TGIF, I Think

So busy lately. I tried posting a few days ago and was so unhappy with my rambling that I just deleted the entire thing. Of course I had every intention of getting back here and then my life just kept happening. I am glad to see Friday arrive yet, I need to slow down time. With an Open House in two weeks, I need every second I can get. Unfortunately, those seconds also need to be chocked full of inspiration and that just doesn't seem to be happening lately.
I had hoped for some inspiration from a trip to the beads store and an afternoon with my goof friend Diane ( always a day of laughter and fun to get the juices flowing). Of course, I then realized it was the week of the Bead Show in Tucson and the shop would be bare. I am going to Tucson one year, I swear. It's on that list of business trips that includes Italy (HA!) I also have ideas that require supplies I am out of and don't want to use the time I have running for them, so I try to make other things. Truth is I need to make everything I can. I need to just bite the bullet and go. Get it over with and work in peace.
As if these obstacles are not enough, I seem to be compelled to register for more and more days of teaching. Great. We need the money. The DC trip will be here before we know it and teaching is a guaranteed paycheck. That doesn't negate the need for productive time jewelry-wise. Throw in IEP's, 504"s, committee meetings, Board meetings and a "to do" list the length of my arm and the pressure builds exponentially. Suffice it to say, this blog of ramblings just keeps getting knocked of the list. So, this post has done wonders for my stress level.

A Whole Week

without a post. Where has it gone? The holidays, family, craziness has just taken its toll I guess. Then again, 65F in December is enough to make any Chicagoan get out of the house. Unfortunately it didn't last. Nows we have over a foot of snow melted and frozen as an ice pond in the back yard. Luckily, no flooding in the basement. I don't know if I could deal with that at this time of year.

Mark is home for one more week and I am making a wish list. He would condider it a "honey-do" list but I don't care. Surely there is more on it than could ever be accomplished, hence, the "wish" part. Hopefully we will figure out the basis for reworking my workroomtoday. Actually accomplishing the rework is a whole other story. We should finish the painting upstairs and the boys bedrooms forst but I may comit hiicide if something in this room doesn't give soon. Elfa systems cost as much as raising a child, so it will be the Markaroo system for us (would you really expect anything else?)

It seems everything we do the past few weeks is a money pit. Painting, Christmas, planning vacations, organizing. Geesh! I hope we find that $$$ tree soon. It all needs doing, I just don't know how. Truth be told, no one can blame us for not doing our part for the economy!
See what happens when I don;t post for a week, my fingers start babbling all over the map. non cohesive ramblings.
posts to come:
Grandma kicked butt
The Johnsons go to Washington
dysfunction fest '08
Why is my meanager still alive?

No Time Today

As usual, I have quite a "to do" list. Blogging was definitely on that list but my day seems to be taking on a life of its own. Today is my cyber Monday, it seems. Orders I have been hoping for are finally coming in droves. Everytime I try to accomplish something, I hear that little email ding and there is another order.

I must say, I am just a little anal when it comes to orders. I have even been known to hit the post with orders more than once in the same day. I want to get them packed with care and off to the post office as fast as possible. The post office is conveniently located adjacent to the kid's school, so not a bother to go. I wish I could say as much for the lines and one of the desk clerks there. People may think of me as considerate to let them jump line on me but the truth of the matter is, I do anything to avoid him. I just don;t need another rude, obnoxious jerk yelling at me.
Today I am under the gun time wise. I have food to make for Mark's Christmas party at work in the morning. It's not like i can put it off til later in the week, but I also have orders that just MUST get mailed. Aterall, what if they are gifts. People need time to do with them what they must. I also have a mess of a house and laundry to do (like that ever changes, ha!)
So, I am off and running once again. If you see one of my boys in dirty jeans or fussing for a clean shirt, please comfort them and let them know the world will not come to an end if they wear a pair of pants more than once. Spin that "be green" theme on them and remind them I do love them more than life itself but I also have customers to tend to and they pay. (I will know you have run across them and done this when they try to pay me to cook them dinner)

The Technology Time Suck

That's what I've officially named this week. I have spent more time on the phone with tech help boneheads than Katie Couric has trying to figure out what Palin said to her. I bet that took a few Appletini's and some headshakin'.

The only thing that beats a wasted night on the phone with DTV troubleshooters is spending it with SBC.com script readers trying to get my internet connection back. Wow!, they are about as knowledgeable and experience as Ms. Palin in their ability to do their jobs. Granted, I had a nasty cold, was dead tired and hanging just about upside down under a poorly lit desk in an electrical rat's nest wasn't particularly conducive to patiently interpreting babble and waiting for that snippet of script that actually pertained to my problem, but really, if that's what we have at our disposal why not just leaves us to the devices of the auto help computer guide.

Hmm, maybe that goes for politics too. I mean, at least with Bush we know what we're in for. We see through his motives and know not to trust a damned thing he says or does. We know he's a psychotic whack job with a personal agenda and that his ability to think for himself rivals that of Lambchop.

Okay, back on track, I know way better than to spew politics in public. **just keep whispering, no good can come of this, no good can come of this** See, I should stick to those lovely promos of etsians I love and trivial pursuits of my days, where people can laugh at the fact that the highlight of my week was a dog drunk on Valium just for a $40 manicure. Mind you, I have never even paid $10 for one myself, but then again If someone gave me happy pills and a biscuit, I might consider it.

Yes, leave it to me to have a dog that needs more Valium than Paula just to get a dew claw clipped. I mean, it should be expected, right. Neurosis's seems to surround my life. Why should I expect anything less from a pet. Well, now we have a nice little bottle of doggie downers in anticipation of this lovely monthly ritual.

So, I still have a host of needs to meet this week and it's Friday afternoon. The head cold has packed its bags and relocated in the scratchy throat hotel. Laundry seems to have gained squatter's rights and Lord help me, after a sorely needed coiffing, I have to shop for a dress.
Just shoot me.

The More things Change,

The more they stay the same. I believe that's how the story goes. Well, the more I try to post, the more I just don't get to it. Why, you may ask? Well, let me tell ya......
House, kids, school, bitchwork, dog, doctors, etsy (oh yeah, etsy the ultimate fun time suck), HandmadeFuzion, jewelry making, grocery shopping, working out (HA!)........someone stop me! Please!!

So, most days I go now stop. It's okay, it's who I am. The busier I am, the more I get done. Maybe I am the world's worst procarastinator, I don't know. All I know is, the more idle time, the bigger sloth I become, and let me tell you, man can I give a tree Sloth a run for his money in the lazy ass department if I try.

So, the point of this post? I guess it would be that I have added more to my plate. Someone slap me, hard, NOW! I don't know what posesses me to do these things. I must be a masochist deep down. You see, if you were reading the first paragraph you would have noticed my reference to the most fun, zany, interesting time suck, etsy. I love it. I use it as an excuse for so many things I choose not to do. I make a little, spend a lot and have made some great friends. So, if that's not enough, what have I gone and done but added Handmade Fuzion to the mix.

What is Handmade Fuzion you ask? Well, it's more selling, more promoting, more friends, more chatting and yet another blog (because this one is sooooo overindulged!). I enter this new adventure with trepedation. Cautiously and a little overwhelmed, but hey, i'm usually game for anything. So, come check me out next week and see for yourself how interesting it is.

Routine Memories

Let's see if I can remember how to do this. It's only been a good 6 months since I found the time to ramble (at least on here). This is a week of getting back in the swing, returning to a routine, structure, blah, blah, blah. Bottom line is, the kids are back in school. So, I hope against hope for a little normalcy, a little peace and quiet and a little "me" time. Then again, I though that would happen once school was out and the list of commitments dwindled. Nothing like a lack of carefree summer days to smack you up the side of the head with a dose of adulthood reality.

Speaking of reality, I have an official "meanager" now. yep. Crackling voice, outgrowing shoes before your eyes, attitude filled, myspace obsessed, girl oggling, meanager! Now, I knew this was coming. Afterall, his 13th birthday was in January. I was just hoping it would take a little longer. I wasn't quite ready for a daily dose of guilt-induced craving to call my mother and apologize, and yet I thank the good Lord himself daily that he is NOT a girl. I don't know either of us could survive me raising me as a teen.

Truthfully, he's a good kid. Both of my boys are. I babble on and get fed up like any mom, but in the end, I am lucky. If I could just get them a little boot traiing I might have more time to create and less time playing maid.

I am making a concerted effort to begin blogging more often and get back to some featuring of art I love and am inspired by. Maybe the ocassional funny story will get thrown in. There's no shortage of funny mishaps in my world, why not share. So, stay tuned and who knows, I just might get a handle on this yet. If not, you'll get a good laugh watching.