Ten Questions

Jyl over at And So It Goes nominated me to answer these 10 questions on my blog.  Since I am trying to get back into blogging on a more regular basis, I thought I would oblige :)

1) How did you decide on your blog name?

I started this blog back in 2004, and I think I was at a loss of what to call it.  So because it is my thoughts on day to day things, I went with Angie's 2 Cents.  Not the most exciting name, but it seems to work.

2) How has blogging enhanced your life?

I have gotten pretty slack with writing posts over the last few years.  I was quite diligent in my first few years.  But I think once social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram took off, I really stopped blogging.  It takes more thought and effort and especially with Fiona, I have less time to sit down at the computer, so most of my online posts are done on my phone.  And typing a blog on my phone does not sound like fun. 

To answer the question....haha....I appreciate this blog, as a sort of a journal of the last 11 years of my life.  I like to go back and read old posts to see what I was up to 5 or 8 years ago, etc.  I also think it is interesting how many people I have met through blogs.  Not specifically my own blog, but I had a friend who blogged, and her brother blogged, so I followed a couple of the people he had linked in his blog, and some people that they had linked in their blogs.  So from my one friend, I have connected with a number of people at least online or on Facebook.  It can be an awfully small world.

3) What tip would you offer new bloggers?

I am not sure.  Write about what you know and what you enjoy.

4)  What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

I have to agree with Jyl on the Netflix.  These days, once the baby is in bed, and I am avoiding doing the productive things I should be doing, I can be found with my feet up watching Doctor Who. 

5)  What are you reading now?

I started reading The Rosie Project by Graeme C. Simsion when I was in Swift Current at the end of July.  It was quite interesting, but I haven't picked it back up since I got home.  I should spend more time reading, and less time watching Doctor Who!  Haha

6)  What are 3 things you can't live without?

Family/friends, lip balm and pizza 

7)  What season is easiest to dress for?  And what is your favorite season?

I am such a lazy dresser....when you work at home, and you're a new mom, most of my clothes look the same all year round, haha!  I think my favorite season is late summer/early fall.  When it is still nice enough to be outside without a heavy jacket but cool enough that you at least need a sweater.  I love the leaves changing and the smells of fall. 

8) What would you love to get paid to do now?

I have just been thinking lately about going back to school.  When I think back to the jobs I have done over the years, one that I enjoyed was working in a lab where we tested soil samples for different minerals and elements.  I just enjoyed working in a lab setting.  I think once Fiona is in school I may go back to school to get some training and then I could work in a lab, maybe.

9)  What is your favorite place to visit?

I have not done a lot of traveling in my life, but if I could revisit one place tomorrow, I would choose Vandusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver.  It was beautiful and quiet.  One of my favorite stops on that trip.

10)  Have you ever done anything that has taken you out of your comfort zone?  If so, what?

The one thing that comes to mind is speaking in front of our church.  Any time I have spoken in front of a group of people it is outside my comfort zone.  A few years ago our church did a series on marriage.  Each week the pastor had a couple from the church get up and share a personal experience based on the theme for the week.  I am pretty sure when he asked us to share it was about serving each other.  It was pretty scary when we first got up there, but we had some good things to share and a lot of people approached us after the service to tell us how much they appreciated what we had shared.

 

Six weeks to go?!

Time continues to fly by.  I think before we know it this baby will be here.  I don't expect to necessarily have the baby early but the next few weeks will disappear before we know it.

I am officially done work.  I am not feeling too bad, but work was getting more difficult.  I could, and maybe will still do an occasional treatment in the next couple of weeks (if anyone calls), but it will be a very casual, client by client decision.

I have been busy working on getting clothes washed and organized.  I have been whittling away at the shopping list of things to get before the baby arrives and the list is getting shorter and shorter.  However, it seems that every time I leave the house I come home with $60 or $70 worth of stuff.

We had maternity photos taken last week, and after a week of rain we did have a lovely sunny day to do some outdoor shots.  Unfortunately, one of our locations, the Zoo, was really muddy with lots of puddles, so we were a bit limited in our selection of spots to shoot.  We got to see one of the photos as a sneak peek, and it looks great.  I can't wait to see the rest.  I am also looking forward to some newborn photos once our little one arrives. 

At 34 weeks pregnant, I think my biggest complaints are decreasing sleep quality and foot pain.  I really expected to have more back pain by this point, but I feel like my foot pain usually causes me to rest before my back does.  I am feeling like most of my shoes are getting snug and I am wondering if it would be worth investing in a good pair of supportive sandals.  I feel like my running shoes still fit pretty well, and allow me to be on my feet longer, but it's getting trickier to get down to tie them....and who wants to be stuck wearing runners in the summer.

I had a prenatal appointment this morning and as usual everything is looking good.  The doctor is pleased with my blood pressure, weight gain (I have gained around 30lbs!  eek), and the measurement of my tummy.  At my last few appointments, the doctor has figured the baby's head is down, and with all the hiccups I feel down in my lower tummy, I would agree.  I also have been getting a lot of pushing/pressure/stretching in my right side, that I am pretty sure is caused by little feet.  I wouldn't call it painful, but there are times it startles me, and occasionally it catches a rib which is not very nice.  My next appointment is in two weeks then after that I will see her every week until the baby decides to make an appearance!

Are we there yet?

I am by no means ready for the baby to arrive, but I am starting to feel slightly anxious to meet this little person that seems to enjoy using my bladder as a punching bag :)  Of course I want the baby to stay put until much closer to the estimated due date and I have a feeling that I will probably go overdue anyway.  I think I read somewhere that it is pretty common for a first time parent to deliver around 41 weeks.  I guess we will see!

Things seem to be coming together in the baby's room.  We have a few projects that we would like to work on to decorate the room a bit.  I ordered a crib mattress from Costco.ca and it arrived on Friday.  I was a bit nervous about ordering a crib from Ikea as I had heard that they are an off size, and that you need to buy a mattress from them.  I had read on a lot of online forums, and it seems that years ago that was the case, but in recent years they had changed their cribs that are sold in North America to be the standard size, and fit a standard size crib mattress.  The mattress that I ordered from Costco fits perfectly!

I have still been feeling pretty good.  I know that the most growth has yet to come, but there are a few things I expected to be a problem, which haven't been.  I expected to have more back pain and to be constipated.  Thankfully, neither of those have been much of a problem.  My back is usually achy when I wake up in the morning, but usually resolves once I am up and moving around.  I have had more heartburn than I expected, but it is still not awful.  Usually one or two Tums takes care of it.  I have had some food cravings, but nothing so urgent that I had to send Jason out at 10pm to get it for me.  I also haven't really had any food aversions.

(Me at 28 weeks pregnant)

We will start our prenatal classes through the health region in a couple of weeks.  I am not entirely sure what to expect, but I hope that they are interesting and relavent.  We also have our first official meeting the our doula next week.  We have 3 meetings booked with her, over the next couple of months, and I am also not entirely sure what they will entail.  I think sort of figuring out a birth 'plan' (I say 'plan' because I know that no matter what you plan for, birth is completely unpredictable....so it is good to be educated on your options, and know what you would like, if things go smoothly, but I am also prepared to throw it all out the window and do what needs to be done to ensure a healthy baby and healthy mom) so she knows how to best support us.  I also imagine she will go over some pain management techniques with us.

 

My work has been a bit slow in the last few weeks.  I am not sure if people are not calling because they don't want to make the pregnant lady work....or what.  But hopefully things will pick up a bit before I am ready to go off work because it is good to make money!  I am planning for my last day to be either June 27 or July 11.  I will decide once it gets a bit closer and I get a feel for how I am feeling, and how well I am able to cope with giving treatments.  Hard to believe that is only 6-8 weeks away!!   

Half way there!

This baby is half way done!  I can't believe we are at 20 weeks already.  I realize that the first 20 weeks are 'shorter' than the second 20 weeks because you don't even know you are pregnant until you are 4-5 weeks along....but still.

I would say overall I am feeling pretty good.  I definitely am still more tired than usual, but not like I was in the first trimester.  I have noticed that my gums are quite swollen and bleed easily when I brush/floss them.  I am going to the dentist for a cleaning near the end of May, I can only imagine how bloody that experience will be.  Ugh!  Seems like one of those things that no one ever told me about pregnancy.  Not that it's a huge deal, it's just unpleasant when I am in the middle of doing something and can suddenly taste blood.  Blech!

My belly is continuing to grow some.  I have to say that I expected my belly would be a bit bigger by 20 weeks.  I am not concerned that it's too small, because every woman is different, but I just would have expected it to be a bit bigger by this point.

This baby has been a lot more noticeably active in the last week.  Most often in the evenings, if I am sitting our lounging on the couch I can feel a lot of little jabs in there.  In fact the other evening they felt stronger than they had to this point, and I put my hand on my tummy and I could feel it from the outside.  Pretty neat :)

Someone was asking me the other day if I had any major cravings or food aversions.  I haven't really had either.  In the first trimester, the whole thought of food in general was a turn off.  I could eat pretty much anything, and it tasted fine, but just don't ask me to think about what I want to eat for the next meal, because the thought of food made me queasy.  Since then, I haven't really had an unusual aversions.  As for cravings, I would say in general I have craved salty things more than sweet.  I did have some cravings for dill pickles, and have eaten a couple of jars.  I feel like I have eaten a lot of cheese.  I feel like I get excited for certain types of food, and enjoy them when we have them, but there hasn't been any cravings that had to be satisfied immediately.  There was a day when I wanted a cinnamon bun, so a few days later, when I went out, I went and had a cinnamon bun.  I have craved fruit a lot.  Unfortunately, being the time of year it is, our choices are a bit limited.  However, I did enjoy some awesome oranges, apples, bananas, grapes and last week we had a really tasty mini watermelon.  I can't wait until we can get more delicious watermelon! 

I have been noticing a bit more achiness in my back.  I don't know what it is, but since I have been pregnant, I only seem to want to sleep on my back.  So far, it feels okay, I haven't had any numbness or shortness of breath, but I expect as my belly grows it will get less comfortable.  I have noticed in the last few days that if I do sleep on my back all night that I wake up with a really achy lower back.  I do try to sleep on my side, and put a pillow between my knees, but 9 times out of 10 I wake up in the night, or in the morning on my back and the pillow is on the floor.  I have also had a bit of SI joint pain, and I expect at some point I might have some chiropractic treatment for that to hopefully keep it from getting too painful.  I do also feel my lower back a bit more when I am working.  I am curious how long I will be able to work. I am hoping to work until mid-July, but we will play it by ear.  If everything goes according to plan, I have been telling my clients that I should be able to work until the end of June for sure, and hopefully into July as well. 

One Year

It has been a year since I moved my business home!  I can't believe it has been a year already.  I do feel like it was the right move for me to make and am enjoying being at home.

I think I have gone through some cycles of slow and busy times but I did at my old clinic as well.  I really appreciate the flexibility that I have at home.  I had a lot of flexibility when I worked downtown, but being at home, I don't have anyone to answer to.  I suppose I have my clients to answer to, but I have rarely turned down appoitntments and never for frivilous reasons.  I think, with being at home, I have less last minute appointments, which are the ones when I was working downtown that always seemed to happen when I tried to make plans to do something when I thought I would have some down time (not a bad thing, just frustrating at times).  I appreciate being at home, and being able to throw something in the oven, or grab something out of the freezer if I forget first thing in the morning.  I appreciate being able to run out and get groceries in the morning (seems like I don't have a lot of morning appointments at home), instead of in the evenings or weekends. 

It has been such a long and snowy winter this year.  I feel like, with working at home, that I have been a bit of a home body this winter.  It has been nice to get out at times, but there are times when I realize that I haven't driven anywhere in a week.  No wonder I haven't put even 3000km on my car since we got at the end of March last year!  I am so ready for the spring this year.  I am glad that I didn't need to drive to work this winter and I don't think I had many cancellations due to the snow/cold/etc. which was nice.  

Glad that things worked out

You may remember this post from the summer when I had a client come to see me at home who made me feel pretty uncomfortable.  I would say that for at least two weeks after that I would get feeling anxious and get knots in my stomach when I thought about him calling back to rebook.  I went over and over and over and over in my head what I would say to him, if he were to call back.  Then for probably another couple of weeks after that I still felt anxious, but not quite as much, but I still practiced what I would say if he called.  He didn't call back, until today.

I had just walked in the door from running and errand and my cell phone rang.  I checked the call ID and it said 'private number' so I answered.  He identified himself by his first name, and I don't have any other clients with that name, so I asked him for his last name as well.  He said he wanted to book an appointment.  I said, "I have to say that the last time I treated you I felt uncomfortable, and I would prefer if you found a different therapist." He said "Oh, okay, no problem, sorry." And that was that.  I felt like it came out very naturally for me, and sounded professional, and he didn't seem too upset, maybe a little caught off guard.  I am thankful that he called at a time that I was available to answer my phone, because I think if I would have had to call him back, I would have been much more nervous and would have fretted about it quite a bit.  It worked out perfectly, and hopefully I will never see or hear from him again.

One of the more difficult/frustrating parts of my job

I have been blessed in my eight years as a registered massage therapist that I have had to discontinue treating very few clients.  I think there has only been one so far.  She was constantly missing appointments or cancelling at the last minute and I didn't want to put up with that, so I told her I couldn't be her therapist anymore.  She was pretty upset, but I never heard from her again, and I was happy.

Yesterday I had a client who I believe was being inappropriate.  I sort of chickened out in telling him to get lost when he was here, but he didn't reschedule, and you better believe he will never be coming to see me again.  I don't want to get into details, but he just made me feel very uncomfortable and I believe that I need to go with my instincts and discontinue treating him.  I know how his actions made me feel, though they were subtle.  In moments like this, I almost wish he had been very obviously inappropriate because then I would have no problem telling him to take a hike.  As it is, I am glad he didn't try to reschedule and if he calls me I will tell him that I am not comfortable treating him anymore and that he will have to go elsewhere.

I still feel sort of 'off' today.  I hope that this passes soon.  I think I wish I would have just dealt with telling him to go away yesterday, but now I will feel somewhat anxious as I wait to see if he will call back to reschedule.  I am glad though, that working at home, I have all the say in who I book with me.  I answer my calls and if he calls I don't have to worry about one of my coworkers booking him in with me, without realizing who it is.  Here's hoping I never hear from him again...

Shhh

Sorry things have been so quiet here lately.  I often feel like if I were to sit down and write a blog more often that they would all sound the same. 

I have had a couple of pretty slow weeks with work.  It was looking like this week would pick up, then in the last couple of days I have had four cancellations.  Most of them re-booked, and I appreciate having advance notice for cancellations, but it makes for a slow week for me.  My next appointment isn't until Friday afternoon now.  Next week is looking better since a number of the cancellations from this week re-booked for next week. 

I am hoping to get out once the wind stops blowing like crazy and hand out some more flyers.  I did some down our street last week and I have had one call already.  If this works, I will keep handing out flyers in the area.  I would still like to put an ad in the community newsletter, but missed the June deadline and will be ready for the September one.

I booked our summer holiday last week.  We are going to take a trip out to Drumheller for a couple of days in July.  Our plans include taking in the Tyrrell Museum, Reptile World and going to see Anne of Green Gables at the dinner theatre in Rosebud.  After that we will drive back to Swift Current and spend a few days out at the cabin before heading home.  I am sure it will be a great week!

I think otherwise, our summer will be spent relaxing out on our deck as much as possible.  These few precious summer months are so short and we need to savor them.

My First Day

I started my new job today!  I was actually supposed to start on Tuesday, but with a late season snow storm, I had a couple of cancellations then called my other client to tell her not to bother coming all the way across the city in the storm and she was appreciative.  I didn't have anything booked yesterday, so today was it.

I had four clients booked and I think it went very well.  I am really impressed with how easy it is to use the debit/credit machine!  Three of my four clients used it to make payment today.  I was also happy that most of my clients today commented about how easy it was to find my house.  I have three more clients booked for tomorrow and one of them is at City Hospital, so it will allow me to get out of the house for a bit.  Next week is looking a little quieter, but hopefully will pick up to some degree.

The only issue is with our beloved, but annoyingly yappy Kiwi.  It didn't seem to be too bad in the basement, I could hear it, but it wasn't terrible.  I managed to not have any clients ring the doorbell, but Kiwi would bark when she heard the door open and close.  I am hoping that in time she will get used to more comings and goings from the house.  If not we might need to take more drastic measures.  I am not sure what that means exactly, but I know one of the girls I went to school with who works out of her home with a small dog puts her dog in the garage when she is working.  I am pretty sure we would still hear her in there though....I dunno.  Hopefully she will chill out a little in time.

Stick a Fork in Me!

Haha, or not.  But I AM DONE!!!!

It did feel a little bittersweet yesterday when I left my keys and walked away from Pacific Avenue Massage Therapy.  I started there at the end of May in 2005.  I was a 24 year old newly wed and had been a massage therapist for less than a year.  I have now been practicing for almost 8 years, married for just over 7 years and am a ripe old 31 years of age.  Yesterday, when Jay asked me how it felt to be done, I got a little teary.  

I am really excited to work from home.  I am looking forward to the flexibility and the slower pace (I feel like my body could stand to slow down a little, though I hope that I have enough clientele to keep me busy enough).  However, I will miss my coworkers.  I don't think that everyone is lucky enough to consider the people you work with friends.  I have worked with Mieka since November of 2005, Michelle since March of 2009 and Josh since February 2012.  It has been so nice to work with people who are professional, take their job seriously and really care about their clients.  I would say that maybe it's because we are self employed and if you aren't professional, your business will not prosper.  However, I have talked to many therapists over the years and you would be surprised about all the cattiness/gossip/laziness/etc that is prevalent within clinics.

I feel very blessed to have worked with such good people.  I will miss them, but I know that we will keep in touch.  I look forward to what God has in store for my home business and my life in the years to come.

I am heading to Regina tomorrow afternoon for a course on Saturday and the MTAS AGM on Sunday.  It feels like it has been a long time since I have been away without Jason.  If I remember correctly, it may have been when I went to Carrot River for my uncle's 80th birthday in August of 2010.  I am going with my coworker and we will share a hotel room.  I hope that I am able to sleep in a strange place without my hubby beside me.  There is a hot tub in the hotel, so we were hoping to maybe spend a bit of time in there.  I know that I will look forward to seeing Jay and Kiwi on Sunday when I get home, and sleeping in our bed will be delightful!

And only FOUR more days until I am done at PAMT!  

Website

Thanks to my smart and tech savvy hubby, my website is up and running!  Click here to check out  my site.

It is a simple site with most of the basic information that people who are looking for a massage therapist would want to know.  I know it was frustrating at times, but I am really thankful that Jay was able to get this up and running for me :)

That was quick!

As I had mentioned in my previous post, on Tuesday of this week I called and talked to someone about getting a debit machine for at home.  I called Tuesday and they sent me out the application by email and I sent it back on Wednesday morning.  Yesterday I got home from work and there was a FedEx notice hanging on our doorknob.  At first I was not sure what someone may have sent me via FedEx.  However after a few seconds the light went off and I realized that it was likely the debit machine!  I couldn't wait until Monday (their next delivery day) so I drove over to their office and picked it up today.  Sure enough!  How fun!!  I know that they can ship things really fast these days, but it still amazes me that it was sent from Ontario on Thursday and they tried to deliver it Friday morning.

I can't believe how easy it was, and I will be so glad to be able to offer this service to my clients at home!  The next step is to call (probably on Monday, since I won't be working) to go through a 15 minute training session to learn how to use the machine!

I  got my letters ready to go today and will mail them early next week!  I absolutely can't believe how quickly the last four months have gone by.  I was just chatting with my coworker about how freaked out we were to talk to the business owner about leaving, and now I will be done in a week and a half, and she will be done in a little over a month.

Two more weeks!

Tomorrow it will be two weeks until I am done at Pacific Avenue!  I don't think it has all sunk in entirely yet.  I still wonder what it will feel like to welcome my clients into my home and work here.  My office is pretty well ready to go.  I am planning to send out letters to my clients next week.  I have the envelopes addressed and ready to go, all 85 of them.  Just need to buy some stamps!  I already have 4 clients booked in at home for my first week!

I called today to apply for a debit/credit machine.  It is with a company called Elavon and it is through Costco.  You have to be a Costco member to access this service and it is significantly less expensive than some of the other companies that provide card processing.  One of my former classmates uses a terminal from them in her home office and said it's very convenient.

I don't feel like I have a ton of other stuff to do right now.  However, I will be heading down to Regina on February 24-26 for a course and the MTAS AGM.  I am hoping that it will look after the rest of the continuing education credits I need to get before the end of October this year.  Then the weekend after that, Jay and I are heading to Edmonton for a four day weekend.  I am really looking forward to going to Ikea and maybe shopping for some clothes as well as eating at some fun restaurants that we don't have in Saskatoon.  I have a feeling that the weekend after that I will be so happy to be at home, and relax and take it easy :)

I have also been trying to educate myself and research what sort of vehicle I would like to get if we can sell my car.  I am really coming up empty.  There is a certain price range that we are wanting to stick with and I have just changed my mind so many times already.  I thought I wanted a small SUV, but I just think they are pretty much out of that price range.  I had thought about different cars, but I don't necessarily want to end up with something that is almost identical to what I have now.  I think I wouldn't mind something a little bigger with maybe a little more Oooomph.  I think I would like to have a vehicle that is a step up from what I have now.  Something that rides a little smoother and has comfy seats.  But I really don't know what would be best.  I find myself feeling biased against domestic vehicles after driving a Mazda and occasionally the Toyota.  I am sure there are some great domestic vehicles, it just seems like anything that is sort of youthful and fun are imports.  But maybe, now that I am 31 I don't need to drive something youthful.  It's good that we aren't in a rush, because I just don't think there is much out there right now that thrills me.  

So freakin' cold!

Woke up to -38C this morning and with the wind feels like -45C.  Oh how I wish I could roll out of bed and go work in my basement office today.  *sigh*  Six more weeks.....

Six and a half more weeks!

Only another month and a half until I move home!  I am getting pretty excited!  Especially after waking up to six inches of snow on the ground this morning.  I am not looking forward to driving to work tomorrow, but hopefully by then the snow on the roads will be a little packed so I don't get stuck.

I have been slowly working away at getting ready for working at home.  In December I got a 'real' cell phone.  Up until now I have been on a prepaid plan which did not allow any features like voice mail, call display or texting.  I ended up going with the LG Rumor 2 and only signed on for a one year contract because it was super cheap.  I am hoping that maybe in a year there will be more phones that interest me.  And if not I suppose I will stick with this one.

At the beginning of this month I got my business license.  I decided to apply early because I didn't know how long it would take, and would rather have that out of the way.  I have to say it was kind of exciting to get that piece of paper in the mail.  I also ordered some business cards, gift certificates, return address labels and a self inking stamp from Vistaprint.ca!  I think that they have some really nice templates to choose from and are very reasonably priced.  When I ordered business cards for my current location, I ordered from Globe Printing and they were at least $200 for 1000 cards, and I remember getting a better deal because my coworker and I ordered our cards at the same time.  For all the stuff I ordered online plus shipping it was under $150.

I have been dreaming up decor ideas for my office as well.  Yesterday I picked up a nice dark wicker vase to sit on the floor with some sort of tall twigs or flowers or something in it.  Initially after I chose the green for my walls I was thinking of doing orange as an accent colour.  But I was finding that it's hard to find things in the same/right shade of orange.  So, after collecting a few decor pieces I thought maybe I would go with a green/brown/white colour scheme (which just happens to go with my new business cards as well!) possibly with a few pops of colour.  I still need to figure out which of Jay's photos I would like to hang and I would like to find some sort of a smallish side table to set a lamp, a business card holder, possibly a kleenex box, and maybe for clients to set their jewelry/glasses, etc on.

Next up on my to do list is to start working on the letter that I plan to send out to my clients with my new contact info.  I have been pleased with the positive feedback I have gotten from my clients about my move.  I hope they will follow through on their talk of coming to see me at home.  Thirty two more work days until I get to move home!  Yippee!!

If I were a man, who enjoyed coming for regular massages, and happened to have 2 inch long tufts of hair on my shoulders, I would probably shave or at least trim them so that my therapist didn't feel like she was constantly pulling my shoulder hair.

Though, this hypothetical client has never complained, and keeps coming back for massages, I always feel bad when I treat him.

That is all.

Happy

I have to say I am quite thrilled with the positive feedback I have received from my regular clients about moving my business home.  There have been a couple that I wasn't sure how they would take it, and they were really positive and affirmed my decision.  I think there has only been one that I thought would be quite supportive but didn't really say much.  I am pretty sure she will follow me, since I have been treating her since back when I was at Dance Saskatchewan, but she was kind of like, "Oh....okay...."  Not that it was negative, but I thought she might be the type to be happy for me. 

I had one client today that I really wasn't sure how he would take it because he has been seeing me once per week for a few months and he works within about a two minute walk of my office.  But he assured me that if I was moving, that is what cars are for.  Just affirms my decision to make this life change, and I am getting more and more excited about it :)

A Pet Peeve and a New Phone

I am not sure if I can call this a pet peeve, but it's something that has never made sense to me.  I have been a self employed person for seven and a half years.  I don't understand when people tell you that you should buy something or do something because it is a business write off.  I appreciate being able to write off necessary business expenses, such as equipment, rent, supplies, continuing education, etc.  But I would certainly not go out and buy myself something frivolous just because I can write it off.  You do still have to pay for things that you can write off....and all that writing it off means is that you don't have to pay income tax on that amount of money. I guess I have just never earned enough to have to worry about not having enough write offs.

I have just been trying to figure out what sort of cell phone to get for my home business.  I really feel that having a smart phone would be redundant, as I will have close access to my computer.  I rarely feel the need to have access to the internet when I am not at home.  I honestly feel like I could probably survive just fine without a cell phone, though I do enjoy having it for the sense of security it gives me.  However, a cell phone will be essential to my home business, as I have no intention of using our home phone for business purposes.

I have settled on wanting a talk/text plan that will probably run me about $45/month.  The only problem is that I don't really like any of the cell phone options that Sasktel offers.  I have looked at service plans from other providers, and either their plans are awful, or they don't have any more selection of phones than Sasktel.  Right now I am looking at either the LG Rumour 2 or the Samsung Gravity Touch.  I like the looks of the Samsung, but I read a number of bad reviews about the touch screen on it.  As for the LG, I have heard that it isn't the best brand, though it's the phone that Karen uses, and she has never had any problems with it.  I suppose now I should go into a Sasktel store and talk to someone about it.  Hopefully I'll do that sometime this week.

I shouldn't complain....but....

It has been a good work year.  I have worked more this year, than I have since I started doing massage therapy seven and a half years ago.  I think a good part of that is due to the fact that my coworker has been off on maternity leave, and my other coworker and I have been looking after her regular clients. 

For the first time as a massage therapist I am very likely going to hit the $30,000 mark.  I am happy about the good year.  This summer we had some money stress when Jay was reassessed and his income was cut by $400/month.  We weren't sure if we would be able to maintain our current lifestyle with that much less each month.  I even considered giving up massage for a regular full time job, but figured after some quick math that I would have to find a pretty well paying job to make more than I do, doing massage part time.  However, after sitting down and discussing some things that were missed in the reassessment we got the majority of that money reinstated.  Then my coworker left on mat leave at the end of June and each month since then has been quite busy. 

I shouldn't complain about earning $30,000, but as a self employed person it means that I will have to register for a GST number and start submitting 5% to the government.  In the research I have done, I am under the impression that after you hit $30,000 you have 30 days to register for a number and that you have to submit GST for a year, and if you fall below the $30,000 mark in that year then you can 'unregister' after a year.  I am not sure if that's how that works.  I am pretty sure that working from home I will probably never hit the $30,000 mark again.  *sigh*  The kicker is, I am probably going to just BARELY hit $30,000.  If it was $35,000 or so it might not feel so annoying.  But if I could take another week off of work in December I could probably avoid this all together.  But it just isn't practical, or kind, and probably not professional of me to do that.  Oh well, such is life....