I'm Pulling Out and Focusing On My Business - Reality Has Come Knocking

As of this moment, I have no idea if I will win the write-off, but to be honest, I actually am going to have to pull out of LJ Idol and I'm a bit sad about that. I'm also very happy - I did VERY well this year, coming down to a write-off for Top Five. And I'm falling one position short, to a writer with true talent and great imagination. I feel as if this season of LJ Idol has been a total WIN for me, and I thank each and every one of you for your votes over the past weeks. Every vote made a HUGE difference. 

I have to pull out of LJ Idol. I simply have run out of time 
in which to do the myriad amount of tasks that have to be 
accomplished at this time of the year. And the shop is 
now open seven days a week until Christmas, so I'm working 
on Sundays too. "Spare Time" has evaporated for me. 

But, it's the "Holiday Season" and my "spare time" evaporates at this time of the year. I can't afford to short my livelihood for my hobby, and it's totally a rock/hard place type of choice. I'm working on Sundays now until Christmas, so even my weekend disappears under the constraints of "Holiday" sales and marketing. And, of course the holiday will be followed by our "End of the Year" sale. I can't collapse until January. Too late for Idol, I fear, and no actual time to devote to it. 

I already had a pretty good idea of where I would pull my 
story for Wabisabi (the next prompt). But, right now 
I'm resembling this bowl all too much - too many cracks, 
too many things to do, and barely hanging on. 

I knew what I would write for the next challenge piece, but on the paper where I have the prompt is also notations that I need my address list for my holiday cards and some more holiday hours sheets for our customers. When you're self-employed there really isn't any "off" time. You're always on the clock, and you're always working whether you're actually at the shop, or just at a computer. It's not the first time I've wished I simply worked for someone else. It's a lot easier to let someone else make the decisions - scheduling work days, assigning jobs and tasks, etc. If you get high enough in a large enough company, you can use delegation. You can delegate "your people" to do this or do that. LOL I'm one of three - that's not leaving any room for "your people", that's just A, B or C. 

Long ago we had a dream, DH and I, about 
having a business selling fine art and crafts 
that were Native American made to the larger 
audience. Over time we shifted over to offer 
crafting materials to the Native American 
and general crafting community. We've been 
successful, but it's time to back off and regain 
our lives once again. After this holiday season, 
of course - LOL. 

So, as you enter the rest of your holiday season, think about the small business person and if possible, shoot some business their way. It's hard to swim in an ocean of Amazon and other large retailers. Those of us with small businesses are paddling and kicking as hard and fast as we can, but we're barely holding our heads above the waterline. Please, when possible, shop local and use small businesses when possible. We need the business and appreciate your patronage. So, I'm off to email Gary and pull out of LJ Idol. One less bit of stress in my life, but I'm feeling sad. I don't give up on things, and I'm giving up on this one thing I adore - writing. But it's just this time. Watch out, Idol. I'll be back! Slava Ukraini. 

My Clock is Ticking and LJ Idol is Pressing Onward

First of all and of primary importance, I must send a big "Thank You" out to all of you who voted for my story of Katy's birthday celebration. I garnered votes and lots of positive comments, BUT ... I'm in a write-off with one of the other very talented authors. We tied in vote count, and it was almost a three-way tie, but for a single vote. Yes ... that's how VERY important every vote can be. So, I have a day to cobble together something I'm not ashamed of putting out there, and it's a Monday - a day when I'm working the sales floor almost 100% solo, while DH is in the back room doing the financial books for the week. Will I have an entry worth posting? Maybe. 

But I'm in a quandry (and how often do you really have the need to use such a cool word as quandry?). It's the busiest season of the year for my business, I don't get a Sunday off until after Christmas Day, I'm getting my Wednesdays off because I need one day to cook and do laundry, but Wednesdays are my ONLY days off until Christmas. After Christmas we dive right into our Inventory Reduction Sale to bring us to the end of the year. I really can't breathe until New Year's Day. It's called "Retail Hell" and anyone who either works retail or owns a business that relies on those holiday dollars will totally understand what I'm talking about. 

So in the midst of all of this, is LJ Idol. I love the challenge of LJ Idol. I love the time frames, I love the act of sitting at my keyboard and making something click. I write every day (well ... six days a week) for my daily blog, so the mental gears are greased and moving - albeit slowly. The LJ Idol challenges come out of the blue - always making me think. When I sit at the keyboard to write something for Idol, I truly never know what will come through. Many stories have hit the cyber-garbage pile. Editing can be brutal and the stories left might be so changed as to barely appear as I had planned. I suspect it's like that for many of my fellow competitors. 

But I do write in my daily blog - six days a week, every week of the year. I've been writing this blog since the early 2000's and I have dear cyber friends throughout the world who read it every day and who have told me that those rare times when I don't post (if I haven't warned them in advance that I'd be out of town or unable to get to a computer), they worry. It brightens my heart that I have so many cyber friends out there who care about my personal well being. And this time, my blog will do double-duty. I'm going to put this out there for my LJ Idol write-off entry because I simply don't have the time to compose two original word groupings today. I have to leave for work by 7:15-7:30 am, and since it's a Monday, it's all on me to deal with the customers. No time to sit at the laptop keyboard. So, LJ Idol, this is what you get. Me - straightforward, unadulterated, and unapologetic. Voila and Slava Ukraini. For those who read my blog, I'll be back tomorrow. 

Write Off and Weather and Running Late

Looking at the numbers, I don't think I've survived the write-off. That's a shame - I've really been enjoying writing to a prompt - it's always a fun challenge for me, as a writer, to look at a prompt and come up with an essay, poem, or other written words that will put a little piece of me out there for others to read and comment on. I'll know whether I survived or not fairly soon. I did post my next story for the standard prompt anyway - I may not survive the write-off, but I still love the challenge of writing, and I knew exactly where I wanted to go with the prompt for "haver". 

I doubt I'l survive the write-off, I'm in the bottom 
three right now and don't recall how many of us 
are being sent home on this vote. *sigh* 

I was hoping that Chickie would be back today so that DH could take care of the TV stuff this morning. However, her plane doesn't arrive until late this afternoon, so she won't be back until tomorrow. That means DH can't get the TV stuff done until Thursday. A serious delay. I might take the paperwork over myself on Wednesday and speak with them. It's ridiculous that we can't get things straightened out so that we can watch our hockey. I approved the extra expense more than three weeks ago, and we're still unable to receive the games on our TV. 

We get our hockey through the Bally Sports network. 
Even though we agreed to the extra $ they would add 
to our cable bill, we're still not receiving the enhanced 
channel. Time to go to the Comcast store and find out 
what's what. 

It's the first of October. Last winter, the weather gods decided we deserved a very unexpected break and gave us one of the mildest winters we've ever had in the state. I can guarantee that won't happen two years in a row. I already feel it. All of the animals know - "Winter is Coming" - and I think this year will more than make up for the lack of last year. In some ways that will be good. I won't mind killing some of the bugs and slugs in the garden area. But in other ways ... well, shoveling my driveway at 4:00 am so that I can get to the swimming pool for our 5:00 am opening is NOT one of my favorite tasks, and I suspect I'll be doing a lot of that. It's impossible to get the snow blower out of the garage without backing DH's truck out, and I'm not about to even try. 

 We haven't had quite this much snow in the Cities since 
I've lived here, but it's possible. Usually drifts like this 
are more for outside the Cities area. Still, we can easily get 
my height or more during an average winter. 

And DH will be stuck having to clear the roof again this year. It was a wonderful break, and a very appreciated break - having our unexpectedly warm winter last year. This year it will be hand warmers, wrapped scarves, and snow boots for months on end. *sigh* It's the drawback for living in the Frozen Northlands, but that's OK. It's a fabulous state and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I can handle the snow. I know how to deal with it. I think I'd rather avoid the hurricanes of the Southeast US. 

Take your pick - everywhere you choose to live, you're 
going to be affected by some weather aspect. Even in the 
Southwest, they get extreme heat. Up here, we get the 
snow and the thunderstorms with occasional tornadoes. 
I can handle that. 

I've bot to wrap this up. It's time to leave for the pool. I hope you have a glorious Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow for the first "Day Off" of the month (and I really NEED it - my cupboards are BARE). Have a wonderful Tuesday. Slava Ukraini.