Misc. Messy Stuff

     
I am having a bad case of scatter brain lately. I feel like I have a lot of different things going on in my world, life and brain and I'm having a hard time focusing on any of them.

Whenever I get like this the first thing to go is regular blog posting it seems. Maybe if I just focused on putting a few coherent thoughts together on a regular basis the rest would fall into place? Wishful thinking I'm afraid.

One reason for my discombobulation is because so much is up in the air in regards to the store. I thought I had made a decision a few months ago to close and go back to plan A and work from home on building up an online business. I even told my landlady that I would not be renewing my lease and started moving toward that end. This also meant that I came to terms with this decision and wrapped my head around it and accepted it. Once that was done I started to look forward to the change and started mentally shifting gears.

You know what happened next? Things started to pick up at the store. I've done more business at the store in the past four weeks than I did in the entire 4th quarter of 2008. People are interested in and signing up for classes. New customers are coming in because someone told them about me or they had driven buy countless time and finally decided to stop. The old adage that it takes at least a year for people to just know you are there is very true. I just wish it hadn't had to be this year!

This leaves me wondering if I'm jumping ship too soon. Or am I making the right decision and I just need to find a way to make myself and my products available locally somewhere else on a shorter term basis? (i.e. the flea market, open houses at my home, etc.) Could I if I really tried find a business partner (to take over teaching?) or a small business loan to help take up the slack? Am I giving up before I give it my 100% effort?

One thing I have learned is that indecision and second guessing is an awful way to do business. So this has left me feeling confused and out of sorts. I'm trying to follow my gut and my gut tells me that now is not the time for me to continue to risk it in this business climate. Because I am so uncertain and I don't have a solid plan to move forward with the brick and mortar store I'm going to continue to move toward closing up shop.

Well, golly gee! I didn't intend this post to be yet another page-long wank about the store and its future! The row of little pictures above illustrate some of the other little things that have been going on. I have other stuff but I'm so unfocused I can't even manage to take pictures! (Get it, unfocused!)

From L to R:
#1 My new phone. I've been wanting to drop my old service with Sprint and move my account to T-mobile with the girls but my contract didn't expire until May. Monday I was at the mall with the girls and I stopped to look at the T-mobile kiosk while Emma shopped in Claires. (I'll do almost anything to avoid going into that store!) I was then very professionally sold a new phone! Turns out Sprint was forced to offer customers the option to leave without an early termination fee and the time period to take advantage of it was coming to an end this month. I had been wanting either a Blackberry or G1 so I could access the internet when away from home or the store. I ended up with the G1. Very similar to the iPhone but it has a slide out full keyboard. I have an iTouch and was familiar with the interface and I prefer the real keyboard. I'm still learning all the nifty new things this baby can do but so far I give it high marks.

#2 New fabric! Lila Tueller's Soiree came in last week. I only have six prints from this one because I wasn't sure judging from the paper samples I had to choose from if I was going to like it. I may have to order more! It is so bright and pretty and just screams SUMMER! It really brightened up the store when I put it out.

I also have Wonderland from MoMo coming soon. I ordered a large selection of this one because I think it is just incredible. I love the whimsy and fun use of colors and pattern.

#3 Sale fabric! Because I have ordered some new collections and I'm planning on moving everything to my house in a few month, I need to trim the selections down. I've put a lot of great fabric on clearance sale. Holiday and seasonal prints are as low as $4.99/yard. Popular designers like Jennifer Paganelli, Joel Dewberry, Tina Givens, and April Cornell are marked down to $6.99/yard.

#4 Last month my neighbors had a bad case of Abominable Icicles. I sat here and watched them throw tennis balls and anything else at hand toward the roof trying to knock them down. Finally one day a chunk fell and broke the awning roof off from over their backdoor. They then decided to play a little "ice hockey" and got rid of them for good! I was happy that I didn't have to witness an attempt at the Darwin Awards first hand that day.

#5 Clowns are scary. This little fellow was in a bag of plastic clown/doll heads my mother gave me when I was home over the holidays. I still haven't come up with anything to do with them other than frighten small children and taunt the cats. Maybe I'll make a hydra version of Dollipede.

Now I remember why I don't blog more often. This post has taken me almost all day to get done and it doesn't have great pictures or anything. Time for me to take more ginko biloba and caffeine!