Trade Shows, Working Late, Surgery

It's 11:50PM. I've been cleaning up some mail and researching the Natural Products Association (formerly the NNFA). We have to be members of this association if we want to exhibit at their trade show next July in Las Vegas. Can you believe it, a conference in Las Vegas, IN JULY! Go figure. We'll be at ExpoWest in Anaheim, CA, March 8-11, 2007, and are planning to exhibit at the NPA show in Vegas, July 20-22, 2007. Trade shows are a great way for us to get out there and meet our customers and show our product line. If any of you will be attending these shows, we would love to meet you, so swing by and say "hi".

Anyway, I often work late because the kids and V are in bed. Since V works all day, this is my time to get a bit done. I suppose, between the two of us, we put in from 12-16 hours per day on the business. When one of us is in the office, the other is with the kids. The kids are tended to, but V and I rarely get one-to-one time. At times I don't know if this is a recipe for success or disaster, for either the business or our relationship. Like so many parents and grandparents have said, "I wish I spent more time with my kids" or "I spent too much time at the office." V and I can say we spend time with the kids, and at the office, we just don't get time with each other. I suppose we'll be saying "I wish I spent more time with my spouse." Since we are both committed to the business and the kids, we are ok with our arrangement for now.

Daughter M has bounced back from surgery, last Wednesday. As a parent, it sure is uncomfortable to watch your child go through surgery. It was an out patient issue, so we were back home in one day, but even tho, M sure was feeling low for a couple of days. V and I found it discomforting to not be allowed into the recovery room, so that one of us could have been there when M awoke. M was very shaken up when she was being wheeled out of recovery. When she saw us, she busted into tears. It was sad. Short lived, thankfully, but sad none the less. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we all stay healthy, and in no need of surgery in the future.

Later, Brad
Herbs of Grace, Inc. website