Happy Thanksgiving!

Did you take time to focus on all of your blessings today? Did you find a moment in between all of your other tasks (preparing the feast, cleaning the kitchen, serving the turkey, cleaning the kitchen, organizing a family game, cleaning the kitchen) to focus on all you have to be thankful for? If not, do it now. Maybe this was a tough year for you. Maybe you don't feel very grateful. All the more reason to stop and count your blessings. Here are mine:

1. I am warm and dry. My house is not the largest (or cleanest) on the block, but it is home.
2. I am loved. I have friends and family who let me know that I matter.
3. Even better, I have people that I love. The older I get the more I realize that the capacity to love is an even greater gift than being loved.
4. I am a unique individual. There is no one else out there like me.
5. I have a career that I love. I can hardly wait to go to work everyday!
6. I have a few pounds I'd like to lose. There are people who don't have enough to eat. I obviously have more than I need; for that I am grateful.
7. My life provides plenty of opportunities for me to laugh. Sometimes I laugh with others as they laugh at me. It doesn't matter; laughter is a beautiful gift!
8. Today, I lived.
9. The mistakes I've made are behind me.
10. I have the hope of a bright tomorrow.

Have you been making plans for Thanksgiving? We have to be careful, or we start thinking about Christmas and forget all about it until it's right upon us. I love Thanksgiving...good food, good friends, and lots of family, without any of the stress of the Christmas holiday. We always spend our Thanksgiving holiday with my family. My parents live a couple of hours from me and I don't get to pop in as often as I'd like, so I always look forward to a nice visit. My mother always overdoes it. There's too much food, which she then practically begs us to take back home with us, and I'm happy to oblige. Something happened between my mom's generation and my own. Or perhaps it just happened to me and all the other 40-something mothers out there have it all together in the kitchen. I still kind of flounder around in there. For starters, I wouldn't think about cooking without a recipe. I have a really hard time replicating my childhood favorites unless my mom is standing beside me because she never uses a recipe for anything. If I call her and ask her how much garlic I need, she doesn't know. Just add it until it tastes right. How much flour? Until it looks right. How can I cook with directions like that? What will happen when my mom is no longer doing the turkey and dressing? I guess my sister will have to stop going to her in-laws for Thanksgiving and stay home to fix my dinner. Sounds reasonable to me!

We got into our new space just in time for Christmas shoppers. We have had lots of encouraging words from people who tried to navigate our old store with strollers and toddlers. They all say how much easier it is now. We have tried to keep the needs of all of our shoppers in mind when deciding where to place a new display. If you haven't shopped with us yet, come give us a try.

Some people hate the crowds of Christmas shopping, but actually, I kind of enjoy a good crowd. I know what you're thinking...of course, I love crowds. What merchant wouldn't??? But even as a shopper, I love the crowds. I'm a people watcher. I imagine the story behind each shopper. Standing in line behind someone for 15 minutes gives me time to analyze and dissect who I think that person really is. And don't we all have a story! Now maybe I'm totally wrong, but that's okay. It makes the time pass more quickly, and I often learn a thing or two about myself. For starters, be careful what I say and do because there's also someone standing behind me!

As you shop this Christmas season, be on your best behavior. It's not just Santa who's watching...

Changes, Changes, and More Changes

Michelle and I seem to have this thing about downtime. We certainly haven't had any in awhile. Since we opened in June of 2007, it's definitely been a ride, not a roller coaster ride though. There haven't been any lows, just hairpin curves and amazing hills to climb. We already told you about our move. Before we could get a breath, we began work on our first television commercial, getting back on radio, and posting lots of online ads on some really cool sites. We're continually working to make sure that our website is the best out there, and we're going to be the featured toy vendor at a Holiday Gift Show in Atlanta next week. And all of this during 4th quarter, our already busiest time of year. Of course, there are always those little unplanned tasks that greet us on a regular basis, too...you know what I mean. Things like quirks with the computer system or phones, speaking with toy companies about why a scheduled delivery never happened, and handling all of the family issues that require the attention of mom and only mom. But guess what...we've never been happier. We laugh everyday, all day! Come visit us anytime. If you can't make it to Madison, mulberrytoys.com is the next best thing.

The Big Move, Part Two

You've read Michelle's take on our relocation. She mentioned that the construction was, as we like to say in the South, a whole nother story. I'm here to tell you that story! It indeed involved blood, sweat, and tears. Mostly Builder Tim's blood, which was spilled on the sidewalk as he carefully checked to make sure that his circular saw was not cutting through Builder John's saw horses. I am glad to say that after an impromptu trip to the emergency room and several stitches that both the lacerated fingers and the saw horses are doing well. I tried to cheer Builder Tim with a big kiss which did seem to make him feel better. As a matter of fact, he invited me home afterward. Did I mention he's my husband of over 22 years?

There was lots of sweat involved, especially after the air quit working, not once but twice. As it turns out, sawdust, of which we had much, isn't so good for the air conditioning system. Who knew?

And the tears....yeah, there were tears. I cried one day when Tim didn't show up to eat lunch with me. I guess it was the stress. I mean I like him and all that but I don't typically cry when he cancels lunch with me, which happens pretty often. Michelle cried one day when she didn't get to go to Zumba class because of a mixup concerning what time the electrician was coming. It didn't help that I did get to attend Zumba class and perhaps pulled slightly ahead of her in my performance. (Now I have to pause to say that if you know Michelle and me, then you know she is a born dancer, while I am pretty much just born.) I think Tim's eyes may have welled up during the aforementioned saw incident and they definitely did when I informed him that the beautiful checkout counter that he built exactly to our specifications was no longer what we wanted. Builder John got a little misty everytime Michelle started a conversation with the words, "Hey, you know what would be cool?"

But we're in, Michelle and I are still friends, the men still love us, and business is great. And in the words of the late Mae West, "Come up and see us sometime."

We've Moved to Main Street!

It finally happened. We got a little too big for our britches. Not really, we just got a little too big for our store. So we packed everything up and moved it around the corner to 137 S. Main Street.
It wasn't quite as easy as I'm making it sound. It took 5 weeks of preparation, construction, sweat, and a few tears....but that's another story. We really need to thank our incredible husbands for all the work they put into our new spot. We're all still washing brightly colored paint out of our hair and clothes.

We love our new location and can often be found Zumba dancing down the store's spacious aisles. We settled in so quickly that we've only just recently found time to look around and admire our handiwork. I can honestly say that it's a really cool space. We are so happy!

I'm including a few photos that highlight the incredible transformation.

Stop by and see us soon!

Michelle

A True Mulberry Moment to Remember

First Day of Kindergarten
This entry was written by LaChelle our VP of Finance and documents her daughter's first day of school.

Well, she boarded the bus without any tears! She actually got on! I was prepared for her to refuse! I don't have any pics because she freaked out when I brought out the camera and was bordering on shut-down mode. I put down the camera, trading a picture for a calm departure. I will get pictures as she gets off the bus this afternoon. Hopefully by then she will be all smiles and forget that I have a camera in my hand a just be excited to be home.
When it came time to hand over the blankee she asked me to put it in the fridge for safe keeping. Why the fridge, I don't know. But I was willing to do anything to keep her calm and give up her blanket for the day.
Since I don't have any pics, I will fill you in with a visual. She had on black legging style shorts and a black Hello Kitty shirt with red croc-style shoes. Her hair was nicely brushed by daddy with minimal tears. Her backpack is half the length of her body and has her cute little lunch in it. There were no smiles from her as she boarded the bus, but she bravely walked up the stairs and turned left past the driver and walked down the aisle to a vacant seat. She then slid to the window and looked out with sad, "Why am I doing this?" eyes. I waved, smiled and blew her a kiss and I could see the tops of her fingers peak up over the window in a tiny wave. And her bus drove off down the hill...off to a land of reading out loud, crayons and play-dough.

Later that day.....
My baby has come back from the land of reading out loud, crayons and play-dough in one piece...and smiling! First day of Kindergarten was a success!
She told me that she followed some neighbor girls through the hall and they finally noticed she was following them and they helped her get to her classroom! How sweet!
She met a boy on the playground. His name is "Green Shirt" and he goes to our gym.
For some reason she did not eat the food from home and instead ate in the cafeteria...Not sure if they all did that or if she forgot it in the classroom. Maybe it was easier for them all to do the same thing? I will be emailing the teacher to see what happened. She actually remembered what she ate which is a new accomplishment! Last year in pre-K she ate "nothing" all year! Today she had pizza, chocolate milk and carrots. I have the menu now and they actually have roasted asparagus on the menu??! What happened to Veg-all? She'll actually eat asparagus though. She calls it "sportacus".
The little kiddos held hands in a long line to get on the bus in the afternoon. All the kids now have luggage tags on their bags telling their name, teacher name and the bus number and the stop they are supposed to get off at. Very cool!
Whew! Glad that is over.