I thought you might be interested in a typical summer day in the life of this soap maker. I can’t speak for all soap makers, but this is a pretty typical summer day for me.
The alarm goes off at 7 and I don’t want to get out of bed. (I didn’t sleep well last night. I start organizing the next day before I go to sleep and last night was like many others. Too many ideas running through my head to get down on to a list, so I keep a note pad next to my bed to write them down as they come to the surface.) I hit snooze once, get up, shower and brush my teeth because I have a 7:45 appointment for blood work. I make most all of my doctor appointments in the summer so I don’t need to take time off from my day job.
Out of the lab by 8 (Wow!) and I stop at Starbucks and treat myself to my favorite drink. Hot cocoa with a shot of espresso. Sitting at a table, I put all my notes from last night together and now have a plan for the day.
Home by 8:45 and had the house vacuumed by 9. Time to start working on soap!
I opened my emails. There was a request for a private soap making class so I set up a class for Alana. A Bed and Breakfast on the north fork of Long Island contacted me regarding specialty soaps for their guests and I followed up with that. Once the emails were done, I had some website updating to do, fixing the inventory numbers and tweaking some descriptions. That took over an hour. I called 2 chemical companies for information I needed regarding microbiological testing for lotions. I wrote a blog post.
Suddenly, it’s noon. As I break for lunch my son Steve comes in so I get to have lunch with him. A nice surprise!
At 12:30 I’m back at the computer. The notes I took as I was on the phone with the chemical companies needs to be organized. I start compiling microbiological and stability testing information for lotions, making a spread sheet so it’s easy to read. This took a big chunk of my time but I’m happy I finally have it finished.
At 3 I meet with my Diane, my graphic designer from Digho. I’m thinking about selling scented oils to match my soaps and I need Diane to design the labels. I know what I’m good at (making soap) and what I’m not (any kind of design work) and I’d rather hire a professional to do what I can’t.
We’re done at 3:30 and I stop at the bank to make a deposit and the Post Office to drop off orders. I arrived at Panera early, I’m meeting a friend for an early dinner, and I spend the time cleaning out my pocketbook and returning emails.
After catching up with Cindy, I’m at Farmingdale College at 5:30 for my night shift in the Biology department. During the summer, I work as instructional support in Anatomy and Physiology. It was a slow night, and I had time to scribble some notes that are now becoming this blog.
Home at 10:45. I made myself some tea and sat down to plan tomorrow. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I’m in bed by 11:30.
Gratitude for a typical day
I’m grateful for the time I had today (and every day in the summer) to catch up on my business. It’s interesting, I spent most of the day working on my soap business, but I didn’t make a batch of soap at all. I probably won’t make soap tomorrow either, yet I’ll be busy working on my business. That’s how it is most of the time. The making of the soap is a very small part of having a business. On a typical day I may not make soap at all, but my favorite days are the days I do.
What are you grateful for this week?
Yours in Gratitude,
Angela