Today was not a good day to run out of Pepsi.
It also wasn’t a good day to experience 91-degree heat.
I’ve experienced far more distractions and setbacks than normal as I work to complete issue 7 of CraftSanity Magazine and today my stress level creeped a bit high. And when things get stressful, I like to crack open a cold pop, pour it into my favorite cup and drink it on the rocks. But we’re fresh out of pop.
I also like to take off running to some good music, but not in 91-degree heat.
So today when I hit a stressful patch mid-afternoon and was not able to crack open a soda or go for a run, I gave myself a chance to be frustrated about the loom I shipped to France that never made it and the woman who ordered it who filed a complaint against me with PayPal. (For the record, the matter has been resolved. I refunded her money in full.) I also gave myself to a chance to be frustrated about losing a loom and $29 on that transaction and the fact that my husband was napping peacefully and my youngest daughter was singing loudly through a microphone while I was trying to write.
I gave myself a chance to be frustrated about all that stuff and few other things, too.
And then I decided to stop suspecting that a probably very nice lady in France was leading a conspiracy to stress me out and halt production on issue 7 of CraftSanity Magazine. Instead I thought about how thankful I am to have beautiful flowers growing in my backyard, a napping husband and a daughter who can sing.
And I decided to be glad that the loom that got lost in the mail was the smallest one I sell and not the biggest and that I had the money on hand to give back to my disappointed customer. I decided to be glad that I couldn’t use a can of pop as a stress reducer because it doesn’t really reduce stress. It just makes it more challenging for me to fit into my running pants. It’s difficult for me to be thankful for 91-degree heat, but I do prefer it to a tornado.
So there you go. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Just when I thought I would surely be crushed under a pile of work and starting to wonder if anyone would even care if I collapsed and didn’t finish issue 7 (This is the dramatic, crazy phase of magazine production and probably the reason my husband needs to nap.), I sold eight print copies of the magazines online and one customer left a really nice note. Message received. People care. I care. And somehow we’re all going to be alright.
Speaking of perspective, I’ve decided to share part of my front porch with the wasp at the top of this post. We’ve been coexisting peacefully for a few weeks now and I’m flat out fascinated by the nest and happy that I’ve been permitted to get close enough to photograph it without getting dive-bombed. And in case my wasp friend is reading this – all bets are off if you sting me, pal!
* P.S. I’m still having a great time documenting my daily life using Instagram. So if you can’t find me here, search for CraftSanity using their fun mobile app. I usually post at least once a day over there.
