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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Responsibility

All my life I've been the responsible one.  I always did my homework, woke myself up (on time), made breakfast, scheduled appointments, did the things that needed to be done.  Sure, I wasn't always perfect, but I did always take everything seriously.  I followed instructions and treated people with respect.

That's who I am.  But can I be honest?  Sometimes I hate it!  Sometimes, I really just want to hand over the reigns and let someone else do all the work.  This becomes even more obvious when running a business.

Before I go on a small rant, I have to state that I love what I do.  I love owning a business and I love the line of work I'm in.  There's no doubt about that.  But, so many people seem to think being a business owner means I can vacation whenever I want and I live a carefree lifestyle.  That's most definitely not true.

Being a business owner means you're always thinking about work.  You don't really get a day off, because even if you're not physically at work you're calling work or work is calling you.  You're expected to know everything and fix everything.  There is at least one person who is always mad at or upset with you, no matter how nice or accommodating you are.  If you have employees you are constantly learning 1 thing: There is FAR too much stupidity in the world. 

Have you seen the commercial for the world's toughest job?  Here, take a moment to take a look.

http://youtu.be/HB3xM93rXbY

OK, so we all know this ad is about mothers now.  However, when I first saw the ad all I could think of was, "This must be about small business owners."

So, apparently, owning a small business is like being a mom.  And now I'm about to be a mom.  Crap!

I guess what I'm saying is that I'd love to have a chance to have zero responsibilities.  I'd love to be able to not worry about my bank account or what's happening here and just jet off somewhere fun.  I'd love to be carefree and without a concern.  Maybe this will happen some day, but it hasn't happened yet, and I'm exhausted.

Like I said earlier, I really do love what I do.  I love having final say over things.  I love seeing this small business grow into something wonderful.  It's quite fulfilling to witness all my dreams come true.  I've definitely learned that I have some wonderful friends and family out there: people who are willing to put their lives on hold and come out to help me when I'm desperate.  That's fantastic.  So, I don't want anyone to read this and think I'm miserable.  I'm just trying to put the reality of it out there.

Being responsible is hard work.  It's exhausting work.  It's often unfair work.  It pays off in the end (usually), but whatever reward is received is definitely hard-earned.  So, the next time you see me, if I look tired or rundown, or if I seem a bit cranky, take it easy on me.  It just means I'm working extra hard at making my dreams come true.


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Big Tid Bits

How has it been so long since I last posted?!  I feel like there are so many things to talk about, but I don't want this to be too long of a post, so I'll try to summarize each thing.

First, let me shout out how proud I am of Hans.  Hans has spent the past few weeks training for his very first 10k, and on March 29th he finally ran an official race.  He was fantastic.  I was having a REALLY bad running day and struggled to keep up, but Hans ran the whole way.  He finished in about 72:00:00, so not bad for his first go round. 

I have to say, it's been interesting watching him run and get into different aspects.  It was fun to see how his gait changed when he got new shoes, and how he went from "I don't want to wake up" to "Let's go for a run!"  Of course, sometimes it's "I don't want to get up, but I should go for a run."  It's also interesting to see where his preferences differ from mine.  For instance, I love road running.  I don't have to think much (especially if traffic is light), and I can really get in a groove.  This bores Hans, though.  He seems to prefer trail running where each foot fall is different and new.  This really could be good for both of us in the long run.

Second, I have to say how loved I feel.  This past Sunday was my baby shower.  It was larger than  your standard shower, and I felt so loved by all my family and friends.  Really, I could not have been happier.  I'm so happy to know that daughter will have so much support from so many people who love her already.

Now that's done, Hans and I feel really comfortable buying things for the nursery.  We'd been waiting to see what would be gifted, and we lucked out on a lot of the things we got.  Now it's time to go shopping (which is both thrilling and terrifying from a financial standpoint).

Also, as for news on the baby front, I had my glucose test a few weeks ago.  I was really nervous about how it would be and how things would turn out.  Well, there's lots of good news on this point as well.  First, the test wasn't bad at all.  I expected icky syrup and a spinning head and sick to my stomach.  What I got was essentially some flat orange soda and craving for sweet snacks that lasted longer than I would have liked.  Second, I do not even come close to having gestational diabetes.  So, YAY!

There's also huge news on the kennel front.  For the past two years, we've been trying to raise the funding to redo the kennel yards.  Well, the great news is that we finally can!  Tomorrow starts a week-long project where we're installing artificial turf.  This is so huge!!  I actually think Cody and Lollie are excited about it too. 

Both the dogs have been wonderful.  They've been perfect snugglers as I've been getting more and more tired.  Both of them seem particularly interested in my belly which is sweet.  Actually, I do have an amusing story from this weekend.  Usually, both dogs and both cats tend to stay near me when I'm home.  They're generally in the same room, but not necessarily right on top of me.  This weekend, though, Hans' mom, sister, and grandmother came to visit which meant space was a little more limited.  I don't think I realized until this weekend just how much the animals hang out around me.  At one point, Hans and his family were all sitting on the couch and I was in a chair across the room with my feet on an ottoman.  Both cats were at my feet, Lollie was in my lap, and Cody was seated right next to my chair.  They could have been snuggled up next to anyway, but all four of them wanted to be around me.  It definitely gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling.

Well, that's all in big news for now.  I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow, and hopefully I'll remember to update the blog more often than once every three weeks!  Take care!