Update #4

So I met with the landlord today and I think that she is going to be a cake walk compared to my current landlord/corporation. She is just a 30 something school teacher who doesn't really know what she is doing. Do you see a trend here? Anyway, she was really agreeable to my requests and seems like she would even entertain the idea of actually selling me the space in a year. That would be great because I know my mortgage would be much less than rent, and with rent you are basically throwing money down the toilet! I am going to get my proposal done tomorrow and send it to the girls on Wednesday then meet with them on Friday. I am putting a closing date of 10/22 to give them time to get all their junk out and give me time to make calls and arrange the signage and stuff like that. Looks like I will probably close the store during the last week of October, crank out the rebuild as much as possible and then just pray that the cash money starts rolling in. I am super excited about starting a new challenge and I just know in my gut that this is going to work out. Keep praying for us and thinking good money juju.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can

So, I am basically running on just a few hours of very interrupted and distracted sleep, but I have come closer to a decision. After speaking with the studio consultant, Elisa, who I hired for Doing Dishes (hereafter referred to as the 1st or main studio), I feel a lot better about how I was feeling. She basically agrees with Brian and I that we aren't going to loose anything financially if we have the ability to get out of a lease without penalty. Meaning, if I buy the studio, in a year it isn't doing well....I just pack it up and move all the stuff to the 1st studio and sell it off there. That is assuming the studio pays for itself from the start, which I am, and Elisa are, fairly sure it will do without a problem. Elisa's 2 main concerns were 1: That I have a small, needy, demanding, adorable, lovable, smoochy baby at home and 2: That staffing a 2nd studio will be as fun as toothpicks under your fingernails, a fact I currently deal with at the 1st studio. She suggested I offer the Achy Breaky Girls a whopping $3500 clams and then politely asked them to get their junk and stilettos out of my studio. I agree with her and I was even thinking of going a bit higher, but I like the way she thinks.

I am meeting with the landlord tomorrow and after seeing a proposed lease, I know there will be some heavy negotiations. Luckily or unluckily, I have been screwed by my current lease at the 1st studio, so I know what to ask for and what to try and get away with.

• I am going to ask for 2 months free rent due to all of the repairs that she and I will both need to make.
• I am going to ask that the windows be replaced or removed and re-caulked.
• I am going to ask for the AC unit to be her sole responsibility, as well as the roof leaks that I already know about.
• I am going to ask for a 3 year lease with the ability to get out after a year with no penalties.
• I am going to ask to make the sign as big as possible, compared to the Crappy pink one they have now!

I just need a manager and I don't know if I can count on Heather as a manager. (I dropped the idea of a partner, I mean do I really need that drama?!) I know I could find one, but it's always easier to go with the known, rather than the unknown. Plus, it's Christmas time soon and I will have to train someone and train them FAST if I hire outside. If all of this works out, please know that if you can come help, we would love to have ya. It was the help of you guys that made the 1st studio possible and I am forever grateful. I am thinking of closing the 1st week in November, but we'll see, it may be the last week of October, just depends on how fast things move this/next week. Wish me (and Brian, poor guy) much luck.

Spinning, painting and book shopping

This past weekend (our weekend starts on Thursday) we had back to back to back book sales to attend so we've been from Maitland to Inverness and back home to Tavares and are loaded up on new stock. In between of course a stop at Wheel of Fortune yesterday and boy was it hot!! So it's a total crap shoot, you fill out a short application, drop it in the bucket and are selected completely at random. ME? Not selected. We stayed for 2 shows yesterday(3 each day) and no luck. So we're skipping Sunday dinner and going back for another try at all 3 shows today. I would've been so good yesterday at solving their puzzles. I got this one way before anyone else with these letters:


EVENT

_ _ N _ E E
_ _ _ _ _ N _


BUNGEE JUMPING Elena was just amazed, and rightfully so. Anyway, I giving up the 2 most important things today(family dinner and football) to go to this so I better get my chance to shine. Afterwards, I'm headed to Apopka where my mom got me a home improvement job based solely on those pics I sent you guys. Okay so it's just my brother's house but he's gonna pay me. And for all the heartache he's caused recently I'm taking it!!! They had water damage from Fay so he got insurance money so I don't feel so bad.

Anyway, that's all we're up to. Elena is sick, AGAIN!! She has ridiculous sinus issues/allergies and it's really getting annoying for both of us. Other than that we have another book sale tomorrow morning and then we can stay put for a while. Our house looks like a library turned upside down. Enjoy your Sunday and Krame tells Grams HB from me and Elena.

Pictures of the space

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21300539@N03/?saved=1

What do you think? I know it needs work, but nothing urgent. They are very messy and totally unorganized, which makes me CRAZY!!!

I don't know if I am 100% in love with the location, I need to find out more info about the demographics, rent, lease info, etc.

I have emailed my studio consultant to see what she thinks. I have a good feeling about the whole thing, as crazy as it is, it just may be too close to Christmas and the end of their lease for it to work out. More to come as soon as I know it.

High on a Mountain Top

This post is brought to you by the Bunn family & the letter B!

Boulder or BUST! That was the Bunn family motto this week. One of our old roommates is getting his PHd in Bassoon Performance - and we were out there to see one of his PHd recitals. The preformance was SPECTACULAR and we had a GREAT time.

Loki bagged his first peak (that's what they say when you reach the summit of a tall mountain - you "bagged" the peak)! He got to meet Wade (WB's best friend) & Jibboo - Wade's boxer!

We, of course, made sure to squeeze in a little extra time to eat bagels and catch up with Banjo Billy. We wanted to chat with him about bus development. Despite our fall out, he was VERY helpful and offered us alot of really good advice and tips for building our wild bootlegged speakeasy on wheels!

I must admit, I really do miss Boulder. It's so beautiful, there. And life with the boys is SOOO laid back. I was definitely BEDAZZLED for a few days. I remember moving back to TN because I wasn't sure if the baby and the boys would mix so well. And as it turns out, they DO!

It's definitely been a little weird revisiting all of our old stomping grounds - first San Fran and now Boulder. I don't think we're quite ready to leave Tennessee but we really enjoyed living in those places - that being said - there's a good chance that we'd enjoy living anywhere!

How crazy am I????

Ok, I know the answer to that, but listen to what I may be up to......

Local pottery studio, Achy Breaky Ceramics, announced they are closing at the end of the month. Selling off their entire inventory, supplies, ceramics, etc. I call them to see if they had entertained the idea of selling the entire studio, meaning I would have a second studio. Yes, that's what I said, I asked them if they would sell the whole studio. Of course, they said yes and then proceeded to give me a price that made me just about hang up the phone (way too high). But, I am going by there tonight to see some of their numbers and see what their space looks like and what their deal is. I am not going to buy another studio on my own! Heather, who was once my manager before she got pregnant, may be interested in going in as a partner. Of course, it will be Doing Dishes, and mostly mine, but she would help with some of the up front cash. She would also be in charge of that studio and marketing and so on. It's really up in the air and I am sure Brian thinks it is a horriable idea, but I think it may work and if it's meant to be, it will.

More to come......

The Wheel of Life

Thank God Wheel is in town for 2 weekends cause I just couldn't make it all the way down to SeaWorld last weekend. It was bad enough that I had to rush through work just to try to beat Elena home from her cruise before she saw the bathroom without me being there to see her reaction. Well I can say it MIGHT be the happiest I have ever seen her. She actually had tears in her eyes. I think she was more excited to see the bathroom than to see me after a week. :-)

Anyway, she absolutely loves it and wouldn't change a thing.

So this Saturday is the Wheel of Fortune thing, after work. Katie that was really funny how you wrote your comment like a puzzle, witty!

In other news I have some absolutely horrific news which I wasn't going to share until we know for sure but my mom found a lump in her other breast a week ago. She went to the doctor and he felt it too but said it's not necessarily cancer, blah blah blah. She has a mammogram scheduled for Tuesday and now Tuesday can't come fast enough. Nobody knows except me and my dad. She wasn't even going to tell us until after Tuesday but the other day she called me while I was in Goodwill with Elena and I could tell in her voice something wasn't right. So when I asked what was wrong she told me and made me swear not to tell my bros and sisters. I nearly broke down in GW and poor Elena thought someone was dead from the way I was crying.

Anyway, my mom is really kinda having a positive attitude about the whole thing and trying not to think about it(yeah right). I spent most of the day with her today and she's been pretty good. She has already scoped out a surgeon and an oncologist since her last time with this she was in NY, so she wanted to get a jump on finding good doctors here. This really fuckin sucks. I sit here and try to figure out why these things keep happening to good people, but that is time wasted.

So keep my mom in your thoughts please and I'll let you know on Tuesday what comes of her test. Love you guys!