I’m about 20 hours late on my post. I’ve got to say that this flu bug has really knocked me out of it and has made getting anything beyond the absolute essentials accomplished next to impossible. The saving grace is that no one else in the house has come down with it. Yet. (am knocking VERY loudly on wood…)
This past weekend was the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Portland. Having only done two shows prior to this one, it still takes quite a bit of prepping to get ready to go and even more mental psyching up for a very long weekend of setting up the booth, selling and then breaking down. There are so many companies at the conventions that do this almost every other weekend of the year going to all the shows. My hat really goes off to them. Having a booth at the shows is so much work. I honestly don’t know how they can do it time after time and be away from their families so much. Thank goodness they do it though because they are the ones that help to make conventions so much fun with such a variety of products.
That said, per my usual, things didn’t quite go as planned. Thursday morning at 8 am (we were to leave at 9) I heard from two different girls that they were not going to be able to go because they had sick kids. That left just Krista and I to do it all. And Krista had never gone to a show before and Wendy usually does all the “boy” jobs (she is still a tomboy at heart). I was just ever so slightly panicky at that point. I didn’t even know how to back up a trailer let alone back it up in a very crowded loading dock. Fortunately, in the convention hall over from ours there was the Portland Roadster Show. I managed to find some very nice roadster enthusiasts that helped back in the trailer, find a temporary spot for the van and trailer and in general, make life a tad bit smoother. Thank you!
Fortunately my old babysitter and her husband came and helped out in the evening and everything ended up coming together nicely! In fact, quite a few people came over and said they loved our booth! I guess the near panic attacks weren’t needed after all! As usual, in the end, it all worked out.
The show went well and it was so fun to see subscribers, familiar faces and to meet TONS of new people! Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth — we loved seeing you all! A special thanks to Lynn Reaney, a local subscriber who heeded our call for help in the booth and to Melissa who, with only a few hours notice, drove all the way up from Corvallis to bring more kits (things were selling very briskly) and to work for a few hours. And thanks of course to Krista, who is the world’s best saleswoman and to Scott, my hubby, the king of pink! I could have done without the flu while there, but all in all, it went fairly smoothly.
While there, I was wishing I was working on a Master’s in Sociology because the three different social groups at the convention center would have made for the best thesis topic! The three conventions were CKC, the Portland Roadster Show and World Barista Championships. Seriously. Do you think you could come up with three more divergent groups? My little game whenever walking through the hallways was to guess which convention all the passersby where headed to. Really, there was no guessing, it was all too obvious where each was headed. I really got a kick out of the barristas. I had no idea there was a whole barrista subculture with their own manner of dress. Apparently it requires skinny jeans, lots of black, lots of scarves and being VERY skinny. I would have loved to have watched the championships because I just couldn’t imagine what they would entail. I did check out the list of classes. They ranged from “Intro to Espresso,” (that I can get) to “In-Depth Cupping” (HUH!?!?). And I was wondering if people really came from around the world for the World Championship. Yep, would have definitely liked to have checked that out, and maybe have gotten a latte!
And just a few random photos.
Alice at breakfast this morning (huge protests erupt if you try to make her dress before breakfast).
Jack at breakfast (prior to the apple juice spill and he doesn’t mind dressing first).
Jack blowing bubbles in the yard the other day
Daisy eating bubbles in the yard the other day
And us from two weekends ago when we went to see Thomas the Tank Engine show (maybe one day I’ll be in a photo without the one squinty eye).
Like many little boys Jack was OBSESSED with Thomas the Tank Engine. After starting kindergarten he gave up the sweet toys in favor of the evil looking transformers, all manner of weapon and Star Wars (peer pressure in kindergarten — I never knew…) and I was afraid he would not want to see Thomas. Fortunately, not only did he want to go, he LOVED it! Seeing their rapt faces and then watching the two of them as they walked out of the theater hand-in-hand, made the price of admission totally worth it!
