I finally got the June Horizons Magazine done and it will go to the printer on time.  This is the first time I’ve finished it so close to the wire.  I layout most of the articles and the ads 4-5 months ahead of time.  Advertisers pay up to a year in advance, so I know to include them.  My final layout week each month is – more than graphic layout – mostly me taking care of the bookkeeping end of it, making sure everyone who is going in is paid.  That’s probably the smartest thing I do, business-wise: is to not let clients owe me.  If they want the discount price, they pay in advance.  That way, no one has bad feelings because someone else didn’t do what they said they were going to do.  Especially when dollars are involved.  That way, relationships are saved and honest people are kept honest.  So this past week has been a lot of hours at the computer each day, with a flurry of last minute ads and phone calls.  I skipped church on Sunday to work as well, and finally by the end of Sunday I knew I’d have the magazine done on time.  Whew!

I began the week with a tummy bug that knocked me down for 2 whole days, but I went into healing mode and rallied.  I began making calls to the printer, my mailing helpers and delivery guys, to see what alternate dates everyone was available for, in case I had to be late.  One way I really pin myself in is by scheduling things so tightly.  That way when just one person isn’t available as planned, that leaves me having to rearrange all sorts of things.  Always depending, of course, on where I’m vibrating on that topic, too.  Because of me “having” to do everyone’s work for them lately, I haven’t had an actual day off for several months.  Not where I was able to leave the house, even overnight.

Part of that is, of course, that I choose my priorities in every moment.  Part of it is because I am a control freak, with my own ideas of what should be done and when it should be done.  This is my business.  My business is fueled by my vision.  My work is fun, so it’s easy for me to put work first a lot of times.  I can always sneak outside for a quick break, a quick walk in nature along my wooded trails, until the cool air of the tall oak canopy.  I love my environment here, it is perfectly suited to someone whose home is their office.

I used to travel several times a week, and I would always love getting back home.  The travelling was usually to a city to meet someone in an office setting, or at their store, and I’d stay overnight in a hotel along a strip, and that was it.  Now I have several trips I’d like to make but, frankly, doing my work projects are so fulfilling that I’d just a soon stay here and work on them.  I do feel a sense of satisfaction when I can get everything done that everyone is waiting for from me.

In the cooler weather, I even camp out in my own woods because there are several good places to do that.  I can turn the tent so that it faces all nature, with no houses in sight.  I can pretend I’m deep in the woods if I want to.  Sometimes just doing that overnight will revitalize me.

They are forecasting heavy rains today, and my friends in NC and SC have said it’s been raining for days.  Yay, we could use it!