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10:54 am
[Link] | Yesterday was one of those retail days where crazy busy, prosperity and romance all rolled together with beautiful weather to make for excellence.
BTW, romance was not mine, but it was fun to watch from a safe distance.
Current Mood:  calm
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04:32 pm
[Link] | I love it when things are running smoothly. Orders showing up on time, checking in new stock and even some lower prices. Customers buying new things, seeing if the gambles I've made will pay off.
Oh, I know this feeling won't last forever, but I'm enjoying the moment.
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09:36 am
[Link] |
Feile Brighid / Imbolc
I had a wonderful day with my sweetie. After I took my car in for the 110,000 mile check up, we spent some time hanging out together at the house. For lunch we drove to Round Rock to have tea at Friar Tuck's. It was yummy and delightful. They have a small Brit grocery section, and even a freezer case of bangers.
Then as long as we were on the far North Side of the Austin area, we went to Ikea. Indoor hikiing. Picked up a nice little coat rack to put next to the front door so hopefully Wynd and I will stop dumping jackets and stuff on the sofa.
On the way home we stopped at MT markets and bought lots of yummy things which I can't read the labels and Sweetie fixed up a dinner of oriental delights.
On the down side, of course the CRV has half dozen little things which need to be reparied or replaced. The Honda guys arranged a rental car for me to use today while they finish up my car.
On a side note, banks suck and right now so does my stupid credit union. I need to get repair owrk done to the roof of my house, and it looks like no one is loaning any moeny.
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11:13 am
[Link] | Hate it when I make stupid mistakes.
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01:06 pm
[Link] | My store rocks! Irn Bru was 2 pounds ($3.50) at my hotel in Glasgow. We sell it for $2.49 here, thousands of miles from the source.
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05:19 am
[Link] | On my way to Glasgow this morning!
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01:55 pm
[Link] |
Happy Birthday NEOHIPPIE!
NEOHIPPPIE should stop by the store next time she's in the neighborhood and pick up her free birthday bag of Jellie Babies!
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10:24 am
[Link] |
Gotta love the Irish
Ring ring
This is Lanora with Things Celtic in Texas. I'm calling to check on the order I placed 3 weeks ago, has that been shipped yet?
Oh yes, Oh yes, that went out last week. You should have it any day now.
Right. Could you give me the tracking number?
Tracking number? Oh yes, let me check. Well it looks like your shipment is going out tomorrow you see.
Tomorrow? So it didn't go out last week? So you don't have a tracking number?
Well we're waiting for the boxes to arrive. We didn't want to ship it with out the display box. We're expecting those later this week.
So you won't ship it till you get the display box, and the display box won't come in till later this week, so you won't actually be shipping it tomorrow, is that right?
Well yes, I'll check on that for you and call you back in 10 minutes to let you know.
......
I'm not holding my breath for that return phone call.
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11:10 am
[Link] |
Sweet!
Hi Lanora,
Good news to start your day – you won two nights accommodation at the Mount Herbert courtesy of Enterprise Ireland.
The credit will be applied to your bill when you check out.
See you in the bar – you’re buyin!
Anne T.
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09:30 am
[Link] | Last night I got a phone call from an old friend who is now living in El Paso. He just wanted to talk, and he did for about an hour. I feel good that he still likes to talk to me, bounce around old memories and new ideas. Basically it's good to know that that even though relations do change with people, we don't have to cut each other off completely.
I've been having doubts about that. I did have a relationship, and I do mean relationship, with someone for over 20 years and there are times when I'd just like to ask him out for coffee and ask "So how's it been? What are up to?" but I don't feel comfortable doing that. Still too much baggage floating around. Bridges were burnt. Skeletons in the closets. Whatever euphemism you want to use.
What brought on this bleak nostalgia you ask? It's time to repair the roof again. I've been trying explain to roofers what sort of changes the contractor made back in 2001. I was going through an old photo album to find a picture of the original roof and looked back through years of family stuff. Like I said, baggage, bridges and skeletons. Photos say so much, and leave so much else unsaid.
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12:06 pm
[Link] | The OCD crew is finishing up the inventory count on faries and such. Then I'll take everyone out for lunch, Waterloo Ice House is the traditional fare. Then we come back, open the doors and start tagging all the new stuff.
Of course there have been cars pulling up all morning. They'll just have to come back later.
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10:45 am
[Link] |
Juggling
I friend of mine taught me to juggle when I was 14. This is a useful skill many years later. I have juggled some of the obligations around now so I'm not too overwhelmed.
I am in the world I have made, and I can remake it if I want.
Current Mood: relieved
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03:23 pm
[Link] |
I will not have a melt down.
Little things can be fixed.
Friend recovered my iphone calendar this afternoon.
Leo has returned after four days.
The 2009 sales file will turn up eventually.
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03:52 pm
[Link] |
What a difference a decade makes.
Where was I ten years ago? As 1999 drew to a close I was finishing up my first year as a retailer. I had recently quit the sercurity of my UT day job, after 17 anos. I was happily working with my husband, we had skipped our 20th anniversary in March because that was the same week as the North Texas Irish Festival and the opening of the store. The shop had been very successful for the first year. We were already thinking about expanding if possible and hiring a part time employee.
Both the boys were in an elementary school down the street from the shop, I could walk to the school for pta meetings and special events.
The dotcom boom was in full swing, some of the best selling items in the store were mousepads with Celtic and Pictish designs.
I helped my mother through a really bad episode of alcoholism after her retirement.
My grandmother passed on the next year.
Two cats, D'Jango and Aisha, are no longer with us.
Two dogs, Tardis and Dijon, are no longer with us.
All in all things have worked out OK. Not what I expected, not what I had planned. The boys are doing alright. I have a loving companion in my life. I'm still running the business and still get to travel regularly.
I have not a clue where I'll be, or what I'll be doing ten year from now. I'll take it as it comes, and try to stay on the high road.
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05:25 pm
[Link] |
Grrr, stupid computer, grrr
Couldn't get the pictures to upload. But you can see my boys in the snow here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ork/4221642746/in/photostream/
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04:04 pm
[Link] |
Boxing Day in the Snow!
Christmas Day was a mellow morning. Wyndham tried his hand at making breakfast for me, including biscuits. We opened presents and much chocolate was consumed. My sweet Ork made a light lunch before the boy children and I drove up to Waxahatchie to visit my dad.
I let Wyndham drive for about 30 minutes on IH35. No one died.
Dinner with my dad and his wife included the traditional fixins at the Chinese Buffet place in Waxahatchie.
On Boxing Day we decided to try driving out to the ranch in Jack County. We knew there had been a lot of snow, but the roads didn't seem too bad and we kept going. In Jacksboro we stopped by the grave yard to see my grandmother's tomb stone. The lanes had been plowed through the main section, but there was an SUV stuck on the ice. Dad and the boys gave them a push and got them on their way.
Out at the ranch we drove to the barn, took pictures of cattle in the snow. The boys had a short snow ball fight by the old house. It was magical. When I was a child we'd always go for a drive around the ranch at CHristmas. It had probably been 20 years since my dad and I had done that. It was the first time for the boys, and they loved it. My grandmother would be proud.
We had the classic boxing day lunch at DQ in Jacksboro and then it was back to Waxahatchie to drop off dad before driving back to Austin.
I hope the pictures come out.
Current Mood: relaxed
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02:50 pm
[Link] | HAPPY BIRTHDAY MS. WICKED!!!!
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09:19 am
[Link] |
Doomed
There is a container of peanut butter fudge on my desk. Evil!
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10:55 am
[Link] |
Two more days.
Shopping maddness has been a roller coaster this year. Utilikilts sales are down a bit, foodie sales are catching on nicely. Gold sales are negligable, silver sales are rocking the house. Fairies and dragons and greenmen have been snatched up at a record pace. Traditional Irish shamrock crap is still sitting on the shelves.
The crew is great, all the basic bags and supplies are on hand, no last minute panic (so far, knock wood). I think I'm getting the hang of this retail stuff.
Finish out today and tomorrow, then an easy Christmas morning at home, and drive the boys up to visit my dad. We may even go out for a drive around the ranch on boxing day.
Current Mood: calm, for the moment
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03:10 pm
[Link] | I don't quite know which was more annoying, the small screaming children playing in the shop, or their whining mommy with no control over them.
Other than that, it's been a good if not spectacular day in the world of retail.
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aronal's journal