Live and learn, right??

Today was my first local craft/art show in several years and I looked forward to a great weekend of selling, selling, selling. My "chickens" were already counted, and I was dreaming about what I would buy, buy, buy with the proceeds. Well, sell-out, this was not. Try. . . wash out.

Here's how the whole sad, soggy tale went down:

As many of you know, I've been really busy with "life" lately, and was behind in my projects. I had already committed to this show and more importantly, had already paid my fee, so I stayed up late for the past few nights frantically trying to catch up. For the life of me I'll never figure out why I always back myself into these impossible corners. Anyway, this morning I got up at 5 AM to do a million last minute things before the show and then my daughter and I headed out on a sunny Saturday to set up my booth. We were running late and most everyone was already set up when we got there, which was a bit embarrassing. My space was smaller than I wanted (the larger spaces had already sold and I was left with one of the smaller ones) and my tent was too large, so we just set up with no cover, and crossed our fingers. After all, there was only a 20% chance of rain. No sooner had I slathered on a half bottle of sunscreen, when I noticed one little dark cloud in the distance. Not to worry, I thought, Al Roker knows his stuff. An hour later, seriously, one rain drop fell then . . . BOOM! instant cloud burst soaking me and most of my stuff within a matter of seconds. I'm not sure if you know this, but water and papier mache figurines do not get along. So I threw what I could into one of my plastic bins and waited for my daughter to bring the car, trying to block the rain with my body. I'm sure I must have looked quite ridiculous: there I was standing spread-eagle over my precious labors of love, trying to be as wide as possible-- and I had on a white t-shirt. White! Let's just say that some of the people in Athens saw way more than they bargained for today. We loaded up the car in the pouring rain and left. It rained off and on all day (thanks a lot Al) so I guess I made the right decision to leave.

So what have I learned today? I learned that it is always a good idea to bring a tarp, to plan ahead, to pay the extra $25 for a larger space, and to remember that a 20% chance of rain in Georgia in the springtime really means 100%. I also learned not to wear a white shirt, and to never, ever count my chickens before they're hatched, especially when it might rain.