Did you ever have one of those days when you just couldn’t get out of the house?

Today is one of those days. It’s a rainy Friday morning and the thought of a three day weekend is appealing. But, I have to leave because I have a 9 am at Starbucks in Westbury. I’m meeting someone who I would love to work with.

I take a shower, wake up the kids, get dressed and then go back into each of their rooms and notice that neither of them are waking up!

“Can’t I miss first period?” my daughter asks. “I have a test 2nd period and it’s a hard one. It’s a new grammatical rule that we just learned in French.”

“Oh, come on guys,” I scream. “PLEASE GET UP! I’M GOING TO BE LATE FOR MY MEETING!”

I run into the kitchen to make lunches. I don’t hear any noises. I run back into my son’s room, see him still sleeping and drag him out of bed. I lay out his clothes and tell him that we’re all going to be very late if he doesn’t get up.

It’s 7:30 am. We need to be at both schools at 7:45 am. I hear the shower running. Oh good, I think, she’s in the shower! Now I just have to make sure he’s up and about and we’ll all be on time.

He gets up, has breakfast and I ask my daughter if she’s ready. She’s not. So, I take my son to school in the pouring rain and come back to the house to get my daughter. When I come back, she’s still studying for her French test. “Ready?” I ask.

We get into the car. It’s 8:20 am. She’s now very late for 1st period. We race to the school. As I’m waiting on line to drop her off, I notice that there is a big truck that is in front of us and not moving. Now, I’m freaking out. I don’t really want to be late. I want to make a good impression.

“I’m sorry mom,” she says.

“Don’t worry about it… It will all work out… It always does…..” I say.

She gets out and enters the school and I scoot away. Of course I get stuck on the Wantagh Parkway in a ton of traffic but I think I’ll be okay. I’ll be about 5 or 10 minutes late. I get to Starbucks and run in, expecting to see my contact. He’s not there. Was I supposed to be there at 8:30? I listen to my voice mail. He called….

“Hilary, I’m running about a 1/2 hour late,” he says. “I had a hard time getting the kids out today….”

I sat there and shook my head…

You never forget the dating years and one day, driving from HJMT‘s NYC office to a client in New Jersey, Lisa Gordon, Allie Herzog and I were talking about how similar dating was to prospecting new clients.

Here’s a comparison:

• You date and really like each other = You meet a prospect who has a lot of common interests.

• You think this is the one = You know you can help this prospect and are excited about endless possibilities.

• The date keeps calling = the prospect calls and answers your calls.

• You disclose information about yourself = You want the prospect to have realistic expectations.

• You drop the “L” bomb = You present a proposal.

• You try calling and leave lots of messages = You try calling and leave lots of messages.

• The date doesn’t return your calls or emails = The prospect doesn’t return your calls or emails.

• No more date and on to the next one = No more prospect and on to the next one.

I was standing on the corner of Broadway and 42nd Street in Manhattan waiting for a bus. There was so much traffic because of the UN being in session and the President in town that it was probably one of the worst days to be in NYC. But, here I was waiting at the corner. I had to get to 40th Street and 2nd Avenue. Because there was so much traffic, I parked my car there in the morning. Typically, I would have just walked there. I love to walk in the city. But when I went to the knee doctor yesterday, he said no walking for another four weeks. So, I waited. And I waited…. And I waited….

“Do you speak Spanish?” these tourists asked me.

I shook my head.

“French?” they asked.

“No,” I said and thought do I look European?

There was no bus in sight. The couple asked me in English how long I’d been waiting. I told them a very long time… but it was only five minutes!

As I was standing there waiting, looking for the bus, and also looking for an available cab, I get a call from my son.

“Mommy, I hurt my nose,” he said. “I was walking and I tripped and now it really hurts!”

My daughter called me moments after I hung up and told my son to ice it. “I think he got punched in the face,” my daughter said.

Now I’m really getting anxious to get to my car and get out of town! I see a rickshaw. “How much?” I ask.

“20 dollar,” he says in broken English.

“No,” I said and walked away.

“Okay, $15,” he said.

I jumped on board and there I was on the back of a rickshaw maniac. Picture this — me with my backpack, my bag and a shopping bag in a suit, my hair blowing all over the place as this guy weaved in and out of traffic! He was fast. I kept thinking that the rickshaw would flip over. I was holding on for dear life! He barely stopped for red lights! I’m sitting there in the carriage part, holding onto all my bags, trying not to fall out of the carriage when the phone rang…. I picked up. It was the kids again. “When are you coming home?”

I’m feeling like Dorothy now from the Wizard of Oz, the world is going so fast by me! And then the phone keeps ringing. This time I don’t answer. It’s too dangerous! Within minutes, I’m at my destination. Feeling dizzy, I hand the guy his $15 and before I could blink, he was on his way….

As a follow up to my last post, last night’s New York Enterprise Report Small Business Awards was a great success. We had more than 400 guests in attendance and the networking was amazing! Here’s some of the comments my staff and I received after the event:

“Just a quick note to tell you that the HJMT team was fantastic. Not just last night, but through the entire engagement,” Rob Levin, Publisher of the New York Enterprise Report and host of the evening.

“Nicely done last night…the best one yet…….” Tom Cunneen, Capital One Bank.

“I attended the NYER Awards last night and had an amazing time! Having attended the past 2 NYER Awards events, I knew I’d be in a room full of dynamic and motivated business owners and managers. The 2008 event exceeded my expectations. I met with high quality and very promising contacts that I’m following up with today.” Nancy Caballero, M5 Networks.

In two days, the New York Enterprise Report Small Business Award Gala will be held at the Metropolitan Pavilion (125 West 18th Street in Manhattan) from 6 pm to 10 pm. There are a few tickets left and if you are on the fence about attending, I know from prior experience that it is well worth the $250 admission ticket.

Although my firm works with the NY Enterprise Report to coordinate the logistics of this event, every year I go as a guest. I meet the most amazing people there. And, interestingly, this year, there are more EO’ers who applied for the small business award than ever before. (I’m actually an EO NYC member too. And, if you didn’t know, EO stands for Entrepreneurs Organization.) So, I’m really excited about this year’s event.

Rob Levin is the publisher of the NY Enterprise Report. He’s really a great guy and he knows everyone in the small business community. If you have a small business, market to the small business community or if you just want to attend a great event in NYC, don’t miss this one. This event is always an A+ in my book!