Whimsy

I just added a new necklace to my Etsy store! This is one of my favorite pieces. I hope you like it. Let me know what you think! I'd really like to get your opinions!!

Yearning for spring?

I'm SO looking forward to spring and getting the chance to dig in my flower beds! If you are too, click on the title of this entry to see the featured Etsy store on "We Love Etsy Feedback" blog. It's the cutest little shop and she sells seeds and plant cuttings and really cool stuff that grows!
Good luck!

Is there still romance after 25 years of marriage?

You bet there is :) It may not be the kind of romance we used to share and it may come in the oddest of moments but there is still a bit of romance to be found.


Today we shared a job we both really dislike doing....grooming the dogs. His gift to me was in clipping the nails, a job I abhor and he doesn't much like either but he did it for me.
He and Chrissy bathed both dogs for me...another job I don't mind but hate doing on the same day. Grooming is hard work and for me to do all steps alone and then clean up afterward is almost impossible. I clipped, and cut, and brushed, and combed, and sweet talked the dogs into absolutely adorable examples of the Terriers they are supposed to resemble. Chrissy and Barry followed with broom and cloth to clean up after I made a monumental mess. Together we managed to accomplish a really big job. That is a gift.


Today we worked on a jigsaw puzzle together. We've had it quite a long time and it's one I gave him to go with his Harley Davidson collectible "stuff". I was amazed! He doesn't really like doing these puzzles, it's more fun for me, but he worked diligently and with great patience on it. Funny, I haven't had much time to work on it but I didn't fuss at him for spending a perfectly good Saturday on something so "unproductive". It's Valentine's Day after all!


The best part was when he brought the giant heart shaped cookie he gave me....along with a knife to cut it because he wanted a piece :) I'm happy to share my heart with him along with my cookie :)


We spent the day together, under the same roof, occupied by different and shared projects, meeting in the middle to share gifts that would seem meaningless to most, a kiss or a hug and most importantly a quiet kind of love that doesn't require much in the way of flashy cards, dinners out, or flowers. This is the kind of romance I most treasure.


I hope you had a happy Valentine's Day with the love of your life. Exciting or quiet, lavish or low-key, sexy or just snuggled up, I hope you had a day as wonderful as ours.

Click here for Valentine's Day Features and Fun!

It's been quite a day at my house. Not because it is Valentine's Day but because my shops are being featured on a cool blog that features ONLY Etsy shops that have a 100% positive Feedback rating.


With the feature are give aways from each of my shops (your choice) and a sale with a special Password available only through the website. Go check it out, it's easy and all you have to do is comment on your favorite item in each of my shops (don't forget to leave contact info in case you win!), then wait for a computer generated drawing to see if you are the winner. That's easy and a great way to get something fun for free too!


Not only that but I'm offering a great sale on this blog special as well. I've been busy trying to add new items to my shops but they either sell locally or pretty quickly after they are listed. So if you don't see something you know I have or make just let me know and I'll see if I can come up with a special listing just for you. I love my Etsy customers and friends! And some of you are extra special to me. (You know who you are!!!)


Thanks and good luck.....I hope you win!!!

NO New Year's Resolutions for me!

Mid-January already? I KNOW! It's impossible that so many days have passed during this New Year and I have yet to come up with even one profoundly insightful conscious thought. LOL! Like that happens so often!

This is one thought I did have. Not profound or thought provoking but a simple statement of fact. I'm not making New Year's Resolutions this year. I always feel like a failure if I don't manage to achieve my goals - no matter how unrealistic they were to begin with.

I already have a list (a mile long) of things I need or want to change or improve upon. Why add more stress to an already stressful situation?

In these times of financial difficulty I can't afford to do everything I want to do. It's difficult even to "spend" time wisely when you're running amuck trying to get everything done and within a budget. I've decided to make a list of things I will try to do.

Here goes...

I will try:

• to write in my Blog more often.
• to spend more quality time with my family.
• to spend less, give more, whine less, and pray more.
• to better manage my time, my temper, and my ability to say "No" instead of yes to every request that comes my way.
• to take better care of myself so I can be here to enjoy the gifts I've been blessed with.
• to listen more and talk less.
• to finish one project before beginning another or at least keep my husband from doing this :)
• to plan ahead instead flying by the seat of my pants....and this one is especially difficult when my health is not something I can depend on and my brain has a mind of it's own....and not one I'm real familiar with :)
• to be ON TIME! Time i.e. clocks are not my friend. I can't seem to get anywhere on time these days. I've always been a bit ditsy because of my ADHD but it has become someone MAGNIFIED since the Meningitis and Staph Infections in my brain.
• to NOT berate myself for the changes in my brain that I have no control over....such as an ongoing struggle with time management, lack of visual memory, short term memory loss and the really big one for me.....the ability to use or remember numbers. (Now you know why time is an issue!)
• to accept the changes and focus on the things I CAN do well.
• to find the purpose God has for my life.
• to be the change I want to see in my world.
• to take better care of and spend more time with my parents.
• to play with my dogs everyday...at least for a minute or two.
• to remember to play more and work less...taking a cue from my dogs :)
  
  

See, the list goes on and on and on. The only resolution I am making is that I will not make a list of stress producing resolutions. I will only do what I can and leave the rest for next year.

Time is all we have and I'm hoping I have LOTS of it in my future!

So....here's wishing you a Happy 2009!

The year goes out with trip to the Emergency Room!

I thought I would find something constructive to do with my day off today. I've been pretty useless or it seems that way when I'm overwhelmed with a million things to do....

I decided to work on basic stuff around the house while my DH, sweet man that he is, went off to do a bit of home maintanance work for some friends from church.

Have I ever mentioned that my DH is accident prone? Did I mention that today's activity required the use of a circular saw? Oh. Well, I probably should have mentioned that first.

He called me this afternoon sounding a bit stressed and asked me to call the Dr's office....he was on his way and wanted them to know he was coming...he cut his hand. "How bad is it?" I ask. Says he, "Not bad but it's bleeding pretty good so just meet me there."

Okay, after 25 years living with this man I know the signs of shock and denial...he was exhibiting all of them. I met him at the Dr's office (she wouldn't even let hime check in!) and rushed him to the Emergency Room.

His hand actually looked pretty good and didn't appear to be bleeding too bad so I wasn't panicked but there had definitely been some major bleeding involved. Of course, the E.R. is packed to the roof with all kinds of patients suffering all kinds of maladies.

Short story? Four hours later we walked out of the E.R. Barry had all 10 of his fingers but two of them were wearing stitches. His left ring finger only took three stitches to close. The left index finger.....8 stitches to close and that was after a major trim job by the Doc. That finger was pretty mangled. He's very lucky to have it at all!

So, thank heaven for E.R.'s and E.R. Doctors and nurses, all night pharmacies, and pain pills.

Think I'll go to bed and say my prayers and thank God I can still hold my husband's hand in mine.

BTW - didn't get a darned thing accomplished today but I was definitely where I needed to be!

Update later.....

Inspired by an Infant

It's been a long time since I 've had a chance to sit down and just breathe. I was musing over the infant that inspired all of this holiday madness and wondering if He would have wanted us to be going crazy or just remembering Him during this Christmas season. Didn't really have to think too hard on that one. I think He'd rather have us slow down and remember than run amuck and stress out.

Of course thinking of one infant led to thinking of another....I was missing my little Kingsley and decided to put together an Etsy Treasury of things I'd use to keep him warm this winter. Click on the title of this entry and it will link you to a wonderland of warm babies! Enjoy!

Note: While there are some really beautiful babies out there...there just aren't any as beautiful as my grandson :)

Happy Holidays!