let's go surfing now

new challenge from WT!! blog about your weekend plans.

well, this is an exciting weekend because we are leaving in one hour to go stay on the beach. we are going back to where we used to live and staying in a hotel on the beach. it will be a lot of fun! we plan to take ds12 boogie boarding, his first time! ds18 unfortunately has to stay home cuz he has to work, and we will miss him terribly! i plan on taking 2 books, getting lots of new pics, eating some great food, scrapbook shopping and just some great sweet time with dh! we love the beach and it is such a fun place to take the kids. we actually bought some new beach chairs and wow, what a difference! our old ones are 20 years old and they have really changed! i got one with flowers on it, ds12 got one with surfboards and dh got a plain striped one. i am really excited about this trip, cuz i need a break! ds12 started school yesterday, big 7th grader! work has been tough and i really need to relax! so have a great weekend everyone, i am planning on it!

creating

well, all my life i have created things from very little. i love to craft, i love art. i have many tastes in arts and crafts and really enjoy just about any type of art. the funny thing is, i have tried so many and actually mastered many craft techniques! i used to teach craft classes at a local craft store. it was fun, but i really love to create at home. i used to make many things and give them away. i don't have much to show for the many years of crafting. i used to make all of my clothes! i would not even consider buying clothing! gasp! i have knit, and crochet, paint (all types), quilt, cake decorating, all kinds of fabric crafting, flower arranging, water colors, macrame, tatting, pretty much anything you can think of. I would have to say my favorite is to paint. i really love to paint. i am quite good at it. i can look at something and recreate it very well with a paintbrush. i wish i had pics to share, but it has all been given away. i have very few things left to prove what i do. maybe i should make things for myself! my newest obsession is scrapping. i have so much scrap stuff now, i can scrap everyday for a year and still have something left! and i love it. i try to do something every day, whether it be page planning or actually scrapping, or journaling. i am a scrapper. well you can see that by my posts! anyway, i don't have my favorite creation to share, since it was a gift, so i will tell you about it. i crocheted a poinsettia doily for my mother. she loved it so much it stayed out year round. and that is why it is my favorite. because my mother loved it so much!

little blessings

ya know, my job is a hard one. all of my patients are very ill, whether it be physical or mental illness, very ill. some are so desperately ill that they die. of course, we all will die someday, but these poor patients of mine struggle and try to stay healthy, but still die. i usually can handle it because i do my very best to give them everything they need each and every day. i have conversations daily with them, they call me when ever they have a need, or just to talk. my case load this week jumped from 57 to 77. huge increase. and i was overwhelmed. a small one died. unexpectedly. i was so sad this morning. but then i had 2 patients call me and tell me how very much they appreciate me, my listening, my caring, my always being there for them. it helped. and then i got an email that made me smile. it told me how good i am, how caring i am, how much i am needed. it reinforced exactly why i do this job, why i am in this business, that i am needed and my internal strength is helping someone. i can crumple from the sadness, the overwhelming feeling of not being able to change anything, but then i have someone state a simple statement that makes me feel..okay.

so my little blessings came in on a day when i needed them, when i did not expect them, and i cherish them.

also, on a more positive note, my ds18 finally got his books for college. it has been a struggle, he has resisted all attempts to guide him and so seeing him make this step made me a very happy mother.

thank you god for all of your blessings!

I have been absent for toooo long!

yeah, neglected blog!

well, i have been busy. work is busy, then home life is busy, and not enough down time. but i left work early today, i had had enough. i can only take so much sadness and then i just have to walk away. so enough about work.

met ds18 and transferred ds12 from his car to mine, off to the library where ds12 received a free book for completing 7 weeks! and next week he gets the t-shirt. he has done this program every year and i thought he would balk this year, but he didn't. i am so proud of him for being an eager reader and for jumping into the teen books this year. his newest pick is a 243 page book. he got it today and read about a third of it. he rocks! then we went to Tarjay for some personal items; a movie, a book, shampoo, you know, just the little things we NEED! and then we went to dinner. ds12 was anxious to sit and read while we ate. people probably think we are weird, but i am not going to say no if he wants to read! not enough kids do! so then we came home and watched Shaggy Dog and ds12 then went to bed. it was a sweet evening and we enjoyed ourselves!

tomorrow i have soo much to do! this house needs a good cleaning, lots of laundry has piled up, dh wants me to help with the gardening and i have a contest entry to complete. it will be busy, but i will accomplish it all. i am SUPERWOMAN!

on a more negative note. ds18 has just given me fits this week, but i will persevere. he has really pushed my buttons, been a meanie, actually called me the B word! and just all around nastiness. dh keeps telling me to walk away, but it is so hard! how could my sweet angel turn into this exorcist demon? it is just beyond me. but....c'est la vie.

so above is a recent lo i completed. i am loving it! what do you think? you can't see the flowers on it but they are tranparent orange acrylic. i really love this lo. dh was looking out to sea and it just is a sweet pic. we had a wonderful time that day at the beach and it brought back so many good memories of when we lived there. i would love to move back!