This is going to be a shameless promotion, so apologies to anyone looking for an opinion piece about local happenings.
Instead, I would like to invite you to our open house and ribbon cutting for Kentucky Sign Center – Columbia, which will be held Wednesday at 3 p.m.
I’ve been in the newspaper business for 35 years. My husband, Donnie, has been in the trucking business for most of our marriage and the majority of those years as an independent owner/operator.
Kentucky Sign Center – Columbia, however, is our first endeavor to work together professionally. Now, don’t you want to drop in and see how that is going?
I will go ahead and share the details. It’s actually been pretty great.
Donnie and I have been married for 42 years. Somewhere along the way we figured out how to get along well together.
Our new life has taken some adjustments, but it’s been more painless than I expected. The change I was most concerned about was the fact that for years I usually went home to an empty house several nights a week.
When you live like that, you get set in your ways. I was able to keep my house clean – everything in order. I would stay at the office until late at night – or early morning hours – and never needed to let anyone know.
That’s all different now, but it doesn’t bother me like I thought it would. Amazingly, I like having him at home!
The co-worker thing is working out great, too, and I give Donnie credit for most of that. He is much more patient than I am. Frankly, I think he just overlooks me.
I have a tendency to compartmentalize. My to-do list is always super long. Therefore, I try to focus on the priorities and complete what I am doing before I move on to the next fire that needs extinguished. I don’t really get over-stressed as much as I get single focused.
So, if you show up while I am working on, say, Project A, and you want something for Project C, I probably only pretend to hear you.
That means I will either completely forget that you brought up Project C or I will remember you said something and have to come back and ask you what you said. Or in Donnie’s case, I will have to ask what dimensions he wrote on a sticky note he thought I would still be able to find.
In all honesty, it’s been a great opportunity for us to start this business together in conjunction with our friends, Jay and Claudia Nolan, of London. The Nolans have years of experience in making custom signs for businesses, churches, organizations and individuals, so when they offered us the opportunity to team up with them, we were honored with their trust in us.
We still have some things to learn, but we have a great team backing us up. I’m really enjoying the aspects of the sign business that are different that the newspaper business. I’m designing more and love it (I don’t do the newspaper designing and it’s not my strength).
Donnie and I laugh about the fact that we will never look at a sign the same again. I look at fonts, visibility and effectiveness and he looks at materials and installation details. We see the world around us so differently now!
We hope you will stop by and see us Wednesday at 3 p.m. There will be refreshments and gifts, and we would love for you to participate in the ribbon cutting. The Nolans and the Community Voice crew will be there to greet you, too.
Thank you for supporting the work we have done, and I hope you will join us for the newest adventure!
