18 November 2007

'tis the season to be crafty

she's at it again. my wife, that is.

cutting, stitching, sewing, stuffing, twisting, painting, wrapping, quilting. . .

all the little tasks which make all the pretty things which she can sell at craft shows and holiday bazaars which are all too common this time of year.

they're everywhere. churches, schools, senior centers, malls. you can't turn around these days without stumbling over a handmade quilt or a tupperware container or a black hills gold earring or a this-or-that. it's an underground economy, this holiday bazaar phenomenon. it's an all-cash tax-free no barter system of wealth. or if not wealth, at least it's operating on a shoestring. (sorry, bad pun.)

at least my wife enjoys what she's doing. all the cutting, stitching, sewing, stuffing, twisting, painting, wrapping, and quilting are a stress reliever for her. . .at times, that is. you see, when she has to stay up until 1 in the morning to finish the quilt which will be the pièce de résistance of her holiday display, i wonder whether she really is relieving stress at all. you see, she does all this in addition to her day job as a schoolteacher. I mean, I can see why she does it for the sheer enjoyment of it, and the additional money is a cool fringe benefit (sorry, another bad pun).

anyway, my oldest daughter and i have been pressed into service--
(in)voluntary servitude. some of the items which my daughter has made have actually sold like hotcakes, much to her glee. and we can all sit around the fireplace or the tv on a weekday eve and chip in and triple my wife's production of whatever knickknack is in short supply this week.

at a show yesterday, in six hours, my wife sold out of most everything she had made. impressive. now comes the daunting task of restocking. thankfully the next show is in two weeks.

over breakfast today came the announcement that we have thursday, friday saturday and sunday free--thanksgiving week, and all, to restock.

my daughter's reaction? click here.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a nice family you all are...
When and where is the next bazaar? I would love to go and see your creations.

Rachel

Unknown said...

Jim, your first paragraph sounded like you were digging a whole for yourself. Normally when you realize you have dug a hole you quit digging. I guess you realized what you had done and redeemed yourself somewhat in thenext paragraphs. Good job. You must have been a car salesman at some point in your life.

bored stiff geeks said...

chuckles--that was the whole point! dig a whole, climb out, and dig another, all while singing the praises of my wife and lauding my daughter for chipping in on the production line. . .even if she asked for a share of the profits. =8-D and how dare you call me a car salesman. . .oh, yeah. . .we sold cars together, didn't we. glad we're out of that gig, no?

bored stiff geeks said...

hey, rachel. . .next show in parkrose on saturday dec 1, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

bored stiff geeks said...

rachel--make that david douglas high school, 9-4