House husband to the rescue

No complaints this week that there’s “nothing to do” in El Dorado. Not this week anyway.
Not with both the Union County Fair and the Rhea Lana Consignment sale at the Conference Center both happening the same week. Last winter I promised my daughter I would take her children’s out-grown clothes to the next Rhea Lana Sale. I also promised myself and the Night Owls Quilt Guild that I would complete the granddaughters quilts by this fall. I never expect to see the clothes again, but the quilts could have three presentations: The Home Economics Department at the fair this week, the Quilt Show Oct. 14-15 and then as Christmas gifts.
I knew the amount of work, time and fun each commitment entailed. After all, I’ve made quilts before and I took clothing to the spring Rhea Lana sale in March. I generally know how to pace myself. I can do what I say, as long as nothing else more interesting comes along to distract me.
I went to the spring Rhea Lana sale to just pick up the items on my daughter’s shopping list. I found what she wanted. Then, I wandered over to look at the toys and discovered the colorful upright toy piano that I had seen earlier in a toy store – at a fraction of the original cost. I bought it and a toy castle with dolls and furniture. As I started to leave I found the cutest shelf for a girl’s room. I checked. My daughter thought it would look great in her daughter’s room. It does.
I re-visited the Rhea Lana Sale when my daughter drove down to visit me and the half price sale on the weekend. We agreed to consign more items in the fall.
I paced myself before the sale. I prepared, tagged and hung clothing and books a couple times earlier this year. In August I entered the items into the online inventory for the consignment sale. I had everything lined up and ready to go weeks ahead of time.
I paced myself with the quilts I had started for the granddaughters. I aimed to have them done in time for the Union County Fair. I did a bit of quilting every week or so. When I traveled, I looked for quilting ideas or worked on handwork.
I am not a procrastinator, but I can pile on the projects. I don’t need anyone else’s help coming up with project ideas.
I got it anyway.
As the deadline neared to take toys, books, furniture and clothes to the Rhea Lana sale and the quilts to the fair, I received an e-mail from my favorite online digital photo processor that I could get a free photo book – if I finished and ordered it by Wednesday of this week.
Wednesday! The same week as the Rhea Lana sale and the Union County Fair?
I thought really hard about it. I like free. I decided if I really focused and paced myself, I could do the book over the weekend. I planned to start Friday evening.
When I walked in the door after work Friday, the editor called and asked me to write-up my notes on Operation Christmas Child for the Sunday paper. Sure I could do that. I like writing. No problem. I pulled out my laptop and worked with words instead of pictures. Except for some weekend chores, I still had all day Saturday for the photo book.
I almost had the book done at 11:30 p.m. Saturday when exhaustion hit. I needed sleep before I taught Sunday School in 10 hours.
At church, I realized I had forgotten the a meeting on Tuesday. I not only remembered, I offered to take a dessert. Signing for a dessert was just an excuse for making cookies. Cookies I know I have to sample before I take the leftovers to the meeting.
That afternoon I worked on the book and begin listing all the things I needed to do before Wednesday: Take a car load to the Rhea Lana sale, pay bills, return borrowed items, make several phone calls . . . the list grew and grew.
I could do all of them – I just would not have a lot of time to eat, sleep or breathe.
I looked across the room at my favorite house husband. He agreed to re-think his week’s schedule and run the errands on my rather lengthy list.
I took the last stitch on the last quilt Monday evening, cleaned up the kitchen as the cookies cooled on the racks and finished the book.
He made the phone calls, looked over my shoulder at the photo book, gassed up to run errands, took my quilts to the fair and we caught up with each other when we discovered we actually had time to go out and eat lunch together.
Not a bad start for a week in which I had more than enough to do.
The only thing on my schedule for this weekend is sleep, read a book … and make a return visit to the conference center and the Rhea Lana half-price sale.
(Joan Hershberger is a reporter at the News-Times. E-mail her at jhershberger@eldoradonews.com.)