Friday, March 5, 2010

A ho-hum day


Today was my day to work at the Farmer's Insurance agency where I am a bookkeeper. It's not my favorite job, but at least it provides a somewhat steady paycheck. It feels a little demeaning sometimes, knowing I have an MBA and yet I'm doing bookkeeping, filing, copying, and faxing. Eventually I will be a Farmer's agent, but not for a few weeks yet. I wonder what joys that will bring....




Tomorrow is grooming day again, and I can't wait! Apparently lots of little dogs, which are so much easier to do than big dogs. Well, sometimes they are, if they're used to be groomed.




Sales are still good in my shop, although they've slowed down somewhat. Not really sure why, but it looks like felted bowls in general aren't being made with as much frequency. I usually love looking at everyone else's felted bowls, but lately very few new things are being posted. I just posted my first orange bowl--and then realized that my photos of it SUCK. LOL Oh, well, hopefully someone will see the charm in this great bowl.....

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

The evil eBayer!

I have finally had my first negative eBay experienced. After years and dozens of purchases, the Evil eBayer has struck!

After committing to purchase an item from this person, I accidentally double-clicked the PayPal "pay" button, sending $122.36 TWICE. The seller immediately promised to refund my money, but here it is, 11 days later, and nothing. My last communication from her was three days ago, when she promised yet again to send money.

My friend and boss at the grooming shop has had almost 100% bad experiences with Etsy sellers, which I think is truly awful. Sellers who don't hold up their end of the bargain give us HONEST sellers a bad name!

Friday, February 26, 2010

More on dog grooming

One of the worst experiences in dog grooming? When a customer neglects to pick up their dog. This is happening to my boss right now. Her husband had to go to his second job, leaving my boss and her young son at the shop until 1:00 am. All because someone left their dog at the shop. The lady probably won't even tip her!

Oh, yeah, another thing--always tip your groomer unless they do a terrible job! If you tip your hairdresser, you should also tip your groomer. Groomers don't get into this business for the money. It doesn't pay well, and it can be gruelling, thankless work. So put a little sunshine in the day of someone who loves your dog almost as much as you do!

On dog grooming


Most of you probably don't know this, but I am a part-time dog groomer. Yes, it's an odd profession for an accountant with an MBA, but it's definitely a huge passion of mine! I work at a small mom and pop shop here in Albuquerque called Bath Brush and Beyond (isn't that a cute name?).


I used to own my own shop and loved it, but the economy shut me down two years ago. My five-year-plan is to earn enough money to open another grooming shop.


Grooming is a profession that requires patience, compassion, skill, training, and a bit of artistic flair. A lot of folks don't realize how much work goes into grooming a dog. Many dogs are very good on the table, but I get my fair share of dogs who don't want their legs shaved, dogs that pee on the table (and sometimes me!), dogs that are horribly matted because they don't get brushed daily, and dogs that just plain don't want to be groomed--these are the ones that often bite. Can you imagine trying to give a haircut to someone with terribly tangled hair who is trashing around trying to bite you? LOL It can definitely be challenging!


I was thinking this morning of breeds I don't enjoy grooming. Maybe that's a negative slant on things, but I honestly do love most breeds. The ones I don't particularly like are German shepherds (they are VERY nervous and difficult to wash and dry), Pekingnese (tend to bite a lot), labs (they aggravate my allergies way too much), and Pomeranians (just because when you cut their coats short it's very difficult to get a smooth look). My boss hates doing cocker spaniels, but I love them. I also don't do Bichons, but only because my scissoring technique hasn't progressed to the point where I can give a good haircut.


My favorite breeds to groom are Golden retrievers, cocker spaniels, shih-tzus, and miniature poodles. There's just something so satisfying about giving a poodle a good clean face with a sweet topknot above. 8)


Well, that's my spiel on grooming for now. I'm sure I'll have more to say in days to come!

Friday, January 29, 2010

It's been a while!

I haven't been blogging at all lately, too much going on. Right now I am still working as a dog groomer but also working at a Farmer's Insurance Agency and studying to get my insurance agent's license. It's slow and tedious, but it's coming along. So I'm working five-six days a week but still managing to crochet quite a bit.

As far as my shop goes, things have definitely picked up in the last month. For some reason, there weren't very many Christmas sales, but January has been awesome! I've finally noticed that the majority of my sales are made on weekends, which makes total sense. That's when people have time to get on Etsy to shop. I think I'm averaging about two sales a week so far, and that far surpasses my expectations. These bowls are definitely the way to go.

Next I want to learn how to needle felt. It looks like fun, and so many things can be made that way. I'd also like to upgrade the wool yarn I use. There's a great shop in Albuquerque called Village Wools that is on my list of places to visit as soon as I have the money. Maybe even next week! Hopefully they will have felting needles and I can kill two birds with one stone. Can't wait to go!