OK - No More Heartfelt but Inaccurate Promises to My (Perhaps Long Gone) Blogging Audience

First of all, I'm just going to go ahead and blame Facebook. And the friends (yeah, "friends" - I'm looking at YOU, Dawn and Lori and Michelle) who peer pressured me into joining Facebook. I never would have forsaken you blog readers (not really sure there are any of you still remaining out there - Dawn?? Dana?? Andrea??) if it wasn't for those who, knowing my social nature, thought I might enjoy reconnecting with old friends. Or new friends. Or current friends. Or heck - anyone who might be posting something even remotely interesting at 2:00 am.

Have I mentioned before my slightly addictive personality??

So, to catch you all up, the real culprit of Time Theft In My Life is also known as SpeakEasy Therapy, PLLC...my new business!

I am such a total job hopper, but in my defense, especially since those little monkey tots were born, I have been trying to work in a position that met the needs of my dear little fam. When Matthew was born eight (EIGHT??!!!???!) years ago, I cut back to two full days a week. And then when Matthew started kindergarten, I took a job with the Local Private School (cha-ching!). I increased at that point to 2.5 days a week, but the job was also only ten minutes from home, ten minutes from my parents (where the monkey tots were after school/preschool), and there were no IEPs to write. Did you hear the angels singing when you read that?? NO IEPS!!! There. I'm sure you heard them that time.

However, spring a year and a half ago, when the economic crisis was in full-swing, we SLPS at Local Private School (cha-ching!) weren't sure that our contracts were going to be renewed as parents there were not so sure they wanted to pay for speech therapy on top of tuition. So, when the spring state speech convention rolled around and I was trolling the exhibit hall for treasures (re: junk), I was offered and accepted a job with Rehab Agency.

Which lead me to Wonder Job of last year. Wonder Job in the sense that I loved the daycare centers in which I worked. Loved the director (I'm looking at YOU, Jennifer), loved the teachers (I'm looking at YOU, Meca), especially loved my little speech babies. For the first time, my caseload consisted entirely of preKs. The same Evil PreKs that I SWORE I would never work with years ago. That was before I had my own monkey tots. The monkey tots really broke me in to that preK age. And now, PreKs are all I want to work with. And I also got the opportunity to supervise an SLP-Assistant who was fabulous (I'm looking at YOU, Revonda). That was her first year of work, and she was terribly dedicated and caring and hard-working and diligent. And the fact that we would meet weekly at McDonald's didn't hurt either. Well, why yes, it did hurt a bit in the sense that, doggone those pants of mine are TIGHT.

So, the centers were fantastic. Rehab Agency, not so much. Of course, they are halfway across the state with no one else working for them in Winston-Salem. And, well, they fired (don't get me started) my wonderful SLPA. And, well, they weren't so much on the communication side. You know, for a company that wants to, oh, say, improve communication.

So, one month into Rehab Agency job, a precious friend of mine (I'm looking at YOU, Natashi) and I met for coffee and she started telling me about how she was doing the same thing that I was doing, only she was working for herself. And bringing home all the bacon (mmm! bacon! sidetrack!). And cutting out the middle man. And, oh my, that did sound appealing.

All last year, while working for Rehab Agency, I had the thought of working for myself twirling around in my little head. Twirl, twirl, twirl. I worked for myself years ago by contracting myself into Stokes County and working in one of their public schools. But this, my friends, was a whole new ballgame.

So, this summer, I really decided to bite the bullet and go for it. Thankfully, I was able to reuse the same company name that I had used before, and our accountant was very helpful in getting the state paperwork together. And Natashi held my hand (almost literally) as I navigated the World of Medicaid Billing. I have two local daycare centers that I am now working in four mornings a week. One of them is one of the Wonder Centers that I had last year, so I am getting to continue relationships that I established last year (um, yes, I do believe Rehab Agency is a little less than thrilled about that, but there was no non-compete clause in my contract with them). And one of the best parts of all folks?? The other center this year is right behind my favorite store!!!!!

And another best part? Unexpectedly, my caseload has blossomed such that it is more than I can handle alone at this point. And so, it has been a true blessing to start to interview and hire my first employee!

So, you might say I've been a little busy. And while writing on my blog is what I really want to be doing, writing evaluation reports to place children into services is what I have been doing.

Which explains why at 10:00 am on Saturday morning, I am still in bed, sipping my coffee, loving on my dog, rolling around with the monkey tots, smooching a little with the hubs, and catching you all up. The house cleaning can wait. As can the work phone calls and report writing.

Life is very, very good. And it's all most clearly, most definitely from the blessing and abundance of God's provision.