A Little Talkative and Lots of Thanks - It Was a Really Nice Christmas

I think I managed to finally catch up with everyone yesterday. Having a few days off in a row was a huge help. But now I'm into my final stretch for the year. It's time for my 4-day End of the Year Sale, and it'll be a zoo (hopefully and not hopefully all at once - LOL). This year we got tired of keeping track of discounts and discounts so DH decided to do a straight "30% Off EVERYTHING in the Store". The two of us stayed an hour or so late to get some silver pieces (concho belts specifically) marked appropriately. Silly customers. If they had purchased any of them at their marked price, they would have gotten a true steal. Even at 30% discount, it's still a deal, although we brought their prices up to current market retail. 

We have a lot of old Navajo concho belts in stock, 
and they're gorgeous. They were also WAY 
underpriced. We adjusted their pricing to be reasonable 
for today's market. I feel much better about them 
now, and we restocked our display. They're 
stunning. 

See ... we've been in business selling and trading Indian Goods for more than 30 years. Some of those belts were probably dating from then, and a few were even earlier. Although we had adjusted the prices about 20 years ago or so, the silver and precious metals market has changed a lot in those times. Our prices are much more comparable to what can be found on-line now and I know our quality is top-notch. Any collector would be proud to own one of these. 

At least one of the belts is turquoise-set 
similar to this one. This particular one that 
I found on-line is retailing for $3300, which 
isn't out of the range for it. I think I own 
one similar to this also. I'll have to dig into 
my drawer one of these days - LOL. 

So, anyway, it'll be a lot of beads, and some jewelry, sold over the next four days. At least the discount will be an easy one - LOL. 

I got such love from friends near and far over this 
holiday season, and it's meant the world to me. 
"Thanks" is inadequate, but it's all I have. I'm so very 
grateful for friends like all of you. 

I do want to send "Thanks" out for three more cards. My friend Helen from Idaho, my dear friend Sharon who comes and visits every State Fair, and Iris, my friend from Germany who I helped as a beta for her writing many years ago. My mantle is looking spectacular. I'll try and take a photo (or two) of it a bit later, but I'm running a little tight on time right now because I'm swimming for the next three days in the morning and I can hardly wait. 

I'm thrilled with the many different items 
in the box that Samtyr sent, but this luggage 
tag immediately got put onto my laptop 
backpack. The perfect place for it! 

My on-line hockey friend Samtyr sent me a wonderful box of goodies. Hockey this and that that she picked up in Edmonton earlier this year, and some items from a visit she took to the Field Museum in Chicago - one of my favorite places to go when I'm in that city. It was so much fun to look at all of the things. One was a Minnesota Wild luggage tag which I promptly put onto my laptop computer bag. 

We ended up with a green Christmas this year, here in 
the Frozen Northlands. It's unusual, but not unheard of. 
Compared to last year, I'll take this any time. 

And, to wrap things up, we're still in a green Christmas. Not a flake of snow. Today we're hovering at the freezing point with possible ice, so I'll have to be careful driving to the gym in a few minutes, and driving to the shop later. Hopefully it won't be an issue since this hovering at freezing with light rain is supposed to continue for the next 48 hours or so. There's nothing I hate worse than glare ice. 

On that note, I'm out of here. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas holiday whether you celebrate that holiday religiously or simply for the fun of exchanging gifts and eating cookies. I have every intention of being back here tomorrow before I head out to the gym again. Cross your fingers that we're busy for the next four days - we really need to end this year on a high note. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.