Mall Sales

 Greetings from PA (again).  

Yesterday afternoon we packed up our FlexyFriends and headed to my Mom's house in anticipation of today's sales event. Today and tomorrow we will be set up in the center court at the Capital City Mall. I have no idea if we will be successful but I can guarantee that we will be more comfortable than we were last weekend. At least this weekend we will be inside with air conditioning, so even if sales are lackluster this event is still superior. 

While we are at the mall selling FlexyFriends, Timmy will be spending his time between hanging out with us and chilling with my mom at her house. I'm grateful that she lives close enough that frequent trips for Timmy is not terribly inconvenient although I suspect that his requests to visit us at the mall will be driven more by his stomach's desire for yummy mall snacks. 

If you are close to the Capital City Mall this weekend please stop by and say hello!

Heading to PA

 The weather the past few days has been cooler and considerably more comfortable. We (Timmy and I especially) have been able to break out of our cool cocoon to venture outside into the fresh air. Playing outside in the sunshine has been invigorating. It is so nice to be outside without immediately feeling oppressed by the air!

This afternoon we are going to pack up and drive back to Pennsylvania. FlexyFriends is scheduled to sell at the Capital City Mall on both Friday and Saturday. After the utter disaster of last weekend's venture, I am weary about setting up another tabletop store, but we are committed and Robby (and Scott) are both excited to give it a try. I have absolutely no idea how we will fare at the mall, but I am glad that it will be indoors. If we aren't going to make any sales, at least we will be comfortable.

I feel badly that Scott is spending his last week of summer vacation chasing around FlexyFriends, but I also recognize that he thoroughly enjoys working our little floating store. I have been shocked by how much Scott throws himself into selling FlexyFriends. He enjoys FlexyFriends so much that I suspect that starting a business might be on the horizon in his retirement.

August

 Happy August.

Traditionally I have hated August. As a child it heralded the end of the summer. School supplies start to line the shelves and swimsuits become threadbare. As an adult I continue to feel the back-to-school angst when the calendar turns to August. I've also come to hate the heat, humidity and bugs which also often accompany the month. 

I still hate all of those things about the month of August. The back-to-school jitters are already starting to creep into my dreams but I am desperate to push them back until September. The past school year was so difficult that I have increased anxiety about starting all over again. Logically I know it will be fine and that we will quickly find our groove because we have already established the pattern, but the memories of those first few weeks are strong.

Robby and Timmy have a few weeks of vacation left but Scott returns next week. He promises that this will be his last year in the classroom but I have heard that before! I am leaning towards believing in his retirement intention but I will remain weary until the paperwork is signed. After all, he is supposed to be retired by now!

With a break in the heat it is going to be nice to get back outside today. Timmy has been chomping at the bit to launch his new rocket. I think the stars (or the lack of clouds and wind) are aligning for a launch.

HOT HOT HOT

I was hoping I was going to be able to write that our Gettysburg vendor adventure was a rousing success.  But this is my blog and I won't lie. Attendance, and thus sales, were abysmal.  The number of volunteers, vendors and reenactors far exceeded the number of attendees. We estimate that around 400 people attended throughout the three day event compared to the estimated 3-5K that was promised in the vendor promotion material.

I'm certain that the excessive heat contributed to the lackluster attendance. It was hot. With temperatures in the high 90s and the heat index well into the 100s, being outside selling FlexyFriends was not enjoyable. The trickling crowds and ensuing boredom definitely contributed to the misery. 

Although we were miserable, I know that our comfort was higher than everybody else at the event. Scott, who loves both a challenge and a gadget designed to solve it, bought a portable misting fan. This isn't your run of the mill misting fan. This sucker sits on a five gallon bucket of water and throws a cool mist out 14 feet. We went through a lot of water, but we were able to maintain a more comfortable environment than our counterparts. I admit that I thought buying this fan contraption was a bit overboard, but my goodness I appreciated it when I was sitting in the 95 degree heat with the sun beating down. 

Despite sales being slow I am trying to remain optimistic about our weekend. While we didn't sell-out, we did make enough to cover our expenses. We were able to spend a special weekend with Robby who thoroughly enjoyed the event. The low crowds meant lots of space and time to browse and speak with all the reenactors. If you ask Robby, he will tell you that he had an amazing weekend. 

While we were busy hustling FlexyFriends to nobody, Timmy was hanging out with my Mom. It was too hot to do anything involved but it turns out that he did convince her to engage in a water fight. 

Timmy thoroughly enjoyed his alone time with his Nana. Robby had a great time at the non-event. Perhaps Scott and I were the only ones disappointed in the weekend.