Adrift on the sea of my daily life ...

I feel like a bad mother! My blogs are like children and I've neglected them terribly recently. Oh, I feel so very guilty. Yet, I can't seem to get things back on track.

I love blogging but when push comes to shove, it drops down on the priority list. Lately, life in this household has been like a small boat in heavy seas. Throw a life jacket on and hang on for dear life!

Every few days, the sun comes out and the waves settle and things start to level off. Then, we jump to and take care of necessities first and then work toward the niceties and fun stuff. We begin to relax, sit back and take a deep breath ... and then, along comes another swell and we're thrown into the next squall. Once again, we don the foul weather gear and grab hold of a lifeline to ride out the waves.

At the moment, we're on calm seas with no clouds in sight. Maybe I can get back to my routine. Just maybe catch up with all the "To Do" things on my list. Starting with this post.

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Today was the last day for guaranteed delivery for merchandise geared toward Thanksgiving. My goal was to get it all shipped by this Thursday. I have just finished packing up the last of those orders so I am actually ahead of target on this one. It's a Thanksgiving Miracle!!!

I had one order to finish painting today and a whole pile of Christmas work to get to. Today's project was organizing, laying out, sketching and base coating for gingerbread and candy canes on various garments and hard items (wood and glass). Both images are time consuming in that they require a base coat which must dry completely before adding intricate details. While I can often do detail work on only semi-dry base coats, I find the white details necessary for both gingerbread and peppermints must be done on dry bases.
I do love painting both of these themes, though, as they allow a fair amount of creativity from piece to piece. The peppermint candies are also always so bright and cheerful. It will be a few days before these will be ready to photograph for listing in the shop.

Tomorrow, I hope to get some of my Christmas themed baby hats photographed and listed in the shop. They're all done, just waiting for their close-ups.

Among tomorrow's projects is also the daunting task of getting my other blog updated. Yes, I really do have a second blog though few have actually found it. Splish'n'Splash Kitchen deals with food from a variety of angles. I try to list interesting events around the country that are specific to various foods, food news, food ideas, and more. To date, I have not done recipes there but I think I'll be adding a few party dishes and food gifts to make and give for the holidays. I have a goal to get that blog back in line by the beginning of December. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Here's hoping y'all are right on track in your holiday preps.

Goals ? What goals ?

Goals? We had goals? Are you sure?

So, we're 1/3 of the way through 2010, how are you doing on your business goals for the year ?

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being excellent), I've got to give myself about a 3. I had lofty goals but I feel like I've been grounded by my own form of volcanic ash -- just can't seem to get off the ground.

It seems when an obstacle popped up, I accepted it and sat back and relaxed instead of finding a way around it. Don't get me wrong, my sales for the year on a whole have been pretty good. My online sales have not.

I definitely have not stuck to my plans of listing at least one new thing or renewing an expired item in the shop each day. I'd do okay for about six days and then drop the ball.

I did not throw a lot of effort into promoting for Easter. (Okay, let's be honest, I did NO Easter promoting.) Mother's Day is almost upon us and I haven't pushed there either. Talk about missed opportunities !!

Not everything was a disaster.

I DID get a Facebook business page up and running ! (Something I set out to do almost a year ago.) A work-in-progress, it's been up and running for about a week now. Please stop in and check it out at www.facebook.com/Splashincrafts .

I DID reach out and find several new big swag bag opportunities. (This is a marketing approach I have found works well for me.)

While it started out as a personal goal as it is not really business oriented, I have to believe my new food blog, Splish'n'Splash Kitchen, will also be of some benefit to the business. I do plan to have a sidebar ad for the shop and will occasionally push one of my kitchen related products like an apron or potholder set. In any case, it is an accomplishment for me to boast about!

So, in review, I need to get busy, regroup and redirect my efforts. (Think I'll go list something in the shop !)

Are YOU on track for your goals?

Another weekend bites the dust.

Another weekend draws to an end and I have the aching muscles to prove it!!
We had our first judging event of the season on Friday and Saturday. Trekking across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to Salisbury, Maryland, we set off Friday afternoon for the 2010 (7th Annual) Pork In The Park BBQ Competition. Growing by leaps and bounds, this event went from 90 competitors last year to 134 this year! This makes it the 2nd largest BBQ competition sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society (not including the American Royal).

The weather was fantastic!! Friday afternoon saw temps in the mid-80s and bright sunshine. This, and the top-notch musical entertainment combined with great food, carnival rides and other festival events drew huge crowds.We settled in Friday evening to judge Anything Butt (a chef's choice category) and Seafood entries. My personal favorites were a peach pie made in the style of a Southern fried pie but cooked on a grill and a great lobster bisque. I'd have loved to have had larger servings than just a judge's sample of each. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), all judging is blind judging which means we have no way of knowing whose food we've judged. So, there's no wandering over and begging for more! (Good thing, that would then turn into a waddle!)

Saturday morning, we arrived at the fairgrounds early so The Big Guy and I could both perform our duties as "Pig Police" (aka "Pork Police" or "Pig Patrol"). Our duties in this assignment are to supervise the preparation of whole hog entries. Each cook team entered in this category must cook a whole hog in one piece, then cut and present six samples of five specific areas (shoulder, loin, etc.) for judging. Our job is to observe to verify that all samples came off of that one pig. A team cannot begin cutting their entry until we arrive at their cook site. We then stay with the team until turn in time. Another group of judges then judge the whole hog entries.

Saturday morning on the Smokis Porkis BBQ team's smoker!

I always enjoy this particular assignment as it gives me a chance to meet and get to know the team I am observing. It gives us a chance to chat and each see the other's jobs. This year, I was sent to a relatively young team, new to competition cooking. They had two experienced members and three who have only participated in 3 contests. We spent some time discussing what the judges look for in the standard required four judging categories. Turns out, they fared fairly well in the overall judging of the required categories. (Anything Butt, Seafood and Whole Hog are not required categories. Participation in these categories are optional.)
A few hours later, we were seated for the regular judging session. These were the four categories required of every team in every KCBS competition - chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. Being forced to eat samples of some of the best prepared smoked meats known to mankind is a tough job, but somebody ahs to do it. I'm just glad I'm one of those somebodies!! This competition was no exception and the food was top quality. In fact, I think this was one of the best overall selections I've come across in quite some time.

After several hours of gorging, we mosied over to the entertainment area where we heard some really fantastic music. First a rock band followed by one of our favorite blues artists and his band. I'll admit we snuck out during the awards ceremony (although, considering a crowd of at least 10,000-12,000 people, I doubt if anyone noticed our departure.) We had several hours of driving ahead of us to get home.

Belated congratulations to Chix, Swine & Bovine BBQ of Jessup, Maryland who walked away Grand Champions!!! Absolute best of 134 teams. Way to go !!!!

After all that walking around the fairgrounds (probably several miles on rough terrain) and a long car ride, (not to mention a less than stellar motel bed), I was definitely stiff and achy by the time we got home. Unfortunately, The Big Guy had already set an agenda of working in the flower beds for today. Sore muscles and all, we were out ther bright and early in chilly temperatures working the soil.

Thank goodness we have a frost warning tonight, or we would probably have spent a lot more time in planting today, too. Looks like I get a chance to recover before all that bending in a week or two.

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My new blog, Splish'n'Splash Kitchen launched today !!!! If you're into food, maybe even consider yourself a "FOODIE", please stop over and check it out here.

Bits'n'Pieces

You never know who you'll spot at the Post Office "just taking care of business!"

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I've had some odds and ends of news and stuff floating around for a few days but had specific posts planned so just held them in. (I should have made some notes!)

Facebook:

First, and foremost, I FINALLY set up a Facebook Fan Page for my Estsy shop, Splashin!!! I started out to do this almost a year ago. At that time, I didn't set it up correctly and ended up simply canceling the account. Recently, after being begged by quite a few friends, I rejoined Facebook with a personal account and have had a ball reconnecting with old friends and setting up quicker communications with family members. (Most of the younger ones moved on from e-mail to Facebook quite a while ago.) It was those younger ones who were pushing me to get a Fan Page going.

As many of you know, Facebook requires you to have 25 Fans before allowing you to have a short page title. When you start out, it's a little bit of a complicated link with several parts and lots of numbers. Right now, 30 hours into this venture, I'm still a few short of that number but you can check out my page and Fan me if you'd like by clicking on the Facebook button on the left sidebar here. Or, you can click here and get there, too. Whichever you'd prefer, I'd love to have you stop by and check it out. Please let me know what you think of the page and what you'd like to see there, either by commenting on the Wall, leaving me a note here or even e-mailing me from the Splashin page.

Splish'n'Splash Kitchen:

In other news, I'm developing a second blog. This one will still be my daily spot to chat but I wanted a designated place to discuss food and everything related to food. Yes, I admit it. I AM A FOODIE. So, to deal with that fact of life, I'm diving into a food blog.

I'll be launching Splish'n'Splash Kitchen this weekend (probably on Sunday.) There will be a recipe from time to time but this will mostly be a place for food news, food humor, cooking tales - good and bad, family cooking and eating together, features about folks who are involved with food in some way or do a craft that is food oriented or inspired (I've already lined up a few of those.) I have some food events I plan to tell you about and maybe even a food game or two. The reviews of all those culinary mysteries I love to read, will now appear over there.

This will NOT be a low-fat venture!!!

I don't know if I'll be posting there daily but I hope to get something up at least 4 or 5 times a week. I've spent some time preparing some posts to start off with and I will be reprinting a few that have run here over the last two years, also. I hope you'll take a few minutes to check it out from time to time. I'll let you know which day it actually takes off.

BBQ Competitions:
We'll be judging at the first BBQ event of our season this weekend. Pork in the Park will take place in Salisbury, Maryland Friday through Sunday. This particular contest has grown quickly to become one of the largest competitions in the country and the biggest this side of the Mississippi. They are expecting 125 competitors this year.

Keep your fingers crossed that we'll have good weather. The first few years, this event was plagued by monsoon-like rains but last year was absolutely perfect and the crowds definitely turned out. Over 31,000 people came for the food, crafts, music and other entertainment. We're definitely ready for some great slow-cooked BBQ!!! It's been a long winter.


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There were some bits of national news that fired me up earlier in the week ("enraged" might be a better word) but I've had a few days to calm down and won't repeat my tirades here. ( My family and friends were already subjected to to that!)