{ Race to the finish }

So, this is my race to the finish on client's quarterly taxes. I'm in good shape but still, my week is a tight one and I have budget work for two clients to compile before Friday. The fun never ends!
This Week's Check list:
Finish up last filings by Tuesday
Circle back and tie down Balance Sheet items
Finish raw entry for new client
Budget Drafts done and delivered by Friday
Invoice and include rate change letter to clients
Write blog for website
Begin my own books!!! EEKKK! So behind!
Go to lunch with Best Friend
Go to Wight's Nursery for Holiday Open House
Whew! Not the longest list I've made, but I've got my work cut out for me!
TTFN

{ Simple Advice }

So I am re-reading Suze Ormans, "5 Laws of Money" and as I was very tired only got through the first few pages last night. But what I was reminded of was the simplicity of sound advice. Be truthful. Well, ok, simple enough. And yet, that's so easy NOT to do at times. When I put the book down and began to ponder ways in which I am not truthful in my life about money, I recognized that in the years since I first read the book, I've come a long way. Friends know...heck YOU all know, that I am trying to live within my budget and get and stay on financial track. And yet, I still have difficulty in saying to MYSELF, "you have debt, walk away from that new (fill in the blank, usually something for the house)." In the quiet moments with just myself and I, I still have work to do around need vs want and why I am willing to jeapordize the future for the right now...especially when I know better. The simpliest advice is sometimes the hardest.

{ One Butt Cheek }

This is a shameless plug for a dear friend, Amber Kizer, who has just penned a new book, "One Butt Cheek" which is the first in a series. It's a great book, written by an amazing woman and you should read it. Want to peek? Go to www.onebuttcheek.com or www.amberkizer.com. And no sharing copies, go buy your own! A girl has to eat, ya know!

{ Buried Alive }

So, this is one of my crazy quarterly months where I have not only regular bookkeeping but quarterly payroll and sales tax reports due. I walk gingerly in my office for fear of toppling one of the many crates full of client files. And to compound the maddness I have finally pried from the hands of one of my clients, his box of paperwork that comprises a six month back log! If you need me, I'm the one singing along to Radio Nigel, buried underneath all that paper.

{ Creating time off }

Before I "went out on my own" I used to believe that being self employed meant that I could command my own schedule, take days off whenever I felt like it and generally, control my time. Four years later, I look back on that concept and just laugh, sneaking glances over my shoulder to see if my family notices I have crept back into my office. (They have, they just don't argue anymore.)

The reality of being self employed is that I have to keep more balls in the air and I work when there is work to get it done, in case more work comes in the door. Because, if I lag behind, there is no one else to "get 'er done", so to speak. Some days it is overwhelming and others, it's nice because I can work for 4 hours and go out and finish the grocery shopping all by mid-afternoon. But admittedly, those days are fewer and farther between.

So, to create time off means to create limits in the work I take on...a constant internal battle that I have going. Such a difficult thing to do when I love what I do and generally people ask for my services because they honestly need help. This weekend, my niece is here from out of state and I intended to take all four days off, but I found myself working half day yesterday and have put in a couple of hours already this morning. Luckily, she's a late sleeper and I'm an early riser, so that works...for now. But balance must be found and that is not always an easy thing. As the fog lifts from the Puget Sound and the morning dawn lightens the sky, I can maybe finish one more client file before we begin our day's adventure...maybe. And perhaps they'll never know I was here in the office at all!

{ Juggling }

I shouldn't even be blogging right now!! I have so much to do and so little time. Today is one of those days where if I look at the big picture I might get completely overwhelmed so I must look only at the next hour, what's next, check it off, move on and hope by bedtime it's all done. But my girl child is coming for a visit this weekend, which makes all the stress completely ok. How they grow up and move on! And yet, I don't age a minute... LOL! BTW...I checked my budget today for October and I'm on track! Pat, pat, pat!

{ Sometimes Inspiration Comes From Within }

"You are on the verge of something bigger than your imagination can now conjure. Take each step as it comes, and know that your path will grow and yield as you need it to, because you command your destiny like no one else."

I wrote this to a friend who was struggling with a painful decision, but one that had the power to change her life for the better back in 2006. Another friend was kind enough to save it and send this back to me when I needed it. Today I printed this and have put it up in my office as a reminder to follow my own advice. But another dear friend may find it helpful in the days to come. (Teemie, are you reading this?)

{ Hiding Out In My Own Home }

Yesterday was one of those days that I stand back and look at late in the evening and ponder the possiblities of renting office space. My office is in the back of the house, has a solid door and I can generally close that door and crank out work. Not yesterday. I had two and half billable hours. SIGHHH...working from home is such a disciplined thing and I rarely have days like yesterday but it's frustrating none-the-less. I was home all day with a carpet installer and my dear friend and handyman, Michael who came to install my new dishwasher. And four other people, for a variety of reasons, called and asked, "are you home today?" Well, yes, but I'm WORKING. (This is the equivelent to someone interrupting you while you are reading with "are you busy?" -- uh, did you not see the book or the fact that I was seriously engrossed in its content?) Why is that if you work from home, it's not perceived as work but if someone walks in to a rented office space, they get you are generating income? Well, on to my 10 hour day to make up for yesterday. (stomp stomp stomp down the hall for my big cuppa tea).

{ Need it, Want it }

As I moved two rooms of furniture into my 12x12 dining room last night in anticipation of carpet installers today, I battled inside my head with the reality of paying for a three year off and on remodel. This should be the "final" project but as most people know with remodels, nothing is final. One project always leads to another. Honestly (and doesn't every re modeler get to this point?) it would have been easier and cheaper to build from scratch. As I sit looking out at the gray skies and Fall rain, I am trying not to make the next list of projects...really. I'd love to just pay down the home equity line, have a very manageable mortgage, extra money to max out my IRA each year but then I think...oh, to have a tub in the master bathroom instead of just a shower or we could just paint the kitchen cabinets and then get new counter tops. I go back to what I know in my head...do I need it or want it? In the past, my heart would reign supreme but I am determined this year to stay on budget, to stay focused. So as the carpet layers leave this afternoon I will say to myself, love what I have and abundance is eternal. But I do have enough paint left over to paint the kitchen cupboards...

{ An Anniversary }

OK, so the post below was the "cover post"...the one I had ready in case this one got too hard to do. Today was a notable day...the first year anniversary to this life as a full time bookkeeper. The anniversary of a day that was wrought with emotion. Oh, I had been bookkeeping part time for a few years before going full time but one year ago today I turned the key of my retail business over to my dear friend, Tina, and walked away from a business I had grown and loved for five years. You see, 2006 was a really hard year personally. My mother died quickly of too long undetected ovarian cancer and too say it took my breath away is an understatement. It took the wind out of my sails - and my retail shop took a lot of energy. It was (and still is) the kind of place the community congregates for connection and celebration, so my lack of energy was hard to hide. Tina stepped up at a time when I had to step back. We've lovingly and jokingly call it an open adoption...two mothers who love the same child but only one who can look after it day in and day out. Many have asked me if I miss it or regret it. My answer is true and absolute...no. No, because it was time to let go, time to grow something new and to hold on would have meant the end of my little shop. So today is a notable day... Happy Anniversary to us, Tina!

{ Finding My Worth }

Practicing what I preach seems to be the running theme in my life this Fall. I have been struggling with the decision to raise my rates in January. (I like to give my clients lots of notice, so they don't feel cornered.) My current rates are on the lower side of the spectrum and I know they need to go up...it's just so difficult because I know for a few of my clients, I'm a stretch. In my head, I know I have to do it, I deserve to earn a living, I'm good at what I do, it's a fair rate and I bring a lot to the table that other bookkeepers don't. If I were a client I would tell me to value my time. But again, saying and doing are two separate things... I'll procrastinate one more day and then begin the draft letter to the clientele.