The new job...

Carrabba's is going smoothly. Honestly, the training is grueling; five days of classrooms and memorization of the entire menu. The menu test was eight pages full of blank lines...yes, you had to read the menu item and then describe it to a "T." However, I passed with a "very well" from the trainers who were brought in from out of town. This is serious stuff.

My first three days on the floor by myself brought in enough to meet our weekly budget! I stressed a bit last night, but one of my wonderful coworkers said, "It's only food. It's only food." I calmed down a bit. I worked a twelve hour shift on Valentines day and the day after I worked an eleven hour shift. The next time your server looks or acts a little stressed out or "out of it" think of how long they may have been there. One of the cooks had only been AWAY from the restaurant 5 hours in 3 days! No joke.

Our Etsy business is going well. Sales are slow, but so is the economy. We're trying to keep our thinking caps on and are wondering what we should do in order to not only boost sales for our store, but help other people get more for their money. We'll keep you up to date on those types of things.

Now to our favorite part of this blog: FEATURING

My wife just purchased some beautiful hand made posies made from old post cards and I wanted to get on here and talk about them. I can't wait to see them decorate our house! Seller AUTUMNTOMAY located at www.autumntomay.etsy.com is a wonderful artist and must be featured on this small, yet growing blog of mine. Her stuff is absolutely beautiful and screams creativity. Great job Autumntomay and I can't wait to see the posies!

Alright, I promise it won't be so long as I am trying to blog every other day at the very least.

Peace!

Kyle
{The Husband}

So, I took the plunge

So, my wife and I are people who pray and we asked God, "God, would you provide a way for me to be home with Sharayah and the girls?" I went into work on Monday and my boss sat us down and said to us, "I'm not sure when, but there is a good chance we could be closing down...you better start lining up possible options for other employment and see what's out there." As so many of you know, there is not much employment happening out there. I stayed home from work one day due to back pain and neck pain which was causing a headache (and had been for days...blasted mattress...it has to be the blasted mattress) and by mid-day after the pain was gone I made my way to Carrabbas. The next day they hired me! I start training tomorrow. The menu test is going to be tough...but I think I can master it.

So, I wonder if my wife and I can be featured on Etsy.com in the "Quit Your Day Job" interviews they have with people who actually leave their "steady" jobs to sell full-time on Etsy. I don't know. Anyone out there with connections, hook us up!

So, our prayer was answered. I get to be home with the family every day...I get to spend 8 hours with my girls instead of working out of the home 8 or 9 hours and spending 3 hours with them. I get to help home-school, help with The Little Quirky Shoppe, heck, I even get to work at my "day job" 10 hours a week for some extra money.

So, wish us luck and many tips...we are embarking on a new journey.

On the Etsy side of things don't forget to visit Nikkimichele at www.nikkimichele.etsy.comand check out the soccer mom's who rock. Also, you cannot forget to check out midnightjo1327.etsy.com

Alright, time to sign off and drink some wine!

Kyle
{The Husband}

Old, old Wendsday

So, I sit and wonder what life could be like if I were at home, working ETSY full time with my family. {this is the husband of Sharayah, who owns The Little Quirky Shoppe by the way.}

I sit while I eat an organic burrito by Amy's and lament not being home with the girls and the cat {My wife and our two little daughters. and our cat is named Officer Dan by the way.}

Sharayah is posting some pretty cool stuff, if anyone reads this check out the store, www.littlequirkyshoppe.com .

She went to an antique store yesterday for some materials/vintage stuff and we posted a lot last night. Still trying to figure out when the best time to post new listings though. I might have an idea, still thinking it through. Pretty much it's the mindset of morning for those cube dwellers like myself who spend the first part of the morning either wishing they were home working on their art or wanting to buy {I suspect it's a bit of both.} Then the lunch crowd doing the same and again in the late afternoon when the cube dwells spend their last 30 minutes {for some that last 30 minutes seems to take about an hour and a half.} shopping on Etsy or wishing their commute from work was across the living room and down the hall to the right. :)
Then maybe post again around 6-8 PM for our wonderful friends in Australia and Asia.
Any thoughts to this? Am I just goofy and living in a dream land?

We are going to PA in May. I honestly can't wait. We love it there. We aren't too keen on living in Florida forever. Don't get me wrong, it's nice, but not our gig.

I'm also considering making a job change. Maybe working in a restaurant like Outback or Carabbas 5 nights a week. (Mon, Tue, Thurs, Fri and Sat.) 4PM-?? I could probably make more in tips and I'd have all day with my family and of course, making a really good effort making ETSY a main source of income. Thougths on this?

Alright, I think the burrito is cooled off now so it shouldn't burn the daylights out of my mouth {I hate that} and I'll get to marketing the shoppe a bit more. Maybe I'll go for a walk too for a few minutes.

Kyle
{the husband}