OK…so you know how some days are like a roller coaster? That’s the day I had yesterday. Up. Down. Up. Down. Exhausting because I’m Irish and I typically have a short fuse so I was really tired at the end of the day. Tired anyway because ah…hello?! The baby, still waking a lot at night. Whole other story.
Let’s begin. I have a special place in my heart for Big Macs, Big and Tasty’s…burgers and fries in general. And of course, Coca Cola. Fountain. I can do canned drinks but will drive out of my way to get a fountain drink. So, baby(s) #1 and #2, the twins. I gained 36# while pregnant with them. A week after they arrived, I had lost 31#. I thought, THIS is great! Baby #3, the singleton, I gained a “gulp”, 45ish#. Whateva. A week after she arrived I had lost…10#. And gradually I lost 3# here, 2# there…really slow. Mind you, I didn’t lift a finger to exercise. Not watching what I eat so I was content to think that eventually, when I was through this baby stage, I’d get back to my mountain biking and hiking regime. At 16# over prepregnancy weight – I stalled out. Stayed there for months.
Then 7 weeks ago, the baby starts teething and revs up her nursing demands greatly. My appetite goes crazy. I’m eatin’ big macs and whatever other garbage I can find…love cheese, breads…just eating in general. Favorite entertainment. I get on the scale yesterday. GASP! Prepregnancy weight on the nose! Bingo baby! I’m lovin’ this. I can eat whatever I want, do nothing AND lose weight. This may possibly be the greatest moment in my life. Seriously, you’re jealous, aren’t you? (smirk! Wink! Wink!) This was one of the up’s of the day’s roller coaster.
I decide to pop over to campus and work for a few hours. I have an event coming up next week. I wanted to clean off my desk which had a mountain of mail on it and I needed to make 2 phone calls. I decide to take the baby. I have my office all set with nursery stuff so off we go. She does great the first 30 minutes and then decides, um, today, I must be held by Mom or I will scream and annoy everyone in the office. Ugh! She never acts like this. Truly. She’s an angel. This was quite rare. Do you know how hard it is to type on a computer with a baby in your lap? It looks likoljlkjsfdk like thisdkjlkjda. Looks like that. Yep. Then crisis. An invoice unpaid. Who ordered what when where’s the PO? Dang, spent 30+ minutes figuring out the company double billed us and they were at fault. And then, a bank statement for a student organization – they had charged over the course of several years, $560 in “service fees” and we now owed them $4. Seriously?! Theft I cry and call the bank to straighten this out on behalf of our students. Baby still demanding Momma, desk still piled high with mail. Phone calls not yet made. After 2 hours and 40 minutes, I get my phone calls made and leave my desk a mess and leave. This was the down.
Head over to Ann Taylor LOFT. My favorite store. I was meeting up with my friend Jill. Jill had tried on a pair of pants I was going to return to LOFT and she loved them and wanted to buy them. They were more on sale than when I bought them so we were meeting at the store for me to return and Jill to buy them at the reduced price. Ladies, do you love deals?! Ok, brace yourself. I bought them on clearance for like $23. Jill paid…drum roll please…$4.88 PLUS 25% off that price. Oh yes…you heard correctly. We both start digging through the clearance section and doing a happy dance. I find THE deal of the day. A gorgeous deep blue with bell sleeved suit jacket. Originally, $119. On sale for….$7.41. Are you kidding me?! This was the big top of the hill coming down the roller coaster thrill of the day. A little retail therapy does wonders, doesn’t it? Insane good deals over there. This was the Whoo hoo of the day! I know, you are all giving me virtual high fives right now, I feel the vibe. It’s a good thing.
Then, I get home, get an email from my graphic designer with the cover options for my pattern line. An up moment. I heart them. They are perfect. My husband named the line (top secret for now! :>) and we both love the designs. The down side, to get started, the initial run of these will actually put us in the hole. It will take 3 prints before we break even and start to see a profit. Down down down. We decide to stop on the tracks and take a break to figure this one out. Anybody got any good business advice for us? It’s gonna happen…we just need to do a bit more planning.
Problem is, Quilt Market is right around the corner. May. We may not make it. The next market to try and get signed by a distributor is in the Fall in Houston. Way more expensive to go to. Hmmm…we’ve said it before, please pray for us as we figure out where we are being led and what to do with this business. I feel like we’ve hit a wall at full speed. End of roller coaster. That was the “Big Mac attack” of my day.
The “American Girl” part of my day…this is a long post, sorry. I have a lot to get off my chest (heave a sigh). My girls have been saving money from birthdays, first communion and Christmas plus allowance. They decided they wanted to buy themselves a new American Girl doll. Ok, so if you have kids into this you know, this is not cheap. The doll they want is $95. I have a $10 coupon to use. And we offer to give them $10 for their birthday in February. That puts one peas within $2 of having enough money and the other pea within $4. They beg to do laundry. I pay them 50 cents per basket. 
The dolls they picked out arrived yesterday and I put them in my closet. They are super excited. The peas share a bedroom and they each have a ton of American Girl stuff already. We talked them into giving up some of the million toys they had outgrown and to clear off the bottom of their closet and they could “build” a “bedroom” for their dolls, hang pictures on the wall, etc. So here’s the result. My husband added some Christmas lights we were going to throw out to light it all up. They LOVE it. And now, several of their friends have decided to do the same. Cool idea, eh? Anyway, the jist is, I’m proud of them for saving their money to buy their own doll. Proud of them for doing such a super job at earning their allowance by working around the house. Proud of them for respecting and taking such good care of what they own. They are really good girls. I don’t know how that happened but they are surely, super special little things. I heart them big time :>)
And now, today…is the first morning in a LONG LONG LONG time I have had no real pressure to do anything. Of course, I have an order to do an entire baby set. Large bag, nursing cover, diaper wipes case, changing pad. No biggie…I’ll get it done this weekend. It’s for my husbands cousin. I can’t wait to show it off to you later. I picked pretty little pink French wallpaper and stripes print with birds for their brand new Laura Jane. AND I just sent out a few things from some older orders…here’s a peek at one of them. 
I’ll get the rest loaded over on my portfolio later. Dial up…stinks. Can’t wait until someday we actually get internet service out here “in the country”…ohh, puulease!
Gonna also load a few "ready to go" items over in my etsy shop later. Check it out!
Ciao, TRP