Arlington Town Day is about a month and a half away and I’m trying to come up with a new name for my revamped and overhauled craft business. I’ve been tossing about a number of ideas in my head, but two seem to stick around. Which, if either, do you think would sound like a good name for a business that’s trying to bring crocheted fashions out of the Dark Ages (without going art fag)?

The Hook Brings You Back

Crowe Shea (yeah, I’ve spent too much time in an area that relies heavily on word play)

I’d like to welcome all the friends and family members who found me on Facebook and ventured over. Hopefully my blog posts won’t be too scary.

I’ve been incredibly busy lately. I’m a big fan of Flylady.net and this month I added a buttload of chores to my to-do list. I’ve managed to tweak my schedule enough to get most of the stuff done, but there have been a few sacrifices. Like posting, reading posts, and fanfic writing. Hopefully they will be only temporary sacrifices.

As some of you may already know, I’ve been taking an online class in business management through Minuteman. That’s the school Ben goes to (and will hopefully graduate from this year). I’m about halfway through. It’s amazing how much I already know.

I’ve been crocheting like a mofu (the preteen and I decided “mofu” is the proper abbreviation of  “mother fucker” *laughs*) since I received word that the “Library Ladies” will most likely have a table at Town Day again. I’ve got just under 5 months to make stuff, though I plan on finishing out this month by finishing the skirt I’ve been working on. My goal is to have the scarves that everyone went nutso over last Xmas, arm warmers, possibly some animal hats, and bunny slippers. I took advantage of A.C. Moore’s sale yesterday and stocked up on a ton of yarn — all at the lowest prices I’ve seen. I also picked up a hook set that has ergonimic handles for easier crocheting (at half price). I find it hard to keep my stiches consistent due to the narrow hook slipping in my hands as I work. I’ll have to re-time how long it takes me to make things to see if I need to reconsider prices.

Somewhere in the middle of all this I’ve managed to lose some weight. I’m now down to 163 pounds, with a body fat percentage of 28.7%. Just 6.7 points to go! Now that we have a local bike shop that truly local I am hoping to get my bike’s derailers adjusted so I can start biking again. I miss riding my bike!

Now, it’s time for bed. The boys are home for the week. I need all the rest I can get!

Wrapped up Town Day making $65. That’s been my best for a table event. Spent it on a new aerator for my fishtank/prosperity altar. I also ordered some test strips. The brand I’m currently using does sucketh much. I need to give one of the pieces of Mopani wood a good scrubbing. It seems to have developed a fuzz. I do recall reading somewhere that it is harmless, the fish will even eat it, and may be related to the sap that also still oozes out, but I’m still going to clean it off, along with the rocks, so it will look nicer. Once the aerator arrives I might consider adding fish. The light fixture I have isn’t producing enough light to keep the plants from turning brown. Even plants that I’ve had for months are now turning. WTF? I even gave them food! Oh well. Untill I am able to afford the light strip I really want I may focus on the fish, adding a few plants here and there, so I’m not spending a lot on something that’s going to die quickly.

I ran into a few roadblocks with my Tinker Toys idea. First of all: Holy fuck! When did they become so expensive? The cheapest set available locally (which may make me a rack or two) is $21! @,@ Secondly, the cheapest wooden set may not have the free-spinning spools that I need to make my display carousel. *sigh* Iguess I’ll have t ofigure something out.

In other news, I’m getting fed up with feeling totally incompetent. With Library Assistant jobsnon-existent due to budget cuts, I’ve been forced to look for minimum wage work as a cashier. I applied at Toys R Us two months ago, figuring I could tap into my boys’ knowledge of video games. I have yet to receive a call for an interview, yet they still have a help wanted sign up. It’s Stop & Shop that’s really getting me down, though. I’ve applied twice, after my friend (a front end manager) promised me I’d have a job by the end of this month. There’s three days left and I still haven’t been called. And, yeah, they have help wanted signs up, too.

Glenn, in a tone that only a man who feels he’s being inconvenienced by his wife’s inability to get a job can use, announced that he has no choice but to get a second job. This is after he turned down a transfer to the cemetary department, where he’d be getting the same hourly pay PLUS tips upwards of $100 a week. Oh, and he told me he doesn’t care if I have to fill out applications online for him, he’s going to get another job. Um, yeah.

Heard from one of my friends yesterday. She and I had been discussing applying for a table for Town Day. When she never got back to me I thought she had changed her mind. Then I heard from another friend that the two of them had applied together. Needless to say I was a bit depressed about this because we’ve been doing the craft fairs together.

Anyway, she asked me if I was still interested in sharing a table. She had just gotten the application approved when she found out that I was shutting down the store and becoming a “hobbyist”, thus making me eligable for the crafters tables. So the three of us are sharing a table for Town Day! I picked up some more hemp to make a few more pieces (either kid size stuffor head “bands”). Don’t know how many I’m going to be able to make as I have les than two weeks. I also have to design some display racks using Tinker Toys, and reprint the index cards that I made for each of the pieces already made so that I can change the prices to even dollars and have room to zap them with a hole punch.

Granted, this now means I’m not going to be able to hit the Friends of Robbins Library book sale preview, but hey, I might actually sell some macrame jewelry this time of year. 🙂

Oh, and as if that doesn’t make me happy enough, I happened upon a FULL frontal of one of the Equus promo pics. *fans self* I am naïvely ignoring the Photoshop comments.