Toast

Phew, the rush is finally over. Last minute orders continued into last week - all while I was juggling all my own shopping, baking, wrapping of gifts, and decorating. Christmas flew by so fast, didn't it? After the months of preparations, it all slips by in the blink of an eye.

Now I am over-sleeping a bit. Wearing my pj's until noon. Catching up on the gigantic heap of disordered mess in my office. It's a lot of putting away and making little piles of things to do. Like the bookkeeping, filing, inventories, taxes. January is full of so many little tasks. Definitely not a slacker month, but quieter. No shows, no rushing around. Orders have slowed down to a little trickle for one month. But the paperwork pile is staggering. New show applications area at the top of the list, along with all the end-of-year books.

I must say, last year was puny in comparison to the last few previous years. Sales were down in the spring, by a lot. And summer was a lot slower than usual. But November and December were up from last year and mail order did a bit better too. So those are positive signs. I'm going to work harder this coming year, on all kinds of things. I've got a bunch of ideas about what I want to change and what I want to make better. I'm kind of excited about it all, and hopeful. Glad that 2009 is over, and I'm still here.

Postage rates increase again on January 4th. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to make some changes in that area. Prices will go up in the next mailing - Spring 2010. I'm also going to do a clearance sale of the last of the winter items. That should be up next week, and it might be a good time to stock up on a few things at the cheaper prices. February 1st will be the spring newsletter, price changes and new updates.

I got a new stereo for my studio for Christmas. It's gorgeous and I forgot how much I liked having a little something in the background while I'm working. I didn't know how much I missed the music. I love it.

I also got a Cuisinart toaster from my sister. I have been struggling with toasting a darn bagel, which always burned or got stuck and had to be shredded to get it out of the old cheapie toaster. This one is so beautiful, it's a work of art. And it makes the most perfect toast I've ever had. Truly. I adore this sleek silver machine in my kitchen. I want to toast everything.

So a toast to the new year. And a chance to start all over again.