Ok, so, I'm a slacker.... a slacker of the worst variety.... It has been almost an entire year since I last left a post. A year in which not a week went by that I didn't say to myself, "You need to put SOMEthing on your blog..."
Truth be told, I became my worst nightmare.... One of my favorite quotes is "Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life." Unfortunately that is exactly what happened. I muddled through the summer with Scott being gone, not dealing with his absence well, just trying to get from one day to the next. He came home for 12 days of leave on September 15. September 28 I was supposed to put him back on a plane for Afghanistan. The night of the 27th, he said, "Let's talk. What if I didn't go back?" We proceeded to talk through his options. As a contractor, he was under no obligation to go back. He would not have been considered AWOL, since he was not military. The biggest things were that he would be unemployed, and there would be the issue of taxes on the money he did earn, as he was not out of the country for 300 days. (Still don't know about the taxes issue, as we haven't done them yet.) He wants to work for himself, and I support him on that.... I mean, who doesn't want to work for themselves? Be your own boss. Wear your slippers to work... heck, wear your PAJAMAS to work!! Get to take your dog or cat to work with you. Commute down the hall to the office. Sounds great, right?
It is if you have something to fall back on while your business is getting off the ground. Scott is still working that out. In the meantime, I work.... and because we are short-staffed at the hospital, I've been working a LOT.... and in the grind of working 4-5 nights a week, all I want to do is sleep and vegetate in MY pajamas on my precious time off!! Thankfully, we have gotten more staff on board, and by the end of April, my time should once again be my own... and I can throw myself whole-heartedly into my new adventure...
Between working so much at the hospital, my now-growing Creative Memories business, more and more people stopping me at the ferry wanting info about Photo Organizing, doing a LOT of "retail therapy" on the scrap-supply-swap groups I'm in on Facebook (only swapping has been my money for their stuff), our living room was completely overrun with crafting supplies and inventory. Add in 3 dogs (oops, forgot to tell you about Pip), one of whom likes to chew on things (Pip), 2 cats that love to walk over everything with wet, muddy paws and lay in the middle of a layout, and all 5 of them shedding everywhere (pet fur has been tested by the scientists at Creative Memories and has been deemed to be acid-free and thereby photo safe), we had no place to walk, much less live, 2 blocks down the road was an office space/storefront for rent. I cannot sell CM retail, and that is fine. I was desperate for space to spread out, have friends over, and crop. When I got there and inspected the place, I knew it was perfect. When Scott realized ALL the crafting stuff was going, not just the CM stuff, he was in on it too.... We just have my Scrapbox left to move, and go pick up some items from a Local Scrapbook Store that is going out of business, and I get to sort and get organized once and for all!!! It is so weird being there without one of the furkids, but at this time, that is the way it needs to be.
So, who's Pip?? In May I got to surprise my mom with a week long visit to her place in CA. While I was there, a friend said she was looking for a home for one of the last puppies she had.... a 3/4 Toy Fox, 1/4 Jack Russell Terrier mix..... I knew Chula was getting older, and she was the only female, and I wanted at least the HINT of the presence of some estrogen in this tidal pool of testosterone I was living in!! Scott took one look at her, named her "Pipsqueak" because she was so tiny, and Pip came to live with us. She is a delight when she's behaving, and a Tiny Terror (or T-Squared) when she isn't.... I'll tell you more about her later, and share some layouts I did of her.....
So, in a nutshell, that is my life so far... lots of work, my unemployed husband playing househusband, and our newest furchild... There are many other things going on, and I will tell you all about them. I am going to be learning how to do videos to put on YouTube, so be on the lookout for those, and I am going to learn how to be a better blogger and Social Media person.... If I can keep my head above water, that is! :)
In the meantime, I'm off to get some sleep... Worked last night, and have to work again tonight, then I'm off for a few days.... No snow in the immediate future, so I am going to work while the sun shines... Ready to work on Jax' Scrap Shack and finalize making it a reality....
Happy Spring, y'all!!!
