Craft Show 101

I was walking Wrigley this afternoon, and thinking that I should call the people at the craft show I applied to and ask when I would find out if I got in. The show was full and I had been put on a waiting list...plus it's juried and I had to send photos of my work and some photos of a work in progress.

We got back to the house and I opened the mailbox and grabbed the mail. I started leafing though it as we walked to the door and there was the envelope from the craft show. I felt the envelope and I could feel my photos in it. That was not a good sign. They only return the photos if you didn't get accepted. Rats!

I was so bummed because just today I was thinking about what I would make if I got accepted, and I had myself a little psyched.

I put the mail on the kitchen table and took off my coat, gave the dogs a treat and then started opening the mail....leaving the bad news for last. I took the envelope and went and sat in my workshop and opened it up.

I GOT ACCEPTED!!!!!!!! What felt like pictures was just the numbers for our cars!!!!!

Oh my gosh I am just bouncing off the walls. I don't even know where to start or what to do. I have never done this before!!!!!! I am Booth Number 311 and see that little green line on the map? That's me....or what will be me on May 17!

All I know is that I will one busy little crafter during the next two months!!!! Any of you that do craft shows that have any words of wisdom....please pass them on!!!! I'm going to be in a craft fair! Woo hoo!

The show is called "Fair Diddley", and this is it's 41st year. It takes place in Woodstock, Illinois. The town has an awesome town square. The movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray was filmed there.

My booth is not in the best of places, but that's okay. There are over 350 booths and I am in the center area near this gazebo in the grass. You also can't stake a tent into the grass because the sprinkler system is shallow! So, see...we have much to figure out.


Whenever I am doing things and I say to Irv, "We have a lot to do.", or "We will figure it out", or "Don't worry, we can do it", he always replies, "Do you have a mouse in your pocket?" He likes to pretend that he isn't going to help me, but he will...he always does. :)

So what kind of advice can you give me? I am going to need it!

Pulling Up Roots

I want to move. I really do. Unfortunately, I can't move right now. There are a number of reasons...like the job market, the housing market, too much debt and two of my kids live here....the two that will be starting families of their own soon. Those of you that have moved over and over and over again probably think I'm crazy, however, I grew up about five miles from where we now live. Irv moved out here from Chicago in eighth grade. This area is all we've ever known. It was a awesome place to grow up and a wonderful place to raise kids, but now I want to experience something new. I want the excitement of putting down roots somewhere else. I want a change of scene. I'm ready to pull up the stakes and pitch my tent in another part of the country.

Let's say that three years from now the economy is better, houses are selling and there are jobs available. That would be great, but there would still be one thing that would keep me here, and that would be grandchildren. I am really looking forward to that. I don't want to be a long distance grandma. I want to be hands on. I want my grandchildren to know me, to sit on my lap so I can read to them and sing to them. I can't do that from the other side of the country...at least not on a regular basis.

So, just this morning I asked myself...what is it that's driving me to want to move in the first place? Is it the weather? The view? The house? The fresh start? The adventure of it all?

If I ever moved out of state, I wouldn't be moving to a warmer climate. I would move to Colorado. So it obviously isn't the winters. The view is definitely a plus in Colorado, but it isn't the driving force behind my desire. I don't really care too much about the house. Sure after 36 years in the same little house, it might be fun to have a change of scene, but I love my little house. No, it isn't that. A fresh start? That always sounds like fun, but we really get a fresh start each and every day. Don't we?

The excitement? Yes, I think that might be it....although I honestly feel that it's really a little of all of the above that feeds into the excitement. Don't you think?

If I can't pick up and move to Colorado when the opportunity presents itself because my heart tells me to stay put, what could I do to fill my desire for the excitement a move would bring?

What about moving to a new town in Illinois, or in southern Wisconsin? Would that do it? Would that be enough? I would be moving, but still not leaving the kids and possible grandchildren. It would be the same awful weather and the same basic midwestern view, but it would be a fresh start, a different house and heck...it would be exciting!

All I can do right now is to continue to control what I can control and that is clearing up my debt. Then when the time comes, I will take a look at everything else and decide where I would like to continue this wonderful adventure called "life"!! The funny thing is...when I think about pulling out of this driveway for the last time, I tear up.....I assume I would get over that?

Have you moved a lot? Did you leave somewhere you loved? Are you living where you grew up? Are you living where you want to live? Feel free to share...I would love to hear your stories!