Monday Rambles

Crazy times!  That's what these are.

My CPAP machine gave up the ghost a few days ago, and trying to get a replacement that isn't going to involve a lot of time, effort, and extra expense is proving to be a hassle.  It is actually cheaper to order one on my own and not involve my insurance, but I don't have a copy of my prescription and the sleep center where I did my study won't give me one.

In the meantime, Keith and I are sharing his, which means that neither of us is feeling particularly rested at the moment.

Booth sales have been off the chain lately.  February ended up being my second best month ever (coming very close to my record), despite the weather issues at times.  March has started off even better.  I know that ride will have to slow down at some time, but for now, I am content to let it go as it will.

I topped 200 in sales two days in a row last week, which has never happened to me before.  All of a sudden, everyone wants to buy my shelves.  I sold three different sets last week, which, of course, meant I had to rearrange booths three different times.  I feel like I have been living at the mall.  I love tax time!

Saturday, a guy parked himself in the book booth and stayed for well over an hour.  He just kept looking through books and tossing them in his cart.  I really needed to do some work in there, but I did not want to disturb him, since he was on a roll.  I was kind of concerned that he might be one of those folks who fills up a cart, then makes a second pass through everything and puts most of it back, but he wasn't.  The cashier said she told him that he was making me a happy vendor for the day, and he told her that was good because I had made him happy too.  Thta's the way it's supposed to work.

On the other hand, a woman wandered into my other booth and started complaining loudly to anyone who would listen about the price on a small end table.  She kept repeating the price, then loudly stating:  "Judy would give me one for free."  After she had done this a few times and had people staring at her, I looked at her and said, "Well then, why don't you go ask her?"  She stared at me for a moment, then walked off muttering something under her breath, which I was hoping wasn't about Judy coming back to punch me in the stomach.

The weather is still iffy around here.  Good one day.  Not so good the next.  Still, the sales are starting.  At least the church sales.  One of my regulars happened last Saturday, with another one scheduled for this Saturday, followed by one of my favorites the week after.  I'm trying to stick to just the tried and true this season, while I keep whittling down the Mountain.  Having a couple of nice days in a row would help in that process.  I am tragically low on smalls in the booths.  There's a good-sized stash of them on the Mount of Sorrows, but they're on the back side of it, due to poor planning on my part.  I need some more reliable weather before I can pull everything out to hunt for them.

Thanks for all the kind words about my TV interview.  I was surprised they used as much of me as they did.  They actually talked to three patients, and I thought the other two were way more interesting than me.  One of them they ended up not having time in the spot to include, and she's the one who got to meet Jimmy Carter!  The PR person at the cancer center said that you don't often see a spot as long as this one was.  It was nearly five minutes on air, which is unheard of these days.  I thought they got some good stuff from Dr Chesney too.  He is a really cool dude.

I think it's kind of funny that he's the deputy director of the center, and my other doc is the director!  I get the executive treatment.  They do some incredible work there, and are both so down to earth about it.  The director in particular is fascinated with Keith's beard.  Keith's beard has lots of fans.

Sometimes, they even get in trouble over it.  Saturday, after the church sale, we stopped off for Mexican food for lunch.  They sat us next to a table where there were three little kids. One of them took one look at Keith and started yelling:  "It's Santa!"  He gets that a lot.  He is a big guy with a big beard, after all.

Well, this kid cannot control himself,  He keeps staring and yelling and pointing.  His mother keeps telling him to turn around and finish eating, but he's having none of it.  He looks at Keith and says:  "Say 'Ho Ho Ho!'"  After Keith does, the kid starts shouting "Ho Ho Ho!" over and over again.  Finally, Mom loses patience and heads off to the bathroom, kid in tow.  Keith looks at me and says:  "I guess I should put myself on the naughty list."

They come back and the kid is a good deal more restrained, although he does keep sneaking peeks at Keith.  Finally, they all finish their lunch, and Mom says:  "Let's go potty one more time."  The kid says back:  "Are you gonna yell at me again?"  Poor guy!