Jan 1-5, 2008

Jan 2-5, 2008

Well I jumped into the New Year with both feet. I started with a huge list of things to do, everything I could think of just got jotted down onto the page, with no rhyme or reason to the order. I started out by arranging my shipping supplies and reordering whatever I needed. 99% of my packaging- peanuts, bubble wrap, etc are recycled from things that C and I order throughout the year, so it can be a little daunting to store it all and keep it organized. The priority mail boxes I order from the post office in packs of 25, so I needed to figure what sizes I needed to start the year off right.

I also caught up on some personal e-mails, they have been sitting around here for too long and needed to get answered. I also sent out some really, really late Christmas presents for my nieces and nephews.

I delivered a gift basket for a raffle at Out of Our Hands, and I sorted through my show files to figure what I want to do again next year. Lastly, with K’s help, I did the inventory for the year, everything I sold at shows. Now to just figure out the orders!

I counted some inventory- washcloths and bath mitts and realized I have entirely too much to knit in 2008. I caught up on bills, and read what felt like a weeks worth of mail and sent out a few lingering orders that got side tracked by the holiday and my days being closed, as well as another gift basket for another raffle fund raiser.

K went through these 4 big boxes of old soaps and things that needed to be either tossed to put away. It was great to get them out of the way. I felt like no matter where I put those boxes they were in the way and now they are gone.

I also try and recycle as much as possible and I use Ziploc bags to transport my stuff to and from shows in. By the end of the year I have a huge pile of bags, some ripped, some pristine and used only once, so we went through them and figured out what could be used again and what really was just too cruddy to save and needed to be tossed.

I counted and bagged sachets, finished labeling show files, did a list of applications and their due dates (which reminds me I need to get some apps done ASAP), and then took a shower to get clean and to relax.

Fridays are now designated “home” days. These are the days I do things for my home and my family and my friends. Keeping a separate list of these things will allow me not to stress about them till Friday, but be sure that I put aside time to actually do them. This week I redid the herbs in the cabinet. I put them into new containers with new labels (which BTW are falling off and I need to redo them next Friday!). I also went to the bank, the post office, the grocery store, CVS, and the drycleaner. I answered e-mails and started my house journal- what needs to be done when, etc. Later C and I went to AC Moore to get some things for a Secret Santa I am participating in and we stopped at Sears so he could ogle some tools. This is something I would typically not do, I missed supper, I went to a store I don’t care about, but I made the effort and we both had fun. Hot date- AC Moore and Sears on a Friday night!

Saturday I picked up a few more things for my Secret Santa, and napped, and knit, and generally did nothing. We were supposed to go to dinner with B & M but C got sick to his stomach after lunch so we had to bail on that. But we rescheduled.