Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The swat team and my neighborhood
Nothing happens in my neighborhood. I mean nothing. You can not get much closer to the Cleavers. When I returned home from work today the entire Edmond's police force had surrounded my street.( okay maybe not all of them but most at least) There were police dogs and a ambulance. Way too much excitement for our quiet little homestead. I guess a kid tried to break in to a home by smashing the window someone heard it and called 911. The kid ran and they tracked him down with the dog. He had taken some computer stuff and a few other goodies. Some drugs were involved. The police were here for 3 hours. Wow! Better than watching TV. I am just glad they found him and all is well. We will have the police come through our neighborhood pretty regularly now for at least a couple of weeks. You know so we all feel safer.:)
Monday, June 23, 2008
Happy belated Mothers day!
I had a great belated mothers day planned by my youngest son(19). It was wonderful! I have found so many joys and celebrations with my children growing older. One is that I no longer have to plan my own mother day events. He planned our day starting with attending the show Avenue Q. What a funny show. We laughed and gafawed and revisited the moments we thought were the funniest even when it was long over. Enjoying live theater is what all my children and I share in common. A form of entertainment I inspired from when they were very young. I am happy to see it has continued in their adult life. After the show we shared a meal at the Cheese Cake Factory. I started out my day on Lake Union celebrating my granddaughters 2nd birthday! The weather was the best and the day was amazing!
What New?
Here it is summer again and like any good resolution we will see what happens. With summer here and my work schedule a lot less than the winter months I have vowed once again to really dedicate myself to my etsy store( two now) and blogging and building my business. With fingers cross and a work schedule in writing I am setting out on not so new a journey.
My husband and I are selling our home and it is ready to go and on the market. Yea! Now I have the time to address my etsy stores. I decided to open a new shop for my candles and book thongs( markers) I will keep my sweetpea shop for my cards and all the other stuff I do to keep my hands busy. I have been experimenting with my photos and I think I am getting better. At least I hope so. I will keep you posted.
My new store: wicks and wire
My husband and I are selling our home and it is ready to go and on the market. Yea! Now I have the time to address my etsy stores. I decided to open a new shop for my candles and book thongs( markers) I will keep my sweetpea shop for my cards and all the other stuff I do to keep my hands busy. I have been experimenting with my photos and I think I am getting better. At least I hope so. I will keep you posted.
My new store: wicks and wire
Sunday, April 6, 2008
It is a beautiful day and here I am sitting writing. Hmmmm what am I thinking! I have been busy with many a crafty endeavor. The first and foremost is the planning of the first etsyrain Puget Sound Indie Arts show to be held in Edmonds. It has been a journey for me in so many ways. There have been many personal challenges along the way. I believe we all have a story and I think they are pretty interesting but we usually share only the surface. To start I am planning an Art show which has turned into a learning experinece on many levels.
I am a quiet, opinionated, introvert. My definition of introvert is someone who needs to process or think before they talk. I like to do things in my own time and do not tell me it can not be done. That is a dare if I ever heard one. I am a leader. I like to have fun and find if it is not fun I do not have much use for it. If it remotely sounds like fun I will pounce on it in a moment. That is kind of what happened with the art show. It was talked about at a dinner we had with our etsyrain meet up group. Lots of talk but no one seemed to know how to start. I really wasn’t looking but with the support of my husband, we said if we find a place we could organize it. I had enough experience in planning (my wedding of 80 guests and all the PTA events along with managing a business) he had the tape measure and the ability to keep me sane. J
My husband and I had been to a few art events at artworks in Edmonds and so I googled it to see if they had any events going on. What I found was they rented the space out to art events. The space would be perfect for our show. We took the plunge and rented it for our first show! The ideas started to pop into my head and off we went.
The show was posted while I was on a trip over the mountains I was gone for 6 hours and on my return not only had the event been posted but it was full and closed. OHHHHH my goodness. 24 vendors had signed up. The board was busy with everyone talking about the show! Ideas were flying. At times it was hard to keep up with what was being said and who was doing what. To honest this was the time I had to stop reading for a while, it was quite overwhelming. I kept telling myself think of this as a think tank, brainstorming session. Most of what is being said are ideas. It helped and sure enough most were just ideas people were throwing around. Out of those ideas came some solid parts of our show. As we were just getting the show off the ground my father committed suicide. My world came to a halt and time stopped. He had been in great horrific pain for over two months coming and going to the doctors with no relief in sight. He was waiting for an appointment with a nerve specialist and I guess he felt he could not longer bare the thought of his wife caring for him and the pain. He was 76. My fathers decision in that moment has for ever impacted my life, it has caused an imbalance in my family, it has forever changed me. His death has brought up questions about who my dad really was, who I am and reevaluating many of my values. There are days when I am strong enough to pick up the pieces and then there are days that I let the pieces stay in a pile because it is too hard to look at them. At the end of a job interview the woman summarized who I was by saying; so you enjoy the outdoors and are more comfortable at home. It gave me pause for thought. I have hunkered down at home. I never been thought of as a home person but that is what has happened. Interesting how we have the tools to care for ourselves but do not even know it. I am thankful for this as I am a caregiver and find myself worrying how everyone else is doing and not caring for me. There are many thoughts that have come to me that make me smile and I have an odd understanding of maybe why some of the grieving rituals had come into being and sad that we do not follow them now. Like why the widow and family members wear black ( I would not pick that color) and are veiled. I cried a lot at first and now I cry less but without warning. It would be nice not to walk around in public with a red face and swollen eyes. With a black veil at least people would know that I am grieving and not been drinking J People say the most interesting things and do the funniest things when you have lost someone. I am thankful for that as it makes me laugh and it lets me know they care. A friend of my step moms brought her a puppy a week after my dad’s death, thinking that would fill the hole she had in her heart. It didn’t and my step mom declined. She hates dogs! It did make us smile.
In all of the sadness and grieving my life has had to go on. I have gone back to work, I have continued with my crafting, and I have continued with the planning of our art show.
I have made myself get out of the house and continue to do what it is I enjoy. I will find the fun in life again it just seems I have to work a little harder for now. I am thankful I decided to plan the art show, it has given me the challenge I needed to keep me going. As we plan the last details and meet the last deadlines all is falling into place. I am excited to see it fully set up and I cross my fingers that it will be well attended. I have this grand vision of what it will look like in my head, I hope when all is done that is what I see. I encourage anyone to step out, find the things that make you laugh, smile and brings you joy. It is a great way to live!
I am a quiet, opinionated, introvert. My definition of introvert is someone who needs to process or think before they talk. I like to do things in my own time and do not tell me it can not be done. That is a dare if I ever heard one. I am a leader. I like to have fun and find if it is not fun I do not have much use for it. If it remotely sounds like fun I will pounce on it in a moment. That is kind of what happened with the art show. It was talked about at a dinner we had with our etsyrain meet up group. Lots of talk but no one seemed to know how to start. I really wasn’t looking but with the support of my husband, we said if we find a place we could organize it. I had enough experience in planning (my wedding of 80 guests and all the PTA events along with managing a business) he had the tape measure and the ability to keep me sane. J
My husband and I had been to a few art events at artworks in Edmonds and so I googled it to see if they had any events going on. What I found was they rented the space out to art events. The space would be perfect for our show. We took the plunge and rented it for our first show! The ideas started to pop into my head and off we went.
The show was posted while I was on a trip over the mountains I was gone for 6 hours and on my return not only had the event been posted but it was full and closed. OHHHHH my goodness. 24 vendors had signed up. The board was busy with everyone talking about the show! Ideas were flying. At times it was hard to keep up with what was being said and who was doing what. To honest this was the time I had to stop reading for a while, it was quite overwhelming. I kept telling myself think of this as a think tank, brainstorming session. Most of what is being said are ideas. It helped and sure enough most were just ideas people were throwing around. Out of those ideas came some solid parts of our show. As we were just getting the show off the ground my father committed suicide. My world came to a halt and time stopped. He had been in great horrific pain for over two months coming and going to the doctors with no relief in sight. He was waiting for an appointment with a nerve specialist and I guess he felt he could not longer bare the thought of his wife caring for him and the pain. He was 76. My fathers decision in that moment has for ever impacted my life, it has caused an imbalance in my family, it has forever changed me. His death has brought up questions about who my dad really was, who I am and reevaluating many of my values. There are days when I am strong enough to pick up the pieces and then there are days that I let the pieces stay in a pile because it is too hard to look at them. At the end of a job interview the woman summarized who I was by saying; so you enjoy the outdoors and are more comfortable at home. It gave me pause for thought. I have hunkered down at home. I never been thought of as a home person but that is what has happened. Interesting how we have the tools to care for ourselves but do not even know it. I am thankful for this as I am a caregiver and find myself worrying how everyone else is doing and not caring for me. There are many thoughts that have come to me that make me smile and I have an odd understanding of maybe why some of the grieving rituals had come into being and sad that we do not follow them now. Like why the widow and family members wear black ( I would not pick that color) and are veiled. I cried a lot at first and now I cry less but without warning. It would be nice not to walk around in public with a red face and swollen eyes. With a black veil at least people would know that I am grieving and not been drinking J People say the most interesting things and do the funniest things when you have lost someone. I am thankful for that as it makes me laugh and it lets me know they care. A friend of my step moms brought her a puppy a week after my dad’s death, thinking that would fill the hole she had in her heart. It didn’t and my step mom declined. She hates dogs! It did make us smile.
In all of the sadness and grieving my life has had to go on. I have gone back to work, I have continued with my crafting, and I have continued with the planning of our art show.
I have made myself get out of the house and continue to do what it is I enjoy. I will find the fun in life again it just seems I have to work a little harder for now. I am thankful I decided to plan the art show, it has given me the challenge I needed to keep me going. As we plan the last details and meet the last deadlines all is falling into place. I am excited to see it fully set up and I cross my fingers that it will be well attended. I have this grand vision of what it will look like in my head, I hope when all is done that is what I see. I encourage anyone to step out, find the things that make you laugh, smile and brings you joy. It is a great way to live!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Valentines Day!
I have created a new line of candles and cards for Valentines Day. The line includes peppermint and orange scents. Both scents are body relaxing and soothing. They are a variety of containers they come in. China tea cups, votive with ribbon and hand beaded hearts. Some are one of a kind. I can make any of the candles in any color and unscented. I love soy. It is soft and gentle to touch and allows the fragrance to have a gentleness when burning. Stop by and see what is new.
A friend of mine from our Seattle artist group etsyrain,seattlebeadcreations also has a new line of jewelry. Her first piece is posted, it is fun and certainly will create some conversation. Stop by and meet Lady Bella, She sounds like a hoot to hang out with.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
I took a plunge
I have decided, with the help of my husband, to organize and throw a craft and artist show. My husband assures me that it is no different than throwing a party and far less work that planning and organizing my wedding. So I am going to think of it as a party and I am the hostess. I am going to try to blog my party planning and the main event. I am going to try to remember to take pictures as well. I am excited and a little scared, of what, not quite sure. I am to naive to know. I have never done this kind of event before. So far it has been a piece of cake. We drove to the place the event is going to take place and I shook the mans hand and my husband measured the place. The man was very nice and had answers to most of our questions. We then left. No sweat! then we got home. Now we need to hammer out the details and this is where the work begins. My husband and I do not agree on a few details and so we will compromise and I will win. He will give his opinion and I will win. I do not think he likes working with me. Okay maybe I do not have to win all the time. Well make to the drawing boards. Details to work out and plans to be made!
Check in and see how it is going. If nothing is written then just assume the sailing is rough and I am way too busy to write sassy and funny stuff. (not that I write that way when I am not too busy)
Check in and see how it is going. If nothing is written then just assume the sailing is rough and I am way too busy to write sassy and funny stuff. (not that I write that way when I am not too busy)
Friday, December 28, 2007
And the little naughty elves came upon us
Jingle all the way
What a holiday season! My season started out with a break in to my place of work. Quite alarming to say the least. I am a preschool teacher and am in wonder as to what was in these bad guys head.( the children in my class called them bad guys) they were very neat bad guys really not doing too much physical damage but a lot of mental anguish. What a head trip. They threw, very careful not to get any on the carpet, a gallon of blue paint, they threw it onto the easel and then dumped the rest in the sink. Not getting any on the counter. Thank goodness they left our computers and boom box alone but they did take our dozen eggs, which were to be used to make green eggs. I was not happy about that! In all as you can see we were very lucky in that there were gallons of paint they could have flung all over our building, and many blocks, puzzles, and a variety of small pieces that could have been destroyed. We are blessed it took only a short time and a little elbow grease to get the room back in order. What this did do is made us realize how vulnerable we can be. That it took an open window for these bad guys to enter our world. It took a moment. We will recover. We have already put some safety measures in place, talked and talked. I am on winter break and hope by the time we return the safety measures that need to be put in place will be. Though the experience jarred me it has not made me scared or concerned. It will be a while I am sure before my brain files it away as an experience to remember and not one that is still raw and processing.
My holiday season did end with joy and lots of laughter. I had all of my children and grandchildren with me this year. Yes I did a happy dance. I served diner to 21 people, mostly family and a few friends who had no family around this season. In all I am starting the New Year with lightness in my heart and ready for what this new year will bring.
Happy Holidays!
What a holiday season! My season started out with a break in to my place of work. Quite alarming to say the least. I am a preschool teacher and am in wonder as to what was in these bad guys head.( the children in my class called them bad guys) they were very neat bad guys really not doing too much physical damage but a lot of mental anguish. What a head trip. They threw, very careful not to get any on the carpet, a gallon of blue paint, they threw it onto the easel and then dumped the rest in the sink. Not getting any on the counter. Thank goodness they left our computers and boom box alone but they did take our dozen eggs, which were to be used to make green eggs. I was not happy about that! In all as you can see we were very lucky in that there were gallons of paint they could have flung all over our building, and many blocks, puzzles, and a variety of small pieces that could have been destroyed. We are blessed it took only a short time and a little elbow grease to get the room back in order. What this did do is made us realize how vulnerable we can be. That it took an open window for these bad guys to enter our world. It took a moment. We will recover. We have already put some safety measures in place, talked and talked. I am on winter break and hope by the time we return the safety measures that need to be put in place will be. Though the experience jarred me it has not made me scared or concerned. It will be a while I am sure before my brain files it away as an experience to remember and not one that is still raw and processing.
My holiday season did end with joy and lots of laughter. I had all of my children and grandchildren with me this year. Yes I did a happy dance. I served diner to 21 people, mostly family and a few friends who had no family around this season. In all I am starting the New Year with lightness in my heart and ready for what this new year will bring.
Happy Holidays!
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