Indecision 2008 - Continued

First let me say, WOW! You are all sure an encouraging bunch... Thanks for that, especially since only a couple of you REALLY know me. The rest of you, I'll accept your encouragement but keep in mind, in real life I might be a real slack-ass who might best serve the community by staying home and picking lint out of my belly button.

Anyway, now for the update...

When I last left you I was hatching a plan for what to do with that FREE shop opportunity I've been offered for the month of December.

Pretty, yes?... Or how 'bout these?...


No sillies, I didn't wrap these particular gifts but I DO very much enjoy giving beautifully wrapped presents, I just don't tend to take pictures of them when I do. So spent the weekend searching out some new ideas for gift-wrapping.

So here's the thing... I really don't have enough items to sell at the shop. Most of the work I do is by commission. However, the shop is a few doors down from the court house and just around the block from the hospital. Busy Doctors, Lawyers on the run? Who can they find to wrap their holiday gifts... ME! I LOVE wrapping gifts... And for a small fee, plus the cost of materials it's a win/win! I thought it might also be nice to make the shop a comfortable place for people to hang out if they wanted to wait for their gift(s) to be wrapped. So I thought having coffee available, some magazines and a couple of chairs might be a nice touch.

There are however some snags I'm trying to work out... Namely, Liability... Okay, you'll just have to trust me when I say, I'm one of the most honest people you'll ever meet. Our entire family has a strict code of honor which we adhere to. It's sad to say there are people in the world who aren't honest and they spoil life for the rest of us. So my problem is whether someone would trust leaving their gifts in my care and believe that I will be especially conscientious with their parcel(s). I have a lawyer friend who's looking into a possible waiver form but I'm really wishing it won't be necessary to have to use one.

Another road-block is my/our family's concern over the amount of time this project will take away from the busiest season of the year. I'd like to think everyone is gonna step up to the plate, help with the general housework, meals & Christmas shopping. I think I need to call a family meeting and refrain from talking with each member individually about this whole thing, because individual conversations have been pretty positive, but I haven't really raised the topic of, "What can YOU do to help?"

Since I'm in a holding pattern for the next week or so, as to whether or not this will be a go, I'm reluctant to put too much time into it yet. BUT, if this does work out, I'll have a lot to organize to get it off the ground... Moving furniture and supplies into the shop, creating fliers to distribute around town, figuring out prices, procuring boxes, ribbons, paper & tape (all of which I already have a pretty decent assortment of.) and determining a schedule. There are a couple other crafters who may already be interested in going into the shop. This would be a huge help in keeping the shop open on days I'll be busy with other appointments but it also brings up the ugly liability 'thing' again.

So I have these moments where I say, "HELL Yeah!" and then the next I say, "What the HELL am I getting myself into?" Pretty much any way I look, there's a lot of HELL involved with thinking about the whole thing. Regardless, I'll keep you posted.