I have actually been at odds with myself for a while over whether or not to keep my other website going for digital design. I am now on my own with no help that I had before, floundering about how to get back into designing, if it is the right direction... and the list goes on. In my heart I had to give it one more try somehow so have kept the design site open and will try again. It will mean learning all over again with a different computer and no one to back me up, but I have to be true to myself and try. This post seemed really appropriate under these circumstances.  Be positive and move forward somehow, regardless of how small a step I take, go forward. ~P

Well, it has been a long time. I am no longer in France, I am back in Michigan. My husband passed away July 2, 2013 which changed my life totally. I am back in the old family home and have mom living with me due to her dementia. Life can change in a blink of an eye and we never see it coming. After a year and 1 1/2 months, almost 2, of being back, I finally am getting the house together where I want it and am thinking again about creating somehow. Need to bring my loom down and create space to work upstairs so the mess stays out of sight. :) Interesting how I spent so much time and energy planning and worrying about when "we would return to Michigan" after his retirement and we never got to that point. He died before. It makes me realize more than ever that long term goals may be good, but don't bother spending lots of energy worrying and planning because God may have other plans for your life and His plans over rule yours. I will try and post here off and on and get back into things. We will just have to see what happens on another day!!!   

I now have 2 facebook pages going and another blog. You want funny, odd, sarcastic... and you belong to Facebook, you could check out Pip's page.... Once Upon A Time ~ Pips Phoenix  and if you want healing, positive posts, you may want to check out Smoothing Ragged Edges.  This is another facebook page.  If you don't belong to face book???  Smoothing Ragged Edges is also a blog.  

All of that will also explain why I have been neglecting here.... and still have not gotten back into designing. Can't work, keep up with family, home, pages, life and design and blog a lot. I do what I can and now bounce around a bit.   See you somewhere on one of these!!  

Awesome video at the very bottom of the page.... It has had over 300,000 shares on FB from the original uploader... MUST WATCH!!   All who breathe must watch this.....

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening. It all depends on where you are. I have decided until I get back into my designing that I will use this blog for what ever feels right on the day I have time to post. Today it is this post.

I found it this morning while looking for something to post on Smoothing. So many different people went flashing through my mind. Some are gone now, passed on. Some have just left my life almost as quickly as they entered it, but left a huge mark. Some remain. This post is SO true. What forms those connections? People I have met on line and never in person are as connected to me or more so than some I have known all my life. How is that chance crossing of energy arranged? Why do we loose touch and even trying to find old friends with zero success, we recross people that we knew and maybe forgot about, or, cross people that we never knew but feels like we have know each other all our lives. What creates that connection between 2 people --- with no notice of age, gender, race, origin??

As I get older and more and more of the people I have known most of my life pass on ahead of me I wonder if I will know their energy after I am gone. Will we be in the same place? So many questions. We will be coming up on a year soon since my brother has passed away. 4 years younger than I am. Age doesn't matter when it is your time. Feeling very melancholy about life with all that is happening around me. Trying to make life changing decisions and then deal with the fall out from them. It is not just me. My daughter also has been facing similar things, as are many friends around me. It is the time of many changes, much indecision, many people seem so lost.  Working on my page, Smoothing  Ragged Edges daily helps tremendously in keeping me focused on the positive. I will not say that I do it every minute of every day (stay positive), I wish I could, but it does help a lot to be getting constant input of positive things into the thought process.  

My work schedule seems to be in constant flux. I just think I will have a week that is less stressful and it falls apart quickly. Guess that is just the way it will be this month!  I guess I am supposed to learn flexibility!!  May your days be going well and this finds you happy, healthy and relaxed. 

Life is like a bowl of cherries.  But those pits!!  My goal has been to stay positive. I was thinking I could do it, close to 100%. Ok... now that I have gotten realistic, the goal is 50-75%.

I am setting here, the sun must be up there behind all of those grey, dreary clouds dropping wet stuff... and it is cold. Leg warmers came out, double shirts, heavier jeans. The heat doesn't come on until I think in October. I know it goes off normally in the spring... and after it always gets cold again. But once off or on, it stays that way until the next switch is turned.

How much of life is like that for us? We do what we are doing until we are aware we must make the switch. Routines seem to make the hours/days/months go by and suddenly something changes the routine, another switch is activated. Another routine. But have you noticed that the switch can either make us realize we are in a rut and we take the time to stop and look around us with joy, or, irritate us because our routine has been broken.

Here in France a lot of emphasis is put on food. We see notices about the current foods that are in season and recipes to make good use of them. Decorating the table for the meals. Emphasis on family time at meals. A dinner with friends in the evening is never less than 2 hours. You can spend that much time easily at a lunch  out and at the end of the meal, no one is pushing a bill at you to pay and leave. They wait for you to say, "l'addition SVP".  You could set there until they close and they are not aggravated. Meal time is the time you don't just shovel it in and leave the table. You talk, eat in courses, savor what you are eating and enjoy those around you. Things are produced so when you serve them, they are not only very tasty, but pretty. You can buy little bundles of green beans wrapped, ready to cook and serve...tied together. Tasty, pretty. Lovely little bite size items for appetizers. Bites of cheese with toppings, colorful and varied crips and nuts. Sliced assorted sausage trays, small containers of olives stuffed with different things. That is just to start the meal... food is meant to be enjoyed both visually and on the tongue. Small, wonderfully rich flavorful portions of great food, satisfying... delicious.  Speaking of food,  I will go and get a 2nd cup of coffee, break off another chunk of that still warm baguette from the bakery I picked up this morning fresh from their ovens and watch the grey clouds slide by, continuing to spit rain at us and relax. Have a great day everyone!

Ohhhh... first week back at work. It is really hard to go back after 2 months off. It will be a while before the muscles decide they are in agreement with all this.

I have been actually looking at other scrap stores, trying to get my motivation back while spending lots of time at the sewing machine getting ready for the craft fairs in November. Motivation is a really difficult thing to get back when it is gone. At least for me. The motivation for me is the challenge to see if I can actually do it. Once I figure out I can, it looses something. I guess I need to push myself. I used to do the same thing at work also. Trouble is I don't know for sure which area I want to push myself next.

It may be 11:30 a.m. here but I am still at least half asleep. It feels that way anyway. Just dull today. Sun is shining, sky is a clear beautiful blue with the exception of the jets taking off and landing at Charles de Gaul airport leaving their trails across the sky. You don't hear anything, but I can seem them descending and climbing. Soon it will look like a tic tac toe board!

I promised myself I would try and blog regularly... makes it really hard when nothing exciting happens to blog about. The page, Smoothing Ragged Edges hit a new milestone, 1,500 likes. Next one is at 1,750. I hope it is doing those that need it some good. I really need another admin to help me. I have a handful set up, but one disappeared, one is busy, one is hubby and he is just on there to help when I can't get on to do anything... and one is around but doesn't do much. I seem to be the only one I have put on that (LOL) actually cares about the page. Maybe it is time to make changes. I made several others this morning. Went through and deleted 30+ people off my list. Blocked a couple. Deleted some applications. Moving forward in changes as I see they need to be made.  I preach that in a way on Smoothing. Do things you need to do. I realize it is very hard to do, so I pushed myself to actually do some I had been thinking about. It was difficult, but, in the long run will give me more time for other things. Slowly other app's will go... more sorting and cleaning in the house. It is like trying to clear your head when you clear around you. A healing process.  If you have not checked out smoothing, you should. Smoothing Ragged Edges  If it is not something you need, maybe you have a friend who does? Either way, it is just a positive page to check out. Have a great weekend. "I will be back!"

Setting here, feeling the sunshine on my face, listening to the cleaners clean around the "place" after the market and relaxing. Next week is back to work as normal and honestly I am not looking forward to it. I have enjoyed this last 8 weeks of not working, although the budget is not enjoying it. :)  I have been concentrating on craft fairs that will come in November. Normally I am way behind but this year I am hoping to just keep going until things are done and then I can relax. All 3 will be the same week I believe, American Church, American Embassy and ACWO.

I started a new page on Facebook, called Smoothing Ragged Edges. It is for survivors of abuse, neglect and any one else that wants positive feedback in their lives to read. Smoothing Ragged Edges  You can click the link and go take a look. I have been connecting with many other great pages who are trying to stop self abuse, help others, spread good words. It is awesome to know what is out there but trying to get it to those who need it is the thing. There are so many people who feel they are alone and hurting from past hurts.

Designing. Well, so far my heart is not back into it. Maybe it will be when I am not busy trying to get things done for the craft fairs. That is priority right now. Then I will have to relook at what has happened out there in digi-scrap world and see which direction I want to head in. I was not overly content with any I had been dabbling in, pastels, bright/intense, grunge. I personally want a NICE looking page when I get done putting one together, with maybe some cute items, nature items, old antique items. Depends on what I am doing with my photos so if I go with what I want, I need to go across the board and not try and specialize in holidays, colors, styles. What ever suites me at the time I guess.

This is just a note to let everyone know I have not forgotten I said I would continue to blog. Need to set aside a  day each week and make sure I come and do it. I know daily will be asking too much of me. Oh, also, I am helping admin on another page, Out of Character. It is a page that is for posting those photos/jokes/cartoons you may not want to put on your own wall.  It is sometimes over the line but we try and be funny. Its all just to help people laugh and let off steam. Link to that one?  Out of Character  I am PIP. I hope to see some of you there either at one or the other (or both!!) Have a great weekend and enjoy each moment, it will never come again!

Good heavens!!  I can't believe all the time that has passed. I went to get into the store this summer, had problems. Got that all sorted out after lots of hours with great help from the hosting site.  Do you digi-scrap?  Be sure to check out the store!   Flights of Fancy Digi-Scrap.com

We spent our vacation in Michigan again this summer. Relaxed, spent time with family, revisited some old friends and spent time picking up where we left off.  Came back with energy and plans for getting lots done, only to find Paris was having a very hot spell. It is just now ending so you can actually move and do something without breaking into a full sweat. We really only had a week of hot weather in Michigan, so, unfortunately we never once put even a toe in the lake.

There is so much to cover, I think  I will just hit the high points. My daughter is doing her 3rd year in NC teaching. Mom is adjusting well to being alone and has some good friends that get together with her to do things. We bought and stacked 10 face-cord of wood. As I said above, got the store up and going again.

I also started a new page on Facebook called Smoothing Ragged Edges.  It is a  place for healing, peace, positive reinforcement and at times links to outside resources and other pages with similar outlooks. There are so many people in pain from the past. Survivors of all types of abuse, neglect, depression, just to name a few. You are not alone and you need to hang on. Here is the link for you.  Smoothing Ragged Edges

I am starting to de-clutter, pitch and sort for the move back to Michigan. It will be a while yet but there is so much to do and with work, craft fairs this fall and life in general, there is not a lot of time to do all. So I am starting early. Every time I get through a small area I think, how nice, wish I would have done it years ago. Soon I will have to get into the "cave" (french storage area for our apt) and get through boxes, see what can go so I can make room for more things that can be stored for shipping.

I also have a pile of projects started and waiting next to the sewing machine. Bags to carry for shopping or every day to finish for the craft fairs in November, Christmas stockings, wine bottle gift bags, assorted gift bags, and then on to some stamping for notes while I continue to crochet 'scrubbies' each night while relaxing with hubby after dinner. September 1 will find me going back to work with much less time to get things done so will do what I can before then.

I will try and do better at keeping this up. I hope you all had a great summer!  See you again soon.