Slow It Down, Please
Phew. Phew-ee.
What just happened? I mean it was Thanksgiving and all of a sudden we are barreling into February? Can somebody bring in a deadly virus to slow things down again?
Just kidding! That was a joke. No more viruses please.
It’s just that I have so many fun things on my calendar pretty much every day. And I’m having a hard time slowing down enough to enjoy them properly. You guys! I have even neglected my home. There are tufts of dog hair rolling around the hardwood floor like tumbleweeds.
Then when I am home, I’m pulled onto the couch to eat peanut MnMs and drink gin. The Australian Open (a tennis thing on TV) pulls me like a tractor beam to a UFO! Every year I buy the ESPN super, mega subscription for a month at a time for each grand slam event. Then I cancel my subscription, turn off the TV, and go back to being social and productive.
I spent a lot of time over the 2-week school Christmas break feeling sad and sorry for myself about the state of my 13 year-old organizing business. I told a few friends about the website trouble I was having, but very few people understand the nuances of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how it affects online businesses. It’s incredibly boring. When I talk to friends about my job, they want to hear human stories about our clients, their idiosyncrasies, and the interesting things we find in people’s houses. No one wants to hear about the backend of a website and how, if not monitored carefully during a site upgrade, an entire stream of new clients can dry up overnight. And then it can take a person 3 weeks to realize why they aren’t getting any new clients. And after that it can take a month to get everything fixed; and even then, the clients don’t start coming back because (again, boring) of the way SEO works.
It’s been a shitty, shitty winter for me, professionally. And that is sad. But it’s picking up again. There will never not be a vast need for professional organizers.
Last Thursday I went to therapy to breathe my way through this professional crisis a little more, and we discovered that I was feeling sorry for myself. I had been expecting another company -- the sub-par web designers I hired on a recommendation from someone I don’t know well -- to perform up to my standards. That wasn’t happening of course, and my reaction was to pout about it. As soon as I realized this -- that I was pouting -- a switch flipped in my brain.
Since that talk on the couch, instead of bemoaning my misfortune, I’ve been motivated to act like the bad-ass boss I am and FIX THE PROBLEM. One thing I know for sure: My mama didn’t raise a pouter! So this week, I’ve been on the computer doing the most tedious and non-fun boss things ever. Luckily many of these actions don’t require a lot of focus and can be accomplished while half-watching tennis in the background.
Still, it’s fun for a minute to fantasize about not working, “Oh well, I won’t run the business anymore. No problem. That was a good, long run. Now I can just be an assistant tennis coach and write cute essays that may or may not ever be published. My days will be my own! I’ll wake up a little before noon. And forest creatures will clean my home! Won’t that be lovely? I can watch every match of the Australian Open, read all the books on my list and play tennis whenever I feel like it!
“And then… and then one day when I’m 56 my money will run out and I’ll have to give in to Jeff’s wishes, move into an RV, and live on the road with only one full-sized towel and all plastic dishware.”
That’s when my dream abruptly ends. NOOOOOO!!!! ANYTHING but an RV! They are super cute for vacations when the weather is just so. But not for any kind of inclement weather. Oh my, no!
Which leaves me back in the real world where I need to provide jobs for lovely organizers to whom I have promised work and wages. The trick: a shift in perspective. I’m still only doing what I want to do every day. Only now I want to do work. I want to keep Get Organized Already going. I want to do this job I love that helps so many people everyday. I’m the luckiest!
I also get to enjoy a few more months with the cutest, smartest, and funniest man-child who is my son. He will leave soon and, though he isn’t ready in many ways, he wants to leave. And from what my college freshman daughter tells me about the young men on her campus, no 18 year old boys are ready. But we send them out anyway.
“Good luck, boys! You’re gonna need it! Never mind that you don’t know how to shop for groceries or change a tire. You’ve never made a meal for anyone other than yourself and you wouldn’t know where to buy hand soap refills if you had to. You’ll be fine out there! I’m sure your future partners are going to love explaining to you about moldy towels and muddy footprints on the carpet. No doubt you’ll learn to regulate your emotions any day now. It will be fine. Look at all of the young men out there who are making moves and saving the world.”
Nevermind. Those are all young women.
Our boys need more time. Or maybe just more paper towels?!
One of those.
My incredibly bright and stoic young man of a son scared the bajeezus out of us this week. On Tuesday, he and I spent 7 excruciating hours in the ER because he had a headache so painful he couldn’t think. How bad was the pain? I had his phone in my purse and he didn’t ask to see it once during those 7 hours. If you know any 17 year-olds, you know that is serious pain! I don’t think teenagers can even fart without consulting their phones now. The teen-to-phone bond is very strong. The phone is parent/partner/mentor/guide/smart friend/dangerous friend/witness/judge.
We now know that Zane had/has a viral infection of the brain which was at its worst the night we went to the hospital. At that time my mind was a blur, imagining the possible (mostly fatal) illnesses it could be. He’s much better now. Almost back to his normal self. And just in time for final exams! High school is much too stressful these days. I feel sad about active shooter drills and college admission pressure. I am nostalgic for days of passing paper notes and kissing the wrong boys in actual privacy with no threat of my mistakes being broadcast on social media.
On to the news section of this newsletter:
Jeff was on TV again, and this one is really worth watching: Homeward Bound: A Grammy salute to the music of Paul Simon
It was the most fun I’ve ever had attending a show he was in. (2nd place, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett) Here are a few clips from YouTube. You can actually see ME dancing in the audience in this first clip. !! I’m FAMOUS y’all!
If you have time, watch the whole special (90 minutes). I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it.
https://www.cbs.com/shows/homeward-bound-a-grammy-salute-to-the-songs-of-paul-simon/
I had a great advice piece published in Apartment Therapy: A Pro Organizer’s 3-Step Process to Declutter Any Space in 20 Minutes My friend, Pia, edited it down and gave it shape; and I thank her sincerely for that.
Darla’s chosen a major: sports and entertainment management. She applied and is now a student manager of the women’s Division I tennis team at U of SC. What Darla wants, Darla gets! Here’s their schedule: https://gamecocksonline.com/sports/wten/ Darla will travel with the team, so if you are nearby, go watch!
Cocktail Recipe: (I haven’t named this drink. Any ideas?)
1.5 oz gin (something really juniper-y. Not a dry gin. I’m using Sipsmith)
1 oz St Germain
2 oz water
1 lemon slice, squeezed and dropped in the glass
Serve over ice and sip it while you watch professional women’s tennis.
Pairs well with peanut MnMs and/or Cheezits. #classy
I love you for reading this,
Nonni <3
Fabulous clip of the now famous YOU!
I absolutely loved reading this Nonnie Note!