Milestones & More . . .

I have been off the blogging grid for nearly a month.  It has been a busy month – and I have collected bits and pieces along the way that I wanted to share.  So here they are in one sitting, in no particular order . . .

Tuesday, I learned that our friend Dale Gordon, known to many of you as "Mr. Evo" of Evolving Images, died on Friday, April 26. His family celebrated his life yesterday at their home in Northern Georgia. Our prayers go out to Evo, Cevo, and the rest of the family.

Congratulations to our friend Keia Arnold (left), who graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University over the weekend. We have literally watched Keia grow up in our booth at shows in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Novi, Cincinnati, and Akron -- I think Keia was a fifth or sixth grader when she and her mom first started working in our booth. She is a fine young lady and we are very proud to consider her a part of our family.

A few sights from the Allentown, PA show (April 13-14) – if you go to Heirloom’s Facebook Page, you’ll find pictures of booths, demos, customers, etc. from all of their shows.  Pat Larson is the “stealth photographer” and I caught him while he was taking a picture of Gary Burlin’s booth.  Picked up two other friends in the same shot – Bev Parnell (in blue next to Pat’s head) is one of Zoe’s favorite aunts (she brought a huge bag of treats), and Sue Bomboy (next to Bev) brings treats for me from her family’s candy store in Maryland.

I am at least partially responsible for both of these pictures – and not just because I took them.  Our friend Cal Ruger has helped us with setup and teardown at shows in the northeast for years, but I do believe we wore him out this year.

Our cabin at Lake Richard B. Russell State Park near Elberton, GA – site of the spring golf trip for the second year in a row.  Beautiful place . . .

This course is hard – and it isn’t any easier when some of the holes go right out on a peninsula and are surrounded by gorgeous views on multiple sides.  The pic at right shows the result of one of my few really good shots of the week – knocked it two feet from the hole from the tee and then made the putt for a birdie.

Timing was of the essence – left the golf course at 2:15 on Thursday afternoon, arrived at home at 10:45, dumped my suitcase and repacked it, and was on the road again by 6:00 on Friday morning, headed for Akron for Adventures in Stamping.  I was a tired boy, but it was worth it.

Two of our “regulars” at the store who made my weekend – Donna Sheetz and Judy Davidson sat at our demo tables all weekend and wowed the customers with a USArtQuest make & take and an Envelope Punch Board demo.

Which leads me to this – the latest update on the Envelope Punch Board.  Those who e-mail or call for an update get essentially the same response, which I update when it changes -- “I talked with We R Memory Keepers Tuesday (we talk with them two or three times a week) -- obviously, their original April estimate for completely filling advance orders has come and gone and we have reminded them of that.  They received a small shipment of boards earlier this week and expect larger shipments consistently over the next few weeks.  It sounds like their shipments to us will follow a similar pattern.  They originally told me that they hope to ship all of the 1,000 boards we need to fill our advance orders by the end of May, but we are pushing for a better delivery schedule.  Our customers have been very patient, but the delivery estimates have changed often -- and it makes us look bad when estimates we pass on in good faith are not met.  We will be shipping our pending orders in the order they were received as soon as boards arrive.  Thanks for your patience -- mine is wearing a little thin.”

This shot is most notable for who is missing – the four nice ladies from Christy’s Main Street Memories in New Concord, Ohio (I refer to them as the “Dauber Sisters” after their Stampaway costumes from four years ago) always come to shows together and always dress alike – and sometimes try out my recipes and bring me samples!  But this year, only Christy, Diane, and Leeanna attended – Linda was sick and marooned at home.  Hope you feel better soon . . .

For the locals – it’s Spring Spectacular week at Marco’s.  This was the view at one of the Tuesday afternoon Make & Takes.  There are all kinds of make & takes, classes, demos, specials and such going on all week in the store, culminated by a Trunk Show on Sunday.  You’ll find links to details on our homepage at www.marcopaper.com

And finally, a milestone on the personal front – while I was in Georgia playing golf, Ryan was negotiating to buy a condo.  The financing was preapproved before I left, the contract was signed while I was gone, and the inspection was yesterday.  Since my parents came home from Tucson on Tuesday, Dad and I went along for the ride and got to see the place for the first time.  It’s really nice – and the current owners’ cat was very friendly.  No doubt it will be barren for some time as payments take precedence over furnishings, but soon it will be his home.

And now we’re caught up – and I can go back to one thought at a time . . .