Hurricane Katrina kept me somewhat busy and distracted. I feel like I haven't progressed in the last two weeks.

I went to class tonight and found renewed excitement. I have made a friend from class. Her name is Marla. She is also starting her business in the retail arena so we have a connection. She has a lot of positive energy and I am rejuvenated talking with her. We share ideas after class. We both agree that selling at a few festivals will give us a flavor for the public demand for our products. I have the website to check out all the festivals in the area and in the state of Florida. I have an 800 number to call to get a free credit report to ensure I don't have some bad credit sitting out there I was not aware of. There's a website that houses a list of all the wholesale clothing companies. This will be useful to call some of these companies and get competitive pricing so I know what to charge for my products. I also have a disk pact full of information and websites to visit that our instructor gave us. But my number one focus should be writing my business plan and spending time researching areas that will help me complete it. That is my number one goal.

I started my class tonight. The first class that was supposed to start last week was canceled due to the instructor was in the hospital having surgery. He looked well and healthy this evening, young too. To prove my dedication to this endeavor, I missed going to a concert tonight so I could attend my first class. It was the usual first day of class routine stuff. There are 12 others in my class, hopefully a well rounded group to get ideas from. I completed the questionaire and handed it in before I left. The questionaire asked why I as there and what I intended to accomplish from this class. All new business starts with an idea. My idea is that kid's clothes should be fun. Kids shouldn't be dressed as a mini adult (i.e. Gap), but in colorful fun clothes. I am looking for a unique line of clothes that accomplishes this... colorful, fun unique children's clothing from afar. My idea is to import kids clothes (age 0 to 5 years) from another country and sell them in the US. Now remember, I want flexible reduced hours to spend more time with my own children so I am thinking of other alternatives of distribution other than a store front. Some ideas include web, mailorder catelogs, home parties, mini fashion shows, fairs, table displays at daycares or schools, etc... My other main goal of this class is to get my business started before December 16, hopefully sooner, as that is my last day of work in Corporate America.

Yesterday I signed up for a class "How To Start Your Own Business". It starts next Wednesday. I am excited to try something different on my own. I hope this class can get me started in the right direction... that it will keep me focused on everything I need to do to get my company up and running but to also test my ideas with a group of people who have that same entrepreneurial drive who can challenge me. There was a guy in his mid-thirties that was in line ahead of me registering for the same class. I didn't notice anyone else. My idea might involve working with schools so tomorrow I meet with the administrator at my children's daycare to understand the process. I feel like I am starting a research project at school.

I still haven't found out when my last day at work is. I keep asking.