I'm not looking back, but I want to look around me now...

Boy, it's been a busy couple of weeks. After my meeting with the people down at the Small Business Association, which went very well by the way, I have been rippin' and runnin'. Thankfully the MLK Jr. holiday gave me a chance to cool my jets, even if for a moment. I was able to visit mom and make sure everything was well with her- and it is, everything is progressing as planned.

I have, however, reached a critical point, the allocated funds for my hiatus are running out, and the search for a supplemental job, has yet to turn up anything fruitful. I am not too worried though, I have come to realize that this is just how my life is going to be while I get the business up and running. I have faith that everything will be okay, and soon will be thriving. I just need to get through these next couple of months. In the meantime, all of my marketing materials are completed, and the business plan is going through it's last bit of cosmetic makeover. I originally thought of outsourcing these task, but decided that I was intelligent and creative enough to do them myself. I am very pleased with the outcome, plus it fills me with a sense of pride that I was able to do these things myself, and it is more of a true expression of me, not what someone else thinks I am, or thinks I am trying to accomplish. That being said I'll end on this...the website is complete(kind of anyway as it will always be a work in progress.).

FreshStarts Catering

Hope is epidemic, optimism spreads...

Tomorrow I have a meeting with a counselor at the local Small Business Association. They are going to help me finalize my business plan and put it into terms that the banks like. I am a bit nervous as this will be the first time I have laid out my idea to someone other than family or friends. I am not sure what to expect, but I am optimistic. The thing about going into the food service industry is that it is a cutthroat business, and it's tough to seperate yourself from the multitude of people who have there own ideas about how to serve the public. I think my plan is pretty good, actually damn good. I just hope I can convince someone else besides me. I am debating if I should take a sample of my wares with me. I am not sure if it would do too much good, since these people don't decide if I get the money I need, but I feel it would be a nice gesture since they work on a volunteer basis, and maybe it will provide some sort of inspiration in their counseling.

In other news, mom is ready to start her next round of treatments. Yesterday I took her to the hospital for her pre-checkup to make sure she is strong enough to start, everything turned out fine, and she is getting better everyday, slowly but surely. Also the house is slowly but surely coming together. Most of the plumbing has been repaired, and the electricity where it is operational, still has a bit of repair ro be done, but thankfully my parents have been able to stay in their own house while all of this is being done. It should all be completed soon, but we are still trying to formulate an exit plan for my parents, it is time that they lived somewhere else, somewhere safer.

As for the rest of my life, it is still a work in progress. There are still some "demons" that need to be exercised. But I feel that I am making good progress. I am healthier than I've been in quite sometime, getting out of that chair at my old job has been benifical. I finally once again feel "in charge" of myself, and not just another sheep in the flock. So far 2008, as young as this new year is, has been positive. Hopefully I can keep riding the crest of this wave of good feelings...

Now I've gained some understanding

Of the only world that we see

Things that I once dreamed of

Have become reality

These walls that still surround me

Still contain the same old me,

Just one more who's searching for

A world that ought to be

Driving down the razor's edge between the past and the future...

Finally Holiday Season 2007 is over, as well as 2007 itself. As expected mom spent Christmas day in the hospital, which made it difficult for me to enjoy the annual family gathering that night. Hindsight being what it is I should have just spent the whole evening with my mom in the hospital, but she wouldn't have allowed me to do that. Mom was able to leave the hospital that Thursday and she is now home resting and restless. It hard to keep that woman down, it takes nothing short of major surgery. Her next sessions of chemotherapy will start in a couple of weeks. With the plan to be a little more aggressive, hopefully by spring she'll be back to her old self, or close to her old self anyway. Unfortunately we had a scare yesterday, as mom had to make a trip to the emergency room. All me and my brother received were voice mails telling us she was going, but no explanation as to why(thanks pop your a fountain of information). It turned out to be minor, but still without the ability to contact my parents for awhile, things were a little tense.

But despite that 2008 has arrived, and I feel good...I guess. I didn't do too much for New Year Eve. I did get together with some friends for dinner, but no big party or bar/club hopping. It was a nice evening though and safe so I won't complain. I really hope that this year goes a lot better than last. It's not that last year was all that bad, just frustrating as hell. Hopefully, I can get 'unstuck' and finally make some headway. I have started to further expand my personal recipe collection, and even started to stray of into the world of improvisation, one such experiment I took as my contribution to dinner the other night, and it was a hit. But now the fun stuff is over, and I need to actually start to shop my wares. There is a lot of things that I need to do and quickly. Most of it is clerical, and I hope to have these things done within the next couple of weeks, at which time the website that I've started building will be up and running, and hopefully me too...

Workin' them angels - Overtime...