Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Three Days of Crazy Stockings.

 112 stockings over three days!  Today was a "light" day because we only had to make 32.  But it is almost 10 P.M. and Cheryl is still packing them up.   It does not help that the buttons are almost gone and trying to buy more is akin to purchasing radioactive material  without knowing the Clintons!    The button place once held all of our information on file...but they were bought out by another company and we have to jump through all those hoops again.   Frustrating.


Add in that the Felt company charged an old card and the sale did not go through.   So looks like I'll have to clear that up tomorrow.   I TRIED to clear it up today,   but  after 20 minutes on hold and ultimately leaving a message,  I gave up; and tried to catch up my end of the stocking duties.   Crazy!


Cheryl is still hanging on to the training runs.   I can't blame her.  The weather has been wonderfully warm for this time of year.   A perfect 40-50 degrees with little or no wind or rain.  She started out this morning with her jacket, but quickly overheated and ended up having to down dress.    If she can get away with shorts,  she will!


I can't believe that it is Wednesday already.   The days are beginning to run together again.   I know we are in the heart of the stocking mayhem when I can't figure out what day it is. 


The UPS guy is becoming more and more familiar as he delivers our supplies.   The other day he dropped off 11 bolts of felt and a bunch of packaging supplies.   Hiro could not wait to climb on the towering boxes.    Even I was surprised by the size.




So that is all for now.    Custom orders are slightly less frequent now that Cheryl had put all those specific dog breeds in the store.   Hopefully, this trend of simply buying your dog instead of bombarding us with questions will continue.   We don't mind custom stockings (well,  Cheryl may disagree with that.) IF  ( and a very big if...) we have the time.    Currently,  time is in short supply.





Tomorrow  I will have to give the Button place our billing information and perhaps re-call the felt company to square away that card kerfuffle.   Currently, my neck hurts and I'm just too tired to think about much.   Hopefully, a good nights sleep will help me focus better.    Thanks for stopping in.

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Stocking Heavy Weekend!

Etys says: Sales are down...
Cheryl says:  Help! 
According to Etsy,   we are down in our sales from last year at this time.   Although,  it does not feel like it at the moment.  I'm not sure where Etsy gets their stats from anyway,  or how they figure them out; but we have been crazy busy this weekend.   Since Thursday,  we have had 35-40 stockings to make each day!   That is a lot of felt and buttons.... and time.
Desktop space is missing!
Cheryl getting a little loopy.



Each 40 stocking day is equal to about a 10 hour day... without breaks!   That is not counting the time Cheryl has to spend packing things up and answering questions.  If /when things get really bad, I'm sure I will be drafted into answering questions.... (or as Cheryl often puts it :  "Driving Customers away!")


Cheryl has been able to squeeze in some running this weekend.   We went out a couple of times to run a short 3-5 miles through the hills.  Time really has not allowed a typical training run day.  In fact, Today was supposed to be Cheryl's 12 mile long run...  but the stockings definitely changed those plans.   Sometimes,  you have to choose money first.
Nothing brings birds together like a dead deer.

                 Eagles in the field                   

There was a  road kill deer next to a field a few days ago.   Yesterday, the Eagles discovered it!   There were about 15 eagles ( nine are shown in this picture!)   around the carcass!   One was flying so close to the ground, we could have hit him with our car.  It is unfortunate that they flew away and dispersed before we could get the camera out.   Seeing that many eagles clustered up is pretty cool.


More Stockings.   Time to Print labels.



Lots of dogs and cats.
Everyone wants one for their pet.
On a day when I'm less exhausted, I will have to vent on the "Unreasonable Behavior of Customers during The Holiday Season."   If you have ever worked retail or had a business of your own,  you probably know the person well.

  And I would like to think that being on the other side of the counter makes you a better customer overall.  You know how to empathize with the poor employee just trying to survive the Holiday Rush.   But what are you going to do?   Everyone has their moments...both good and bad.  I just wish we could avoid those "Bad Day" customers, sometimes.  ( or all together!)
Custom orders that are easy.

Sometimes.  
If things continue as they are ( and I actually hope they do!)   I may not be able to blog too much.   But  thAnks for stopping in in the mean time.      Happy Holidays!   ( Is it too early to wish a Merry Chirstmas? We shall see...)

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Des Moines Turkey Trot. A Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday Night Stockings
Wednesday Morning Stockings
I forgot my USB cord at home,  So I could not blog yesterday from the Hotel room.    Then again, not much happened last night.     But I will start from there.

Off to Packet Pickup. With 'Tude!
With last minute add-ons...



After many stockings, we traveled to Des Moines for the Packet Pick-up.   An easy in-and-out affair with hardly any crowds or traffic to speak of.    We grabbed her stuff and shirt and hat...And  spent the rest of the night in the hotel hot tub  (We got an Upgrade!)   What fun!

Look at the Turkey made of shoes!
 Cheryl made a note that we seem to always get a hot tub room on Thanksgiving.   Perhaps more people are staying with relatives than actually getting rooms while they travel, leaving the vacancy for silver members like us!   Who knows....  I'm just happy that it appeared we had the entire hotel to ourselves!

Pinning on the Bib.

Bib with her name on it.
We got up this morning and headed for the race.   The race was late enough for me to enjoy the free breakfast at the hotel.   We were the first (and only) ones in the small cafe'.   They had biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and chicken patties!   (Along with all the other stuff,  cereal, milk, orange juice, waffles, oatmeal,  etc.....)  We were a little strapped for time, so I only had the biscuits and gravy.   It was enough to satisfy me for the entire morning/lunch time.

It was cold this morning,  but windless!   Cheryl dressed in her Ninja Tights and attached her bib.   Off to the race!


Showing off the Start Line
The only down side to this race was the lack of Bathrooms.  Maybe they were not expecting this level of turn out,  but the line to the bathrooms wrapped around the parking lot!   I barely got a chance to go before the race began.


Too Few Port-a-jons.












Cheryl runs past me at the start!


At mile 2.5


Cheryl ran past me without me even noticing her.   That is the problem when she dresses like a ninja.   She blends in to all the OTHER ninjas.

At mile 4.5
Cheryl runs for the Finish!
This was the fourth Turkey trot race for Cheryl.    By now,  seeing Turkey Heads is common.  Maybe next year I will add to the crazy and design my own Turkey hat. We shall see.

I was able to catch her at mile three and mile 4.    (I love looped courses!)  And I still had the chance to catch her near the finish line.   Too bad most of those pictures turned out blurry.    Still,   I'm thankful for the pics I have.

Cheryl takes a sip. 

Hot Cocoa and Cool cup.
We skipped the various "after race foods" and settled on the Hot Cocoa with the commemorative mug.   I was not very hungry after that free breakfast.   ( free breakfasts always taste the best anyway!)     And Cheryl did not really want any of the other offerings.   Besides,  there was no Finisher's Medal for this race.  Cheryl wanted something other than the shirt and hat to remember the race by.
Check out the size of this tree!


She wanted to see the city. 
After the race, we walked around town for a bit and decide to visit the Hyvee less than a block away.   They were having a Thanksgiving Buffet with prime rib, turkey,  a rainbow selection of pies,  etc.   they only thing they did not show ... was the price.
Thanksgiving Pie Buffet!
 Cheryl was very excited...even though she does not like turkey or pretty much anything the traditional Thanksgiving table offers.   She just wanted the pies.   As for myself,  I was still "un-hungry" from Breakfast.   I fear I ruined the moment by not wanting to spend an undisclosed amount of funds just so Cheryl can eat  one or two pieces of pie.  Ah well.
Cheryl's "Cool" pose.

A close up.  So you can tell it is her. 


We ended up going to our HyVee in Coralville and buying some Sushi, smoked Salmon dip, shrimp ring, and crackers.   Basically snack foods.   Probably better in the long run as we will not try to stuff ourselves with "Buffet-Style" Turkey Dinner.  I'm one of those guys who always tries to eat their money's worth!    Not very good for the waist-line.

So that is all for our thanksgiving.    Cheryl ran a decent race,  placing 4th in her age group.   Her average pace was 7:45 for the five mile run.   Not her best,  but faster than she has been able to run since her injury.    She is happy, and is looking forward to her next race.   Perhaps, weather permitting, we will squeeze one last race in before the new year. (If stockings allow.)   In the mean time,  I will finish my last huge piece of Pumpkin pie and try not to think about all that food we missed out on.   My waist-line will thank me.
A longing last glance before we head back. 

I hope everyone else who stops in today is having a wonderful Thanksgiving.   I discover ( all the time, actually) that Thanksgiving is so much more than just eating food.  ( then again,  the pilgrims probably thought different.)  I'm happy and thankful that Cheryl and I can run around the country running in these various races.  ( Well,  Cheryl runs;  I watch...mostly.) And I'm sure Cheryl is just thankful that she can run again.  I think the blog misses the running events the most. They give me something to do other than play video games.   Thanks for stopping in.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails