Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Getting to Start Over

Have you ever had one of those days or weeks where you wish you could turn back the clock and start over? I know I sure have, on more than one occasion. Today was one of those days.

  • 5am – get up and stumble downstairs to turn on coffee pot and feed cats. Note to self: dishing canned cat food at 5am does not go on my list of favorite things to do in the early morning.
  • 5:10 – 6:50 – things are pretty much “normal” (teeth brushing, fixing other half’s lunch, reading online news, etc)
  • 6:50 – the realization that I am supposed to leave in 25 minutes sets in – ACK!!
  • 7:20 – heading out to the car after spending a frantic 25 minutes or so getting showered and dressed, putting on make-up, making my lunch, and forgetting to grab a bottle of my pain relief lotion (ARGH!)
  • 7:25 – nearly hit by a driver who was making a right turn on red as I was making a left turn with the green turn arrow.

o Go to enter the building and door is locked. Notice “Will Return” sign is set for 8 o’clock.

o Put my things back in the car and pass the time jotting down some ideas that have been bouncing around in my head

  • 8:00 – still no sign of Todd, so I continue to wait
  • 8:25 – drive down to a local BP to buy a cold drink and use the facilities (dang coffee!!)
  • 8:28 – car battery is dead (and the battery is only a month old!)
  • 8:29 – debate beating my head against the side of the BP but call other half instead
  • 8:35 – walk to Walmart across the street to buy jumper cables since other half has never bought any (?!?!)
  • 9:00 – other half picks me up from Walmart and we move the car so he can jump the battery.

o The battery takes the charge and the car starts.

o I drive the Durango to work and the other half drives the car home … where the battery promptly dies again.

  • 9:25 – park at Alabaster; put my now warm drink in the freezer to chill and sit down to fill out paperwork
  • 10:25 – arrive home again since I can’t actually work until my employment packet is processed (a worker's comp thing Todd was told aboutt this morning!)
  • 2:00 – make a quick run to Walmart to pick up a few things to hold us until Saturday
  • 2:35 – almost hit by a speeding vehicle in our subdivision a block from our street
  • 2:36 – decided I’m not driving anywhere for a couple of days after the two near misses and the car’s battery dying


Yep, today was one of those days I wish I could start over. But unlike other days such as this, I do get to start over next Monday, my first “official” day of work.


Sunday, July 05, 2009

A New Job!!

Last week I met with Todd Ervin, owner of Alabaster Fragrance & Color (aka Alabaster Candle Supply). After nearly two hours discussing a preliminary list of responsibilities, I walked out as a new employee. While I don’t exactly have a title or position (e.g. Customer Service) at this point, I’m not complaining. I brought a copy of the list home and showed it to my other half. His comment was “Wow honey, this was written for you”. While my other half doesn’t particularly care to talk about making soap or other products, and tends to tune me out when I try to talk to him about them, he does know me and my love of handcrafting.


I agree with my other half. While I’m not going to say this is a ‘match made in heaven’, it’s pretty darn close. And the best part is that I not only have a new job, I have one within the industry I love. As a supplier, Alabaster serves both the candle and bath & body crafters in Alabama and beyond. I don’t know a lot about candles (although I’m sure I’ll be learning!), but I do know bath & body, and that is where most of my responsibilities are. I’ll also be doing some marketing and promotion, as well as special projects, live chats, and more.


So where does this leave DP Naturals? Honestly, at this point I’m not sure. I’ve been planning to begin gearing up to take it to the next level, getting serious and making the effort to become a full fledged business. Now I’m not so sure. At the end of May, I briefly posted on my food blog about my spine condition. Trying to take DPN to the next level is not physically possible for me at this time. I need to work a regular job, and on top of that, I would have to be on my feet making lots of products for the markets and such I would need to do on my days off. And let’s not forget all the household responsibilities.


My back just can’t handle it all, and I know this as fact. Since early March, I’ve had a part-time job that required me to be on my feet 6 to 7 hours a day. There was also a physical element to the job with pushing and lifting. I used double-stacked fatigue mats, and they helped, but I was still exhausted and in pain when I got home. While the job proved to be too much for me, I am thankful that I had it given the current economic and employment situation. I learned quite a bit, and I hope to apply some of it to my position at Alabaster.


DP Naturals is not going away at this time. I suppose you could say it’s on an indefinite hiatus while I get settled into my new job, continue the therapy for my back and spine, and give thought to it all. I will still be making products for friends and family, as well as products for orders that happen to come in. I will also continue to write for Saponifier Magazine as the Toiletries Editor.


Working for Alabaster is the right thing for me at this time. It also will allow me to do what I love to do, and get paid for it. It doesn’t get much better than that.