The Fabric Won in the End

Well, well...Here I am at 4 in the morning typing a blog instead of groggily dragging my truck and trailer through the outskirts of Wichita, KS. I SHOULD be currently making my way to my glorious home base in Utah so that I can procure the luxury of sewing madly for 4 days before I pack right back up and make the 15 hour drive to Vallejo, California. You see, here's what happened........

I started out this week wanting fabric. I wanted more fabric almost as much as I want chocolate cake on a nightly basis (It hits 9 pm, and the moist, crumbly seduction occurs.). However, I declined, as I must with the majority of the cake incidents. "Cake, thank you, but NO thank you. We need to keep this professional." With the fabric, I told myself that we FINALLY made a decent profit from our last renaissance festival, and it would be foolhardy to go and spent the money I just barely made. We've had a hard year, financially, and it's NOT because of lack of business. My customers are generous, profuse, and loyal. It's just that when you have to upgrade to a newer, bigger trailer, figure out that your pathetic van won't pull it, and then upgrade to a more powerful vehicle...the money doesn't adhere to the bank account properly.

So, I still wanted the fabric. This whole week, I've been obcessed. "Should I get it? Maybe not. Maybe So. I wouldn't regret buying more. The customers need more fabric options on the website. People keep asking me for more colors. Screw people. Wait, those people pay my bills and I like them. I should get the fabric. We won't have enough money to drive home. Who cares? Surely some money will explode out of nowhere and shower down on my glorious trailer filled with a treasure trove of upholstery. Should I get more fabric? No. I shouldn't. I will NOT go and spend the rest of my profits on fabric. I've got employees to pay, kids to feed, and plenty of fabric already. I will NOT buy the damn fabric."

Today, I went and spent more on fabric then I spent on purchasing my car. You've got to SPEND money to make money, right?? Yes, yes. I was on a total fabric high. My entire SUV was literally STUFFED to the gills with glorious stripes, romantic damasks, pale feminine hues, lurid contrasting patterns, and decadent aquatic colors of the sea. The sun was shining on a sweet, successful afternoon. We were to go back to my parent's house in Missouri, where we've been staying for the month of May, pack up, and embark on our path to Utah.....a brisk and effortless 20 hour drive! We started to unload our vehicle, and load our trailer the rest of the way full. That's when we realized we had made a huge mistake.

Our trailer axle has a capacity of 3000 pounds. The trailer itself weighs 1,400, thus we're REALLY only able to put in 1,600 extra. Before we were even 1/4 through loading the fabric, it was apparent that the axle would not survive the journey. The round metal covers that protect the top of the wheels were pressing down onto the wheels themselves, burdening them menacingly. OH, poo. We tried loading part of the fabric back into the SUV, but it was becoming apparent that we could either take our children home or the fabric.......Hmm....weighing options. I do like my kids. ARRggg.

My husband, who is normally a well of optimism and calm, threw up his hands and stormed into the house, proclaiming that we needed a new trailer. He was right.

And here I am, going crazy waiting for the trailer sales places to open up so that we can go in and trade in our current trailer (Yes, remember that part at the first of the store where we had gotten a new trailer to upgrade from our last one. Well...we're upgrading again.) and hopefully get a double-axle trailer that is rated for 7000 pounds! Just imagine! 7 tons of corsetry!

Oh, did I mention that I woke up at 2 in the morning to the news that my sister in law is in labor? My mind is going at a hundred miles an hour....now if only my CAR was making that kind of speed along I-70 right now.