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.

A Rose By Any Other Name. . .

[Editor's note: H1N1. . . Swine flu. . . porcine-created disaster. Whatever, you call it, things are beginning to get ugly. I read this article today in our local paper, and it made me a little uneasy; but for different reasons than you may think. Being in middle school is hard enough these days, and I'm not sure just who overreacted the most: the mom, the 13 year old kid with the mask, the teachers, the other students, the pig? It makes today, "May Day" have an entirely new meaning. Puh-lease!! Maybe the world should take a collective time-out.

Common sense, people. Common sense. Everyone, please just take a deep (filtered ;) breath, wash your hands frequently, and get a grip. Then wash your hands again.]

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Student sent home for keeping flu mask on
By Associated Press Athens Banner-Herald Story updated at 10:35 pm on 4/30/2009

COVINGTON - A seventh-grader who wore a mask given to him by his mother to guard against swine flu was sent home from from school after he refused to remove it.
Newton County school system spokeswoman Sherri V. said the 13-year-old created a disturbance when he arrived with the mask on Thursday and rumors began to spread that he had the virus.
V. said people started to panic and get scared.
The student's mother, Angela C. of Covington, said she plans to send him to school today wearing the mask. "We should all have a right to protect ourselves," she said.
C. said her 11-year-old son wore a mask to elementary school and was not told to remove it. (You can find the original article here.)

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P.S. I'm busy preparing for my show this weekend in Athens, but just had to pop in a second. Have a happy, panic-free May Day.
Now where's my Purell.

It's Craft-astic

Be there or be square.

:)

P.S. Unless, of course, you don't live anywhere near Athens, Georgia.

Eureka!!

I just had to share my discovery for the week!! If you have an Etsy shop, and you've ever wondered if there was a kinder, gentler way to check your stats and shop "hearts,' then this site is for you--I am not kidding. . . run -- don't walk -- right over to check it out. The site is as easy as pie to navigate, and it provides many of your stats in one nice, easy click or two.



And while you're in the Etsy neighborhood, be sure to check out SpookyTimeJingles new Etsy shop. Lots of Halloween and lots of cool, spooky deals. You might even see this fun little spooky Jack-o-Candy container. :)

I've Been Everywhere, Man. . .

We've had another busy week here in "Nash"ville: school and kids and dogs and mud and husbands and airports and "Fiddler on the Roof"(highschool-style) and papier mache and deadlines and watching 9 minutes of Susan Boyle at least 2 million times. Whew, I've barely had time to breathe!

But I did manage to do a little blog-patrol recently and this post by Pam reminded me of my days living in Tennessee. One of my favorite places to drive through visit there is called Bucksnort. (Unless one blinks and misses it!) No joke, Bucksnort! I'd love to live in Bucksnort, TN--wouldn't that be a hoot on your mail! Another favorite town from "my old stompin' ground" is called Bell Buckle, Tennessee. It sounds like a city from a 60's sitcom. I've also been to Paris (there's no Eiffel tower in this one), Pigeon Forge (appropriately named -- eeeew), LaVergne (there's no city named "Shirley" anywhere nearby), Eagleville (a place to soar), Mt. Juliet (never saw Romeo while I was there, not even once.) And once in highschool we got lost on a roadtrip to a football game -- our caravan ended up in a town called South Pittsburg! Thankfully, we weren't that lost--it's also a town in Tennessee. As is Cleveland, Charleston, Athens, Dayton, Monterrey, Sparta, Troy, Carthage, and Lebanon. You can be a world traveler and never even leave the state!

And there are other fun places I've visited in Tennessee as well. I like Cookeville and Crossville and sweet, sweet little Maryville. Other names are more unique. As if living in this world isn't hard enough, imagine growing up in a town called Defeated--it's where my grandfather was born. Oh, the humiliation the local Little League team must suffer! And then there's Hohenwald, Tennessee. If you say it quickly, it sounds like, "Hole-in-the-wall."

Not that Tennessee has a lock on interesting names. Here in Georgia, we also have some doozies. Apparently many of the founding fathers had food on the brain--there's Coffee County, Bacon County, Baker County, Cook County, and Bibb County. We have places with low self-esteem like Butts County (no comment---they've probably heard it all) as well as Quitman County.

Georgia is the location of towns such as Po Biddy Crossroads, Jay Bird Springs (I'm guessing that clothes may be an option here), Trickum Hills (not to be confused with "Treatum Hills"), Flea Hills (pass the itch meds), and even one called Destitute Acres, Georgia, which is probably the next stop on the train from Defeated, Tennessee or Quitman County, Georgia.

Happy Easter

It's Friday!!

Woot, woot!

The Early Bird

It's spring break for my kids this week, but I was still up before the birds this morning. Lest you think I'm nuts, or superwoman or something, I must confess. . . every ounce of my being begged to stay in dreamland, snuggled in my warm bed. However, getting up before the crack of dawn did give me plenty of time to plan my day, and my week, and it also gave me time to relax and to quietly enjoy copious amounts of strong coffee before any other living being even thought about dragging out of bed. By my third cup of the black stuff, I even had time to ponder deep philosophical issues like, why is it called "climate change" now instead of global warming? And if the world pronounces Barack's last name, "O-bam-a," why don't we pronounce "A-la-bam-a" the same way? I'm just sayin.' And. . . where do all of the socks go?! My laundry basket has 17 different socks and not one matching pair--how is this even possible?

I also pondered the age-old truism about how the early bird always gets the worm. Now, just why is that? I'm quite sure that whoever came up with that piece of advice never had teenagers on spring break, or a nocturnal dog who dropped out of college but still keeps college-kid hours. And for that matter, if being the early-bird is so great and allows for greater opportunity, one might also look at it from the worm's perspective: all that the worm ever got out of getting up early was . . . eaten.

I need a nap.

(P.S. The painting above is one of my watercolors I did several years ago.)

What the Crepe?!

It's my handmade crepe paper, ultra fluffy fringe-- just listed on Etsy!!

More on the way. Check it out here.

Happy Friday!!

Oh Mylanta

I'm not sure what to say about these two advertisements from the olden days. I suppose if one believes the advice of the first ad, the second product was there to keep the consumer fit(?) and trim. (If you're brave, you might need to click the second image to read exactly what's being sold. For the record, I didn't know you could even use the words "sanitized," "jar-packed," and "tapeworm" in the same sentence.)

I'm told these vintage ads are authentic. . . and it makes me shudder. Silly me, to think I was worried about a few bad peanuts and pistachio nuts.