Do you ever wake up in the morning and think about the day before, and are reminded how very "thankful" you are for the life you've been given? Yesterday, Saturday, was one of those days for me. We are in the middle of our three day "Holiday Memories" big sale, and had such an incredible day yesterday. It's a feeling of being so slammed, so busy, your body aching, but at the end of the day when you crawl into bed at night, you think back on why you are so thankful for a day like that.
Obviously, when you close business for the day and see those awesome numbers, the ones you have to look at a few times to really let it sink in, you become thankful for that. But for me, I tend to see things differently as well. I was thankful to work with all of my kids (and they didn't kill each other) and Yesi & Carol who I also consider "my kids"! Yes, Carol is 31 but she will always be my kid! It's nice to be so busy and you all work together like a well oiled machine. After all these years, Country Roads still "clicks" with all of our customers. I don't really know how to tell you about the feeling you get being in business almost twenty years and have customers still enjoy shopping with you. Thankful doesn't quite cover that.
I had so many customers talking about the excitement of Rachel Ashwell's book signing next week. It warmed my heart to see so many people anxious to meet Rachel. I had a girl call me from, I think, Alabama yesterday. She wanted to know if I could get Rachel to sign a book for her and ship it to her. Why does that make me feel good? Because I've followed Rachel's career over these past 20 years. In the early years of Country Roads, she so kindly filmed segments of her tv show on Style network at the store. I always hold that kindness close to my heart. Rachel has also been a great customer as well which I also am grateful for. And I think what I admire Rachel for so much right now is the strength and courage she has shown this past year as she struggled publicly and as sadly, many people like to see successful people struggle. And Rachel, she's still standing, and I personally applaud that. Many people have been asking "why" Rachel is doing a book signing at Country Roads? Maybe because Country Roads has always been proud of Rachel, because "we" and "me" are just that, proud. It's not always easy to be a single business woman in this world of ours today, but as one lady told Rachel at a recent book signing after she met her, "you are on my bucket list, to meet you". Can you imagine how awesome that is to have someone tell you that?
Towards the end of the day yesterday, I was so very thankful to meet Sheril. Her and her husband bought Ruthie and Susan's house. After Ruthie moved back to Florida last year, she told me, "the Hardwood house is just that now, it's no longer a home". That always saddened me. I wish I had more time to talk to Sheril and her husband yesterday. But after chatting with her, I know now that the Harwood house is now a "HOME" in every sense of the word! Come to find out, Sheril's husband has a green thumb and he is bringing back Ruthie's garden to it's full beauty just the way Ruthie loved it to be. Sheril was telling me this story about they had gone to the estate sale before Susan moved, and she spotted this cute little white cabinet with decorative painting on it. Sadly it wasn't for sale. Ruthie had painted it, so it wasn't going to be part of the estate sale. But there was just something about it that kept calling Sheril's name. After six phone calls to Susan, it was sold to Sheril. She was also excited to learn yesterday that the room her and her husband had chosen as their master bedroom was Ruthie's. I had wished I had more time to chat because I could see how excited Sheril was to learn all these things. She had mentioned that she was a teacher, and I told her that was what Ruthie use to be. I swear, I saw tears fill her eyes, Sheril wanted to know where, what grade and sadly I had to get back to work. But I know Sheril and I will get to chat more about her new Harwood home!
And as the day came to a close, we had a customer in from Japan. He was there almost an hour after closing. As Katie was writing his order up, Carol and Yesi were turning off the lights. We've had this thing lately about ghosts. Yes, there has always been stories of ghosts in Old Towne Orange. On this past Monday when I worked with Carol & Yesi, a history teacher had been in shopping and basically scared the "you know what" out of Carol with his ghosts stories. As Carol turned out the final light in the store and was headed to the counter as we finished with our Japanese customer, Yesi, I believe jumped out at her in the dark and caused Carol to scream very loudly. In turn, our young Japanese man screamed and twirled around holding his chest, just like a girl! There was no way Katie and I could not laugh, and laugh, and laugh as our customer did too, still holding his heart!
After work I dropped Katie off and picked up Riley. It was Katie & Vinnie's wedding anniversary and they were going out to dinner. I took Riley over to Brande's, who was babysitting. We ended up walking over for dinner at Taco Surf. The beach was beautiful last night, and the weather was feeling like Thanksgiving to me. As I crawled into to bed last night, I thought about what a full day I had. I also thought about a phone call I had received during the day from one of my dealers. Her husband has been having a tough time with his health. He was self-employed and with our "awesome" economy, he dropped his health insurance because as we know, it is not exactly affordable. A couple of months ago, he was hospitalized because of almost going into a diabetic coma. Of course they send him home with an IV attached. They've sold their house, and are getting ready to move out of state to their daughters. Yesterday when she called and shared with me yest that he is having surgery on his back and there is a good chance it could paralyze him or cause him to have a heart attack, I didn't even know what to say. As she said, "it's all so surreal". It's tough to have these conversations at the counter because when we are busy it's so hard to talk on the phone. So, I hope Cheryl & Dan both know they are in my prayers, and I know it would sure help if some of you keep them both in your own prayers. They are truly awesome people, and I AM very thankful for them being a part of my Country Roads family! With all that said, I need to drag my tired but happy butt, out the door to my second home, Country Roads!
Yesterday, was the fourth day in a row that Country Roads has been slammed. Do I feel blessed? By all means yes and I'm so very grateful for the business. Yesterday we had trucks everywhere. The one above is from Universal and is headed up to the set of the new TV show this Spring, Parenthood. It's based on the old Steve Martin movie in the 1980's. I can't wait, as I loved that movie. I always thought it really showed what it was like to be a family. 
This truck is headed, I'm guessing down to the docks to have this load of treasures shipped to Japan. I can't begin to tell you how wonderful our Japanese customers are. Always polite, always nice and just a pleasure to work with. They have been some of our best customers since I first opened Country Roads back in January of 1993.
The one thing that always makes me feel really good, is to see so many of my Country Roads family working hard for the same goal. They know and understand the importance of quality merchandise, of good displays that "pop", and of course just like the rest of us, they too understand the importance of customer service. Because in the end, when all is said and done, if you don't understand, you don't "get" the meaning of customer service then you are just another "store" lost in the crowd of many others that blend with one another. I have no words to describe what it is like to have a business with so many good and supportive people in it. That is what keeps the name, Country Roads, fresh and brings the trucks back again and again!
