At some point I was vaguely aware it was April, but it wasn’t until I was sitting in the living room of my sister-in-law’s new house, absently watching TV, the teenagers glued to their phones, while the only child in the family under 10 insisted on making me and the BF continuously find Easter eggs, that it occurred to me that a new month had begun.

A new month = all new bills.

Dangit!

That’s right. I totally forgot that means it’s time to pay the rent, insurance, and several credit card bills.

I just paid those bills last month — what’s with having to pay them all again?

Well, thankfully, I get a 10-day grace period on the rent. The credit cards? Notsomuch.

Of course, I also have to remember to get my taxes done this weekend! And I’m really taking my chances, waiting till the last minute when I’m facing the new variable of having had a payroll last year.

It is time to slow this train down: I can’t keep shoving clients into the little in-between cracks when I’m supposed to be keeping track of my non-client business needs.

Why is it that so many people think that if I’m not with a client, I’m not busy?

I recently changed over a couple of insurance policies to another company. My agent for this insurance comes in yesterday for me to sign something and I totally get that she’s just trying to be friendly and make conversation but... she beats my first client in by moments and finds me preparing my table for my client. She asks if I just got here.

Um...no.

Oh, so did your client just leave?

Um...no, just working on some other stuff.

Oh. Like what? If you don’t mind my asking.

(blink blink — a thousand things to say run through my mind) Running this business takes a lot more than just painting nails.

Her turn to blink.

But that’s a recurring motif here. People think that all I do is nails. If they don’t see me physically touching a client, they assume I’m not “working.” When, of course, I am working my @$$ off — trying to balance the checkbooks, pay the bills (late), order supplies, and keep track of marketing.

It’s time to reassess my workload. Or the BF is going to start telling me it hurts to hold my hand.