Even My Stress Levels Have Stress Today *sigh*

So the Swarovski Blow-Out Sale begins today. Am I ready? Maybe. I've done everything I can do, but there's always something that can/will go wrong. My early morning is compressed - massively compressed. I need to drive south to my paper supply company and pick up the 5x7 bags I had ordered last week. They finally came in yesterday and we need that size. So, I'll be there when they open at 8:00 am. That will cut into my store prep time, but nothing to be done about it. 

We don't do BOGO sales, and especially not on 
Swarovski crystal beads. But we're doing one 
for the rest of the week, starting today. I truly 
have NO IDEA what to expect. I know my 
customers, mainly, are respectful and polite. But 
there are always exceptions. I'll have to keep my 
mind totally clear to handle the intricacies of 
the sales register and the order in which our 
sales must be input to make sure all discounts 
are applied correctly. It might be a zoo! 

I had asked Chickie to be in at 8:00 am, but she has an early morning doctor appointment and will be in ASAP afterwards. I'll get the store ready as much as possible before heading to pick up those bags, but we'll be playing "catch up" until we unlock the doors and find out if our prep work helped at all. 

Our 5x7 inch flat merchandise bags are 
essential. We deal with a lot of small 
items. We've been out, having to use our 
next size up. It will be a joy to have my 
small bags back on my shelf again. 

I know DH will be minimal assistance. I'm really not expecting much from him. He's been busy shredding paper. I think we've almost burned out my favorite shredder. It's giving scree-ing sounds and an odor of burning. I'm keeping it lubricated, but he's not great on upkeep (which it why we've burned through several shredders in the past). *sigh* 

We have a top-line personal shredder at the shop, that 
is similar to this one. It's been a workhouse, and it's the 
second one we've had for the shop. The way DH is going, 
he might burn it out within the next few days, and 
we'll have to purchase another one. *sigh*

So I really need my swim. My stress levels have stress levels today - LOL. I hope you have a wonderful day, and I'm going to leave some of my own stress in the pool today. At least we'll be able to swim outside. I wouldn't have been able to yesterday - a day of thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. Today is a bit milder, slightly (slightly!) cooler, and the pool should be open for business. I'm heading there shortly. Have an excellent Tuesday, send calming thoughts my way in my day of mayhem, and I'll be back tomorrow (hopefully with good results from the first day of our five-day Swarovski Blow-Out Sale). Be kind, stay healthy and Slava Ukraini. 

Same Tune, Different Words - *sigh*

The original idea for our Swarovski Blow-out Sale was using transparency sheets with the products listed and rub-off markers for customers to make their selections. Great idea. I purchased more transparency sheets because we didn't have enough cobbled together from other things in our past history, and set down to copying the sheets onto them yesterday. *sigh* 

This is what I was supposed to have purchased at 
my local office supply co on Saturday night. 
Unfortunately, the one I purchased was slightly 
different than this, and doesn't work with ink 
jet printers. So ... back to the office supply store 
tonight on my way home and I'll see if they 
even have the style I wanted. I suspect just using 
paper with the transparency taped on top might 
work just as well, so I might do that version 
instead. 

After several failed attempts, I finally realized that although the idea would be great if I had a laser printer, it wouldn't work on my ink jet printer. So, I wasted almost $40 on a product I can't use, and since it's opened and a few pages were used, I can't return it either. *sigh* 

So, I'm back to paper, which I'm actually just fine with. I can return the rub-off markers, but if I use the transparency sheets as a cover sheet, I can use the markers, the transparency sheets, and less paper and ink. I suspect that will be the direction to go. Not exactly the way I had intended, but perfectly useable. We'll see - the sale starts tomorrow and the first day is always the busiest. 

We have a small store, even twenty people is a big crowd for 
us. Crystals are a real draw, and a huge product type for us. 
We want to reduce what we've got, so we're offering it to 
our customers at a sale price we've never offered before. 

The sale itself starts tomorrow, so I have a day to stress out, but also to make sure that everything is as orderly as we can make it. It has the potential of being a zoo, although the sale extends through Saturday, and we're certainly not going to sell out of all Swarovski in a day. I do expect that the first day will be crazy, though. It usually works that way. But ... we have a LOT of product to sell, and if people are flexible about color and/or style, they'll get a serious bargain. It's a BOGO sale on crystals, something we've never offered before and probably will never offer again. 

It might be a total zoo, but I'm hoping that 
those customers who are NOT interested in 
crystals, won't be intimidated by the possible 
crowds. First day will be the worst - it's always 
that way - but I expect the entire week to be 
quite busy - thus, no days off this week. 

Anyway, I'll be working all week this week - no Wednesday or Friday off at all. My posts might be short, but I'll still be here every day. And, if everything goes well, we'll have some super record sales numbers by the end of Saturday's final sale. Then we can collapse - LOL. Have an excellent Monday, I have a large to-do list so I'm getting to it. Slava Ukraini. 

Running Late! Bargains Galore

I'm running a bit late today - I actually slept until my alarm went off. Yesterday was a fun "day off", not a lot on the agenda, and NO cooking! I still have plenty of food in the fridge to eat, so shopping was all that was on my TBD list. However, shopping turned into a little gold mine of savings, which always makes me quite happy. 

Yesterday turned into a day of savings. Of course, I had 
to spend money to save money, but it was well worth it. 

Second Tuesdays, at my co-op, is the day when they do an extra 10% off on "Wellness" products. They carry my collagen in LARGE jars, and those normally are around $44-$46 each. That's a lot of money, but one container can last me for a month. But on "Wellness" Tuesday each month, I get not only my membership discount of 10%, but an additional 10%. Well worth the trip. 

I use "Garden of Eden" Collagen in my 
daily morning tea. I have found over the 
years that it helps with my bone density 
(which is crap) and my general 
skin well being. It's expensive, so I'm 
always on the lookout for a bargain. 

Yesterday, however, I got up to the shelf for my collagen and they were running a BOGO (Buy One, Get One for free). Steal of a deal! I picked up two of my large collagen, my "ice cream" bars which are only available at the co-op, and one cucumber and one zucchini because they were beautiful. My savings for the day was almost $50! It was a lovely surprise and really made my day. 

Getting a BOGO on a product that normally is 
around $40? That's a wonderful savings and I 
absolutely took advantage of it. 

Sticking everything into my portable cooler pack, I headed to the regular grocery store for our weekly chicken, a few veggies and a bit of this and that. It wasn't going to be a major shop - and it wasn't But I easily got everything I needed, and when I checked out, I had a survey. I filled that out later in the day and I'll save an additional 10% on my groceries next week if I remember to bring it to the store with me. 

Today is an excellent day for a Good Day, and 
yesterday came through as one from start to 
finish. Whoot!!!

So, it was a very successful shopping day, and since I didn't need to actually cook anything, I was able to get some other things done that needed doing. All told, I feel as if I had a very successful day, so I was quite pleased when I went to sleep. Today is my final swim for the week, and then I'll head to the shop. I'm quite sure DH left me lots of work to do (which is why my personal projects never seem to get done). Have an excellent Thursday, be kind to everyone you meet, and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.