Taking a holiday

Today is Presidents' Day, so I have my store closed. I decided to take all the Monday holidays this year. I don't think there are any more in the calendar, however, until Memorial Day at the end of May, so I'm considering taking one Monday off each month, even in months with no holiday. In the Netherlands, the day after Easter is a holiday, called Second Easter, or Tweede Pasen, if I have that right. Easter is April 8 this year, so I could take off April 9. On the other hand, my birthday is Sunday, April 1, so I could take off April 2. And I could take off, say, March 19.

Meanwhile, in February, I have fallen a little behind at the store in completing my framing projects. I think I will catch up this week, perhaps even tomorrow, but it's stressful. So if I'm behind, why am I planning more time off? Well, according to the time management books I'm reading, more time in the work place does not always translate to more effectiveness there. Time spent on hobbies and other interests can make you more refreshed and energized for work. So, we'll see.

I have no doubt that spring will help as well. More hours of daylight, more color--i.e. flowers, and leaves budding out on the tree branches--will all lift my spirits. Already, though it is only February, magnolia trees have buds and crocuses are sprouting. Hooray. But it is rather rainy and cold today and is forecast to remain so all week. Such is the Pacific Northwest.

Today I have some projects I want to accomplish at home, including changing light bulbs (quite a few are burnt out), vacuuming (yuck), dusting, and some others. This evening, I may go into my store and work on a project that I'd like to return to the customer tomorrow. I could go in early tomorrow to work on it, but there's no guarantee I'd finish before it's time to open. Evening is more open-ended. I know I'd sleep better if it were done. But we'll also have to see how I'm feeling by this evening.

Funerals

Came across an article about do-it-yourself burial of your loved ones. It was interesting, but in writing about this method, the writer expressed the popular (since Jessica Mitford's book) stand that funeral directors deceive, maniuplate, and pressure vulnerable, grieving families into buying unnecessary, expensive goods and services. Perhaps some funeral directors are uncaring, manipulative, greedy con artists just in it for the money. There are probably people like that in every industry. But I think that most people in the funeral business are providing welcome help at a difficult time. My brother, whose birthday was yesterday, died last November, and the folks at our funeral home pretty much just wanted to find out what we wanted and do it for us. By no means did they try to sell us anything we didn't want. I'm sure that the things we did choose cost plenty, but so do a lot of helpful services. Doctors help sick people and also make a lot of money at it. Funeral directors and funeral home staff help grieving families and also make a living.

One person in this article talked about funeral directors "taking away" the funeral service from the church and minister. That was not true in our case because our family does belong to a church community, and naturally we had the service at the church and a beloved pastor (my other brother) conducted the service. People who opt for services in a funeral parlor with a funeral director conducting the service probably don't have a church community. It is not the fault of the funeral workers that so many people have no church to go to at such a time. Given that people lack a place of their own to turn to, it's probably a good thing that funeral homes can provide one.

I should think the main reason so many death rituals have shifted from family, friends, and communities to professional services is not because those professionals are shysters, but because in our society so many people, sadly, are distanced from their families, have relatively shallow friendships, and lack any true community. Deeply meaningful death rituals can only occur when the life preceeding the death has been deeply enmeshed in a community that has developed those rituals.

This article seems to indicate that the way to go is to invent your own rituals, and I suppose that's the best option for people with no history, heritage, or traditions.

New year of storekeeping

Changed out my window today. I left in the Christmas display through New Year, as people leave their home decorations up that long, too. Today I switched out to some January themes. In one part, I have a poster of MLK, with two small frames holding parts of his most famous speeches. The other pictures I have could be classified as winter scenes, plus I scattered around a few art supplies to remind people that I sell those.

I need to take inventory, which is no small task. And I have some orders to process, which is a way of saying I need to build and assemble frames.

Today I start my new regime of closing at 5:00 instead of 5:30. I'm taking this break to blog at about 4:00, and closing time seems so much closer. What can I get done in the last hour?

Hoping my business grows in 2007

Well, I know that to stay interesting bloggers should post more often than every 10 days. I was not posting because until the past few days I've been debating whether to close my store and go out of business in January, and I didn't want to write about it while I still was undecided. And I didn't want to write about other things because I was preoccupied with my business. But now I've decided to stay open!

I will be supplementing the income (perhaps I should call it "income") from my store with other part-time work. Right now I'm in contact with someone I've done technical editing for in the past, and he may have some work for me in January. I'll also keep an eye on the want ads in the Bellingham Herald and Lynden Tribune. My hope is to work at the supplementary job 8:00-12:00, or thereabouts, Monday through Friday, and run the store weekday afternoons and all day Saturday. Currently, I open at 10:00 a.m., but I don't get that many customers before noon.

Why stay in business if it's not profitable? Well, I'm hoping that it's not very profitable YET but that it will become more so. I've started a quarterly event of having an artist come talk at my store. That is, I've done it once, and I hope to do it again soon, and continue doing it every three months or so. I'm considering what other kinds of special events I can do as well. That's what the marketing book I read said to do. Special events bring people to the store and establish a connection, so that when they want to buy your product it will be your store they come back to.

Artists are suitable speakers at my store because I sell art supplies as well as doing custom framing. I just looked, and I need to add my store website to my links. Meanwhile, my business is Creative Borders Framing & Art Supplies. Sometimes someone calls who thinks that name means I sell framing supplies, but I don't. I do custom framing, and I sell art supplies. The store name can be misread, but I don't want it to get any wordier than it already is, so I'm leaving it alone for now.

Just like everyone else

Just like everyone else, I'm starting a blog.

Today, one thing on my mind is that it's the last week before Christmas. I'm in retail; I do custom picture framing and sell art supplies. I have quite a few frames to build and assemble this week; that's good because it means I've had a lot of customers.

However, because I order my framing supplies on Monday and they arrive on Tuesday, now I can't take orders anymore that will be done before Christmas. If people come in with things they'd like framed for Christmas, will they be willing to take a certificate or something to put under the tree as proxy for a gift that can't be ready until several days after Christmas?

Will shoppers come in and buy art supplies? I personally have always loved receiving art supplies for Christmas, and I think they're a great gift for kids because they encourage creativity. Will others realize this? Come in and buy stuff, people!

I'm trying to have a good Christmas season--"good" meaning "profitable." This year when preachers bemoan the commercialization of Christmas, I think, Hey, don't knock shopping! It keeps honest, hard-working people in business.

Oh, yeah, and then there are the family and religious aspects of Christmas. I'll save that for another post.