My knee jerk thought is to tell you this week was horrible and I am glad to see it ending, but really that is just my stupid brain talking, only seeing the long line of roadblocks I had to negotiate this week. Wishing to be thankful for the good stuff to balance out the week is my second thought.
Yes, the internet was down most of Tuesday and my shuddering dependence on it poked up my horns. Eventually I stepped away from the screen and accepted the explanation from phone company ( fiber optic cable cut) it was going to be all day for a re-route. I tried to remember all the chores that creep into my head while I’m in the middle of my web routine, so I could go do them now. It took a while! LOL! Dead internet just screams for life, all I could think of was what I could be doing IF the service was up!!!
*whimper*
Eventually I had to work my fall back plan. I set a timer for 15 minutes to brainstorm all the tasks that I could do. Then I set the timer again to chomp away at the list. I had to start away from the computer to stay focused, ( if not I would keep trying to connect the internet…I know I’m a sick girl!!) but I found my way back to move files to my new external harddrive, and delete files I keep tripping over when I am designing. I say every time I am going to delete those files I don’t use, but when it finally came time to do it I hesitated over the kill switch! LOL! Proof I am even protective of graphics I will NEVER use. My addiction to graphic work is undeniable! HOOT! If I forget this fact, I only need remember the 94 Gigs of graphic storage I pulled from one of my interior HDs and I have 5 more to farm!!! Sweet Heaven!
If the fiber optic cable did not find itself cut I would still be tripping over those extra files, the harddrive would be sitting there empty, the tomatoes would not be staked, the grass would still be in the melon patch and 3 plants would not be repotted. 4 plants not getting enough water were discovered before they made their last swan song. If that is not serendipity, then what is?? Best of all, THOSE little demon thoughts that creep in to mess with my creative mojo have been forced to regroup!!
Gratitude to the fiber optic cutter!!
Wednesday AJ went back to the vet for a lookie ( all good with the Jerk Boy, he has a med change because now he has an upper respiratory infection but he is handling it.) An emergency surgery kept us waiting for about 1 hour and a half. I was feeling pressure to get back on track with my errands and fulfill my internet responsibilities. I didn’t say anything. I just shook off my impatience when it popped in on me, but the good folks at our vet were looking out for me. “ Go do your errands we will watch AJ and the Doc will check him over when she gets out of surgery.” Phew! Again a soft cushion for my fall! I would be home for an afternoon of internet-ing!
With a healthy cat boy!
Whoo HOO!
Gratitude for our wonderful vet doc and the primo staff! You are top shelf!!
Now Yesterday (Thursday) messed with my head! LOL! I forgot an orthodontic appointment so we had to rush away, last minute. I left this super cool project I was designing just as the idea was coming together. I saved thank goodness! Little did I know it was a BIG appointment. Dillon got half his braces on. We have been working with his ortho doc for …well since last August is when I called to make his first appointment. They are so in demand ( 3 months between appointments, standard) it took till now to get all the initial work out of the way. I was thinking we were going to have another “almost there” meeting, but it was the real thing this time!~ LOL! Of course!!
I am allowed to be in the room with Dillon while he is getting his braces on, and I was pleased to see other mommies doing the same. My form of weird is catching on!! WHoo HOO! But, alas they didn’t let me sit up close. ( so the ortho doc wouldn’t have to move my head out of the way) I couldn’t see into his mouth and follow the procedure. But I did get the chance to read a very good article on Narwhales and another one on vintage photos from the cultural revolution in China. And while we waited for the spacers to do their work in his mouth, I dodged under the velvet rope and showed some of the pictures to Dillon. He has a special place in his heart for all thing wild…not so much Chinese history, but that’s cool.
If I hadn’t forgot the appointment and rushed I would have taken a stack of my own to read and missed the Smithsonian Magazine, which I must admit I never knew existed!!
Gratitude for the Universe knowing what I need and giving it to me!
Gratitude for Dr. Penny’s Magical Ortho Office where they have “mommy chairs” for parents like me who may never cut the cord! LOL!
Coming home I settled into my internet routine with a sigh!
Worked first on my website clients email, marketing, and updates first, they pay me! LOL! SO they get first dibs!!
Hit the scrapping email to read for 15 minutes, be vicious with the delete button when necessary, ( always have the best intentions to read sales ads, but sometimes I read only a few and do the delete dance), respond to 15-20 minutes of email, check online counters, read my top 5 blogs, then 15 minutes of marketing.
Take a break and dive into creating. I was having trouble with my creativity this week. I think I was too problem focused. When I think things are poo I only see poo.
For me, creativity is a flow and when my eyebrows come together in frustration the flow stops. I can set my frustration aside for happy email ping-pong, website work, delete button dancing, but it comes back. Its back with a vengeance when I try to be creative. It helps to re-connect with my favorite things. My boys, Jack, Dillon, Nathan and of course my animals, past and present. I often take a turn around the garden even as HOT as it is now a little heat in the garden is just the ticket. I worked for a couple of hours designing using these happy thoughts, then set my mind to another walk in the garden.
I stepped outside and the power pole fairies had come to set a new pole out front. I knew they were coming because last week I talked to a guy ( till I was blue) who set the stake for the pole. Turns out we have a power line running underground and sometime in the history of “out front by the road” poles were also set for power to the surrounding houses. Well the span of the poles is too wide set ( because they can’t dig in front of my house because they would cut the powerline under there, but we are getting to that)
So last week a guy comes to measure and place the stake. I was outside at the time and he looked lost so I asked him if he needed help. Turns out he did. Lots of it! * eyeroll* when I heard about the pole I asked about the redundancy of putting in another pole when there are wires underground. I asked about how much it would cost to tie into the existing underground lines. If it required that we pay, we would pay. I asked if he would take care of talking to the people who decided to place poles where underground lines were already and see if the work order could be changed to tie in, instead of continue to run lines overhead. In each case and to many other questions I won’t bore you with, the answer was the same. “Ma’am, I am just here to measure for the pole.”
After about 20 minutes of this ( I AM slow but I do get it eventually) I got the idea he just wanted me to go back into the house so he could measure for the pole. So I did and onto the phone. I spent the next few days negotiating these same questions with faceless people on the phone, the internet, and in person. Needless to say, the pole fairies visit was set in stone and common sense could not budge it.
Back to pole time…I just got my creative Mojo back so hearing the tinkering of the pole fairies in their cherry pickers was a downer. I made a deal with myself that I was not going to go out there. I had said too much to too many people already and I seemed to be the only one hearing me. The pole was going in, the trees killed to make it were already dead, the decision to do it was made. More talk was not going to change anything, I reasoned.
The only reason to go out there would be to tell them …again…be careful when you dig, don’t hit the underground power and phone lines. I just laughed at my silliness…its the electric company, they put the lines there, they tell other people where they are when people want to dig. ( how do you think I knew where they were…yep! The Electric Company told me) They are not going to cut their own lines…have some faith, sister!
Flashbacks to Tuesday fresh in my mind and thinking of all the people at the electric company I spoke to last week who really should only be issued safety scissors and never let out of anyone’s site. I came back into the house to save and shut down my computer just in case.
I didn’t make the save before the power went down.
Yep! You guessed it.
Now I did go out there. I told myself it was to see if anyone was dead, but I think I just wanted to see the hole myself to prove the futility of all those phone calls. I found a crew all alive and actually a pretty neat bunch of guys, genuine, courteous, good listeners. One had a bit of a finger missing, so I am not dismissing the safety scissors idea just yet.
As luck would have it, the power went on and off for a few more hours, but power was stable and the pole fairies were gone by the time Jack got home. Other than the pole some marks in the road and a few scorched tree tops, all was well.
Gratitude to the Pole Fairies! I didn’t want the pole, or the power out, but I appreciate you coming out in 100+ degree weather to do your thing. And really pulling out a fix after it all went wonky! Awesome Save Guys!
I, on the other hand, was woefully behind in creating, my mojo lost. I felt my happy thoughts abandon me when my computer came back up and wanted to open 20 blank internet pages not connecting with any…instead of do what it was told! LOL!
All one can do at this point is laugh! I mean, I am rich beyond measure with such joys as a darling husband and 2 awesome HEALTHY children. The icing on the cake is an adorable little house and garden stuffed full of every dog and cat with excessive personality disorder. And I get to stay home and teach my own kids, play on my computer and call it work!!
Thinking of life this way brought my mojo back like an avalanche! Why was I worried about no internet?
Because it was the only thing going wrong in a whole life of good things going right!!
Talk about thinking small! Sheez!
Jack came home and made the rounds to all the computers. Ran a hardline to my computer to give me working internet right away ( he will find out what happened to my wireless card tonight) and reset a few diddles and jots so my external harddrive became accessible again. I was back in business! Whoo HOO! Surrounded by all the souls and things I loved, I felt supported. I didn’t make dinner. ( we made due with instant oatmeal , breakfast bars and milk! I didn’t wipe the kitchen counters, empty the dishwasher, or fill it again. I didn’t finish that load of socks. But I was loved and supported anyway.
Its NOT how much you do that earns you love its that you love that earns you love. I forget who said that and they probably said it better, but its still true even if I say it badly.
So my lesson learned and re-learned as it has been for the last year, is to find gratitude and be happy. I will keep learning it until I make a permanent shift in my thinking. Until then I think I will keep banging into this lesson. Keep seeing roadblocks when I could choose to seek gratitude.
Man! I am stubborn! This could take a while! * Guffaw *
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Here is my Layout I built in all that was yesterday ( Thursday) It channels our dear Ruby who rode the arrow for a while with us. We were privileged to be hers for all those years. Miss you Rube! Quite honestly the most intuitive dane we have ever had, she knew things that dogs should not be able to know. Like the exact spot to step in a waterbed to fling a cat right out of it! * Hoot* Or just where the elbow should be nosed to keep a sleeping mommy petting…petting…pett…
Ruby could crawl into bed ( the heaviest and the tallest dane we ever had at 170lbs and 35 inches high) without stepping on my hair or squishing valuable man stuff on Jack. She had the foot placement of a ballerina! When she settled in, it was always with a satisfied groan. I have since adopted this. When I settle into a chair after standing a while or bed at night I make sure to MMMMMMM with satisfaction like Ruby did. She knew comfort and expressed it. Good Lesson!
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Ruby Checks In
Ruby Checks In Credits:
Photos of Ruby Ruby by yours truly, Jodiann.
Papers by Kim B Designs. Mezzaluna Kit.
Elements, Patterns, Frames by Kim B Designs from Grab Bag 5 on sale now.
Additional Elements from Kim B’s Mezzaluna Kit as well.
Here is the Grab Bag 5 Preview so you can get a peek at what’s inside. I will remind you this is a total of 4 full sized products, 3 element packs and 1 pattern pack and until Monday ( only 3 days) its 4.00 US. After that each of the 4 products will be revealed and posted in Kim’s Store at regular price. Check out Kim’s Blog to see other Layouts showing more of the Grab bag if you need more convincing! LOL!
If not, just buy it.
* giggle*
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Hey friends, have a happy weekend! Find some gratitude and smile a secret smile with me, your blog sister!
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