This and That

I’m still recuperating from three very hectic weeks all leading up to and culminating in my biggest event of the year – National Scrapbook Day on Saturday. We had a great turnout (three consultants and nearly 50 customers) and they all seemed to have a good time and get lots of pages done in their albums. Lunch was great (prepared ahead of time, but heated and served by my catering department-trained daughter) but they ate it all up. I got just over a tablespoonful of 4 out of 6 items prepared. That’s okay, for those who know me, I’ve been working to lose weight for the last 2½ years, so I’m not complaining about that. It was enough since I haven’t been able to work out much these past three weeks, either.

I don’t know why that wears me out so, but being on my feet racing from one end of the room (basketball court-sized) to the other constantly and having to be “on” for hours on end (I tell people all the time I can only be nice for a couple of hours at a stretch and then the real me appears) and know what is going on all over the place just takes it all out of me. Thank goodness for the men in our lives who showed up to break down tables, put them away, repack cars and help vacuum the room so it wouldn’t be an embarrassment on Sunday morning for the church-goers there. We were out by 7pm after the event ended at 6pm.

Our next stop was a Chinese restaurant in the next town that is my favorite only because they don’t use MSG in anything, so I can eat without fear and without asking questions about the food. I never realized what a pain that is to have to ask before ordering. And it bugs me when someone seems unconcerned with knowing and/or finding out the answer. To some, I’m a pain because I’m holding things up by making them go ask the cook or chef or someone in the middle of my order. Makes me wonder if they’d mind a troop of EMTs and paramedics trooping through the restaurant to put in a trach tube in the middle of their busy dinner hour on the floor in front of the patrons. I’d mind it except it might save my life, but THAT does seem like an inconvenience and would probably upset some folks’ stomachs.

When we got home, my daughter high-tailed it to her room to begin the recovery process from her long day in the kitchen (she also washed a LOT of dishes, but she didn’t have to worry about packaging leftovers for the trip home). My husband and I unloaded the cars and even carried everything upstairs. Believe me, that was a huge effort because I did NOT want to do that. However, I was glad I didn’t have to do it yesterday.

It took me a full 24 hours to recover. My daughter and husband left for choir practice at church about 3pm yesterday. I was still not even dressed. I did get cleaned up and put on a pair of shorts instead of pjs, but I let my hair dry itself and we won’t even think about make-up. Then about 7 or 7:30, they called and wanted to meet for dinner. My son had driven up for choir rehearsal, too (they’re all going to Europe this summer with the choir on tour, so it will be good for my kids to learn some of the music before they go), so I dragged myself out to the closest restaurant we have. Maybe I just needed a real meal, because that did wonders for me. When I got home, I actually did almost all of my paperwork – I have to enter purchases on the computer and into my ledger and then I’m done, wrote thank you notes to all of my customers and put away nearly all of the stuff we’d brought home. The only things left go in the attic and I didn’t have on any shoes (there’s a surprise) and I didn’t want to have on any shoes, so I’ll do that today.

In the end, though, it was a huge success. My sales were good and with the incredible Home Show from last week, my sales for the month are higher than I’ve ever had before and I still have half the month to go. I’m in line for a bonus after I order in June for sales consistency, and I’m really hyped about that. I already got rebates two months in a row and will get that again in June, looks like. I took so much time off last summer, and it has taken a long time to recover from that, but things are finally moving ahead now.

My last thought is about prayer. Not long ago, a man called me to tell me his 36th wedding anniversary was coming up in a couple of weeks and he wanted to do an album of their wedding for his wife. They didn’t have a photographer there, and he only had snapshots (some of them polaroids) to work with, but he took them and had them enlarged and brought them to me. Together, we created a very elegant looking album and he called after he gave it to her to tell me how much she liked it. I was just impressed that he thought of it and figured out how to get it done. One of the things he said while he was here really struck home with me. He was talking about meeting his wife and coming to the realization that she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and he said, “It makes you glad that God doesn’t always answer your prayers like you want Him to.” In other words, he’d prayed before about other girls that God would work out the relationship between them, but looking back, with 20/20 hindsight, he realized that God said no to those relationship, because He had this one still to come. I hadn’t thought about it like that before, but he’s right. I dated guys and prayed that I would marry them one day, only to discover they weren’t all I hoped they were and when I met my husband, it all came together. It isn’t always perfect, but it’s worth continuing to work on. And I love him. Some days I have to choose to love him because the feeling just isn’t there, but then I know he chooses to love me a lot of days when I’m not lovable, too. And I’m grateful that he does.

My daughter will have her wisdom teeth removed tomorrow morning, so please pray for her and for her recovery over the next day or two. It will be good to have that done and over with, too. This whole month has been about getting things over with. I’m ready to just enjoy the summer.

So those are my thoughts this Monday morning. Have a great week. I’m praying for those of you in my sphere.