Thursday ?!?! Are you sure ?

How did it get to be Thursday already? What happened to Wednesday? I know I was around for Wednesday. I accomplished some of those things on Wednesday's "To Do" list. I DIDN'T get my Working the Shows Wednesday post up, though. So sorry. (I promise to run that story next Wednesday.)

To be honest, after a busy day of painting in the early morning, shopping with a friend most of the day, rushing home and preparing a meal for dinner guests, spending time with those guests before and after the meal, then, taking care of a little business - I made the mistake of sitting down for a second. It only took that long to fall asleep in the chair! When The Big Guy woke me up around midnight, I did the "zombie walk", literally bouncing off walls on my way to the bedroom where I quickly fell back into a deep sleep.

As most of you know, exhaustion is pretty much inherent in the pre-holiday rush. Those of us attempting to run a business, especially one whose business is centered on the season, run at a sleep deficit for weeks at a time. The older I get, the harder it is to maintain that kind of schedule. In the old days, I could go two days without hitting the sack when necessary and then rebound after just one 6-7 hour sleep session. Oh, to be young again!

It is important at this point, to PRIORITIZE. While we have orders to complete, gifts to buy, homes to maintain, family to take care of, etc., we also need to take care of ourselves. Sure, we can all handle a short night here and there but we need to realize we can't do it over and over without end. As we get tired, we take longer to create our product and make more mistakes in the process. Ultimately, we gain nothing in the process. A tired person is also more susceptible to whatever germs are floating around and with the flu season in full swing, you really don't want to let your guard down. A sick person accomplishes very little quality work and stays sick longer if they are forcing themselves to keep going at an unreasonable pace.

The secret to keeping it all together? SIMPLIFY where you can. You can make the daily meal times a lot simpler with a little planning and preparation. I'm a great believer in making planned leftovers. Basically, I cook at least double amounts where possible. This can usually be accomplished in the same amount of time but makes two dinners instead of one. Once cooked, freeze one of those meals. When you want to use it, simply thaw it out and pop it in the oven or microwave. This not only saves prep time but also clean-up time. I actually do this year-round, not just at the busy times. I also take an entire day every few weeks and stock pile food like stuffed shells, enchiladas, jambalaya, pulled pork, etc. These all freeze well and can be cooked up with very little effort. The wasted day really does pay off.

ACCEPT HELP. We all know we usually can't farm out our craft but we can allow our family members to assist with other need like KP duty in the kitchen, laundry, running to the grocery, even making the Post Office runs. If they offer to cook or clean, let them do it. Maybe they won't do it just the way you do, but it will most likely be perfectly acceptable. Most of all, don't criticize the help! Quietly accept however it comes out and be sure to say "Thanks."

We each have to determine where we can accept a little less perfection in our everyday life and what events we must take part in, whether it is attending the children's school pageant, having dinner with friends or even having house guests during the made pre-holiday days.

Just remember, you really can't do it all, something has to give. Don't let destiny determine what gives. Let it be your choice and plan to let somethings fall by the wayside. That way, the really important parts do happen and they happen in the way you want them to. You'll be in control of what really matters.

So, go ahead and turn in and get some creativity rest. (I've given up on the concept of beauty rest!)

Guest Blogger, Rhena - Craft Balance

In a few weeks, my family, replete with parents, husband, multiple siblings, SOs and children will head off for the beach on the Jersey Shore. It will be a lazy week. And we will spend it lounging seaside, eating sweet Chesapeake Bay blue crab, and, when we’ve had too much family together time, walking alone or in pairs in the sand and on the splintery grey boards at the bird sanctuary.

The stresses of jobs and creating and writing and day-to-day family life will seem a million miles away and so I will inevitably ask my two nephews (8 and 5) and my niece (2) what they want to be for Halloween. October will seem far enough away that I can convince myself that it might just never come at all and so promises for elaborate, handmade costumes will slip easily from my lips and into their ears. We will discuss colors, materials, and details and it will only be months later, when I am sitting under the harsh glare of fluorescent lights in Joanne’s Fabric’s pattern section that I will wonder why I made such promises.

“Because you love making these costumes every year,” my husband will remind me.

And it’s true, I love making them and I love making baby blankets and purses and embellished onesies and scarves and sweaters for my loved ones. It was making these things after all, that brought me from hobbyist to small business owner.

But, as I’m sure many other crafters have experienced, my “crafting for business” time has taken over my “crafting for family” time. A sweater I promised for my husband TWO (yes TWO) Christmases ago sits zipperless and unhemmed in a plastic box. In another, a baby play mat that was originally intended for a friend’s child who is now much past needing “tummy time” waits, unquilted. My dad’s Christmas present from last year is a mass of yarn and needles. A plastic sheet covers our new (by which I mean, a year old) bathroom because I haven’t made the time to sew the fabric into curtains. It’s not that I don’t WANT to complete these projects or that I love these people any less, it’s just that crafting for sales has stolen my focus. Besides, there are summertime bonfires and trips to the bakery and walks around the lake to be had. And the tips of my fingers are already raw and bleeding from creations for the shop.

Is this one of those situations of what happens when a “passion” becomes a “job?” Will I ever be able to make the time?

I have debated knitting a time vortex of some sort so that I can have more hours in the day, but if science fiction has taught me nothing else it is that playing with time always leads to trouble. And so I must inject into my life a little reminder of the joy that comes from crafting an item for a friend rather than for a sale. I will hunker down and sew the curtains because I know that every morning, when I go to take a shower, I will be grateful that they are what they are and not a plastic sheet. I will finish my husband’s sweater because when he zips it up and smooths it over his chest and belly, I will know that it was my hands that are keeping him warm this winter. This October when my sister and her husband are embarrassingly thankful for the costumes, I will rely on my husband to remind us that I love to do this. And the kids will smile or, as 8 year old Desi did last Halloween, will look in the mirror, puff out his chest, hold his wooden sword, and exclaim, “I look like a real knight!” I will remember that no sale could ever match that.