This time of year, I always find myself with more time than usual and it is way too easy to let it slip through my fingers. Although I have a lot more time, it isn’t really mine. I am hanging with Mother Fran in Florida and providing 24 hour care along with my sister. Mom isn’t hard to care for, however, we don’t leave her alone anymore. This means one of us sticks close by all day and all night. I am enjoying my time, but trying to decide if I should schedule activities for myself or simply go with the flow.
Depending on the situation, I embrace both approaches.
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 hoping that freezing cold mornings, afternoon snow squalls and shockingly cold nights are over. I am hoping but not certain… This is March in Upstate, NY afterall. I put two out of three snow shovels back in the garage this week. Dang it – I hope I didn’t jinx things with that rookie move! We all know that March is fickle and there are no guarantees!
I have been silent here on My Little Blue Kayak for several weeks. Nothing is wrong, nothing is new. I have been in a good head space and enjoying my time in sunny Florida with Mother Fran and my sister (#7). My days consist of walking in the sunshine, playing cards, watching the birds, sitting outdoors and hanging with Mom. I don’t miss the cold of Upstate, NY and I certainly don’t miss shoveling snow or layering up to walk out the front door. With that said, my time in Florida is winding down and I am getting excited to hug my honey and spend time together.
Do you operate in fear mode most of the time? Do you tend to get comfortable in your little blue kayak and worry that if you make a change, any change that you will rock the boat and get tossed into the angry ocean like a rag doll?
Being comfortable in your kayak is fine if all you want is comfort. I think as a species we are way more complicated than that. I believe we grow more when we embracing change AND choosing joy. Change is messy, it is hardt it and it gets us out of the comfort zone and off of the couch. That is how we grow, how we improve and how we become better human beings.
The sky is blue, the clouds are airy and the sun is shining. That makes for a pretty good day here in Upstate, New York. As I write this, The temperture is 19 degrees and going down to three degrees overnight. The windchill? Well that is whole different ball game. I am getting tired of bundling up in winter clothing just to take the dog out for a quickie. Damn – I wasn’t going to complain. Let me try again…
The sky is blue, the clouds are airy and the sun is shinging. Life is good here in Upstate, New York.
You know when you are driving to a familiar destination and you are simply on auto pilot? You arrive and turn off the engine only to have that nagging sensation that you have no clue how you got there. When driving, this can be a really bad thing! When developing positive habits, this is like the sweet spot.
For the last several years, I have worked per diem as an Occupational Therapist in a nursing home and doing yard work jobs on the side. These two income streams were sufficient to pay my bills and live my life on my terms. I love being outdoors and getting plenty of exercise without actually feeling like I have exercised. As I have mentioned before, with the onset of Covid, I made a decision to stop working in the nursing home as the risk of exposure is high. I knew I needed and wanted to spend lots of time with Mother Fran.
Usually I choose health through my diet and good food choices. But we can’t focus solely on one piece of the health puzzle while ignoring the rest. I do so much outdoor work in spring, summer and fall, I don’t worry much about getting exercise or making sure I move a lot. But this time of year I can turn into a serious couch potato if I am not careful. I am going to share with you what I have been doing to make sure I address this peice of my health puzzle but you have to promise not to laugh.
Please this is serious and I need your attention and your pinky swear to secrecy. Promise?
Until March 2020, I worked as an occupational therapist at a small local nursing home. I opted to not work when the pandemic hit to ensure my safety and the safety of Mother Fran. This nursing home is now inundated with COVID-19. Both residents and staff are infected and it continues to spread. Three Four residents have died and I can only imagine the difficulty ensuring adequate staffing for those that are sick and those that are not sick. This virus has invaded my personal bubble, it is hitting closer and closer to home… hence todays rant. My thoughts are with my friends at the nursing home who are sick and those that are trying desperately to keep themselves and our residents safe.
This Covid outbreak is responsible for todays rant. Sorry in advance.
