"Apres la pluie, le beau temps"

After rain, [comes] good weather... If the French proverb is true in many aspects of our lives, it couldn't be have been truer this weekend, as we headed to our Farm Chicks adventure in Spokane!!

The week heading to the big departure was chaotic!! Projects to be finished, school and after school activities, and day-to-day nonsense made my life extremely stressful. Nevertheless, I felt I was somewhat prepared.

I spent the day before our 5 am Friday departure piling things outside by the trailer waiting for the master packer, a.k.a. husband. I figured this way I would reduce the chances of forgetting something. Ideally, I would have had the trailer for a few days, but our HOA only allows trailers parked out front for no more than 24 hours (don't get me started on HOA...). Hubby told me he would be home by five... At 4:30, he calls saying there is a severe thunderstorm warning and I should get everything inside again!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!! After I dragged everything in (thank goodness some of the big furniture was already in the trailer...), I took off to go look for my ten-year old who was at soccer practice, only to find an empty field. I was relieved to find them taking cover in the middle school!!! The rain didn't subside until about 8 pm, so that's when we finally started loading up the trailer. Needless to say, we were so tired that quite a few things were accidentally left behind, including, among other things, my highest ticket price item (an old spool cabinet left in the corner of the living room), a bird bath and two suitcases full of crinolines and doll clothes.

After very little sleep, we took off on our adventure!!! My husband drove the truck and trailer, and three of our four children tagged along (the oldest had finals on Friday and stayed with a friend). Lisa and our friend Kate drove right behind us. This is where things fell apart once again... a seven-hour drive turned into a 14-hour ordeal!! Only two hours away from Spokane, the truck broke down as we stopped at a McDonald's for a potty break. It just wouldn't start!!! After a good half hour trying to troubleshoot, we called AAA. Between waiting for the tow truck, looking for a place who could fix a diesel engine, waiting a couple of hours until a mechanic had time to look at the truck and then my husband getting lost trying to make his way back to us, a good six hours went by!!

Set-up time at the Fairgrounds was between 9 am and 6 pm, we arrived at 7:30 pm!!! Teri and Serena, the organizers, were so gracious and told us the security guards would let us in and we could stay as long as we wanted!!! What a huge relief!!! By the time we arrived and started unloading, some of our good friends and fellow dealers just came out of nowhere and started helping us (many of them stuck around waiting to help us!!)!!! I remember standing in the middle of my booth, feeling overwhelmed, and the sight of all those angels helping us almost brought tears to my eyes!! This is what is so great about the extended family that are our fellow dealers and friends!!! Thank you so much Joy and Dave, Cindy and Barry, Joe and Jermonne, Julie and Jeff, Kate and of course my sweet husband and children!! That was when the sun started coming out of the clouds!!!

I have much more to share, but for now I leave you with some pictures of my booth, both Saturday and then rearranjed on Sunday after many pieces sold. I will be back soon with photos of some wonderful booths and a peek at what I bought... Can't wait to share more!!!