Deiter

My 16 year old kitty is really sick. I took him to the vet this morning and his poor tummy is filled with fluid and we don't know where it's coming from. So I think this could be the end of big D. I'm very sad. I'm just going to post some more pictures of him. I'm going to miss him so much.

Christmas

I just received an email from one of my holiday customers who was inquiring about her portrait. I shipped out Thursday via US Mail and she's only in Abington MA so it should have taken a day - 2 at most. It's now Monday and she still hasn't received it . I go to the USPS website and they're telling me that they can't track it with the information that they have. I swear this is the last year that I'm using the post office. Next year, it's fedex or something else. I can't have this "not knowing where it is" over my head anymore. It causes more stress than deadlines. Not to mention all the presents that I ordered online and are coming via the post office and they're not here yet!! Or the gift I ordered for my father's birthday (Nov 13) and I haven't seen that yet. Granted it had the wrong zip code on it, but you'd think that the folks at the Cambridge post office would know where Mass Ave is and just send it along. Lord knows where that freakin' thing is. I remember working at a catalog company and we ran into lots of problems with UPS so I'm wondering is there any delivery service that works????

On that note, I'm still scrambling for Christmas .. although my party was last week and work party is this Tuesday and should be a lot of fun. I still have to finish some paintings and make desserts to bring to Christmas dinner.

I wish everyone reading this a happy Christmas and Merry new year!!!! Ho Ho Ho

Christmas Stress

Well, the 14th was the cut off day for orders and I'm all caught up on the commissions so I think that part of my holiday stress is over. Not bad season for a recession stressed economy. Lots of people opted for the smaller sizes out the sizes that I offer (Last year I had done 2 big ones). And lots of people took me up on my coupon offer. Which was fine, because with 20% off a small size you're pretty much only saving $10 or so. But as I do these portraits and a lot are of pets that had passed away over the year, all I can think about is how much these paintings mean to these people and that on Christmas morning that my art work will effect those people in such a meaningful way. THat's what it's all about!!

Now it's time to start stressing about the WedNight Christmas party and then after that I should be cool as a cucumber, right? I am doing a lot of made gifts for Christmas so I'll have those few days after Wednesday to take care of those.

I spoke to a friend of mine on Saturday night and that was a real buzz kill. He was scolding me for not making more money in this "art business" and that it "breaks his heart" so see that I'm actually loosing money on a yearly basis. I had to remind him that I'm also having a great time doing it and that it's not all money and we all have to start somewhere and all that. He wouldn't really listen to me and instead said that I should join forces with him and work for him selling plumbing parts. I may not be making money hand over fist, but I'm sure not going to be spending my time with plumbing parts. Needless to say, I ended the phone call fairly quickly.

Welcome Christmas!

It's been 2 weeks since I blogged (I was stuck in Dullus {Washington DC}) airport last Monday. Missed my connection by 5 minutes. Literally watched my plane pull away from the gate as I was running down the terminal. *sigh*. Was able to get on "standby" on EVERY flight headed back to Boston. When I was talking with customer service I had told her I was willing to fly to Manchester NH or Providence RI if she could get me on. I realize (after having working in customer service for many years myself) that you can't take it out on the person who is sitting behind the computer. Yeah, it sucked being in that airport. It sucked knowing being on the first plane I would miss my connection but I can't take it out on her. And you know, she gave me a $100 voucher for the next time I fly. Of course after this incident I'm thinking "I'm never doing this again." But you know I will. So be nice to the people who are trying to help you. You might get a sweet deal out of it.

Speaking of being nice .... the holidays are here!! I did the Jamaica Plain First Chuch art/craft fair on Saturday and made +$75. That may not seem a lot for standing around all day but sometimes I walk away from these fairs negative in the hole so any + sign is a good sign!! :) However - it was SUPER tight. I put my things up on the piano and only had some walking room around so people could check out my things. The woman next to me who mittens and hats and other sewed items was also a member of the church so she had a fan club in her booth that was overspilling into mine. Which was fine until one of her friends layed down her purse on all my stuff. She was just so unaware. I did mention something to her. And I had a small girl "playing" with my magnets. I don't like repremanding children but this was getting out of hand. I just asked her "What are you doing with my magnets?" and she said. "Playing with them" then I just said, "Hmmmm. Are they toys?" And she looked at me like, Huh? and then I said, "You know, I did put these in a certain order for a reason so I really don't like it when they get all messed up." She just took off after that.

I've also started getting some commissioned orders and redeemed orders. Just as I had predicted people are holding on to their gift certs for the holidays. That's okay. As long as I can get all the things I need to get done, then I'll be okay. It'll be interesting.

We got our tree yesterday so I'm finally feeling the spirit creep into me. LOL!!

Thanks

So this is the week of Thanksgiving. I have to give thanks for all those who have supported the arts throughout the years. Whether you went to a show, bought a painting, attended an art show or even gave your kid a box of crayons to keep their imagination going, you are indirectly supporting art and creativity that keeps us being human. Thank you.

This past weekend I did a fund raiser for the Friends of Greyhounds. It was a long day with no customers and a lot of the same CD played over and over (some American Idol BS that was driving me crazy). The woman who organized it wasn't thinking about traffic in a literal sense. The event was held in a lobby area in an high end apartment building off the beaten track over in Waltham. She explained to me that she works in real estate and had shown apts in that building and there was always some sort of traffic going through the lobby. I can only think that maybe at 6 or 7pm on a week night maybe. But this was a Saturday and it was freezing out. She did send an email out to all of us and she was able to raise $150 for the greyhounds and that she "learned a lot of lessons" for next years event. Lets hope so. I ended up being set back by $11. I really wonder if I could do any better organizing an event. There are so many things that I've learned through out the years....

This week I'll be flying out to SC to see my sister's family for Thankgiving. I have a lot to do this coming few weeks including 2 portraits, holiday cards, Christmas presents and prints of the watercolors. Ebay sales have picked up a little bit, so that's good. I'm really wondering how this holiday season is going to play out. Just wait and see.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Holiday madness

Hello to all. Well, Oldies 103.3 in Boston here has started playing Christmas Carols on a 24 hour basis...which gets me thinking "here we go again!". It's 2 more weeks til Thanksgiving but there are a lot of people out there already buying, making and selling for the holidays. I've gone ahead and downloaded the paintings that I did in the fall (business was slow for me which is better for the portfolio) and plan to do a constant contact marketing promo this week. Next weekend is also the greyhound benefit show, however the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has banned dog racing starting 2009, so I'm not sure how many people are going to turn out to this event. I've also downloaded and older painting that I did for my Christmas card this year. I have a feeling that this year is not going to be that busy. Let's hope not.

The weekend

So I went to an little art show on Friday night. It was free and I just stumbled upon it because it was in the church next to the gym I go to. (and I went to kickboxing on Friday night). Anyway, I went after class to see what this little church in Cambridge had to offer.

One woman I spoke with was very nice to talk to. She jumped into a conversation with me asking me about the boots I had just purchased at another store. They're golashes with roses on them :). Anyway, she was a beader, lots of jewerly - one of those crafters that you see at every craft fair. Although she did have bracelets made from old typewriter keys that were cool. I asked her how she knew about the fair and how it was going for her. She told me that she knew about it from a connection that she made through the Christmas Dove artisans association. And then went to tell me about the event that was last year. Funny thing it about this is that I was thinking of doing the Christmas Dove last year. But they ask you for a fee, you display with your own display things and then you had to work the weekends in December. She told me that it wasn't worth the effort. Lot of work for no reward. I'm glad that I opted out of that show.

I also saw a terrific artist who would cut out landscapes in metal and then print them on to paper, then take the metal template and make a painting on that. It was very unique and that was impressive for me. You see so much of the same thing at these shows - I think that's a big reason why people don't go to these shows anymore. But we were talking (I believe her name is Rachel but I left the business card at home... I'll find it and post her site. She's worth checking out.) and we were talking about having a studio. There are many reasons why I don't have a studio. Number 1 is money and the lack there of. Number 2 is that I have this feeling that if I had a studio that I'd never go in there. It'd be a outa sight outta mind kind of thing. But she made a point saying it was the paying for the space that made her feel obligated to go. I can see that for sure. She also talked about when her work was at home in the house that she had a tendency to put things before the artwork. Like, oh there are dishes to be done and there's laundry to do.... I'm thnking Oh this is me like every day. Wasn't it just last week that I cleaned, did a bottle return and grocery shopping on a Saturday and by the time I got home the day was shot. No painting got done that day. SO I knew exactly what she was talking about. Jason was funny: when I retold this story to him, he's all "What? Does she do her laundry with a washboard? You just load the machine and go."

Well, that aside, I didn't go out on Saturday at all and was able to get Nicole's dog, Arthur, done. He's a cute Yorkie puppy and this painting resembles both him and a little old Japanese man. Jason said it looked more like an oil painting from a distance and that made me very happy. I have one more commissioned portrait on my table and then we'll see if any other Christmas orders come in. I have to do a holiday promo email soon. I have a ton of new emails from my Facebook connections so hopefully some of these people that I haven't talked to in 20 years will place some orders.

October

Well, it's been a busy month!! I took the last 3 Mondays off, hence the reason why I havne't published anything; Monday being the day that I do that!



Spent some time in Vermont and relaxed. But besides that I did 2 fairs, as I mentioned in my last post. When doing the raffle for gift certificates I got the information of a guy who does boarding for small dogs only. Later that week I called him and asked if he'd be willing to display some work of mine in exchange for a link on my site. He was kind enough not to just put it out, but hung it on a wall along with a post card holder for all his clients to see. I'm thrilled! Hopefully we'll get some business out of that.

I also have some friends who have contacted me about portraits for themselves as well as for gifts for their loved ones. My friends are great to support me and what I do - thanks sooooo much to them!!

I also had a donation gift certificate redeemed so that's one painting that I'll be doing for free. That's okay though. I did it to raise awareness of the shelter (as well as advertising). Now, I just need to tell her to tell all her friends in Nevada(!) about me so that they can get their pets done too!

Ah the Christmas season. I love it. I really do. Every year I'm thinking that I'll do my Christmas cards in June to get it out of the way but it never happens. So I'll be busy this week doing the orders that I have and waiting for more orders to come. In the mean time, clean my house and get ready for the holiday season!! I'll have to put a constant contact email together and since I've joined Facebook, there's more emails to add to my list. Hopefully the friends that I had in grade school will pass my info along as well. Marketing marketing marketing.

This November I'll also be doing a show for a Greyhound benefit. Thank God it's in Waltham, and I won't have to drive very far :)

2 shows in 1 weekend

Yes, 2 shows in one weekend. I'm exhausted and back at work for another fun filled week at McPhail.

First show was the Maynard Fest. This is more street fair than an art show and the place was packed with kids. Every age toddlers to teens. They definately gave me some prime real estate being in the center of the center of town. I was in front of the church where they had live music (always a big draw) and at the stop to get your kid a ride on the tractor train . (Just a John Deere with some passenger cars behind it.) So I was able to capture some of the parents and grandparents attention while the kiddies were on the ride. I didn't sell a whole bunch and some people were interested, but it wasn't as positive as Scituate is (or was for that matter). I did decide to do a raffle for another gift certificate and that brought in 1/2 my revenue. I haven't had many GCs redeemed, but as I said to Mum last night, "Who knows; I may be painting for free this Christmas!" The weather was sunny, but windy. I hate the wind at a show. It destroys everything. I had to lay down some of my pieces flat so they wouldn't knock over and weigh down the paper with everything else. I forget how cold it can get with the wind too. I was freezing.

Sunday was the "Woof N' Worship" at the Pilgrim Church in Weymouth. I stopped doing church shows and VFW shows a while ago. Honestly, really no one goes to these little small ones anymore and really for good reason. I say this because the churches and VFWs or Elks will take anyone in whether it's handcrafted or not. For example, if you've been to these shows before, you know that there are an over abundance of beaders/jewelers out there. They are everywhere. This show that I was at yesterday not only had jewelers, but it was catalog jewelry. Lia Sophia and that sort of thing. Now, I don't care if your a rep for a catalog company, that's your thing. But personally I can't buy it when it's the same prices as the stuff that I see my friends and neighbors make. And they don't even sell the jewelry, they just want to get in your house to do a home show. But I am going off topic.....
So I am one of the "animal themed" people there. There was a pair of ladies that helped with senior citizens and their pets.... such as if Grams has to go into a nursing home or a elderly community what's going to happen to her kitty of 16 years? This org comes in and takes care of your elderly animals. I thought that was pretty admirable. There was also a English Sheep dog rescue and 2 dog trainers. One was smart by making treats for the doggies and stapling her contact info to the paper bag. Marketing marketing marketing. But then it started to rain (Lia Sophia had left by this point anyway). There certainly weren't alot of people there, but this is the first time the chuch had this event, so I wasn't expecting a crazy turnout anyway. She was written up in the papers around the area. But when it started to rain (about 3pm and this was to go on til 5pm) everyone left. Everyone but me and the elderly kitty people. So we moved inside to the church basement. And you know what?, smart move. Because the blessing was at 5pm, more people came during the hours of 4 & 5 than the rest of the day. I don't think I'll do it again, maybe once a year or something but I need more people at these shows.

So this week, I'm planning to replenish inventory that was sold over the weekend. The Red Sox are playing tonight so I'll be painting (I listen to it on the radio). I also need to pick up my artwork that didn't sell at the NEAFA benefit. Bummer. Talking with Ernie last week, we were talking about how to increase my sales and suggested that I put together flip portfolios with photos and paintings and have them displayed at different places. At the Maynard show, I was able to get contact information from the Hudson MA Animal Hospital and Idle Dog (a boarding facility for small/toy dogs) so I'm going to be contacting them some time this week about putting a display up in their offices.

Marketing marketing marketing.... It's like 97% of what I do.

the past 2 weeks

I can't help but blame the economy and the recent financial markets for my slow business lately. I attended the JP Open Studios yesterday and there were a lot of artists expressing the same thing. But their works,,, some were in the thousand dollar range. Some pieces were great. But it's all in the eye of the beholder.

The upside of being slow is that my portfolio is growing leaps. I am able to do paintings of the breeds that people have requested. Not that they look like their dogs, but whatever. I've done a mastiff and there's a blood hound coming next. Not to mention the "2 kittens in a corner" and the sheep that I'm working on right now.

I just can't stop painting regardless of what the business is like. After touring around the JP Open Studios, Tracy and I have decided to open her apt. for open studios next year. She's got a good set up. She just has to start beading.

we shall see....

The Last Week of Summer

And it's still 80 freakin degrees out. I'm ready for fall and the cool crisp mornings that come with it.

And the business! Let's hope that this fall and Christmas season picks up despite of all the crazy financial stuff going down. I heard this morning that Bank of America bought out Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers has filed for bankruptcy. How does this effect me, the Pedigreed artist? Just like you'll see today in the stock market that a lot of people are holding on to their money, and not spending it on luxury items such as pet portraits or art for that matter.

So it's going to be a slow season I'm sure, but I'm hoping something will turn up. This week's projects include putting together a bit of a displaying portfolio and gift certificate and driving down to Norwell to drop it all off for the Scituate Animal Shelter fund raiser. And of course to work on paintings. Last week I finished the "sisters" and did a small 5x7 of a mastiff and started an 8x10 which I'm going to call "Kittens in a Corner".

Until next week....

This past week zzzzz

Last weekend was a whirl. Why is it that every time there's a 4 day work week that it just seems to go on forever.

I was finally able to get my constant contact email out with my events for the fall/Christmas season that has snuck up on us rather quickly. One included a event for the New England Arts for Animals with the reception on this past Sat, the 6th. Granted I sent it out the day before the reception, but the exhibit is running through the entire month of September, so you could go out and look at it if you wanted to. One good thing though, is that I have a woman who also donates alot to the causes that I donate to and that's how we've met. She is now donated a piece for the New England Arts for Animals. I love it when good things come together.

The reception was quite nice. What I did notice is that some people were selling glicee prints for as much as my original watercolor! Which makes me think that maybe i'm pricing to low, but hell, no one's buying as it is anyway. I'm not going to change anything right away. I do know that glicee printing can be very expensive (at least the last time I looked into it) and some of the framing was custom done and that is always expensive!!

I also went riding this weekend up at Chrislar, was able to swing by my parents house for lunch and a dip in the pool. Yesterday, Jason and I went up to Newbury NH (and other towns west of Concord) and try to scout out some deer. We found more moose sign than anything! I may just take a day and sit and wait for a moose to show up and watch him. That would be soooo cool.

Jason's already talking about driving up to NY state next weekend so that he can sniff out some hunting spots out there. I told him that he's pretty much on his own. I don't want to make a 3 hour trip up there only to come back early the next day (another 3 hour car ride). We're going to Mars Volta on Sunday night.

Labor Day weekend

I've been away to lovely lake Carmi in Vermont this past weekend, so nice!

I've been accepted to participate in the Howl -A-Day greyhound fundraiser so that's good. I'm ready to update my events page but our computer's are having a meltdown today and I haven't been able to get up to that site yet just to see what the traffic stats are. I'm sure it wasn't a whole lot anyway. I don't know many who spent this past weekend on a computer vs. being at the beach or the lake (like me!).

So it's the start of September and it's the last month of this quarter to try to make up some $$ for the worst sales season since I've started. I haven't spent alot, but I haven't recieved alot of interest in what I do either.

I still feel like I'm riding that freakin rowboat from the weekend though. Vertigo is the worst

Vertigo

The bad news is I have been suffering from vertigo the last week. Not so bad I can't drive my car but bad enough I need to hold on to the banister every time I walk up the stairs. I emailed my Dr and she said that this could last to a couple of days or as long as a month! It's been a week and 2 days and I'm sick of it :( meh make it stop. Not to mention Jason keeps singing the U2 song and that just bugs the crap out of me.

The good news is I finally sat down and got my Echo painting done! Only took like a month! Jees Louis! I did get an inquiry about 2 commissioned pieces. But she emailed me a picture of the picture to work from. Literally, took a digital picture of the framed picture she has on her mantel. I told her that she either needs to scan it or send the actual picture to me. I'm good, but I can't work miracles!!

I've donated a gift certificate and a painting to the New England Arts for Animals and their function. They're having an opening reception on the 6th of September, but it's like 1-4pm. I'm riding that morning and then weather depending will determine if I go to the reception. I'd like to go but summer's coming to a close and I'd rather spend my time outside if it's nice out. Am I bad like that??? :) Probably.

Guilty

I'm feeling guilty for not working on any painting since August began. I think I'm loosing my marbles because of it. I tried last night when I got home. It began when I put a CD in the player that's in the studio (aka kitchen) and found that there was already a CD in there. I went to the living room with it to put it in the player that's in there. (it's an unwritten rule in my house that if you find a CD but no case, put it in the machine.) So when I went to open the player, I could hear CDs falling in the player and now the auto drawer is jammed. So now I go to get the CDs that were already in there. I unscrewed as much as I can thinking I was going to put this back together again, but ended up having to tear the front of it off to get them. All the while I'm thinking, "How the HELL does this happen?!?!" I mean, the living room player was a piece of crap anyway, but it still played DVDs. So this took some time and I ended up just going to bed afterwards. So no work got done and there's a 3/4 finished painting of Echo in a birthday hat that's been sitting there since July. I have to get it off my table, I'm so sick of looking at it.

I'm looking forward to a short week

I am taking this Thursday off because I'm going to see Radiohead on Wednesday night and just hate going to work after a conert evening. I am also going to the Vineyard this weekend and just can't get to the beach fast enough.

This past week I've uploaded most of my portfolio on to Flickr, per the idea of my friend Tracy who is a Flickr junkie. But it was a good idea as I am recieving alot of feedback and even some questions about ordering paintings. So a BIG thanks to Tracy!! Here's hoping we make a connection.

I've also started a Facebook account and have found some old friends. I really want to start putting some stuff up there, too. But it will be awhile as I feel that I should finish with the Flickr first.

I'm also ending my mailing campaign this week. It seems as though what was a good idea has just cost me what feels like at least a thousand dollars in postage. I was able to get some of my work in a vet office in Miami. But I need more than that. I was reading on Artbusiness.com that mailing lists are a bad idea. Well, I had to give it a try I guess.

Scituate Hertitage Days

Well, this past weekend marked my 6th year anniversary of being an artist for hire for your pet portraits. Crazy that it's been that long. I have certainly come a long way from propping my stuff up with bricks and my prints wrapped in saran wrap! What the hell was I thinking!?

I made some money back which was always nice :)! A good portion was the raffle for a gift certificate for a 5x7 painting. I called the winner last night to get her mailing address and it took her a minute to remember what it was all about. I think she might be an elderly woman. I do hope that she redeems it.

It rained both days, but held out to the end and because I have my EZ up tent back (thanks Dad! aka Mr. I Can Fix Anything) I was able to put up a side on the back end and the paintings didn't get wet at all. The rains only a bummer when it scares all the people away. It's the wind that destroys my things.

If you are from the Massachusetts area and want a great summer festival the Heritage Days are always on the first weekend of August. The whole weekend is celebrated with alot of different activities including music, arts, a pig roast! there's a pancake breakfast in the church down the street. Tracy and I also went out for fried clams & scallops ooooh sooo good!!!

So this week will be just to fill in the holes of inventory and to clean up my apartment. I've been very busy trying to get things together for this show (it's like my mid summer restock & clean up) that my condo has been neglected and now looks like a tornado went through it.

Monday 7/28

hello and welcome to Monday July 28th.

I was able to put up the 3 dogs on the website, but I haven't received any feedback on it. I'm not all that surprised. It's okay.

I've looked into marketing myself on a more global level but need to know how to get my name out to all those international animal lovers. I've contacted a equestrian website out of the U.K. to advertise there. I emailed to get pricing and such but haven't heard back from anyone. Maybe they don't want to do business with a Yank such as myself? I've decided to go on to Ebay and switch my shipping options to all international, but doing that I'd have to relist all my 200 listings so that's probably not going to happen for a while.

I've also joined Facebook and uploaded pictures of my paintings on to Flickr - simply for more exposure. I sure hope that this will bring in some business as well. Any other ideas.?????


This week, I have to start getting ready for the Scituate Heritage Days. I pray for good weather. 2008 has had a trend for screwing up alot of my weekends weather wise. Just yesterday, for example, my boyfriend and I had gone to the Berkshires for a little R&R and Sunday early afternoon we were caught in a storm so severe, I had to pull to the side of the road; couldn't see 2 feet in front of me. It started coming down so much and then there was hail! I haven't seen hail since Oct of 1999? But it lasted for about 20 minutes and we started driving again only to find that the storm had caused a landslide and a brook blew out right over Rt 20! We had to turn around and decided to hit the road towards home. (what else were we going to do?) And then the traffic! O - it was awful. I was in the car for at least 3 hours and then getting all bugged out! We finally pulled off and got something to eat. By that time the rain had passed and we went to Wachusett Reservoir and caught the most beautiful sunset. Lots of bats too!

But enough about the weather. This week is all about getting ready for the Daze, as this is the show where I usually try something different (last year, I had a raffle for one of my paintings). I don't know what to do for this year, except maybe start showing more landscapes as well as the pet portrait portfolio. But I'm on limited time and budget so it may not be something that grand. I don't know yet.

Somerville Art Beat 2008

This is new to me, so forgive me if I ramble and rant....

I was a vendor at the Somerville Art Beat in Davis Square this last weekend. What a great turnout for such a hot day in the city. They had a stage with live music and lots of food and lots and lots of artists. The theme this year was "Green" as in eco-friendly. I didn't see alot of Green related things, but then again, I usually do these shows by myself so I don't get beyond my booth much.

Lots and lots of dog lovers, but I must admit I was running out of cat magnets they were selling the most. Which I thought was great, being a cat owner myself. I think that there are so many things that are dog related these days but those people don't realize that there are more 5 times as many cats in households than there are dogs. So I always like to keep an array of cat images in my portfolio.

I'm in Scituate the first weekend of August and usually put out my new paintings at this show. I'm not sure if it's going to happen this year, though. Not for lack of new paintings, but the fact that I have to lug everything up to my 3rd floor apartment to flip things around, bring them back to the van only to have to lug everything up again because we're taking the van and 4 other people with us to the Radiohead show, all this in 90 degree plus humidity. So I may just wait until afterthat and exhibit the new things in September. I plan to do the Worcester StART on the street. I've heard that's a good one as well.

So I think what I'll do with this blog is set my list for the week and then come back on Mondays to let you know if they were accomplished or not! I believe by publishing them it may get my butt in gear to get things done.

So this week is to -restock the inventory I sold on Saturday - mail the gift certificates to Poppymart and the CAPS that I promised for their fundraisers - mail more business cards to Dr. Carro vet office - finish the painting of Echo in his birthday hat - and list the "3 dogs" on my website for sale. I think it would look great in a vet office or a groomers office/waiting room.. So I'll be back Monday 7/28 and let you know how I did.