Earring Cup!

Just a little helpful idea I had one day. It keeps the dangly earrings from getting tangled together, and makes them easy to find!

I searched the internet and nothing popped up to show me that someone else had published this idea, so I had to create my own little post to describe it. Granted, the picture could be better, but I wanted to use a mirror, and this was the best way I knew to do it. Hope you find it helpful!!

Tonight

So, it's been almost 2 years since I posted anything on this blog. I realize that Facebook has pulled me away from it, and I was never that connected to this blog anyway. However, I don't want to abandon it altogether. So maybe I'll be posting again soon. I have some ideas for some topics. We'll see.

Serious thoughts...

I am getting sick of being called a conservative Catholic. I am not conservative, although I have become more conservative in my thoughts as I have gotten older. I am very liberal in my views outside of the Catholic faith. I don't vote a straight ticket, I never have, and I doubt I ever will. I have never been able to reconcile MY beliefs and feelings to one party or platform. I believe in Equal Rights and the right for all human beings to have the opportunity to live in peace, to be treated as people, not commodities, to pursue freedom and happiness.

I used to wonder if I was the kind of person who would stand for others. If I was the type of person who would step up and try to fight what I thought was wrong. I would learn about the women's movement...the suffragettes, and wonder if I would have marched with them? Would I have marched with civil rights leaders in the sixties (before I was born) or would I have sat home and been afraid to speak? Would I have kept silent in Germany when my Jewish neighbors were persecuted? I have always hoped that if I saw an injustice, a wrong, that I would stand up and fight it.

In my opinion, the current fight for the rights of unborn humans is the one that is asking me, right now, if I am going to keep silent or if I am going to speak out. I cannot stay silent. The voices of the unborn cry out to me in my sleep. There cannot be a right to choose when that choice ends the life of another. So. There it is. This is beginning of my fight for those babies crying out to me in the night.

Some days ...

So, what I have to say this time is odd for me. I never thought I would write this, and I certainly never thought I would think it, but I have become a conservative. I am not talking politics, just life in general. As I help care for my grandma and my sister, plan a wedding and become a parental influence in the life of a teenager, I realize that I am more conservative than I ever thought I would or could be.

Just an interesting little self-awareness moment.

Ahm-peer???

Ok. I admit that since I got engaged I started watching Rich Bride, Poor Bride and Bridezillas. I was never interested in shows like that before I was engaged. Then, I watched a show called "Say Yes! to the Dress" which was in proximity to "What not to Wear" and suddenly I was sucked into the maelstom that is the fashion world. For the most part, I enjoy seeing women whose idea of dressing up is to wear the "good" pair of sweats, become transformed into women that suddenly see their inner beauty reflected on the outside. In my opinion it isn't sexism to look beautiful and sexy, it is part of the whole person to be the most attractive you can be, along with the best person you can be. It goes together.

But, my own little pet peeve is the transition over the seasons (I have seen some of the older shows) from an EMPIRE waist to ahm-peer. What? What is that word? ahm peer or ohmpeer or whatever you are saying doesn't describe the EMPIRE waist on the that piece of clothing. The empire style was named for Napolean and Josephine, and the empire waist was called that because the EMPRESS Josephine introduced those dresses with the waist directly below the bustline. The whole court began wearing them, and they were considered an empire style. Ampere- bah!-that is a unit of ELECTRICITY!

I feel better now.

Day to Day

I just read part of Kim's blog, and it was great to see someone else who knows that, in spite of the difficulties and disorder in our lives, we really do have great lives. I am so blessed to have a large, supportive family and extended family. I know I can count on my friends, too, because they are such good friends.

So, just saying a thank you for my family, my friends and those member of my family that are ALSO my friends!

Love Ya!

Random Thoughts

I have been blogging on a different website lately, so I am going to a little catching up, here. Things in my life have been a bit stressed and I haven't gotten any artwork finished lately. The painting below is about 3 years old now.

My work continues to go well, but I don't know if my private stress is causing me to be less accurate. I have made mistakes lately. I have the best boss, and a great co-worker, so I hope I am not going to be messing this up.

My sister, J, has breast cancer, metastasized. After fighting the disease for 7 years, the fight is coming to an end. It has taken me a lot of work to recognize the things that are blessings from this time. As family, we are closer, stronger, and have known the gift of realizing our time is short.

Meanwhile, we are preparing for the holidays and planning my wedding in June.