Super Sonic

We recently got a guest blog from Toni, our much-beloved ex-retailer-representative. While we're still in the midst of holiday order madness, here's her guest blog. The picture above is from the Oregonian. Thanks Toni! -- Rob

At this time last year I was covered in red ink smears and drowning in piles of holiday orders ready for proofreading. The non-stop ringing of the phone and Liz's epic sighs punctuated my day. Exercise came in the form of racing through the building on the hunt for papers, people, and cookies. Dinner? Oh yes, that was the 10 minutes of pizza before going back to the art production to hand-line another few hundred envelopes. After heading home from a 12-hour shift, I'd have a well-deserved pint of beer (it's beautiful being married to a brewer) and fall fast asleep only to dream of duplex papers. And you know what? I loved it.

This year I'm far from the Luscious crew and the holiday card madness. How far? Try 2,479 miles away in the rain-soaked state of Washington. These are old stomping grounds for the hubby and I, so it feels great to be back on the Best Coast even though we're living in a full-fledged state of emergency.

If you've been following the news, then you might know about the severe rainstorms and flooding in southwest Washington. Parts of I-5 (the main north-south artery on the west coast) are under 10 feet of water and countless rivers have crested causing road closures. Members of our National Guard are blocking freeway entrances and running rescue operations. Helicopter evacuations are still ongoing. Ryan (the hubby) heard on the radio that this is the biggest federal evacuation since Hurricane Katrina. Just a block away from our new home are barricades blocking access to two streets, due to flooding.

Fortunately, we're safe and dry. Unfortunately, we've both been able to reach work safely so we haven't had any downtime to watch the drama unfold. Did I mention that I work for the government now? Yep. It's pretty awesome so far. I get to use my publishing experience and play with InDesign. There are rumors that I might get to use some of my grant writing experience, too. Yea! Ryan's digging his new job as the new brewer at Dick's Brewing.

Hopefully this guest blog has bought Rob some extra time between postings. For all you industry insiders suffering the stress of holiday orders: Just keep breathing, it can't last much longer at this pace. And be nice to my darling LVCers! Cheerio!

-- Toni, customer service emeritus @ L.V.