Have you ever had one of those days where a half-dozen different projects are breathing down your neck, and no matter how hard or fast you work you'll never get everything done in time? The past couple of weeks have been like that for me. Earlier this week was better -- I was actually able to work at a comfortable pace towards reasonable deadlines. But yesterday was awful. Not only had the pace picked back up, the phone rang constantly. Some work-related but mostly personal. Argh! I couldn't turn off the ringer because I was expecting a call from a printer with a price quote, and I had some questions for her so I needed to get her call. I need to be better at telling people when I'm working and can't talk. It's just hard to interrupt a friend to say you don't have time to talk to them. At least, it's hard for me. Even if I can get off the phone quickly, the interruption can really disrupt my thinking if I was working on something involved.
But enough griping. At least it was a productive week. I got done everything that absolutely had to be done, and most of what would be good to have done as well. There's only one thing that's still really hanging out there, and I can make some headway on it this weekend. My client meeting today went great. They love the piece (a 20 page catalog), had no quarrel with the print prices, settled on quantities and are OK with me handling the printing while they're out of town for the next two weeks. Best of all, they bought me lunch.
I really like these clients. They're buying a house in Florida (they're on their way down there to close next week) and they invited us to visit when they get furniture and all. They say that even after they relocate, they still intend to do business in RTP, including working with me. I hope it turns out that way. (The printed pieces they just approved all have their RTP address, so they're clearly serious about maintaining a presence here.)
Lest you think I'm some kind of high-powered freelancer now, I have to admit that not all of the projects that drove me nuts this week were for money. I was also working on a sewing project -- dresses for the two daughters of some old friends who Georg is visiting this weekend. He left today from work, so the dresses had to be done by this morning.
I stayed up pretty late last night finishing the hand-sewing, but the dresses (gowns actually) turned out really nice if I do say so myself. (and in truth, it's kind of fun to sit by myself, watch a movie, listen to my dogs snore, and sew.) Clothing for children can be difficult because it involves all the same work as full-sized clothes, but everything is smaller. That wasn't so much of an issue because these girls are pretty big (one is a girl's 7 and one is a girl's 14). But on the other hand, both dresses were made of slippery satiny fabric, which is harder to work with. Also, I don't usually bother edging pieces that will be totally covered by a lining. But that was a big mistake in this case: one of the dress fabrics was a brocade that frayed so badly I was a little worried the seams were going to fall out. But it held together and I was really happy with how both dresses turned out. Unfortunately I forgot to get photos of the finished outfits. But Georg took his camera and promised to take pictures of the girls wearing them. I didn't have the girls' exact measurements, so here's hoping the dresses fit!
And yesterday wasn't all work. I had a nice dinner with my friend Judith. She's written four romance novels and is now working on the transition to contemporary mainstream fiction. Pretty exciting. Also she edited a collection of the letters of Charlotte Smith, which I got to see for the first time last night. Really impressive. Apparently the book includes every Smith letter known to exist. Wow. No criticism intended of Judith's romance novels; they're great fun and I have high respect for popular entertainment. But this book is a serious scholarly achievement. I was impressed with the book's design too. They had a staggering amount and variety of information to deal with, and were able to format it meaningfully, clearly, and attractively. And I can't even imagine the headache of trying to proof a book of 18th century letters with original spellings retained.
So I'm on my own until Monday evening. The house is lonely but on the other hand, I'm so tired that it will be nice to have a couple of days by myself to sleep it off and get caught up on housework.
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