Plan Must Be A Four Letter Word

I just cannot get over it. No matter how much I tell myself that this show will be different, I am continually surprised by the fact that I have to work like a crazy person just prior to a show to be ready. Most folks would tell you that I am organized, but from this show thing -- you could never prove it. So even though NONE of this is new information to me, here are the things that I missed this time and am now scrambling for:

1. Packaging -- one type we caught just in the nick of time and it arrived today (a whole week before we need 80+ kits packed) and one I just noticed a few days ago which will arrive a day or two before we leave!

2. Yarn -- Why am I having to wind 70+ pounds of yarn, much of which I have had in my possession during the last 3 days. Do you know how much yarn 70 lbs is? It is a lot. And why am I having to send a few skeins express? It is not like I didn't know that I was going to need them?

3. Kit Components -- I dutifully keep track of the various miscellaneous components needed to create our various kits, so why am I running short. It probably has to do with the fact that I don't carefully review this information the three to five weeks before we begin this process.

4. Patterns -- This year it is a double whammy in that we have reformatted our patterns so ALL of them need to be reprinted. And of course, some of the sample pieces have either just been photographed, or worse yet, are not yet finished to be photographed. On the good side, we purchased a digital camera which knocks a lot of time off the processing, but still, it is not enough.

5. Packing -- I haven't even started this yet. Well, that isn't quite true, the booth set up (which is always packed) is ready to go. However, everything else needs to be packed and labeled in some fashion so we know which boxes to open first. It isn't as bad a when we actually ship the stuff, but still -- we should be further along. Of course, that leads to the fact that the kits themselves haven't been packed yet (see items 1-4 above).

The first time or two it was understandable, it was new afterall. And last year, we had just moved or it was our first time to have to ship everything to a distant location. But what kind of excuse can I give this year? Maybe my appearance of organization is just an illusion -- you know, plan is a four letter word!