Unwelcome Guests

I've noticed a lot of talk about Spring lately. People blogging about the beauty of it, people mentioning the welcome warmth of it on their Facebook status, and of course the weather people on television taking credit for it (what is that all about anyway? I actually heard our local meteorologist saying we could 'thank him' for the upcoming beautiful weather. Weird.).

Anyway, I love Spring as much as the next person. It breathes life into us and gives us new hope that we can tackle those unfinished projects or start new ones. It revitalizes us and gets us out of the house offering a new, fresh outlook on things. But.....it brings with it some VERY unwelcome guests. Wasps. As strange as it sounds they are the cause of my dread each Spring. I have a fear of wasps that is unrivaled. I don't know where it came from but there is something about a small stinging insect that has the ability to fly quickly and out of reach that unnerves me. Now, I've mentioned before that I'm a big animal lover. I believe all living things big and small should be respected and treated valuable. As part of this belief I try to avoid harming any living being so, for example, when I see a spider I try to catch it and throw it outside. I do this with most all insects. But a wasp I will spray or squash as quickly as possible without a second thought.

My friends and family make fun of me when they see my reaction to one of these winged warriors. I jump and run inside as fast as possible and just peer out the window until it's either gone or dead. The amazing thing is my ability to see one from a distance. It doesn't matter where I am or what the situation, if a wasp is anywhere in the general vicinity I will see it long before it gets near and follow it closely while quietly and tactically planning my escape. My husband thinks I'm crazy. Half of the time I warn him of an incoming stinger he never even sees it. And if he does he knows to just wait for me to flip out and run before he can actually do anything about it.

A few days ago I noticed that they seem to be coming in droves so I let him know that we may have a wasp problem this Spring. He wasn't concerned. He just attributed it to my paranoia that all wasps will eventually take over the world and shrugged it off. Then, I heard my next door neighbor talking about it and that they recently had to have someone come out and spray. I was so happy to hear this because now I have proof and reason to call the insect people without my husband questioning my sanity. I better call tomorrow or this could be a long summer of ducking and running!

My Faithful Followers

I've had a few friends tell me I need to write more because they enjoy reading my blog. You have no idea how much I appreciate this. Unfortunately, I seem to be suffering from some sort of writer's block. Every since March 21st (closing day) I haven't had much to say. I thought all kinds of emotions would be flowing out of me onto my blog but the exact opposite has happened. I'm a bit numb. For this, I apologize.

This too shall pass.....



Wassily Kandinsky

A New Beginning

"It is what it is." I have found this to be my new favorite expression. My husband and I have just gone through what one might call a "life change". We have each had to make a note of our monetary value, add up our IOU's, and make some business decisions that we didn't want to make. It's never fun finding out what you're worth (or not worth) on paper.

After much deliberation, I have had to close my business. A dream I had for years. A career in the only industry I know. My husband also had to stop operations in his franchise. We opened two businesses together in the same year and closed them together 3 1/2 years later. Luckily, we are a good team and without each other I don't know that we would've survived it all.

It was unfortunate that he had to stop operations but for him that's all it was. He quit working the territory and that was it. I don't mean to down play his situation in any way because with any business closure comes the feeling of failure. I just had a different experience than he did. I had to close a brick and mortar store and it was a very public event. Customers cried, I cried, vendors said how sorry they were, and friends looked at me with such sorrow.

They asked, "How are you handling it?" And I answered, "I'll be ok...it is what it is." They asked, "What will you do next?" And I answered, "I haven't really thought that far ahead....it is what it is." They inquired as to whether or not I will open another store in the future and I answered "I'm not sure. For now, I just need to let it be what it is."

From here I can choose to look at it as a failure (which is the easiest thing to do) or decide it's a new beginning. I choose the latter. There are so many reasons why it was the best decision I could've possibly made but it was also the hardest thing to do. It became a question of restructuring a stressful business or recovering my misplaced life. Life won.

Now it's time to start finding answers to those daunting questions.