one small step from unglued

I cut this little fragment from a book to add to a mixed media shadow box piece a long time ago, it amuses me. And it is a statement I have often thought of when considering my mental state.

I knew the book was done, but I did not know about the proof reading of the lay outs, all the little things the publisher pulls out of nowhere to question and add confusion to a relatively simple project. The retakes for the design team. The rephrasing for the editor in chief, more photos, more questions, more rewrites. Perhaps if I had been more experienced I would have known to expect all that comes after.

I knew that the product showcase in Bust magazine was a good idea, with half a million readers, that would be a heck of a advertising opportunity. I thought I had prepared, I purchased over 100 adjustable ring blanks, made over 100 clay cabs, took pictures, edited, made up a nice little listing description and listed as many as I could (good lord, that is so tedious) . But again, if I had any experience with this sort of thing, I could have recognized that it wasn't just the featured product that would sell, it would be all sorts of things. And then there's that custom order thing, we all offer it when business is at a level we can handle, but boy when it gets busy, it is a bear to keep track of. You spend near an hour emailing back and forth over some $15 item and you begin to question your belief in keeping your prices "affordable". (And do not get me started over the divas that want the red carpet rolled out for a $5 ring, sheesh).








But the main thing, that surpassed all other forms of income since June 1st hit?

A surprise feature in the etsy finds mass emailing. It very nearly did me in. You all have seen the little wire-wrapped bird's nests? Well, I had the idea to turn it into a ring with these little turquoise pearls for the eggs. Pearls are an alternative to June's birthstone Alexandrite and this cute little ring was included in the Pearls for June feature. I am still reeling from this.
I made 40 rings in 5 days, in addition to all the other business that came from this honor.
(I am very proud to say they all shipped out within 3 days of the order!)

Now all this would be reason for feeling a wee bit overwhelmed, right? I mean, it literally all went down on June 1st. But lets add to that shall we?

The new asuz computer my dear husband so carefully picked out for me, which worked beautifully at first then stopped connecting to the Internet all together, was returned with half of the info necessary to run my business. I mean 3 wholesale orders and all their details, notes on sizes, color requests, links, tutorials, itunes (very necessary to business) and BOOK LAY OUTS. Gone, lost in best buys diagnostic center, which my dear husband has now visited a total of 6 hours. The second asuz he brought home, I fell in love with, it was even lighter in weight (he keeps bringing home these bricks that weigh a ton on my soft, squishy lap) and it stopped working also. Arrrrrrrgh!
He's tried everything, spent so much time on the phone with the geek squad, so much time setting up things, downloading things, switching things around ( this is the extent of my technical knowledge here) and to no avail; the asuz just doesn't work. We have an hp now, but I am weary, weary of becoming attached or using the computer for any thing least I should find myself in the dark again.



But my Rex. Oh boy, has this kid been through the ringer. He went camping with his Big Papa, who stupidly thought that since he didn't SEE any bugs biting them, there must not BE any bugs biting them. Oh, the words I could say here..... Rex was covered in mosquito bites, tick bites, chiggers, and a horrible spider bite right in the middle of the back of his neck. It quickly became infected and I had to spend a lot of time keeping it clean and disinfecting it. But as I was cleaning it I noticed a small lump on the side of his neck. The next day, a Saturday, he had 2 more, by Sunday night a total of 5 bumps all around his neck that hurt him. I took him to the Dr. first thing Monday and they reassured me that this was his lymph nodes fighting off the poison. They said it could take 1 to 2 months for them to go back down. I was so scared.

But he also hurt his arm on our new trampoline and now he has the chicken pox. The chicken pox, for the sake of Pete! I thought he was having an allergic reaction, they looked like the start of hives that pop up all over his body when he has ingested peanuts or rubbed against dog dander. But they didn't go away with 2 doses of allergy medicine, which we try to avoid giving him because it alters his behavior in such a way that he experiences something akin to depression. And now he is a very sad, itchy boy. :(
It is so hard to see your little ones go through pain and discomfort, it consumes your thoughts and energy.

I am slowly getting back to a normal life, This morning when waking at 6:30 I didn't start working immediately, I just stayed in my pjs and read blogs that I missed. Tomorrow is another shipping day which I need to prepare for and I still a have a very large wholesale order to complete which is late, but for right now I feel I could take a step backward from unglued.