Snow Storm!!

Look what's outside my window ...

It's been snowing here since well before I got up at 5:30 a.m. Didn't go into work as the roads are a mess and I would have had to clean both cars off so I could get mine out of the driveway. I knew with hubby being sick I shouldn't have let him park behind me yesterday. Anyhow, I've been working from home and trying to rest some. I'm not feeling great, but better than the boys. When the snow stops I'll go out and clean a little at the time. I don't want hubby out there as sick as he is.... I don't need him getting pneumonia!

Look at this one, in the distance is the bird house that we had baby finches last spring. Not a good day for the birds!

And NOT a good day for using the grill! LOL

Slow Progress

Been working very hard on getting caught up, more organized and in general pulling myself out the funk I've been in. I can tell you that at the office I'm getting myself in a much better place, but design wise it's still not happening for me. I have NO creative mojo right now. Not even to scrap my own pictures. I want to scrap the pictures from my trip to see Papa, but just don't have any good ideas. I haven't even opened PhotoShop most days and that's super unusual for me.

High school hockey is winding down and my schedule should get to a more "sane" level. Travel hockey will gear back up for a couple of weeks and then we will go to tournament in mid-March.

Ollie has had the flu this week and it looks like hubby started with it overnight. I'm not feeling 100%, but so far hanging in ok. Poor Ollie had/has it bad. His fever is starting to be low-grade only, but he's still full of aches, pains and lots of coughing. Of course this started on Sunday so by now he's totally bored even if he doesn't feel well. Good news is that he was on winter break this week and didn't miss any school. Bad news is he was on winter break this week and didn't enjoy it at all! Hopefully he's better by the weekend and can hang out with his friends or something.

Here's a picture of me and Papa right before I left. Love the picture, not sure what I'm going to do with it yet.

Digitals Sale!

Visit my store at Digitals here.

My Beloved Papa Merlin

My dear sweet and beloved Papa Merlin passed away today at 1:15 p.m. (PST). I'm thankful that he did not suffer, but having a hard time accepting that my wonderful grandfather is no longer with us.



Papa is always in my heart and I am always in his. He was an incredible example, the kindest man and strong always. No matter what, Papa always had my back. Rest in peace and keep me in your heart Papa.

Oh good grief ...

Sometimes when it rains it just pours and pours!

Feeling good that I decided to take a break. I still have a couple of designer catch up things and then will truly be on a break for a bit. I can't seem to get caught up on those couple of things though. *sigh* Good news is just the prospect of less pressure is starting to spark some creative thoughts.

Still behind in all other aspects, but it will take time to catch up. One task at a time, one foot in front of the other. Right?

Weekend was wacky. Ollie had a game on Friday night. Woke up Saturday morning with a huge huge huge headache and pain in my neck. Took a couple of Excedrin and sat against the massaging pillow that hubby gave me for Christmas. I have to say it did the trick and I ended up feeling much better. Then it was off to the store for a new toaster oven. We found a super duper one day sale at Bloomindales of all places. I ended up with a nice convection/toaster oven for about 60% off. Ended up with another 15% off by opening a Bloomindales account. Funny, I never imagined finding a bargain there! Then went to Macy's and had them swap out the ring hubby gave me for Christmas. I lost a diamond out of it on Thursday night (I think at the hockey parent meeting.... go figure!). Since it was only a month old, that is completely unacceptable! They swapped it out with no problems at all. Also picked up a couple of little kitchen gadgets there (they were having a huge sale too). So what started as a bad day seemed to be turning into a fantastic one. Hubby and I were really enjoying being out together running errands too. Ollie had a game Saturday evening and guess what happened to me? I fell down two stairs at the rink and twisted my ankle badly. I have a twisted left ankle, sore quad muscles on my right leg, a sore right wrist, sore upper left arm and my back is sore everywhere. GOOD GRIEF! Good news is nothing is broken and this too shall pass.

Another game yesterday and then we just chilled together as a family yesterday afternoon/evening. Nice!

Sounds like Papa Merlin is doing pretty good right now and getting lots of visitors. I sure miss him so!

Ok, off to get more catching up done. Thanks for the comments and well wishes! It's nice to know I have so many people in my corner ... and yes, things will improve! Now if I could stop hobbling around with a bum ankle!

Hugs!

Taking a little break ...

I've decided that I must take a little break and get myself back on track. I've talked to both my stores and explained that I'm just overwhelmed right now and facing a lot of depression. It's affecting my creativity in a big way and I just can't seem to find the hours to get everything caught up. Sooooo..... I'm going to be stepping back from the design world just a little for the next couple of months. I will be cancelling my Box of Dreams crop for February and March. I'm hoping to get some time to catch up, rejuvinate, do some personal scrapping and work on some designing without the pressure of deadlines. I'm also hoping that will give me a chance to participate in the forums and galleries more. I need to reconnect if that makes sense. I must tell you that I have two of the best stores out there! Not only are they willing to let me step back a couple of months, they are also there as friends to listen when I need to talk. My Dream Team too! They will stick with me even though I'm struggling right now. I feel very lucky for the wonderful people I have in my life through the scrapping community.

So, I'm not going away, just scaling back a little while. Who knows, that might spark some great creativity! I'm going to try and get some blog freebies up on a more regular basis too!

Here is hubby's February wallpaper. I made the round calendar and am thinking of putting out a whole set of them eventually.

Wallpaper made using my Little Bit O' Love kit and a new calendar wheel by me.

Hugs!