Getting Off The Ground

My new career has taken off - actually both of them. :-)

The past two and ahalf weeks I have been feverishly learning everything I can about my new employer and the signature color and cut looks they offer. It has been an exhausting but rewarding experience thus far - and we haven't even had our official grand opening yet (that's tomorrow).

In the midst of all of this, I took my State Board practical exam in Topeka. Let me say, that experience was the most nerve wracking I can remember. The whole way home I second-guessed myself and ran over all of the supposed errors I thought I'd made and the things I couldn't remember if I did properly. It was a nightmare!

For three days before the exam I hardly slept. Then I took the exam and hardly slept for days thereafter. I'd run into a girl there who was retaking her exam and she had to come back and retake the critical blood spill section. Her overall score was a 92% but since she'd failed the critical portion, she failed the entire thing and had to stop work and wait two months before she could retake that section. The idea of that happening sent me into a bit of a tailspin.

So when I received my letter two days ago, I whooped and hollered so much I couldn't stand myself - passed with a 94% and 100% for the critical blood spill. My son never had any doubts (nor did Tonya, you little stinker). For the first night in more than two weeks I slept like a log.

Today is my first day off in ten days and I'm hitting the second part of my career full-force in the midst of a full-blown storm outside. I just LOVE writing amidst thunderstorms! I've been furiously working on cleaning up and perfecting my second draft for posting as an eBook on Amazon. More and more I am convinced that this window of opportunity could lead to success in this industry.

For the past several years, there have been just dramatic changes in the publishing industry that will never allow it to go back to its former days. Think of it as the i-Tunes of publishing. Online music changed that industry in many ways for the better. That is my (and many others) hope for the publishing realm.

And I want to be one of those on the ground floor to see it happen.

So soon you will see http://www.readersmatrix.com/ and http://www.indiewritersalliance.com/ on a computer screen near you.

Then shortly thereafter you'll see the first of my novels, Running into the Darkness, hit the screen.

The small screen, that is. But hey, I'll take the big screen maybe someday too. :-)

But first things first - getting off the ground with my cosmo career. Isn't life interesting these days?

That's what I thought.

It's Official

It is with enormous pleasure and pride that I post today's news.

As of Sunday, my son is officially graduated from high school!

There were times I thought we'd never get to this momentous event, that I was birthing my son all over again but this time it was years instead of mere hours. There have been years of agony, pain, and sorrow - years of anger and hurt. But now we look back on it all and realize that the good AND bad years have contributed to where he is today.

And that place is an awesome place.

Instead of surviving, he's at that place where he is truly looking forward to the future and making plans for what it holds. Even though transition is somewhat scary, he's been ready to get past high school for some time now and move into college and career considerations.

That's so cool! My son, actually looking forward to college - who'd have thunk it?

This morning I made the request for his high school transcripts to be forwarded to his college of choice. Tomorrow we'll be going to get his classes for fall tentatively scheduled and scholarship info finalized.

The interesting thing about all of this, I'm not feeling nostalgic or sad. Sunday I never once cried because I was so happy for my son and his accomplishments (I did enough of that preparing his DVD life montage). Well, and perhaps I was also trying to take care of everything under the sun too, but that's beside the point. How could I cry when my son was obviously so thrilled?

So on this eve of Memorial Day weekend there is much to be thankful for.

I'll include my son in that.

One Down - 200 More To Go

Well I have completed one major step in pursuit of my new career path and aspirations.

I passed my written State Board exam this morning!

It's hard to believe that eight months ago I started cosmetology school and now have only one more month to go. Then I'll get scheduled for my practical examination in Topeka.

For now this is a huge hurdle to have surmounted. I feel such relief tonight!

To graduate from school I'll need 1,500 hours, however a student may apply to the State Board to take their written exam at 1,000 hours (with the school's permission, of course). After several weeks of waiting, last week I finally received acknowledgment that they were approving me to proceed.

Having passed with a 91% means that the moment I certify completion of 1,500 hours I can accept employment and start working in a salon prior to my practical exam. Sometimes the wait to get into an available testing date for the practical can take a month or two. This way I won't be hampered by more time without an income stream into my happy little home.

But it does add a little more pressure for that crazy practical because if for some strange reason I DON'T pass my practical I then lose my temporary license immediately, must cease employment, and spend more time and money to retake the exam.

It can be a little hairy I've heard.

That's okay. For now I'm celebrating this little moment in time. Then in a month's time I'll celebrate the big completion.

Just under 200 hours more to go - woo-hoo!

The Fork in the Career Path

If you had a chance to choose a different career path, would you do it?

As a matter of fact, I'm in that position right now. Only thing is if I hadn't gotten laid off I'd have never had the courage to consider any sort of career change.

Been in the finance industry for twenty-plus years. It's something I rather fell into, and like pretty much anything I've tried, I ended up being good at it. There's been some absolutely wonderful moments.

Without my job I'd have never had the opportunity to visit Alaska - twice! I've had the chance to go all across this country because of my job. I've also seen the best and the worst of the industry. But the thing I still love is working with people and seeing those individuals realize the great American dream.

Working in the industry has kept me close to the entrepreneurial spirit that keeps this country humming. Have to admit, however, that being so close to the entrepreneurial bug caused me to get bit a long time ago.

Close to ten years now I've wanted to open and operate my own business. The benefit is that I've had the experience to know and understand the pitfalls that lurk in the realm of small business ownership. God also bestowed upon me a very creative soul that isn't satisfied unless I'm stretching, reaching, and learning new things everyday.

So crazy as it may sound, I'm thinking about taking some night classes, getting my cosmetology certification, get some experience under me and then opening my own upscale salon and spa.

The little town we live in is one of the fastest growing areas in the state. There's also alot of money out here and virtually no salon like I envision, just little stop and chop shops (as I like to call them) and a small family-owned stylist salon that caters to a different crowd. This place is ripe for a real salon and spa to service the area.

I've already even thought of a name and have a general floorplan set-up. Of course it would be best for me to have certification and experience in the industry first, but this was one of my dreams when I was younger.

It's something I'd completely forgotten about until last week when my son and I drove by a cosmetology school. Told him about that dream too and he commented that I'd had alot of dreams when I was younger. I told him that I'd never fulfilled any of them. Had the chance once, but was too afraid to take the plunge.

That's water under the bridge, as they say.

But this is something that I could do. This is something that I know I'd be really good at, if given the opportunity. May sound crazy, but I just have to check into this a little deeper. If I take night classes then I can still take employment in finance when it's offered to me.

Once I have my certification, however, I'll have an opportunity to take a different fork in the road.

If I have the courage to pursue the career change.