~HO HO HO~
I swear…. it’s this week every year that I sit here and contemplate,,,, “MAN,,,, I think I need to be on some sort of medication!!”… Pictured to the right was a pic I took last Friday I believe of the days worth of work I did in a very small window. Such a feeling of accomplishment to get soooo much stuff done in one sitting. Currently I’m waiting on a shipment of cuff wire, as I have like 30 cuffs pending, and sadly, NO wire. Had to mark my Klassy Key Chains “Sold out” because my lovely supplier of those opted not to stock up (for whatever reason) for the holiday season… ehem… lame… But don’t get me started on those people. But tomorrow is my deadline for Christmas. You know… I get all worked up the first week of November, in anticipation of the huge rush, and this year has proved to be no different. So here I am, a day away from putting the “closed” sign up, and diligently working to get all orders done that have come in up till now, and get them out the door for Christmas….. unfortunately,, once they leave OUR hands,,, the USPS has them, and what they do with them, and in what timely manner they deal with them is sooooo not in our control. We can only hope for the best, expect the worst and cross our fingers and pray that they get to their destination on time. I love the phone calls of the people who I have promised they will get their orders on time, and then they don’t show, but the orders had gone out WAY in advance w/ plenty of time for shipping and they still don’t show. It’s like,,, it makes me want to start up my own shipping business. Maybe call it “GUARANTEED GOODS”…. You win some you lose some. I’m a human being, with only two hands, ten fingers, two shoulders, two kids, a high energy dog, a messy house, and I can only do what I can do. I mean,, I’m not trying to invite you to a “pity party”,, but seriously,,, this time of year I feel like Wonderwoman.. and I know Neen and Heather do too. We eat, breathe and sleep silver for 8 weeks straight. And I can tell you that we are VERY excited that tomorrow is drawing near. That’s not to say that we are totally done stamping,, as we still have to catch up from the orders, but incoming orders after midnight tomorrow won’t get done until after the holidays,,,, UNLESS I’m suffering “Holiday Rush Letdown”… (which is prone to happen),, and then maybe I can whip them up. MAYBE ;c)
Ebay happens to be my best friend at the moment. I don’t get much time to shop this time of year, and all those people that call me in like Sept or October with orders for Christmas… those people are my heroes. I mean,, why wait until the last minute to do your shopping? I’m a loser in that regard. But here and there I’ll hop online and have the gifts shipped to ME… it’s a beautiful thing indeed… I need to get my Christmas cards out the door. Finally got done with the infamous family letter, but now I need to sit down and get all the addresses and whatnot, and buy the stamps. It will be a miracle if those get out in due time. And… I REALLY wanted to bake this year. My mom and dad are coming up here for Christmas, and I know my mom will be my biggest cheerleader when I say I want to bake some goodies. They will be up here on the 19th or 20th.. I CAN’T WAIT to have them here,, in my house, with my kids, staring at my Christmas tree and drinking many adult bevvies and reminiscing about old times. This is going to be one of those Christmases that go down in the memory bank…………one I will cherish for the rest of my life.
So I hope that whomever is reading this, is all caught up on their holiday “to do” list. I’m wayyyyyy at the top still. But I finally feel like I’m in the holiday spirit….. as there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I love what I do, and I love creating silver gifts for everyone who wants them. And I LOVE sitting there on Christmas morning, as I’m opening my gifts, but also thinking about alllll the gifts that we have made for so many people that are being touched by our artistry at that very second. I wonder if people are just smiling ear to ear from what they received. It really does make me feel good…. The thought of the mom receiving her first “mommy” necklace, the grandmother getting her charm bracelet with 14 disks on it….. it’s a good good feeling.
But another good feeling is the feeling I get when I can turn that “Open” sign to “Closed” tomorrow at midnight…. that is a good feeling. For at that moment, I can turn focus away from the business, and turn my attention towards what is most important, my family… My family who has painstakingly supported me thru these daunting hours and days of such hard work. I THANK YOU!!
December 11th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
You mean you need to get your Christmas cards OTD!!! Get to work Betty, I want some buckeye balls!