Why Do I Wait Until the Last Minute!?!!?

OK, so I have a bezillion weeks to get ready for show season, which for me is late August through the middle of December. So what do I do? I paint my living room. I paint and redecorate the guest room. I paint and redecorate the office. I clean the basement. I clean the garage. I put in a new floor in the upstairs bathroom. I put in a new floor in the master bedroom. I make new kitchen counters out of resin and put up a new back splash. I paint the kitchen and put in new trim. What do I NOT do? I do not make lamps. I do not increase my stock so I'm not loosing my mind for the next 4 months trying to keep up. I do not go down to my shop in the basement (affectionately known as "the pit") and pour resin. I do not cut driftwood for sanding and wiring. I don't print more business cards or update my show schedule. I forget to update my website, (which I just did, actually), http://nnlamps.com. In other words, I royally screw myself.

So now, I shall descend into "the pit", not to be seen until a couple of days before Christmas. Unless I have a show, of course, in which case I will make myself crazy trying to get my act together long enough to make some cash. Why do I do this! Why! That's not even a rhetorical question. It's just an incredulous outburst at myself. Poor time management is one reason, for sure. The inability to say "NO!" when I really need to. Functioning under the misguided notion that once I finish all my projects I'll be able to concentrate on my business. Oh, paaallleeeeeze! I will never finish all of my projects because there will always be just one more project! Duh!

So, tell me I'm not alone. Or am I? Am I the only one who does this? Selfishly, I hope not. Misery loves company. If any of you talented, crafty people can possibly shed some light on how to stay focused, I would sure appreciate it. In the meantime, keep your nose to the grindstone and all that crapola. I shall try to do the same.

Happy crafting,

Kathy
http://nnlamps.com

I Am Dead Sexy in a Fire Suit!

Yes, the person in the back seat of this race car is yours truly. And yes, even though my kids hate it when I admit it - I love auto racing. Specifically, Supermodifieds at Oswego Speedway. The talented driver is Keith Gilliam, to whom I am forever grateful for keeping the car off the wall.

How many of you have ever gone really, really fast in a car? Well, put that car on a 5/8 mile oval and go about 130 mph, and you will understand fast. I'm a total adrenalin junkie, but I was not prepared for this. After the car was pushed off and travelling down the "on ramp", so to speak, before we were even on the darn track, I was thinking "holy crap, how fast are we gonna go here!" Jeez, I am dumb. We entered the track on the back stretch where Keith scuffs the tires, giving my helmeted head a few good slams against those thingers on the side that keep you from breaking your neck. We pick up some speed and enter turn 3, awfully darn close to the inside hub rail, I might add. Still picking up some speed, we reach the apex of the turn and start coming out of turn 4. And then Mr. Gilliam steps on the gas, or whatever makes the car go, and lets just say - well, my fire suit nearly became a wet suit. My stomach got left behind somewhere on the 4th turn. I could not breath. As we approached turn 1, I was thinking I was going have to be the first coward to hit the kill switch because I couldn't go through the rest of my life without a stomach, but damn, I just cannot be the first to hit the button! I mean, come on now, I've lived through the El Toro at Six Flags NJ! Once we got through turns 1 and 2 without getting up close and personal with the inside rail or the foam on the outside wall, I couldn't wait for Keith to put the peddle down again. And he did not disappoint me. We sailed down the back stretch and into turn 3, where I began looking for the stomach that I left behind somewhere around there on the first time around. Never did find it. As we enter turn 3 I cannot help but marvel at how close we are to that inside rail. At this point I was seriously thinking about trying to tap Keith on the helmet an subtly remind him that while I am looking back at middle age, I'm still too young to go to that big race track in the sky. Well, too late, we're coming off turn 4 and now I'm thinking I need to help him notice how gawddam fast the wall is coming upon us. Too late, we're long past the starter's stand and back into the first turn. I am now actually starting to be more aware of my surroundings and am TOTALLY into the ride. What a rush!! Really, it's very hard to describe! And what blows my mind even more is that these drivers do this at faster speeds with a whole lot of other cars running just as fast only inches apart! It's nuts! Race car driver's are just plain nuts! And it's a darn good thing they are or lots of us "rednecks" would be awfully bored on Saturday nights.

If any of you thrill seekers really want to find out what you're made of, skip the ride in the taxi cabs with fenders and strap yourself into a supermodified! You'll come out droolin' and talkin' to yourself, but you'll be one happy camper!

What, you might ask, does this have to do with making lamps? Absolutely nothing, but I just had to share the most exciting experience I've ever had! Come on - I dare ya!!

Regards and happy racin',

Kathy
http://nnlamps.com

I'm Baaaaaaack!

I have not fallen off the planet, just NEARLY fallen off the planet. So in the random event that someone reads this, just letting you know that I'll be back at the ol' bloggeroo after I catch a few ZZZZZZZ's. Later!