Monday, August 23, 2010

Downhearted

If you wanted to start your week with a happy little diversion reading my blog, you've come to the wrong place. I'm not going to lie to you--I'm very discouraged at the moment, even going so far as to break into tears last evening.

What, you ask, brought me to tears? Another slow, slow day at the market. I know, I know, it's August, it's hot, and the recession just won't go away. But still...I hope, week after week, for things to get better. Sadly, they are just getting worse! Last year during the month of August, which was also sweltering, rainy, and the recession was in full force, I sold $2,243. Are you ready for this? To date, which means  missing only one week, my total sales---are you ready? $254. Yes, you read that right;  I'm sure you're doing the math, a little more than 10% of last year.

Practically speaking, this means that I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong. As well, it means I'm spending money for shows and such with no money coming in. This means I'm sad.

So, just what was the straw that broke the camel's back, resulting in a torrent of tears? I neglected to write down the expiration date from the ONE credit card I needed to process after the market!!!! I don't know if you've seen this kind, actually, you probably never really see anyone else's credit cards, but anyway, this one was completely FLAT. Seriously, I thought it was fake. It looked like a toy credit card. Thus, I couldn't swipe it with my little swipey thing. Somewhat flustered, I wrote down the number, but as you now know, not the expiration date. Without that, you're sunk. Another woman happened to be in the booth at the same time explaining that she worked in a hotel and was beginning to see that kind of card. SO, it should have been just fine if only I'd done my job properly.

Because the draught seems to have finally broken, with the threat of rain every day, we used a scaled back version of our booth, which we'll be doing for the next month. Here's yesterday's version:

The new funky collage is hanging on the top right. As you can see, my new tablecloth, which I had high hopes for, wrinkles more than I would have liked. On the other hand, it does fit beautifully, so there's that. Around 3, the storms closed in and we shut things down. Everything was packed away safely in the car just as the rain began. So, there's that too.

The grass is no greener on the other side of the fence.

Right about now you're probably thinking to yourself, that Gail sure sounds like a spoiled brat! Frankly, I can't blame you. In the grand scheme of things, this is all pretty small potatoes. I could recount all the really sad things people the world over are going through. In your own life, there may be much worse things, for which I'm sorry. HOWEVER, at this moment in time, your itinerant blogger feels just a little blue about how her business is going. Or not, shall we say?

Now that I've got that off my chest, I will start the day with renewed hope for brighter days ahead. Even if that does mean doing my dreaded continuing education points!

Thanks for listening.......

3 comments:

Lisa Spak said...

Life is one big series of ebb & flow

Gail Peck said...

Thanks little sister. xo

matt said...

Hey Mom, don't forget your favourite phrase: this too shall pass. Just remember how much better it is to be struggling with reduced sales than it was to be struggling with no energy and constant pain. Still, I'm thinking of you. x

So This is Springtime