A leap of faith...

What have I gotten myself into??

Note to self... Maybe check the city calendar to insure that when you live in the St. Louis area, you do not sign up for a craft show, the same weekend Octoberfest is in Soulard, Fall Fest in Downtown St. Louis, the Autism walk in Forest Park, the Cardinals in post season play, and the the Blues playing all in one day... Whew!  That makes a little craft show not the place to hang out when you add into the mix it is a beautiful day in the high seventies.
So maybe not the best weekend to decide to break a 25 plus year hiatus from craft shows.  I wouldn't say it was the greatest day, but I am also not going to say it was the worst.  I sold a few hats, hubby sold a few of his "Woods Belts"... I have a few orders to get done tonight for tomorrow, and I now have enough inventory to consider opening my Etsy shop.  Everyone was commenting on how few people showed up.  It was crazy!

All sorts of odd character hats!

Big Girl Bonnets and Slouch Hats in all colors

We cannot forget Hubby's Woods Belt!

All in all... it's been okay. I don't know why I had myself sick to my stomach.  I guess because having faith in your dreams is scary stuff.  And I don't do scary well.  I am definitely a middle of the road, don't step out of the box kind of woman.  I have never been someone that has been willing to take leaps of faith, at least not in myself.  This year has definitely been a JUMP out into strange waters for me.

Let's see... I started a blog... and I have stuck with it (still trying to understand that).  I have decided to start doing craft shows (still not quite morphed to Etsy yet).  I have started teaching a class (seriously - when did that occur to me - and I love it!)... who knows what is next...

I am hoping tomorrow will be better, but an event that happened today kind of made it irrelevant.  One of the guys working there came in to see what Hubby had for sale... as he was laughing and telling me "you can see why I didn't believe him" he got a call. About 30 minutes later, his boss was chatting with us as he got a call from the same young man.  That call he got while walking out of the craft show was from his sister, his mother had just died.  In the blink of an eye something precious disappeared completely.

It was surreal to hear those words, to realize that while his mom was dying he was at work laughing with me. Life changes in the blink of an eye.

Here I am focusing on all the mundane little bits and pieces of life and someone in the blink of an eye lost a very important part of their life.  It tilted my perspective of the day completely.  Here I was worrying about fear and being willing to change... stupid. I am praying for this man that I only spoke to for a second.  My heart feels deeply for him.

I have a wonderful, supportive family.  Three friends showed up to support me, it felt wonderful to be able to say friends... they didn't have to show up - but they did! I had the joy of snuggling one of my friends' new baby, it was so hard to hand him back over!  I think I fell in love!! I love knowing these things.  It makes me feel so good.  My children helped me set everything up, cheered me on.  I got messages from family in Arkansas.  I am a very blessed woman!  And I don't want to ever forget that!

My girl helping with the final set up

After set up dinner with my amazing kids and grand baby!

Fear has no place in my life... I am getting ready to make chili for lunch tomorrow, bake a batch of brownies and make a hat that was ordered today.  Tomorrow is a new day and I am ready to take it on...