If I Could Turn Back Time

It's one of those days when I wish I could turn back time or just increase the day by at least another six hours. Just think of what I could accomplish with just that small amount of additional time in my day. My list of errands and things to do is growing exponentially *sigh*.

My To Do List is growing exponentially. Too few hours, too many tasks. Ack! 

I'm not sure I mentioned that I had written Kincaid's, the restaurant where DH and I had that amazing and lovely anniversary dinner a week or so ago. I wrote to them because they asked for feedback on the bottom of their receipt and I was confused about a charge that was appearing on the bill. In passing, I also mentioned that DH was happy with most of his prime rib, but that a portion of it had been chewy. They responded immediately, explaining how the charge was handled and also requested my address to send me a gift card in apology for the prime rib not meeting DH's expectations. I received a $50 gift card to the restaurant as apology yesterday. It was very generous of them and I look forward to using it for a special occasion sometime over the next year.

It was so generous of them to give us a $50 gift card. I'm already
looking forward to returning there for another meal. 

Do you read your receipts? Many of the restaurants and other stores have offers for future discounts or newsletters at the bottom of the receipts and often those can lead to big savings. I have learned to always check my receipts. I currently have several 10% off at Perkins stashed, as well as a 20% off at Baker's Square to be used. Maybe I'll use that one for breakfast later today.

Little bits of money saved go into my cash jar (a piggy bank just
doesn't hold enough). I cash that in every month or so and put the
money aside in my vacation and travel fund. That's what I turn to when
I need a quick bit of cash for something special. 

I'll be running all over town again today, and I also need to continue rearranging the store to my satisfaction before next week's beginning of the Bead Shops Hop. I got a lot done yesterday (which, unfortunately, means that it was a slower sales day than I really wanted). I was rearranging my display boards and by the end of the day, felt I had put a permanent impression in my finger where I position my pegboard hooks for placement. Ouch!

This is the main aisle of my store as you walk in
from the street. Yesterday's task was rearranging all of the
smaller pegboard spinner racks in the distance. That meant
hundreds of hooks moved. Ouch! 

I have a mental list of what I want accomplished before the Shops Hop begins. I'm not sure I'll get to all of it, but I'm sure going to try. If nothing else, it's been a great push for cleaning and getting more product out on display. We have a huge selection of goods, but sometimes fall behind on actually getting them processed and onto the sales shelves.

We have these large wheeled buckets for our trash and recycling. They
take up quite a lot of space in the garage. We have a third one for our
yard waste which DH has been filling every week, without fail. As I'm
able to recycle more, my trash is getting less. I'm happy about that! 

Well, today starts out with trash and recycling collection, so I'd better keep this short and sweet, find some good photos to accompany it, and upload. Have a great Wednesday and smile today. A smile is one infection you want to pass along.

Shipping Day

Well, I've been working for several weeks to get my Solstice gifts made and my holiday cards made.  Today is shipping day for all of my cards and gifts that are going out of town.  I ran short by less than 10 cards, so I will break down and buy one box of cards to send since I really don't have the time to make any additional ones and those will be mailed by the end of the week.  So, those of you who are getting gifts from me (and you know who you are), keep your eyes open for the mail.  My domestic shipments should be received by the weekend, and my overseas shipments should be received in 7-10 days.  Please let me know that you've received your boxes so that I know they got to their new homes. 

 Wrapped gift boxes - what fun!  Go ahead and open your cards first,

the inserts in the cards explain your gifts.

My timeline for gifts is winding down.  I have my DH and Chickie left and I will be working on those gifts today and the rest of the month.  I am not as far along as I wanted to be - not for lack of trying, just for lack of time. 

I am meeting with my stockbroker today to see what, if anything, can be done to massage my portfolio so that it can actually generate the income that I need.  Don't think that I've got some huge amounts of money, here.  I have the money that I inherited when my Mother died several years ago.  I've been investing that in CD's so that the money was safe and I got a small amount of interest that I could use to live on.  But in these days of 0% interest, it's not generating any money and I need some.  So my broker says he has some ideas to present to me and I will listen and make some decisions that I sincerely hope I will not regret.  All I know is that I must have some income coming in.  I have bills to pay and I am responsible for several $1000 payments throughout the year.  I can't afford those just by putting $1 bills into my cash jar, so I need some miracles.  So, I'm off to see the Wizard....

Wrapping Things Up

I am trying to get things wrapped up so that I can wear my cloak this weekend.  I don't want to rush the decoration, so it won't be decorated, but it still is a nice and a warm cloak.  Now all I have to do is get DH out of the door at an appropriate time instead of late, as he was last week.  We ended up parking in the boondocks last week because he was late.  I like parking closer to the main gate.  I might have to bring my cloak to the shop so that I can finish pulling the embroidery that I've done up to this point.  Then I'll put it into the wash tonight.  I drilled the backplates to the cloak pins yesterday and will start mounting them to the faceplates with rivets today.  It will be tight, but I think I'll have things finished on time.  I do have one alternate fastening method if I need to, but I think I'll be OK (down to the deadline of course - LOL). 

These are a more traditional style of
cloak pin.  My pins are enameled and
work as a pair with a chain between them
instead of this style.  But aren't they lovely?

I don't think I've ever been as broke as I am now.  I think I'll take my Discover card and bury it so that I can't use it for a few months.  I had to pull from my emergency fund yesterday so that I could pay off this month's charges.  I knew it would be an expensive month - I had the Fair, and Ren Fest and a new machine that I bought that I think will help me with my etching.  I really have to get myself under control again. 

Happy Anniversary to me!

And yesterday was my 31st wedding anniversary.  DH forgot, I remembered, but we decided that we would celebrate sometime within the next two weeks when we could more adequately afford a night out.  Guess he'a as poor as I am right now :-)  Have a wonderful and creative day! 

Cyber Monday - Time's A Wastin'

Today is what is called "Cyber Monday". That is usually the day when web-ordering for holiday gifts becomes very high, although it is speculated that the true "cyber Monday" will actually be in two weeks. Since I still don't have my new credit card, I won't be shopping today. But I know what I will be ordering when I do. I'll get some extraordinary wool for a short-cape for my DH's Renaissance outfit. He asked for one, showed me the color he wanted, and it took me more than two months of searching to find the appropriate fabric for it. And I'll get him some art books from a favorite on-line seller of specialty books. But I'm making things for most of my friends. I'm doing that both because I prefer to give something personal, but also because of the economics involved. I just don't have a lot of money to spare because I do want to attend the PMC Conference in 2010, and possibly some of Bead & Button Show. So I need to save whatever monies I can to fund those trips.

Holiday frenzy is bound to hit everyone though. I still need to purchase my holiday cards and get those sent out. I really enjoy sending out cards and I love getting them - especially the ones with newsletters included. I know that people are very divided on newsletters - some people despise them, others love them. Since I hear from some of our friends only once a year, getting a newsletter really helps bring things more up to date. So, as we get ready to enter December tomorrow, I wish all of you a creative day of gift choices. May your solder only flow where you want it to and may your beading thread not tangle today.

Catch-Up Again - Thinking Ahead

Of course I didn't get everything on my Wednesday list accomplished....but I rarely do. My Father, in his wisdom, believed that learning at least one new thing each day would keep the brain sharp and extend his life. He died in his late 80's and his brain was just fine, so maybe he had something going there. My life seems to operate more on the order of "always play catch-up". Always have more things to do than time to do them. Always have at least one project in the wings that you would like to do. If you have that, you will never have artistic block because you'll always be one project behind.

I was able to accomplish some repairs that had been pending. This is a good thing because repairs are flow-through. They are one of the few things that I actually get personal money from. So I will phone these two people today and when they pick up their items, I'll get a few dollars to put towards my travel fund cash jar for my summer workshops. If I don't start saving for summer now, I'll have no spare cash for something that strikes my fancy or for a nice dinner with friends. Thinking ahead....that's the key :-)