Good in a crisis

I am. I'm a lateral-thinker. A problem-solver. A survivor.

It's probably because I get SO MUCH practise with it... what with my life being a litany of Things Going Slightly Askew, and all.

People who know me will say that perhaps if I wrote lists or did one thing at a time, or was generally less chaotic, things would run more smoothly ...but sometimes, things just HAPPEN.

My week at the Sydney Quilt and Craft Fair was a perfect example of this.
Monday's crisis: Volcanic ash cloud. No lists or tidy workroom could have saved me.

Lateral thinking: At the first whiff of a cloud over Adelaide, I was packing my bags in Melbourne and running for the nearest railway station. Somewhere during that long 12-hour overnight journey to Sydney, I received a text message to say that my Tuesday morning flight had indeed been cancelled.

Result: Although sleep-deprived and grumpy, I arrived in Sydney on Tuesday morning, in time to set up my display. My sister (who was also booked on the same Tuesday flight) arrived Wednesday morning.

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Tuesday's crises: Lost credit card (found later in the week on my desk back in Melbourne, where I'd left it mid-parking-fine-payment, when I dropped everything to jump on a train. Shame I'd cancelled it before it was found...and before I remembered to pay the parking fine). Dead phone battery and no charger for it. Publisher trying to contact me to deliver books for the show. Me, trying to contact the publisher, my sister (my helper for set-up and the show), the bank and my office (to see if my credit card was on my desk). No help to set up the enormous display.

Ok, I admit it - a bit less multi-tasking and a bit more list-writing might have saved me on the credit card and phone front. But give me a break... I was running for the one train that would get me to Sydney in time to set up.

Lateral thinking: I bothered the staff at the exhibition centre for a phone every hour or so, found a bank in the street and cancelled the credit card, stayed late and got in early Wednesday morning to finish setting up the display. I finally found a charger to borrow and found out that my sister was on the way... on the bus.

Result: I slept (guiltily.... thinking of Leonie on the bus) on a soft and comfy hotel bed, only having had one moment of near-complete-meltdown during the day. Ready for business on first day of the show.
My hanging mobile of Tulip Dresses and children's accessories received a lot of attention, which was good because it'd taken some serious lateral-thinking to work out that little corner of the stand.


The books arrived, and sold so well that I needed a second delivery before the weekend. Despite two boxes of them having had a rough courier ride, there were still enough undamaged copies to get me through the show.
"You Sew, Girl!" , the book, was well-received. I even had people who had bought it elsewhere coming up to thank me for writing it. That was nice.



Then I lost my voice. And my right eye swelled up (some sort of bite between my eyelid and brow). Luckily, I had the best bunch of helpers I could have asked for and they did an amazing job. Many thanks to Leonie, Cass, Peta, Gay, Nicole and Fiona for keeping the show on the road.This morning's crises were mere trifles... trying to exchange about $400 worth of $1 and $2 coins before banks opened and my flight was due to leave. My bags were overweight. I got up extra-early and managed to swap coins for notes with various vendors about the airport and then checked in.... only to have the flight delayed until midday. My bags were still overweight but the check-in girl didn't notice.

I got home and I'm happy to be here.

I can't say that I enjoyed my week in Sydney, but I did enjoy being at the show itself. I enjoyed meeting new people and catching up with old friends. I enjoyed seeing people enjoying what I do. I'm also glad that my history of dealings with badly-aligned planets, chaos and disorganisation stood me in good stead for all that was thrown at me. I'm glad that I survived.

Ok. Melbourne Quilt and Craft up next.