remarkably calm

January has been interesting. Last month, I hired someone to take my precious Sara's place since she is in grad school right now and does not work for me anymore. I was pretty excited about this person. Then, this person totally flaked, never showed up for the first day, did not call, did not respond to my email. I still think it's possible that this person may be dead. I can't think of any other reason why you would not show up to work with me.

Back in the old days (four years ago), January was a month to do absolutely nothing. Work in the studio a little bit, but mostly just relax and recharge. This is no longer the case. I'm shipping out work twice a week because of etsy sales, and also getting ready for the Philadelphia Buyer's Market, my one trade show of the year that starts February 13. And with the way I am, I can't really focus on Philly until Christmas is totally over. Which basically gives me 5 weeks to come up with the stuff I'm going to add to my collection, make the samples, photograph, re-design the wholesale website, design the catalog, and pack up the whole kaboodle and ship out. I love it. No really, I do. It stimulates every little node on my brain, and as long as I have a gigantic cup of coffee in the morning to rocket me out the door, I'm all good.

So when this person flaked, at first I was sad, then confused, and finally super pissed. I got down to work, by myself, and started thinking. I thought, "Well, maybe it's a sign I need to work alone again. Maybe the economy really is going to completely tank and I'll have no orders anyway. Yeah, I can do all this!" 100 cake stands later, I called up two other people I interviewed before hiring the other person and hired both of them.

And finally, my horoscope this week, which just made me laugh:

Leo July 23-August 22

Yes, it is a lot of hard work — but you knew that going into the current situation. So embrace this moment, appreciate what it feels like to be thoroughly engaged, and then, be grateful for the opportunity.