Working in the creative industry, December is typically the month from hell for me. Every deadline is December 25th. Clients all want their stuff for Christmas, I always end up way overextending myself with homemade gifts and church commitments, both my and Bear’s birthday are this month, plus I would die inside if I couldn’t Martha-up the holiday. Perish the thought! I must be the best, most extravagently detailed, time-consumed, sleep-deprived, OCD-fueled, Christmas festivity provider ever!
Luckily I was smart about two things this year.
1) Almost no one gets homemade gifts. Notice I said almost no one. I’m not made of stone, people. A few people are still getting homemade gifts. BUT, I’ve taken very smart steps to ensure they’re manageable. Better planning, no afghans, and years of trial and error have made me streamline my process so smoothly I’d put Henry Ford to shame.
2) Very few work commitments. No commissioned scrapbook albums this year, no Christmas Cards for clients, no presents to sell. I am doing one small craft fair on Wednesday, but again, years of trial and error, years of staying up all night painting boxes fearing that I’d sell out and not meet demand only to sell one measly box after being haggled down in price by a nine year old girl, have taught me to be WAY more conservative about my sales goals. AND, this year I’m only trying to burn off old stuff and free up storage space for more Christmas decorations. I still have to assemble things, but that’s nothing compared to the work it takes to come up with a design from scratch.
If you’re in the Modesto area, here’s the info. Drop me a line and I’ll send you a free pass.
And if you’re not in the Modesto area but still looking for cheap Christmas gifts, these and these and these are mainly what I’m selling. I’ll make you a scorching deal. Custom lots or colors totally do-able.
I still have, of course, totally overextended myself with church commitments. Around the country, a lot of LDS churches are hosting a Nativity Festival, where all the church members bring their nativity collections, the building gets all fancied up, choirs sing, and it’s a great festive Christmasy festival. In our ward, the representative in charge of our part of the festival totally bailed at the last minute, so I got roped into joining up and helping out. It turned out to be a ton of fun because we got a bunch of women to help and they’re all my buddies, so it was a big girlfest where we were all fussing and tossing glitter around and playing with Christmas lights.
The problem was, and this explains my latest absence, is that we couldn’t find anybody to donate their nativities. For the longest time we thought we’d have about 10 to show when we were needing 40. So I set to work. For the past three weeks I’ve been up to my elbows in plaster and clay and wire and fabric and paper and any other medium I could think of. I ended up making about 10 nativities, some of which are pretty stupid and desperate, but hey, so was I.
We set everything up last night and tonight Bear and I went to play hostess and security guard. Everything looked beautiful and people were having a great time. It was so much stress, and I spent a ton of money, but it was worth it.
I put a lot of guilt on myself because I have some talents that are easily visible, and I stress myself that I take them for granted and don’t do them service. I can make nearly anything, I sing and write and create and have great ideas (but I have all kinds of weaknesses in the interpersonal skills area. I’d trade a singing voice for a more compassionate spirit any day. Or, for that matter, an ability to use the phone without fear.) and I feel obligated to DO SOMETHING with that stuff. Plus I’m in this unique place where I don’t have kids and if I feel the need to drop everything in my life to spend three weeks covered in clay in the service of my church, then no mouths will go hungry and no sad little faces will be neglected. The other women on the committee couldn’t say the same thing. So even though people kept telling me not to work so hard, that it wasn’t all on my shoulders, we’d make do, I just couldn’t let it go.
Of course, this is all probably just a misguided attempt to make me feel productive in my infertility.
Hi Reese,Just found your blog… we live in between Lodi and Antioch- so not to far from you, in the grand scheme of things.It's cool to find another IF sister who's also LDS. My husband and I have been married 8 years and are finally expecting, but the IF treatment was HARD. Being LDS adds a certain element to being IF that only other LDS women can understand, I think.By the way, I LOVE to crochet. I think you rock for knitting, though- I can't seem to get the coordination down right to do it.Good luck,-D.
i am at the fat cat right now on my pda and i had to look you up. you look great! i hope you are well. i'll keep reading!
That was me that left the anonymous comment. I just wanted you to know that I linked to your blog from mine. I hope that it is ok.Take care of you!Rubenhttp://www.eachdaycounts.com