I had the best day at work. I opened up the studio nearest to home (love when I don’t have to manage the long drives) and hurried through my commitments. I had several customers that were sneaking in before the snow arrived and the studio was hopping and happy.
Before I took off for the day I was able to paint a few pieces. I’ve had some gifts I’ve been wanting to make and finally made the time to paint them. I’m excited to see them fired.
As I pulled into the garage big, fluffy snowflakes started to fall. I love it! I love the snow and can really appreciate a good spring snowstorm. While everyone else curses the weather, I bundle up, turn on the fireplace and love every minute of it.
We received an email at 6 am that school was cancelled for the day. Over 500,000 students were effected by the closures across Colorado. A young woman, obsessed with the Columbine tragedy, caught a flight from Florida to Colorado and immediately purchased a gun. There was a state-wide man-hunt and the threat was taken very seriously. I’m grateful that so many schools were closed including our own. Nothing is more important than these girls of ours.
Being small business owners has it challenges and days like these are at the top of the list. Businesses still have to be opened. We can’t call in sick. We always have to show up.
Annabelle chose to go to the kitchen with B and Gwyneth joined me at the Aurora studio. I tried to talk Annabelle into coming with us, but she loves the kitchen and is an amazing help to her dad.
Our morning was very quiet. Everyone seemed to be laying low and those who did come in to paint were very solemn. Around 10:30 am the news broke that the threat had been contained. A relief seemed to spread across the city and the studio quickly filled as parents felt more comfortable leaving their homes with their children.
Gwyneth and I worked our tails off. That girl continues to impress me with her work ethic. She does it all and even better, she does it all with a smile. I could tell my customers were impressed by her too. Many made a point to tell me what a kind and hard-working employee I had with me today. My heart soared.
Tis’ the season of crazy work schedules. I have a few really busy times over the year Thanksgiving week, Christmas break, Mother’s Day and spring break. We just survived spring break which was spread over nearly the entire month of March between all the studios. Well, most of us survived. For some of my employees it’s just too much and I always have turnover after the hecticness. I’m happy to report the good ones tend to stick around though.
The girls each had a friend join us for a movie this morning. We went to see Wreck It Ralph 2, which I was actually pretty excited about because I thought the first one was really cute. About 10 minutes in I feel asleep! Oh my! I don’t know if it was a reflection of the movie or the fact that this time of year is just exhausting. I don’t think I slept long, but I did get a nice little nap out of it.
B opted out of the movie to get some work done, but met up with us for lunch afterwards. We enjoyed PF Changs which is right next door to the theater. It’s Gwyneth’s favorite and Annabelle tolerates it. Annabelle doesn’t really love asian food, which is kind of a bummer because it’s a fam favorite for the rest of us.
The girls enjoyed time with their friends and had a pretty low key afternoon.
We finished off the evening with a holiday dinner celebrating my Westminster studio staff. We met up at 3 Margaritas which was easy and fun. It was great to get everyone together, although we had two employees miss out because of finals. I figured it was pretty promising that so many were able to join us at this hectic time of year.1
Meyered...With Children 