Anniversaries

In all of the curtain hoopla, I neglected to write about two significant anniversaries in the life of Zoe.

Friday, May 6th, was Zoe's one month anniversary!  I can honestly say that the first month FLEW by!  It is impossible to quantify how much I learned in that time period (about the business and about myself).  Did I come home every day bone tired?  Yes.  But did I come home happy?  Yes again.  I love the opportunity to employ so many different skill sets in running the business.  And the constant learning!  I learn from doing. I learn from my customers.  I learn from my vendors.  I learn what works and what doesn't work.  And I know I'll keep learning.

Saturday, May 7th was the one year anniversary of me leaving my job in the corporate world.  The anniversary caused me to spend a lot of time reflecting on the past year.  I really don't think I would trade this opportunity for anything.  Now, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the money I used to make.  But I've learned to do a lot more with a lot less.  And there is a particular joy in accomplishing that.  Everyone who knows me, from Jim to my mother to long time friends, tells me that I am a different person - happier, more creative, mellow.  How do you put a price tag on that?  I know for a fact my health is much better (mental and physical).  And, I've talked about this before, but I have a much closer relationship with God.  I've finally started to learn what ceding control and trust are all about.

I'd also be lying if I said I didn't miss the people that I worked with at my job.  It's not often one finds oneself working with such smart and talented colleagues.  So many of them remain true friends, for which I am very grateful.  I love the fact that I can keep them as friends while continually expanding my world of new friends.

I loved my trip to NY last Monday, it was GREAT to have my day off yesterday!  Although I am always very busy, it truly recharges me to have that day to sleep in a little and get things done.  I did go to Zoe for a couple of hours, mainly to take care of filing the Withholding and Sales/Use Tax for April and to prepare the store for the Knitwear sale.  I love my Point of Sale system for things like this.  I can set up a range of dates/times and then select the items and apply the appropriate formula.  Then, when I ring up the item, it rings up at the proper price without me having to do any special calculations or adjustments.  I sold 2 of the sale items today and it worked flawlessly!  And I also needed to do a TON of filing!  I felt much more at peace with all of that done.