Well, I attended my first tradeshow in Seattle on the weekend and it was awesome but quite overwhelming. The tradeshow runs for a week and of course we were only there for one day so there was a lot of ground to cover. It was a gift show as opposed to a kids show though so we only had to hit certain booths/showrooms.
We didn’t even arrive at the Pacific Market Center until 11:00 due to the border traffic so we had our work cut out for us. We placed 3 orders and will likely have many more to come once we sift through the mass amounts of brochures, get some clarification from our customs broker on duty classifications etc.
We closed up the show and then stopped for a bite to eat on the way home. It was a great first experience, everyone was very helpful and we got some real positive feedback on our business cards and the design so that was encouraging. It was a long day that started at 06:15 and ended after midnight.
On Sunday, we were supposed to go to the PNE to celebrate my husband’s birthday but we got word that the moving truck from Winnipeg was going to arrive either Sunday night or first thing Monday morning so had a major re-org of our house required before then. Yikes.
Why do we have a moving truck arriving from the Peg you ask? The new owners will be moving into my parents house soon so everything had to be moved out. Our house in Vancouver isn’t exactly huge and of course we rent out our basement suite so the question becomes “where the h.e. double hockey sticks is all of this going to go?”. We still don’t have the answer to that but we have a den, dining room, spare bedroom and garage piled high with boxes, furniture and all kinds of things.
It is a bit like Christmas in August going through the boxes we packed months ago and unraveling treasures from the house that I grew up in. Everything from the 70′s art deco chip and dip holder that was used EVERY time my parents entertained, to the baby carriage that likely dates back to the early 1900′s to the beautiful real wood furniture that has stood the test of time for decades upon decades (just like that bookshelf I bought at IKEA 2 years ago … yeah right). It also feels very strange to see all of this stuff outside of my parents house.
I suppose this is what is supposed to happen when your parents pass away but I never thought it would be this soon or at the stage of my life when my kids are supposed to be getting doted on by Grandma and Grandpa. As Mary Engelbreit says though … “If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.”
Wise words to live by. And now, back to the Gong Show!
Sue
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