Sassy Saturday

I’m exhausted!

It was another busy sales day in the shop which hindered my efforts to finish setting up for the art workshop, so I was a little flustered by the time the workshop was due to begin and to top it off there was a flurry of customers in the last 15 minutes before closing.

The workshop participants all arrived at different times and a touch early too which only added to my discomfort.

Eventually, the shop was closed, I changed into my casual attire and I was seated with the girls ready to play.

At the beginning of the week I had 9 people confirmed for the class, which dropped to 8 by Tuesday and then 4 just didn’t turn up today - no communication at all. In future, I’ll get everybody to pay in advance.

It really didn’t matter because the four who attended were a great little group and they were a lot of fun and very enthusiastic.

We were all so involved and so deep in concentration that before we knew it, it was after 3pm and we hadn’t even begun to clean our messes!

It was all very busy as we finished our art pieces, cleaned the mess and shuffled out the door much later than usual!

I forgot to take photos!! 😮

I will take photos of the dried art on Monday, but the group photo opportunity has well and truly passed. Bugger.

I signed up the first person for my journaling course which starts on Tuesday week and the local newsletter where I’ve advertised hasn’t even been published yet! Wahoo!

It has been a great week. I feel like it was productive and fruitful and I’m definitely ready for a day in bed to recover from all that fabulous juju.

Nite all.

A Blinder

Today was full on.

A fabulous day of sales and in between customers I partially set up the training room for Saturday’s workshop, finished pricing the fascinators, created folders for two new suppliers, put together an order for the new range of Jenny Jazz clothing (OMG some gorgeous stuff there but that’s on hold until I can afford it!), checked my emails, paid some consignment money and I actually ate some lunch!

I was quite frazzled for most of the day and literally fumbled my way through it.

It started when I ordered my morning coffee and discovered that there were 9 coffees ordered before me. I had left the house ten minutes later than usual so it was slightly inconvenient to wait. I was lucky to have Adoring Husband opening the shop for me.

I picked up my mail and arrived at the shop to find AH setting up the tables for the art class, so I immediately went to his assistance, arranging the tables, moving chairs out of the room, putting the plastic sheets over the tables etc until my first customer came through the door.

I was about to make the first sale and found the iPad with my square reader checkout was dead flat. It was a big sale so I was incredibly lucky that the customer had enough cash in her wallet to pay for it!

After she left, I had to find the cord to charge the iPad. Usually I take it home overnight to charge it, so I was certain that there was no cord at the shop. I remembered that the last time, I charged it using AH’s cord at home so it was pure luck that, having searched all the drawers, I eventually found the cord in my laptop bag!

For the third sale, I misplaced the little white square reader, which is essential for making the sales. I eventually found it on the corner of the desk hiding between the cash tin and the little set of drawers. It took me ages to find it, but I was lucky that the ladies were very good natured and not in a hurry to go anywhere.

The next sale was for essential oils and I accidentally undercharged for one of the oils, not realising it until after she left. Too late. Too bad.

Another customer, who purchased a Himalayan salt lamp, asked for some spare bulbs for it. I have them in a box in the cupboard. They have always been there. I have not moved them. Could I locate them??? Noooooo.

So I searched in all the places where I knew they couldn’t be until the customer said to message her on Facebook when I found them and she would come back. Not ten minutes later I found them exactly where they have always been, but I had placed a box over the top of them which hid them from my view.

Ugh.

Just a whole bunch of silly little things one after the other to frustrate and frazzle my usually organised brain. I had a good night’s sleep so my brain should have been sharp!

I was embarrassed but I survived.

Tomorrow will be better!

It’s almost midnight so I’d best get some sleep.

Nite all.

Moving On

I love this ...

“I ain’t draft dodging. I ain’t burning no flag. I ain’t running to Canada. I’m staying right here. You want to send me to jail? Fine, you go right ahead. I’ve been in jail for 400 years. I could be there for 4 or 5 more, but I ain’t going no 10,000 miles to help murder and kill other poor people.

If I want to die, I’ll die right here, right now, fightin’ you, if I want to die. You my enemy, not no Chinese, no Vietcong, no Japanese. You my opposer when I want freedom. You my opposer when I want justice. You my opposer when I want equality. Want me to go somewhere and fight for you? You won’t even stand up for me right here in America, for my rights and my religious beliefs. You won’t even stand up for me right here at home. “

- Muhammad Ali

If only we could all be so forthright, honest and assertive.

I had a nice day.

Adoring Husband swapped the fence flags so now I have green and gold satin flapping for people’s attention along the fence.

It was an average sales day.

I ordered some clothes which I think will be here tomorrow.

I took a stack of photos of the new stock and posted them on Facebook.

I priced and displayed 4 dozen pairs of socks.

I attempted to delete 7000 emails but they kept bouncing back into my inbox.

All but 2 of my customers paid with $50 notes so by lunch time I had to get change from the post office.

My back was giving me a hard time after yesterday’s effort of unpacking and displaying the new stock - also I only slept for 4 hours - so I’m signing off now to get some sleep.

There will be more stock arriving tomorrow and I have to set up the training room for Saturday’s workshop.

Nite all.

Improving

Today was certainly better than yesterday.

But I do miss my little Ruby Booby.

Meditation helped me start the day on a positive note. It ran over time because we were all so deeply involved in the subject matter.

The Gypsy could only stay for 15 minutes afterwards so we filled that time with chatter and then I joined the ladies in the back room to finish my coffee and listen to their silly banter.

I was interrupted often by customers so my involvement in the banter was limited.

It was a good day for sales.

My Ivy’s order arrived so I have new crossbody bags, beach bags, scarves, purses and enough fascinators for EVERYONE in town!!

The new flags arrived so Adoring Husband will get them sorted tomorrow.

It felt like a long day, but I got a lot done and served a lot of people ... even a customer in Ballarat VIC who would normally be here for holidays right now but as you all know, the borders are closed, so she chose to shop with me over the phone!

That’s three interstate customers now, who have phoned to purchase something because they can’t get here in person.

I received a fabulous catalogue full of new fashion pieces that I drooled over for about 45 minutes. This means I need to stop purchasing stock long enough to build a strong bank balance that will allow me to order freely!

AH arrived with plenty of time to help me close the shop, mail off the customer order and head home to unpack this week’s FROG box which he had picked up earlier.

Waiting for us at the front door was a big box of hemp kombucha which I haven’t opened yet. I’ll give you my review of the product in the next few days.

Now it’s time for me to sleep. I have to say that I slept soundly last night for a solid 7.5 hours and woke up feeling refreshed and energised. I think I was emotionally exhausted!

Happy Thursday to you!

Nite all.

Morning Mourning

Yesterday afternoon I noticed that psychotic dog Ruby’s health had deteriorated.

We knew the time was coming but I figured as long as she came running for a pat whenever I arrived home, she was still ok.

Yesterday she remained in her bed, her breathing was shallow and there was no ‘happy’ left.

When Adoring Husband picked her up, her breathing became laboured, almost like her lungs were being crushed, so I made him put her down and she sat quietly in her bed.

I phoned the vet and she offered to come out to our house today to put Ruby to sleep, so I agreed to that.

Sadly, Ruby’s health deteriorated rapidly and she didn’t make it through the night.

Adoring Husband was inconsolable and I have to say that the first 4 hours of today were incredibly painful - mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. I went to work with a very heavy heart and my eyes were red and puffy. Every so often I would remember my happy little girl and my eyes would fill with tears, but I got through the day in one piece.

AH buried her in the back yard and we will have a plaque engraved to place beside her resting place.

The other two dogs have been a blessing. Their wagging tails and wiggling bums have eased the pain a little and right now, aside from a little arthritis, they are both healthy.

I slept poorly last night and I’m feeling exhausted after this very emotional day, so it’s sleep time for me.

Nite all.

Application

I used a website today, where freelance professionals look at what you need and apply for the job you have available eg I want someone to create a simple, easy to navigate website that will be easy for me to manage and maintain after its completed.

So I described in detail what I wanted, and just like a job interview, I gave 5 questions that they need to answer before I choose the successful applicant.

I haven’t posted the job description yet, but it’s all created and ready to go ... whenever I’m ready to go!

I had a nice time in bed today, although I had to close the bedroom window early this morning because the breeze was strong and cold!

Adoring Husband waited on me, providing lemon water, broth and coffee.

I made a salad for lunch while he provided some cold ham from the butcher.

Dinner was lamb loin chops with roasted cauliflower steaks, baked sweet potato, tomato and onion.

In the food processor I chucked an avocado, a frozen banana, coconut cream, maple syrup, melted 85% dark chocolate and some salt. I served it with blueberries and maple toffee crunch.

That was my nutrition for the day.

Sleep time and work tomorrow.

Nite all

Worthy Recipient

I sacrificed my Sunday in bed.

It was worth it.

It was to celebrate The Brains Trust’s birthday and we all drove together to her favourite eating place where we could sit together outside, in nature, eat good food, talk loudly, laugh even louder and bond more over our silliness.

We learnt valuable information about discarding hand towels when leaving the public toilet area, performing wifely duties (cake baking), how important our partner’s 69th birthday is and how South Korea can teach the world a thing or two about hands free toileting 😳 (you had to be there).

We enjoyed our meal, received excellent service, the weather was lovely and we ended the day with a walk around the grounds.

Five hours of fun and frivolity - even Adoring Husband sent me a text 6 minutes before I arrived home wondering where we were!

My nutrition for the day: lemon water, chicken broth, coffee x 2, filtered water. Lunch - chicken, avocado, cheese, half of half a GF bread roll, lettuce, onion, beetroot, carrot. Dinner - half of a scotch fillet steak, tomato, cucumber, beetroot, avocado, lettuce.

I’m hungry right now! I could eat a family block of chocolate! I should have brought home a GF citrus tart from our lunch location!

Well I hope that tomorrow I’ll get to spend some extra time in bed, although I have a feeling that there will be a couple of deliveries at the shop that I may need to open up for. That would be annoying.

Welcome to a new week!

Nite all.