"Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us."
~Stephen Covey

and

"What if we lived our lives with a deeper and more conscious awareness of the fact that we get to create our experience of life at any moment? Imagine what our lives, our careers and our relationships would look like if we stopped blaming our experience on other people or on external circumstances."
~ Mike Robbins

I would like to expound on the second quote a bit though. I am not in the habit of blaming my experiences on other people or external circumstances, but I *do* acknowledge them because they have put me in the exact place I am today, and for that I'm grateful. Someone else might say, "I lost my job and so I'm doomed". I said, "Hey, I lost my job and that gave me the kick in the butt I needed to start my own business." It's all about how you look at it and it's ALL about having a positive attitude and imagining where you want to be. I'm sure Pollyanna can be annoying at times, but I like her me just as I am.

Ever since discovering Facebook, I'm horrible about blogging. Most of my family is NOT on Facebook, so they're left out in the cold wondering if I'm dead or alive (well, not really... I'm just being dramatic.)

BJ's decided to hang up his self-employed hat and go back to working for 'da man. On the plus side, we won't have to go hunting for health insurance that isn't a million dollars a month. On the down side, he won't be able to go golfing in the middle of the week with the rest of the retirees. One of the companies he was contracting to wasn't doing as well as he had hoped. The other company he was contracted to was doing GREAT- so he decided to just go to work full time for them. He's known these guys for eons, so he's going to have a great time there.

My contract with "Big Fish" has again been extended. Now I'm contracted through the end of the year. They're starting to talk about next year as well, so I think this might end up being a permanent gig as long as I keep doing good work. The other big fish absolutely loved the first draft of the training I created for them and said that there will be more contracts coming my way (squee!) I'm turning in the edited version on Monday and hopefully HR and Legal will sign off on it so I can move on to the French version (yippee! I'm international!)

I'm still debating putting more effort into marketing myself. I'm really enjoying the schedule of having one 'permanent' contract and then one supplemental every once in a while. I've made a name for myself, so people are coming to me with repeat projects. It's ended up that I have had a constant project between the other three customers I work with, in addition to constant stream of projects from "Big Fish". One ends, and another seems to magically appear. I know I could grow my business as large as I want, and the only reason I'd do that is to provide a good paying job for the boys. I really wrestle with that. It just doesn't feel comfortable to me to do that right now. I think if I lived closer to the boys (which could happen if BJ's job goes in the direction he thinks it will), I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I think that catches us up on the job-front. Not much going on personally except that I'm FINALLY feeling better after an almost two week run of the flu. Unfortunately, having a fever for so long has caused a nasty case of fever blisters and there's NO way I'm going out in public like this. Seriously, I look like a leper and no amount of cabin fever is going to force me out in public. Poor Einstein will have to wait a few more days before he gets to go to the puppy park. Meh.

My main source of business (aka Big Fish) asked me if I'd be willing to extend their contract again (for the fourth time this year), and hinted around to next year. She was thrilled when I said that I work ALL of my other business around my business with her company to ensure I'll always have the ability to extend my contract with them. (hint hint)

I love it that they love what I do for them. It's a great fit both ways. In the beginning, there were some growing pains but now it's a nice easy flow. I especially love the fact that my hours are set to 20 hours a week and I work for them only on Wednesday, Thursday and half-day Friday. That gives me the rest of the time to work on other clients and build out more business. Oh- and to do fun things during the work week, if I so choose! (squee!)

I'm so thankful that the peeps from my last job were kind enough to recommend me to Big Fish. I'm also thankful that Big Fish really likes me and appreciates the work I do for them. Having a 3-month contract at a time as my main source of income could be very nerve-wracking and sometimes I do worry about "what happens if this ends?". I just need to remember that what I do for them matters and continue to do the best I can do and let the rest go.

Plus? I really like my official company uniform which includes Sock Monkey slippers, which I’ve modified to fit orthotics and an ankle/heel stabilizer.

How sweet is this? My friend Nicci (whose artwork I adore) made this for me 'just because'. What a wonderful surprise, and something I'll treasure.