Here Comes the Sun....

How about a group chant: Sun, sun, sun, here it comes!

I'm participating in a craft show at an outdoor restaurant over the weekend and it's been raining in my part of the world for the last three days. The Weather Channel is predicting thunderstorms tomorrow. Thunderstorms. And showers off and on for the rest of the week, possibly into Saturday. Give me a small break, please. Yes, I know. It's spring. But I've got this show to do in a few days, see, and rain just won't do.

I started doing craft shows about two years ago. Since many of the larger craft shows require vendors to have a sales tax ID, I decided to try to turn my passion into a legitimate business. To be honest, my business expense reporting has been hit or miss over the last couple of years, probably because I have no idea what I'm doing. As computer-savvy as I am, just thinking about sitting in front of my PC entering every single transaction into Quickbooks or even an Excel spreadsheet makes me want to head straight for the liquor cabinet (if I had one. Do people still have those?)

At tax time, I download my info from PayPal, look through the paper receipts I've thrown into a drawer over the past year, drag out the ancient calculator that I got for free from I-don't-even-remember-where and get to work. Hey, remember when you actually had to pay for a calculator? Now every time you order a subscription to TIME magazine or start a new job, someone hands you one. How cool is that?

But I digress. My understanding is that if you show losses for three years, the IRS sends you a nasty note advising you that since you're not showing a profit from selling the widgets you've been making in your basement, you need to give up, kill your dream of never again having to answer to Mr. or Ms. Bozo in the corner office, and deem your passion as just a hobby. And don't bother knocking on the IRS' door again until you're ready to bring in the bucks.

So. This year, I'm going full-tilt. I'm signing up for every show that I can afford and that will have me. I'm buying nicer business cards, just signed up to accept credit cards at shows (picture me freaking out a little about this one), and I'm trying to make smarter choices regarding my business expenses. Buy in bulk; resist the temptation to buy every shiny bauble on my suppliers' web pages; pick and choose craft shows/flea markets more judiciously. And somewhere in there, I'll carve out some time to do what I truly enjoy: making pretty earrings. No, I haven't been entering my business costs into Quickbooks or Excel. I will not with a mouse, I will not in a house, I will not here or there, I will not anywhere... Maybe next year.

All I really need now is for the weather to cooperate. Ok, everybody! All together now: Here comes the sun, and I say, it's alright....