REMEMBER TO BREATHE!

A lot has been going on lately. Well, for starters, I was supposed to have my lease signed and stuff, but then the Landlord was going out of town and couldn't have the lease reviewed by his lawyer in time to sign it before he left, so that was postponed until April 8th, tentatively. In the meantime, I am reading the lease, as my lawyer drafted it, and it appears that she was writing it to the benefit of the Landlord instead of my benefit! There were like, really weird provisions and stuff in there where I was giving up rights, and taking on responsibilities that I didn't want to assume. So I called this lady and chewed her ass out! I asked her how in the hell I am supposed to go back to this other lawyer and say, "Sorry, that lease draft that is in your favor, I don't really like that, so here is one in my favor now. Is that okay?" So she said she would contact the other lawyer and handle it. This is freaking ridiculous!

Well, so I got all the stuff out of the way there for now, if this guy signs the lease now. But then I also signed up for a State/City Foodservice Management Sanitation Course. I hate taking tests. It is really bad on my nerves. This is a 2 day seminar, and then I have to pass these 2 tests right after that. And then I get my license to operate in the city. BUT I HATE TESTS! So here comes yet another wicked bad test anxiety. No wonder I only went to 2 years of college. It wasn't as bad with the writing, but the tests were nerve wrecking!

I have so many things going on right after I get my lease. I have to open a business bank account and transfer all the funds I have into that account. I have to apply for all the business licenses and inspections by the health department. I have to turn on all the utilities and check all the equipment that has been lying dormant for the past 4 years. And then replace anything that isn't working or isn't up to current code. I have to buy any additional equipment and small wares. I have to make sure the entire building is up to code as far as sanitation requirements. I have to contact food purveyors and set up accounts and also get all the paper products and sanitation supplies. I have to get my sign fixed, and all my advertising underway for opening. I have to pass all the inspections. And I have to pray that it all works at getting customers to come right off! If I can do all that, I will have a successful operation! I will have a grand opening special for 3 days... and if I can gross $3,000 per day, that is more than anything I could ever hope for! That will cover all my expenses for the first 2 months of operation in 3 days! After that, I just need to breathe!

There's a lot of stuff on my plate. But it is really when I am super busy that I am super content. I have my head focused completely on everything, and I work on adrenaline. I can't wait for all this stuff to start! FINALLY!!! MY OWN SUCCESS STORY!

Aside from all this stuff, I have been spending some time like, cleaning my car out, cleaning my house up a bit, and organizing space and stuff for when I get going, so that I can have stuff in place for me to be able to track my accounts from home, on my computer when I leave for the night. There is so much more than I even listed in this blog post, as to what I have to do. But for now, I keep making to-do lists, and order sheets and it just keeps adding and adding and adding.

May 15, 2009 is my projected opening date! If I can saturate my market, within a 3 mile radius on those first 3 days, I will completely rock.

Then there is the whole internet thing. I have spent some time talking to friends and stuff online. I will completely be spending much less time online once I get going for at least the summer months. I will still be on, but not nearly as much as I had been for the past 5 months. I got so lazy and dormant. And it wasn't a good idea to go from dial-up to cable internet, because it just made it easier for me to be online 24/7. Even when I wasn't on the computer, I was online... just ghosting or unavailable.

Also, a fantastic update for anyone who has been reading my prior couple months blogs, and all the sadness I have faced; I started talking to him again. Out of some weird e-mail in response to a video he posted on YouTube, he responded and we started talking. Then the next day we laughed and talked for 4 hours and it was as amazing as I couldn't imagine. There were initially some awkward moments, but we got to talk about some really good things, and clear up some other things. The next few days since that first good chat, were sometimes sad, and riddled with debate over stuff. I don't know him at all. And in my attempt to understand, he isn't really ready to let me in to understand. So here I am, cautiously optimistic, and here he is, still getting annoyed by my idiosyncrasies and then I am trying to walk on eggshells in an effort to not piss him off, and he is sometimes in a sour mood and not willing to talk. I am hopeful that our friendship will endure this awkwardness. I don't know how long the awkwardness will prevail, but again, I am cautiously optimistic. I have made plans to get him something... it is in process, more details to come, along with a vlog... which I am preparing. Hoping to bring a smile and perhaps a tear to his face. I don't know. He doesn't show emotion as easily as I do. He prefers to keep his emotions to himself, whereas I tend to wear them on my sleeve. Only time will tell. I do have an idea of what to expect to happen when I do get him the gift and the vlog, but that is also for another post.

Until the next update, thanks for wanting to know what is going on in my life. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers this next couple months.