It's A Packed Day and I'm Sleepless in St Paul

In a little over two hours, I leave for my next orthodontic appointment. Normally I would have gotten at least seven hours of sleep, but not last night. My mind just wouldn't relax at all. I gave up and went to the computer, paid some bills online and checked a few things, then finally tried to get to sleep again and managed about four hours. I'll be a total ZOMBIE this week. I have swimming for the next three days, and those are days of approximately five hours of sleep. By the time Friday rolls around, I'll be exhausted and that's never a good thing. 

Normally I'm asleep within ten minutes of my head 
hitting my pillow. Last night, however, I just couldn't 
settle down. I'd blame the movie we watched - "Guardians 
of the Galaxy 3", but I know it wasn't that. The movie 
was a blast! It was too many thoughts running through 
my head. Totally my OWN fault. At least I got some 
bills paid, so it wasn't just tossing and turning. 

I have to hand off the two different repairs I did last week over the next two days. I spoke to my acquaintance for whom I restrung two necklaces of antique beads. She said if she doesn't make it into the store today to pick them up, it'll be pushed back a week or two while she goes overseas to visit with one of their kids. No problem. If she doesn't make it in today, that's fine. I'll hold them on the "Pick Up" board which we keep in our back room. 

I sell a lot of different types of antique beads, but my 
acquaintance had some in her two necklaces that were 
new to my eyes. It was a fun and fast project to do, the 
major time was pre-stretching the silk cording I used. 
That takes a minimum of 24 hours under tension so that it 
won't stretch out on the piece itself as it is worn. 

I emailed the lady who gave me that antique beaded trivet for repair, telling her that it was ready. It's an expensive repair, but there's really no help for that. She's disabled and relies on a specific transit system designed for those who are unable to be mobile on their own. That always requires her to make her travel arrangements in advance, and her timeframe is tight. So I assured her that it was ready, and that we would have all of the paperwork in order. I also told her the cost, so that she was prepared. It turned out quite nice, and I'm pleased. I had a blast fixing it - I've missed beading for the sake of beading. 

I know I have a print by JoAnn Bird (Oglala Sioux) in my 
prints. It's not this image, but similar in style. Most of 
my artwork is Southwestern in feel and the artists are from 
the many tribes of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and 
Oklahoma. I'm always pleased when I find a great artist 
from the Plains, though. JoAnn is one of those wonderful 
Northern Plains artists. 

DH is talking about doing a "Collectibles" sale next, and that would certainly be an easier sale to manage than the Swarovski crystal sale. I'm also working on inventory sheets for our clearance bins. Chickie maintains the inventory, but it's taking WAY too much time. I think I've devised a system in conjunction with DH, that will speed things up a LOT. We need that because wasted time just isn't in our stars right now. 

It's taking Chickie WAY too long to do inventory on 
our seed bead clearance boxes. I think I've devised a 
way that will speed her up and increase our accuracy, 
I just need to devise the form. Between the three of us, 
we might have figured this PITA out and streamlined 
a very important part of our inventory process. 

So, I forsee a lot of computer work at the shop today, and a very tired me at the keyboard tonight - if I even bother with any computer work at home tonight at all. I hope all of you have a wonderful Monday and I'll be back on Tuesday for a short post before heading off to the swimming pool. Keep well, be kind, Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל. I'll be back tomorrow.