Just keep swimming... just keep swimming...

Life is not always easy. I believe this is something that everyone has probably figured out. But one does not have to be miserable just because things are not going how they had hoped.

For example, I moved back to my hometown of Houston, BC, with the plan of making some money as a mobile pet groomer. I arrived, put up posters, made a Facebook page and did some marketing through that, and I got results... for about three weeks.


People saw my posters and some gave me a call. But it appears that the posters have just faded into the background because people are used to seeing them, now. Business has slowed substantially. Instead of getting upset about it, I decided to utilize my time by weaving my ass off. And that was great. Again, for a while. Farmer's Markets began to die down. It was turning out a negative cash flow by mid September. It was time to bite the bullet... I handed out resumes.

I went to any and every place in town (Keep in mind it's a small town of 3200 people.) that I wouldn't absolutely hate to be. Mostly retail, but I also applied at the banks, as well. I avoided anything that had to do with cooking like the plague. Only two of the places I applied at were actually hiring. Everyone shook my hand, thanked me for my resume, assured me that they would keep it on file and get back to me if anything came up and told me to have a nice day.

Now, I'm in Prince George. I was supposed to be going to a concert with my sister, but that fell through. Though, it's probably a good thing as I wouldn't be able to afford it. But I came here so that I could do some work at my old job and get some fringe twisting done for Laura in order to get a little bit of cash flow this month.

I recieved a phone call on Tuesday about an interview at one of the places I applied. Oddly enough, the last one I was hoping would call. And instead of being excited that I might have work, I felt a wave of dread flow over me. I don't want to work at some random place, paying minimum wage, no matter how much I may need the money. I'm so torn between wanting to help out more financially and not wanting to settle for a job.


Note: This picture does not represent the pet that I'm working on after I'm finished.

I had forgotten how much one's mind wanders while grooming all day. Needless to say, I had a lot of time yesterday to think about the situation. Okay, so grooming isn't my number one choice, but it's my number two. And that's better than my number four hundred and seventeenth..... I've decided to really push the grooming thing in Houston. I know that there's clientelle out there. I know of people who drive to PRINCE GEORGE to get their dog groomed. It's decent money. And, in small doses, I actually really enjoy the work. (Except while grooming a cat with bad diarrhea who decides to pee all over you while you try to clean up the mess, but that's a different story.) It wouldn't take a lot of grooms to make "enough" money, so it should still leave me with plenty of time to get some weaving done. Besides, if it really takes off, I have the power to limit the number of grooms I do in a week.

Now, that being said, the mobile grooming thing isn't taking off so well. If only I could find somewhere to be situated while grooming... hmmm.... I'm sure there would be enough room in the basement! *sigh* Grooming and weaving and photography all in the basement.... Not sure if this is a legal idea, or if it will be ok with the landlord.... so many obstacles... (By the way, this is my mind wandering at work.)

I'll discuss it with Dan, and the landlord. I'm sure we can come to some agreement. I'm determined to be able to do what I want with life. And I believe it will be difficult to do working at a minimum wage job for someone else. It will all work out I'm sure.

Big smiles!

Bizz
Earth Loom Creations (and Bizz's Pet Grooming)

Efficiency is a Virtue

I will probably not contribute as an author nearly as often as Dan. There will probably be less wit and humour in my posts. There will definitely be little to no talk about donkey anus hotdogs. In fact, it will probably be all around less flatulent. But here goes...

First off, I'll tell you a little bit about myself. I'm a little environment-obsessed, and I try to instill this in Dan, or anyone, any chance I get, without being too pushy (I hope). I really like green grapes and candy coated chocolate (Smarties in particular, but M&Ms and Eggies are also very good). I !@#%#$% hate loud alarm clocks in the morning, but prefer to wake up to a nice melody or nature sounds. I actually set my alarm at least 15 minutes ahead of Dan's just so that I don't have to listen to his. My favourite band is AC/DC, whom I've had the pleasure of seeing in concert. I suck at sports of any kind that require a ball, and much prefer things like swimming (Water fun, really. I can't actually swim.) and hiking. I've spent the last year and a half grooming dogs as a living, moved here, to Houston, and started mobile grooming on my own. And, oh yeah, I'm a weaver.


I learned how to weave from Laura Fry. She refers to me in her blog (weavingalife.blogspot.com) as Mizz B. One of the values that she instilled upon me, particularly as someone who does this for a living, is efficiency. I've been living with Dan for a few months, now, but have all my equipment set up at my mom's. It was set up when I first moved into town, into my mother's house, and has yet to be moved.

Over this time, I've enjoyed the necessity to take a walk every morning to get to my studio. I've enjoyed seeing my mom for coffee in the morning and being undisturbed while I work after she goes off to work. However, particularly in the last few weeks, I've noticed that it makes it really difficult to get any weaving in during short openings in my schedule. Appointments, clubs, going to grooming appointments and cleaning a friend's house for a little extra cash can really chop up my day, so when it takes half an hour to walk to my studio and back, it's not really worth my time to try to get over there if I happen to have a forty-five minute space between scheduled events.

Dan's been trying to convince me to move my stuff downstairs, to have my studio in our basement. First, the thought of having to move everything (especially the loom) was daunting. Second, walking to my mom's house is basically the only activity I see, other than the occasional hike, so I wanted to maintain that necessity to walk. But I've been convinced that Dan was right (That's right, I'm a woman who admits that her partner is right.... sometimes.) and that I need to be able to access my equipment at any available moment. Thinking back to Laura's teachings, I finally agreed.



So, over the next little while, my main goals will be to get my equipment in the basement, make a certain dollar amount of inventory each week, and to finish my morning routine and start weaving, or working in any sense, by 9:30 at the latest each morning. There... I said it... My goals have been expressed to the world, so as to force myself to focus on them more, or be made a liar.

Keep thinking green! Cheers!