Whew!

It's been BUSY! That's a good thing. The store is moving right along with some big orders and lots of business. I'm working at night to get jewelry done for the big grand opening, as that will be the reveal of Pinky Jewelry! I have an awesome display that I bought and my aunt in law bought me a great free standing glass display case. Lots of work to do!

Miss Pinky started dance last night! Ballet and tap, how cool is that? She really had fun and I'm glad. First grade is going well for her and that's good, too. We had a rough start at the beginning of this week. The weekend wore us all out and it's been hard to get into a routine at a house we aren't used to. It's getting there, just takes time.

I'm still working, moving and creating. I'm going to have to take a day off after the grand opening just to recoup! Moving is slow going, but we have most of the important things at the new house. I thought that after we started putting things in there, it would look smaller. Nope, not yet anyway.

Well, I stopped by the hot house to get a pair of shoes ( I only had 3 at the new house and I can't wear flip flops to work!) and I thought I would stop in and say hello. I hope that everyone is doing well and not having to run like a madman like I am. :P

HUGS and much love! ~Pinky!

Moving right along.

Well, since the air went out in the house we currently live in, we have made a mad dash to move into house #2. My dad came over to help and we now have a working kitchen!! OMG! I haven't had that in Y E A R S!!!!!! WOOOOOOO!

It's hot and a little slow going, but it's coming along just fine. I won't be on the computer much since we haven't moved it yet and I haven't switched the service to the other house yet. I can check it at work, so I may be able to stop in and say hello.

I have lots of things to tell you about and I can't wait to get back in the swing of things! WOOO! HUGS and love, love, love to you!

SUPER not nice!

After getting home from a 13 hour day, I walk in the door to hubby saying, "I have bad news. The air conditioner is out."

This is a SUPER, MEGA not nice! Ugh... I'll write more when I'm not sweating.

I want to post a picture

But sometimes, I don't remember what all I have posted. That and some of my pictures are lame to me. Anyhoo, here is one that I don't think I have shared, mainly because it isn't mine!

This is "Miranda the Tempest" by John William Waterhouse and is by far and away my most favorite of his works. When I first started working at Neblett's, I framed this picture. It had the white all around it with the words on the bottom and I literally just stuck it in a frame. It was the very first picture I ever framed all by myself. I carried it everywhere with me, to each place I lived because it just held something special for me. When I left the store 5 years ago, I bought a really fancy custom frame, texturized to painting to look like an oil and framed it one last time.

It was the first picture I ever did and the last one I did when I left. She gives me closure on that time and joy for still being with me when I start all over again.

This is the first picture I framed when I got back:

Thanks, Jared, for being the start of new memories. :)

Hugs and much love, Pinky!

Stopping by to say hello

Things have gotten really busy this past week. School is in full swing, Miss Pinky is going to be taking dance and Girl Scouts, the store is hopping with business, I've set up our big grand opening and I haven't had much time to think. Also, we've been working on getting into house #2. WOO! I don't think I can add more to my plate, but surely I will.

Perhaps the hardest thing for people to understand is, that even though I'm busy running my own business, I don't want my daughter taken away at every given moment. I know that friends and family are only trying to help, but not seeing her does me far worse than having her around. It's not an annoyance for me to dash out of work to get her from school. Nor will it be an annoyance to take her to dance. I think what bothers me the most is that taking her is always suggested as being what is good for me. If it was what I wanted, then I would ask.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having time to myself, but I have very little of that now. And what I do have, I want to spend with her and my husband. I don't want to have to traipse all over the place to pick her up. More importantly, I don't want to miss out on any more of her life than I have to. She is my greatest joy and being apart from her is always hard on my heart.

My goodness, I'm griping. I don't mean to, not really, I just need to get things off my chest every now and then. I'm not one of those moms who don't participate. Even working like I do, like I always have, she is more important that all of that. Not one of her teachers would ever tell you otherwise, knowing that I would come to the school to talk with them about her on a regular basis. It's important to be a part of her life. If I'm not there, who is?

When she was born, Miss Pinky had jaundice. Not much, just a little. We had to place her bassinet in front of a window to help her coloring and from that point on, she became my little sunshine baby. She still is. Her smile warms my heart like nothing on this earth. No, I don't want people taking her to do things I want to be a part of. I don't mind the help, but she's my little sunshine and I plan on basking in her light as long as I can.

I have good news!!

You see, I've been worried that since I bought the framing business, I would have to close my Etsy shop. I haven't made anything new since, well, forever and you all know that it's been killing me. I found out today that I can keep my shop open, just tuck it under the wings of my framing business! Isn't that fabulous???

OH, I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I have totally quit marketing my Etsy shop, stopped making jewelry and had started giving up on even being able to keep it. NOW, I know I don't have to and I want to make some more jewelry! WOOOO!

I hope that everyone is having a super Wednesday!! HUGS and much, much love!
~Pinky!

OH! To be so honored

Mrs. Kwitty bestowed a high honor on me and I wanted to share. It left me blushing with her kindness. I will compile my list soon, don't you worry!

See? Isn't she fabulous?? It made me feel like a queen today. Thank you so very much. HUGS to you Mrs. Kwitty!!

(p.s. I bought my book cover to work today so I could read on my lunch break! heeheehee! )

Stupid meteors.

I stayed up waaaaaaay too late last night hoping to see just one meteor. No such luck. That meant this morning was painful and I have a TON to do today. Sometimes, I am so irresponsible. On the bright side, we are getting our super awesome computerized mat cutter today. I can cut names out of mats with this thing. In fact, I can cut just about anything I want out of a mat with the CMC. My dad made an impromptu visit yesterday to check out the store and house#2 (which we still have not moved into, but that story is for another day) and he was happy with all that he saw.

I'm lacking coherent thought. I'm going to go drink my coffee and try to gather my brain for the day ahead. I have taxes to do, too. Blech.

HUGS and LOVE!
~Pinky!

PostSecret

I read PostSecret every Sunday. I can't help myself, it's like a compulsion to read what others have wrote about the secrets they have. Maybe it's because I know how some of those secrets feel, maybe it's because I wish I was bold enough to send mine. I don't know and I really don't care other than the fact that once a week, I get to sit alone and read something extraordinary.

This week, PostSecret did something different and I wanted to share. I'm not sure if this is more poignant or it's distracting. Either way, it's something to behold.

SCHOOL!!

Today is the first day of 1st grade for Miss Pinky! She is super excited and happily went to school. She found out there are a few of the kids from her class last year, so she will already have some friends and that's cool. She wore a pretty little dress and we did what we could with her slightly unruly hair. She didn't mind. She has a new backpack, new lunch box and the smell of new crayons is in the air. What's not to be excited about?

Even though she is sooooo happy, I feel a little sad. No, not because she went back to school. I know she enjoys it and I know she likes learning new things. That's not it. I don't even remember the last month and that is what's bothering me. I love being my own boss, but I miss her so much sometimes. Even though she spends most days at work with me, I don't get to play with her like I want to. When she was staying at my dad's while we did renovations, I called her every night to say, "good night" and talk with her for a moment. And every night I sobbed the minute I hung up the phone. I missed her so much it was a physical pain. And now, she's in school again and I'm worried about what I might miss now.

I do know that I miss making jewelry. I miss it all the freaking time. I miss having that escape, that drowning creativity that was only mine. I love picture framing, but I miss creating art. I keep telling myself that things will slow down and I will be able to make stuff again soon, but sometimes I feel like that's just a mantra I keep repeating to keep myself going. Did you know that I have beads that I bought in JUNE that I haven't put up. They're still in the bag I bought them in. How sad is that.

I don't mean to be so morose, I'm just a little blah. I feel as if life is running past me and I'm not even noticing because I have my head bent over a mat cutter. Yeah, that was a little dramatic, but you see what I mean. Ah, I must go, I have to get ready to go to work. Thanks for listening.

Hugs-N-Luv ~Pinky

Me!

Sassy, huh?

Ahem..

Dear Mr. Shirtless,

I did not appreciate going to Wal-Mart this morning only to see you standing in the parking lot with no shirt on. You were very sweaty and not small of stature thus it made me want to throw up in my own mouth. Please, for the sake of the small babies that you made cry, go be half- naked somewhere other than the parking lot of Wal-Mart on a hot August morning. Really.

I'm totally not kidding,
A disgusted Pinky

Just a thought.

I should really stop going to be with my hair wet. When it was long, eh, no big deal. Now, well it's not smart, let's just leave it at that. I could roll it, but I don't feel like that. If you see me today, just promise not to point and laugh.

Finished! Well, mostly

After one 16 hour day bleeding into a 17 hour day, well we got everything done that we could on no friggin sleep. We opened yesterday and everyone was amazed that we got all of that done in 5 days. Honestly, I am, too. Hubby and I are going to finish the last little bit this weekend, but that's no big deal. Here it is!