Weekly Mileage #178 and a Big Step Forward in My Leather Working Business

Monday we officially started our school year. This year my goal is to be better about separating school time from work time, which I haven't done as good as I'd like the last couple years. I'm also working on getting started at a consistent time, which we also haven't been good at. I like getting started on school work earlier in the day since it means I can have the afternoon for work, but it's tiring getting up earlier. Hopefully that's just the keto flu talking (a fun part of eating low carb), in which case next week shouldn't be quite so bad as I get more adjusted to eating low carb.

Since they weren't able to do their Spring Session, the kids' music teacher has them recording one of the songs they've been working on so they can be uploaded to a central location for the students to watch. We did River's recording this week and isn't he so adorable?!

Part of eating low carb is making sure to supplement electrolytes, and I've realized I have to keep a close eye on them, especially if I've been outside. Friday morning was a little cooler, so we went down to the river, but we stayed too long again. I was so wiped out. I felt a little better after drinking some electrolytes, but I was still more tired than I'd like. I've decided to go back to  my sleep doc and see if there's anything we can do about the heat affecting me so badly.

her first hike!

I've been working on a batch of 10 buckets this week. The assembly line process really is good for identifying weak points in the manufacturing process and tightening things up.

just hanging out on a fallen tree

Thursday night we met with a few of our YW for class activities. The other leader there just launched a course on how to unschool your children (her oldest is a year older than Sunshine and she's homeschooled from the beginning as well), and she saw one of my buckets and mentioned she'd love to have me teach her kids to do some leatherwork and that she thought I could offer classes in our home to small groups.

Sunshine and her friend made a bench out of rocks and a piece of driftwood, but the wood was wet so they put large leaves on the board

As we talked, I realized this is the idea I've been looking for. I've known for awhile now that I wanted to teach some kind of online course, but I hadn't figured out who my target audience would be or even my topic. Considering that my target audience for my buckets and totes is homeschool moms, it should have been an obvious leap to teach their children the basics of leatherwork. I'm so glad she said what she did since I had managed to miss this.

just sitting on the bench

I'm not sold on the logistics of hosting in-home classes, though. Aside from the whole social distancing thing, our basement where I work is not large (and is currently cluttered with stuff Jeremy still needs to finish sorting) and people would have to traipse though the house to get there, which would mean the house would need to be cleaner than it currently is... However, the benefit of teaching this in-person first would be invaluable when it comes to recording lessons that would be available as part of a membership or course (still deciding which one- there's pros and cons to each).

little boys taking the offshoot trail that diverges, then converges with the main trail

In a membership, I'd provide new patterns and materials every other month or quarterly, along with videos on how to put that item together. In a course, I could have a variety of patterns that get progressively more difficult, and can be completed at their own speed. What will most likely happen is that I start as a membership, adding new patterns every other month or quarterly, then when I have enough, I convert it into a course, using the patterns I previously released.

There's some logistics I still need to figure out, like whether people could sign up anytime or only at specific times, which would in turn impact the materials kits and tool kits that would be needed. I don't want to be sending kits out every day- I'd rather do it all at once, every other month or so. And the kits would be an integral part of the membership so that busy parents don't have to find the tools and materials needed. They arrive at their doorstep, they watch the video, they do the project. Kind of like KiwiCrate, but a bit more involved.

my shirt arrived for the next race I'm registered for, but it's still a month away

Before I can move forward with any of this though, I need to start doing a lot more videos and get comfortable in front of the camera. I also need to source the tools to go in a beginner leatherworkers tool kit that will be offered for sale along with the videos and materials kits for each pattern. Speaking of which, I also need to come up with simple patterns that kids can hand stitch. I have patterns that would work, but they're someone else's designs and I'd need to pay royalties if I used them. I'd rather keep as much money as possible and invest in hiring people to help with other aspects of the business: social media, videography, cutting fabric and leather for products, and maybe even helping with the sewing if I can loosen up my control issues enough.

As much as I like the idea of not having to worry about employees and all the things I'd have to do for them, if I want to grow my business to the point where it replaces Jeremy's income, I will need to hire help. Some people can run a business all by themselves, but I can't do it all, especially with my health issues. And I don't want my life to revolve around my business- I want to be able to take time off. Hiring help will free me up to focus on the more enjoyable aspects as well as allow me more free time in general, which is needed since I have no desire to keep working at the pace I've been going- I would like to work a lot less each week.

Sunshine's out there on the dock, waiting to dive in and retrieve a weight off the bottom

Saturday Sunshine went to an aquatics event at the local Scout camp so she could work on her swimming merit badge. I thought about driving home, then returning to pick her up, but ultimately decided it would be a better use of my time to stay out there and just work in the car. I worked on posts for both my websites, prepped social media posts, and tried to stitch a neckerchief slide.

I'd gathered everything the night before, but forgot to put my cutting board in my tote bag with the rest of the stuff I needed. Without the cutting board I was dead in the water.

Sunshine didn't quite finish her swimming merit badge- she doesn't have the endurance for the longer required swims and wasn't able to complete them. This December we'll have her do swim lessons and build up her stamina. The council offers another aquatics event in January, so she should be able to finish the merit badge then.

The original plan had been for her to do swim team this spring to build her skills and endurance. Then she'd go to Scout camp and do her merit badge there. But we all know how this year's gone, so neither happened.

Last night we had another casualty of Oreo's teeth: one gray running shoe, size Ocean.

Add that to the chair in the library (she chewed one arm, one corner of the seat cushion, and one corner of the frame), my phone charging cord, her first doggie harness, multiple tennis balls, and every soft chew toy we've bought her. She does like to chew on things....

Weekly Mileage
Friday- 1.30 miles hiked
total- 1.30 miles

2020 totals

28 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

165.49 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
230.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
417.99 miles total