Day One of the Year-End Sale Was Successful - Now for Day Two

Yesterday was the first day of our "Blow Out" sale and it was a huge success. I'm still having problems with the sales register at times, but thank goodness Chickie is there to bail me out. We were busy for most of the day, and the final total dollars for the single day equaled the total of some weeks earlier in the year, so I was quite pleased. 

We're now entering Day 2 of our 4-Day "End of Year Sale". 
I'm hoping today will do as well as yesterday, but that's 
doubtful. One of the reasons we did so well yesterday was 
one of my professionals came in and stocked up on sterling 
silver sheet and stock wire for her work. Additionally, 
she bought a fabulous $600 cluster bracelet, so it was an 
awesome sale, and she got an amazing deal. 

One of the BEST things, however, was my dear friend/customer Joyce. We had missed her over Thanksgiving. She was never over often - her personal bead collection rivals my own - but she would usually come over our two sales - Thanksgiving and after Christmas. Often with her sister accompanying her - Mary (also a delightful person but she lives in a different state, so we see her very rarely). Joyce hadn't shown up for our two-day sale, and I had been quite disappointed. But here she was, our second person through the door, and she spent several hours getting a great selection of beads to add to her collection, and a LOT of hugs from me and Chickie. Customers can become friends, and friends can be customers. 

It was wonderful to catch up with Joyce and 
Greta and other long-time customers. It's the best 
part of this sale - my customers come out of the 
woodwork for this one, and we get a chance to 
connect once again. 

Today I actually slept until my alarm went off, so I'm a bit rushed with my post, but I'm ready for the swimming pool and I really need the exercise. All of this beef for dinner have me at the upper range of acceptable weight, so I need to work some of this off. I did get another Holiday Card from DH's oldest friend in Georgia. He colored in his Gnomes and sent me copies of his choices of colors. Quite fun! I do hope all of you who received my Gnomes have had fun with them also, and I remind you to please send me an email with them, or a link to where I might see them. My mantle is almost filled now, and my heart is overflowing with the simple joy of multi-colored Gnomes. My universe is full. 

So many of you have had fun coloring in 
your gnomes and sending me photos of 
what you have done. Jim's friend actually 
 made a copy of his gnomes and included 
them in his card. He had fun - and that was 
my intention ... to spread some holiday fun. 

So, I'm going to wrap this up. The pool is awaiting and I need to work off some of my post-holiday weight. Three more days for our End of Year sale, and then I can relax again for a little bit (even though we'll have to print out our end-of-year reports, etc. Last night's PBS show "Nature" was all about penguins, and it just made my night. Such awesome birds! Have an excellent Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.