deal or train wreck?

i have a confession to make. i have been sucked into watching “deal or no deal”. this show is like a train wreck. you don’t want to watch, but you can’t help but take a peek. the people on there drive me nuts! come on people. you’re going to risk $275,000 to open another freaking case? your chances are next to nothing of actually winning the million dollars. just take the money and run already!

christmas is on it's way!

christmas is almost here! the custom cards i mentioned in my last post have been completed and are out the door. they loved the concepts i came up with and actually chose the one i liked the best...which is always nice. i completed them over the weekend and dropped them off at their office by noon on monday. it was nice to work with them again. they really seemed to appreciate what i was doing.

speaking of christmas, i'm way more excited than usual. it's going to be the little dude's first real christmas. seeing that he was only 3 weeks old last year, we didn't really do gifts. i'm hoping that he has a ton of fun ripping his presents open....that is, if he actually touches them. at his birthday party he wanted nothing to do with his present and i ended up opening them all for him while he played with a box somewhere. maybe since it will only be the three of us he'll be more into it. there were just so many people here for his birthday that it was really distracting.

i've never really been a procrastinator, actually not at all. however, this year i feel proud of myself that i was even more on top of getting christmas gifts taken care of ahead of time. now, there's not a lot of last minute stress that drives me crazy. last minute stuff is, for me, like fingernails on a chalkboard. it drives me absolutely nuts! now i can just sit back and relax until saturday morning, while my hubby rushes around to get his gifts for me wrapped late friday night! love you honey! :) even though you're a procrastinator!

the notice has left the building

i decided that instead of a big, ugly, glaring sign on my office door i would opt for a written notice to all of my employees about our "new" office hours. (see previous post) so today i sent out a very direct letter to each employee with their order. i ran it past my assistant who thought it was to the point without being too harsh. in her eyes (as well as mine) it's all common sense. if anyone is offended by it....they are the ones the letter was intended for. we'll see if i get any complaints about it.

on another note....it's december 15th and i received two requests for custom holiday cards TODAY!!! hello people!!! first of all, it's not really what i do, but more than that, it's december 15th!!! i'm going to be helping out with one of them. they're a graphic design firm that i did my internship with in college. their plan A fell apart so they're relying on me (plan B) to save them. i'm actually kind of honored that they'd even ask me. i mean, they're all designers themselves. anyway, they're great people and i'd pretty much bend over backwards for them. so i better go limber up! they want them done by tuesday!

i'm the boss....and don't you forget it!

i need to start off by saying i am a horrible blogger lately and i'm very sorry for that.

so i have this employee that drives me totally, completely, utterly insane. i hired her because at the time i was desperate for help. i needed someone....anyone. now i'm paying for it. she just happens to be the mother of one of my other (good) employees. so now i can't exactly get rid of her.

first of all, she's old. not that i have anything against old people, but they're not exactly my target market, nor the people who typically enjoy working on glittery products. i'm not trying to be mean, but i'm not entirely sure that she's all there. she doesn't seem to understand basic concepts sometimes which make one wonder if there's a few brain cells missing somewhere. among many other annoyances revolving around her, my biggest problem is that she doesn't seem to understand the concept of business hours.

i really feel that i am super flexible with my employees and i've worked out solutions to help them all be able to work at their convenience. all of them work from their own homes with supplies that i provide for them. they each come to my office once or twice a week to pick up orders and drop off finished one. because some of them have other jobs, not everyone can make it to my office during typical business hours. i have also devised a solution for this. step 1. they call me and let me know when they'll be coming. step 2. i place a new order for them in a very large rubbermaid container right outside my back door. step 3. they come and take the order from the rubbermaid step 4. they then place the finished order in the same large rubbermaid container step 5. i pick up said order at my convenience. simple right? you would think so.

well little miss after hours calls me last night to tell me she's going to drop off her finished order at 7:30 this morning. great. i put a new order out in the rubbermaid for her and expect that when i go down to my office this morning that there will be a finished order in the rubbermaid waiting for me. well, as i'm getting undressed (sorry) and ready to hop in the shower at 7:30 this morning, the doorbell rings. twice. i know it's her. she's done this before. i'm not sure why she thinks i'm going to drag my ass downstairs to answer the doorbell at 7:30, but i'm not. the whole idea behind the rubbermaid is so that i don't have to deal with you if it's after (or before) regular business hours. i have a baby to take care of and get ready in the morning along with myself. i will not...i repeat...will not be ready to deal with you or anyone else before 8:30a.m.. that's just the rules. i'm the boss, and because of that, i get to make the rules. what i say goes!

oh yeah....and stop calling me at 8:00 at night to tell me you're coming at 7:00 the next morning! i'm trying to spend time with my family. i don't work at 8:00 at night. (at least not for you) now i have to drag myself down to my office to get an order ready for you so it can be outside at 7:00 in the freaking morning.

my office assistant is equally annoyed and told me i should hang an office hours sign on my back door with a little note that says: if you are here and it's not offie hours, don't ring my doorbell or call me from your cell phone to open the door for you. go home!

i think that sounds like a mighty fine idea!

happy, happy birthday baby!

happy 1st birthday to my little dude! you have been the joy of my life over the past year. we waited and waited for you to join our family, and then the first year of your life just flew by. you bring a smile to my face each and every day with all of your cute little antics. mommy loves you very much.