I’m All Business…

I know, I know, I haven’t published a post in a really long time. People have reached out to me to make sure I am okay and sent messages asking about My Little Blue Kayak. I have been pretty busy and simply haven’t felt like writing. I had plenty of time at the lake this summer and plenty of time in my kayak. Mostly, I have been busy doing yard work.

In January of this year, I officially started my business, but didn’t really get into the swing of things until the middle of March. I have been really busy and so far I am loving it. Unofficially, I have been doing yard work on the side for a few years so it was easy to launch Nor’s Chores and declare myself open for business. In addition to doing yard work, I have done some elder care, cleaning and organizing. The acual work is fine and I like how I spend my days. The bookwork on the other hand is a different story.

I have found the learning curve on everything to be challenging. Nothing has been impossible but everthing seems foreign to me and I am constantly having to go through the awkward learning stage. I am using a free accounting program to keep track of my income and expenses. It is called “Wave” and it is fairly straight forward but I am not a numbers person. I gloss over whenever I even look at a chart or graph. In the past, I never really had to worry about keeping my accounts up to date. I would simply get paid, deposit it into my personal account and spend it on my needs.

Just looking at this give me a headache!

Now I keep create a monthly invoice for each customer, collect sales tax, deposit the payment into my business account, and log it in the accounting program. At the end of the month, I reconcile my account with some help from my sister (#7) , and transfer money to my personal account. Quarterly I file sales tax and self employment taxes. None of this is terribly hard, but I am still learning so everything seems like a struggle and takes longer than it should. Thanks to my sister, I haven’t thrown in the towel and I am slowly getting the hang of everything.

I write a lot about getting outside of one’s comfort zone and I have definetly takent my own advice! Owning my own business is freeing. I create my schedule, I can be as busy or slow as I want to be. I say “Yes” or “No” to new business and I handle all customer issues, service issues, equipment issues etc. I love the flexibility this venture has given me and the skills I am gaining will prove priceless in the future.

For the last eight months, I have been all business, but now I am ready for some fun. My honey and I head to Philly tomorrow and then I pack up to go to Florida to see Mother Fran for an extended stay. So, I aplogize for not writing and hope to get back on track now that things have slowed down for the winter months.

I am all business in my kayak!

Image by AlexMile from Pixabay

Lake Girl

Are You Ready to Fail?

Learning something new is hard. You have to get through the awkward stage of being a beginner, of not knowing what you are doing, of failing regularly. You have to get comfortable making mistakes, of asking questions, of doing things over. I realized something about myself recently, I find it difficult to learn new things. Not because I don’t have the smarts to learn them but because I don’t want to put myself in that awkward, beginner stage. To put it in a nutshell – I don’t want to fail.

She isn’t afraid to fail! Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
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The Ripples of Change

In the summer, it is easy to spend my time in a manner that is meaningful to me. I go to the lake and hang out with my sister (#7), I play Canasta with Mother Fran, I kayak, swim and relax in the sun. I spend time with Child #1, Number 9 and friends. I work a couple of shifts at the Nursing Home and do plenty of yard work.

This time of year is a time of transition for me. My yard work slows down and I have a lot more free time than usual. Medicare enacted new changes to the reimbursement of Nursing Homes and they took effect in October. It is like they threw a rock in the middle of the lake and the shock wave hit once but the ripples keep coming.

I didn’t plan for this Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay
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Caught in the Act

Spring has sprung here in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. People are slowly shedding their winter coats, hats, boots and gloves for t-shirts, flip flops and hoodies! In my world this means yard work and lake time! I am sitting right now, happily typing away at the cottage. Never mind that I am wearing heavy sweats, a fleece shirt, and wool socks. I am also wrapped up tight in a heated blanket. But trust me, spring is here!

This is my second overnight this month at the lake and I am looking forward to Cottage Clean Up Weekend with Child #3 and her honey in another couple of weeks. Being at the lake puts me squarely in my happy place. I caught myself speaking out loud this afternoon the word “blessed”. That is all, just “blessed”. At the time, I was standing in the kitchen, looking out the window at the lake and the hillside. After dinner, I took a quick 15 minute kayak ride and caught myself whispering “grateful”.

It makes me go AHHH! Image by Maciej Ostasz from Pixabay

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Persistently Yours!

My job as an Occupational Therapist at a Nursing Home has taught me to be persistent. If I am scheduled for 75 minutes with a patient, my boss doesn’t want to hear that I only got 60 minutes. Sometimes, I want to listen to my heart when someone starts complaining that they didn’t sleep or are in pain or that they have company. Quite often though, I have to listen to my head.

Getting out of bed may sound like the worst possible torture to someone who doesn’t feel well, but in reality, it is often exactly what they need. So, I often need to go back to see the same person 3x during the day in order to get my 75 minutes. I have to bother them despite the fact that they have tried to refuse me, I have to ask them again to get out of bed, to sit on the edge of the bed or to lift some light weights while in bed. Some days, I walk in someone’s room and before I even introduce myself they groan or roll their eyes. They know I am a therapist before I say a word and they know I am going to be pushy.

My patients give me looks like this!

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Flip The Switch

In the past, I tended to get in a groove and just flowed from one activity to the next. I would go to work and stress out about it. I would grab a beer with friends and complain about it. But I wouldn’t spend much time thinking about what I wanted or how I could make life better. There is something to be said for being in the groove but it can lead to complacency.

Even now, I get comfortable working a few shifts, doing my yard work on the side, cooking awesome meals for my honey, helping Child #1 and her honey with some small projects and writing my blog posts. I like my life and tend to get comfortable sitting on my couch. But as we know, life doesn’t get better while simply sitting on the couch.

To keep from getting too comfy on the couch, I have been spending some time thinking lately. Can you smell the smoke? See the flames? Hear the crackling?

For me, thinking is a powerful but underutilized tool!

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Tired of Stinking Thinking?

The leaves are changing colors. The seasons are changing.
Are you changing?
Am I?
I sure hope so.

Change is necessary for growth but some people resist it like it is the plague. Franklin Roosevelt once said “there are many ways of going forward but only one way of standing still”.  I memorized that quote many years ago and it still pops in my head when it dawns on me that I am resisting some change in my life. It is all too easy to simply resort to the same comforting responses when a new challenge presents itself. Some of us really enjoy life on our comfy couches!

The leaves are changing

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“I Could Never Do That”

How  many times have I said these 5 little words; “I could never do that?” I have said those 5 little words more times than I care to remember. How about you? All to often, it is easier to put up fences than to risk embarrassment, easier to not even try than to risk failure.

I am good at putting up fences…

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A Scary Place!

I have spent some time and energy over the last few days aimlessly tidying up. Looking through my belongings and boxing up things to donate. Scouring through my closet and drawers to see what is taking up space without ever being used. I have a bag of clothes, a pile of books and a box of stuff ready to get rid of on my back porch. I have vacuumed and swept and dusted various surfaces in my house and car.

Another box of stuff to donate

While cleaning out stuff today, I came upon my notes from reading The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra. Here are two quotes that I wrote down.

“Every single problem that you have in your life is the seed of an opportunity for some greater benefit.

When your preparedness meets opportunity, the solution will spontaneously appear.”

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No Jumping Required

When stuck in a rut, we go through the motions of living but we don’t feel engaged or truly alive. We get up, go to work, and take care of the things that need taking care of but we are drained and exhausted all of the time. Life feels monotonous and each day feels pretty much like another. Does this sound familiar?

Do you remember the feeling when you step outside of your comfort zone? The little bit of anxiety that feels like full-blown fear? Your palms get a little sweaty, your heart beats a little fast and your mind is either completed cluttered or eerily vacant. Often times we get cold feet at this point and run back to the security of the rut. But other times, we push through this feeling, and our mind becomes engaged, our body feels lighter and we begin to feel very much alive. Don’t run back to the rut – It is time to kick fear out of the way!

Sometimes things seem scarier than they really are!

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