My Chaotic Realm

I joined an online ATC group Monday. Am already a member of an altered art (not just ATCs) and still doing the face-to-face one here but, as I mentioned before, it is slow starting. I mailed out my ATCs for the peacock interpretation swap just now and I uploaded my entry into this month's Lottery. I also joined 2 swaps in my Altered Art online group... "Free Expression" & "Wings on Things". Those are not due until June so I have a month to work on them while I work, beach, walk, shop, wash dishes & laundry, and all those other fun-filled daily life activities. I am a World Book Giver again this year & today is the day to go pick up my book!! I was assigned "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. I am so excited..I LOVE this book! Sadly, today is off to a late start... pressure shift in the weather saw me awaken with majog headache pressure which, of course, left me tossing my cookies. Back to bed I went @ 8:30 and did not appear out from u...

So, today is my day off, as will tomorrow be. I don't like that bc it means I am working 3 days in a row again, but it is what it is. My "alternate" (the gal who works MWF when I am TTS, and vice versa) needed the last half of the week off so she is working MTW & I am working TFS... sigh. But, on the plus side I have tomorrow off so will make some ATCs for the monthly WTA (Winner Take All) swap going on until 4/28/13 in the new online ATC group I joined today. the theme is BEE... I can get behind that. Briana came over today and we made ATCs for a couple of hours, not nearly enough time. Next monthly art day is next Tuesday, so really looking forward to that!

What have I been up to in the last 10 days, since posting about the loss of my mother and my trip back home? Catching up, mostly. Regrouping, some. Work called me in the day after I got back to MS and needed me to cover for someone who called out with tooth issue. So I have worked 7 of those 10 days. Only reason not more than that is because I have taken PTO for yesterday, today & tmomorrow. Will go back to work Thursday & work Friday & Saturday as well. Needed to do some around the house chores that have been aging less than gracefully on my list: Laureli's taxes-DONE Take cards to cafe & replenish/refresh stock-DONE Good Karma's books-DONE commit to starting diet by rousting bad crap out of my house-DONE replace broken automoatic cat litter box with manual huge box for all 4 cats-DONE Fix tent poles & set tent up to see if they work-NOT DONE Build cat tree-NOT DONE drink a bottle of Mom's wine on the beach and remember all the ...

Knowing that she is gone is still unimaginable and maybe the reality hasn't hit yet, I don't know. In his book, When Parents Die: A Guide for Adults, Edward Myers states, “Loss of a parent is the single most common form of bereavement in this country. Yet the unstated message is that when a parent is middle-aged or elderly, the death is somehow less of a loss than other losses. The message is that grief for a dead parent isn’t entirely appropriate.” So that would explain why I feel guilty when I am sad and want to cry but can't because I don't want to explain to others I am crying because my mom just died and yet, here I am, working? You never expect the sky to fall down-the sky is always there and always will be. And yet that’s exactly how I felt about my mother dying... the sky suddenly fell. It is the little things that make me cry. We finally got that fireplace (electric) that we'd been keeping an eye on (winter close out sales) to fill the real fireplace sp...

... to what will be a terrific day...and it is my day off! Have had my first cup of coffee with a chunk of spinach feta stuffed bread {breakfast} and already written to my Austin penpal. Now starting on 2nd cup of reishi coffee while checking in with the cyber world. I opened at work yesterday (ie: I get to the clinic @ 4am so get up at 3am) and I will open again tomorrow. Slight barometric headache today but will ignore it and relax in my craft space while catching up on household chores (the usual dishes, laundry, etc) that I don't do on work days. I got a jigsaw puzzle at Dirt Cheap last week that is on my list of things to do today. I LOVE jigsaw puzzles but have lacked the space (and time) to do them. With cats, you see, you must plan ahead. No matter what flat surface I choose, at least one cat will be inexplicably drawn to THAT one surface. So, planning is key if I want all my pieces to remain in one place. I have Kitta on my art table chewing on my pens whil...

Two of the things I promised myself when my IRS refund arrived was to purchase a new Pioneer stereo for my vehicle and get a manicure. I made good on both promises yesterday!! Got the manicure at Sunset Nails then got the stereo installed at Best Buy in less than 30 minutes. It is freakin' amazing.. bluetooth enabled, USB on the face, auxilary jack, and it has changing colors that absolutely rock! It is as close as I will get (probably) to a tie-dye stereo. Closed my Wells Fargo accounts because my "free checking" was costing me $10/month. Also stopped by " Stone Man & Gem Lady " to get my bracelet fixed while I waited. Had an AWESOME lunch with Scharrion at Harbor View Cafe (really love the food & Katie excels as wait staff). Then the "Celebration of New Ministry" for Mtr Betsy last night with the Bishop. A very full and fun day. Today is an eye exam, a nap, a massage & then back to work at OMG AM tomorrow.

After being in MS for 2 years, I finally have the time to start up a monthly craft group. Today I kick off the first meeting at my home for crafters, be they card makers, scrappers, whatever. Let the fun begin!