Back in town

We got back to Houston yesterday after 2.5 weeks visiting my parents up in Omaha.  I had 3 big boxes of inventory waiting for me when I got here, so tomorrow will be spent getting those items logged into the computer.  I am really hoping everything gets here in time for opening day!  Speaking of opening day, I have been saying August 2009, but haven't actually said an exact date yet.  So, with the need for a deadline at hand, I am telling you all that opening day will be August 11th!  Now that it is official, I think I'll work better.  I always work better with a deadline.

What I've been busy with:

• Had a marketing meeting with a good friend while up in Omaha who was a marketing major in college.  She gave me awesome ideas and helped me come up with great questions to ask when deciding where to market.
• Opened accounts with 2 new companies and placed 2 new wholesale orders.
• Prepared 3 more orders to place this week.
• Uploaded products to the website (please note that while the category headers are visible on the website, the products are not.  I will activate them on the 11th!  Until then, they are there, but invisible...oooo, sneaky...)
• Created my business paypal account.  I went back and forth whether or not to use paypal to accept credit cards, or go with a gateway such as Authorize.net, and in the end went with paypal simply for ease at the beginning.  As things get going, I may look further into the gateway option...
• I am still hemming and hawing with Quickbooks.  Right now, I just have the free version.  I went with that to learn the ropes, but am thinking I may need some of the options in the pro version.  Does anyone have any advice with bookkeeping?  Is Quickbooks better than Quicken?  Is there something else you'd recommend?  
• I have been working on the FAQs section of the website.  Still more to come, but a good start....

Whew, that's a lot.  I found I work best at night.  Which is good and bad--bad because I should be sleeping, good because the house is quiet and the baby is (usually) sleeping.  Tonight is probably a sleeping night.  The baby had a rough night last night adjusting to being home after traveling, so in turn, Lucas and I had a rough night as well.  Here's to a good night sleep for everyone tonight!

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