And I'm Feel'in Good

Here I am, 40 and I'm feel'in good. What a great birthday I had. My book club (hello my fabulous friends) treated me to a wonderful dinner last Wed. night at my favorite restaurant. We actually discussed the book for the entire dinner, which really never happens. The book is called Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Read it if you get a chance. It's incredible. So after discussing many points of the book, my fabulous book club friends decide to nag me, pick on me, and basically give me a hard time about going to work the next day on my 40th birthday. It's just wrong they say. Use this day as a turning point. Do something for yourself. For goodness sake be irresponsible for one day and just play!!! Ok, ok. I get the point. The more I thought about it, the more I thought I deserved it. I called my boss at 9:00 that night and told him I was giving myself a present and taking the day off. It shocked him a little bit because he knows I am a die-hard on the responsibility chart, but he also knows I have a crap load of vacation that I never get to take and this is my 40th birthday. He only called me twice during the day and I only took 3 calls from my subcontractors. Not bad for me. In fact, that is quite impressive if I do say so myself.

What a wonderful gift to me (with the encouragement and nagging of my fabulous friends). I had the best day. I spent it with my two fuzzy critters, my sewing machine, my tea and my beloved magazines. David stayed up late Wed. and surprised me by decorating the house with black balloons, crepe paper, 40 signs etc. It scared the crap out of me when I got up and came in the kitchen. What fun! Then he gave me a great, funny card about farting when your old. Anyone that knows David knows that he thinks farts are the funniest thing in the world. Seeing as I love funny cards, it was the perfect card from my sweetie, (isn't that just sick). He also gave me my new Canon EOS camera that I have been wanting so badly. It's incredible.

So as I spent the day with myself, my mind was free to think and ponder and wonder. Here is a new point in my life. At 40, I'm feel'in way better than I did at 30. I have much to be proud of. Much to be happy about and I'm ready to make some major changes over this next decade. I'm feel'in good. Yes indeed, I'm feel'in good. A turning point it is. Uplift my sails and head into a new direction. Change is good, but at the same time knowing who you are and realizing that who you are was developed early in life is a good thing. You see we may change a little over the years and try to become someone else, but in reality, we are who we are. As you can see from the pictures of me at 5 and 8, I'm still a pant's wearing, dress hating, critter loving, free spirited, silly, crazy girl and I'M FEEL'IN GOOD!

Have a fun week and feel good.

Shell

This week IGF my honey bunny, David and all my fabulous friends that always make me feel good.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Well another week has come and gone. I had off from work today and spent the day with my bunnies and my sewing machine. Lot's of fun indeed. I made a journal and a small art quilt to sell on my site. I was getting worried, because I have sold almost everything and only had two items left. Yikes!

I started thinking about what I would write in tonight's blog and nothing was coming to me. I started to worry I wouldn't have anything to say (a freak moment I know as I always have something to say). Anyway, as I prepared dinner, my subject walked through the door. You see, David is selling a bunch of his fishing equipment that he has not used in EIGHT YEARS!!! He will finally part with all that crap as he wants parts for his 69 Camaro. Yippeeeeeeee, closet space! Anyway, this fella and his friend and this little boy come to look at all this crap. The little boy has to use the potty, so David points in the direction. Mind you, our house has a very open floor plan..... I make sure the little boy knows where the potty is and he's on his way. Well, he does not close the door and proceeds to peeing. Then, he does not wash his hands and is suddenly standing near me in the kitchen. He says to me, "I'm home schooled." "Did you know that pee is all the waste of your body?" As I bite my lip to keep from laughing, I reply, "yes, I did know that." I ask him how old he is and he tells me six. He says his birthday is August 7th, but last year they celebrated on August 2nd. I ask him why August 2nd? He says that his dad could not get off work. I ask him where his dad works and he replies, "the stinky plant." I want all of you to read this with your best country accent. The stiiiinkkiiiiy plaaant. I'm totally about to spit my wine out all over the place. Basically, his dad works at the waste water treatment plant. He then proceeds to tell me that his whole family likes NASCAR. His dad has painted half of the master bedroom for his driver and half of the bedroom for his wife's driver. The little boy has his entire room decorated in Jeff Gordon. Being a Jeff Gordon fan myself, I tell him he has made an excellent choice and he smiles that I too am a fan although my house is decorated in frou frou roses and rabbits and only the garage has any resemblance of NASCAR.

Next, his daddy comes in as he's waiting for David to retrieve the rest of the fishing gear. He is dressed in blue jeans, a camo hat, a flannel shirt and he has a hearing aid. He says, "it sure does smell good in here." "Somebody sure can cook." He then asks me if, "I work outside of the home like my husband." I tell him that I do and that I'm in construction. He's a bit puzzled and then looks around our home and replies that it is "very spacious and did we buy it like this." I tell him that I designed it, had a Russian artist paint the ceiling with roses and paint the mural on the wall. I'm not sure if all that registered, but he replies, "it sure is nice Mam, nice ta meet cha." and follows David back to the garage.

The whole thing was totally hilarious and I just gotta laugh! As I finished my dinner and my wine, I thought, "don't worry, be happy, because ideas always present themselves if you let them.

Have a great week and don't worry, be happy.

Hugs,

Shell

This week IGF my two cutie bunnies and my artwork that I was able to create today on my day off.

You Just Gotta Laugh

Hi and happy luck o' the Irish to ya! I'm part Irish. My maiden name was Mooney. However, I don't dress in green on this day, and I'm certainly glad I'm not in school where I would be pinched for not wearing said "green outfit." Green is my favorite color though, but that has to deal more with growth, renewal and heck, CASH!

This weeks post has again taken a different spin from where I originally thought it would be. It's amazing the things that happen in my life in the matter of one week that cause me to pause and say,"I just gotta laugh."

Let me give you a little sample of my past week. First, for the second time this month I have tried to renew my driver's license only to have the camera break (not because of my face). It's a bo-hick DMV in bo-hick NC for goodness sakes. They have one small, little room where we all wait like baby birds anticipating mama bringing the worm. Instead of signing a "sign-in" list and some "Joe Schmuck-a-telly" shouting "NEXT," they have this elaborate computerized system where a computerized voice says, "bong, number 197 please go to station 5, bong, number 197 please go to station 5." I'm not kidding. The room is maybe, 20' x 20'. Shouting "NEXT," would be much more efficient and then they could invest all our tax paying dollars into a BACK-UP CAMERA!!! Helloo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You just gotta laugh....

Next, is the always entertaining events of my job. Our Parade home is nearing completion. Being the ever efficient, over planner, completely anal, project manager that I am, everything was picked and scheduled by me months in advance. It started out last week with the fireplace granite I picked in January that was accidentally sold to someone else. Thus, I had to pick another complimentary color in 15 minutes that took a few days to get in. You just gotta laugh.

Second, I had an opening to get the hardwood floor guy in early and called to ask if he was bored and wanted to start 3 days earlier. Only to find out that the hardwood flooring supplier had not even made the hardwood floor I selected back in January. Thus, I had to select another complimentary color in 15 minutes that could be here by the initial scheduled date. You just gotta laugh.

Then I call to get the natural gas connected to the house only to find out that the "dual fuel" range I ordered, back in January, was not the range on the site. The one on the site was a full gas range. The paperwork said dual fuel, my bill said dual fuel, but the range on the site was... Wrong! Take that back and who the heck got my dual fuel range? To date we're still trying to find it. You just gotta laugh.

Then, even though I mentioned to the fireplace folks on 6 different occasions that this house had natural gas, they still delivered propane gas logs. I'd like an exchange these please. You just gotta laugh.

Then the electricians were to hang my fabulous pot rack above my fabulous butcher block island. We all agreed that it should be a certain height as to not interfere with the preparation of food and banging your head on a pot. However, this got lost somewhere in translation and the pot rack is about 3" from the 9' ceiling. Hello!!! Where's the step ladder so I can hang my pot???? You just gotta laugh.

So today, one week later, I'm all excited about my granite counter tops being installed. They are this yummy chocolate color and I'm just dying to see how they will look with my beaded cabinets and warm wall color. Well, I get a call from my fabulous cabinet maker. He says, "shuuug," that's Southern for "sugar." We have a small problem. They cut the sink template backwards and you'll need to put the large side of the sink on the left and the small side on the right." Well, that's not so bad. It could be worse. I say, ok and we get a new sink delivered to the site ASAP. Then, my cell phone rings again and it's my fabulous cabinet maker. "Shuuug, we have another problem. The seam where the granite meets up near the sink is well, well, hmmm, it's not the same color." "We're not sure why this happened, but it is as you like to say "booger." Your kidding me, I say. "No, my fabulous cabinet maker replies, it's booger!" Needless to say I will have to rearrange the schedule again in order to accommodate the tardy, booger, granite. You just gotta laugh.

Finally, I'm commenting to everyone how cute "princess" Chloe bunny was sitting up in my chair taking a nap. Well, it was a fake nap. What she really was doing was chewing a few holes in the fabric and pulling stuffing out all over. Naughty bunny!!! You just gotta laugh.

So there you have it. One week in my life and I actually left out some things. I do want to thank all of you that commented on last week's post. I got tremendous feedback and it was oh so fun! To those of you that stated concern for me, I thank you for your sweetness and tell you not to worry. To those of you that offered advice, I thank you for your wisdom and I listened to you. To those of you who have known me forever, know my crazy personality, and laughed at me. I say, thank you and I laughed with you. Because after all, sometimes... you just gotta laugh!!

Have a fabulous week and laugh with me.

Hugs,

Shell

This week IGF my friend, Kim, for watching my bunnies while I'm away and IGF the fact that all of the above happened to me and not my sweetie homeowners.

The Dreaded Schedule

Yuck! Puke! Gag! Spit! Choke! Cry! Stomp my feet! My life has been reduced to a dreaded schedule!!! I'm a totally driven, self motivated, employee extrodonaire, hyper person. You think a schedule would already be part of my life. Well, it kinda is, but not to the point it needs to be now. I'm organized, efficient and a goal maker, but lately, I find no matter how hard I try I can't fit it all in. Then I get to the overwhelmed part of it where I want to run away and live in a camper. I've never wanted to give into a schedule because it's felt like a total loss of life. Where every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year is planned out and just blends into one blob of meaningless nothing. The same thing over and over and over. Get up at this time, eat at this time, wash clothes on this day, clean house on this day, pay bills on this day, talk to friends on this day, not to mention breaking it down by the hour. Now that's pure torture to my soul!!!! I live in a beautiful house, drive a fabulous car, have nice clothes and pay $100 to have my hair still look dorky. Like the song says, "you're a slave to the money then you die."

For years I have tried to make a schedule and it has never really worked. My life has never operated that way. When I took the personality classes in college, I was one of those people who saw the big picture, the entire forest. The person who gets a ton of things done, but not by the clock. I remember we had to plan a make-believe-trip to Washington D.C. The people in my group with the same personality traits as me said, we'll leave at this time, stay in this hotel and we want to see, A.B.C while we are there. The opposite group of like minded souls said, we will leave at exactly 6:00 am., arrive at such and such a time, take two pee breaks, eat lunch at such and such time, check into hotel at such and such a time, visit this place at this time, etc. Get my point?

It's so hard for me to function like that, but I really need some help to get everything done that needs to be done. I mean pretty much 5:30 am until 6:00 pm Monday through Friday revolves around my full time job. Then add in my art business, then add in my Silpada business, then add in bills, cleaning, food, friends, family, pets, book club, forums, marketing, emails, etc. and it's all gone to hell in a hand basket.

I've read all these wonderful books about time management and I can't help but feel like that is not my reality. I mean how do you tell a friend that needs a shoulder to cry on that she can only call on this day at this time because it is not on the schedule? How do you tell your husband that for the rest of our "working" lives that we will do the same things week after week after week? I don't even have children and it's hard for me. Every book I read talks about creating a ritual. Maybe I can deal with it better if I treat it as a ritual. Hmmmm let's see, some sacred time for cleaning the toilet, balancing the checkbook and making a grocery list. Yeah right!

What I really want is FREEDOM! I want to be that 21 year old again that went away with the love of her life every weekend to Hatteras to lay on the beach and read books. I want to LIVE again and have time for my husband, wine with friends, long meaningful conversations, time reading a good book, petting bunnies and days getting lost creating something fabulous with my hands that makes me smitten every time I look at it.

NBC nightly news reported a few weeks (or months) ago that most women are truly depressed from 30 until 65. That once they reach 70, they are happy again. I know why. It's because they finally get to live again without the dreaded schedule. They are truly FREE from responsibilities. Their life is not scheduled and planned out. It just happens....

Have a good week and if you have any scheduling advice, or advice in general, please post it here.

Hugs,

Shell

This week IGF, Mommy Sylvia (I love you) and my Dear Friend, Commander Miller. You both make my life so much richer.

Happy Feet

Bottom picture, Razzy is saying "hey, where's the parsley?" Top picture, Chloe is saying "what parsley? I didn't see any parsley." Her lips in the second picture look so funny, like she's saying, "ha, ha, ha, I got the parsley." I know, I know, I need help, but bunnies make me laugh.

On to this week's post.

I have to admit that this was not my original topic for tonight, but after a few glasses of wine and listening to a song, my ideas went in another direction. You all know that music has a major influence on my little ol' pea brain. I can't help it. It is one of my most favorite artistic forms. It has such power to move us, shake us and even break us down into tears. I really do love all sorts of music, except classical. I just don't get classical. I guess I'm not classy enough, but I digress.

Anywho, the song that should be playing now as you read my little bit of blab is one of my most favorite 80's songs. I Ran, by A Flock of Seagulls. What was it about the music from that time that always makes me want to dance, shake my booty and get my groove on???? It was such happy music. It had such an awesome beat. Not to mention the fact that I had the most perfect "mall" hair. Remember, the big bangs, the long, long layers and the Aqua Net hair spray? Yes, the only time in my life that I had great, fabulous hair.

Just listening to this song makes me want to dance around the house, jump on the couch, jump on the bed and sing at the top of my lungs (be glad you can't hear me sing) and act like a complete and total dork! I've been fighting a poo poo mood for a few days and I have to say that just listening to fun, happy, music makes me feel so good. Yes, I have happy feet. I am the Dance Diva even if it is the dance floor in my living room.

Have a wonderful week. Put some music on, jump on the couch, jump on the bed, grab your pretend microphone and sing your heart out. However, you may want to close the curtains before you do this. No need to scare the neighbors more than you already have.

Hugs to you all,

Shell

This week IGF my phone conversation with my brother last night (hi Michael) and my new daily addiction to http://www.potentiallynervous.blogspot.com/ This blog makes me happy every day. Check it out.