So I got a new job!

I am actually excited about this. I will be helping to establish a network of the health care providers in our community. Basically, it’s about awareness within the community at large as well as the community of health care professionals in the community, helping to keep people in our area for their health care needs instead of having them travel 45 miles to see specialists or go to the hospital. I get to build a website, which is the technological side of things, but I also will be working to establish a Board of Directors for the network, write/develop Mission and Vision Statements, and helping to promote the network through community projects and outreach. Does that sound like a cool job or what?!? The only downside is that this project is funded by a federal grant and when the grant period runs out, so does the job. But, I figure I’ll gain some valuable experience and help to build something that could really make a difference in the community. Can you tell I’m excited?!?

On another note, I finally made myself a theme. When I finally unpacked the last Sweet Shoppe Quarterly Assortment, I found this adorable little kit by Libby Weifenback and the colors are EXACTLY what I’ve had in mind for a Fall theme so I just used it…aren’t the little coffee cups cute? And hey, I’m definitely a java junkie so it’s totally appropriate!

Okay, wish me luck, I have orientation tomorrow and I start Wednesday! I’ll post back after the first day and let you know how it went!

Why don’t I scrap more?!?!?

Geez, I have an amazing collection of supplies…I MUST start scrapping again! I just went through my new purchases folder and organized all my new goodies (took an hour just to unzip and put in the proper folders) and I have so much stuff, it’s such a shame not to use it! Must do better!

P.S. i find out about a new job tomorrow…wish me luck!

I am amazed

at how well my baby girl is doing. She has eaten today twice, is up and around, we went to the park earlier, she just isn’t talking much. Otherwise, she’s absolutely great. Thanks for the prayers, they obviously worked.

Please say a prayer

for my baby girl who is getting her tonsils out today. I know it’s a routine procedure, but I’m a Mom and it’s a bit scary. Thanks in advance!

Sometimes I feel…

like an outsider when I read tricks and tips on web design. It’s stupid, I know, but I think those of us that are self-taught in our profession or career have a harder time feeling qualified to do it…does that make sense? Anyway, I saw this cool tip on making IE6 render .png files properly and thought “wow, what a great trick!”…and then I wondered if knowing exactly what that means somehow makes me a bit more qualified to do what I do. I know, it’s late, LOL, maybe I should go to bed.

So, I’m getting more and more inquiries for design work. I just finished up the coolest site, check it out:

The Lost Art of Customer Service

Is that a sharp looking site or what? It’s a mix of a couple of themes, I usually just find what I need and duct tape it together to make it do what I want it to do. It was an all-day affair, but I’m so happy with everything I learned in the process. Oh and yes, it’s a Wordpress blog. Oh and yes, I know, I should fix up my own, huh? But, the funny thing is, I still like mine . Maybe I’ll just make another one to put up for sale at The Blog Shoppe…in my spare time, LOL.

First day of school

Maybe I can make a habit of making a quick blog entry over coffee before I wake the kiddos…sounds like a good plan, huh?

We went to Branson this weekend and had a good time. I didn’t take any photos, believe it or not. Two reasons…one, the Rebel battery was dead and I kept forgetting to recharge it and two, well, I just wanted to enjoy it without a camera around my neck. We went to Turpentine Creek on the way up and saw the big cats…that is such a neat place. We stayed in the hotel with the water park, NOT worth the premium price, though. We did go see Noah, the Musical and it was really wonderful. Can’t tell ya why, wouldn’t want to ruin it for anyone who had the chance to go, but if you get the chance, go.

Today is the first day of school, so we have our supplies all bagged up and ready to go. We had orientation yesterday and met the new teachers and I’m sure they’ll do just fine. I had fun with them this Summer, but it’s good to know I can get back into a routine, especially since I’m really trying to build The Blog Shoppe into enough of a business that I can call it my full-time job. Freelance work is great when there’s enough of it, but at this point, I don’t have a consistent enough flow to not need another job. In a town like this, getting a REAL job is tough because we have no child care options for school breaks and Summer, so I NEED to work at home. I guess most people in this town either have at least one parent at home or have family that helps with the kids on breaks, but we don’t have family so me being home is really our only option.

Okay, I don’t think I really said much, but at least I blogged . I’m going to finish this cup of coffee and get on some makeup so I don’t scare them at the school when I help the kiddos carry in their stuff, LOL. Have a great day!

Thanks and (no) update

Thanks, ladies, I appreciate you. I don’t have an update, but wanted to thank you for the prayers. Sometimes I just need to remember to let go and have faith that all will work out like it should, but gosh, that can be hard to do!

Could I ask

for a little prayer? There is something possibly going on in our lives and I’d really like to see it happen. Just the thought of it makes me tremendously happy and I can’t help but hope for it to work out. Thanks .

It’s amazing how many of my posts start with…

it’s been a long time .

I think I’ll just jump right in here, though, and start. We went to a funeral yesterday. My great aunt Marie, who had been in bad health for a few years, passed away Saturday morning. She was the last sibling of her family alive and the sister of my mother’s father. Because neither my mother’s mother or father were really very interested in taking care of my mother, she was raised by her grandparents, in the house with Aunt Marie and Aunt Marie was just the right age to be her Mom so they were really close. I can remember so many times, though, when Mom was sick, Aunt Marie telling me (she was repetitive because she was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s) that my Mom used to call her Mom and she’d chastise her for it, telling her “I’m not your Mama”…but I do believe that in my Mom’s younger years, Marie was about as close to a Mom as my Mom had.

Marie married once, for a few years, but her husband didn’t live up to her expectations (I think he could have been a bit of a slacker) so she divorced him. She was always very independent. Sharon, who I will talk more about later, said in her eulogy yesterday that her daughters would tell you that they recall their summer vacations being spent wherever Marie was living at the time and our memories of summer vacation are the same as theirs. Marie managed apartments for a real estate developer so she lived in several different states throughout her life. I can remember visiting her in Texas, Georgia and Colorado. At some point in her life, she had a tenant who was an elderly lady with no family. From what I understand, this lady drank a bit, as she was retired and lonely. She broke her hip and I believe that Aunt Marie was the one who found her. From that point, Aunt Marie befriended her and she became part of our family so much so that I actually recall visiting Aunt Marie and “Aunt Catharine” when we made our trips.

Eventually, Marie retired and moved back here to be near family. I’m pretty sure Aunt Catharine had passed away before Marie moved back. Marie bought a house trailer and it was placed next door to Sharon, her niece, her brother’s daughter. When my Mom was in the nursing home, Sharon and Marie visited her very regularly. To be fair, they were much closer in proximity to the facility than my sister and I were, but still, I truly appreciate the fact that they were always there for her. Sharon’s mother ended up in the same facility and after that, they saw Mom even more. They visited her in hospice several times as well, and it was during that time that it became apparent to my sister and I that Marie was most likely developing Alzheimer’s.

Sharon’s mother passed away only a few weeks after our Mom. I have to be honest and say that I was not happy with Mother’s service and when I attended Juanita’s, it touched me much more deeply than our Mom’s did, so much so that I shed many more tears there. I’m sure my tears were for the loss of my own mother and I know that the family knew that, too, but they were very understanding of that fact and knew that my tears were genuine, regardless of which loss I was shedding them for.

When Marie’s health began to steadily decline, there was no discussion that I know of of putting her in a nursing home. Sharon took care of her. Day and night, always there, whatever Marie needed, Sharon took care of. She had rare breaks as she did have a daughter who was married with children and lived about three hours away. She had some help and was able to go visit her daughter on rare occasions, never staying away for more than a few hours at a time. She has a sister who came every Wednesday night to let Sharon go to church. But it was Sharon who was there the biggest part of the time. Marie was bedridden for over three years, and never once did I ever hear mention of Marie going anywhere else…she stayed in her trailer, next door to Sharon and her husband, until the very end. That’s the part that amazes me, I suppose. Sharon was so dedicated to Marie’s care that her entire life revolved around it. She didn’t take vacations. She didn’t even go out to dinner. Everything she did was planned around making sure someone could be there with Marie. I suppose it was like having a small child again, really. But I sat there yesterday, listening to Sharon read Marie’s eulogy, thinking what a truly amazing person she is to have dedicated herself so completely to ensuring that Marie could spend her last years at home, where she was comfortable, being taken care of in the best possible manner. She could easily have placed her in a nursing home. Certainly, it would have been less work for her…but she didn’t do it. She saw to every need that Marie had, with the help of hospice workers that came to the house. She spent the last few years being completely responsible for Marie’s care, to the point that she had a video monitoring system installed next door and had monitors throughout her house so she could be constantly keeping an eye on Marie, even when she wasn’t in the room with her. I am amazed at her dedication, truly in awe of the sacrifices she made to be sure that Marie had the best possible care until the very end. Some part of me feels guilty, I can’t help it, because we didn’t do that for Mom, but I can’t go there. I can’t let myself feel that way because I had two small children at the time mother’s health was in decline and simply wasn’t able to do it. I could have done more than I did, but then not many people in the world can look back on a situation like that and not feel the same way about it. I won’t let seeing the amazing dedication that Sharon had to Marie make me feel guilty about not doing more for Mom, I know none of them would want that. But what I can do is be completely and totally amazed by her strength and her dedication. I don’t know that I’ll ever know anyone who could be a better example of love and devotion to another person in a completely and totally selfless manner. As I listened to her yesterday and watched her throughout the service, I couldn’t help but wish that there were more people like her in the world, more people who would give of themselves so unselfishly, for the benefit of someone else. I know she’d be embarrassed about this, she didn’t see herself as some kind of saint for doing what she did. I don’t see her as a saint, either, but rather as an angel, one sent just for Marie, to take care of her for her last few years on this earth. I am truly in awe of her strength and willingness to sacrifice years of her own life to take care of a loved one and can only hope that I can take some of what I see in her and bring it into my own life, allow myself to be inspired by her dedication to her loved ones, strive to be a better example of unfailing and unconditional love to my own family and loved ones and when I think I’m having a hard day, when my two kids are getting on my very last nerve, remember how blessed I am and dig a little deeper to find the patience I need, knowing that if she was capable of being as entirely devoted and selfless as she was, I can surely find a way to demonstrate some of those qualities that I so admire in her in my everyday life.

It has been a really long time

but that’s no surprise. I’m so not good at this . Just feeling a need to say something today. Thinking of doing a redesign, but not sure I want to. Thinking of just creating a new blog more related to my new job and what I do, thinking I want to do something that really feels creative today, knowing my kids will need to get out of the house, not wanting to spend $30 just to drive to town to spend even more money on things we don’t need. Wow, thinking too much, I guess. Just a quickie to say I’m still here and hope everyone is well.