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About This Author
Brandiwyn🎶  , also known as Michelle Tuesday, is a musician, educator and writer hailing from Columbus, Ohio.
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La Bene Vita
I am a professional musician  , worship leader , small business owner , songwriter , aspiring author and freelance nonfiction writer with a chemical engineering degree .
But that's just my resume.
My profile of qualifications is only one of the ways in which I am unique. Here I chronicle my personal and professional goals and my efforts to achieve them. Occasionally I fail. Mostly, I take daily baby steps toward all my long-term goals. Much like the stories I pen, the songs I compose, and the businesses I run, I am always a work in progress.
August 29, 2023 at 2:53pm August 29, 2023 at 2:53pm
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It's piano moving day.
A week has passed since I last blogged, and the only reason I'm blogging now is because it's 5am, I've been awake since 2am due to whole-body pain and scrolling mental checklists, and I thought maybe a data dump might do me good.
A couple weeks ago, I asked my dad to help me narrow down a five-page list of contractors so I could get quotes for my Gahanna music school renovation project (dividing a larger classroom into two smaller lesson rooms,) and when I gushed about how helpful he'd been, he offered to drag his recently retired butt from Maryland to Ohio to help me close my Polaris music school. Dad arrived Sunday afternoon, just in the nick of time. The Polaris lease expires 8/31 aka Thursday aka two days from now, and my husband, Keith, is working all week.
I've moved SO MUCH STUFF from Polaris to Gahanna over the last few weeks, and most of it has been piling up in my soon-to-be new office/lesson room (half of the aforementioned larger classroom.) But today, I need to move six pianos from Polaris to Gahanna, and two of them are going into that space, so I've been singularly focused on redistributing The Stuff to either its interim or (ideally) permanent new home.
Here's what's happened since last Tuesday:
Tuesday, the newly hired theory teacher showed up for his orientation, and we love him (Daniel.) I trained him all night.
Wednesday, I secured a sub for my own Polaris students so I could teach in the Gahanna music lab. Daniel will be the Wednesday lab teacher starting this week.
I took a carload (SUVload) from Polaris with me on Thursday and Friday after teaching lessons and dropped each off in Gahanna. Some items went straight to their new (permanent) homes, like the music lab laptops and chargers, a second teacher desk for the lab, the last of the instruments, and a few small bookshelves (rehomed in various lesson rooms.) Everything else landed in "Michelle's office" (the future Room 8.)
Over the weekend, Keith took down about fifty guitar and violin wall hangers in Polaris and hung them in every room in Gahanna, roughly tripling our capacity for (permanently) wall-hung instruments.
Sunday morning, I left the house at 5:30, headed up to Polaris, loaded up the car again, them dragged almost everything that was left up to the Polaris lobby, where it was sorted into three areas: (1) keep/take to Gahanna, (2) post "free to a good home"/(donate), and (3) "throw that shit straight in the dumpster." I took photos of a few giveaway items and issued on socials. Then I headed to Gahanna and unloaded, mostly to make room for groceries. Keith and I have been living off of fast food and too many restaurant dinners because the one time we were able to squeeze in a Clicklist order two weeks ago, they cancelled it due to being short-staffed. With my dad coming to visit and Keith and I suffering severe malnutrition and (and possibly a broken bank), I had to squeeze in the time. So after unloading in Gahanna, I hit the grocery store for my pickup (which was NOT cancelled, *whew*) and then headed home to unload the groceries, throw together some food, and go straight back to Gahanna (with Keith in tow the second time) to start organizing and distributing The Stuff in Future Room 8.
Sunday evening, Keith picked up dad at the airport while I continued sorting and redistributing. They returned and finally got the book display rack from Polaris installed in the Gahanna lobby, which provided a (permanent) home for piles of music books. Mounting the rack was a tricksy project due to the heavily-drywalled concrete walls, for which neither traditional drywall-and-stud nor plain-concrete hanging fasteners were wholly appropriate.
Yesterday morning, I followed up with a contractor (my favorite, SB, is waiting to hear back from my electrician, who apparently thought SB was spam 🤦♀️.) Then Dad and I stopped by the Budget truck rental place to arrange his travel home; he took a one-way flight to Ohio so he could haul home the kayaks we've been trying to get my parents to take for a year now. Plus the box truck will be handy for bring about thirty chairs from Polaris.
Then we went to Gahanna to work all day. Dad completed the following projects (I kept adding items to the list as I encountered the need; classroom dry erase boards are very handy and fun to scratch off in varying colors):
- installed wall-mounted shelving units in the staff restroom (doubles as storage for cleaning supplies, etc.) and the reception area (which gained a second large-screen monitor, and subsequently lost some desk space.)
- installed a Nest camera in the music lab for security
- installed cubicle wall hooks for lab bulletin board
- moved the lab dry erase board
- hung mirrors in a couple lesson rooms
- dismantled the electronic drums in Room 6 to make room for a Polaris piano.
- and, finally, moved a bunch more stuff up to the newly-floored storage loft over the restrooms, including wayyy too many music stands.
Then we rested while staff and kids and parents started arriving, because I had a few lessons to teach, and I was Dad's ride. Keith could have brought him home after work (he was there anyway, dropping off a load from Polaris he'd grabbed on his way home,) but Dad wanted a lesson with my most advanced drum instructor, and we'd booked him later that night. So we just chilled. Sort of. He chilled, but I was in Gahanna on a Monday. Literally every teacher and receptionist was like, hey! You're here! That's convenient, because I need something from you. 🤣 All joking aside, I loved being accessible. I'm going to love it even more when I'm not exhausted.
Now let's get some pianos relocated!
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August 22, 2023 at 9:13am August 22, 2023 at 9:13am
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Last night, I caught myself singing under my breath, "It's the laaaaaast Monday..." to the tune of "Last Midnight" from Sondheim's Into the Woods.
We will never teach another Polaris Monday night lesson again.
"It's the final countdown..." (In case musical theatre references are lost on you.)
Four more nights of lessons in the Polaris location of my music school (Michelle Tuesday Music School, or just MTMS) before we shut our doors forever, and I am ridiculously excited about it. By cutting my locations in half, I'm cutting the workload in half, and even better, keeping the best of all the stuff from both locations and getting rid of the junk. Every week, during the week, I've been loading up my SUV and moving chairs, furniture, instruments, supplies, shelves and other storage units, art and other wall hangings, tech devices, etc. etc. from Polaris to my other school in Gahanna (or Goodwill.) Every weekend, hubby and I have been making improvements to Gahanna.
This past weekend, we installed a large, heavy duty shelving unit (new from Lowes) and two 12' closetmaid shelves (relocated from Polaris) in the music lab for instrument storage. That way, teachers can access the instruments (which were previously stored in the classroom) without interrupting any lessons.
The aforementioned classroom is slated for a renovation. We're dividing the large classroom into two smaller rooms: (1) an extra-large lesson room for drum lessons and rock band classes, and (2) a new lesson room / office. This project will not only provide me with my own dedicated space for teaching and administration, but it also increases our capacity for private lessons.
I have received 2 out of 4 bids for the renovation project. The first first one (NS) is higher than I expected, but I can swing it. The second one (BH) is ridiculous, but at least I now know that NS wasn't out of line. I'm waiting for the third (RU) and fourth (SB) bids before I contract NS, because I'm hoping SB comes in with the lowest bid, or at least close enough to the lowest bid to get them to price match. They know everyone in the city's building department, and they ran to city hall after walking through my space and taking measurements and talked them into agreeing to a "simple permit" for my project. Instead of two permits (alteration and electrical), there would only be one permit, which means half the cost and half the inspections. And SB was super knowledgeable about what the city will and won't allow (all the local municipalities have their own rules.) And finally, they're a family owned (dad + two sons) local small business, as local as it gets - their filed business address is in the unincorporated town where my husband and I live, and the son who will be in charge of my project lives in Gahanna, the city where my business resides. Dad started contracting in the 70's, so they have a lot of experience. I just like everything about them.
On the hiring front: I *think* I hired a theory teacher for my music lab, finally. I say "think" because I *thought* I hired a guy named Kyle a week and a half ago. He accepted my offer in writing (by responding to my email) and agreed to an orientation date, but on the day he was scheduled to start work, he apologized and rescinded his acceptance because he couldn't work out the transportation. So here's hoping this guy shows up for his orientation today.
We also interviewed two reception candidates and adored one of them, but she declined our offer. The reason was, we asked her in the interview about her recent moves (she's changed employers - with relocations - roughly once a year since COVID.) She gave us an adequate explanation in the interview, enough that we extended an offer, but when she declined it was on the grounds that she was afraid she would let us down, because if the right opportunity presented itself, she might take it and leave again. Disappointing, but I appreciate not wasting my time on training a flight risk. Now we're back to square one on reception hiring.
This time next week, I'll be in Polaris, supervising the piano movers as they load up six Polaris pianos to relocate to Gahanna. And there will be no more Polaris lessons.
"It's the laaaaaast Tuesday..." |
August 19, 2023 at 10:18am August 19, 2023 at 10:18am
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If you're just joining us, August 2023 has me fully occupied with the closing of my second music school location ("Polaris"). I'm moving students, staff, instruments, furniture, wall hangings, even some doors from Polaris to my first (and soon-to-be only) school in Gahanna.
The sign company who moved my exterior Polaris signage to my Gahanna lobby finished the wiring yesterday, so now it's illuminated:
It's gonna look even better on 8/29 when the piano movers put a white baby grand under it.
Four contractors are officially bidding my Gahanna renovation project (to increase capacity, aka make more room for not only Polaris staff and students, but also future growth of the location, which I anticipate due to my undivided attention on a single location.) We have a favorite of the four but that may change when actual numbers come in.
Only one more week of lessons in Polaris! Last day is Friday, 8/25, which gives us a week to get all the stuff out that I can't move while lessons are still happening (pianos, chairs, music lab desks and computers, shelves the teachers need, music stands...)
Next weekend and the following week will be busy. Keith (hubby) will be at work Monday 8/28 through Thursday 8/31 (when, I assume, I'll have to hand keys over to the landlord... I should really get ahold of them and figure that out, actually, since I'd like to get my security deposit back.) My very awesome and recently retired dad volunteered to come help that week.
Everything is on track regarding the closing of Polaris. Now I just need to address my hiring crisis in Gahanna...
More on that later. It deserves its own blog post titled, "How NOT to get hired."
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August 16, 2023 at 5:54pm August 16, 2023 at 5:54pm
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I survived Monday, August 14, 2023.
I'm starting to actually hear back from some contractors on the interior renovation I want to do in my Gahanna music school location (split a large classroom into two smaller private lesson rooms.) So, yay. But it's expensive. Because permits. And contractor profit margins.
The sign company took our exterior signage from my Polaris location (which is closing) and installed it in the lobby of my Gahanna location (the one I'm keeping open.) The wiring won't be finished until Friday, so it's not illuminated yet, but here it is:
Every time I go to my Polaris location, I load up my car and haul stuff to Gahanna.
I had an orientation scheduled with a new hire on Monday, but he bailed because "transportation." I mean, bailed, like on the whole job, with sincerest apologies and ownership of the problem and the fact that he obviously let me down. Because now I have no lab coverage next week again. So I get to be in two places at once again next Monday and Tuesday. And maybe tomorrow. I think tomorrow.
My brain is seriously fried.
I got out of teaching in Polaris tonight, for a sec. Yesterday morning, a teacher said he could sub for my kiddos. He said he was interested in as long a shift as possible, so I gave him my lineup of students *and* I loaded him up with makeups. Then last night at 9pm he texted, apologizing, saying he forgot he had an event tonight. So now *I* get teach all those makeups in addition to the student lineup I was already trying to get out of because  .
The electrician came today to address the fire marshal's concerns, install a receptacle in the new storage loft over the Gahanna school's restrooms, and change some light bulbs.
Plus student schedules, and processing withdrawals and location changes and format changes (from in-person to virtual) and makeups, makeups, makeups out the wazoo.
Remind me never to do this again. |
August 14, 2023 at 6:44am August 14, 2023 at 6:44am
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Day 13 lived up to its number and its "-mageddon" name.
If you're catching up:
Friday, August 25 will be the last day of music lessons taught in my music school's 2nd location (Polaris) before we close those doors forever on August 31. I'm downsizing so I can focus my attention on my more successful, more profitable, closer-to-home, flagship location in Gahanna, Ohio. Since my Parkinson's diagnosis, I've been having trouble keeping up with two locations.
We got the Gahanna storage loft flooring done, at least, and hauled an entire storage room's worth of seasonal supplies from Polaris (which had plenty of storage space due to lower student volumes) to Gahanna (which is booked solid, hence the loft installation and renovations to increase capacity.) We still need a better way to get the big storage totes up to the loft and down again during the respective seasons; it turns out a lady with PD is not the best candidate for hauling fully loaded 30-gallon storage totes up 10-foot ladders by herself. But once the totes and I get up there, we can safely move around. So that's good.
It was pretty much downhill from there.
We tried to mount the heavy wooden book display rack on what turned out to be a solid concrete wall, and we didn't have the supplies for concrete.
We tried to assemble a 4'x2'x5' freestanding steel shelf for instrument storage, but the parts were less-then-precision engineered and would not latch into each other the way they were designed, despite swapping out parts for duplicates to see if maybe we had one or two bad parts. I tried unsuccessfully to assemble the unit myself; then Keith tried as well, and we both got stumped at the same step in the instructions (attaching Part A to Part B, lol), so we've ruled out user error. I'm not sure how this stupid thing has 4+ stars by 4500+ people. Don't believe it.
Since we couldn't assemble the shelving unit, we also couldn't install the 12-foot lengths of closetmaid shelving on the wall, because those tie into the shelving unit and the exact placement of the wall-mounted shelves rely on the width of the freestanding unit we land on.
......aaaaaand Kroger cancelled our click list order because they were understaffed. And they couldn't put the order back into our cart; we have to generate it again from scratch.
Luckily I have plenty of time to go grocery shopping today, Monday, August 14th, because I'm only booked solid from 7am-8pm today with a sign installation; candidate interview; new employee orientation; four hours worth of back-to-back lessons; officially withdrawing whichever Polaris holdouts haven't decided yet whether they want to withdraw, switch to virtual, or commute to Gahanna so they don't get invoiced tomorrow the 15th; and taking the dog to the groomer. |
August 13, 2023 at 10:16am August 13, 2023 at 10:16am
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It's kind of a whirlwind.
I dragged my physical person to the City of Gahanna Building Department counter again and rang the bell. It worked. The lady who hasn't responded to me in a week is apparently not tech savvy and couldn't figure out how to print me a list of contractors until she asked a more tech savvy colleague for help. I walked out with a five-page list and promptly delegated the task of weeding out pool, roofing, and other non-interior-renovation contractors to my recently-retired-and-bored father in Maryland. He's not having a lot of luck so far.
My Monday music lab candidate accepted my offer and confirmed orientation Monday. I also have an interview with another candidate Monday; I'm subbing for an absent teacher on top of my own students all night, and I have to be in Gahanna at 7am to let the sign contractor in. August 14 is going to be a very busy day.
Yesterday we hauled a large wall mounted book display (for music books for sale) from Polaris to Gahanna and would have mounted it but we need concrete screws so it's on today's agenda. We did, however, prep the target wall by taking down wall hangings and touching up the paint, and we secured the flooring in the loft (yay!!), though there are still a couple spots that need specially cut pieces off plywood. We also brought closet maid shelving from P to G, installation of that is also on today's agenda.
It's getting harder to do the physical labor every weekend, all weekend. We're tapping out earlier and deciding the next thing can wait. |
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Sunday we fixed the broken ceiling, installed the piano mural in the Gahanna music lab (relocated from the Polaris lobby), and prepped, cut and laid more flooring in the loft. None of the boards are secured yet but it's already much easier and safer getting around up there. This weekend, hubby and I will finish that so I can bring seasonal storage (holiday decorations, recital and party supplies, etc.) from Polaris and store those tubs above the Gahanna restrooms. I still have to get big plastic totes up a ladder so it's not perfect. We're looking for suspended platform freight lift options (maybe something like this? )
CEILING FIASCO (sorry it's sideways; WDC is forcing that.)
PIANO MURAL INSTALLATION IN GAHANNA MUSIC LAB:
Monday morning I reassembled the music lab (which had to be moved out of the way for the piano mural install Sunday.) Since I had the whole room apart anyway, I went ahead and ran a couple new Ethernet cables, moved the teacher's desk to the middle of the room, and set up the 10th and final student desk. My lab capacity is now officially increased from 6-8 stations (6 desks w/laptops + beanbag chair and armchair for tablet games) to 10-12 stations (once I bring the Polaris laptops and run a few more cables; currently, four stations are just empty desks.) Polaris still needs the laptops through 8/25, so I'll set up the four new stations in Gahanna that weekend. I'm also considering buying a few new laptops to replace the oldest ones still in use, since we have to set up the Polaris laptops anyway.
Monday afternoon I interviewed a music lab candidate (we like him), and Monday night I taught back-to-back lessons in two locations (going back and forth, not at the same time lol) until 8:40 PM because one of my teachers called out sick.  This is one of the reasons I'm closing my second location! I'll never have to be in two locations at once again. 
Yesterday was a much shorter day. I confirmed the sign company for removal in Polaris tomorrow (Thu 8/10) and installation in the Gahanna lobby Monday (8/14, OMG WE ARE SO EXCITED.)
EXTERIOR POLARIS SIGNAGE:
DESTINATION FOR SIGNAGE (GAHANNA LOBBY WALL):
Yesterday, I also interviewed another music lab candidate in the afternoon (we weren't a fan.) And finally, our piano tuner came to both locations and evaluated all the pianos to determine which we should keep and which we should scrap (even after we build two new lesson rooms and I take my favorite piano home, we have two too many.)
Things are moving along nicely EXCEPT for my renovation. I have one quote (received Monday, but it's missing a light switch in the new room, so I asked if that was included and haven't heard back), and I'm still looking for contractors to get two more competitive quotes. The first quote was higher than I expected (doable, budget-wise, but I don't want to overpay.) A week or two ago I posted a description of my project on Angi; only one contractor contacted me, and I think they're either a scam or just one dude and one lady trying to kick off a business that doesn't actually exist yet (no thank you.) I stopped by Gahanna City Hall last week (Wed? I think) and requested a list of contractors registered with the city who have filed permits in the last year, thinking at least then I know they have experience working with Gahanna. The dude at the Building Department counter was working by himself that day and took my info, and also gave me his biz card and a card for another lady who would apparently be the right person to get that info for me. Last Fri I emailed the lady and still have not heard back. I may have to drag my physical person to the counter again. They have a bell. I can ring it and annoy the shit out of them until they get me some names.
While all this is going on, my staff and I are swamped with processing withdrawals and schedule changes for an entire school's worth of students; setting up and advertising a free music book fair that's running through the month of August in Gahanna; re-enrolling and/or adjusting Gahanna students for the upcoming fall schedules; scheduling the electrician to replace batteries and bulbs in exit signage and emergency lights per the instructions of the fire marshal at his recent fire inspection; and teaching all my normally scheduled lessons.
Is it September yet? |
August 6, 2023 at 10:10am August 6, 2023 at 10:10am
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I might sleep through the entire month is September.
All the furniture I posted free on social media was gone or spoken for within two days. In fact, it went a little too well, and I needed to move a table back from Gahanna so my Polaris customers have a place to sit the next three weeks.
Keith and I started laying flooring over the bathrooms so I can use the space for storage. Unfortunately, he accidentally put his foot through the hallway ceiling (he thought it he was stepping on a beam, but it was just acoustic tile framing) so now we have a new project today, in addition to the item already on the agenda, which was to relocate the piano mural to Gahanna.
Almost all Polaris students have given us their preferred path forward (withdraw, switch to virtual, or switch to Gahanna.) It looks like we're keeping about 20-25% of the students. I honestly expected fewer than 10% so I'm super happy. But all the changes and withdrawals need to be processed, and reception is crazy busy so I'm helping with that. Meanwhile, I have a music lab coverage crisis for the second half of August. So that's fun.
I'm off to fix a ceiling.
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Yesterday, I:
- posted some photos furniture on FB labeled "free to a good home" and got interested parties on everything I had to post (leather furniture, book case, collapsible tables, baby changing tables.) I still have more stuff to post.
- met with the sign company who sent me a quote today, which I approved.
- processed more Open Tasks and generated a bunch of new ones by getting answers from all but two Wednesday families
- taught three hours of lessons
- took the last slate table from Polaris to Gahanna
- loaded up a desk for the finance manager and took it to her house
Two of my lab attendants notified me that they're giving up shifts, so hiring is becoming a priority. I read through some applications and have a few maybes. Now I need to reach out and schedule interviews.
Peace,
Michelle
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Yesterday, I:
- met with a contractor who looked at my Gahanna project and is currently working on a quote. He also answered questions and gave some suggestions about how to find and install a storage lift system.
- finally spoke with the sign company guy and scheduled a meeting for today on site in Gahanna about installing my Polaris exterior neon signage in the lobby of my Gahanna location. Him: "Do you want it illuminated or not illuminated." Me: ***Um, duh.***
- ran the reception desk in Polaris all night and got answers from literally every present Tuesday student to the question: Are you stopping, switching to virtual, or switching to Gahanna. I got all three answers from the population.
- processed "paperwork" (what my reception staff still calls electronic task checklists) for all the aforementioned withdrawals and changes of lesson format and/or location.
- scheduled about ten thousand makeup lessons.
- loaded up an office chair from Polaris to deliver to my finance manager's house today because it wouldn't fit in her car to take it home herself.
Also, I did NOT get enough sleep.
Peace,
Michelle |
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It looks like I last blogged in 2018, which means guitar student Emma is now 16. 😲
And the music school location where she prepared for a jazz band audition is now closing after ten years in business.
I wish I had started this sooner, but I'm using this blog to document the process of closing a business location and cutting my operation (and hopefully my workload) in half.
I've known for at least a year that I planned to close my Lewis Center location, MTMS Polaris. I signed a 10-year lease in 2013, which seemed like a good idea at the time because it locked my pricing, but then two major competitors moved into the area. And then COVID happened. And diabetes happened. And then Parkinson's Disease happened, and that was the last straw. I can't keep up with two locations anymore.
My mom, my husband, and three trusted employees knew in advance to help with logistics. I stopped hiring and advertising in Polaris, and I gradually began moving items to our other location in Gahanna. Then on July 10, I announced the upcoming closure to clients and staff. Our last Polaris lessons will be Friday, August 25. Yesterday I scheduled the piano movers for August 29, and our lease expires August 31.
I'm taking this opportunity to renovate our Gahanna location to increase capacity. Over the weekend, Keith and I dismantled the piano mural and book display rack in Polaris (to be installed in Gahanna); took Polaris lobby tables I want to keep to Gahanna and Gahanna tables I want to re-home or discard to Polaris; moved the newer, bigger staff fridge from Polaris to Gahanna; redesigned the music lab to increase its capacity; and took measurements over the restrooms so we can lay flooring and install a storage area. Yesterday, I stopped by Gahanna City Hall to talk about the planned renovation and request a list of contractors (he took my contact info and promised to get it to me); scheduled a meeting with another contractor I found a few days ago via Google search; played phone tag with the sign company to arrange taking my Polaris exterior neon signage and install it in the interior of my Gahanna location (it's going to be SO COOL); scheduled piano movers; and taught lessons.
Meanwhile, my student load has increased significantly because I stopped hiring. I figured it was temporary since they're at a location that's closing, but many of my students are switching to virtual or trying the commute to Gahanna. I'm also sitting at the reception desk half the time because I lost one of my receptionists to college and I'm obviously not backfilling her, either. And I'm still not sure who's covering my Gahanna music lab the second half of August, but that's two whole weeks away. 🤣 Low on the priority list.
And while all this biz stuff is happening, I've been seeing a speech therapist about my singing, which has been affected by Parkinson's (and possibly the first stages of menopause?) She told me I inspire her because I'm such a hard worker, so you can imagine the hours I've been dedicating to that while everything else is happening.
I'm probably forgetting a lot, but I'm glad to get this down, at least. I'll try to keep up with documentation, but for now I have to go run payroll and meet a general contractor. |
© Copyright 2024 Brandiwyn🎶 (UN: tuozzo at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Brandiwyn🎶 has granted InkSpot.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
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I don't know how you do it, but I assume there's magic involved *^*Bigsmile*^* I have really enjoyed this month of planning and preparation for NaNoWriMo and I love how organized it all is. Thank you for hosting a great challenge and for your dedication to helping so many of us prepare with confidence and trepidation for National Novel Writing Month (known to sane folks as 'November' *^*Laugh*^*) at your [Link To Item #1474311]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Organization-1150.gif)
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