PLANNING YOUR ORGANIZING

Another week – another post – but not much done during the week. 

Last week, as mentioned, I hurt a muscle in my stomach and husband would not let me do anything heavy so I would heal.  This meant that I could do computer work, some cooking (not “heavy” pots) and such.  He carried the laundry bag downstairs so I could do the laundry and then carried the basket of clean items upstairs (twice as I did clothes one day and towels the next) for me.  The basket of clean clothes that I carry upstairs on one hip with one hand normally, he can barely lift.  Unfortunately after feeling better, today my back was hurting – I could not even twist to see the office phone to dial as I had to lean around the file holder stack on my desk – I had to go to the kitchen to call our bank to see if something coming into the account had arrived.  So not much done again this last week.

I will say that we were very pleasantly surprised after using up most of our available time last week to prepare for the reenactment event I mentioned that it was much easier to do than we had figured how it had been explained. 

Rather than hand everything over the fence, we were allowed to drive right to the space set aside for our unit.  The people from the museum that was having the event were the nicest people we have ever met running an event – and we started doing craft shows in the 1980s.  They bent over backwards – if we wanted the space set a different way, they were glad for us to do it and helped us.  They were helping us unpack.  They had tables out for us to use – one less thing for us to have to take out and set up.  When we had finished unpacking I asked one of the men to help me back the van out of the museum grounds.  He sent me up the road about a block to a school that was letting them use their parking lot  - okay, a small bit of disorganization, the lot was small and full – there was a children's soccer game going on.  There were no spaces.  The fellow (not from our unit, but a friend) who was the blacksmith followed me in – he had a regular car and told me he as going to park between the two rows as another car had done.  I luckily saw a father and son heading to their car and got that space.  Not sure what later cars did – demonstrators, volunteers, and the public. 

Despite my back I held up one of the tent poles (this is a reproduction tent – not a modern popup tent) for the unit set up as our members put it up.  We had table next to the tent with plenty of room for the wooden drying racks we were using as display for the scarves husband had woven.  After we set up I found a space between our table and the unit's setup to sit and embroider.  Other members set up across the aisle from us in a group.

I talk about this in this column as organizing a setup for a display – whether a craft show, a reenactment event, a flea market, or a display setup up involves advance planning and then one has to hope that all goes as expected.  We have learned to carry a variety of setup items that we do not normally need or use – just in case.  Even if one knows the space that one will have it may be different than it was last year or otherwise expected.  If the person that the next space is reserved for does not show up, one may be able to expand into their space.  One may have to deal with uneven ground – or even a large puddle or flooded area.  This time we were lucky.  The venue's employees were nice and accommodating and the space well situated and not limited.  We have gone to craft shows where we are supposed to have the same space as the year before – a corner space with 2 sides to display on – and found that the setup had changed or an error was made and one had different space in a different area midaisle with one side to work with.  As we did this when we brought more items for setup than we needed, one has to be prepared for anything. 

Think of trying to organize your home – you have plans to clear out the closet in the spare room and then find items there that you had not remembered.  You are not ready to deal with those items – maybe not enough garbage bags (or the bags you have are too small) or you need help to move what you find.  Or maybe you have to sort a lot of very small items and have no where to sort them.  One has to be ready to deal with situations that one did not expect when organizing. 

As to the event we did – very nice.  Husband has been weaving for about 3, maybe 4 years and has tried to sell his scarves and table runners online.  No sales of same at all.  He has been despondent about weaving and no one buying.  Our thought was that if the pieces could be seen in person it would be different and hoped that to be true.  Craft shows around here for the most part are buy and sell junk shows – no chance of selling an actual hand woven scarf if commercial scarves for $8 each are being sold, which is why he jumped at this chance to sell, especially in the fall (okay, it did not feel like fall, it was in the upper 80/lower 90Fs) but he sold a scarf partway through the day and then near closing, 5 scarves to one woman.  Yippee.  He is again happy to weave. 

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Plan for everything you can think of for a specific organizing chore.  There will be things that happen out of your control, but try to anticipate what you will need and the time you will need to do it.  Then “play it by ear” if something not anticipated pops up!

GLAD THIS MONTH IS OVER

This month has a been a bit too much.  I will be glad when it is behind me.  Just this week, to give you an idea.

I did get my mom to the doctor yesterday for her checkup yesterday after needing to change the appointment a few times.  I told her to make sure to blame me to the doctor and his staff so they would not be upset with her.  She has a pacemaker and was past due to have it checked, as well as having her blood, etc. checked.  Mom is 89.  She still lives alone in our family house and still drives.  She hates to ask for help; I keep telling her to call me when she needs to go somewhere she doesn’t want to drive to, but until now she has refused to call me.  In this case she had a problem due to construction near the doctor’s office when she went there earlier in the month as she cannot walk distances and would have had to park too far away.  Hence why she called for a ride, I could drop her off if there was still a problem, park and come back, etc.  All was good, although blood work will, of course, take a day or two.  We had lunch together afterwards for about 3 or 4 hours.  We had been headed for a kosher deli - I had to park 4 stores away from it - mom was impressed with my parallel parking, something I just take for granted.  But as we inched along, we (she) stopped at a pizza place and while stopped looked in and thought how nice it was - should we go there instead?  I was not looking forward to a overfilled, overpriced (especially since I knew she would insist on paying) turkey sandwich (least fatty of the meats there).  So I jumped at the change - less for her to walk, lighter meal, and much less expensive.  We each had a cheese slice and diet soda and sat and talked and talked.  (I write like I talk and she talks more and longer than I do.)  It was between meal times and the place was empty or I would have not have stayed, taking up the table as long as we did.

We did go to the Long Island Fair last Sunday to do an embroidery demonstration - and to visit friends we only see at the Fair.  One woman used to be the Supervisor of the Juvenile section for decades and had to give it up due to eye trouble, was not at the Fair last year at all.  (She continued to volunteer after she gave up the Supervisor position.)  I was so glad that she had her son drop her off for a visit.  She was sitting in the Juvenile section and as soon as volunteers heard she was there, we all stopped by to see her.  She is 90.  I was so glad to hear that she was basically well - she had vision problems, which is now mostly blindness and now has hearing problems, but she is the same always in all other regards.  After the day, which was the last day of the Fair, was pick up of entries - my three dimensional butterfly embroidery shocked me and won second prize.  I had seen the lovely and involved pieces that it was competing with when I dropped it off and figured that I would get an honorable mention due to the technique.  That is one project that sat for decades finished.  Now to pick another one to finsih. While at the Fair I was also able to check in with someone who is a mutual friend of a friend who moved to South Carolina and find out the couple in SC survived Florence with no problems.

I was suppose to go to a client this week.  I called her yesterday (while mom was seeing the doctor) to go there Thursday.  The client said it was a problem and could I come on Friday.  (Glad she did not say today as we were suppose to have horrible rain - yes, there was rain, but not as bad as they said.)  I called her today to say that I could come on Friday, but she didn’t really want me there then, either (even though she had suggested it).  Apparently they are filming a movie at her location and her cousin who keeps her company is ill - besides, she tells me, she has had no business all month, so there is little for me to do.  So, I will be going there in 2 weeks and do the September and October work at the same time.

In my mind this was great.  I get another day to catch up on stuff - the bathrooms REALLY need cleaning.  But no, when husband hears that I am not going to the client on Friday, he suggests that since he wants to go to Pennsylvania on Saturday for a wool show, we could go down on Friday for the day and stay overnight.  So, the bathrooms will wait a little longer.

Today was the day I write the newsletter for my embroidery chapter and send it out by email.  I managed to get that done after dinner - normally done in the afternoon, but there was other “fires” to put out then.  I send out 3 versions of the newsletter - the basic newsletter is the same, the email with it changes - one to our members, one to prospective members and one to the other newsletter editors in our region and our region director. 

This coming Sunday we were suppose to go to a reenactment event with our unit, but the unit is backing out of it as too few members can go and the place is changing what it said about our setup. 

Now in addition to writing to all of you, I am doing our laundry.  Will go and change loads between writing this and sending it out.  Dinner dishes were done before the newsletter.  Kitchen sink area is setup with dish towels over the dish rack, the front of the sink, the windowsill behind the sink, and the pots drying on a towel next to the other side of the sink - so husband can come and wash his hair in the sink.  The dishpan I use in the sink is out on a counter with items waiting for washing before we go to bed.  ( I made instant diet pudding for snack - the items needed for such are most of what is waiting to be washed.)  But no - I still have not thrown out the bad eggs.

And next week I am suppose to teach new stitches (my choice) at the embroidery meeting!
                                       
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Sometimes it seems that what must be done in terms of larger projects and appointments is coming too often, too much and too fast.  Take it one project at a time, that is all one can do.  Things will get done.