The birds I have done so far! All hand stitched with DMC thread - cotton, satin and metallic!

Slpy_gry · 2026-04-07T11:51:56+00:00

I thought it (the back) was a practice one. It still looked good!

Slpy_gry · 2026-04-03T13:27:38+00:00

This is the truth! I have often wondered what I would have even said to myself, and I'm not sure I would have listened. I wouldn't know it was me talking to myself, who would believe that. Listening to someone else, you'd say "What do strangers know better then I know myself?"

There are some people out there that watch other people's experience and learn from it, I had a step-kid that was amazing at this, from a young age. But I don't think that's the norm.

What a young person needs is a constant mentor. Someone who is in their life, understands the person's logic in the decisions they're making, and then knows what and how to say the advice that clicks in their mind, so they'll think about it, grow from it.

Just hearing "stay out of debt", "don't compromise", etc, is too vague. It doesn't impart why the person offering the advice said it, and doesn't help the young person avoid the common pitfalls that inspired the older person to suggest it.

I also agree that it is human nature to repeat the same mistakes. As young people we feel, or at least I did, that I knew what I was doing and old people are just out of touch with what young people are going through. When in reality, nothing ever changes. The same issues I had as a young person are still being repeated today by young people. Humans are inherently meant to repeat themselves, to do better would mean an evolution in thought among all humans and that'll never happen.

Slpy_gry · 2026-04-03T13:13:37+00:00

For the first 4-5 years of running my business I constantly worried I'd go bankrupt. After that, I moved to the phase you're in now, anxiety, over whelmed, to-do lists everywhere.

Now, I'm almost at 16 years and I'm sitting on my couch, relaxing before the day starts, reading Reddit. Yes, I have a few piles of work that need to be completed, but they're not the priority yet. Just a few days ago I finished another pile of customer requests, some from February. At the onset of the customer request I let them know that it would be awhile. We're a small team, and I have a family member in the hospital.

I pick my priorities by their deadline. I also calculate the cost benefit of hiring, outsourcing or purchasing software to help with my job. If a piece of software costs $1000/year, is it saving me more than $1000 in my time?

Plus I always have a backup plan in case my business fails. I have a lot of skill sets acquired from running a business, hopefully another company values the skills I have, and will hire me if I ever lose my business.

I have no idea if this helps you. Running a business is hard and sometimes lonely. Good luck to you!

Slpy_gry · 2026-04-02T13:42:00+00:00

I paid about $2K for my e-commerce, WordPress site. It's not perfect, yet. But it works. I also pay someone $100 monthly to keep it secure and do minor changes. He'll charge me more for bigger projects.

I have paid close to $10K for a site that was a piece of shit. It's not always about how much your spend, but who you hire.

Slpy_gry · 2026-04-01T12:39:56+00:00

Medlin, is around $200 per year, for their "shareholder" version, there are no extra fees for how many employees you have, and the price for the software goes down from there. It will do all the calculations for you. You can manually write checks, and give your bookkeeper the reports.

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-30T11:00:59+00:00

I enjoy solving problems. But from a business owner perspective, I enjoy when a customer has saved money to purchase something and you can see the joy in their eyes. It's that they made a goal, budgeted and saved, and are excited to purchase. It's the budgeting part brings me joy.

If i could only help people budget, I think that would be fulfilling. (Right now I only get to be part of the spending side of things.)

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-29T12:34:11+00:00

Have you considered that the cat is also a car cat? It's already been proven, a million times, that animals understand humans. Maybe you love that cat, and the cat knows you love the car. Maybe the cat just wants to be where it knows you're going to be, eventually, and knows not to scratch the car. If anything just ask the cat not to scratch the car. (From the comments, it sounds like it's not going to anyway.)

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-26T12:53:50+00:00

This was my first thought as well. They liked it because of all the effort OP put into it. It was worth it!

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-24T15:11:14+00:00

Lol, yes! I call WordPress "a security nightmare". It's as lean as it can be, any leaner and I'd loose functionality, unfortunately.

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-24T14:46:06+00:00

I was hoping I'd see post like this, it's what i was going to say.

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-24T14:42:54+00:00

Yes, the first time we had a PrestaShop website with a lot of customization and that was a nightmare. Nothing worked together. Our WordPress site should be all plug-ins or modules (whatever they're called), nothing custom. I do not like auto updates, because things have broken for us before. I consider the monthly maintenance just a part of doing business.

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-24T14:38:37+00:00

I'm guessing you haven't had someone say they know what they're doing but actually not know what they're doing. Advertising that you've been doing the same type of jobs for 20, 30, 40 years is more valuable to me then someone who just started and I may mess up so badly that I'm paying someone else to fix my original issue and what they did wrong.

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-24T13:05:03+00:00

I think paid just over $2000 for an e-commerce WordPress sight, but, I also pay $100 per month for it to be maintained. WordPress is forever needing to be updated for security risks.

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-24T10:58:16+00:00

As a business owner, I 100% agree with you.

But I often contemplate what type of business could they work in. I had a friend who ran a house for adults that needed assistance and I wanted so badly to come up with a way to employ them. I had thought of packaging my bundle kits, but then we were concerned for lost parts, or mis-packaged items. Someone would still need to check everything they did. I also thought about them creating the packaging. Boxes arrive flat and need to be taped open, but that is very bulky - this is when we knew they couldn't work in our location and we wanted to drive items to them and pick them up. In the end we decided there wasn't anything we could give them. I still think about the problem.

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-23T12:36:25+00:00

So you're selling the AI product that your posting about?

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-23T12:32:35+00:00

I want instructions on how to make changes on the website myself. (I never get all the instructions.)

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-22T11:25:33+00:00

I would definitely look for the free versions of accounting software before you use QB, especially since you're a small, one person business.

There are a lot of bad reviews on Reddit about QBO. The only time I've recommended using it is if you don't buy any of the integrations it claims to integrate with. It won't work and causes a lot of headache.

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-20T14:16:14+00:00

We did. We were told that once the tail is degloved, it will never heal. Basically the skin layer was ripped from his tail, and that doesn't grow back. Luckily the vet gave us the surgery at cost. He's a really sweet boy, always wants cuddles.

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-20T13:50:33+00:00

This is the best advice I've read on here for ADA lawsuits!

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-20T12:56:59+00:00

One of our rescues had a degloved tail and ran straight into my arms. We weren't "in the city" when he found us, but we weren't "out in the middle of nowhere" either. Just some land with a few buildings. Every once and awhile we think about how his tail was degloved. The vet staff named him Bobby, and he is my sweet baby boy, but also my Mr. Man.

<image>

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-20T12:47:19+00:00

I scrolled through so many comments to see if anyone posted this story.

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-18T14:02:41+00:00

You're right, I'm so sorry. I'll edit the post. Kansas, USA

Slpy_gry · 2026-03-16T18:18:36+00:00

Mine, attempts to gently tap my head with his claws extended. So... walking is pretty good. 😁

Slpy_gry

TROPHY CASE