Take this job and shove it

Well, that's what I felt like saying. Instead I gave a nice, polite two weeks notice. I've been getting more and more done for the daycare and feel that I'm at a point where there are things that just aren't going to get done when I'm at work 40 hours a week. Soooo...I've decided to cut that tie. I'll be done working on August 8th. My goal for starting the home daycare is September 1st. This gives me three weeks of inbetween time. Hopefully that'll be enough to get the house organized/scrubbed, finish up paperwork stuff for daycare, interview parents, and line up a few kids. I won't be licensed yet when I start, so that means I can have two kids in addition to my own sweet Boo. I feel like that's plenty to start with. I think I'd rather start with two than with five anyways. And I can just do that until the license comes through. It's a bit scary as I know things are going to be tight financially until the daycare really gets under way, which might be awhile. But it is what it is and we'll deal with it the best we can.

I feel very official this week though. My business now has a tax id number and I have a business checking account. Also business checks and business cards are on the way. I've got the paperwork to register my business name with the state as a servicemark. I just haven't sent it in yet though.

Some big things I'd like to accomplish are setting up my office/files and typing up my policies/parent handbook. So we'll see how that goes. So there you have it, and now I must do some work!

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Well, later today we attend my grandpa's wake (visitation as it's called around here). Then tomorrow is the funeral. We've been busy trying to find a suit for my hubby today. He's going to be a pallbearer tomorrow. He's never really needed a suit for anything, so he doesn't really own one. So it's been a bit of a fiasco but we think we've found a solution. Ayden's down for a nap now, so I have tons of stuff to do. His birthday party is this Saturday here at the house, so I'm trying to clean up around here (no easy feat). I've been cleaning/organizing trying to get ready for daycare and some areas are definitely looking very childcare-oriented. But it's hard to work on that and keep up with just the basic cleaning. So I'm off to do the dishes and give my kitchen the once over. Hopefully Ayden will cooperate and take a good nap. He hasn't napped all day, so we'll see. He's going to the visitation with us tonight, so the nap is pretty important if I don't want him to be fussy the entire time.

I feel like I've said a whole lot of nothing here. This has definitely been very different from our average week around here.

Goodbye Grandpa

Well, this week has brought some change. My grandpa's health has been gradually deteriorating over the years. It's been hard to watch as I love my grandpa very much. This past weekend he passed on. I'm not sure that the full impact has hit me yet. I've not had a good cry over it though I loved him very much. My grandpa was a good man who loved his family very much. I'm so happy to have been a part of his life and so glad that he was a part of mine. His music and funny songs will live on in the memory of those that loved him. He will be greatly missed, but he is home with God now. I feel very lucky in that I got to give him last hugs and kisses and "I love you"s before he left. I know that not everyone gets that chance. It helps me to feel at peace knowing that I got to get in those last hugs and kisses. I love him very much and he will be sorely missed.

What I've Been Up To

So it's been a little while. Everytime I resolve to be better at updating my blog I do okay for a few days and then it drops off of the radar for awhile. But that's life in all of its glorious busyness! T and I have been making it a point to get out and about a lot more...especially with it being summer. When you live somewhere that has four distinct seasons it's very important to get out while the getting is good. Although, the past couple of years I've felt that we've had two seasons as spring and fall don't seem to be as separate and lengthy as they used to be. This is really noticable with fall. It seems like last year the weather went from hot to freezing pretty quickly. That was pretty disappointing. I love fall when the earth is covered in beautiful hues of oranges/yellows/reds. It's such a pretty time. And now I realize that I'm rambling about the weather. Oh well.

In our getting out and about we've done a couple of things. We've gone to the Olde English Faire at Jubilee State College Park in Brimfield, IL. That was fun. We had some homemade rootbeer that was especially tasty. I bought some natural soaps...which I love. We pushed Boo around in the stroller and he seemed to enjoy people watching as well as gobbling up pieces of turkey from my smoked turkey leg. Oh, and I had some apple dumpling that was to die for. It was incredibly tasty.

Last weekend we dropped by Railroad Days - a festival that celebrates the railroad and its history. And let me say it's gone downhill from when I went as a kid. Honestly, we were largely unimpressed. But, Boo enjoyed looking at everything. And we had some awesome BBQ pork sandwhiches. So that was good.

We also picked up our bike trailor last weekend. We tried Boo out in it. He was a little hesitant at first, but I think that he decided to like the bikeride after all. And let me tell you, biking with a working tire is an entirely new experience. Last time we went biking - which has been awhile because both of our bikes have needed repairs for some time - I could not keep up for the life of me. I was pedaling twice as fast as everyone that I was with, but to no avail. Lo and behold my hunch was right. Something was wrong with the tube and the air valve on my tire. I felt like a new woman riding my bike this week. And I must say I felt relieved to know that my hunch was right about the tire...a little self-esteem boost about my ability to ride my bicycle.

Anyways, I'm working on the home daycare, but it's really really slow-going. Part of the reason is that there's so much organizing/rearranging/fixing up that needs to be done around the house. We both want certain things in place prior to opening the daycare. Plus, there's paperwork stuff that needs to be done. It's really hard to find the time since I already work a full-time job. So it feels very much like having a second job right now. I know it will be worth it in the end. But I'd rather take it slow and steady because after all, I'm only human. Plus, there is some expense in getting ready and I want to spread the expense out as much as possible. I've written my parent contract and I'm working on writing my policies. I need to come up with a good name for my childcare (I'm not putting the word daycare in the name), but so far my mind has been pretty blank. I welcome all ideas on that one. As soon as I figure out a good name I'll probably open a business checking account, but I need to be really sure on the name before taking that step.

Anyways, this is a huge entry. So if you're still with me you're very sweet! Take care.