Continuing the trend of not fighting to keep doing things a certain just because That's How It's Always Been Done: I've decided to formally abandon the practice of "weekly" store updates.

(I still think of it as a weekly thing, even though it's actually been years since I consistently managed it on a weekly basis. I... I might have a little trouble with change.)

I'd gotten to the point where I was absolutely dreading update days because it felt like this long exhausting marathon of photography and editing and .csv files and stress. Now I make something, I snap a few photos, and boom, it's up on the website and someone can buy it! And if I get interrupted by parenting or a migraine or some other minor crisis, I don't have to feel guilty about falling behind, because there's no deadline to meet anymore.

Weekly updates worked when I was able to work a nice normal 40 hour week, Monday through Friday, with no curveballs flying at me from all directions. That... hasn't been my life in a long time. Being a single parent means being in a state of CONSTANT VIGILANCE! at all times, and my physical disabilities have gotten worse. I still probably work 40 hour weeks, but it's in tiny chunks. An hour here between school pickup and my classes at night, half an hour there when I'm getting ready for bed, three hours in the morning before going to the doctor or therapist, five hours here when nobody's sick and it's a school day and I don't have any mid-day appointments. 

Yes, it's exhausting. But it's worth it, because the alternative is trying to support both of us on disability, and that's assuming I'd even be approved for disability, which is unlikely because look at all the things I manage to do on a daily basis! *headdesk* I like working. I'm actually pretty terrible at not working.

Another reason I'm letting go of the weekly updates model is that Friday night is the best time to do big updates, and even if I manage to perfectly time things so that I finish work at 5:30 on Friday afternoon, I'm tense and exhausted, and usually end up back at the computer for work as soon as we get home from shul... and that's not what I want to be doing. Setting Shabbat apart from the rest of the week gives me some breathing room, some quiet that I sorely need these days. Friday needs to be a day of tidying up and creative plotting, not a day of chaos and run-run-run-run-run deadlines.

So there you have it. No more "weekly" updates. I'm actually not committing to anything right now other than "make lots of shinies and get them on the website on a regular basis." I don't know what the best way to do that is yet, so I'm experimenting. I'll let you know once I figure it out. (If I figure it out.) 

Relatedly! As part of the website overhaul, I did away with the "newest" category on the main page. Instead, the newest shinies will always be at the top of the "available" page, which as you may have noticed has been renamed to "shiny things that you should definitely buy" - all the categories have been renamed, because I've decided I'm not good at I R VERY SRS ARTISTE and should just run with my sense of humor, which we all know is... slightly warped. Okay, very warped. ANYWAY.

If you really miss the option of seeing everything I've made lately in one place, regardless of whether or not it's been sold, I can add a "show everything" link somewhere, I guess? 

[Insert tidy concluding paragraph here, because I just abruptly ran out of brain]