So about that screaming ... I think I'm done now. I've been feeling that scream since mid-November and I really thought I'd be over it by New Year's Eve.

As it turns out, this week has been a total nightmare! Not only has the busier-than-I-have-time-for madness not ended, but all those things I haven't had time to get done are really starting to show.

Drives me crazy that people think that my business consists of just doing nails. Then they get all disapproving when I haven't had a chance to buy new polishes, or dust, or put away the Christmas decorations, and so on and so forth. Meanwhile, I also have not had time to do most of my bookkeeping and I have no idea what is in stock and what I need to order — which means I could run out of files or gel top coat at any moment only to discover that that was my last batch!

I schedule clients beginning at 10 a.m. and — much to the BF's dismay — often don't lock the salon door behind me until 10 p.m. This does not leave much room in the week for running to the bank, checking the post office box, restocking supplies, or remembering to pay the rent — much to my landlord's dismay. And yes, the Christmas decorations are still up and EVERYTHING is lost under an inch of dust!

Prices need to go up and that means new brochures — which I haven't had time to order. And my #1 resolution for the Art of Nailz is getting some respectable signage on the salon door! But with my scheduled booked at 110% there just hasn't been time to get started on any of it.

Then things really fell apart! I realized I'm double booked at 4:00 on Friday, but multiple attempts to contact either client (neither are regulars) have resulted in failure, so I guess we'll just wait and see. Several attempts to return messages from new clients has resulted in discovering that I've been given bad contact info. And two of my good clients stood me up!

Or so I thought,,, Today I discovered that my phone's network has not been responding. In a complete act of desperation, since I know nothing of techno gadgetry, I turned the phone off and back on — and within 30 seconds I was looking through 24 hours of text messages!

Well, at least they didn't stand me up!

Looks like only two more weeks before I have my Wednesdays clear of clients again and can take the salon apart and dust it properly... Then it'll be time for the local high school winter formal ... And then there's the ISSE Long Beach tradeshow ... Oh yeah, and the sea monkey project.

Starting my year with this much stress has to be a good thing, right?