des·ert (d
z
rt): 1. A barren or desolate area, especially:
a. A dry, often sandy region of little rainfall, extreme temperatures, and sparse vegetation.
b. A region of permanent cold that is largely or entirely devoid of life.
c. An apparently lifeless area of water.
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No, I’m not dead and I haven’t given up on blogging. I’ve been SUPER busy the last couple weeks and haven’t had any time to post. I’ll explain why.
Many of you know that I live in the Phoenix area. Phoenix, as you’ve probably heard, is nestled in the geographic area called the Sonoran desert.
Just as the definition above (pulled it right off the internet) describes, we get an extremely small amount of rain each year. Aside from the summer “monsoon” season, it is a rare occasion to see rain in the Valley of the Sun.
I’ve mentioned here that I was a vendor this past weekend at the Vintage Charm Holiday Boutique.
Let me share a Doppler image of Arizona from Friday.
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| source |
No, I’m not kidding. I wish I had doctored this image, but it’s true. The sky decided to un-zip right on top of my furniture.
Here’s a photo taken just a few miles down the road from the venue.
And the best part is, it lasted for 3 days. Yep. In fact, Friday was the rainiest day we’ve had in 10 years. This is the second wettest November in recorded history. So, you can imagine how my OUTSIDE booth at the boutique fared.
Thankfully, I sold a few items on Thursday before the rain started. Friday, I was stuck at home waiting for a client and watching the kids while my husband went to school and work (the venue was about 45 mins from our house). I asked him to stop by on his way home to survey the damage.
The good news was, only 3 of my most valuable pieces were destroyed (did you hear the sarcasm in my voice?), and everything else had been thrown into a pile under my tent, which was now sitting in 3 inches of standing water.
We borrowed a truck, grabbed the trailer and drove off to try to salvage what we could. I made sure to grab my camera to document the devastation, but when we got there, I went into panic/survival mode and completely forgot to snap any pics (sorry).
It was great fun wadding through the mud and flooded driveway to retrieve my soggy, wet work! Thankfully, some wonderful person grabbed my white tufted bench and placed it inside before it could get soaked. Other than that, everything looked like you had pulled it up from the bottom of a lake.
Apparently, my tent had also collapsed as some point in the night landing on my furniture and destroying my tent. I wanted to cry. All I could see was the hours upon hours of work, the time ignoring my kids, the dirty house for weeks. That was all washed away. Not to mention the financial investment.
I’m going to get real personal for a minute: The money that I planned to earn at the boutique already had a destination. Since we don’t have medical insurance, last year I incurred a medical bill that has been looming over our heads. It has now been sent to collections and is perpetually damaging our credit. The money from the boutique was supposed to pay off the bill and get the creditor calls to stop. Now, the little bit of money I made will have to go to repairs and buying a new tent.
Sorry to be such a downer today. On the bright side, I did take photos of everything before I took it to the boutique. So, I’ll have posts showing all the “before and after”s. I was REALLY happy with the way most of the pieces turned out. I’m excited to share them with you guys! So, look forward to some update posts coming soon. And thanks for letting me complain about my crappy weekend!
I am soo sorry. That must be so hard. I wish I could do something!! I know the Lord will help make it all ok! Trust that it will my friend!
Oh Elisha, I am so so so Sorry! My heart goes out to you and I feel sick about what happened! Not to mention you had been counting on those funds for such a vital thing! I wish I could do something, and I will pray that things will work out for you! Here's to hoping you have a better week! Hugs!
Omigosh I'm SO sorry!! My sister-in-law lives in Gilbert, but I didn't hear about any of this. Of course, she didn't have a booth set up at an outdoor venue either! Best of luck!!
-andi
Elisha I am so sorry!! That is just awful!! Oh it is horrible to have a medical bill looming over your head and creditors calling. We actually were in this situation once, my daughter had to be life flighted and our insurance didn't cover it. It was almost as much as the down payment on our first home. But she is alive and had no lasting damage to the accident. I am so sorry, I would have cried hard! Will keep you in my prayers that the income you need will come from a different source, and somehow this sucky event will turn out to be some kind of blessing. So sorry!
OmG Elisha! Be as crabby-grumpy-sarcastic-complaining as you want to be after all THaT!
I miss Phoenix sO mUch–but not THaT part. You're in my thoughts and prayers for sure!
Catherine
I am so sorry Elisha! All your beautiful work. You are in my prayers. Keep you chin up…you will get through this.