Stages

They've been gone for almost 36 hours now. It's not as bad as I just tried to sound, though. Jane and David took off yesterday morning to go visit her parents for a couple of days - they'll be back late Saturday afternoon (it's about a 6-7 hour drive). I had too much work on the docket, so I had to stay behind - and her folks were unable to make the Easter week trip they normally do, so it's nice. David is very lucky to have all four of his grandparents still - I figure it's good to enjoy it while he can.

It's a little rough on me, though (not that I need any pity), because to me there's nothing more important than having my family near. Even on the days where David, being mercurial, wants nothing to do with me - heck, even on the days that my wife wants nothing to do with me! So my substitute for them is extra work, for the most part. I'll also be getting some cleaning done tomorrow (after a long day on the South Shore), and besides that I at least still have my cat handy. Which helps.

I'm trying to develop some new business possibilities that, if it goes well, will finally let me expand the business safely. That's been a priority for some time now to me - I've developed things to the point where I feel I can make a good, reliable living from my work but I don't have the flexibility to be able to walk away for a week or so (that thing called "vacation") and know that things are taken care of. I haven't had a week-long vacation in over 4 years - came close a couple of times but not exactly. And I've come around to the idea that "making it" requires the ability to have more than one person working for you when you're in a service business like this. I work for several advertising companies right now, and one thing I've noticed is that the freelancers who contract to them may indeed be "Type A" personalities but they still can take themselves out of the game for a week or so. Thus far I can't, and I've got to change it one way or another. Hopefully I'm on to something, though.