Spring. When I hear the word "Spring” it brings back memories of my grandmother completely cleaning her house. Every nook, cranny, crack, curtain, all the bedding, etc., was taken down, washed, ironed, and put back into its proper place. Her house smelled wonderful when she was done. Although, I think that had more to do in my mind with the cookies and pies she was baking than the cleaning solutions used.

Spring is also a time of renewal. Even though we don’t have the dramatic change of seasons here that are found up North, if you look closely, our season has changed too. Look in the farmers’ fields and you can see lots of calves that have been born, watch the ponds and the rookeries in the river and you will start to see hatchlings. There are also plants that only bloom in the springtime.

But, what about you and me? What are we doing for our renewal? My husband and I are working to start a shovel business. He works on it during the day contacting distributors, potential vendors, retailers, manufacturers; creating the spreadsheet with financial figures and forecasts; answer telephone calls, etc. When I get home I join in him by doing internet searches for potential investors, tradeshows we can attend to show our prototypes, setting up the various accounts that will be needed, and somewhere in there, we remember to eat.

Sixteen hours of computer, talking to people, filing documents, creating files, setting up appointments. . . Wait – this sounds like my "day” job! What happened to having dinner with my husband and talking about our day, planning something fun for the weekend, inviting friends over for dinner? When did our job(s) take over? No wonder there are some days when I really just want to put the pillow over my head and go back to sleep! Don’t misunderstand; when we began the journey to start our own business, I knew there were going to be some really long days. It’s been worth every one of those long days as some really good things are starting to happen. But what have I done to help rejuvenate myself to enjoy what I’m doing; to look at it with fresh eyes?

I guess my point is that we all need to learn to use two words: "No” and "Stop”. It’s okay to turn down an invitation to join another group, not accept an invitation and take "me/us” time. Use that time to do something that you really enjoy – read the latest novel on your bedside table, go to the beach or one of our amusement parks with your family, garden, have a really nice dinner with your family. The main thing is that you turn off the cell phone, stay away from the computer and all the other devices that sometimes get in the way of allowing us to just sit on our lianas and enjoy the beauty that is around us.

May you and your families enjoy some "us” time together and may all of you have a Happy Easter and Blessed Passover.