely productive, while the time sped by in a breeze. Problem solved! I'll be going to the library later this week to check out audiobooks later this week!

Death, Introspection, Self Actualization, A Cow

I haven't posted for about a week due to a tragic freak accident in my family involving a motorcycle and a black cow crossing a dark country road. This event, and the necessary and appropriate emotions and time spent with family left me with a lot of things I felt I needed to spend some time with.

When someone dies, people take stock of what they have left. If I died today... what would I regret? Am I happy.. and is that enough? How do you measure a life? I feel a strong sense of my own mortality, and get very introspective. In this specific instance, I made some macabre cow jokes with my husband to self-medicate against the senselessness of the absurd world we live in. Inappropriate, I know. We do what we can to get by. Humans are a very adaptable species. 

At this point in my life I feel pretty ok with who I am and where I'm going. After all, it was only a little over a year ago that I found out I was losing my job and in the midst of the panic and self-doubt I realized I had wasted some years of my life and was not living my life on my terms. 

It was then that I began to redefine my values and accept that I would need to take more risks in order to do what I love. Now my goal is to stabilize and grow my own business to a level at which my husband is able to be liberated from his demanding job with long hours so that we can spend more time together and have the freedom to choose our own path. 

I know we rarely get to choose our demise... but I'd be okay with a shocking, abrupt, and completely unpredicted death by cow. It's senseless and bizarre, but no one is to blame. It's just... one of those things, and maybe.... in a few years, my death would be immortalized in family toasts. The cow was unharmed. 

My Etsyversary

Today is the one year anniversary of opening my Etsy shop. I didn't actually get a business license and start being serious until October, so this is more like the Dating anniversary than the Wedding anniversary, but still.. I think it's important to celebrate milestones and achievements. Plus, a lot has actually happened in one year. On this date last year I was still working for The Discovery Channel Store, although the last day was drawing near, and I was getting very emotionally exhausted by it and ready for new beginnings. Since then, my business has made a few transformations.. from online experiment to full time traveling craft show circuit to primarily web-based. I'm sure there are a lot more changes ahead of me and I'm excited and optimistic about being able to meet the challenges.

Also.. I got a treasury! It's like a special little present from the Etsy Gods. I decided to do an Autumn color theme to symbolize looking ahead to what's next.

Handmade Terrariums

I just wanted to add that I have a serious crush on these gorgeous terrariums by The Oak Leaves on Etsy. I wish her enormous success because I need her to have lots of them available at Christmas time because that's all I am asking for.

The Lost Art of Saving Money

Currently, we are in debt. After making the decision to start a business and thus become impoverished people.. we of course immediately had to make large purchases in the form of supplies and business necessities. And some Learning Experiences occurred involving craft festivals and the current economic climate tacked on extra debt. It's not massive debt, but a lack of self discipline has kept the debt gnawing at us.

But now it's time. Past time, in fact. The truth is, we want a house. We need a house. We don't have enough space and we're ready to move into the next stage of our lives..i.e. move to the country and live on a piece of land in a little house. I crave it so much that during my workout sessions I find myself fantasizing about herb gardens whilst doing lunges. I'm completely ready for this new life which will make me so happy.

So this week we started our action plan. We need to make and save enough money to pay our debt and have a small down payment for a house by Spring. That means living below our means and having great holiday sales. I'm now at the point in my life where I recognize that doing without things and simplifying my life in order to have the things which will make me exponentially happier.. i.e. run my own business, spend more time with my husband, private little house in the country, ability to travel. It's actually sort of exciting and I hope our new lifestyle sticks and we're able to do lots more with our money.

The funny thing is that in many ways we are actually living much better now. We're cooking lots of fresh foods at home, I'm working out more (stress reduction) and we've been working at getting rid of a lot of things we don't need in order to be more ready for when we do move. So our home is less cluttered and nicer to enjoy.

No More Trips to the Post Office (mostly)!!

I am so excited because my shipping scale arrived in the mail yesterday! This was the final step in avoiding trips to the post office on a daily basis. I already ordered and received my free Priority Mail boxes from USPS . Now I can print postage online and schedule pick-ups to come to my house. Yay! I used to enjoy walking to the Post Office as an excuse to get out of the house but as my business is growing I find I really could use the extra 5-6 hours a week. Plus, it's going to be horrible in the winter to try and brave the weather with all of my (hopefully) bazillion holiday orders. 

Taxes and a Wacky Squirrel

 I'm  spending the day working on my Sales and Use taxes(due 4 times a year) and entering information into new  spreadsheets my husband made for me. It's going to be completely boring.

So instead I will regale you with a tale of Cute Animals.  I am frequently jolted from sleep at sunrise by the sound of my two cats hurling themselves at the bedroom window and howling in rage and frustration at a squirrel who comes and sits in the window taunting them. If it weren't 5 a.m., it would be hilarious and adorable to see how the squirrel parades back and forth clicking and chattering at the cats. It still is a little cute... but if you were wondering...attempts at covering the window have been torn down by my cats in their enthusiasm for teaching the squirrel to mind it's manners.