3 Weeks and Still Standing

It's Friday night, we've made it through 16 days! I have to say it has been the hardest thing that I have done, so far in my life, yet one of the most rewarding.

It's funny how your perspective on things can change. Working my "day job" is like a vacation. It is a relief, because I don't feel completely incompetent on a daily basis. I would like to say that it has been a snap, but I'm journaling because I am hopeful that in a few months I won't remember the "growing pains" unless I look back. Days at Lily's started out as 10-15 hour days. By the time that I crawl into bed at night every part of my body aches and I am so mentally exhausted that I want to cry. I am weary from an honest days work. But as tired as I am I have never felt more challenged and more balanced in my life.

The first week I expected to be fun and exhilirating. I quickly found that there were not enough hours in the day. The guage for the first week was that we were so over whelmed that we were close to tears...those were the good days. Then there were the bad days. The days that we felt so utterly stupid that we hit the wall. Days that we wanted to return the restaurant and quit. A kind word of support or a hug and we were brought to tears. But after the tears we regrouped, dusted ourselves off and tried again the next day. And we will continue to try until we get it right.

Each day gets a little easier, and we are starting to find our own rythm to the place. Even though this has been challenging, I feel more balanced and centered then I have in a long time. The staff are amazing, and the people are amazing. It brings me joy to meet the wonderful people that come into the store. To me it is a simple pleasure and an honest pleasure. I feel blessed. I am hoping that the coffee shop will be a place for friends and family to gather.

We are still working out the bumps. And there have been some big ones. When we took over we had to let one of the full time staff go, as a business decision. One of the other full time gals took 3 weeks of vacation right after we took over. We provided the staff with a welcome letter, identifying us as police officers. Two quit when they recieved the letter. So in essence we lost about 4 of our knowledgeable staff (about half the staff). The two that quit were probably for the best, but we certainily struggled the first few weeks. I wonder how many customers we have lost, and if it is about Karma. Then it makes you wonder what your karma to the world is.

Each day we make small strides. We still have a long way to go, but we have made progress. We got the payroll set up (what a royal pain!!!), most days we remember to pick up the bread, and after we ran out of about everything we're finally figuring out what and how much to order. We have 3 weeks of daily sales that are piling up and not yet entered into our accounting software. We have no idea how much money we have coming in versus going out...But we are getting there.

-K