Thursday, Friday, and Saturday was the big Garage Sale - hours and days of prep work all came together with this. Pamela worked her TUSH off, being there for 8 hours each day, plus setup and tear down, PLUS the craziness of a flash storm on Thursday Afternoon which soaked EVERYTHING. Pamela was working on this til Midnight Wed-Thurs-Fri, and by Saturday 7pm, all was done, and we were all comatose. A lot of work for $800, but it felt good, and that'll help pay for our vacations!
I think the lesson, however, is to just do one day: Thursday. We made almost twice on Thursday as we made on Friday and Saturday combined. Still, there was camaraderie, and by Saturday afternoon, the mimosas were flowing. A good time was had by all. Still, that did put us well into tired territory for today. We were/are SLOW MOVING. Pamela and Isaac are napping now, Bella's out playing, and I'm about to go do some yard work in the hot hot sun.
Isaac's chiclets are finally breaking through: one of the big front teeth finally cut through, and he seems much happier. If that second one doesn't follow suit, we'll have no choice but to call him "Fang". He's also eating a LOT now - but still mostly bottle. I'm having some better luck getting him to accept a FEW bites of other food, and I'm not pushing it: I don't want him to create any more negative associations with non-bottle-food. Pamela reminded me that bottle was a part of Bella's diet well into 16-18 months.
I'm having a great time with a book: The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. It's a multilayered blueprint for: De-prioritizing work and making yourself not available 24/7 to people, being MORE effective during the hours you ARE working, starting sideline businesses for low maintenance cash flow (using outsourcing, websites, etc), outsourcing things - using concierges, babysitters, assistants to let you focus on what you need), reducing your need for STUFF in your life, and having set things up that you don't have to work SO much, how to escape and travel for now very much money at all.
The guy is young and cocky, and frankly while he's made this work for about two years, there's nothing saying this way of life will stick for him. He is also very "young guy" focused, with only cursory words for those of us with kids. BUT it's filled with very good resources for everything I listed above, so should I want to create a product, say a multi-CD course in something I know about, there are contacts for outsourcing call centers, fulfillment, card processing, and everything else... as well as strategies for test marketing. Suffice it to say, it's got me thinking along some new lines...
PS: There's a misconception that the guy is all about India outsourcing: That's not true - while he has used Indian resources, most of his oursources are domestic businesses.
And what about Bella? She remains a total sweetheart, observant to the end: She is VERY worried about people littering, and picks up trash as we walk along. She is very concerned about people on cellphones while driving, and won't let us do it (which is probably good). She remains observant about cars: Pointing to Dave and Amy's Audi A4, she said "There are a lot of those cars around. Lots like Grandma's too. Not so many like Papa's though!" She's also been pretty cuddly - when she comes down the stairs in the morning, her first move is to climb into my lap and curl up. It's pure magic, and better than coffee as a way to start the day.
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