Custom Dolls

      When I was posting every day I often had a low-key amount of panic. How would I have enough photos for the blog? I definitely didn't finish new dolls 7 days a week. I don't even take photos every day, I just don't think about it. It became really stressful, not only trying to figure out how to get photos for the blog (because I can't post without a photo, that's just silly!) but because I was also trying to think of something to talk about. Sometimes I could talk about the dolls, potentially in great detail. And sometimes I could talk about school, Travis, Elecktra, horse shows... I usually could figure out something to say. 

     I have, currently, plenty of photos waiting in posts until I have something to say. Or until I feel like typing. I don't always feel like typing. I have had a lot of really repetitive days and weeks, for a good long while now. The last blog I mentioned that I have done a lot less doll work and it has been a really good summer. That is definitely true. So let me see if I can make a coherent post about some of the things I have been thinking about lately. 

     Last week I lost someone who I have considered family since I was young. He was the father of one of my childhood best friends and was also an amazing person. Growing up I spent so much time over at that house. All the kids were basically my siblings, and so were the other extra kids (other friends) that hung out there all the time. Reading this amazing man's obituary, and hearing the beautiful eulogy, written by his daughter (my first friend from the family) I learned so much more about him than I knew when I was a kid. But as I stood there and listened to all the amazing things I started to think. If it was my funeral, what would people say about me? "She worked a lot and was really good at paying bills" doesn't sound like a lasting impression. And honestly, would anyone even really know if I was good at paying bills? Even though I have been working less, sometimes a lot less, a lot of my free time is spent reading. Which is not usually an activity that does anything for anyone other than the person doing it. Besides feeling the loss of people, funerals make us think about a lot of things. Such as not forgetting to tell people we love them, reminding us to keep in touch (seriously, the last time I saw this particular friend was about 4 years ago), life is fleeting, and maybe even what we do matters. I want my actions to matter. I don't want to just work a lot so I can be good at paying bills. 

     Other things I have been thinking about are not nearly as deep. They are mostly about etiquette, and how people seem to have lost a lot of it. While driving in the funeral procession there was so much disregard for basic etiquette (and the law). Other drivers were honking their horns as they sat at the stop signs and lights (because they had to wait) or honking and cutting into the processional line. People were rude, inconsiderate, and basically self-absorbed. You know, what people typically are on a normal day. The bad behavior was so bad, and so common, that a friend and I commented on it at the cemetery. We also commented on learning that, of course, emergency vehicles are the only thing that stops the procession (we pulled over to let the ambulance pass).
     But that is a rare occurrence, I have not been in a funeral procession in many many years. What has become all too common is people disappearing. It is not just in the model horse hobby by any means, but where I personally see it the most. But let me pull together some examples from all over the place. My husband puts something for sale on Craigslist. Someone contacts him offering a price that is a lot lower than the asking price. He counters with another price... and they disappear. In the model horse hobby I have people who contact me for dolls or horses I have for sale, I respond... and then they disappear. People will ask if I take time payments, I say I do and ask what they have in mind for a payment schedule and then they just stop responding. Weirder is I have someone who will randomly message me asking where they can sell this that or the other (not a thing I make and I am not a store last I checked) and I give some suggestions, usually get told this person isn't part of that group, I might give another suggestion... and they disappear. Last I checked I am not the hobby yellow-pages (yes, I am yellow-pages references old!) and I just took some time out of my day to try to answer your question, the least you could do is say "thanks" or even just "OK". Sometimes. I think the absolute weirdest example of this is in the buy nothing, sell nothing group I am in for my town. People will post the stuff they are giving away, other people post that they want it, the person who posted chooses who will get it, both parties PM to figure out pickup details, and often the person who is getting the FREE item just doesn't show up! Not even a message to say hey, I changed my mind/had to work late/got attacked by murder hornets, they just don't show up. This behavior is baffling to me. 

     So yeah, these are some of my deep and not so deep thoughts of late. I have the thoughts about bad manners and poor etiquette often. I am sure in a short amount of time I will forget all about wondering what people will say about me when I die. I still think I want to be a haunted tree. Have I explained that one before?

*the dolls in the photo were a custom order from a few weeks ago.