Driving school was surprisingly entertaining. I did not book any shows. I think that all the blood and gore inhibited that part of my plan. However, I did find that I was way friendlier than I normally am, since I was looking for people who might want to have a party, and I think that contributed to the fun of it. I had lunch with an interesting woman who might be able to do technology workshops for the store, too. I would not normally have invited her to have lunch with me just because we were fellow miscreants at traffic school, and I quite like her.
A side benefit.
The barrista at the coffee house where we lunched (really good sandwiches; if you live in my neighborhood, message me and I’ll tell you where) asked me, “Are you someone’s mom?”
Obviously, I am someone’s mom. One glance tells you that. I have “Someone’s Mom” written all over me. However, she was wondering whether I was #1 son’s mom in particular. I was able to confirm it.
Would you feel offended if you were asked that? After all, I am not merely Someone’s Mom. I am not offended. This is a girl who came over to our house for Family Game Night, and I should have recognized her. If anyone ought to be offended, it is she.
After having learned all the horrible ways there are to die on the road, I came home and found another order. I am now $27 away from reaching my sales goal for my first 30 days, a period of time which ends tomorrow. Someone did come by last night and say that she was trying to decide whether to buy a set of appetizer plates or not. That would do it. She will decide today.
I’ve never worked on commission before. I figured it would cause the workers to compete with one another in underhanded ways, like pre-med students, or to quit putting the needs of the customer first. I haven’t found that it has that effect on me. However, it does add suspense and excitement to the experience.
It is like the Theme Pig bulletin board set. We had one at the store, many years ago, and it had already been there for over a year, and no one wanted it. Every now and then one of us workers would think we might have found someone who would like the Theme Pig, and we would carry it over to show the customer.
All the other workers would perk up. The one carrying the theme pig would make an excited face and the rest of us would cut our eyes at her, and there would be a thrill at the thought that we might actually sell the Theme Pig! The exclamation point is there to denote excitement.
Just so, when I think that a mere $27 would allow me to meet my goal, there is a bit of a thrill at the possibility. There are people who are thinking about what they need; one of them might decide by midnight…. Chills are going down your spine, right?
Chills, if any, might also be caused by the proximity of Hallowe’en. I did some seasonal decorating yesterday, and you can see some of it in the picture at left. Along with family mess, because we were having a nice relaxing Saturday afternoon.
Now, it is Socktober. I am not knitting any socks at the moment. There don’t seem to be any cool Socktoberfest 2007 buttons around yet, if nothing else, and this helps me resist the temptation. But I do want to report to you, in honor of Socktober, what Margaret Kim Peterson said about handmade socks: “Hand-knitted socks are completely different from store-bought socks. Hand-knitted socks do not stretch. You just knit them the same size as your feet and then you put your feet into them.” Poetic, isn’t it? She continues, “Putting on a store-bought sock is like stuffing your foot into an elastic bandage; to put on a hand-knitted sock is to slip your foot into a garment crafted just for it. More significantly, store-bought socks are just socks, whereas hand-knitted socks are an extension of the person who made them…. When you knit a sock, you are not just knitting a sock; you are knitting yourself to the past and to the future and joining yourself to the person who will wear that sock.”
Almost makes me want to knit socks.
However, I am determined to make some slight progress on my SWAP first. Ivy is for the SWAP. I will be minding the church’s pumpkin patch this afternoon, and plan to take Ivy along. It is conceivable that I might do some sewing after that. but I really haven’t been in the mood to run a machine recently. Ivy may be the first completed part of the SWAP, at this rate.
“The exclamation point is there to denote excitement.” LOL!
I think I would enjoy socks more at a larger gauge, so I am doing that — starting some for Middling for the holidays.
I hope you reach your goal. It simply must happen. I am sending out good thoughts into the Universe.
I am teaching my first Knitting Lab tonight! I am excited! !!
I am sending positive thoughts/wishes/prayers your way for that last $27.00 — a reasonable sum to be hoping for, it seems to me. I’m not at all sure how one minds a pumpkin patch…. pumpkins don’t run away, and hawks don’t swoop down and carry pumpkins off, and I can’t see a gang of thugs stealing a pumpkin or taking it hostage. But I have faith in you that it is a meaningful sequence of language and a legitimate task, and I’m sure you’ll do it — whatever it is — well.
Well, I doubt that the pumpkin patch will be as exciting as Ozarque suggests, but I live in hope. Actually, I am just taking money for the pumpkins, which the children of the church are selling for a Good Cause.