LESSONS TO LEARN

This post is dedicated to my sister-in-law, Emilie, who has been very persistent in asking about my participation in the Wyoming Women's Expo.  I have been very persistent in avoiding the subject AT ALL COSTS!  I have been over the ordeal for awhile now, but still don't like talking about it.  So I am finally going to document it, get it off my chest, and not worry about it EVER AGAIN.  So Em, Here you go... 

My photographer asked if I wanted to share a booth with her for a Women's Expo in Casper!  I was thrilled!  I couldn't believe it!  How fun to put some of my newly discovered talents to more use and make a little money!  What luck!  So for the whole month of September I made all sorts of crafts, from Halloween costumes to Hair accessories.  I put in a lot of time!  I hardly slept, I neglected my amazing children, and my house was a disaster area!

If you know me well that is the EXACT OPPOSITE of who I am...I love to sleep, My kids are my life, and it drives me crazy when my house is messy!  Needless to say I was looking forward to the Expo being over, but so grateful for the lessons I learned from doing this crazy craft fair.

1. I learned that crafts are SO FUN and I love to do them, but lets have a little moderation! 
2. I learned that I NEVER want to be a "just a min" mom!  I have learned that I don't like those words AT ALL!  I kept hearing myself tell McKinley..."Just a min"  Way too much!  Once in a while is okay, like if I really have to go to the bathroom:)  But not all the time:)
3. I was also reminded that I am not a very nice person when I don't sleep and my house is out of control!

I had learned all the above lessons before disaster struck, just another grateful thing to point out.  What a horrible thing to experience without learning the lesson first!

The night before the expo I was talking to my photographer about set up time, and when she wanted me to be there.  Things were going as planned and I was so glad it was almost over, and so excited to see all my stuff make me a little money!

I got to the Events Center and found my photographer.  She was acting so weird!  She wasn't being clear with me on where I needed to set up.  She even suggested that I share a booth with another photographer who was her friend!  AWKWARD!  Finally she told me she couldn't share the booth with me because the other people she was sharing the booth with told her they were uncomfortable sharing with me.  The excuse they made was that the things they were selling was their job, not just for fun. 

SERIOUSLY?!  Are you SERIOUS?  I put in so much time!  You have got to be kidding me!  I was given the option of sharing the booth with her photographer friend, but I politely declined.  The friend was very nice about it, but she said I needed to be there to keep an eye on my things.  I understood that totally!  But if I was with MY photographer, she said she'd sell it all for me.  That would have worked out great, but I didn't want to miss conference! 

So I took a deep breath!  Packed up all of my things!  Saw relief flood into the friend photographer that she didn't have to share with me. (No hard feelings to her!  I can't believe she was so nice about it! Talk about an abrupt surprise for her! She had her own thing going, I didn't need to be in her way!)  And drove home with a sick feeling in my tummy!

I felt that I had wasted a whole month of my life and my little families life!  To be honest, it was hard getting back into our normal routine of library, swimming, and play dates.  We are back on track now and I am happy mom again!:)

Here is the upside of it all.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to know that I am capable of doing crafts and that my sewing skills are better than I thought.  I am grateful that I have learned how to crochet and that I have used that skill to make my life more fulfilling, but I am mostly grateful that I had this experience to know how very important my family is to me!  I have cried plenty of tears over this, for the guilt I felt in putting my family second!

Now don't get me wrong, I know that it is very important to do things for yourself!  We must if we are to grow and learn and develop as an individual, but not the way I did it! 

I know that I needed to have this lesson in my life,  I know I am being redundant here, to know that I am capable, but that I am choosing to wait for a better season in my life that is more compatible with a young family, to sell things that i have made.  I still think that Etsy would be fun, just not right now. 

I am still going to be doing fun little things, but just in moderation to what I am capable of.  Not do everything in one month!

So there you go!  There are my lessons learned!  I am so grateful for them!