A Dose of Reality

Sometimes, those of us with pie in the sky thinking run into a large dose of reality.

This past Sunday, I had a little bit of time to think.  After trying to do some list making, planning and loose scheduling, I came to the sudden realization that this isn't a good time to get the puppies.  As much as I want them as soon as possible, the truth is that things are absolutely insane for Eliot and me right at the moment.  While I'm pretty crushed at my revelations, I've also acknowledged that it doesn't make sense to get them now.  Most importantly, it simply wouldn't be fair to the puppies.

Both of our businesses are crazy busy.  We have over 60 outstanding orders between the two shops right now.  (I start to get a bit anxious when we reach 20 orders to fill in each shop and we've passed that by another 20.)  At the moment, pretty much all of our "spare" time is being diverted to the businesses.  We're insanely busy and we're starting to realize that we probably will be moving forward.  (We're trying not to expect it, but we also have to be prepared for it.)  We're really thankful, but we can't keep doing this for the long haul.  It's not sustainable and we have some big decisions to make about the businesses in the next few months... but that's another story.

As I've mentioned before, for a long time, I feel like we've just been going through the motions.  We are finally making the headway that we've wanted to with our house and getting it organized and finished.  On Sunday, I was trying desperately to come up with a game plan to finish everything that needed to be done before we got the puppies, but I kept hitting roadblocks and getting increasingly stressed and overwhelmed.  

In all reality, it makes more sense to finish as much of the house as possible so that's one less thing we need to do.  Eliot and I are still trying to finish painting the walls of our master bedroom.  We need to paint the ceiling and walls of the guest bathroom, upstairs hallway, stairs, and the kitchen, dining and living room area.  I'm still trying to rearrange all of my clothes in my closet and drawers.  I'd also like to move some stuff around in our kitchen cupboards.  Eventually, we'd like to paint our kitchen cupboards white, but we could do that after we get the puppies if we really had to.

While I'm a little upset, I have to admit that I'm mostly relieved.  I was starting to stress out about the timeline that I cooked up in my own head.  Eliot and I are trying to fulfill orders, make samples and new designs, finish our house and enjoy our summer a little.  There are only so many hours in a day.  Trying to get caught up on orders and finishing everything in the house so we could get the puppies sometime in the next few weeks was just overwhelming both myself and the process.

I'm the person who dreams big... but I'm also an organized planner.  Most times, I let my mind wander and dream big and that's why I've been successful with most of my creative business ideas.  But I'm also someone who likes to plan.  I'm obsessed with lists.  I tend to dream big and then it sometimes takes a few days (or weeks, months, etc.) to reel myself back in.  Eventually, I come back from the clouds and then I try to make decisions based off of my creative ideas with a healthy dose of logic added.

Plus, nothing says that we can't get the puppies later this fall, or over the winter.  We were trying to shoot for spring or summer so we'd be able to potty train them when it wasn't cold out, but we could do it if we had to.  At this point, I'm trying not to pinpoint a timeline in my head, because that's what's gotten me so out of sorts right now.

I really miss having a dog, but having a dog is a huge commitment.  Us getting two puppies is an even bigger commitment and that's why we haven't rushed into it.  My family took Lucky everywhere with us.  He really was a part of the family.  We only boarded him during the day on our Disney trips.  He traveled with us, stayed in hotels with us and we always planned anything we did around having him with us.  Eliot and I would like to have our dogs with us as much as possible too.  (I think we will board them a few times so if we have to, they know what to expect, but we're planning on having them as a big part of our day to day lives.)  I know there isn't a perfect time to get them, but unfortunately right now is definitely not an ideal time at all.

For now, I'm just going to push forward with no hard timelines and extra stress that I'm adding to my plate.  The most important things that I need to focus on right now are getting orders completed and getting the businesses caught back up.  Then, Eliot's and my secondary focus needs to be on finishing as much of the house as we can, but at a realistic pace.  Then, we'll be closer to making our puppy dreams a reality.  °o°