156. N is for New Beginnings

O is for OMG.  P is for Pretty Scary.  Q is for Quell my fears.

Yes, I'm accelerating the ABC-Along along.  Heh.  I just had to get that redundancy in there.  (did you catch it?)

But anyhoo.  Yes.  New beginnings.  Life changes.  Fairly big ones. Good ones. I think. Relax, some of you:  It's to do with work.   

To that end, I'm looking for recommendations for easy-peasy billing and scheduling software.  Got any?  I just know you do.

I'm excited.  Well, excited and scared.  (bonus points if you recognize those lyrics.)   

This is a cheat out of an N entry, for it has no photo.  So I'll give you a legitimate N some other day. And those Os, Ps and Qs were just for kicks.  As in kick ass!  I know, I know, I'm sounding a little bit whacked out.  It's all good.  I promise. 

And no, it's not that I'm starting a jam-making empire, though if you looked in my kitchen and freezer, you might be forgiven for thinking otherwise. 

Can I help it if the rosa rugosa are particularly floribundant this year?

So... you will notice the mottled light pink ones, I imagine.  I decided to do a batch with white petals, just to see what would happen.  Well, when I was about to put in the pectin, it all looked rather like .... um.... well, never mind.  So I threw just a few red petals into the blender with the mix, and it made it all nice and soft pink with little flecks of deep rose.  Kind of nice.  However, in the jar, I'm not so sure.  It might look a little bit like red roe instead of red rose.  But hey!  You won't know if you don't try, right?!  It still tastes great.

And then there are the new plastic freezer jam jars by Ball that I bought.  Quite nifty.  Lighter; no worries about broken glass; they have reusable screw tops; and they lock and stack.  But the jam doesn't look half as nice in them.  Nuts. 

Come to think of it, I think this is your N.  Then again, N could be for Now Norma is Her Own Agent. 

Comments

[Kristen]

Woo, hoo! You did it! Congratulations!

[Carrie]

Yay, Norma! Good luck with your work endeavor - that's so exciting! And your jam looks beautiful. I've never tasted rose petal jam, but I'm intrigued now.

[sandy]

I heard these wise words today from someone special and I give them back to you.
Mwah! I love ya! That is all. xo
Wise words. :D

[Nora]

Can't wait to hear all about it, Norma. Or should I say Norma, LLC? ;)

[Carol]

Congratulations!!

[AnnaMarie]

Gorgeous! Gotta say I like the glass jars much better than the plastic.

[Carole]

R is for Relax! And G is for Good for you.

[Paula]

Way to go, Norma! No one looks out for your best interests like you do.

[Adelaide]

Good for you, N!!! Your potential clients already know you and that's half the battle. Very smart move. Best of luck!

[CindyCindy]

Congrats wild woman! The easiest (and, least expensive) accounting software I know is Quickbooks Pro. If you are not an accountant it is easy to learn and all accountants know how to work with it. There are many other kinds of accounting software, but QB is the easiest I know. And, good for you!

[Teresa]

Wow, the jam always looks so pretty!

Go Norma! Go Norma!

[Ruth]

You're heading off Into the Woods, aren't you? ;)

[Ruth]

p.s. Your new endeavor will go beautifully. If you're ever nervous, just tell yourself that "I Know Things Now".

[margene]

Once you get everything in place you'll be very happy you took the step. The jam looks so beautiful!

[Elizabeth]

Didn't Eleanor Roosevelt say, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”?
Good luck with it.
The jam looks very pretty in all the containers but I'd hate to see your rose bushes. They must be bare.

I feel like a cheater for skipping J, because I'm stuck and I want to catch up and now look at this.
As my husband said while helping me fill the long overdue raised veggie beds and listening to my comments on your greens, "There's no keeping up with The Norma!"

[Manise]

I snipped some roses whole last evening and gently placed them in a Tupperware container like one would do a corsage. I'll pluck the petals today and make jam! This when I should be doing other things! Worse comes to worse I'll float those beauties in a nice bowl and enjoy them as Eye and Olfactory Candy :-)

[Diana]

When I was in private practice (before buying a yarn store) I always liked Timeslips. Not too expensive. Very easy to use. Bills intergrate with quicken or quickbooks. I believe it handles scheduling, but I don't recall. They usually have a free 30 day demo you can play with. Good luck and happy jamming!

[Emily]

N is for Nutsy Norma straying from the path in Into the Woods.

[jessica~]

Congrats!! I read "Fairly big ones" as "big family ones" and though, holy crap, is Norma pregnant? Ha ha... sorry.

[Jean E.]

I want to make that jam! Seriously though, how do you measure out a cup of rose petals? Do you have to smoosh them in or just kind of lightly pack them?

[Vicki]

Woo!! So happy, scared, excited for you!

[ShadowDancer]

Way to go!
How exciting.... exciting and scary!
May it be all you want, and more.... and may all the bad things skip you

[Miriam]

Norma, I have a friend who is just CRAZY about all things rose, and I bet she'd love to try the rose petal jam. Can I buy a small jar off of you?

[--Deb]

Into the Woods!! I think I have that entire soundtrack more or less memorized. (And it is SO much fun to try to sing along to, love those lyrics.) Hmm, come to think of it, it's on my MP3 player right now....

And, your jam looks delish.

[moiraeknittoo]

Good luck to you on your new venture! Also, love, love LOVE the idea of this jam. Mmmmm.

[Beebs]

N is for Nice... "nice is different than good"
And Best of Luck in your new adventure!

[Erika]

I bought some of those plastic jars to use Saturday! Not as cute, but cheaper, and more sturdy.

I was actually going to ask if you had experimented with white petals. There are two rugosas out here:

1. The pink one, which is prettier but doesn't smell as nice
2. The white one, which isn't as pretty, but smells amazing

I was thinking about mixing pink and white petals - and lo, Norma has already done so, and reported back! Good bit of blogging, there!

[Rachel]

Congratulations! I read someone suggested quickbooks, I think Quicken Home and Business may be enough for your needs (unless you will decide to start selling that nice look jam and have inventory too,,, or if you are going to have employees) The two are Intuit programs so you can check in their web site and decide which one will serve you best. Good Luck!!!

[Cookie]

Yay!

I'm so proud of you. Also a little afraid of using light pink petals now. o.O

[Sara G-L]

I have been using QuickPooks Pro for years. It's a very intuitive program so it's really easy to set up and use. I highly recommend it.
I have no rose bushes but am trying to get some petals from a friend in exchange for some jam. Thanks for mentioning the plastic canning jars. Never heard of them but will look for them now!

[cari]

You had me going there with that title. Hurray for new beginnings! (Should I whisper worries about toxins from plastics in your ears or just let it slide?)

[Evalyn]

Excellant Adventure, Dude. QuickBooks Pro is easy to learn, interfaces with other software, including IRS and most tax packages. Nothing like a little Change of Life Plan to get the juices flowing, jump you out of your rut and give you a new perspective. Good Luck.

[Birdsong]

Good luck on your new adventure!

[Angel]

Love the way the jam looks.... I also got those plastic canning jars (at Target- I think) and they are great. I used them for soups as I am single and make huge pots of french onion and black bean soup so that on days when I get home totally exhausted, I can just pop the soup block into the pan and heat. I used to use regular old tupperware but my soup always got all freezer-burned. Not so in the plastic canning jars. I am personally in love with them, so its cool to see that other people are using them.

[Julie]

Congratulations!

[JessaLu]

Congratulations :o) I use QuickBooks for my billing (and for my bookkeeping clients and their billing...) ;o)