Summer is here!

The weather sucks. Things have been hectic over the last week, but it's been fun having them all around. Is it time to start school again? ;)

I want to plan some fun free things to do this summer (weather permitting, which it hasn't yet). We live only 40 minutes from the Nat'l & State Lakeshore (Lake Michigan) and our beach days are always fun! I like taking them to the park, but not ours. There's a drainage ditch right next to it, so the mosquitoes are terrorists there. If they weren't still working on the school, then I'd go there. I'm thinking it's time to investigate parks in near by towns.

There is always the library, too. I'm just so bad at maintaining a relationship with the library. I like keeping my books. It would be fun for the kids & maybe a sacrifice I have to finally break down & make. *sigh*

I know I can keep us all busy. Over 4th of July weekend, the inlaws will be out at the lake. I have some photos of the kids on Grandpa's new boat. Over Memorial day weekend, we got to go for a few rides, then the following weekend, too. They LOVED it! Having never been on a boat before, I was excited to go. After all was said & done, it was no biggie. Kinda cool being on the water & going fast, but I kept thinking one of the kids was going to go flying out of the boat. If all of us were adults, I may have enjoyed it a bit more. I am sooo paranoid sometimes, even though they were all wearing vests.

There really is so much to do around here. I want to check more out.

Interesting week

My kids have all of next week left of school with Friday being a half day. Then I'm committed for the rest of the summer, literally. ;) While I look forward to summer, I can't help but think this one might turn out to be tougher. 8 & 14 fight like cats & dogs often. 14 is always doing little things to antagonize 8. ALWAYS. I guess he loves to hear the screeches & whines that come out of 8's mouth, even though he's constantly complaining about it.

The week was interesting because the dynamic between the older 2 has gotten worse. I'm thinking for the earliest part of the summer, they will both be spending much time in separate rooms.

My niece & nephew are here for the weekend, both for the first time in a long time. My 2 youngest are stoked! 8 keeps telling me "I love my cousins!".

14 & my nephew are participating in an overnight air-soft war. 14 has been looking forward to this weekend for over a month. I know when he gets home from school he'll be an impatient wreck. He's done these air soft wars several times & the last big one had around 80 kids. The family that hosts these things is a good family with at least 2 acres, so there's plenty of room for it. I know it'll be something he's talking about long after it's over.

The Garage sale

I have to admit, I had a bit higher expectations. I didn't sell as much jewelry as I'd have hoped, but, I did sell all the stuff in my garage (save a few books) & was even able to give away a broken lawn mower that's been sitting in the garage for over a year.

Overall, it was a success and I got several of my business cards floating out there, now! I had no idea that I would sell some of the things I did, like a big cast iron cookware set, 3 old bikes, an old glider/ottoman set & an old working vacuum. The cast iron was a fun one because the woman who bought it was looking for that specifically. She called her hub because he was the one who wanted it, and he was chuffed. I could hear his excitement on the phone. That was pretty neat, to me anyhow. ;)

I took some time this weekend to reflect on some things...namely me. I can make things & do it well. What I have never been good at is being a sales person. While I love creating, I'm not good at the selling part. I guess there's some work for me on the horizon - self improvement stuff. Isn't that always the case, though? In every aspect of life? A woman's work is never done, no matter the type of work.

Song Infatuation

I have been hearing lots of new music I love, lately. It's that time of year (is there a time of year, or a few times per year, when it's common for new music to be released? It feels like there is. ;) )& there are many new CDs being released.

I have been infatuated, like I get with some songs, with the new Depeche Mode song - Wrong; the new Papa Roach song - I Almost Told You That I Loved You; not so new, but a great song by Rise Against - Savior; Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch and Kings of Leon - Closer. I just want to make a CD that has these 5 songs on it over & over & over again. Song infatuation, cause I can't hear them enough in a day. Each one has it's own endearment. I wish I never got tired of those songs I play over & over again, but just like real infatuation, it wears off eventually. I'll enjoy the newness of it while it lasts!

Some movies

Typically we rent movies at least once a week. It's been slow on that front, lately. Partly because there hasn't been all that much we've wanted to watch & partly because this economy sucks.

This weekend we rented a few titles. One was a Sci-fi original called 100 Feet with Famke Janssen. It's about this woman who was convicted of murdering her abusive husband, then, upon her release, is sentenced to one year on house arrest in her former home. It turns out, her hub still haunts her home. Over all, it might just be something worth catching on cable. The parts where I expected something to happen, it didn't. Kind of left me feeling dull. In the end, there was some good suspense & a bit of gore, which I expect in this type of horror film (or supposed horror film). I know ghost movies are unrealistic, but the ones that leave you feeling like "it's possible" are the good ones, this one was NOT that way. Part of the ending was ludicrous.

We also rented both Bolt & The Tale of Despereaux. I enjoyed Despereaux, but the little ones didn't so much. I think it was too much story. On the other hand, the little ones LOVED Bolt! I enjoyed the humor in it.

The movie I was somewhat surprised by was The Uninvited. That one had a good twist I didn't see coming. Sometimes I see that stuff & sometimes I don't. This one was GOOD! Loved it!

I am seriously hoping to have more to talk about soon. I am still making jewelry feverishly for the town wide garage sale, sold a bit more to my neighbor's sister & they are going to set up a party for me (how wicked!!). I took a photo of my work area today, but them my batteries died. SInce they are charging, I will upload a pic tomorrow. I don't think my desk has ever been so over worked. ;)

Busy and stagnant

That's just how it's been lately. I'm in the process of getting ready for our town's annual town wide garage sale. It's a pretty big deal & up until this year, I never had anything to sell...not really. This year I can clean out my garage & sell/get exposure for my jewelry. I have to work on flyers to give away at the thing. Hopefully, I can generate some scheduled parties!

I dunno if I'm going through a midlife something or other or if I'm just trying to figure out the day - each day. I feel very socially unmotivated, whether it's out in public or on the internet public. I keep thinking how important it is to me to get back into my blog. I miss it & the people I've gotten to know.

I didn't watch the show Bones too much before last year, but boy am I addicted to it! I love the humor in it. There are many crime dramas out there that incite a bit of humor here & there, but this show...wow! I laugh out loud a lot! The team of actors just seem to have awesome chemistry together. I am grateful the last couple of weeks have given me a couple extra eps to watch. Nothing cooler than that.

I'm sure when I'm ready, I will delve more into my issues. Maybe once I work them out, I will actually have more to offer.

Another day...

At least it is supposed to warm up again. I was really hoping we were done with snow, but this weekend threw us for a loop, well, Monday did, anyhow.

Now that ER is gone, at least I have my Fringe back. Yay! I have a thing for Sci-fi. Last night's show was no disappointment. The chemistry between Josh Jackson & "Walter" is fabulous, love how the son is always censoring & curbing his dad! & Walter is so endearingly nuts. When I first started watching, I didn't like the woman who plays Olivia at all, but she has really grown on me & does a wonderful job with the character's indifferent emotional connection to just about everything. It works. Except on last night's show, she had an incredible bond with a feral "child".

I know it's been a while since I really blogged. I can't say that nothing has been going on because it has been quite eventful. Especially concerning 14. I know he's going through a buttload of weird changes he can't articulate, but why oh why does it have to be so hard on us, the parents? A few weekends ago, I actually told him to pack a bag & go. When he's had me in a headlock & is screaming how much he hates me over & over & over again, what's a mom to do? So, he did. It was 11:00 pm & he walked out the front door with a suitcase. I told him he couldn't go to the neighbor's (the only place I cold see him knocking on the door at that time) and spent the next 2 hours driving around, wondering if there really was somewhere eles he might have felt comfortable going to. I knew there wasn't.

I've left a good deal out (like how it all started because 14 was bothered by Princess Fluffy fart's talking to her toys and I refused to tell her to shut-up; & how I just told him over & over again to go to his room if it bothered him; & how as he walked to his room he called me a retard; & how I followed him to his room & smacked him 2 times upside the head - YES, because a 14 year old shouldn't ever call his mom names - EVER!!), but long story short, we ended up calling non-emergency & got an officer to the house (I told him all the nasty truths, even what I did). He was getting ready to leave to file a runaway report & he & my hub were going to search for 14 again, seperately. Mr. policeman flashed his light into the hub's car & the boy was sleeping (or appearing to sleep) in the back seat. Officer talked to him & 14 listened & agreed he had it good & seemed puzzled as to the circumstances becoming what they were at the time.

Fast forward 2 weeks. I am feeling apprehensive about parenting 14 because he really did put me in a headlock & now it seems eveytime I have any objection, he has no problem at all going toe to toe. If I get in his face to correct shit behavior, he seems okay with a chest bump to knock me back a bit. I expressed all of this to the hub & 14 WILL NOT mess with him. He'll talk & be a smart ass, but he would never chest bump. Unless they were messing around. Now, we both talk to the kid. I am super heated at first because I am just fed up. Fed up with the apprehension & doubt. Dont' get me wrong, I'm not so much afraid of him. I am afraid of what I might do if he did ever really retaliate. I could get out of a headlock, but could I forgive myself if he punched me & I punched him back? I don't think so.

After reading this, it seems there's much back story missing. He's my height & not a large kid. He has a hot temper once in a while, much moreso now that puberty finally hit. He is usually easy to forgive, but lately, he's been festering stuff. We all know what happens when you don't deal with the issues in your head. This kid is a very good kid aside from his mouth. He isn't an f-bomb kid, he just likes to argue & be right & talk back. His grades in school are the best since we've lived here and I am so proud of him for that - As, Bs & one C! He isn't out gallivanting, he's responsible for checking in with me on time, coming home on time & telling me where he's at, but mostly he stays home with us. So, how does a good kid go bad? Hormones.

Back to the fast forward...he was at it again & I was steaming. Dad came along to try & calm things down. Dad was talking calmly to the kid. Of course, I had to interject some of my 2 cents because the boy was reaming me - when I - his caretaker, who taught him what he knows, who gives so much of me to him, who loves the deepest without prejudice, without condition, who stands up for him, etc - and Dad told me to shut-up. What kind of message does that send to the kid? A bad one (don't worry, we worked that one out after). I know I was just fueling the fire with my words. He gets grounded for a solid month with nothing. We are believers in improving behavior deserving reward. So, even if one gets grounded here, if they show marked improvement, they get time off for good behavior. Not sure if that's a good working system, but I do know that it helps with keeping them all in line more often.

Grounded for a month & he has to tend to his pig-sty right now. He sin't supposed ot eat or drink in his room, yet there are pop cans & wrappers hidden in his desk drawers, under the bed, etc. Dad gives him an hour to make progress or WE are cleaning for him. Very little progress after one hour, so we take over, for a little while. Eventually, he cleans most of it. It took over 2 hours, even with our work (we had to stop because some things were just too much). All seems better with our world for a few days and he is an angel.

I did say a few days. He complains again about his little sister making too much noise ( this is about a week ago) and won't let up and he's constantly fighting with 8. I tell him, as usual, if he doesn't like it he can go in his room. He pitches a fit & we argue, no chest bumps, no scary behavior, just him yelling a lot. Shortly thereafter, I get a notebook slid out to me. Of course, I am thinking this is going to be a bash letter, telling me all the things I'm doing wrong because as he walked into his room, he told me he was the way he is because of me, I did/do too much for him (I kid you not, that's what he said). It isn't a bash letter at all but the extreme opposite. He told me things he wasn't comfortable verbalizing & that he knows how good I've been to him. He told me there was a kid at school harrassing him & a girl he didn't know how to ask out & that he's going through all these changes he deosn't understand & school is getting tougher, etc, etc. The letter made me cry & I went into his room & told him he wasn't going through any of it alone. We talked for a while & worked a lot of it out. I asked him why he hadn't told his dad about the kid harrassing him because Dad specifically asked him that question & 14 told me that I should know by now that he's not comfortable talking to his dad about stuff like that.

After all, it felt like a breakthrough. Things are quite back to normal & when the kid gets upset about something I've told him or asks me why I'm getting upset after he hasn't listened 3 times, I am back to explaining that I get tired of saying the same things over & over again. Normal because instead of throwing a fit, he calms down & seems to understand his place again.

The very last episode of ER

Was not a disappointment! Just like so many episodes, it had me on the edge of my seat, verge of tears or causing a quick giggle. I have been a watcher for all 15 seasons. It is one of only a few shows I tried to never miss. At the end, of course the suggestion is that they go on doing what they're doing, but for me, to not be able to take part in the journey emotionally week after week, well - that makes me sad. I know, it's a silly show. I loved this one & missed the cast that has gone & will miss the ones I can no longer watch.

I remember when a few cast members came along & I couldn't stand them (Archie, Gates, Brenner) and after a few eps, they were endeared to me. The only one I never liked, but was still sad to see such an ass leave because he made it interesting was Dr. Romano.

I'll miss it & nope, re-runs are just not the same. :(

Springtime seems to be here to stay!

For that I am truly grateful! The warmer weather has us all hanging out outside, me getting some much needed maintenance done around here. I had some wall patching to do. 14 was being, erm, too active in the bathroom. (???) He jumped up to touch the ceiling (???) and his elbow came down hard on the towel bar. Needless to say, I put fixing that off until now. This will be the 4th time I'm getting a towel bar up in there since we moved in. Maybe this time it will remain securely in place. A girl can hope.

I'm listening to the sound of birds & it is remarkable! This was just a long & dreary winter.

8 celebrated his 8th birthday, hence the change to 8 instead of 7 when referencing him. Last week, I thought about posting a tribute to him & his 8 years with us, but I never got around to it. He was always a happy baby - ALWAYS! The perfect baby, but all my babies were good. I feel like I cheated because they were.

I got a new computer & can't find my power cord for my external HD. I can't add the old photos of him without it. If I can find it before the weekend, I'll share a photo tribute to him with you all. He was so cute. He still is but doesn't like to be reminded so much any more. How they change, my how they change.

My daughter still has some fabulous things to say to us. The other day she told me I was warm weather & the hub he was cold weather ..."you're freezing, daddy" she said. The she told me I was so sweet & pretty & nice and she loved me so much. Having a daughter has its perks. I always thought daughters were daddy biased. Heh.

I also found out that a dear old friend of mine has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I haven't had her out of my thoughts since last Sunday when I found out. If you could all send positive thoughts & prayers for her, I would truly appreciate it! Her name is Liz and she is an amazing woman with 2 gorgeous kids & a wonderful husband. She is a woman of great strength & I know she will fight it tooth & nail, coming away victorious!

I will host another auction for jewelry come October. This time the donation will be divided between the Susan G. Komen Foundation & the Caring Bridge website. Caring Bridge is a wonderful website devoted to those fighting & surviving serious illnesses. Those who are enduring can journal about what is happening in their lives to keep their families updated on what's going on with them. I know October seems a long way away, but it'll be here soon enough.

In the meantime, I hope you all are doing supremely well & that Spring fever has hit you all in the best ways!

Last Sunday

14 competed in the Indiana Challenge Dance competition. It's ballroom dancing & they were in the newcomer category. He & his partner placed second among 9 couples. I thought it was awesome & I loved watching! There were some amazing dancers there & ballroom is SUPERB when you get to see it up close & personal. A whole lot of fun, for sure!




In this photo, the group of boys from 14's school are taking advantage of the photo op with US champ Yulia Zagoruychenko. If you search you tube, you'll find many videos of her - she is amazing!




Here is 14 & his partner with their instructor, Mrs. Clinton.

And here she is...

She really is a beautiful baby! Neveah resembles her daddy for sure, but she does also look like her mom. She weighed 7#s 3 ozs.

Just after she was born!

A very happy daddy!

Neveah is so alert & just a doll! I wish I could hold her.

Proud papa! Home at last!

Happy, Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope all of my friends in the blogging world will be spending a wonderful evening with someone they love, being happy!

On another note, last night, just before midnight on the west coast, my son Steven's girlfriend Bre gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Nevaeh! She is healthy & mom's doing great. I am now officially a Grandma! Great grandma says Nevaeh looks just like Steven when he was born!

I have an idea

And I can thank Teri for it - I miss reading her (like so many of you), but by the end of the day, I am so done with sitting at my computer it isn't even funny. No complaints, because business is business.

My idea has to do with my back story. We all have one & this way, some of you who want to can know better who I am. Just little tidbits, is all I plan to write. Things that some may find interesting, maybe even a little funny, who knows. It's just something I want to attempt to work on. Maybe it will be soul cleansing, too.

The snow we had is ALL GONE! Completely. We had a minor heat wave, got into the 60s on Monday & Tuesday, plus rain. It's so good not to have any snow on the ground. It makes me happy & hopeful for spring.

LOTS of snow!

I am a weather watcher. On Tuesday, I sat down for a while & watched the band of lake effect snow growing over Lake Michigan. A little after noon, it began to snow, then it was near a whiteout for a while. Around 1:45, I got a call from 14 asking me to come get them because they were getting out early - no surprise because the snow was coming down like mad!

We came home & I kept checking in on that band, on 2 weather sites. That thing just kept hanging & hanging & the line of snow kept growing upwards, meaning it was going to continue to come down here. And it did, boy it did!

By the end of it, we ended up with over 18" of snow. It is pretty & cool, but I am so over snow this winter, it's not funny anymore.

Just a comparison with a mailbox view - never mind the ladybug. ;)

Things I ponder and a Super Bowl WIN!

My Steelers have done it again for a record SIX Super Bowl rings. It wasn't the most disciplined super bowl in history, not by any stretch. In fact, it probably was the sloppiest championship game I've seen in any sport in quite a while. The Cards & Steelers played some sloppy, chippy ball for a while, at one point the Cards generously offered 35 yards in personal fouls on one drive alone, not to mention one OL guy holding 3 times & getting caught 3 times. Sloppy.

I was more than miffed when the ref threw a flag that gave the Cards a safety on a ticky-tacky holding call in the endzone, when the Big Ben completed the pass to Holmes on 3rd & long to pick up the first down. It's stuff like that that makes fans wonder if a fix is in. It was a phantom call, no legit holding or impeding of the defensive linemen to the QB - simply a fall down grab of the jersey. Watching the refs all season, I understand that many calls come from personal judgement. In a game this important, that call should never be made, IMO. They say holding can be called on nearly every offensive play. If a fan watches closely, they can see that is true.

The outcome wasn't affected by that call, fortunately, but I couldn't help feeling incomplete at the end of this one. Not because I didn't enjoy the win, it was blissful, but because the call should have come to REVIEW the last offensive play by the Cards, where Kurt Warner was coming down & had the ball stripped. On the field it was called a fumble. It should have been reviewed to ensure it was the right call. I do believe it was close & I don't believe there was enough evidence to overturn the call on the field. How would it have affected the outcome should it have been overturned & ruled an incomplete pass instead, no one will ever know.

One more thing that bothered me. The final touchdown scored by Pittsburgh. Oh how I wanted to scream with joy & celebrate that play. Immediately, we knew there was going to be a review. That completey took the joy from the celebration. It was a legit review, had to be done. I just wanted to revel in the moment. *sigh* Awesome, AWESOME catch!

While watching commercials during the super bowl, some were funny, but most were boring. Anheuser Busch spewed some serious cash for their ads - so many! Watching that day & yesterday, all commercials, I often wonder why everything has to be so politically correct. The latest commercial for Verizon Wireless, the Italian family at the barbecue. Why did they remove the line "Not my real uncle, but he doesn't owe me money. He's a keeper." How is that offensive? Everyone knows it's never a good thing to lend money to family. It doesn't matter what type of family it is, either. It's just a no-no, relatively speaking. Dumb if you ask me. That line gave the commercial a bit of humor.

What? It's already Thrusday?

Time...can't get enough of it. Kind of a miserable week, but I won't go into that.

Things are looking up, in so many ways. I think getting out what ails the soul is truly a helpful & constructive thing, no matter how it's done. Just so long as it is done.

I had a long & deliberate talk with my significant other after some very hurtful things & I know that happiness is here to stay. For a while, at least. Those hills & valleys are things we can set our clocks by...almost.

The kids are good & 14 is going to be participating in a junior dance competition. I am very excited for him, plus the fact that I think he got involved in it because of a girl in the first place. When it gets here, hopefully, I'll have some wonderful photos of him in action to share. He's never danced before, except in the gym class dance things, so we shall see how this goes.

7 is almost 8. His birthday is coming up around the bend. Last year his teacher & I decided to hold him back, not sure if I mentioned that blogging or not, but it was the absolute best thing we could have done for him. His maturity level, devotion to school work & responsibility are all right on target now. He's doing so well & not only am I proud of him, but he is proud of himself. That's the biggest improvement & the most I could have asked for.

Princess Fluffy Fart is growing & astounding me near daily. Her hair is finally a good length, albeit thin. My boys have nice, thick heads of hair - the girl is so much like me in so many ways. At least what I was when I was so little.

Change (life not blog...)

I think everyone gets to a point in their life where some kind of change must occur to keep life from becoming stagnant. Maybe it's just me, but maybe it isn't. It feels like I'm reaching that point now. Some part of me feels unfulfilled. An early midlife crisis? Who knows, I just know that I have to do something different. Something for me because the last 14 years have been about everyone else.

Don't get me wrong, I have time for myself. I make it. I will spend hours at the computer on the days I feel like it, especially if I'm working. It almost seems like when I'm working, I don't do enough of everything else I think I'm supposed to do. Then I get in a grind. Yes, a grind. By that, I mean that I do the same things over & over again until I snap out of it. I lose myself for a time. It's one thing I don't like about myself. When I get lost, I neglect other things, like housework. No, we're not living in a pig sty, but it is rather dusty around here & I need to vacuum. I'm behind on laundry & I hate laundry. That's the reason I don't like to get behind with the laundry because it takes every ounce of effort to catch myself back up.

Then, along with that, there's the feeling that I'm not doing enough for my kids. Oh, I do & I do & I do for them. But what am I really doing? Is it substantial enough? Is it quality or just time.

Here I thought all this time I was being myself. I don't feel like I really know what that is...myself. A fool, I suppose.

This is not a pity party, so please don't feel bad. What is this whole blogging thing supposed to be about? An online journal. Read & be read, feel the things that others feel, too. Relate in a way that wasn't possible 10, 15 years ago. I started blogging that way & then it left me.

There's so much more I could go into, but I won't. I just know that change is on the horizon. Much needed for my mental health. Thank you - now back to our regularly scheduled programming. What do you want to be when you grow up?


Oh yeah - I have the hardest time designing a blog for myself. I don't know what I like or is it that I like too much, so my own redesign might take a while...

Time to reorganize!

Over the next few days, there will be change going on here. I hope it will be for the better, with less clutter & a pretty up, while maintaining simplicity.

I do have my little Etsy shop browser on the sidebar, but I haven't uploaded new stuff. It's hard to keep paying to do that when no one is buying. My first wave of uploads went without a sale. Not that it's expensive, but it's hard to reconcile even small cost without generating any revenue. *sigh* My first stuff isn't as nice as my most recent stuff, though, either. Wish me luck with that! (the economy doesn't help with a product that is an impulse purchase, either. ;) )

I may just stick to offering sales on the blog using PayPal.

I think I need a better lamp

Or something. relying on Mother Nature for photos isn't fun. I don't like taking pics of jewelry with a flash. I think it takes away from the natural look of the stuff. Today we have no sunshine & yesterday was perfect except I had no time to take the pics...*sigh*

Last week, my kids had a few snow, or rather, too cold to go to school days. 14 was talking about a comedian that one of his friends from school kept imitating. So, we spent some time watching him on You Tube. Jeff Dunham. For the last few days, all of my children, my husband & I have been repeating lines from his characters, but mainly from Achmed the Dead Terrorist. Dock will get out of the shower & call up "SILENCE!!....I keel you!". Out of the blue, the kids will come up to me, while I'm talking and utter the same phrase. Then we all start saying it, one after another. I also like to ask my hub if I'm pissing him "off-fa-fa?". After watching excerpts on you tube, we did enjoy the full Spark of Insanity show on Comedy Central this weekend. Jeff Dunham does an amazing job with the puppets. All of 'em are a crack up. Da-da-da-daaa!

Silence!! I keel you!

Making rounds again today and Inauguration/Superbowl madness

Hey - 2 in a row - I must be MAD!

Thanks for the tips, Dee. I was definitely thinking simple this go round. I don't want things all cluttered up on here, I want it to be clean. I have an idea about layout, keeping it more focused up top & having all my "stuff" below.

I have to drop by Susie to see if she has any helpful Superbowl party snacks. I am excited about the Superbowl because my STEELERS are going again. They got the one for the thumb in XL, where they gonna put this one if they win?? I have to wait 2 (almost) long weeks to see.

Today is a special day. Historical & I hope this improvement resonates across the world. Change of this magnitude should impact everyone & hopefully, the world is a better place for my kids when they are grown.

More recent jewelry - I am getting better. ;)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=73032&l=f5d6c&id=766248661

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71127&l=bf4f3&id=766248661

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71125&l=0742c&id=766248661

I have lots more but have to take photos.

I know I guess I shoulda called it...

...a hiatus. I want to be back, I do. I just haven't motivated myself enough to blog. Plus, life hasn't been all that interesting enough to blog about. Some people are really good at making the ordinary extraordinary, like Carrie, Jaci, Candance, O'Neal, Kathy, Cathy, Michelle, etc. I'm not so good at that.

I have decided to revamp the place. Any suggestions are welcome & wanted. I want to combine my everyday blog & my jewelry blog. That way, my business gets some attention (much needed) and I keep myself motivated to blog. I am asking for suggestions because I want to provide a place that's appealing to the eye, plus easy to navigate while perusing jewelry. I will update the blog with each new piece(s) and add some every day life stuff once in a while.

Shout out to me - let me know how inconsistent I am, because I need to hear it. ;) Conscious effort, my new motto!!!

Monday, Monday

La la, la la la la.

Boring weekend & I just wanted to make sure I post. I am busy working some blogs - yay!

The boys are back in school - makes me happy! Even if I miss them a little, there is much more peace here.

New Year, Fresh Start!

Everything took me away for a while, but I am back & I look forward to reading everyone again!

Happy New Year!!!