The New Year is upon us and I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas full of great memories. 2016 was a less than awesome year for me, though I can’t honestly say that it was completely horrible. Sure, there were a lot of challenges that came along to be dealt with, but it could have always been so much worse and there were a lot of really great moments along the way. That said, I am hoping 2017 turns out to be a much better year with less challenges and tons more great moments along the path.
I am still looking for ways to replace the lost income from the common area clean. Thumbtack has not turned out to be successful, at this point, and I am now out of credits to place quotes on requests, without having earned even one job. Maybe I’ll try again at a later date. We shall see.
I’ve looked into the pet sitting idea – what it takes to get started, how to move forward with it – and am going to go ahead with that as I can. Funding at this point is the main barrier between me and moving forward with pet sitting. I could always just start going with it without the business license and insurance, but that just seems like a way to invite the not so good things right in the door. It could be just fine without any bad happening, but, with the way things have presented themselves over the last 8 or so years, I feel that making sure all of the important things need to be in place before getting started. Maybe I’m just scared, though I don’t think completely unnecessarily so.
A friend of mine referred me to a dog care and training facility near me. She has known the owner of this place since she was a kid. Anyway, the center offers grooming, service dog training, dog obedience, a training camp, and an assortment of other dog-centered services. My friend said I should go talk with the owner about wanting to learn how to train dogs professionally and about wanting to start a pet sitting business. She doesn’t want to see me spend money on a dog training school when she knows I can get the same skills without spending money, plus there would more than likely be a lot of referrals for dog sitting. Another bonus would be that, if there is a position open, I would be able to make money at the same time. Sounds like a win for me. I am going to go talk with the owner of the dog center this week, once I am not feeling like I may just empty the contents of my stomach at any moment – not the first impression I want to make.
Have you heard of Teespring? It’s a site where you can create t-shirt designs and sell them. It costs nothing to do, you promote your ‘campaign’ on social media and such, Teespring handles all the shipping and stuff. I decided to give it a whirl. I have nothing to lose and possibly a little money to make. Do I believe I’ll make it rich, or even be able to support my family, this way? No, not at all, but something is better than nothing and maybe this will bring a little something into the budget. I’ve created one shirt already. You can find it here. (feel free to buy one – or a few. You know where the money is ending up) 😉
For the most part, I am not succumbing to panic over the loss of income. It’s really hard and I know there is at least one Committee member that is in there screaming at the top of their lungs, endlessly, but panicking is not going to solve anything. I have had a few moments when panic has started to rule the nest, but I shut it down as quickly as possible. If I’m panicking, I can’t think, and if I can’t think, then I can’t figure out the solution. Deep breaths, which don’t always work. Just saying. Sometimes, I have to just stop thinking for a moment or so in order to get back on track.
Anyway, that’s really all that is going on here. I have to admit that I have started thinking about Spring, though I suppose that really isn’t a surprise from me. One of my Christmas gifts this year was basically Spring in a box – bulbs, seeds – and I am super excited to get those growing (Thank you, Lauren!). One of these days soon (hopefully), when the ground isn’t frozen like it is right now, I am going to throw the bulbs in the ground. I now have a few different types of lilies that are going into the mix, and more tulip bulbs. The addition of these items has started the mental image to form and it’s going to be absolutely gorgeous!!
Have a great day, Everyone!!
Dragonfly Gypsy USA 