Twelfth Market, Almost Cancelled, and Good Neighbors

We finished our twelfth market and as much as we enjoy the market itself, I’d like to reiterate that I wouldn’t be heartbroken if we didn’t do this next year. I know there are those of you out there saying that we said the same thing last year, but these individuals fail to realize that we changed things up this year in the hopes that it would make it more feasible. I.e., we opted out of one market, which is a big change.

In light of this, our decision this time around is not just saying the same thing. We modified our approach, and even with these changes, we still don’t think it’s worthwhile. So it’s not just a case of “here we go again.” We’re trying to find a way on this end.

Also, we were inches away from backing out of the market because of R’s injured arm. Her range of motion is limited, and there was some question as to whether she could drive. In fact, we were at the doctor’s office the morning of the market and I had pretty much set my mind to skipping the market and working on the house when the doctor said her arm was fine (it wasn’t that fine, he was wrong). Suddenly, our day was going to be busy, and I had to shift gears. Oh well, what else is new?

After the docs, we had about an hour to prepare, and R was going to drive in with A next her to shift the gears. Talk about teamwork. They pulled it off, and we made it to market and I a lot of the heavy lifting, though for the record, A and N really helped out. It’s cool seeing them work hard and really contribute, warms my heart.

That is not to say that making dumplings isn’t a chore, and it bums us out to have to bend over backwards just to get a weekend off. However, we really appreciate our loyal customers and enjoy the fact that we tried something and it turned out well, but again, the amount of work and dedication is more than we bargained for. The money is nice, no doubt, but we’ve found that as we get older, time (with family, friends, and just alone) becomes more important than money, and if you can’t grasp this concept, you’ll never true peace and happiness in life.

With that in mind, I’d like to say that it was a nice market, and the kids had fun. We benefit from being right next to the Cupcake Queen, and they like our dumplings, so we swap our respective products. They are super nice, so we not only enjoy having them as neighbors, but we get to score cupcakes, as well. In a way, we are good complements to one another, and they do a brisk business, so there are no hard feelings, at least I don’t think there are any hard feelings. Their cupcakes are a huge draw to the market, even more so than dumplings.

Also, NL from Hogwash Farms got wind that our birthdays were last week (how, I have no clue) and gave us a Polish sausage. How cool is that? This past market they also had some big inflatable obstacle course set up and the kids got to play on it for free and for as many times as they wanted, so life was good for them. I love when that happens. A also continued with her babysitting gig, though I’m not sure what they worked out with her. She says she enjoys it, and she takes it very seriously, so I guess it’s a good thing.

All in all, it turned out to be a nice day, even in lieu of the fact that I’d set my mind to being elsewhere. Sure, I didn’t get the things done around the house, but sometimes training to be a real man has to be put on hold.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Zsuzsanna Kilian, Macin Smolinski, and kbralgpe for the pics.