A miserable blog.

Yesterday was not a nice day, I was not expecting the day to be great but it actually ended up being worse than my original fears. The day started with the realisation that there was no food in the fridge so no breakfast and no cash to buy breakfast due to being skint. After the missed breakfast it was off to pick my mum up for her friends funerals: Jane was a lovely lady and the funeral service was as nice as it could possibly have been, Jane was cremated in a beautiful wicker coffin bedecked in fresh primroses and other hedgerow flowers which Jane would have loved, I was amazed at the bravery of Jane's children as they stood up and read their individual speeches. My thoughts are still with Jane's family particularly her children and her husband.

After the funeral both Mum and I had to return to work, having a funeral first thing in the morning doesn't exactly start the day off well but I hoped my mood would improve as the day went on. The working day mainly involved chasing payments owed to the business, Plymouth City Council owe me quite large sum of money but 'forgot' to get the cheque sent out last week so I now have another 5 days to wait for it and ten another 3 days for it to clear, Plymouth College of art and design owe me money from December which they have found an array of excuses for not paying yet, Plymouth University are shut for Easter so can't send any payments out, I could go on but I wont. The result is that as a small business I simply do not have the cashflow to keep my head above water if I am not paid what is owed to me. Still, things could be worse.....

I left work at about 6.30pm still feeling a little miserable and decided to opt for an evening on the sofa to wallow in my own pity. At 8.30pm Rosanna called me to break the news that we had had the till robbed for the 2nd week running and this time a lot of cash had been taken. I felt sick. If things were bad financially before they were now looking dire, I have no money to pay myself for Aprils wages so can't pay my mortgage payment. What is yet more frustrating is that I should have the money but I have been let down by the overdue invoices and so am short of cash. The robbery has just added to the severity of the situation and the costs of the robbery have now doubled with the cost of extra security measures, new keys and locks and the fact that the thieves stole some of the tickets for our pending birthday ball.

What makes things worse is the feelings a robbery leaves behind, we have such a lovely friendly atmosphere at the art of dance and that has been shattered resulting in everyone being on their guard and not feeling safe on the premises. Myself and the rest of the team work so hard to make things work here so the theft is a very personal blow to all of us.

For the reasons mentioned above I am not feeling great today, I would like to say that at least I am fit and healthy but a trip to the doctors tomorrow to be referred back to my specialist may indicate otherwise. I have directed some of my bad mood towards my local MP Linda Gilroy who gave me a very unsatisfactory response to a recent letter I sent her, I am sure she will not enjoy the letter I sent back to her today and perhaps I will share that letter with you in a future blog.

I must say a huge thank you to the lovely Amytree for coming into work this afternoon and dragging me out for a half pint to stop me wallowing too much and for reminding me that there is lots to look forward to.

Hopefully I will be in a better mood for blogging soon, so apologies for the doom and gloom in the meantime.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x