Detours and Delays

I know, I said the store would be open again by now, or within a day or two. So of course this post is a list of excuses and reasons that I was wrong.

First, when you move long distance, it only makes sense to move the minimum amount of stuff possible. So the cupboards are bare around here. I ran through all the raw materials before we left, then sold off all the stock, so I'm starting over.

Most of the suppliers I use were closed until the first week in January - so I couldn't even order anything until then. Things are arriving now - we've had a parade of trucks dropping pallets in the driveway, which is of great interest to all the neighbors and has given me plenty of time to practice with the hand truck.

And then there's the ergonomics of setting up the workspace. Deciding what goes where takes a few attempts and plenty of shuffling, either moving big heavy boxes and pails or lots of little tinkly glass bottles full of expensive essential oils.

And the dehumidifier should be arriving in a few days. It wasn't in stock, of course, but it's a necessity here in Florida. Oh, and the office has to be organized. And all the business paperwork has to be terminated in California and re-filed in Florida.

It's like starting over from scratch, really. And I'm old and slow. But I'm pushing, hard, and I'll be back as soon as I can. Really really.

Neighbors, and Why I Usually Hate Them

We've been pretty quiet for a few days, I know.

We're finishing up with the unpacking chores, plus unpacking and inventorying for the business, and getting a new workroom set up, all while Jesse is job hunting. Then there are the supply orders, which are a) enormous, at least by my piddly standards and b) urgent, because we were out of everything and I am due to reopen. It's a LOT to take care of.

While this is going on, we learned something. Fireworks are legal in Florida. This is something I never considered, because when we lived in California, anyone with a firecracker would be shot on sight. One spark during dry weather and half the state would burn down. So it never even occurred to us that you could buy fireworks everywhere. There's an aisle for them in the supermarket, for pete's sake.

This is only a problem because it turns out that we live directly across the street from three hell-born urchins. If you saw Talladega Nights, and you remember the two unwashed brats that were in that movie, you can picture these kids. I've never seen their parents. What I do see is a six year old - maybe seven - out in the front yard every evening after school, with a shopping bag full of firecrackers and a lighter.

And of course, it turns out that the dog is afraid of firecrackers. I have no particular desire to be the lady who runs around the neighborhood telling all the kids to knock it off, but seriously, you let your second grader spend all his free time trying to earn the name Nine Fingered Willy?

I do know that their house is on the market, so I can only hope that they move on to torture somebody else. Or it's going to be a long, cranky summer.

Happy New Year, too!

Well, happy-ish.

I am sad to report that things did not work out with Sandy. The two dogs started out tolerating each other, then moved on to being grumpy with each other, then open dislike. Within a couple of days we were experiencing physical violence, and had to break up a couple of nasty dogfights. Sandy actually bit Bander, which stunned me - they're both so very sweet with people, but hoo boy, not each other.

I talked to a couple of experts and got confirmation of my fears - that the best course of action was to return her to her owners, and give up on the adoption attempt.

I hated doing it. She was a great dog, and as far as the people part of the equation, we were an excellent match for her. But the stress was just too much for Bander, and the poor guy has been through too much to have his home turn into a place where he gets attacked.

So she's back with her former owners. They'll be looking for a home where she can be the only dog. If you want a great girl that loves kids, and don't have a dog right now, drop me a line and I'll hook you up. In the meantime, she gets all my mojo for a good home.