Sometimes owning your business can distract you from other, um, more pressing life matters. More often than not, those other life matters eventually decide to press back – on your uterine wall or bladder, for instance – until you give them the props they deserve.
So here’s the official announcement on our “A-Ha!” Blog:
A-Ha! I’m 34 weeks pregnant!
For those of you not swimming in the amniotic fluid of pregnancy’s finer details, that means I’ve got about six more weeks to go before something flailing, squinty, and prolific in poopage comes out of my body, one way or another.
Allen and I couldn’t be happier about this upcoming event, and our nearly-five-year-old son is revving up to be the world’s best big brother.
However, as spousal-preneurs who depend on each other to advise on, produce, and tag team projects, planning, and workload, things can get a little sticky.
First of all, there’s no deadline more real and less forgiving than the one attached to an umbilical cord. It WILL happen, you CAN’T ignore or extend it, and once you pass it, you WILL NOT be able to go back to the way things were.
For married business owners, that means we still have to:
Generate revenue, make clients happy, plan for the upcoming weeks, months, and years, BRAINSTORM new and better ways to bring in income, make clients happy, and plan for the upcoming weeks months, and years…and we have to do it all while brain damaged, sleep deprived, and obsessed with bodily fluids and functions – both baby’s and mother’s – that don’t make for polite dinner conversation.
It wasn’t until a week or two ago that Allen and I finally stopped ignoring my ever-growing midsection and started hyperventilating. Where are we putting this new human being? Should we buy him clothes? How old does he have to be before it’s safe to spike his breast milk with Lunesta?
There’s a corner in our attic with a bunch of baby stuff in it, but I have no idea what’s there. Allen has wanted to bring it all down many times, but I keep telling him we need to finish all the household projects we’ve been putting off for the last 3 1/2 years before we invite more chaos into our happy yet humble living space.
Soooo…
We’ve knocked down walls, painted and re-carpeted rooms, made several trips to Goodwill, reorganized medicine and linen cabinets, become basket converts, shifted all big-boy toys from bedroom (soon to be shared) to playroom, transferred most of our home-office files and furniture to our newish out-of-the-home office, and created a guest room for anyone who wants to sleep at a house alive with the precious cacophonies of a crying newborn.
And somehow, through it all, we’ve managed to make more money by the end of June of 2007 than we did in all of 2006. That’s not to say we’re not paying for some of the next-level investments and “learning it the hard way” misadventures of last year, but we’re definitely making progress.
We’re proud and grateful that we’re still in business together.
More importantly, we’re still married.
MOST importantly, we’re proud and grateful to be HAPPILY married.
When we said “I do!” nearly seven years ago, we had no idea it would involve as much as it has come to involve. Who does?
Money, kids, home repairs, personal hygiene vigilance, insurance policies, quick-fix casseroles, payroll taxes, holidays, lawn mowing, Pokemon, office space, play dates, and pillow talk involving marketing lingo…
Honestly. We had NO idea.
In retrospect, that’s the biggest blessing EVER. Which is probably why we’re just getting around to admitting we’re close to the launch of Baby Boy #2.
If life has taught us anything, it’s that we’ll figure it all out along the way. And no matter how challenging the “figuring out” part can be, we prefer to do it together.
