And in the next chapter....

I was a little emotional last night as I locked up.  It is the last time this shop will look like this.  Friday afternoon Stacy will begin to pack up all of the yarn and shrink wrap all the spinners.  She thinks it can be done in 2 days.  I am not sure you can pack up all the stuff in this space in 2 days.  It took 4 years to get this way.  It is a lot of stuff.  There is a ton of yarn, tools, kits, and fiber.  The memories are here too.  In my wildest imaginings, I didn't see this coming.  This was supposed to be a career plan and a business move but it has become a destination and a series.  People hang out here when they can.  We have a cast of regulars and guest stars.  We have a background music and laughter that is not canned. 

The same people that hang out here are helping the shop to move.  I am truly appreciative of that.  It is enormous.  In our new space, we will have more room for more people and creative energy.  We have room for more yarn and fiber and tools.   We will have the same laughter and vibe in the little shop just more of it.  See you in the new space soon.  

Moving Day Preps

Preparing to move a shop requires a lot of planning and a fair amount of time.
We don't have any of that.
The landlord wants us in the new unit by May 3.
 A process that I thought we could ease into over two or three months just got compressed into two weeks and change.

I began with a scaled drawing of the new space and put everything in it's place in the new space.  That will help all of our helpers to quickly move things into place.  Thank goodness we have a lot of helpers.  Today the new racks arrived for the consignment part of the shop and there is no room in the old shop for them to sit.  A neighboring business offered to keep them sheltered for a week until we get going in the new space.  A crew of about 8 women will be loading up the yarn and moving it all 2 doors down to it's new spot.

Tonight I make the list of all the vendors who need our new contact information, the utilities that need to be notified and the government agencies that will also need to know.  I hope to send out a form letter with everything essential on it.

I surely hope we get some consignors interested in the new venture quickly so that this new space fills up.  Otherwise we will have lots of pretty yarn in a big echo chamber filled with happy knitters.  We need more stuff to fill this space.

Moving Day Approaches...

It looks very likely that we will be moving the shop the first week of May.  Please watch the facebook page for dates that we will be closed and then the opening date in the new shop.  The new space is only 2 doors south of the existing shop so we are very easy to find.  Please come visit us soon.

oh my

This has been a roller coaster spring in so many ways.  Usually life changes come at you one at a time.  They rock your boat.  You recover.  You move on.  Not this year for us.   We have had a new grandbaby, a child's wedding and the death of a parent in the last 6 weeks.  My boat is swamped and the lake is deep.

I believe that time is the answer to most stressful events.  Things look better in the morning.  Things have a way of working themselves and I don't have to have all of the answers right this minute.  But I wish I did.

I love our new grandbaby.  I love our new daughter in law.  They are both precious people in my life and real blessings.

I will miss my mom.  She was a rock and an example.  She lived a full life and we can only hope to do half of the things she did.  I am not sad exactly.  At least not a a lasting, overwhelming sad.  She is fine and in a better place.  She is with family members she has missed for a long time and they are having a grand reunion.  She was with all of us in her last week.  Each child, grandchild and great grandchild visited with her at a wedding and family parties.  We had good long visits.  I am grateful for that in a huge way.

I am tired.  I am sweeping up the confetti after the party.  I am putting away the party dishes.  I am filling out the papers and making the plans for what is expected after each person passes in this life.  I am writing checklists of things and crossing them off one by one.  I just got up for the day and I need a nap.

But it will be okay in the morning.

Stress?

Stress is a good thing because most of the time it compels us to make changes.  The "uncomfortableness" of our body in a stressful situation forces us to do something.  Options often include fleeing, handling the situation differently, seeking help, or a combination of actions seeking to be in a comfortable position again.

A few days ago I began a regular exercise program (again).  I had had a consistent one for several years, lost a lot of weight and then.... got lazy.  Last school year I gained most of it back.  It was a stressful year and I chose to eat my way through it :).

This year is beginning to be very challenging and I am already in an exercising routine.  I woke up this morning actually ready to tackle all of the big things on the list today.  Remarkable change.

Yarn is good therapy.  My lovely spouse says  the shop is cheaper than counseling sessions and meds.  He is right about that, but my treadmill is great therapy.  The hard things I have to do today are still there.  But I can do hard things.  Without french fries.

Changes, changes...

The name "The Painted Sheep" belongs officially to a very nice person in Connecticut somewhere.  She and I visited today.  She called to say that she officially owns the name "The Painted Sheep" and I would need to change the name of the shop.  For what could have been a terribly nasty encounter, all is well.  The paperwork will take a bit.  Changing the signage and the business forms will take a bit.  We may have to work a bit harder for a while.  But I did get something important out of this and I need to make sure it is recorded in "print".  In my real life, I work with what is politely called a lot of "challenging" people.  All of us have "challenging" people in our lives.  Once in a great while, when you commit a really serious wrong, it is possible to work things out without having a meltdown and going crazy.  This was one of those times.  Kudos to the original  "Painted Sheep".

We need something wonderful to call this place.  Most of you who frequent here call it "Julia's Shop" anyway and that is probably what it will remain unless someone in the week can come up with something else.
Send your ideas my way.