I'm sooooo tired........

OMG, what a long and exhausting weekend. We had a booth (and a class and a crop and a make 'n' take) at the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Glendale. Took weeks to prepare, ordering stuff, picking out fixtures, renting a truck (thanks Taira!) and all the MOVING and SETUP Friday (thanks Pop) and Saturday and Sunday. Was very successful, but I'm not sure I'd do it again. Maybe when I've recovered...

The crop was a riot. Started totally as a disaster. The room was HOT, the A/C sucked. They had added a fan, and tried to round up more. The hotel was pretty much a dump anyway, although people that stayed there said it was OK. We were going to limit drinks to two per person, so we wouldn't run out, but after the heat and the discovery of a 24 hour Wal-Mart down the road, we let them have as much as they wanted! Also bought two $10 box fans at Lowes, which made it almost bearable (and which the hotel will be paying for). Ended up having a great time anyway, everyone was having fun and in a good mood. The purse contest was the BEST, everyone participated. Also lots of fun with the scavenger hunt, although some ladies were dumbfounded at the amount of stuff some of us scrap crazies collect and drag with us!

We actually plan to make t-shirts to send to everyone "I survived the Expo Crop" with a box fan on the back.....It was kind of a bonding experience.

Thanks to Sheryl for all her help and support throughout the EXPO. She is amazing, and always there when you need her. My parents were also amazing, Ron helped so much with setup and breakdown and general support. Mom took care of Evan most of the weekend, and also helped set up Saturday. Evan was so patient about the whole thing. And Taira.....wow. Almost unending energy (until the end!) and enthusiasm.

And Kim was a great help! Friday's class went great, she helped with the booth, and I couldn't have done the make 'n' take without her! Her poor family must be feeling a bit neglected, tho! And Jessie from CH also helped at the class, and got to make a book herself!

The girls at the store kept things going, although I was a bit peeved when I realized that all the adhesives just sat there all weekend without being put out (then realized I had the price gun, DUH!) Joni, you are amazing! And the ribbon chart was great! Everyone loved your pages and frame! So when are you going to *NOT* be published?? :)

Time for a nap. Then I will try to get my life back in order.

TFL!

Been busy lately...

I really should post more often, and fix up my blog with cool graphics like other people I've seen. But who has that much time?

CKU in Anaheim was awesome. Life Changing. I met the most wonderful people. Jessie, Leah, Suzanne, Becky, Roxanne, Sara T..got to see some old friends like Teresa (not OLD) and even ran into LB, TW, and others...got to know Ally, Kim, and Anna (Bling) better....got some great advice on the store after I pulled myself out of my blue funk...I hate it when Erika is right!

I'm up and down lately, a big improvement over only being down....one day I have amazing ideas and inspiration, and the next, why bother even getting out of bed? We are getting our house appraised tomorrow, hopefully it will be worth enough to refinance for some extra cash to get us thru a little longer. What a pain it has been to get the house cleaned up, which is depressing in itself...I wish we had a beautiful, organized house all the time! Getting slowly better at it, tho...

Scrapper's Dream closing....mixed feelings about that, it hits so close to home, but maybe we'll pick up a few customers? I feel so bad for Kim, no one can really know except another store owner how we put our hearts into it, not to mention way too much money...we make mistakes, we drive some people away....it's impossible to keep everyone happy. What a wonderful staff I have, Lynzee, Candy, Sue and everyone else who care more about the success of the store than the money or job I provide. It's been a long road, I'm not ready to give up yet, although DH would love to. Just taking it one day at a time....

Listening to Green Day and Coldplay lately since I got their CDs. Downloading ITunes as I'm writing this, thanks to Cathy Z....


Missing Callie....


Not a great picture, but the only one I could find online. We put her to sleep last Friday, her kidneys were failing, and she was miserable. What a sweet kitty she was, she had 2 wonderful lives, one in Iowa for 10 years, with 4 litters of kittens, and her retirement here in Phoenix, where she only had to put up with Barkley and Delilah. Funny how the two of them are much nicer to each other now that Callie is gone.