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"Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful."
- Unknown

"That which does not kill you, makes you stronger."
- Handed down through the ages.

"Life's tough. It's even tougher when you're stupid."
- John Wayne



Two Days at Home!

Hey ho!

(As opposed to "Hey, ho!" which has a different meaning ALL together!)  ;p

I worked my first day "in-office" on Wednesday, and I was, indeed, a bit anxiety-ridden as I drove into town!  But, I was swept so suddenly into meetings and "doings" the second I stepped in the door that I didn't have any more time to even think twice before locking up at 7:00 PM.  My boss, we'll call her Joy, was pretty relieved to be able to pass LOTS of tasks and to-dos onto me, I think.  Previous to now, she's been doing ALL this (general contracting for the remodeling, etc.) by herself . . . while running the clothing shop AND trying to balance her family life (hubby, daughter, and son)!  I haven't even had a chance to compile the hand-written notes that I took yet, but they filled at least 6 pages in a full-sized notebook.

The building that Joy owns is divided into 6 main parts (we'll say, for ease of description):  the clothing store, the current office & storage, the enclosed market space, a large (potential) office space area, a downtown loft, and a double-car garage.  I just deleted a big, long description of each of the spaces . . . realizing that Joy may not appreciate me sharing any/all of that information publicly.  Anyway, the point IS . . . there's oodles of space with lots of potential!

The main office space is located in a room behind the clothing store (which has been open for about a year . . . or maybe it's two?), but it's completely closed off from the rest of the building.  No interior windows.  So, rather than "officing" in there, I asked if I could set up shop in the market area . . . where I can both work at my desk and also keep an eye on the goings-on back there.  Eventually, I'll have an enclosed space that I can shut the door on, but, for now, I found a little out-of-the-way corner where I can put a desk.  I spent a little time working on that on Wednesday, but I accomplished no more than finding the spot and assembling a table there to use as my desk . . . only to later discover another table that will work better and which I'll trade this one out for.

A big (huge, actually!) advantage to this assistant managerial job is that a lot of it can be done on the phone or computer . . . from home!  And, realizing that I get NO work done (like that) when I'm in-office (at least not right now while everything's still being built and getting set up), I have even greater incentive to work here from home as much as I can.  For example, when I set aside 2 hours to do that work here at home, I sit down in front of the computer, set the timer for 120 minutes, and WORK solidly for those 2 hours.  That probably ain't EVER gonna happen when I'm "in-office"!  It's exciting to come into this job at this very early point, though - to have been there "from the ground, up"!

The open market area (enclosed in an old garage that reminds me of a small airplane hangar) is divided into 3 general spaces:  an artists' co-op, an antiques dealers' rental space, and the large open area which will include the coffee cart and the comfy seating.



This shot is taken from inside the antiques shop, looking thru the wall into the open, multi-use area.


In this one, I'm standing between the artisans' co-op (to the left) and the antiques dealers (on my right) looking towards the street entrance and the man door there.  In good weather, this door will be open as will the large garage door at the back of the building, creating a European-type open-air market.  (At least, that's what we're kinda going for.) 


Here, I'm standing at the man door looking down the entrance hall and into the building (yes, the floor is sloped).  The bright light is shining thru the open garage door at the other end of the space.  The horizontal log siding is what delineates the artisans' space.  The space isn't very deep, but it is very wide.


In this shot, the opposite end of the artisan's log-sided space is on my left.  The open garage door is behind me and to my right, and the framed space we're looking at will house the antiques dealers.  You can't tell from this picture, but the long wall cuts back on itself at a 45 degree angle right where the man in black is (Bundle of Joy's papa, coincidentally enough.  It's a small town!)  That's where my little space will be.



The clothing shop already boasts a very funky retro-feel to it (in decoration, not the stock), and we'll do the same out here which is RIGHT up my alley!  (And which explains the old signs.)



I'll sign off now as it's taken me about 2 hours to finish this post (?!!).  More later, I hope.


2 comments:

  1. Hey ho yourself! This looks really exciting, I'm so happy for you! Do you have to wear a hard hat while working at your desk, lol?

    ReplyDelete
  2. We, my husband and I know the arrowhead region pretty well, but I can't figure out what town you are working in. You are very close to Canada where you live...but what town?

    ReplyDelete

If you are familiar with me and where I live, please respect my right to retain some anonymity by not referring to me by anything other than Chicken Mama nor mentioning city/town/villages by place names. Thanks!