It's a God thing!

This past weekend was my annual Croptoberfest. It's one of two big crops I do every year--National Scrapbook Day in the spring and Croptoberfest in the fall. After a long and sometimes dry summer, Croptoberfest often jumpstarts my fall selling season and helps keep my business going.

This year, I was worried. I was still in the hole after having my purse stolen, and at the last minute, one of my regulars had to cancel. She usually brings a friend or two, so that left me down at least two attendees. I was worried. I had only three paying guests, plus one more who won a basket I donated to a church fundraiser.

So, I figured I'd do my best. I could still put on the event and make that profitable, though whether or not I could climb out of my hole was another matter all together.

Saturday morning, I lay awake fussing about all of this. I prayed for God to either bless my business or slam the door in my face, wondering if it was time to hang it up. I don't want to. I love being a consultant! But, I also know that I've sometimes held on to things longer than I should have, so I was asking for a sign or something to let me know which way I needed to go.

As I was preparing for the day, I got a phone call. I'd donated another basket to another fundraiser at a local elementary school. There were some tools in there that a former-consultant-friend (Thanks Allie!) had given me, plus two tickets to Croptoberfest. At the time I'd figured that people were more likely to come if they could bring a friend. I mean, really.....it's an invite to an event in a stranger's home.

Anyway....Caller's mother had bought the basket and she and her sister had just found out about it Saturday morning. Could they still come for a bit? Um SURE!

They were only able to come for a few hours, but they really enjoyed themselves and they plan to be back. Seems they used to scrap together once a month at a local scrapbooking store that has since gone out of business and they really miss it. I have to give a shout-out to my wonderful clients/friends, too, who included these new people into the group and really encouraged them to come again, mentioning my open house and what I do there, plus the fun we have at my monthly crops. The wine glasses put our new friends at ease as well....I guess they were worried that we'd be uptight Mormons who'd object to their coffee! ROFL!

And, I am now completely in the black! That feels SO good!

Thanks, Big Guy, for that sign. I sure needed that boost of confidence!

The Whys and Wherefores

Okay, so some of you are wondering why I've clamped down my privacy a bit.

See, it's really weird and a bit creepy.

A friend of mine in CA was dealing with someone in real life who was creating all sorts of havoc in her world. My friend and this person (I'll call her SC) were both involved in an organization out there, and their children go to school together, etc, etc, etc. I don't even remember how the whole mess started, but SC went rather nuts and started accusing Friend of all sorts of strange (and mostly unfounded) things. SC went out of her way, looking for trouble, going so far as to stalking Friend's personal blog, and generally making cr@p up. It got weirder and weirder, and really made Friend's life difficult for a time, reporting to the school that SC's kids were being bullied by Friend's kids, that Friend's husband was behaving inappropriately (Friend's DH's job could've been affected by this), and so forth.

For the most part, the real world knows that SC is nuts. The more she talks, the more people know she's lost her marbles.

During the whole mess way back when, I posted a comment on one of Friend's blog entries, just generally trying to be supportive of Friend and telling SC (who was, at the time, still stalking the blog like a nut) to get a life. I barely remember what the blog entry and my comment were about and I certainly don't remember specifics.

Fast-forward several YEARS.....SC found that comment. She linked from Friend's blog over to my old blog, the one I essentially abandoned nearly 3 years ago, and commented there. In her comment to me, SC wants me to tell her just what I was referring to, what Friend was saying about her, etc, etc, etc. She left me her full name and address and kept referring to my friend as "this person, Name/Email handle." She asked me to give her the same honesty and benefit of the doubt I'd given Friend.

Um, what?!

Who the hell do you think you are lady?! And why in the world do you think I would help you continue a smear campaign against my friend? Seriously?!

I wanted to respond and tell her to get a life and never contact me again.

However, I know from what Friend has told me, that responding to her would just fuel the fire. So, I've filed that comment/email and I'm being a "black-hole." Hopefully, as far as SC knows, I never got that email.

But, see, the last entry in my old blog contains a link to this one. And that's when I started to get a bit weirded out. I know what SC has put my friend through and I have no plans to engage with her at all. I don't want to deal with random comments from her or further emails, etc, etc, etc.

So, I made this an invite-only blog. And, ironically, many of you probably never knew or had forgotten I even had a blog so now I've got more traffic here than I ever would've had otherwise.

Some people lead such small lives.

The Astonishing Power of Cup of Tea

We went camping over the weekend, down to Capitol Reef National Park. It was likely our last camping trip of the season, though I'm hoping to go one more time (That's another post, however). With us were 6 other families loosely (or not) associated with our church.

One woman, a dear friend, has had a rough time lately. Her mother is older and struggling with health issues. She's recently moved into a retirement center, and my friend is trying to handle her doctor appointments, financial situation, etc, etc. Friend's siblings are, shall we say, less than helpful. Friend also has an elementary-aged child and a college child who's recently moved home. Friend could be the poster child for the "sandwich generation," bless her heart, and it's taking it's toll.

Saturday night is traditionally potluck night. Everyone brings meat for their family, plus a side dish to share. There's usually a bottle of wine (or two) and beer to go around, plus chips, salsa, guacamole and other equally fancy appetizers. After the potluck comes the kids' favorite moment--S'more time! All across the campground you hear parents telling their children that, if they want a s'more later, they MUST eat their dinner. My children are often reminded that dinner needs to include more than chips.....

So, after dinner and a couple of beers, it started to get chilly, so I headed into the trailer to make some tea (mate, actually, which is a South American brewed leafy thing....they put it in "tea" bags for us white folks). Friend mentioned that tea sounded good, and after smelling the mate, asked me for some. I dropped in a few sugar cubes, the mate bag, and poured the hot water and off we went for more catching up.

However. My friend cradled that tea cup.....a Disney insulated mug.....and said "I'm blessed to have you." When I went on with my business, stirring, and squeezing, she took my chin in her hand. She looked me square in they eye and said again "I'm blessed to have you."

It was a powerful moment. Simple, really. All I did was share my tea; brewing a cup for each of us to ward off the fall chill. And yet. For her, it was so much more than that. And she made sure I knew it.

But that's the thing about those every day kindnesses. We never truly know when someone needs that. We don't often know how much those little things are appreciated. But those things can be so very powerful in the life of someone else.