How Did It Get To Be Friday Already?

This week has just evaporated. Lots of meetings, a few signs, and several flockings. It actually started out pretty quiet. That good news-bad news thing again. Bad - the phones weren't ringing much. Good - catching up on real, during the nighttime sleep.

Early in the week a call came in to do a "welcome home" barnyard display in Crocket. Our first Crocket order. The daughter has been in Europe for 8 weeks and was due home Tuesday afternoon. The wife had flown over to meet up with daughter a week earlier but due to the travel alerts, etc. they didn't make connections. Mom was forced to spend a week in Paris and would be home the next afternoon. We loaded up a whole lot of cows, pigs and roosters and set up the farm to welcome daughter home. Also left a envelope with letters to make a name change on the sign so it could be altered to welcome Mom home.

We went back Thursday morning after the Chamber of Commerce Breakfast meeting to pick up the farm and discovered Mom trying to break into the house. She'd locked herself out. Between canvassing the neighbors for a spare key and prying open a window with a broomstick, she made time to give us an order to flock her sister that afternoon. Made a brief stop at an art supply store on the way back to the nest to pick up some airbrush paint (gotta learn how to use it sooner or later). Then loaded up and hauled this flock out to Danville. Made it back in time to make it to the Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors' lunch meeting. If there had been one more Chamber meeting for that evening, I could have had all 3 meals on the Chamber.

For all of this, I've managed to forget the camera. But for once I remembered the camera on my cell phone. Pictures came out pretty good.

Last night we finally got back onto our usual early morning delivery schedule.

We had help with this very cool penguin display. In order to get into this gated community, we had to have an inside (wo)man. She was warned that she would be called out in the early hours. Called from the cell phone when we pulled up at the gates. She buzzed us in and then jumped in her car to meet us at the destination so she could add the extra embellishments. When we finished and pulled away, she was starting to hang sno-cones on the garland linking the photos. After the office opened this morning we received a call from the birthday girl telling us how tickled she is. About 5 minutes later, our helper called to say how much fun it was. I warned her that we would be there at about the same time tonight to wake her so she can let us in again.

From Danville, we made the trek to deepest San Jose to surprise Dave. There was a little debate about whether to put Dave's age on the sign, but the sender decided to take a small measure of pity on the birthday boy and just announce the event and not the vintage. Apparently he expects to be found out as the perpetrator and wants to minimize the scope of the retribution.

An the final stop before getting home again plants this flock in San Leandro. I have a note on the order that says "mail pictures". I have absolutely no memory of promising to print and mail the photo, but since there is no email address, I must have. Now all I have to do is remember to actually do it. Anyone want to wager on how long it will take me?

So tonight we go out and pick up all this stuff, as well as the daytime flock in Danville. But that's all. No new deliveries. Not until Sunday morning. We will spend the next two days getting ready for a house full of company. DBFA's youngest daughter, her husband and their 2 (well grown) kids are driving down from Portland OR to visit. They arrive Sunday night and will stay until Thursday. We cleared a space in the warehouse to set up a sleeping area for 2 of them. The other 2 can have our bed and we will sleep where we usually sleep, in our recliners. I will just forgo the 2 or 3 hours of going to bed that I manage when we get home from flocking. It's going to be an apartment full - we have about 650 square feet, and that includes the office. Need to book a couple more orders for when they're here because I know the kids will want to ride along. Wouldn't be surprised if Mom and Dad want to as well, but only 2 can go at a time, and "No Giggling!"