I’m so busy these days it’s just crazy!

At last count I have four “jobs” … or at least four projects I’m working on that I hope will turn into money-making ventures.  The only one actually bringing in any cashola at the moment is teaching, though since I started back in mid-January I’ve only had three classes a week. I should double that amount next month, with Ricardo and Pilar (from The Team) and maybe Bosco coming back.  But even though this is not nearly enough to live on, Pip & I have already decided that the focus for me in February should be Health and New Projects.  To wit, I plan on expanding on my morning gym time next week to include working out on the machines a bit after yoga classes (M-W-F) and also starting back with Pilates classes (T-T). Monday to Thursday I’ll have English classes at home between 6-9 pm. And the rest of the time? It looks like I’m going to be crazy busy…

It just seems like I’m always working now, even when I’m not working.  I don’t even want to think about the hours I’ve put in re-doing the tapas blog and setting up the google maps. And there is still a shitload of work to be done there before it will be ready to show prospective advertisers.  Some of it has been quite fun and interesting, or at least it started out that way. For example, I was really keen on the map idea until I had to very tediously put 40 maps up – twice! – so as to have one group map and also individual ones, with each one involving adding links, photos, etc … and that job is still not finished. The idea of now having to insert 40 individual map links – twice! on both the Spanish and English posts – along with rewriting all the reviews and putting in a price rating thingy is seriously daunting.

The weird thing is that there was a time when I would have said that you couldn’t pay me enough to do such mind-numbing repetitive work, and yet now I’m spending hours and hours on this, often until the wee hours, and nobody is paying me a thing.  And although I am kvetching a little here, I’m actually loving it.

My other two “jobs” will involve working on revamping the clothing store and coming up with a 7-hour “internet starter pack” course for people who would like to waste their lives spend more time on the internet, but need help getting set up. I’ve already worked out how I could do it more time efficiently than I did with Flor, and of course I don’t expect to be drinking wine and eating crunchy organic snacks all afternoon with future clients (though I have to say those pumpkin & beet salty crisps were amazing – muchísimas gracias, Flor!).

You can’t imagine how hard it was for me to be a SICK PERSON these past nine months.  Just sitting around is not my style.  And so,  even though I don’t expect all four projects to pay off financially, it feels wonderful to have so many things to work on that truly interest me. I love feeling like there aren’t enough hours in the day … beats the hell out of looking at the clock mid-afternoon and wondering how to drag myself through until bedtime. Those three ops and the chemo really took it out of me.

Back when I was in my twenties I realised that I could only feel happy doing work that was exactly what I’d want to do when I got out of bed anyhow, whether I was being paid for it or not.  Everybody told me I was crazy, that I was being unrealistic and childish.  But I actually stuck to that notion as much as I could all my life, never straying into company jobs that might have trapped me with their cushy salaries and comfy retirement plans, and only working “just for the money” in times of dire need.

It’s quite something to think that perhaps I am almost there now.