It Never Rains, It Pours ...

30 November 1999

This week has been mad. I have been so busy that I seriously don't know if I am coming or going. I go to bed thinking about what I have to do the next day and wake up thinking about what I didn't get done the day before.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was pleased that I just had a few small jobs to do. Well, this week those small jobs have all turned into a waterfall of “do this” and “do that”. Problem is that when you are in someone's house, they see an opportunity.

It is like you are there, so they see no harm in asking if you can just fix this or take a look at that. And I always put my finance hat on and agree to things I realistically have no time to complete. But will I rush a job? Oh no! I wish I could work in the slapdash way some people do, but I like to take my time and get things right.

The problem with me is that I never trust that the work will come my way. I have never not worked since I started doing this building thing. But still I feel anxiety that if I turn something down, I might not get another chance. The other problem with this is that I sell myself too cheap. I worry that I won't get the job, so I quote accordingly.

Claire goes wild about this. She says that if someone has come to me on a recommendation, then I ought to charge more as they obviously like my work. But I worry that the new client and the old one will compare their quotes and find out what a difference it is. I just open up a whole can of worms and worry too much!

So all this has meant more than a few late nights this week and all day Saturday to catch up on what wasn't done on Friday.

Then I wake up Sunday morning and it hits me....I haven't got Claire a Mother's Day present! Thankfully I woke up at the crack of dawn and was able to get the kids up quietly and rustle up something for breakfast for her. I grabbed a magazine out of the rack and told her to have a nice rest. Then I bundled the kids into the car and hit the shops.

I had to think about my own Mum too of course and ended up spending far too much money. Thankfully my Mum knows just what I am like and is happy to wait until we see her next. But I did feel sheepish explaining that I had had such a manic week. It seemed like a really poor excuse.

Still after all that and nice take-away for dinner, Claire was talking about how perfect I was and how I always put her first. Some things are just always worth the effort. I was knackered though!