Morning Work

This morning was desk work. It's time to pay bills and catch up on a few things.

First on the list after bills was to finish up the postcard mailing for summer reading program promotion to West Virginia libraries. I'm behind the ball this year--usually I mail these in late February/early March. Where did this month go?? Oh, that's right, taxes. Paperwork is my Achilles heel, probably because it requires me to stay seated in one place for long periods of time, something I dislike very much. My last job at the library was one of those administrative, mostly computer and paperwork kinds of jobs so it's no wonder I was so miserable. Now that I'm retired, I swear I have to force myself into the chair to do this kind of work. Now writing is different, I suppose because it taps into a different part of the brain, the creative side, whereas numbers and data entry use something else.

I hand-write the address on the postcards, all 200 or so of them. I have labels created but there is something satisfying to me about writing out the addresses, and besides, who doesn't like getting a hand-addressed note or card? Some marketing companies recognize this as they use print fonts on bulk mail envelopes to make them look handwritten.

So I can mark one more thing off of my to-do list. In a week or so I'll make a few follow-up calls which can be effective in booking more work. But at least this step is done, and I can move my mind to the more immediate project coming up this weekend: leading my workshop on finding, researching and telling ghost stories. And following that is a program on ballads and presentations for an annual edible cake contest and a Road Scholar program. It's spring and storytelling work is picking up.

I enjoy my slower winters; it gives me time to work on things at home (like my kitchen!) and gather myself for the coming year. Soon I will be on the road again traveling to who-knows-where to tell stories, see intriguing places, talk to interesting people and post lots of photos and stories about it all.

Such a life! I highly recommend it.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Paper, Paper, Everywhere

I am on a mission today: get my paper files organized. I bought a file cabinet last week, and it was sorely needed because I had my tax files in boxes, in suitcases, in drawers...It was time to get them in better order and in the process get rid of what I no longer need to keep.

It's amazing what I found: grocery receipts from 2007, repair receipts for vehicles we haven't owned in 5 years and so on. Without a system to keep it all in date order, it was hopeless. So, today I have gone through literally reams of paper and it feels mighty good to see clean, empty drawer space, and to know exactly where the records are if I need them.

Such a task takes a lot of time. I remember doing this in my office at work; when I got started it was like I couldn't quit and I'd stay hours after quitting time just to see the job done. I like an organized office but with my small, cramped space at home that must serve as my storytelling office, ebay stock room and reselling records room, it's a nightmare to try to keep it all together. I wish one of those TV shows would come in here and show me how to make it all fit! Since that's not likely to happen, I'm on my own. And it is coming together once again, slowly and surely.

Yes, I'm whining! Those of us who operate mainly in our right brain detest this kind of methodical work; oh for a secretary. But I'm pulling up my big girl panties and gettin' it done. And this rainy, stormy day is as good as any for such inside work.

Once it's done, I have to wonder how long I can maintain it. When the rush of summer hits with lots of storytelling road trips, gardens coming in, and all the rest of summer's busyness, things usually get pretty rough in my workroom. I am hoping I've found a way to at least keep the paper mess under control. We'll see.

Now, it's back to the fray. I can see light at the end of the tunnel and I want to get finished--just like I used to do in my working days! Wish me luck. I know I'll need it.


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Sick Days and Work Days

I've been pretty well stuck in the house for four days now, and I have to admit I don't mind. When I feel bad I just want to hole up like a hurt dog and wait for it to go away. Today I feel the bug dragging its tailfeathers out of my head so the end is in sight.

I can still get things done when I'm not well; that's the advantage of being self-employed. Yesterday I completed my sales tax filing for the state, sorted a mountain of paper, planned a program, wrote three poems, wrote my blog, read half of a book, shipped some eBay sales, prepared a contract for a school performance in April, and worked on plans for an upcoming ghost stories workshop in March. I also watched a silly movie (Bringing Up Baby with Hepburn and Grant, so funny), pet the cats (a lot!), researched a couple pieces of old glass and did a little housework. There were also birds to watch, a hubby to discuss plans with and two dogs who wanted some attention too.

So downtime is not necessarily idle time; it's just different. It has given me time to catch up on some things that I'd back-burnered and that's a good thing. I still have a ways to go to be caught up,  but I really don't want to stay sick just to do that! So I will have to keep my focus on these chores I totally dislike for a while longer. February will be, I can see, my paperwork month.

I'm also considering how to reorganize my work space one more time. One cause of the paper backlog is that my eBay stuff blocks my access to my file cabinets. There just isn't enough room in an 8x10 room to run two small businesses, especially if one of them requires a lot of storage space. I am not sure what I can do to improve the situation, but I must do something because my left-brain self hates disorganization, and that is the best word to describe my current work space. (Being a left-handed person, I usually operate in my right brain which seems to need chaos to be creative, but I am somewhat ambidextrous and a Gemini to boot so my two sides are at constant war with each other.) I will be doing a lot of thinking and planning this month, and March will probably be when I actually start making changes. The paper mountain is enough of a challenge for this month.

I've had time to read some books I bought and shelved, thinking I'd get around to them eventually. Eventually apparently has just arrived. First on the list was The Witch of Hooker Hollow and More Folklore by Vernon O. Griffin, a book I bought used online and really enjoyed (I got lucky and got it for a reasonable price but it's fairly rare apparently). Such strange tales of death omens, witches, and old-time remedies, along with some funny fishing tales and other reminiscences of a boy growing up in the mountains. Another one I'm reading is Belled Buzzards, Hucksters, and Grieving Specters: Appalachian Tales Strange, True, and Legendary by Gary Carden and Nina Anderson (it's a lot more available and affordable). Just the title will tell you this book is right up my alley. Both are giving me food for thought as I prepare for the ghost stories workshop in March.

When employed outside of home I used to chafe at not being able to go to work and do my job. Now when I'm sick, I stay home--and still do my job. I like this better, although I find it a little surprising that in order to get a break from work, I sometimes just need to leave home; in the past this was a sanctuary from work. It is still my sanctuary, although it's a little different now. But some time on the porch, or reading by the fireplace in the log room or messing about in my kitchen restores my inner peace and gets me ready to once again climb the mountainous to-do lists.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.