Wednesday - Chickie's Vacation is a Bit of a PITA

It's Wednesday, and normally it would be a "day off". Not this week. Today I'm heading out to the swimming pool, then wrapping things up at home, and heading to the shop for another day's work. Although DH and I haven't killed each other yet, I'm only getting a single bathroom break at an unpredictable time, and I haven't had any time for a lunch yet. I'm not really very happy with how this week is going so far. GRRRRRR

I want my normally scheduled life back ASAP. If I 
didn't have the pool or the treadmill in the mornings, I'd be 
going completely nuts. Thank goodness for the water and 
my friends at the YMCA. 

I did foresee my lack of time in many ways. I have several more dinners left in the refrigerator before I have to dive into my freezer, and the grocery store opens at 6:00 am, so most days I can easily drop by there on my way to work to pick up this or that. I also have a pantry of items that can just be popped into the microwave, so I'm certainly NOT going to starve to death. But, I miss my days of cooking, I'll miss my weekly chat with Aearwen today, and dang it, I want my "normal" life back. 

I'd like a "normal" life again, but I'm really not sure 
exactly what that entails right now. Still, I'm still alive 
and kicking, and while I can, I'm going to live things 
to the best of my ability. 

On the positive side, it's been very nice having DH working in the basement area while I'm on the sales floor. I don't get interrupted by him, and I can work on things that I've got in the works. We've been working on a huge sale of crystals, and if I can pound out an accurate invoice and get her credit card information, I'll be able to send that off on my way home tonight. It was just one of those chance things - a sample order through Etsy, and a meeting of the minds. I sent her inventory sheets, and she ordered - a LOT. It'll make a real difference in my sales numbers this week, but it's also a LOT of work to get together, invoiced, and sent out. She should be phoning me today with her credit card information, and under ideal conditions, I should be able to clear my desk of this order by tonight. 

I'm using one of the larger Priority Mail boxes 
for this shipment, which gives you a bit of an idea 
about how many of these very small Swarovski 
crystal beads my customer is purchasing. It's a good 
sale and I'm delighted to have gotten it, but it's also 
a bit of a PITA because I have to interrupt all 
the time to help in-store customers. 

Chickie seems to be having a lovely time in Montana. They arrived safely earlier this week (on Monday, I think), and are happily catching up with family members. I'm sure Chickie is resting up from the long drive, and also trying to rest up before she has surgery later this year that will keep her immobile and unable to work for SIX MONTHS! It's another one of those deadlines that's breathing into our faces. She has bone spurs in her spine that are growing inward toward the spinal column, rather than outward as body support. They're very painful, but also if they continue to grow, they'll impact her spinal column and leave her paralyzed. Not good! But she had to lose quite a bit of weight before Mayo would even consider the surgery, so they put her on Ozempic injections. They actually seem to be working well for her, she's getting down to about 220 lb which she considers a great number. Anyway, that's also looming in our future, and we have to close the store, hopefully before her surgery. 

I used to love watching "Columbo". Peter Falk was wonderful 
in the role, and it was always that last question that would 
pull things together for him. That "one more thing". 

Just one more thing to worry about, right? LOL Have an excellent Wednesday, I'll be glad to see the end of it and look at only three more days to work this week. Slava Ukraini. 

OMG and Bleh! - That's The Way I'm Feeling Today

Oh goodness, I still am amazed that I forgot to post yesterday (until really late in the afternoon). It's so out of character for me. Over the years I've posted six days every week for a very long time, my only breaks coming when I was out of town for a convention or a seminar. Well, thanks again to Sam for asking if everything was OK with me since I hadn't posted. I truly wouldn't have realized that I had missed the day if she hadn't asked. 

I don't miss a day of posting - not without a good reason. 
I don't, however, think that leaving my brain behind 
while I went to the Orthodontist and the grocery store 
was a legitimate reason. I messed up! Pure and simple. 

DH came home in a terrible mood yesterday - no real reason that I could tell and he wasn't talking, so the cause is a mystery. I suspect it was a poor sales day at the shop, which doesn't really surprise me. Our sales have been decreasing since people have become more comfortable with on-line shopping, and there is a bead show in town next weekend that many of our customers attend. 

The Twin Cities Bead Bazaar is next weekend. I'm 
quite sure some of my customers will be shopping 
there. DH's only comment was "Why we not sell?" 
in a text message. Of course, he's never been the 
one who sold off-site - it was always me for the 
few times we've done it. I have NO desire to do 
this. I might consider it after we've closed, to clear 
out more inventory from any leftover stock, but 
no. Not doing this now. 

He had left me a note on the counter - "Taxes Tonight" - both to remind me and to remind himself. So, I settled down to do the state withholding and unemployment reports last night. The withholding was no problem and accomplished quickly. The unemployment, however, had totally changed. The state altered and revised the on-line form, asking for one additional piece of information that he didn't have with him. We'll have to do that one tonight instead. However, he was all "You should have known to bring that information with you!" to me. I, on the other hand, am not prescient. I only go on to that website every quarter, and obviously it was seriously altered since the previous quarter's report. I seriously don't understand why it is MY fault that the state changed the form and required one more piece of data. But apparently, in his twisted mind, that's exactly what's wrong. It made for an ugly and nasty evening. 

We have to fill out an on-line form quarterly 
for the MN Employment dept regarding 
unemployment funds deposited for each 
employee - funds taken out of their 
paychecks (state law). The form has been 
the same for years and years. Not this 
time, though. They'd revised the form 
and suddenly I needed one additional piece of 
information. He didn't have it in his paperwork, 
so we had to pass on this one until tomorrow. 

So, today I will gather the last bit of information needed and we'll try again tonight. It shouldn't be a problem to get it done within five minutes once I have it. Will I be forgiving him for another really crappy mood day? I'm not so sure about that. I'm getting really tired of tiptoeing around his moods. He's not aging well, and I'm getting sick and tired of putting up with it. Bleh! 

I find it a minor inconvenience to have to put the 
one form off until tonight. Apparently DH considers 
it a world-shaking event that will color his days in 
darkness until the end of time! Bleh! I say ... Bleh! 

Have an excellent day, enjoy the sunshine (if you get some today) or the weather in general and give yourself some time to do something you truly enjoy - read a book, listen to music, dance or exercise. Celebrate your life - it's the only one you get. I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini.