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Archive for May, 2014

It’s after 9:00 p.m. and I should be in bed.  But you know how it is when you have all this stuff to do right when you come home from the day job and then spend some chatty time with your spouse or kids or partner or housemate or even yourself over dinner and then have a bunch of other stuff to do after that?  It’s 9:00 p.m. before you know it and there was no relaxing time at all.

I love relaxing time.  I need relaxing time.  I’m kind of lazy that way.

But tonight I was on a mission.  I can’t say too much about it because the person for whom this mission must be accomplished might read my blog and it’s a surprise for him/her.  Suffice it to say the mission involved technology, and with that I stink.

Stink, I say.

Needless to say the mission was not accomplished, but I haven’t lost hope yet.  When it comes to computers and digital devices I’m usually determined to figure it out even if it takes me months.  Unfortunately in this case I don’t have that long, so I better hop to it.  Tomorrow I’ll give it another whirl.

And tomorrow will be Wednesday already!  I had a nice, long weekend for Memorial Day, thanks to a government job that gives me national holidays off.  I wouldn’t say the weekend was particularly relaxing either, because I went to the family cottage and there was a lot to do to open the place up for the summer.  Charlotte did most of the work though, because she’s disciplined that way.  There were windows to wash, an outhouse to scrub, cobwebs to brush away, dusting to do, animal gnawings to repair and a bunch of other stuff that we all pitched in to accomplish.  It was a fun weekend though, spending time with everyone.

Because tomorrow is Wednesday I’ll be doing some craft work to get ready for the show at Chateau St. Croix next month.  (Wednesdays are devoted to craft work for me.)  There will be some candle pouring and product pricing done, and that always makes me feel productive.  I’ll also have to get back to that technology project and see if I can figure it all out.

Lazy days of summer?  I’d like proof of that, please.  I’m rarely lazy during the summer months because the summer months demand a lot of activity, especially in places like Minnesota where half the year we’re snowed in.  That’s when we’re supposed to be lazy, but it doesn’t seem like I am then either.

With that report I’m going to sign off and go to bed.  I hope the sleep is good because I have to be awake and pay attention for the next twelve weeks or so.  I’d probably sleep a lot better if I knew I could figure out this dang technology project.

I’ll keep you posted.

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Oh, the things I can get done in the dark hours when I know I don’t have to get up with the birds the next day.  I listen to the chime of the mantel clock strike a late hour as I’ve just finished producing, pricing, and recording a load of inventory for a drop at a gift shop that’s been waiting for my goods for three months.  If I were going to the day job tomorrow I’d have been in bed hours ago, probably tossing and turning with thoughts of how I could better spend my time.

The calendar flips its days, weeks and months to the finish line when I can say goodbye to the day job.  It’s all I can think about these days.  To spend time in this life exactly how I want to seems to be my purpose.  Nothing specific, just my whim.  How glorious that will be.

I’ve been avoiding writing lately, and I can’t really understand why.  It’s not that I don’t have time; I do have some, enough, yet I’ve been avoiding it.  Maybe it’s because that’s all I want to do, and the snippets of time afforded me only tease and torment.  Or maybe I don’t really want to write at all.  I haven’t figured it out yet.  But here I am in the silence of the night, fulfilled with what I accomplished without a solid bedtime, writing.

Day after tomorrow I’ll be going to the family cottage for the holiday weekend, and I’m taking my laptop with me.  Some of my family members might smirk at my bringing technology to the rustic nature of the cottage, but I’m not the only one bringing things to smirk at.  Enough said, eh Charlotte?  Perhaps I’ll find some time between roasting stale Peeps (a new delicacy Charlotte is going to try with Easter leftovers) and cleaning out boats and cottage rooms to return to my work in progress, rewriting/editing the first draft of the novel I wrote last November.

Such ramblings I have when I can relish the dark summer night.  Bear with me, for there may be more to come.  My blogging may take a turn, or continue to wane; one never knows.  I’m just getting in practice for that time when all I have to listen to is my whim.

Serene Muskie Bay

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Caught in a generation with one foot in the old school and one in the new I have a hard time realizing how important being online is to a business these days.  Keeping up with an online presence is exhausting for someone in my predicament.  I get all kinds of advice on what platforms to appear on, and then hear that it doesn’t make any difference at all.  Some say Facebook and Twitter are the way to go.  Others say those platforms are useless and a e-mail list and monthly newsletter is the way to go.

I admit, I’m utterly confused.  And what do I do when I’m utterly confused?  I retreat.  I’ve put my Etsy shop on vacation simply because it’s online.  Online selling is the new school way of doing things and I’ve become overwhelmed.  I’m not keeping up with my Facebook page or Twitter and and quite frankly updates on those platforms are automatic and take no thought on my part at all.  I feel like that’s really bad because I’m not actively engaging my customers.

The simple fact is, I don’t know how to do online stuff and quite frankly I don’t care what everyone says.  I don’t want to be consumed with what works and what doesn’t with an online business because you know what?  I have a business that’s live too!  But I’ve been falling behind in that also.

Work work work.  That’s all I do, whether I do it right or not.  You know what that means?  It’s time for a vacation.  And guess what?  I’m going to have one!

Right now I’m looking forward to a trip to my beloved Door County with my beloved Husby.  And what makes it even better is the fact that I’m not going to do a show while we’re there.  For the past three years or so I’ve done shows in various locations in Door County and they all turned out pretty much disastrous for me only because I had to travel six hours to do shows that weren’t too lucrative or else blew my canopy to the other side of town.

In a couple of weeks I’ll be basking in the glory that is Lake Michigan.  I’ll be sipping wine with Husby at our favorite haunts and hiking the rocks and dunes that surround the great lake.  I’ll be watching sunrises and sunsets that make all of life worth living, and I’ll be eating food so good it should be illegal.

Until that time I’ll plug on, even though I’m not completely plugged in.

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It’s a misty evening, overcast and humid.  There was a bit of rain, and when I looked out the window I noticed the lily of the valley sprouts have shot up at least two inches since yesterday.  The hummingbirds have arrived with their shiny green and red feathers.  The snow is gone and the grass is green.  I believe spring has finally sprung.

I’m indulging in the leftovers of Mother’s Day.  I hosted a group of eight for the occasion including Charlotte (the mom of two wonderful nephews) and my mom (the mom of Charlotte, me, and Diggy) and everyone else in my immediate family.  Right now I have some champagne in my glass, a nice hostess gift from Charlotte, and a piece of red velvet cake.  Mike Oldfield and Jean Michel Jarre are on the stereo and I am just about as content as I can be.

My Etsy shop is now on vacation and the next couple of months loom before me.  They’ll be a busy couple of months, so I’m taking advantage of some down time until I need to be “on.”  Right now the craft business is secondary, family is first and foremost.  One thing I’m really looking forward to (and Husby is even more) is our upcoming getaway to Door County.  “What’s the big deal,” you may ask?  “You go to Door County at least once a year.”  This time our trip won’t include a craft show.  This is a good thing.  Husby and I are looking forward to a little R & R without one thought of Auntie B’s Wax.

After our trip to Door County we have a few events to attend, one of which is the spring festival at the Chateau St. Croix Winery.  It will be my first show of the season and we’re really looking forward to seeing the gang at the Chateau, as well as seeing returning customers and meeting new ones.

The summer is sprawled out in front of me, busy, as summertime in Minnesota usually is.  With all the activities and celebrations awaiting I look outside my window tonight and shrug my shoulders as sigh.  It’s a quiet night, one to relish in anticipation of an action-packed summer.  All is good.

And the night falls.

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OK you guys, I’m ‘fessing up here.  I haven’t paid much attention to blogging, bloggers, blogs, or anything else that starts with the prefix “blog.”  I feel ashamed and guiltyHusby, Ruthie, Ray and I have been on two…two…dive night dates and I didn’t even write about them yet.  They were really good ones too!  Don’t worry, I’ll post them eventually.  I’ve been doing craft work too, but haven’t been blogging about it because, well, I think it’s boring to write about.  There’s plenty I could report, and yet I don’t.

The thing is, I’ve been doing stuff and quite frankly I’ve had very little time to write.  Yes, doing stuff.  Like, I have a life going on lately.  I don’t know what to blog about when I have nothing going on, and when I have a bunch of stuff going on I’m too busy to blog.  It’s a conundrum.

Candles at Auntie B’s Wax

Here’s the deal.  I’ve got a ton of stuff going on in the next couple of months and something’s got to give.  After a lot of thought I decided to put my Etsy shop on vacation for a while.  But guess what?  It’s not going on vacation until this coming Monday, May 12.  And guess what else?  Before May 12 everything is on sale!

Pulp Fiction magnets at Auntie B’s Wax

Because we’ve had a really long, hard winter, and because the buds are starting to pop on the trees, and because I feel all warm and fuzzy I’m going to offer a coupon for 30% off anything in my shop.  I know!  It’s a fabulous deal on some fabulous products.  They make great for gifts for others and are great for yourself too.  The best part about it is everything in my shop is under $20 retail, so getting 30% off is like my practically giving it to you.

Bottle Cap Drink Charms at Auntie B’s Wax

If you’d like to visit the shop and get a bunch of stuff at 30% off, click HERE and enter the coupon code spring2014. 

Help yourself to some fun stuff and great savings.  I’ll be back in the shop after things settle down a little.  Until then, I’ll be here, hopefully writing more about the life and times of Auntie B.

Support handmade at Etsy.  Especially my shop!

AUNTIE B’S WAX

COUPON CODE: spring2014

Expires May 12, 2014

 

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