Not a bad way to end a month, aside from the lack of sales today.

What am I doing sitting here at 9 on a Saturday evening when I could be spending time with my honey? Well … it’s TMI but we spent our time together earlier … & all I can say about that, is wow.

So afterwards, we decided to go out to eat & walk the mall after that. Funny how things come together sometimes. A short time ago, our little mall got an actual “out in the mall” customer service “booth”. Up until tonite, we had not seen anyone manning it tho. Tonite we saw Jodi there. She is the wonderful lady who always came to check on all us artists while we did the mall thing. So we chatted a bit. I think she likes me, as a small business person/artist. She knows what my financial picture looks like. She is not the type of person to try to push me into something I can’t afford. Earlier this year, the mall was sold, & the new owners have the means to sink some money into this mall to make it again, what it could be. One of the smaller things they have done so far is get all new kiosks. Admittedly, they do look much nicer than the old ones. They have added Wi-Fi to the mall. They’ve made an effort to make things inside look nicer with small changes. But anyways…

Jodi was asking what they could do to get me into one of the new kiosks. We talked about how I just can’t do the all day, everyday, thing right now. She has been tossing an idea in her head & told us about it. She would like to see a possibly year round “Artist Avenue” type “store” happen. They have several vacant stores right now. A couple of them would work. So I added my views to her ideas. I told her if there was a way to be able to be closed when we needed to be, that would be great. You know, have the different sections be covered &/or roped off when the artist cant be there. It would be better for allot of us who work alone & just can’t be there open to close 7 days a week. We went into several details & we both like the ideas that came out of it. So, she’ll be putting the bug into corporate’s ear ….

Then … she also offered another venue to help get me some advertising. The vacant store fronts have been curtained off & made to look nice. They have also used the protected side areas on either side of the “doors” as places for advertising. Well, soon, one of those places could have a display of my stuff with contact info & all that cool stuff. She is confident the pricing would be very affordable for me. So, we’ll see what happens there.

And then …. She is also looking for part time help manning the customer service booth. Again, she said she’d love to see me there. We talked about that a bit & she printed me out the job description. She is such a good & honest person. Nice, real, person. Someone who would be great to be a team player with. So, it’s a lot of stuff to think about. It would be great connections for me, no matter how much or little I get involved. I’m certainly glad we stopped to chat with her. I now have a stack of her cards to hand out to artists whom I think would be interested in being in the mall at an affordable level, & perhaps even with flexible hours.

I walked away from that with a good feeling. It’s certainly a better ending to a day than the beginning.

Today was a market day. We still don’t have much produce, due to the weather. We finally got Lek, the lady who sells flowers today. Still, we are mostly craft people. Several people did well today. But in the same respect, several people didn’t do squat. Me included. I sold one bookmark for $3. My stall fee was $8. So it cost me $5 to be there today. At least I wasn’t the only one who had crap sales. That helped me feel better. I think we all know that once the produce comes in, sales should rise a bit all over. That’s what we tell each other anyways.

I had a lady stop & chat with me today. She is the mom to one of the newest craft people. She loved my work & gave me a few new ideas of who to approach that may be interested in the type of stuff I have. So, that’s cool too.

Ok, I’m done rambling for now. I think. My beer was really good. Not sure what I’ll get into next. Honey is watching some weird serial killer stuff on TV. Not a bad way to end a month, aside from the lack of sales today.

Friday afternoon thoughts

It's just after 1pm on a sunny Friday afternoon & I’m sitting here in front of the computer, wondering what to get into, if anything. My mind has been going a mile a minute lately. What’s new tho. My soaps are on. I’m not sitting there watching them while doing nothing. They’re on, & I kinda watch.

I was going to take my framed pictures & take pictures of them. But, the glass glares. I’d have to take them apart, take pix, & put them back together. Right then, it was more effort than I wanted to put out. Sad. Might have to bite the bullet tho, & do it. I’d hate to sell one & not have a picture of it. I’m weird like that, wanting pix of my stuff, even after it’s gone. MI may never again mat & frame it the same, but I like having a record of things.

I need to take new pix of my finished coasters too. I want to list them on Etsy & such. I’m not quite totally happy with the pix I have taken. When I use a black background, they turn out to dark. When I use white, the colors wash out too much. I want a solid something, so when I put them on my new site, they will look good. Maybe I need to find a neutral something & just color the background black to match the site. I dunno.

Thursday Connie had the day off. We spent some time together & went back up to Leavenworth. It’s fun to go see the river in all it’s fury. We walked along a path for awhile, took several pix of the river from the bridge, & generally had a good time. We brought the dog, & she too, had a blast. It was a nice afternoon.

On the way home, we stopped at a local bakery, known for it’s yummy treats. What are the odds, that as we sat down to enjoy a snack, Lorie & her daughter should walk in? It was awkward. We hugged, but it was weird. No mention of anything said via email, which was the right thing to do of course. But it was just strange. The last time I hugged her, was when she came to see me at the market. Then, as this day, I hugged with all of me. It’s the only way I hug. They didn’t stay long, just long enough to get something & be gone. It’s such a weird feeling. I still don’t know what to say to her. If I should say anything at all. I still think about her, & us, everyday. I wonder what to say. What to do. I know we’ll never be the same. I can only hope that the answers come.

Tuesday I spent some time planting stuff. I cleaned out containers, replanted some plants & it felt so good. I swept up around the bottom of the steps, the steps & the walkway leading to the door. That’s where a couple baskets now hang, and several pots sit. It looks nice & I hope we have somewhere just as nice to move everything to when we move.

Speaking of that … I got to talk to my friend Kati, who owns the house we’re going to move into. She feels confident that the current (extended family) people living there will have the house finished (& be moved in) that they are building, by mid June. So now we just need to see if we can be in there by July 1 or August 1. That will depend on whether or not she has anything that needs to be done to the house that cant be done while we live there. I’m hoping we find out some of that tonite. She is supposed to come into town after work, so hopefully, she’ll have a chance to stop by here & chat with us too.

Ok, now I’m losing focus. I guess I need to wind this up for now & find something more productive to do. There is after all, a long list I can choose from.

plans foiled by weather suck

Another week is gone. I meant to sit & write several times this past week. One thing or another has gotten in the way, or just plain old distracted me.

I don’t even know where to start. I guess where I left off? Might be good. That was last Friday evening. Wow. Saturday at market was ok. Not super exciting, but good. Visited with some of the vendors, & a couple friends. Tim went up on the foot bridge & took a few pix looking down on the market. I’ll get those posted … somewhere. We were supposed to have a board mtg afterwards, but since we were missing a few board members, it got postponed until this week. Right now, I don’t even remember what we did the rest of the weekend. Sad huh?

The beginning of the week was … not very memorable either. I usually jot down stuff in my planner, just for this reason, to help me remember. It’s blank until Friday. I slacked. I did some cleaning around here. You know, basic stuff & plant watering, vacuuming, dusting. Fun. Right.

Oh, I know… Tuesday Connie & I went out & about. It was her day off. She went & got her food handler card, while I took the dog to get her nails trimmed at Petco. Then I wandered thru the mall. Stopped in to get my hair trimmed & talked to my girl about my perm. I got it right around my birthday & it’s pretty much fallen out already. Well, the girl I let do my hair last time, didn’t use a strong enough solution. So, we’ll do it again, but I’ll have to pay again too. At least this time I know it’ll last.

Wednesday I went into Fred Meyer to pick up a couple things. I saw Leah there. I don’t know who recalls me talking about her last year & especially last fall. At any rate, we have been actually chatting a bit when ever I see her working in there. Well, this day we started to actually get into some conversation. Then we decided to get together Thursday since it was her day off. Well, we never did. Dunno what happened either. I’m hoping we connect next week tho.

Friday I went out to the Dam to bring Colleen some of my stuff. I brought her note cards, book marks & a couple smaller prints. It’s a start. Over the next month, I’ll work on getting her a few other things too. Then I need to do a bio for me, & a nice price list too I think. After I dropped the stuff off, I went out to the garden area & took a few pictures of flowers. I hope they came out nice.

Friday morning tho, I made some money. I got a call Wednesday from my realtor girl. She liked the pix I did for her just back on the 8^th, but hated her hair & the top she wore. So, we needed a retake, at her expense of course. AND … she was bringing a friend. Works for me!! So we set things up for Friday morning. I spent about 30 minutes or so, & made $70. Then, there is the editing time at home, but still, not bad money for a quick shoot.

Friday evening the weather here was crappy. We hesitated even loading the car for market. So, we didn’t. The forecast was for icky morning weather. Teach me to listen!! Tim woke me at about 530, to take the dog out cuz he was hurting. What did I wake up to? A friggin blue sky !!!! I was pissed. I took the dog out. It felt so nice out. I told Tim if I hustled, I could get there, but I didn’t wanna do it alone. And I didn’t wanna ask him to help since he was hurting. We opted to play hookie. Oh well right? He tells me I made money Friday, so it was ok. It felt weird. We ended up going down there, since Connie had not been yet. So, we stood around & visited with some of the vendors, got some rhubarb, and left. We stopped at a couple yard sales on the way back, but didn’t find anything good. Followed that by getting gas at Costco & then lunch. That was after doing some sampling of course. And they worked too, we bought a couple things.

We headed home, Tim went off to Joe’s, & I turned around & went to my meeting. Connie headed off to work while we were gone. I went to Joe’s after the meeting, & hung out there for a bit with the family. Afterwards, Tim & I went out to eat. It’s nice just us two, doing whatever.

Since about the 14^th or so, Lorie & I have been going back & forth again with emails. I cant see our friendship being saved. I wont bore you all with her endless ramblings either. I am seeing a whole new side to her, & seeing it is certainly not just me who has hurt our friendship. Wow. It still amazes me at the things she wrote. I’m sorry to see this happen too. But, we all move on. It just saddens me that it seems she wont be part of my life anymore. Too much has been said between us. If things change, I’m sure I’ll make note.

So, other than this boring babble, not much new here. I’ve been working to make my site better again, with Connie doing the actual online part & me giving her the content. I have a long way to go, but its going. I’m trying to see what online groups are worth my time & effort for networking, & which I can do without. I’m also slowly trying to get various things organized around here. Both in real life, on the computer (like my endless photos) & with business stuff. I might be getting somewhere, but I wont say that too loud just yet. But now, I think it is time for me & my honey to go take a shower, & go to bed …..