I bought a tiny little Sony radio with weather band at work this morning. I had grown tired of music on my iPod as I gathered my carts – much preferring AM talk radio. I also bought some batteries, put them in my new little radio and was overjoyed this morning when I found I could pick up KMOX out of St. Louis before dawn. They replay last night’s Coast to Coast AM again at 5am and was also overjoyed to find Art Bell hosting the show overnight. This made gathering the buggies much more pleasant this morning – the hours before dawn just flying by as I listened to my favorite radio show intently.
I got an extremely good night’s sleep last night – the Ambien so helping to regulate my sleeping habits. I am finding myself sleeping for eight or more hours before work and not needing my usual nap after I get off. I do have to go to bed so early, though, finding myself asleep often at 7:00 or 7:30pm. The anxiety I experienced so profusely yesterday had also melted away overnight as well. Yesterday was a hard day and it was so very tempting to over imbibe in my Klonopin. I am so afraid I will grow addicted to those pills and try to only take them in extreme emergencies as in one of my severe attacks. Yesterday wasn’t that severe as I didn’t have that confused feeling I often get when the anxiety goes too overboard.
Say No to Featherbeds…
Stacey and I had a small argument last night as she was leaving to go home after gathering Sadie.
“Why don’t we ever stay at my house?” she asked jealously.
“Your bed is too soft. I can’t sleep on it,” I replied.
I often feel like I am falling into a black hole when I lie on her bed – my bed at home being very firm with an orthopedic mattress Charlie bought me years ago.
“I am going after work to buy a new bed to be delivered,” Stacey told me with a harumpfff. “I want you to be able to stay with me sometimes!”
I didn’t further the argument that I probably couldn’t sleep without Maggie or Caramel and it would be entirely too complicated to get them both in the car to drive over. I left Stacey up to her machinations for the time being and will just play nice and hopefully things will settle down again.
Lots to Do Today…
I have a lot of plans for the afternoon today. I hope to start painting my trim. I plan on doing one room per week until I am finished. The hardest part is going to be painting all my windows around the panes. It will be a careful and tedious job. I also plan to do a lot of cooking as well. I have so much food that needs to be cooked from my and mom’s visit to the grocery store last Monday. We spent over a hundred dollars on all the ingredients for mom’s favorite recipes and I plan on cooking them all and then freezing them for next week or for when I need an easy meal for Stacey and I.
Building My Business…
I ordered more business cards earlier in the week. They arrived yesterday. I stopped by my father’s pharmacy after work with a plan in mind and a box of cards.
“Sandra?” I asked. Sandra has worked for my father for twenty years and we have developed a rapport over all this time. “Will you put one of my business cards in every bag of prescriptions as a customer picks them up?”
“Sure!” Sandra said with a warm smile. “I would be glad to do that.”
“You’re going to get overwhelmed!” dad exclaimed from behind the counter as he listened in intently as he was filling some prescriptions.
I just smiled and then did some shopping. I got some paper towels and lots of snack foods for work to munch on. I also got three 20oz diet Cokes as a treat going against my usual caffeine free mantra these days. I needed a pick-me-up after work.
I haven’t received any more calls for my business lately and this has worried me. I am hoping by getting those business cards out in the world that things will start to pick up again. I do have three lawns to mow tomorrow on my day off and then I will be caught up until next Sunday when a new round of mowing my regular customer’s lawns starts.
Dad, the ever astute business man and busybody, walked out with me to my car as I was leaving.
“You’re going to need to get a business license,” he told me. “And what are you going to do about taxes?”
“I am keeping a spreadsheet of all my income and expenses,” I told him. “I will get a business license when I am mowing many lawns every week.”
“Do you think you can do all this and work too?” he asked worriedly.
“It can’t hurt to try,” I told him smiling.
Dad was still frowning when I got in my car, drove off and headed home. It certainly can’t hurt to try I thought on the way home. I thought of the tale dad would always tell us as children when he first started his business.
“I took out a big loan to buy the pharmacy,” dad would tell us. “The first two weeks after I opened the store, I didn’t have hardly any customers. I thought I was going to go under. I spent many sleepless nights those two weeks worried.”
If he can do it, then so can I! It is just going to take some moxie and hard work – all things I have in abundance these days off all those medications.
11 comments:
Glad to hear that the sleep problem is under control - along with the anxiety... Isn't it amazing what some real rest will do for ya!
Also find it refreshing that when dad asks you questions, you have an intelligent reply that he can't argue with!
You go, Jonathon - you're way ahead of most of us, aren't ya!!
Love ya,
Grannie
Good for you with the business. Hope your day goes well.
Hi Andrew!
I think we know now that that was a pseudonym but i love the name Andrew so i'll probably still use it off and on. Hope that is OK. :)
I have a comment about Stacey's desire for you to spend nights at her house.
I think if you just leave her to buy a new mattress without telling her of your other concerns for spending nights (the dogs), then when she does have the new mattress and expects you to sleep over she may be even more miffed that you let her go ahead and spend the money without letting her in on your concerns.
You should talk to her about it, how you don't want to leave the dogs overnight and how difficult it will be to get them over to Stacey's house. You can enlist her in your concerns and let her help you brainstorm on solutions or compromises. You can make it a joint project, a situation that both of you are handling together and a possibility for relationship-building.
Besides, i don't think she will give up on her desire to have you spend nights at her house so you're going to have to talk about it sooner or later so it seems best to turn it into something you both can work on, rather than her feeling frustrated and you feeling put-upon.
That's just my 2 cents, which is probably about what it's worth on today's market. ;-)
Take care,
Sara
Once you get your sleep schedule established, you may not need the Ambien anymore. I wake up around 4 and try to stay in bed until 5 or 5:30. Like you though, I am falling asleep by 8:30 or 9. You are lucky in that you actually get to go to work shortly after you wake up. I have to wait 3 hours which I hate and then the day until 5pm is soooooo long.
Your yard business will slow down in the winter months so you should be able to keep up and get a little bit of a break then. You will need the hours at Walmart to make up for it and can save some of the money you earn to have during those months. I kind of worry about you giving up your disability, but you seem to be able to keep up so far and work through the few issues you have had. Who knows, maybe you will be able to move up to the electronics department or even another job that you will enjoy more. Your future seems unlimited now. I think you are a lucky guy.
I hope the business turns into something steady and pleasant! (I hope to do something in the way of a concierge thing when I retire.)
I imagine the early hour and being outdoors you would be able to get good reception on your radio and stations you would normally not even get during the day or evening..I think in the spring you would pick up more mowing customers..right now not as much mowing needed...everythings drying up..
Since no one else mentioned it...about painting the trim around your windows. Blue painters tape is your friend!. You can get a nice crisp line and no paint to have to clean off windows afterward. It takes time but is worth it. Do all the taping one day and paint the next. You won't be sorry.
AS for all the rest, you are doing great!
I understand the issue with a soft mattress. We recently bought a topper for a extremely firm mattress and I felt like a hot dog in a bun. I took that topper back.
When I paint windows I use an artist brush. The kind that is about an 3/4 to an inch wide. I know that sounds crazy, but it works really well for me and I don't have to use the blue tape.
Sara is right on point, you must talk to Stacey about staying over at her place BEFORE she spends the money for a new mattress. I know it will be more difficult to take both your dogs with you and I certainly understand why you don't want to leave them over night. Keep the communication route open with her, we women want to hear what you (our men) are thinking, right ladies?
Fall is in the air, our weather has been cooler the past two days. Think about a leaf blower for your lawn business. We already have acorns and leaves starting to fall. Another service you can offer to your clients. That was a great idea of putting your cards in the Rx bags.
Your dad is right you do have to think about taxes. Find you a good bookkeeper (accountant) to help you with that part of your business. I don't necessarily think you need a CPA, our accountant was wonderful when we had our business. I paid him to do our books each month and every quarter we would make a tax return that he had prepared for us. We paid all of our taxes each month so we never had to scrape up the money to pay taxes each quarter. Fortunately, we never had any problems with the IRS and I know it's because of his services to us.
Have a good day off!
Congratulations on all your accomplishments lately!!! I've been catching up after taking most of the summer off and am happy to see you on the road to recovery. Keep up the good work.
I can identify with so much that you say.
I agree with you.
And I had to laugh at the irony of your dad's "back then" teachings, how a parent is, knowing how I am, and how much we as parents forget to practice what we preach. We can't tell you to be independant, and then yell at you when you cross the street. Well, not you, but for you it's work.
It's definitely a plus he's knowledgeable in the business world. It's his positivity zone. It's what helps make any other inconsistancies in his life, far more manageable. Which is something you can learn from him.
So, as your blogging budding, I have to say that there's nothing wrong with trying it out. By trying it out you're accomplishing something. Regardless of the time, or success, the key here is trying and accomplish. Which you will most definitely do. After all,look at all the strengths that your parents have. You have both of their strengths. A great balance to get you to this moment, this very minute.
It's awesome.
*I'm a soft bed fan, but with age, I'd much prefer one of those memoryfoam mattresses. Although I love falling into a down covered nest.
except now I sneeze.
lol.
e
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