* The Stock Show was a good time; we met a lot of people, made some new business contacts, completed quite a few custom orders, and of course: sold some things. In the sales department, we didn't do as well as we'd hoped, but not as bad as we'd feared - if that makes any sense.
* We took our first large custom order near the end of the Stock Show. The order was fulfilled in April, after working through the design period, materials testing, laser work, and assembly of the finished products. The order was for 220 leather coasters, attached to discs of rock salt that the customer provided. They were done as souvenirs for an International conference that was to be held in the area in May. From what we had heard of the event, it's possible that several of our pieces are now scattered around the world! Which brings us to...
* Right after that order was completed, the laser and the rest of our household was packed up and shipped to... Japan.
* We moved to Japan in late May, due to Jeff's "day job" in the Air Force. We will be here for the next four years. So far, we are loving it!
* Our household goods were delivered in July, we are still in the process of getting fully settled in to our new home.
* In the past week, I have finally unpacked all of our leftover inventory from the stock show. I am in the process of quality checks, categorizing, doing inventory, and working on getting some of the items listed online.
* The laser itself is still offline at the moment, but it is our plan to get everything hooked up to have it up and running again this weekend.
Whew! That should bring everyone up to speed on what's been going on over the last several (exciting) months. Stay tuned for more updates as our laser business rumbles back to life!
