Mystery Story

Well, it appears yet again calamity strikes, at least a minor calamity, and now we have a mystery to solve. I have been having the worst luck lately. Last week I went to get my second COVID vaccine shot. Our county had none available so I had to make two 100 mile trips to another county. I didn't mind this too much; determined to make the best of it I searched the area for thrift stores and restaurants and discovered the adorable town of Lenoir, NC. I now have many new friends there, several honey hole thrifting spots, and a new favorite bakery. That said, each vaccination required a day primarily away from home, which any mother knows isn't the easiest thing to work into the day!

As I prepared to leave I saw a $300 order of new inventory for my doll shop had been delivered by UPS. I carried the box over to the knife drawer in the kitchen, sliced open the box for a rudimentary check that everything was included, and left the box sitting on the counter. Then I got in the car and left.

I arrived back home in the early evening, laden with thrift store purchases and empanadas for supper (It turns out Lenoir is a hotspot for empanadas! I recommend Julia's Bakery & Cafe, sometimes listed on Maps as Fresh & Delicious Bakery). Several more boxes of inventory had been delivered in my absence by USPS and one of the kids brought them into the kitchen. While I reheated the empanadas I cut open each box to check the contents and carried them into the family room in preparation to list the contents in my shops.

After supper my arm was starting to hurt and I was very tired so I went to bed early. The next morning I could barely drag myself out of bed. I felt like I had been anesthetized. My axillary lymph node under my arm was very painful and swollen to the size of a plum. I shipped some orders and went back to bed for basically two days! I felt better on the weekend, but we had soccer games and my husband's birthday, so it wasn't until yesterday I started going through my new inventory. I went to get my order of doll hooks to make stringing kits and quickly discovered that box, the largest order, wasn't among the other boxes. I turned the house upside down looking for it to no avail. It just disappeared! 

The nearest I can figure, our youngest son has two daily chores: feeding the animals and taking out the recycling. The animals remind him to feed them but we have to ask him multiple times most days to take out the recycling. The recycling is on the same counter where I placed the box, but on the other side. It would appear, in a sudden burst of familial duty, he took out the box of doll supplies along with the recycling, not looking inside it or considering it was in a different place on the counter as the other recycling. So, I think he threw away $300 of doll supplies! I went ahead and re-ordered everything. Unfortunately now the 27mm eyes in green are out of stock, so the cost isn't as high, but it's certainly high enough! If that weren't disgusting enough, I got word I mixed up the shipping labels on the orders I sent the morning after my shot, so people got the wrong orders. That has required me to send out multiple free products and pay extra shipping to clean up my mess. It's just been a very challenging time, especially because earlier in the month I was doing so well. Several 60s doll trunk sets I created sold out before I could even write a blog post about them. My injured thumb has nearly recovered. My doll hospital has remained full. My oldest son is about to graduate from college, freeing up lots of money we've been paying for his education.

I am just trying to dwell on the positive aspects of all this. Just a short time ago, like within the last few years, something like this would have devastated me. I would not have been able to come up with another $300 to replace the lost inventory. I wouldn't have been placing orders like that in the first place, because I didn't sell that much! I am so grateful my business has grown to the place this is a huge inconvenience  and very upsetting event, but something I can overcome. I have the same challenges as anyone running a business nowadays, the haters who message me to tell me my prices are too high, or the dolls I am selling aren't correct in some way, but I am extremely lucky. I love my job and enjoy most aspects of it, the freedom most of all. I just have to remember we all have ups and downs and the upswing is surely on the way!

You can find all my shops on my website, ateliermandaline.com. My Mother's Day Sale starts tomorrow on eBay, Etsy, and Depop. I hope you find something you love!