The Aftermath

So the Festival is over for this year! It was such a relief last night to take a look around the craft area and see how much stuff was bought. The signs went like crazy yesterday, as the Mormon crowd came out in force. We had some great performers come in including a children's group that sang cute international songs. The silent auction for the trees had, all week, been pretty silent in a bad way. And then at the end, it got a little crazy. I was bidding for my parents on this BEAUTIFUL elf tree. It looked like Santa's Workshop had exploded on the tree. Two other parties got interested in it and the bidding war began. I backed out to make sure that my parent's got a tree and the ability to donate, but the tree ended up going for $800. Modest by most Festival standards, but pretty good for our first year. We auctioned off 43 trees. I can't even imagine what Salt Lake's end of bid line is like, with their 700 trees.

Steve's tree ended up selling for a very modest $170. It was obviously worth way more than that, but again, we didn't have very many deep pockets out for our first year. At the end of the night, though, it felt good to have started something so good that will surely become a Sacramento tradition in years to come.
If anyone is reading that helped me out ... I just want to say THANK YOU!!! I really couldn't have done it without your help and support! I thank you to all of my friends that came down to say hi, especially Amy, who drove a total of 4 hours just to be there!!

So, today was when the other shoe dropped. The happy, amazing facade I had been hiding behind came crashing down. This morning I looked at my destroyed house and my distraught and messed up children and realized the toll that this has taken on my family. I spent 4 hours this morning just cleaning up my bedroom, where I had been crafting for weeks on end. Then we went to Sacrament meeting, despite my feeling that it was a bad idea. Boy was it ever. DH was home sleeping off his 30 hour shift, so I was alone. We sat down toward the back on the wood flooring (which I HATE because toys/children echo there). Immediately I noticed Mr. M's horrid outfit: dirty slacks, hawaiian shirt with long sleeved shirt underneath, topped with his school hoodie, also dirty. Then Little C started displaying his two-year-old behaviors, with perfect pitch and volume to disturb everyone in the area. M is slouching everywhere complaining he is tired, hungry, cold, you name it. The whole meeting I'm just trying to hold back the tears. It was Princess and C started spilling the checker board pieces they found in the bag onto the floor, that I scrambled to pick everything up and did what I never thought I would do: left church. Not because anyone was sick, or I had somewhere else to be, simply because I was overwhelmed and didn't want to be there. I just barely made it out the door before the tears started to fall. Now, being back at home, with the two older ones in an extended time out for their behavior, life doesn't seem that bad. But I realize that we are all DRAINED. Emotionally, physically and mentally. I guess some days you just have to raise the white flag of defeat and retreat. And not feel guilty.

Here are the happy felt fruit and veggies I made for DH's tree. I hated to see these go. I worked many hours to get the proportions right. But, alas, give and give freely.



Happy tomato snowman

This was my favorite sign I designed, next to the Wise men one.

Got orders for more!

Signs of chaos:
- Little C is subsiting on a diet of marshmellows, oranges and chocolate chips and I'm okay with that as long as he's quiet and happy.
- Laundry hasn't been done in 2 weeks (reason for M's dirty clothes).
- Kids late to school several times this week.
- Can't locate C's shoes anywhere.
- I don't even want to discuss the condition of the bathrooms.