Day two of the serger crisis

Ali McGraw at last night's event.

My serger that was supposed to arrive yesterday is still not here. The online tracking information says that it's out for delivery, but it's after 1 p.m. in the high desert and there's no sight of the delivery man. My sister-in-law Missy posted yesterday that she hoped there would be a different delivery driver today since Rose did her best to protect me and the casita yesterday, and scared the man away.

Speaking of the high desert, yesterday's all-day rain had me thinking I was in Houston. Seriously, it was cloudy and raining most of the day, including last night when there was so much thunder and lightning that Rose left her cool sleeping spot on the bathroom floor to crawl up in my lap. All the rain was followed by a beautiful day today with blue skies, white fluffy clouds, and below-normal temps.

Today I'm creating headlines. Thinking of catchy headlines that make people want to read more isn't as easy as it sounds. My philosophy on headlines is less is more, so every word has to be meaningful. I did have a chuckle today when I called the Santa Fe police department to report an abandoned car. No one answered the phone. An appropriate headline for this circumstance and most interactions with Santa Fe officials might be "Out to Lunch" (pun intended).

'That's all I have today'

Perennials blooming in the garden.

In anticipation of my serger and three how-to books arriving today, I cut out quilt squares last night only to discover that I didn't have enough fabric. It was a bummer that I didn't have enough fabric, but also fun because it meant spending time online looking for more. Cool!

This morning around 10 a.m. Rose started barking so I knew the Fedex man had arrived. I ran out the back door to find him throwing a box onto the portal (porch) and yelling "stay, stay" at Rose. I could tell from the size that the box only contained books so I ask him about a bigger box. I thought he would go back to his truck to look for another box, but he was much more concerned about barking Rose. "No other box," he hollered while sliding the door closed on his truck. (If he only knew Rose is fairly blind and probably couldn't see him.) Now I have three books to read today before the serger arrives tomorrow … hopefully.

Today I'm creating a mental apology to all my former math teachers, from elementary school through college. As I've said before, I was never a math wiz and often questioned why I needed to learn this or that. I knew for certain I would never use those skills after I got out of school. Last night I needed all my forgotten skills and more when I tried to figure out how many quilt squares I needed.

A damn-near perfect morning!

Colorful holly hocks in the garden are close to six-feet tall.

I slept so well last night with the bedroom windows open and the ceiling fan running. When I let Rose out for her morning "business" it was in the 60s with low, low humidity. The only thing that would make this morning more perfect is if Mr. B, my daughters and their significant others were here with Rose and me. On second thought, 6.5 people in the casita with only one bathroom might not be so perfect!

This morning I have reviewed a sponsorship proposal for a client and made a recommendation to move forward with it. I finished a newspaper article for a client and sent it off for approval. I've completed Facebook postings for clients (yes, that's work I get paid to do). And I've done some pro bono work. All these tasks are complete and now the afternoon belongs to Rose and me.

Today I'm creating my high desert craft areas. The dining room will become my sewing space and the breakfast bar transforms to my jewelry area. I also foresee a trip to the grocery store sometime this afternoon as well as dusting and vacuuming (not necessarily in the order listed).

We're here!

Bad wax (?) statue of Billy the Kid.

Rose and I made it to Santa Fe this afternoon after making a short detour and stop in Ft. Sumner, which I've always wanted to do. Billy the Kid is buried there along with a museum and gift shop. I can check that off my list of things to do, and don't recommend it to anyone else.

Once we got to the casita, I unloaded the car while Rose found her toys that had been left in a basket. The casita is open. The fans are circulating. And the flowers are magnificent. We took a stroll through the front garden and side yard snapping photos to share the next couple of days. There are new "volunteers" as Little Ricky likes to say, which means that they weren't planted, but just popped up. Several are giant thistles. They are covered in little bees, one of which decided it didn't want to be photographed so it flew on my arm and stung me. The minute I felt the sting I swatted the little fella with my iPhone. It feel to the ground, but left its stinger in my arm. I pulled the stinger out, but there's a big red swollen knot on my arm.

Today I'm creating the last leg of my journey to the casita. I already feel less stressed and can't wait to have a bubble bath (no tubs in Houston) and fall asleep tonight with the windows open.

Definitely leaving tomorrow … probably

I decided to clean the house and spend July 4th with Mr. B before leaving for Santa Fe. My part of cleaning is completed, Mr. B is readying the grill, and the flag is proudly waving outside. Well, almost! I don't think there is any breeze outside, so the flag is proudly hanging outside.

Proud to be an American!

As usual, the car will be full when I leave! I brought the family rocker back from Santa Fe so Dr. Mc and #1 son-in-law Nick can use it. This time I'll be taking another chair back with me to replace the rocker. And I'm taking the R.C. Gorman to Santa Fe and an old map of the city. Not sure where they will fit in the casita, but that's where they should be located. I also have a great photo of an old Texas garage by our friend and international photographer Arthur Meyerson. It may also go to the casita.

Today I'm creating edits to four marketing fliers. Mr. B has delivered them for me. Work is complete until Monday.

Still in H-town

When I finally leave for Santa Fe, I might need to make a
detour to the quilt shop next to the museum in LaGrange.

I've been wanting to buy a serger for about a year and finally did it. It's a type of sewing machine that, in addition to other things, finishes edges. It's shipping to Santa Fe, where I hope to be sooner rather than later.

My packing list for Santa Fe is complete and I've started gathering everything, but it seems to be a lot to be taking. It's not clothes that I'm packing since I keep most of my summer clothes at the casita. It's shoes and jewelry along with fabrics, tins and jewelry-making stuff. The problem is, I rarely wear the jewelry I take and usually only wear a couple pairs of shoes. I'm just always afraid that I'll want a bracelet, necklace or pair of shoes and they won't be at the casita.

Today I'm creating an invitation and party planning list. I was going to leave for the high desert today, but instead I slept late, worked some, goofed off, and just blew off everything I had planned. What a pleasant day!

Sales promotions

A baby kitty is living on our front porch. I've been trying to
find a home for her because Mr. B is allergic to cat dander.
In the meantime, Rose and the kitty have formed a special
bond. Rose licks the kitty from head to toe and the kitty
now thinks that Rose is her mama. Sweet!

The Rule of Seven is an old marketing adage that this old(er) marketing professional feels is gospel. The "rule" is that a prospect needs to see or hear your marketing message at least seven times before s/he takes action and buys from you. I'm always surprised when clients think they only have to do one or two promotions before they get results. This might be the case if they're targeting the right buyers (a niche market) and have created powerful marketing materials that use language the target audience relates to (i.e. speak to their major problems and how to solve them). But generally, with all the messages people are bombarded with, it's difficult to get past the "noise" and be heard in less than seven times. This makes so much sense and I don't understand why businesses think their message is so special that the "rule" doesn't apply to them. Trust me. It applies to everyone!

Can you tell from the first paragraph that it was a challenging day? But it's OK. This evening I made a lovely pasta dinner for Mr. B and me that I'm finishing with bubbly. Yes. In my world bubbly makes everything more tolerable.

Today I'm creating event plans to share with a new client, which is always fun for me! I realized today that one of the benefits of age is the number of relationships I've made throughout my life, especially during the years I've been involved in marketing. The youngsters may have more speed than I have, but my rolodex is bigger. So while they may spend several days trying to put something together, I can make a couple of phone calls and it happens. Yes!