What a nice quiet day we've had so far....no service calls at all (yet!!). As a matter of fact, the only times the phone has rung today has been family calling with holiday wishes (and, in some kids cases, to tell us all they got from Santa).
We spent a whole long day shopping for office furniture a couple of weekends ago (blasted Christmas shoppers!!)......and came home empty handed...sheesh! The only place we found with close to what we wanted was at Staples...as I thought, we'd have had to get the hutch and block a window, but it was the only set that had all the components we needed otherwise. However, they couldn't get all the pieces. Not only that, but they couldn't promise that they'd ever come back in stock. I tried to order the same thing off their website...with the same result...some out of stock items, with no promise of it ever being back in stock. Hee hee....and, persistent salesman seemed very surprised to hear that I wouldn't consider ordering just half of what we needed with no promise of being able to get the rest.....sheesh!
So.......today we decided we'd go with the more expensive stuff we'd found online (that, except for color, I'd liked better anyway).......and our bank refused to process our debit card for the website. Ok....3 other websites had the same furniture for the same price, so try those......NO??? Refused at all 4???? What the heck?? There's plenty of money in the account, but, naturally, being Christmas day, I can't just call the bank .....so in a little while, I'm going to try to do it with our credit card instead. If that doesn't work, we've got to wait and see what's up with the debit card at the bank. In case anyone's interested, we chose from the Kathy Ireland Tribeca Loft collection...in cherry finish.
Things have finally settled down somewhat with work. We got nearly all our postponed work done...just one cleaning didn't get rescheduled, and she doesn't mind waiting until spring, if necessary, since the system is less than 2 years old anyway. We scheduled just one 1 hour job for yesterday...and the guy called and canceled (his wife didn't want to spend the money the day before Christmas), so we thought it would be a jobless day. NOT. The phone rang before 8 am...by noon, he'd done 4 service calls. Fortunately, it quieted down for the rest of the day.
I got a very big surprise for Christmas. As stated before, we don't normally exchange gifts....so, DH's stocking ended up with a tube of Blistex (the squeeze kind that we both use but is hard for us to find locally). I'd given him a few ideas, but he didn't like most of them, so.....he bought me a set of wind chimes........a BIG set! Now, I only like the big, deep toned chimes and have 4 sets that I have hanging outside about 9 months of the year (our winter weather prevents me from leaving them out year round). This set is a bit bigger than the largest of my other 4.......woo hoo! Stocking stuffer???? Well, he said he couldn't find what he really wanted to put in my stocking, so got the chimes instead. Silly man.......wouldn't trade him for anything, of course. (even when I'm p.o.'d at him!!)
I've actually done some crocheting the last few days.....need a cover for a little sausage pillow I use in bed. I've got the same pillow on the sofa, with a crocheted cover...it clashes with both the sofa and the afghan, so I'm going to put that one in the bed and am making a cover for the other one, in sc with one of the yarn colors in the afghan on the sofa.
Done Ramblin.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Once a month?
I guess if I manage to hit here once a month, I can't complain.
The week of Thanksgiving was busy - our friend and his son did come up Saturday, Nov. 17......they wished to stay the whole week, which was fine by us! So....we had 4 for Thanksgiving dinner! It was nice...usually it's just me and Ed, so we don't actually cook "the works". They went home Sat., Nov 24. We had planned to go to VT to see Ed's dad that following weekend, but, sadly, he took a downhill turn and passed away Sunday, Nov. 25. We spent the rest of that day postponing work, arranging for coverage for service calls and packing and left for VT Monday morning. The funeral was Thursday, so we were gone the whole week, coming back home on Saturday, Dec. 1. Between the grieving process and getting all the postponed work caught up with, we've had a very busy couple of weeks since.
When we started the business, we turned our small den/office into a business office. We thought we could get by for a year or so just by adding a 4 foot table to our existing office furniture (a student desk, a computer workstation, a printer stand and a 2 drawer lateral file). Well, we were wrong........because of the set up, we're tripping over each other when we're both trying to work in there at the same time . I decided that, when I couldn't fit another file into the file cabinet, we officially outgrew that set up!! We've decided that we need to go shopping and get "real" office furniture...the room is very small, but with the right set-up, it can work. The only worry I have is that we may end up having to use a hutch type desk set up, which would mean blocking one of the windows....I really hate the thoughts of that, so will probably spend much more time shopping for "the right thing" than hubby would like!!
I've finished all the Christmas shopping for our DD, SIL and DGD...and everything has been shipped. Ed and I don't exchange gifts...we just buy each other a little stocking stuffer...and I do mean little - our stockings are 6 or 7 inch felt ones! We have an elderly couple that are very good friends that we will buy something for.....I've already picked out hers, and I'm leaving his gift up to Ed to choose.
I've not picked up a crochet hook in 3 weeks.....started a sweater for a friend's little guy, but haven't had the ambition to work on it lately. Where is my muse?????
Done ramblin.
The week of Thanksgiving was busy - our friend and his son did come up Saturday, Nov. 17......they wished to stay the whole week, which was fine by us! So....we had 4 for Thanksgiving dinner! It was nice...usually it's just me and Ed, so we don't actually cook "the works". They went home Sat., Nov 24. We had planned to go to VT to see Ed's dad that following weekend, but, sadly, he took a downhill turn and passed away Sunday, Nov. 25. We spent the rest of that day postponing work, arranging for coverage for service calls and packing and left for VT Monday morning. The funeral was Thursday, so we were gone the whole week, coming back home on Saturday, Dec. 1. Between the grieving process and getting all the postponed work caught up with, we've had a very busy couple of weeks since.
When we started the business, we turned our small den/office into a business office. We thought we could get by for a year or so just by adding a 4 foot table to our existing office furniture (a student desk, a computer workstation, a printer stand and a 2 drawer lateral file). Well, we were wrong........because of the set up, we're tripping over each other when we're both trying to work in there at the same time . I decided that, when I couldn't fit another file into the file cabinet, we officially outgrew that set up!! We've decided that we need to go shopping and get "real" office furniture...the room is very small, but with the right set-up, it can work. The only worry I have is that we may end up having to use a hutch type desk set up, which would mean blocking one of the windows....I really hate the thoughts of that, so will probably spend much more time shopping for "the right thing" than hubby would like!!
I've finished all the Christmas shopping for our DD, SIL and DGD...and everything has been shipped. Ed and I don't exchange gifts...we just buy each other a little stocking stuffer...and I do mean little - our stockings are 6 or 7 inch felt ones! We have an elderly couple that are very good friends that we will buy something for.....I've already picked out hers, and I'm leaving his gift up to Ed to choose.
I've not picked up a crochet hook in 3 weeks.....started a sweater for a friend's little guy, but haven't had the ambition to work on it lately. Where is my muse?????
Done ramblin.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Over four months of silence???
I would love to be able to catch up with myself......but I'm not gonna hold my breath! Here it is nearly Thanksgiving and this is the first time I've posted to my blog since late June......doesn't say much for my communication skills, does it??
Let me do a quick catch up: Ed and his sibs gave his dad a surprise 75th birthday party the weekend of July 13....a huge success, as Dad was very surprised and there were TONS of people there (in the pavilion at the park in his hometown). Unfortunately, he's not doing well now.....his cancer is not responding to treatment and his health has deteriorated dramatically. I won't get into it here on this blog, but Ed's having a really hard time with it, as we're so far away and cannot be there to help.
About a week after that party, we went to a niece's wedding reception. A few days after that event, we had a memorial to attend for one of my cousins who passed away earlier this year.
Now for the big news.....on August 3, Ed went to work and as he and one of his two co-workers were getting things together for their day's work, the boss came out and said "Well, boys....empty your vans. You're all done today - I've sold the burner business."
Well. Thanks for the notice! To be honest, he HAD asked Ed to buy him out last spring, but the 'conditions' he attached to the sale were unacceptable, so Ed refused. So, a month after that bombshell, after checking out the only two employers that were hiring in his field in this area (and discovering they'd not pay the going rate for his licenses, experience, etc)....and after having nearly everyone we saw tell him he could do fine on his own......he decided to become self-employed. That was September 3rd.....what a whirlwind of activity followed that decision!!! Since he wanted to get started right away, within a week we had...(deep breath)....found and purchased a used work van, got it insured and registered, got general liability insurance for Ed, contacted the state for proper licensing procedures, set up business accounts with the bank, arranged for credit with a couple of his main wholesale materials/parts suppliers, got the van stocked, set up an office, made up business cards and put fliers up on area bulletin boards......(deep breath).......PHEW!
We set the official date at September 9....and on September 6 got a call from someone who desperately needed a new oil tank set up before the weekend....so we did our first job on Friday September 7!! (yes, "we" and "our"....when necessary, I'm a decent "gofer", and he needed one on this job). Since that day, it has not slowed down.....he has had work scheduled for nearly every day, and people are being really great so far. I handle nearly all the bookkeeping, scheduling the work and manning the phones, as well as doing my usual housekeeping (not that I do any more of that than I have to!). I'm totally exhausted all the time, but at least the bills are paid! At this moment, we have work booked right through the first week of December. As long as we get enough now to carry us through the slow time in this profession (late spring, early summer), we'll be fine!
On the crochet front, I've not done much....a couple of dishcloths is about all......I sit to crochet and end up nodding off to sleep, no matter what the time of day.
Oh, and.....we had another wedding to attend in mid August.....and after that, another trip to VT to see Ed's dad. It was quiet for a couple of weeks, then Ed's nephew from VT (and a friend of his) came to spend the weekend...the same weekend we were dogsitting for one of my nieces. The dog stayed longer...hee hee! We went back to VT for the weekend in mid-September.
This weekend we have company coming again for a few days....an old school buddy of Ed's (and his son) are coming up to do some hunting.
Let me see.....what else.....oh...my thyroid has gone out of whack again.....ugh. Long ago (probably 25 years ago), I was on medication for several years for Grave's Disease (overactive) and then went into remission about 15 years ago. Now it's gone the other way and my thyroid is underactive, so my Dr. started me on Synthroid last month.....it never rains but it pours???
I think that finally catches me up. Maybe I'll manage to keep current now......?
Let me do a quick catch up: Ed and his sibs gave his dad a surprise 75th birthday party the weekend of July 13....a huge success, as Dad was very surprised and there were TONS of people there (in the pavilion at the park in his hometown). Unfortunately, he's not doing well now.....his cancer is not responding to treatment and his health has deteriorated dramatically. I won't get into it here on this blog, but Ed's having a really hard time with it, as we're so far away and cannot be there to help.
About a week after that party, we went to a niece's wedding reception. A few days after that event, we had a memorial to attend for one of my cousins who passed away earlier this year.
Now for the big news.....on August 3, Ed went to work and as he and one of his two co-workers were getting things together for their day's work, the boss came out and said "Well, boys....empty your vans. You're all done today - I've sold the burner business."
Well. Thanks for the notice! To be honest, he HAD asked Ed to buy him out last spring, but the 'conditions' he attached to the sale were unacceptable, so Ed refused. So, a month after that bombshell, after checking out the only two employers that were hiring in his field in this area (and discovering they'd not pay the going rate for his licenses, experience, etc)....and after having nearly everyone we saw tell him he could do fine on his own......he decided to become self-employed. That was September 3rd.....what a whirlwind of activity followed that decision!!! Since he wanted to get started right away, within a week we had...(deep breath)....found and purchased a used work van, got it insured and registered, got general liability insurance for Ed, contacted the state for proper licensing procedures, set up business accounts with the bank, arranged for credit with a couple of his main wholesale materials/parts suppliers, got the van stocked, set up an office, made up business cards and put fliers up on area bulletin boards......(deep breath).......PHEW!
We set the official date at September 9....and on September 6 got a call from someone who desperately needed a new oil tank set up before the weekend....so we did our first job on Friday September 7!! (yes, "we" and "our"....when necessary, I'm a decent "gofer", and he needed one on this job). Since that day, it has not slowed down.....he has had work scheduled for nearly every day, and people are being really great so far. I handle nearly all the bookkeeping, scheduling the work and manning the phones, as well as doing my usual housekeeping (not that I do any more of that than I have to!). I'm totally exhausted all the time, but at least the bills are paid! At this moment, we have work booked right through the first week of December. As long as we get enough now to carry us through the slow time in this profession (late spring, early summer), we'll be fine!
On the crochet front, I've not done much....a couple of dishcloths is about all......I sit to crochet and end up nodding off to sleep, no matter what the time of day.
Oh, and.....we had another wedding to attend in mid August.....and after that, another trip to VT to see Ed's dad. It was quiet for a couple of weeks, then Ed's nephew from VT (and a friend of his) came to spend the weekend...the same weekend we were dogsitting for one of my nieces. The dog stayed longer...hee hee! We went back to VT for the weekend in mid-September.
This weekend we have company coming again for a few days....an old school buddy of Ed's (and his son) are coming up to do some hunting.
Let me see.....what else.....oh...my thyroid has gone out of whack again.....ugh. Long ago (probably 25 years ago), I was on medication for several years for Grave's Disease (overactive) and then went into remission about 15 years ago. Now it's gone the other way and my thyroid is underactive, so my Dr. started me on Synthroid last month.....it never rains but it pours???
I think that finally catches me up. Maybe I'll manage to keep current now......?
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