An update

Been busy, busy! My sister, Jessica, graduated college in May, and then my cousin, Stuart, graduated from high school the week after that. So the boys and I spent a whole week up in Pojoaque with my parents, brother, and sister.

When I got back, I got a paper route. It took me about a week and a half to really get into a groove but I'm really enjoying it now. I've almost completely cut my time to 4 total hours out of the house. Except on Sundays, when the papers weigh 1 lb each and are extremely difficult to roll. The only thing I haven't learned (and am afraid to try) is how to roll and drive at the same time.

Someone asked me the other day which of my kids was the most difficult. I laughed and told her that they both are. Justin is my most difficult child in that he gets into the most mischief. He's always getting into things he's not supposed to, and swallowed a dime the other day. I still haven't seen the dime, but that doesn't mean it didn't pass. He loves to color and draw and he's very smart and observant. He talks a lot and it is fascinating to watch him express himself so much more.

Loren is my most difficult child in that he's got a very strong temperament. Loren (hubby) is out of town to New York this week and little Loren has been seriously pushing my buttons. He can count to 10 without help and can count to 20 with help. He knows all of his letters and their sounds and we're working on teaching him how to read and write. He's still addicted to Transformers and has requested a Transformers cake for his 5th birthday.

Um, not sure what else to update on right now. It's getting late and I gotta get the boys to bed before I have to put them in the car to take them on my route with me. Can't wait until Loren gets home so I can go all by myself again!

Frustrations

I'm not usually one to get easily frustrated or let things bother me. And all things considered in the events of the past 2 years, 2009 has been going fairly okay for us. But there have been a few things lately that have been frustrating for me and I guess I need to let this all out.

I posted a while back about needing hearing aids. I decided to go ahead and start the process and paid my half of the cost with some of our tax returns. Thankfully our insurance paid for the other half of them. When I paid for my half, I had already gotten my ear molds done so as soon as I paid they sent them off to the factory and told me that they should be in in 2.5 weeks. Last Wednesday was 2.5 weeks and I hadn't gotten a call, so I called them. The gal at the office said that she would call the factory and get right back to me. She called back later that afternoon and said the factory was still working on them but they should be done by the end of the week and they would have them overnighted. Fast-forward to today and the main guy himself called. He said something had happened and that the factory had lost my molds and that I have to go back in and have them redone. I'm frustrated by this because I am ready for them. I know I'll survive 2 more weeks without them- I've survived 21 years without them. But I have already come to terms with the fact that I need them. I want to know what I'm missing out on. I may not always want to hear my boys' constant chatter sometimes, but to be able to hear them clearly would mean a lot to me. I'm tired of waiting.

I have been waiting for a paper route from the Record. They offered me a route to Hagerman, but I turned it down because I'm not driving a 100 mile route every night. Last week, again on Wednesday, they called me and offered me a rural route west of town that wasn't as many miles (60 instead of 100). I figured that beggars can't be choosers and accepted it, even though it's still a lot of miles. They told me to come in at 1am and they would show me the route and then I could do the paperwork the next day. About 2 hours later, someone else called and said that the original paper route driver changed her mind and decided to keep the route. Why couldn't she have changed her mind BEFORE they called me!? Why couldn't they tell her "oh, sorry, we already gave the job to someone else!?" I'm anxious to get a route because I know I would do well at it.

I've also had a few problems with my cake business that I'm not going to dwell on here because I'd rather forget it. And business has been a little bit slow after my inital rush at the beginning of the month.

And I'm ready to plant my garden, dangit! The weather here has been all wacky. Warm for like 2 weeks and then a nice cold front comes and freezes us all. I want things to be steady warm so we can get our garden started.

Oh well, I'm sure things will right themselves and this will all be a moot point soon. One can hope, and one can pray.

Patience: A minor form of despair disguised as a virtue. ~Ambrose Bierce

My new camera

Back in November, my Kodak point-and-shoot digital camera broke. The piece that held the lens in place completely vanished. Apparently it fell off somewhere when I wasn't paying attention. So I've been without a camera for almost 5 months. Not fun, especially since I have two growing boys I want to photograph all the time.

I finally got my new camera in the other day. A Nikon D40. I LOVE it! We went to the zoo on Saturday and I got to play with it a little bit. I've still got a lot to learn, but I am beyond thrilled with the quality of the photos I've taken so far. I'm hoping for some big photo wins at the fair this year if I can learn more about composition, and of course learn more about all the vast aspects of more professional quality photography. One would think that I should know a lot about composition since I took 4 years of art in high school, but when it comes to photography, I still struggle a little. I'm just glad to be able to take some new pictures of my boys that aren't with my cell phone camera.

A good snapshot stops a moment from running away. ~Eudora Welty

My New Business Venture

For about 8 months now I have been dabbling in cake decorating. I took 3 of the Wilton cake decorating classes at Hobby Lobby and I love doing it. I love the challenge that every cake gives me, even if I have similar requests. I don't even mind seeing my cakes get eaten- in fact, I kind of prefer it, because then there's less cake for me and I don't need it.

I did quite a few projects for friends and family, and for our playgroup last year, but I've only had a few "real" orders so far. I'm still trying to figure out my price set, and need to write up a basic contract, but I'm making a little money. I promised little Loren that I would use any money I made from my cakes towards riding the Durango train and our annual camping trip to Ouray this summer. I'm not sure what I'll save up for after we do that.

I posted a picture of one of my cakes from the fair back in October, but here are my most recent creations, which have not been posted on my website yet:

Bad Boys Basketball cake was for a local youth basketball team. I never did find out what exactly they were celebrating, but I did hear they absolutely loved the cake.

This cake has a bit of a bittersweet story that I won't go into on here. But I do have to say I am positively thrilled with how this Hannah Montana cake came out.

I'm very excited about this new business venture. I don't anticipate "getting rich" off of it, but it gives me a little extra money to put towards something special (like the train trip). And I enjoy doing it, which is, of course, the most important thing. My website for my cakes with a full gallery of my most recent creations can be found here: Treasure Heart Cakes.

If the people have no bread, let them eat cake.
-Attributed to Marie Antoinette

New Year, New Things

Okay, so it's been 2 months since I've posted anything. It's 2009. I am not making any real "resolutions" for the new year, but I do have some things I want to accomplish this year. Maybe if write it here, I'll be a little more diligent about it.

1) Get organized and keep the house neater. I'm trying, but sometimes I just get into a funk. I absolutely hate doing laundry, and right now that's my biggest crutch. Loren is trying to help me get the kitchen better organized, so hopefully I can get everything in the kitchen running smoother.

2) Take better care of myself. Let's face it. I'm so very out of shape. I feel "old" both mentally and physically. I saw something on tv the other day that said that the best way to improve your mental health and just your overall ability to mentally handle everyday things is to keep your physical health intact. I'm not so good in that department anymore. I might join the gym if I get a job. Which leads me to...

3) Get a job. We can survive with what we have now, but we're going nowhere fast. Me getting a job will give us that much-needed push to get better financially. My friend suggested delivering papers. I'm usually still awake at 1:00am (it's 1:33am as I right this, by the way...), so I could easily go out there, pick up my papers, roll them, and have them done by the time I actually go to sleep most nights. I'm also working on setting up a website to sell my crafts with another friend of mine, but I know that won't be something we could actually depend on to live. It's just something to do to get rid of all these crafts that I'm making that I don't really have any use for but need something to do and that keep piling up all over everywhere.

Um, I'm sure there's more, but I got sidetracked. Oh well. Here's to a new year!

My little one is one!

The day has almost come and gone already, but Justin is officially one now. He's a walking, talking (well, jabbering), mischief-making little monster, but I love him anyway. It's amazing to think that just 1 year ago, he was this itty bitty, completely helpless thing. I love watching his personality emerge, and I have a feeling he is going to be quite the character.


He loves to dance to Loren's truck that plays Cotton-Eyed Joe. One of these days I'm so going to have to get a video of it. He also likes "helping" me with the dishwasher by climbing on top of the open dishwasher door and pulling all the dishes out (clean or dirty). He adores his big brother but doesn't always appreciate Loren's method of "helping discipline" him.


Happy Birthday, Justin!! I love you!!

A baby is an angel whose wings decrease as his legs increase. ~Author Unknown

What??

Those people that are closest to me, and know me well, have probably noticed, or know, that I have a mild hearing loss. It is hereditary. From the time I was diagnosed just before kindergarten, all through high school, my charts barely changed. I have never worn hearing aids. My parents were discouraged from it when I was diagnosed because it wasn't too severe. The doctor thought I would cope well without as long as I made appropriate accommodations (ie. sitting at the front of the class). I did quite well, IMO. I learned how to play the violin, taught myself how to play the piano, and for the most part got good grades in school (bad grades were never because of my hearing!).

Fast forward 7 years out of high school. It's been probably at least 8 years since I was last tested. I noticed about a year ago that I was starting to have more difficulty hearing. I can't clearly hear my 4-year-old talking to me from the back seat of the car. I can't hear exactly what is going on on the tv from another room 6 feet away. I have a hard time holding a normal conversation on the phone and with my husband. I got a phone call on Monday from one of the local hearing centers here in town and they were offering a free hearing test. I figured I would go ahead and do it just to find out if I really was starting to get worse.

Not only has my right ear changed and gotten worse (it was always the "bad" one), my left ear has started to catch up. I'm going to need hearing aids soon. It doesn't bother me that I need hearing aids at 25-years-old, what bothers me is that when I'm 70, will I be completely deaf? I am a musician (although I don't play much), and I do love music. I love hearing children's laughter... will I be able to hear my great-grandkids laughing? Will I be able to hear the rain falling, or a thunderstorm, or a horse whinnying? I realize that I probably don't hear things with very much clarity now, but I do enjoy listening to those things that I can hear. Wow, I wasn't expecting to kind of rant and feel a little sorry for myself, but I guess I have to go through a little bit of the grieving process in order to cope with this reality. I know many people that have far more difficulties in life than just a minor hearing loss. I should be grateful for what I do have. And I am. It will just take some getting used to- especially once I actually have to start explaining to people why I'm all of a sudden wearing hearing aids.

If you have health, you probably will be happy, and if you have health and happiness, you have all the wealth you need, even if it is not all you want. ~Elbert Hubbard