Missons (Almost!) Accomplished

WHEW! It was a good, quiet weekend. I had a long list when it began . . . and (miraculously!) got almost everything done by last night!

Once I got all of my NFT customers' names, addresses, and other particulars into the computer, it just took a couple of clicks of my mouse to make invoices . . . and another click to print them! (Believe me, I held my breath after clicking "print" . . . and what a sense of accomplishment it was when the invoices . . . printed!)

It was satisfying to see that stack of invoices, all ready to mail . . . and to get them in the mail. I don't know if my customers will be quite as satisfied when they actually get the bills . . . but I hope the newspaper is of high enough quality that they don't mind too much.

My other major job of the weekend was to update Tim's sale catalog mailing list. Our sale is November 23rd, and in the catalog are pictures and the breeding of the cattle that will be on the sale. I don't understand all of that (even after 20+ years knowing Tim I still don't know if the "sire" is the bull {father} or cow {mother}, but don't tell Tim that!) Luckily I didn't need to know any of that . . . I just go through the database of all the names and addresses (almost 3,000 at last count!) and delete the addresses if the catalog came back last year (because the person had moved) or change the addresses when the new address was on the little yellow sticker the post office put on the catalog . . . before they sent it back to us.

I hit "send" on that database last night, feeling very satisfied . . . until this morning when Tim asked me if I'd gone through the list line by line to see if there were duplicates (if the most minor thing is different--a letter not capitalized, a variation in the address, the label will get printed twice, and the person will get two catalogs).

I hadn't done that, and since I was going to work it was up to Tim to go thru the list. He found enough doubles, and enough names that were not on the list but should have been, to make it worthwhile.

NOW I am going through LAST year's sign up sheets to see if there are any names on that list, that are not on the mailing list but should be!

I really don't mind the computer work . . . it's not too stressful, just monotonous. But it's easy to do between tasks like putting a load of laundry in, eating lunch, letting the dogs out . . . letting the dogs in . . . (and surfing the net for just a few minutes for a break).

If you'd like a sneak peek of the cattle that will be on the sale, go to http://www.burkecattle.com/. If you want a catalog, you can e-mail me at shelly@shellyburke.net.

So, all in all it's been a productive weekend!