Welcome back Ann!!! I hope you are doing well - it's great to see you. And no worries, just jump on in.
I did - LOL. Congratulations!
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Yesterday was just crazy for me...
First off, I was up half the night, the night before... I did fall asleep until about 1am - which had nothing to do with my auctions - but somthing else entirely.
I had to be up at 4:30am, so I could be on the road to my Dad's at 6am.
I arrived at my Dad's at 8am... and we immediately left for his church... I dropped him at 8:45am...
Then I had to find somewhere to park...
I found a Target store... Connected to their wifi...
I had to end all of my auctions via my phone.

None of my family was home to do it.
Sadly - it was a mess, as I was posting my closure notices, bids were still coming in. There were a few hiccups on FB... Live and learn, I guess. Sometimes life is more important, and there was nothing I could do to avoid ending the auctions via mobile.
Aside from that... Doing these auctions is such a stressful thing for me. My closest friends will tell you, I honestly do NOT care how much I get for each item. The part that I worry most about, is each item finding a home - I am a total basket case until each item has a bid, then I could care less about how much I get for it.
Having said that - I was in tears yesterday at Target... I was so shocked and emotional about how high some of my items went. After all this time, I still worry (a lot) that people won't like what I make, and it just blows my mind each and every time that they continue to enjoy my items.
So, after closing my auctions - I left Target and headed for the mall... Which was 30 min from my Dad's church.
I wandered around there for 2 hours... I stopped in to see some of my old co-workers from Gymboree... This is my "hometown mall" and I worked there for many years when the girls were little... So, it's fun to go and visit friends.
Then, I headed 30 minutes back to get my dad.
Then, an hour back to his house... Stopping for a wonderful sit-down lunch on the way.
I visited him for a little bit....
I'm so happy you had a good visit with your Dad.
Then I was back on the road - 2 hours home.
I was soooo exhausted... After only 4.5 hours of sleep the night before, and headed into hours 7 & 8 on the road... Yah - I cranked up the tunes as loud as I could and continued to scream the lyrics the whole 2 hour drive home. Thankfully, I was able to stay awake.
I can sympathize with you there. I worked for a theater company in Baltimore for a couple of years and had to drive home - only about 45 minutes, but still, late at night. It was tough going a couple of times.
Once here... I tried to organize my auction stuff... but I was too tired. I was in bed by 7:30 last night.
Today... I will be in my sewing room all day... I still have to finish my custom order from last week.
I will also be sorting auction items and attempting to get them all packed up.
Overall - I am very happy with the final numbers from my auction. Not only will I be able to pay off our trip in full... I will also be able to pay off my airfare... Plus, I made enough to cover all of our OOP expenses (Oop food & tips)... PLUS, I will have $137 left over to go towards souvenirs.
I would like to bring a bit more souvenir $$, so I
might have another auction before we leave? We'll see how ambitious I am.
Anyways... Thank you all for hanging out and sticking with me through all this auction stuff - it takes a lot out of me, and it takes a lot of time - not only to prepare the items for it, but to run the auction itself and to get everything sent out... It's just a huge process. So, thanks - I couldn't do all of it with out all of you cheering me on.
I hope you all have a wonderful remainder of your weekend. Sending out prayers and good thoughts to all of you.
D~