From Chaos Comes Happiness

  December 2 What a cathartic morning.  Truly.  I didn't wake planning on making such a move. But the universe called me to do it . . . and it felt so good. Going through a stack of books I intend to donate today, I came across one that was gifted to me by a couple of former bosses many years ago - at least 5, I am thinking. I worked for a healthcare consulting company at the time, and the more I think about - the funnier it is (that I was working for a healthcare consulting company, and this was what the bosses distributed to all of us. Not a book on business practices, or a book on job focus, organization, or skill building. No.) They gave a book by Iyanla Vanzant. A book about spiritual strength and personal growth.  Now, I am not here to slam Iyanla - I think she is brilliant. Truly. An inner peaceful and soulful person who has changed the lives of MANY - a woman who has even said things that have changed mine . I l...

                  I have an amazing husband.  Have I told you that before?   I don't want to gloat, or sound like I am bragging. I am not. I am just recognizing one of my biggest blessings, and sharing it with you today. My husband. He is pretty awesome.  In the past few months, he has been top notch.  And sometimes I forget to tell him that.  Because, I guess, the expectation is for him to be this ' Superman '. Not only for me, but for everyone else.  Sometimes, I forget that he is real. Just like you and me.  Sometimes, I forget that he has pressures and stresses - unlike those that I can relate to. He has that "manly" responsibility to care for all four of us - for our home, to pay our bills, provide . . . all those things. Even though he knows we are in this ' together ' - that we work ' together ' - I know he carries the load.  Yes, sometimes I forget that he really has the weight of the world on h...

. . . and before I knew what happened, it was December 9th.  Damn.  I wanted to blog so much more in November.  I was there. I had so much to share.  But then . . . a few things happened . . . like, I had this home art party . . .    It was lots of fun.  Then I planned a project for Ella's Brownie troop . . .  It was lots of fun, too.   Then Phil planned a trip to this place . . .   . . . which was absolutely awesome and completely magical .  It was a short little trip.  But it was exactly what we needed.  Because there were lots of laughs . . .  And awesome moments like these . . . The next day, we went here . . . .  And it was heavenly. Because, I was here . . .  and they were there . . .  and it was good. So very very good.  Then we came home, and had some people over for dinner . . .  It was su...

It's so strange how the universe works. Like, CRAZY strange. And I love it. Every stinking bit of it. Really. The good, and the bad parts of it. My friends . . . I got the job. The job I was telling you about earlier in the week. The for real 'wake up and go to an office' sort of job. The job that will deposit funds into my bank account every two weeks (insert cheer of ' yay !' here). The job that will help ignite some old skills, dust of some insurance knowledge, and allow me to exceed in a field that I know I can handle. Yes, I got the job. But back to the universe. I love it. A few years ago, for those of you who may not be familiar with my story, I worked in health care - in health insurance, specifically. I have actually held a job in health care, in one way or another, since I was 16. And since I am not one to hide my age . . . that was about 27 years ago. I did well in health care - working my way up from one position to another, and settli...

My burners are full right now, friends. All of them. And things are simmering . . . steadily.  In other words . . . I feel like I have a lot going on right now.  While blow drying the 'do' this morning (because, you know, that is when my greatest thoughts and ideas come to me), I came up with this analogy for life: Comparing it to a great chef in one of the busiest restaurants - with every single burner on the stove running at full capacity, and still keeping up with each of them before anything overflows.  That's how I feel lately. I keep stirring them - going from one pot to another, to make sure that nothing boils over. But so far, so good. Nothing is burning. Yet. ;)   One pot is full of Girl Scouts & Brownie meetings and activities, the other is full of swimming and band practices, one is full of Art to work on, the other is planning for craft fairs, one pot has art classes and home art parties in it, and another is filled to the rim wit...

I can't even believe how long it has been since I've sat at this computer and typed on this keyboard. Years, it seems like. Of course, it hasn't been years. But it sure has been a long time. And the days . . . oh, they have been busy. Instead of taking up a whole bunch of time giving you the blow-by-blow of the past few weeks, I thought I'd bore you with some quick little highlights. (Although, I've just come back to proof-read this part after writing out the whole post, and I do believe I end up giving you the blow-by-blow. You know, nothing is that simple for me! Sorry for that!) It's going to be a bit "all over the place", because that is just sort of how my mind is working these days. Bear with me. I'm sharing a bunch of pictures, too . . . because sometimes a photo just needs to be shared! So, this is the last few weeks of my life: It all started with a great fortune . . . what it means, I have no idea. If I knew what idea it was refer...

Well, the kids have just over a month of summer break remaining . . . and I feel like we've already done so much this year, I can't imagine what's left! Well . . . yes, I can . . . because we have lots more scheduled that we'll be squeezing in the next few weeks. We've got books to read, scrapbook projects to complete, a visit to downtown Chicago planned (along with a day at the Art Institute of Chicago). We've got Summer Band Camp starting August 4th, and Girl Scout activities taking place shortly thereafter. I still have about 5 art classes to teach, and there are even more graduations and birthdays to celebrate. Yes, it's flying by . . . but we're not finished yet. This morning, I sat on the computer cropping and ordering photos from Walgreens from all of our summer fun thus far. I think I ordered over 300 pictures . . . I like to get extras when there are photos of neighbors kids and other special shots included, so I can pass them on to friends ...

Follow my blog with Bloglovin Oooooo . . . I love awards! There is something so awesomely special about someone taking time out of their day, their life, their moment . . . to share a little happy-goodness with you . It's been a long time since I was involved in a little blogland sort of celebration, but my dearest Nat over at " Just Nat " was incredibly kind to share a "Liebster Award" with me last week. And Nat . . . I am forever grateful!! Just Nat! I adore Nat . . . she is my adventure sister, a photographer extraordinaire, my worldliest of friends, and one of my longest running blog buddies. I don't know how long we have been in each others blog lives (years, I tell you . . . it has been years) . . . but I do know that just months ago I saw my very first photo of HER (the beautiful photos on her blog are usually of her travels and other subjects along her journey) . . . but when I saw my very first photo of HER - her face, her smile - happy t...

We went on a lovely walk in the nearby forest preserve over the weekend. The sun was shining so brightly, and the sky was bluer than blue. It was slushy and cold, and there was a thin layer of icy snow along the path . . . but it was wonderful. The quiet of the woods, the sound of the snow crushing below our feet. No iPods, no Wii games, no iPads . . . nothing. Just the four of us. Our little family. They are truly my favorite people in the whole wide world. I often wonder how I got so lucky - to have these three in my life. How blessed I am. We have a snow day today . . . Chicago is expecting 8-12 inches. Right now, PG is working on his laptop on the kitchen table, and the girls and I are in basement about to have some fun with pipe cleaners. I can't imagine a better day. Seriously. Wishing you all wonderful days with your favorite people, my friends. Much Peace!

November.               It's November.                                Holy Cow.                                               I still don't know where April, May, June or July went.                                                              ...

. . . hearing the doorbell ring, and hearing the engine of the UPS truck pull away as you open the door and find it sitting there . . . waiting. A brown box. Some can be little. Some can be big. Just depends on the goodies you're expecting. Whatever it is, knowing that the box is from  Blick , it's just about all that matters. Nothing is wonderful as that. The box I received this week contained some new palette paper, a whole set of Mod Podge (matte, sparkle, glossy, outdoors and paper varieties), 50 small 4x4 canvas boards, and 25 assorted paper mache boxes. Yes . . . these. What, pray tell, am I going to do with 25 assorted paper mache boxes? Oh, wouldn't YOU like to know?!? ;)  Oh, I've got some ideas . . . some visions . . . some wheels that are turning. You're going to have to hang in there to see. So, I'm getting busy in my studio, again. I've signed up for another craft fair on November 10th, and I have lots to do to prepare for it. In a...

My goodness . . . my mind is a bit silly tonight. I miss my dearest blog friends (that would be YOU) so very much, and decided the best way to jump back in the saddle is to just . . . DO IT! So please forgive me for the randomness of this post, but I have much to share and can't think of a better way to do it than this. In no particular order, here is a bulleted list of the updates of life in our "happy chaos" the past week, or so . . . just to bring you up to speed: The girls have both started their school years off with flying colors! Ella has taken so very well to Kindergarten, and happily exclaimed, "I LOVE IT!" when stepping off of the bus that first day. My eyes were filled with tears for missing her, but seeing her smiling face made it all the better. Katie feels she has the BEST 4th Grade Teacher in the whole school, which makes it extra easy for us to get moving in the morning. She has started setting her own alarm this year (a new thing for us a...

I wanted to do something special this year to mark the end of the summer and to christen the beginning of a new school year.  A celebration, of sorts, that all of us in the family could take part in. So, I decided we'd have a ceremony . . . a little presentation . . . to talk about our wishes for the coming school year, and then end it with a special lighting ceremony (yes, I must be going through some sort of withdrawal from the pomp and circumstance of the Olympics.) We started by each of us making "wish" pages that could hold our individual wishes for the new school year. From "making new friends" to "focusing more", each of us had something that we wanted to wish for in the months ahead. While the concept was a little hard for Ella to get, she still came up with "I want to learn more math" and "I want to make friends". I was pretty proud of her! They did a great job with their school year wish lists. We then ga...

I went to dinner with an old friend of mine last week. Susan. She makes me laugh until I cry, this Susan girl. And then when I calm myself down, I laugh some more. Friends like that are good to have. Susan and I have known each other what feels like a lifetime ago, when we both were childless and single, living our days working full time and doing community theater at night. We were young. We were fearless. We lived life to the fullest. While we are still pretty fearless and still live life to the fullest, we now do so with our spouses and kids in tow. Susan still does a great deal of theater, except now she gets paid for it. Me? I make art. The last time we had dinner together was probably 5 years ago. Facebook has kept us in contact with the little updates here and there, but it has been way too long since we sat face to face and talked. But it felt like we just did it last week, that's how comfortable our friendship is. We each had long stories to tell o...

A happy song is playing in my head today. You know the one . . . Three Little Birds , by Bob Marley. I love Bob Marley, a true genius at putting words together with a rhythm and beat that moves my soul. I have always been a fan of his, way before I took that trip to Jamaica in 1995 with a friend of mine. When I hear Marley, my eyes close and before I know it, my body is swaying to the beat with little dips of the head taken here and there. Today, I'm singing his song. Rise up this mornin', Smiled with the risin' sun, Three little birds Pitch by my doorstep Singin' sweet songs Of melodies pure and true, Sayin', this is my message to you-ou-ou Singin': "Don't worry 'bout a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be all right." Singin': "Don't worry (don't worry) 'bout a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!" Oh, how I love that song. A week or so ago, my friend Leslie from "Words o...