GOOD-BYE DALLAS

It was time to pack up.  Time to leave.  Time to find everyone’s clothes.  Time to separate the clean clothes from the dirty ones.  Time to find lost pieces of Lego.  Time to wonder how we could have gained so much luggage.  Time to sit on suitcases to get them closed.  Then re-open them as four more items were found.  Time to look under beds for missing Lego pieces.  Time to convince the girls that we didn’t need to take all the mini shampoos and conditioners home.  Time to try to blow-dry wet bathing suits before packing them.  Time to start bumping the luggage down the steps to the car.  Time to console tears over a lost Lego piece.  Time to figure out the jigsaw puzzle of where everything will fit in the MINI-van.  Time for one last check under beds, behind doors, in drawers, and in the Hide-a-bed for missing articles.  It was packing up time.

And for once in my life, I didn’t do the packing up!!!!!

Nope!!  I was at a very empty Dallas Market transferring goods from one studio to another.  Then transferring them back as the other studio was locked.  Calling security to let me in.  Making the transfer, then being told that I had to transfer the goods back because our lease hadn’t ended and they didn’t want an empty booth.  Phone calls.  Lease talks.  Security called again, so I could exit the showroom through the back doors where the bathroom was.  More phone calls to discuss agreements, moving dates, lease dates, etc. . .

All in all, it wasn’t much different from packing up the van.

We will still have a permanent display in Dallas Market Center.  We will still be on the eighth floor.  We will still sell Ypsi Doll goods at market.

We just will not be selling from this booth.  We now have a Sales Rep, who will sell our goods from her studio on commission.  This means we no longer will have to come down and “man the booth” each trade show.  It means less being gone from home.  Less airplane tickets.  Less attempts to find baby sitters.  Less money on car rentals.  And less adventure.  I will miss market.  I will miss the creative energy.  I will miss eating out in Dallas with friends.  But I won’t miss the stress of trying to run a home from our business location.  I will now just try to run a business from our home location.    There are more interruptions at home.  Times when clients hear the traffic of a homeschooled family in the background during a business call.  LOTS of “evil eyes” given to the kiddos while on the phone to a client.  Frantic waving of the Mommi’s hands to tell the kiddos to be quiet while on a business call.  Lots of late nights on the computer when I can work without as many interruptions.  And lots of un-adventuresome meals of scrambles eggs for supper.

But this mess of activity is Home.

So good-bye colorful displays.

Good-bye creative products.  (Jewelry made out of pacifier material, so kiddos can chew on them.)

Good-bye cute children’s quilts.

Good-bye helpful innovations.

Good-bye adorable onsies.

Good-bye romantic hair accessories.

Good-bye stylish displays. (I like the yellow leather dress in the center, and the cut (not the color) of the dress on the left.)

Good-bye reasons for buying new clothes.

Good-bye daily Starbuck drinks.

Good-bye a week without cooking.

Good-bye a week of eating out.

Good-bye a weeks of no kiddos needing homeschooling, meals, taxi rides to practices, or attention.

Good-bye a week of wondering if the kiddos are okay, wondering if they made it to practice on time, wondering if they are getting any school done, hoping the didn’t eat just carbs all week.

Good-bye lycra layers.

Hello home-cooked meals with my family.

Hello lattes while still in my bathrobe.

Hello reading to four kiddos on the couch (while in my bathrobe and with my home-made latte.)

Hello my favorite jeans.

Hello Home.

So that is where we pointed the car.  North.  North to cold.  North to winter.  North to home.

But first we need some lunch.  Braum’s was a fast-food joint in a mom-and-pop grocery store.  The burgers were good, the milkshakes even better, but it was rather odd ordering such fast food while directly behind me there was a display of fresh vegetables and fruits. Somehow, it compounded the guilt.  I felt like I needed to say, “3 burgers with fries, 3 Happy Meals, 2 shakes, and 4 bunches of broccoli, 1 asparagus to go, and a bag of apples.”

We stretched our legs for the last time.  We had several boutiques to visit on our drive home, plus two extremely long days in the car.  We couldn’t leave until noon, as I had to attend a fabric show at The Market, so we had a very late start.

Two very long days in the car with four kiddos, and too much stuff would stretch our patience in every way.  We started the trip with a sugar high.

Then settled into quiet activities.

Which lasted for the first couple of hours when . . .

. . .when the dislike of the car and the confined space set in. . .

. . .which resulted in angry snarls. . .

. . .which changed to bored pouts. . .

. . .and degenerated from there.

But then finally, we arrived home.

Thanks for coming with us,

–rebecca