Back at it

Well, it has been quite a while since I last blogged.  Can you say crazy busy?  Our office has been moving for the last few weeks, mother-in-law was in the hospital in ICU for two weeks, home and personal stuff going on.  UGGGHHHH.

The good news is mother-in-law out of the hospital entirely, office has physically moved and was able to get a little work done today, home  and personal stuff settling down. 

Working today and did not have computers operational until almost noon, how did the world ever survive without the use of computers?  There was lots of work that could have been completed without them but since we just physically move over the past weekend, everything was still packed away in boxes.  I think tomorrow will be a productive day, most everything has been unpacked and my desk is cleaned to the point I can actually get some work done.  I will try to remember to take my camera to work once everything has been unpacked and put the way I want it, and not the way the movers thought it should go so I can get photos of my "new" office. 

Luckily, this week is Spring Break for my kids so we don't have school stuff going on, because by the time I get home I am exhausted.  Happy Spring to everyone. 

A long week of learning

It has been a few weeks since I last posted anything to my blog.  I thought I would sit down and see if I could come up with anything.

Last Saturday, my mother-in-law was admitted to the hospital, the week following was completely full of ups and downs.  The ups and downs were not only with her health, but with her family as well.  We thought she had a medical power of attorney and had named me in the paperwork, however, once I found the paperwork, it had no names written in.  That was the first hurdle to overcome.  I stepped aside and allowed her children to take over.  In reality they did not want to do it, and the fighting started.  Currently, two of them are not speaking and one is terrified of another and what is going to happen. 

The one thing the children did not want to handle was the fact that their oldest sibling is developmentally delayed, and the boys have never dealt with it well.  I stepped in and started being the person she could rely upon to assist her.  She is fairly independent for her disabilities, she works, and drives, but she does not cook, cannot pay the bills (she does not know how to simply add or subtract.   She knows routine, and right now her routine is completely out of sync.  She has to check in with some one knows what she is doing and what her plan is and so they can validate what she is doing is correct.  I have been trying very hard to not upset her by telling her I do not have the time to answer her phone calls every 5 minutes and she does not have to check in with me.  I now understand that this is how her brain works and she is just trying to make sure she is ok.

 I know that I will get through this, God will not give me more than I can handle.  I just need alot of prayer especially for strength to be able to allow my husband to lean on me and patience to deal with his sister.  I am really blessed to have the support system for me that I have, without the people, who allow me to lean on them, I do not think, I would be able to allow others to lean on me.  Karen, mom and Linda, thank you for being my strong pillars.  I hope that if the tables ever turn, I am able to be the strength for you.  I love you. 

Digital Scrapbooking

So tonight I went to a crop to learn more about digital scrapbooking, I learned a few really cool things, I can't wait until I get the pages printed so I can see what the final looks like without the computer.  I also got to talk with my friend Debbie and met some new people.  I may have to invest in a laptop soon so I can quit borrowing my mom's and work on my projects at home.  So tomorrow I will be cropping again and I really hope I can get a ton more pages done.  I think I like doing the digital scrapbooking better than regular scrapbooking, plus the stuff you have to take with you  for digital does not weigh near as much as the hundreds of pounds that I use to take with me in traditional scrapbooking and not use because I would only get maybe one or two pages done.  So tomorrow I put what I learned tonight to good use.

The promised creation for my mom

My mom had given me the arrangement in the first photo at Christmas time and asked me to fix it for her.  she hangs it outside her front door and since most of the time we use the garage to get in, we never saw it.  It was not at all worth saving, except for the metal heart which had weathered nicely.  So I went online and to see if I could get an idea of what to do with it.  I pulled it all apart and only saved the birdhouse and the heart. Mom loves birds.  The bottom one is what I "created"  it is not the exact copy of the one I found online, but my idea based on what I saw, I think she will like it, and it is not just for Christmas anymore. I will try to get a better picture of the finished project, lighting is not great in my basement. Let me know what you think.

Updated photos finished project

Today I felt like creating, and I needed a new wreath for my front door.  I truly enjoy creating something beautiful from scratch, and I have been told that it could sell these things. There are two reasons I have not attempted this.  First, I do not know where I could sell them and second, I do not even know how much I would charge.  I am still using the left over materials that my mother has had for years, and adding a few new materials as I go along.   Maybe one day someone will see something that I have made and ask me to make something for them, but until then, I guess I will continue to make these for family members and as gifts.  I still have one to "redo"  for my mom,  as soon as I complete it, I will post it on here before giving it back to her.  I do have an idea on what I would like to do.  Please feel free to leave a comment so I know what you think. 

Scrappin' with Scraps

So I asked Kayla to save gum wrappers for me because I wanted to make something with them.  She gave me her gum wrapper for that piece.  When she went to school and someone would ask her for a piece of gum, she would say, sure, but you have to save the wrapper for my mom.  Today she handed me an empty gum package, except it had gum wrappers in it from her friends who have been saving them for me.  High school students chew a lot of gum.   I got the chance to be creative this evening while watching Criminal Minds.  I told Kayla I would make a card for the kids who had been saving the wrappers, she said "no mom, stuff like that would just end up on the floor of their cars" She took a picture of the Football card to show them.  The Football card has gum wrappers with their school colors.  The other two are obviously Saint Patrick's Day cards. (One of my favorite holidays) Let me know what you think.  by the way, If I have your address, I will be making a card monthly and send it out randomly.

Long Hours are They Worth It

I have not posted for quite a while, since I have been working a major case and working long hours on it.  I really have not felt like jumping on the computer when I get home.  I thought I would post today before I went home as my 40 hours are completed and the county is not allowing any overtime.  Bummer I HAVE to go home early on a Friday.  I do not think I have seen the end of the long hours yet, so might as well grab the time while available.  I hope I will be able to blog about it later.  My boss asked me the other night as we were working longer hours if I enjoyed my job and if I thought I could like to stay in it another 5 years.  My answer was a resounding yes, especially when I am working on a case such as the one we are currently working on, it make what I do seem like I am making a difference.  Those of you who know what my job is might have asked yourself the same thing, but I do love my job and I do make a difference.  I don't know if that will be the case on the case I am currently working, but maybe I will have played a major part in putting away some bad guys. 

So you might ask what are you going to do with your extra time today.  Well, I have an answer to that, straighten my house and spend some qualitytime with my family. They too have become neglected from my long hours at work.