Since our bustling January we've been experiencing an interesting phenomenon of feeling like we're always busy and wondering where our weekends went but when we look back to find out, we can't recall what we were doing. Our weekends book up quickly so Brett has been diligent about guarding his free days, wrapping his arms and legs around them like a child cradles a beachball. He has a funny habit of longing for a whole free day and then when it shows up, he packs in as many activities as he possibly can and then comes crashing into bed that night, just wishing he had some free time. I have enjoyed focusing my intellectual studies on Brett in his new habitat.
Speaking of Brett, he has his licensing tests this Fall which, if passed, will make him an official structural engineer instead of the pretend one he is now. Brett and his boss have a lovely, jocular relationship. One day during a discussion about man-buns, Boss Man said he'd fire anyone who showed up to work with a top-knot, so naturally Brett has elected to not cut his hair until he passes his big test this Fall. I'm especially pleased by Brett's decision to defy authority and let those luscious locks grow. Brett's boss is entertained and disgusted and we're excited to see what happens.
For Ellen news, well she's met someone. Maybe that's not news on account of her meeting someone every week or so but this one is different and that's all I'll say about it because she's probably going to be mad at me. She has otherwise been working, exercising, and only gracing us with her presence for a few hours each Sunday.
Big Nanny U has been tending to various old-folk, scheming "the next big thing", and started an exercise regime, but she hurt her knee on day three and has been laid-up since. She and Dad are currently in a duel of marital stubbornness on account of The Knee. A doctor's visit resulted in one of two options, a bruised or torn meniscus. An MRI could determine the winner but because it costs money and Dad is quick to dismiss the ailments of others, he is on the "just stay off the knee for a fews weeks and see if it feels better" bandwagon while Mom's viewpoint directly aligns with "it's been hurting for a month now and I can't lay down for two weeks and why don't I just find out so I can know."
Last week, Mom complained about her knee everyday but Dad's stance wouldn't budge and he even added a "you have to actually do something to tear a meniscus" to which Mom took offense and informed him that "no you don't." (Which is true but there's no convincing Dad.) So most recently, Mom decided to take Dad's route and she sat on the couch for two days refusing to do anything useful to prove a point but she also complained the whole time she sat there and Dad got mad and said, "Fine, just go get the crappin' MRI!" and last I checked, Mom has now moved her focus onto potential business ideas and part-time work.
Dad has otherwise been scampering around town building and fixing things. He says he often wakes up wondering what he'll do all day and somehow his schedule fills up for hours and he comes home about four in the afternoon and sacks out in his chair. As someone who does not use time wisely, I'm constantly impressed with how many things and destinations he can cram into one day and still have time for an afternoon nap and then the concocting of a culinary masterpiece.
The two houses he had built in my backyard are just about finished and one of them has been sold to a couple with a baby and a goldendoodle. Popples is finishing up the punch-list and oftentimes I'll saunter to the back of my house at about 7:45 with a freshly poured cup of joe and I'll gaze longingly out at the yard, wondering what potential the day has in store for me, and I'll see Dad out there digging a hole or building a fence. Brett and I wonder what time he gets here and on Saturday mornings, we take wagers on whether or not he'll be outside when we open the curtains.
As for little old me, my Spring Season starts next week and it's just in time. I've been "off" just long enough that I've started to use my free time to watch tv which is unlike me and something I feel gross about. I space out my Lux computer work so that I'm finished by 1:00ish except that I don't end up using my afternoons all that wisely. Now I could easily make my Lux computer work a 9-5 gig but that would make me sad inside. I've got heaps of things to do but it's important to dilute those things with activities that make you happy so that you don't fall down a swirling vortex of lifelessness.
Since December when I upped my marketing game, I've been swamped with inquiries. It's a great thing but I haven't worked out a streamlined process for giving people estimates and proposals. I put a lot of effort into proposals. I format them to align with the brides overall "visions for their day." I match their color palette, scour the interwebs for images that accurately represent what I'm suggesting, and then write a whole dissertation on options to consider for their specific venue and budget. (Dad told me this is called "mass-marketing to one" which made me giggle and consider myself a self-made business woman, coming up with legitimate business tactic thingies without even knowing it.)
The point is, proposals take a long time. When I only received inquiries through my website, they were intentional, genuine inquiries. Now that I'm on a marketing site, I'm getting inquires from folks who are "fishing" and it's not worth my time to make an elaborate proposal for them because it's not my work they're interested in, it's my prices. (Which are on my crappin' website, so please stop emailing asking for the crappin' prices. This is one way I know they're fishing.)
Mom says my floral proposals are like Oceana Cruise Line catalogues and I need to make them more like a Carnival Cruise brochure. I wondered if she only thinks in cruise-ship metaphors.
So I need to come up with a proposal that is personal and enticing enough for serious inquires but not so labor intensive that I waste too much time on the bargain hunters. When I just had my website, I booked 90% of inquirers. With the marketing site, I book about 50% but the volume of inquiries up 300%. See how that works?
(Who really needs business school?).
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