Black Pearl Creation’s Blog

I remember years ago my mom telling me she could not do what I do. I told her “Yes, you could.” What few understand is that anyone can do what I do. The simple fact of the matter is no one WANTS to do what I do. Forced against a brick wall, it’s amazing what one can accomplish.
A girl at my job is pregnant and she came in to give me the mail and her, myself and my boss started chatting. My boss always has a “stupid” (as I call them) comment to make. This time, he wanted to extol the fact that I probably “whined” during my pregnancies. That touched a nerve. As I restrainingly told him, I had no choice but to be alone in my pregnancies and to raise my children. Unfortunately, I didn’t choose that “perfect” man to be my husband and father to my children. Yesterday, at the rally for Barack Obama, I saw an ex-girlfriend of mine (that’s another post in and of itself). She has one teenage son. No toddlers, no working 24/7, no daycare, no potty training, no crying. She could have had more than that one son but she “chose” not to. Jealous? Of course. I long to be able to just up and go, have extra money, have a clean house and car.
I’ve always been told that I am a super woman. I (now) have 2 children. I work a full time job. I attend an Ivy League school on a part time basis. I am also creating and maintaining a clothing line and the responsibilities that go with promoting and growing the line on the business side. Sometimes I feel like Black Pearl Creations is another child of mine.
Now with the holiday season staring me in the face, I have orders to complete, events to prepare for, programs to set up and I am now 5 days away from my self-initiated deadline for completing the Iola sweaters (notice the plural) for reviewing. I set a 4 week deadline for each order. With my son’s football, his school, crazy neighbors and more responsibilities at work, I am way behind schedule. I am now at a point where I have to reassess my priorities and obligations. However, if I don’t complete the tasks and accomplish the goals, no one else will.
Obviously, my first obligation is to my children. Their physical, mental and emotional well-being are paramount to my own peace of mind and sanity. After that, my obligation is my outside job. Right now, it pays the bills and I can’t afford to lose it. My next priority is Black Pearl Creations. I want to grow the company to the point of having a “signature” look. This will aid in making Black Pearl Creations so successful that I can actually pass it along to my children.
I want 2008 to be a breakthrough year for the company. The Alvirne Craft Fair is October 25th. The Holly Day Fair is December 6th. For both events, I want plenty of the Hat and Scarf Sets. Since my environmental awareness, all of my creations are made with more luxurious fibers. So cashmere, mohair, merino wool silk and other fibers will be staples of the Hat and Scarf Sets. I plan on having a couple of the Iola sweaters available at these events as well. I know how I want my booth set up but if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise would it? I just found out from Kim Beasley on Twitter about another option on getting my line in front of more people. It takes time to set up and it looks like a good non-date Friday (which is every Friday) night project.
Seeing my ideas/plans in writing and in public view now makes me accountable to get these goals accomplished. I guess I am against the brick wall again.