I'm Totally Into the Holiday Season Now

So I made it through our first Sunday of working, and we actually did make a few sales, so it wasn't a total loss. I've been head-deep in the latest of DH's project. He decided he needed to update the pricing on our most popular bead style. It's not out of place - but it's probably something that should have been done in the summer when we had more time to spend on it. As it is, my board for Delica beads looks a bit desolate and I'm pushing things through as quickly as possible to return the sample tubes to the board and have up-to-date pricing on the sample as well as the tubes that would be purchased. It's a huge job, and of course, I don't have Chickie to help out until tomorrow. With luck, however, I'll finish up the task today. 

Do you remember the episode from the "I Love Lucy" show 
entitled "Lucy and Ethel Wrap Chocolates"? That's rather like 
I feel with this latest repricing project. It's almost overwhelming, 
but it can't be because it has to be done. Still, it does seem 
never-ending and brought this old TV episode to mind. If you're 
too young to have seen it, it's worth the hunt. 

Of course, that "luck" runs both ways. If I'm lucky and can finish the project today, then we probably didn't have very many customers and our sales, during the time of year when we count on good sales, will be crappy. If, however, I can't get the project finished because I'm working with customers all day. that also will be bad because I still have a LOT of beads off the boards. *sigh* It's a total LOSE/LOSE situation all around, but I don't have any real say in it. I'm just trying to get the repricing done ASAP so that I can go back to actually selling product to customers instead of slicing, dicing, labeling and hanging. 

Luck is a two-edged sword. It can be good, or bad, but 
it's luck no matter what. Right now I'm walking the edge, 
and it's damned sharp! 

I'm not seeing the Broncos score, so I think they were on a "bye" this week, but the Vikings did beautifully, victorious over Atlanta with a score of 42-21. That was great. I think DH might have watched some of it, I had it on in the back room. I, however, was too busy with "The Project" to spend any time at all. In fact, I was so wrapped up in the whole thing that I forgot my "coffee" cup at the shop. (I actually only drink herbal tea, but tea cup sounds so demure for a honking big thermal travel mug). I'm using my secondary travel mug today to get to the shop. Then I'll deal with my normal mug and hopefully remember to bring BOTH of them home with me tonight. 

I couldn't have done it without you. I'm sorry I had 
to bow out early, but time really wasn't on my 
side. I have to be focused on the business right now, 
we rely on this season to pull us into the new year 
with a positive bank balance - no guarantee if we 
don't get the sales numbers. 

I'm also sending a HUGE thank you once more to all of you who voted for my stories in LJ Idol. I really hated to pull out early - I don't know if I would have won the write-off or not, but I didn't stay to find out. At this time of the year, I don't HAVE time. Any time. I've already received my first holiday card (from my dear friend Shruti in India), and mine haven't even hit the mail yet. That's going to be a HIGH PRIORITY item for my Wednesday because I need to get these out to my friends both near and far. I've also accepted an invitation to the family get-together which will be held in early January (a very sensible schedule). 

Don't lose sight of the fact that it's a season 
of joy, shared with strangers, friends, and 
family (your choice). Enjoy it to the best 
of your ability, and turn the Christmas carols 
off on the 26th - LOL. 

But, the Season is upon us. No time to waste. I'm going to grab a quick breakfast and get moving. I have a LOT of work still waiting for me at the shop, and little time in which to deal with it. Have an excellent Monday, I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's the Holiday Season, So Where's the Holiday Cheer?

I brought my new mixer in from the car yesterday and did a little internet research into it to find out if I had a cupboard where it would fit, or if I would have to return it (which would sadden me greatly). I had purchased the smallest Artisan stand mixer available from KitchenAid, and with the head in the resting position, it's height is 12.3 inches. I have ONE cabinet that has that clearance. The opening isn't quite the high, so I'll be tilting the machine slightly in and out of the cupboard, but it fits, so I'm relieved. I probably should have taken it out of the box to make sure, but it's a holiday gift from Santa, so I wrapped it up and put it in the living room by my chair. 

I was thinking I had purchased the red version, but 
I actually purchased the matte black version. 
FUNKY! I'm going to adore my new mixer. 

I had been thinking I had purchased the bright red model, but I actually got the matte black one. Super cool! I'm going to be quite happy with this new piece of equipment. I'm already researching gluten-free breads that I can make. I used to make two loaves of bread a week while I was in college, and I adore home-made bread. With my food preferences these days, there's really only one bread available that I think has any taste at all, and I'm hoping I can find recipes that are gluten-free without refined sugars and no dairy that will be able to be mixed and then kneaded. Yeast usually requires that hand-kneading to be happy and rise well. 

I wish I could have a sweet and rather charming storefront 
like this, but my street simply doesn't support such a thing. 
Everything outside would be stolen quickly, and my windows 
are barred - custom ironwork that features our logo, but 
barred. It's the reality of being on the street in our part 
of town. It's not a BAD neighborhood, but it's not suburbia 
either. 

It's the holiday season, but business at the shop is SLOW, and that's worrying. We need a good December - with the phone transfer and other issues, we have had a lot of unexpected expenses and have had to dip into reserves that we need to replenish. So far it doesn't really seem that people are in a Holiday mood. People aren't dressed with holiday pins on their jackets and coats, holiday music isn't blasting from every doorway. It's a depressed world out here and, I suspect, in other nations as well. War and the threat of war peeks from around every corner. Threats are spoken, and people are shouting to be heard above other shouting people. Nobody is actually sitting and listening, and even those rare people who are, can do nothing. What's the old saying? "The world is going to hell in a handbasket?" or something similar? Yeah. I never wanted to live in "interesting times" and I still wish I wasn't doing so. 

There are times when I'm extremely grateful to be as old 
as I am. I'm not sure I want to see the world as it will 
be in another 50 years. I suspect it will be greatly changed, 
and I just hope that people will still look out for one 
another, help them when help is needed, and spread 
love and joy and peace. I have my doubts, however. 

So, I'm heading to the shop, hoping that the phones are completely operational but not expecting miracles, hoping for a great sales day, and who knows? Maybe I'll have it. Or not. Life will go on, and I'll be here, six days a week, sharing with all of you because you, my friends and readers, help keep me sane. It's a big burden, but it's divided among lots of you - each one of you appreciated beyond words. Have an excellent weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini. 

LJ Idol, Phone Hell and an Early Christmas Gift

It was a real disappointment to pull out of LJ Idol. I might have not had the votes, but I think it was very close. But ... I looked at the time schedule, my own schedule, and the fact that I'm still dealing with minor/major irritations such as getting our new phone system completely up and operational and a small health issue, and I decided to lower my stress a notch or two. Not that writing is necessarily stressful, just that to write in LJ Idol, I have to bring my "A Game" to every entry. 

I loved writing for LJ Idol again this time. There's 
something wonderful about writing to a prompt 
that comes out of nowhere. I'm not sure where 
Gary finds all of these prompts, but damn ... he 
finds some really good ones. 

Looking back on the season, however, I'm very happy with what I produced. There was some solid writing in some of those tales, and I got farther this time than EVER before. In the top six! I'll continue reading and voting, of course. I have friends in the group of five that remain, but I always base my votes on the actual writing offered, not alliances or friendships. It's the only fair thing to do. 

We have two new digital phones from Nextiva. 
The phone on DH's desk is connected and 
can be used. The phone at the cash register, 
however, is an attractive paperweight, right 
now. *sigh* 

I spent an hour or more on the phone with customer service yesterday. We're trying to figure out why one of our phones is connected, but the other phone number (the main line to the shop) is still on copper wiring instead of WiFi. *sigh* I resubmitted some contracts to the customer service department at their request, and spoke to a couple of the agents there. Really lovely people, with the same goals that I have - getting everything up and running properly and switched over from our old phone service to the new one. I have a much better feeling about things after yesterday's calls. We'll see if things are better when I'm back at the shop tomorrow. 

I love having a container of baked fruit with my 
breakfast. I only eat fruit at breakfast, per WildFit 
recommendations. It works for me, and I love 
living my WildFit life. It's been several years now, 
and it just works for me. 

Meanwhile, back in the mundane, I need to do a batch of baked fruit today. A container of baked fruit is part of my usual breakfast, and I ate the last of my current batch a day or so ago. I didn't have the time to deal with fruit on Wednesday - I did a large crock pot soup and my alkagizers that day. So, today I shop and I bake fruit. 

Happy Holidays to me! I've wanted one of these for 
a long time, and I think I will use it enough to justify 
the cost. Black Friday savings dropped $100 off the 
cost, so I felt it was do-able. 

I'm also going to take a nice, careful look at my Christmas gift - LOL. My postal person (who probably hates me forever more now because the box is HEAVY) delivered my new Kitchen Aid Artisan Mini 3.5 qt Tilt Head mixer to the shop. I've wanted one for a long time. I THINK I have the cabinet space for it. That's a requirement in my kitchen - I must have the room for my appliances. I'm figuring DH actually bought this for me. He usually gives me holiday cash and I've been saving up for this for a few years now. I'm very much looking forward to trying some gluten-free bread recipes. 

So, that's the news from my end. I hope you have a lovely Friday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

I'm Pulling Out and Focusing On My Business - Reality Has Come Knocking

As of this moment, I have no idea if I will win the write-off, but to be honest, I actually am going to have to pull out of LJ Idol and I'm a bit sad about that. I'm also very happy - I did VERY well this year, coming down to a write-off for Top Five. And I'm falling one position short, to a writer with true talent and great imagination. I feel as if this season of LJ Idol has been a total WIN for me, and I thank each and every one of you for your votes over the past weeks. Every vote made a HUGE difference. 

I have to pull out of LJ Idol. I simply have run out of time 
in which to do the myriad amount of tasks that have to be 
accomplished at this time of the year. And the shop is 
now open seven days a week until Christmas, so I'm working 
on Sundays too. "Spare Time" has evaporated for me. 

But, it's the "Holiday Season" and my "spare time" evaporates at this time of the year. I can't afford to short my livelihood for my hobby, and it's totally a rock/hard place type of choice. I'm working on Sundays now until Christmas, so even my weekend disappears under the constraints of "Holiday" sales and marketing. And, of course the holiday will be followed by our "End of the Year" sale. I can't collapse until January. Too late for Idol, I fear, and no actual time to devote to it. 

I already had a pretty good idea of where I would pull my 
story for Wabisabi (the next prompt). But, right now 
I'm resembling this bowl all too much - too many cracks, 
too many things to do, and barely hanging on. 

I knew what I would write for the next challenge piece, but on the paper where I have the prompt is also notations that I need my address list for my holiday cards and some more holiday hours sheets for our customers. When you're self-employed there really isn't any "off" time. You're always on the clock, and you're always working whether you're actually at the shop, or just at a computer. It's not the first time I've wished I simply worked for someone else. It's a lot easier to let someone else make the decisions - scheduling work days, assigning jobs and tasks, etc. If you get high enough in a large enough company, you can use delegation. You can delegate "your people" to do this or do that. LOL I'm one of three - that's not leaving any room for "your people", that's just A, B or C. 

Long ago we had a dream, DH and I, about 
having a business selling fine art and crafts 
that were Native American made to the larger 
audience. Over time we shifted over to offer 
crafting materials to the Native American 
and general crafting community. We've been 
successful, but it's time to back off and regain 
our lives once again. After this holiday season, 
of course - LOL. 

So, as you enter the rest of your holiday season, think about the small business person and if possible, shoot some business their way. It's hard to swim in an ocean of Amazon and other large retailers. Those of us with small businesses are paddling and kicking as hard and fast as we can, but we're barely holding our heads above the waterline. Please, when possible, shop local and use small businesses when possible. We need the business and appreciate your patronage. So, I'm off to email Gary and pull out of LJ Idol. One less bit of stress in my life, but I'm feeling sad. I don't give up on things, and I'm giving up on this one thing I adore - writing. But it's just this time. Watch out, Idol. I'll be back! Slava Ukraini. 

ETSY and the Bowels of Retail Hell - Welcome To My World

I'm fairly certain that this will be my final "call out to vote" on LJ Idol this session. It's a write-off between me and another very talented author, and I'm simply in too deeply. No real time. I'll put the link for voting here, and I'd love to get more than the two votes I had already received as of this morning, but I'm not holding out a lot of hope on this one. My opponent wrote a lovely piece and, so that's how it can be and probably will be. Nonetheless, if you're up to voting for me, the link to vote is right here. Read my opponent's piece also, though. It's excellent. Here's the link: https://www.dreamwidth.org/poll/?id=32317

I have my write-off story up on LJ Idol (link is above 
in the paragraph). If you're so inclined after reading the 
two entries to place your vote for me, I'd REALLY 
appreciate it. If not, that's OK too. This is a really hard 
time of the year for me to take the time to write something 
excellent. And I've had a total BLAST participating 
in this challenge with so many talented people. 

Today I start out with swimming, then a quick breakfast, and then on to the shop. I have two mail orders to finalize so that I can mail them today. I'm stumbling over what Etsy is charging people for Priority Mail, my computer screen decided that I didn't need that information *sigh* and we were BUSY towards the end of the day, so I couldn't finalize the orders the way I usually would. Crap! Sometimes having product on Etsy is a total PITA. Every time I have one, I go onto their website and they've changed a BUNCH of things, making me re-learn stuff just to process the sale. ARGH! 

There are times when I really hate Etsy. I don't mind 
selling down product on it, but their format is becoming 
harder and harder for me to navigate easily. 

It's a "day off" today - a joke because days off are not in my wheelhouse. Today I need to make a soup for the next few days of dinners, and I also need to make my Ogre Juice - something I can usually reserve for my Fridays except I had my last one yesterday. Still, if possible, I'm going to try and take my Friday off and get it done then. I work on Sunday, so I can't really squeeze it in then, and that's too many days away from "Ogre Juice" anyway. I'll have to check my calendar quite carefully when I'm at the shop and make sure I also have Friday off this week. 

I might have to purchase this book and add 
it to my book list to read. I'm sure there's a 
lot in these pages that I would be able 
to associate with. 

So, from the bowels of retail hell, I'm striding out to drown those flames in the swimming pool. I think I really need a serious exercise session because my life right now is insane! Have an excellent Wednesday and please vote, if you're so inclined. I appreciate all of the support I've had from all of you over these past few months of LJ Idol. It's meant the world to me! Slava Ukraini. 

So It's a Write-off, But I'd Better Be the Optimist and Start Working on the Current Theme

I have the new prompt for LJ Idol, but have no idea if I can/should write a story with is. The concept is broad, but interesting. The deadline is later this week. However ... at this time of the year I'm only going to spend that extra time writing if I'm still in the game. I haven't heard which of the two of us doing a "write-off" yesterday have prevailed, so I'll start fleshing out something on the current theme, but it's December and I run a store. Every minute has a dozen tasks begging for attention. 

So far I'm still in it, but I have no idea. I turned in 
my blog post for yesterday as my write-off essay, 
and I don't know if I'll garner enough votes to stay in 
the game. Nonetheless, I'd better start writing on the 
actual challenge word. Ever the optimist - LOL. 

It's a swimming day, though, and I'm gratified about that. All of this stuffing (gluten-free, of course), gravy and other Turkey Day treats have caused me to put on four pounds. I'm glad I'll be swimming some of that off in 90 minutes or so. I really need the full-body exercise. As much as I move my arms while walking on the treadmill, the two exercises (swimming and treadmill) are quite different and hit different parts of the body (or the same parts in slightly different ways). I really need both my treadmill and my swimming pool to get an effective workout each week. 

The world is going to Hell in a handbasket. 
Such a quaint saying, I wonder what the 
origin of this one is? 

Of course the world is going to "hell in a handbasket". Huh! It's such an odd saying - "hell in a handbasket". I wonder what the origins of this one is? I suppose I could look it up - I'm only a click away from the World Wide Web of Misunderstanding (LOL), but I think I'd rather just contemplate today. I might make the effort later today while I'm at work and need a break from entering price tags or helping customers. "Hell in a handbasket" ... what a strange saying. 

The World Wide Web is not the same as 
the internet. The internet will get you there, 
but the information you garner and exchange
is from the web. 

Are there sayings you're familiar with that are odd or unusual? Are there sayings that move within your family that you've never heard anyone else say? I suspect that's the case for many of you. Those sayings can be a bond between family that isn't even thought about until you mention your saying in mixed company one day, and the meaning flies right over the head of the rest of the group. It can happen. A lot of the sayings I grew up with were European, and there's a lot of difference between "ach du liber!" and "Oh my goodness", despite they're being applicable to the same events. Do you have family sayings that have come down to you? Do you use them? Or do you just nod when someone else uses them, but don't actively carry the tradition onward? Curious minds ... LOL. So, I'd better get to the pool, then start work on the current Idol challenge. Ever the optimist, that's me - LOL. Have an excellent Tuesday. Slava Ukraini. 

My Clock is Ticking and LJ Idol is Pressing Onward

First of all and of primary importance, I must send a big "Thank You" out to all of you who voted for my story of Katy's birthday celebration. I garnered votes and lots of positive comments, BUT ... I'm in a write-off with one of the other very talented authors. We tied in vote count, and it was almost a three-way tie, but for a single vote. Yes ... that's how VERY important every vote can be. So, I have a day to cobble together something I'm not ashamed of putting out there, and it's a Monday - a day when I'm working the sales floor almost 100% solo, while DH is in the back room doing the financial books for the week. Will I have an entry worth posting? Maybe. 

But I'm in a quandry (and how often do you really have the need to use such a cool word as quandry?). It's the busiest season of the year for my business, I don't get a Sunday off until after Christmas Day, I'm getting my Wednesdays off because I need one day to cook and do laundry, but Wednesdays are my ONLY days off until Christmas. After Christmas we dive right into our Inventory Reduction Sale to bring us to the end of the year. I really can't breathe until New Year's Day. It's called "Retail Hell" and anyone who either works retail or owns a business that relies on those holiday dollars will totally understand what I'm talking about. 

So in the midst of all of this, is LJ Idol. I love the challenge of LJ Idol. I love the time frames, I love the act of sitting at my keyboard and making something click. I write every day (well ... six days a week) for my daily blog, so the mental gears are greased and moving - albeit slowly. The LJ Idol challenges come out of the blue - always making me think. When I sit at the keyboard to write something for Idol, I truly never know what will come through. Many stories have hit the cyber-garbage pile. Editing can be brutal and the stories left might be so changed as to barely appear as I had planned. I suspect it's like that for many of my fellow competitors. 

But I do write in my daily blog - six days a week, every week of the year. I've been writing this blog since the early 2000's and I have dear cyber friends throughout the world who read it every day and who have told me that those rare times when I don't post (if I haven't warned them in advance that I'd be out of town or unable to get to a computer), they worry. It brightens my heart that I have so many cyber friends out there who care about my personal well being. And this time, my blog will do double-duty. I'm going to put this out there for my LJ Idol write-off entry because I simply don't have the time to compose two original word groupings today. I have to leave for work by 7:15-7:30 am, and since it's a Monday, it's all on me to deal with the customers. No time to sit at the laptop keyboard. So, LJ Idol, this is what you get. Me - straightforward, unadulterated, and unapologetic. Voila and Slava Ukraini. For those who read my blog, I'll be back tomorrow.