Being open to change & possibilities

Life since mid January has been anything but normal around here. That is when hubby got laid off for the first time this year. It lasted 2 ½ weeks. After being back for only 3 weeks, he was again laid off. Second layoff was much more selective than the first & this one lasted 5 weeks.

During this last layoff, we learned some things about the company, behind the scenes. Armed with this info, we did a lot of talking & thinking. We decided that if we could not find something for him here, we’d expand our searching down to where my dad lives.

My dad lives 2 hours south of us. The area is different than here. I cant honestly say better or worse because there is so much that goes into that. His area is bigger. It’s also flatter. Living here we are very hilly & surrounded by foothills of the Cascade Mountain range on one side & a plateau on the other. The Columbia & Wenatchee Rivers create the divisions. The towns lay in the Valley created by all this. It’s a very nice place to live. One could describe it as almost perfect. Well, if one has enough income to sustain themselves with the rising costs of living here. But, when you have a job that has the potential to lay you off every winter (& now with the other backside info we know) it becomes less than perfect for sure.

So we began to check out my dad’s area more closely. It’s bigger as I mentioned. It is indeed more flat as well but not without some smaller hills still. It is in more of a desert like region. But it is still along the Columbia River. It is also at the mouth of the Snake River. The area there is comprised of 3 towns, which have, because of the landscape, been allowed to grow bigger than here where we are confined by the hills. The growth for them is not bad. It has allowed the area to be known as a very big shopping & tourism hot spot. The climate is a bit milder than here & their growing season is longer. They have more of everything … including things that we like. More Farmer’s Markets, craft shows, festivals, events … & the community embraces the arts more. It is much more pet friendly too. Could I write a book? Perhaps not quite, but I sure could write a lot more about it. Now, our area here has some great things as well. They are just on a much smaller scale. And I could write a lot about it as well.

I really don’t want to move; mostly because of what it entails. But, after spending time down there yet again this week, I (we) can see us living there & being quite happy. Given the right job of course.

This week we decided to go down there & take a couple week days to see about applying for jobs & such while also checking out the area. We left on Tuesday afternoon after I finished volunteering at the food bank here in town.  We got to visit that evening & begin a plan of attack for the following 2 days. Wednesday morning & early afternoon provided quite an informative & successful day which we spent totally focused on the job side of things. As we headed back to dad’s house we missed a turn so we had to turn around. As we sat waiting to pull back out onto the road, hubby got a call. It was his boss from the company he had been laid off from. He was asking if he could come back to work the next morning. What? Seriously? So hubby told him where we were & what we were doing. Would Friday be okay? Sure. And so … our trip was cut short just like that. What was truly odd is the fact that never, in call backs after a layoff, in all the years he’s worked for this company, have they called & wanted him back the next day. Never. It has always been a ‘come back Monday’ type of thing. We both could not help but laugh at the chain of events that just happened. How odd. We were both happy & bummed at the same time.

We decided to at least do a little (mostly window) shopping at some stores we don’t have here, before we left. So we headed back to dads so he could change into more comfy clothes from the fancy clothes he had been wearing to do the job stuff. Then we came back home in time for dinner & told dad & his wife about the day … we enjoyed a nice dinner together & headed down to her brothers house (just down the road in the same neighborhood) to visit & play some cards. It was wonderful fun. Thursday morning we caught a couple more stores before we began our ride back home. No exploring the area this time. We’ll plan another visit soon tho. And with so many seeds planted there in just one day, who knows what may come of it.

 It has indeed been a strange & certainly not boring few months. Tons of thinking, exploring, reevaluating things & so much more. For now, we get back into the working groove. We’ll keep our eyes open for work tho… in both areas. Maybe actually going down there & doing all that footwork will be a launching point to a better future for us.

Funny thing … before we headed down there I had gone to the bank to get some cash for the trip. Being so friendly there, we chatted a few minutes about what’s going on & the teller said to me … maybe by going down there something will open up here. Yup, sure did. Unfortunately, it’s not a permanent solution. 

I know, no pictures. Sorry! On our next visit, I will be sure to take plenty!

random update

 Since the last real (personal)entry, we’ve gone down to visit Dad & Neva. It was a nice visit. We had not gone down there since they moved so it was cool to see their new home & a bit of the area. They have a nice house, newer than the one they had here & it seems to fit them. Dad took us to an area winery that he & Neva enjoy going to. We had lunch there in a beautiful setting. The food & wine were both good too. I look forward to going back in warmer weather when they have the courtyard open & fountains running. That part looked so peaceful. The roads around there tho are insane to a newcomer. We were so lost trying to go somewhere on our own. In all, it was a nice visit.

I keep thinking about the gym. I think I’m about ready to just go. I hope they have some sort of help to get you going & set up on a routine of sorts, or something. It would suck if we had to pay extra for that. Guess I got spoiled with the last place. We’ll see where it goes. I’ve thought a bit more on who to ask to come with me since the daughter is working nights & doesn’t really have the time to go with me. It may take more thought than I first thought. LOL

My life is pretty boring these days. I keep the house clean, food cooked, laundry done, etc. Other than that, I’m not doing much. I am working on getting coupons organized to better share with people. Exciting huh? I watch my soaps, look for work, surf the internet. I need some more human interaction. But I don’t wanna be around depressing people. I certainly don’t need that.

Now that I’ve gotten a handle on our changing food & the coupons, & the group, I need to get our taxes done. More exciting stuff. Not. I guess the biggest reason I’m not looking forward to it is the fact I did not keep the most organized records for the bit of business I had. So I have to gather all that before I get started. The basic stuff is easy, that one form is the booger. Then I also have to see about the daughter. Since she lives with us, is a full time student & all that, we may be able to claim her one last time.

I got to talk to my boyfriend down in FL night before last. It was so nice. We chatted for about an hour. He had just gotten out of the hospital, again. 2 weeks this time. They found a spot & he wasn’t taking any chances so he told them to take it out. Now, there is nothing left in him that even remotely looks like it could develop into another spot. Cancer sucks ass. He sounded more like himself while we talked. When we visited in November, it felt like that might have been our last time ever seeing each other. I know we all cried afterward. I love that guy so much, it would tear my heart apart to lose him to such an ugly disease. I have kept him in my good thoughts for years now. I hope that someone has heard me.

A new month already

So here it is February already. It amazes me how as the days are happening, they go by so slow sometimes but when we look back, the time has flown. And when this month has passed, I will be another year older. Wow. My baby will be 22. I’ll be 44. Amazing.

I’m really enjoying doing this research stuff on Vinegar & Baking Soda. I’m amazed at how much this stuff can do. Hubby & I have tried several things & been pleasantly surprised when they work!! I just love the fact I don’t have to look at the myriad of cleaning products anymore. No more clipping coupons for them. Watching to see what is on sale where to save a little money. No more “trying a new thing” to see if it will work better for whatever purpose. I really love having this newfound freedom. To think that I can replace so many products with 2 things. 2 things that are all natural. No longer will I be contributing a chemical mess down my drains that water treatment plants will have to filter out. It fels good to know I am doing my part towards a better world.

Another step has been to eliminate a few ingredients from the food we eat. This has been challenging to say the least. Some things have been easy to change or eliminate. Other things are a bit harder. The main ingredients being focused on right now are artificial sweeteners & high fructose corn syrup. I've written more about it in my blog Naturally Me if you wanna read more. (2-12-12 update ... just use the Naturally Me tag to find all entries that used to be in the separate blog.)

It amazes me how many of our food items contain the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It’s in almost everything!! I changed the mayo I use because it had HFCS. Kraft Miracle Whip was MY mayo. Well, not anymore. I’ll try a few others before deciding on one. Right now we’re using regular Kraft Mayo. I may even learn to make my own.

I’ve given up my Yoplait Whips. & I quit buying the cheap yogurt for hubby. I’m changing the spaghetti sauce I buy. When I go shopping now or even when I fix the food I have at home, I’m reading labels. It’s a bit time consuming but very eye opening.

Today

Today… our nation watched a new president take his oath to finish the legalities of getting into the white house for the next 4 years. Those who know me know that I am not a fan. We’ll see what happens.

Today… I spent some time going thru bills to pay, filing papers away & tossing out stuff that has outlived its purpose. Well, by tossing out I actually mean tossing into the recycle pile. 95% of what I went thru went there. Now I have a few neat piles that need attention on the side part of my desk. A sales tax form for Nicole’s Visions, the sales records to go thru & add up, a jury duty form the hubby has to finish filling out & a growing pile of coupons. It looks much better than it did this morning.

Today… I did another load of laundry. It seems never ending anymore. One of the things on the list of going natural is to find out what works to gets clothes clean. And soft too. I’m looking forward to getting into a house so we can see about having a clothes line. I’d like that. I miss the smell of line dried clothes. Especially from spring to fall.

Today… I feel better in my mind. I’ve had days where I feel like I have no purpose. Like it doesn’t matter if I do anything. Today was a bit better. Maybe it was the sunshine the other day. Maybe it’s the fact I get to see Amy Wednesday & Cindy on Thursday. Maybe it’s because after doing the bill stuff it doesn’t look as bad as we thought. Maybe it’s because I’m slowly moving forward in several directions. Maybe it’s because after cleaning up my desk I feel more in control of my life. Or… Maybe it’s just because I know I have such a loving & devoted hubby who always knows just when I need to hear I Love You.

A sort of update & attempt to catch up

1/1/2009 Thursday 6pm
Wow, here we are already in January. I am amazed at how fast the last year went by. I guess many of us say that every year tho huh? I know I’ve said it in the past, but 2008 certainly went by faster than years past. I grew so much, learned so much & have eyes & a mind that are more wide open than ever before. I love it.
I made new friends, whom I cherish & hope will be in my life for a long time to come. I reconnected with someone that means a lot to me. I met & left behind relations that were only there to serve a purpose. I gained personal confidence. On a personal level, I feel more love for & closer to my hubby.
My business focus changed. I successfully put together a co-op of women who opened a holiday mall store. I again managed to keep us fed & the bills paid on basically one income. Of course that was made possible with the help of our daughter, who became gainfully employed this year too.
And that was the end of my writing for the day. It’s now Saturday evening. See, time just flies by!
1/3/2009 Saturday 745pm
I never thought it could be so tough to give things away for free. I specify in my post that contact is via email, & basically tell them up front that if they really don’t want it, don’t bother. Geez. Some people, no problem. Other people, geez. Is it so hard to make a commitment to go get something someone else is willing to let you have, for nothing? Apparently so. Maybe one of the lessons I am supposed to learn this lifetime is patience. I may have to repeat the lesson in another life.
So anyways, maybe come Monday life will go back to some sort of normal, or routine. Monday the hubby goes back to work. Finally. The next paycheck is gonna suck tho.
*insert pause to check & see what I’ve written about*
So, I have not mentioned the whole lay off thing. First we find out that Xmas Eve day they are only working a half day. This of course means only getting paid for a half day. Then they get told . . . the whole shop is being shut down until January 5th. Unpaid of course except for Xmas Day & NY Day. Which means it’s just long enough to not be able to try collecting unemployment to help cover the gap. At least all the guys who get laid off can collect. We can’t. Neither can any of the other guys who were left. Lovely. So the most important guys get screwed.
1/4/2009 Sunday 6pm
Again time gets away from me; I get distracted with life so now its Sunday evening already. I hope this is not a sign of how the year will be. All scattered & not being able to finish things. I’ve had my share of those times. It’s time for me to be able to focus on things, get them done & all that.
I know this writing will be disjointed too. I’m cooking dinner while I type. The hubby is talking to his dad & the dog is sniffing for anything I may have dropped while cutting stuff in the kitchen. The child is still sleeping.
Dinner was pretty good. We’ve made the effort to go back to eating at our table as often as possible. Now that the holidays are over & the mall store is closed, all my crap is off the table. It can once again be used as a dining table! Gasp, imagine that. We even turn off the TV. It’s been rather enjoyable. Funny how such a simple thing can make a difference. That short time of having the TV off & being focused on the task at hand is nice. My next effort will be to not snack while sitting here as much. If I want something, I need to get up & go get it, then eat it either at the table, or at least away from here. So far it makes me think twice about eating since it means I’m supposed to get up from here. Like last night, I had some sherbet which I enjoyed in the living room with hubby & watched some TV.
So life over the past 6 weeks or so has been all over the place. I have no idea what else to write about so I think I’ll start with a clean slate for the year. If something doesn’t make sense, I can add facts or stories as needed. Sounds good to me.

just an update

Nice oddball time for me to be writing. The store is pretty well covered for a change, without me needing to be there. Of course the rest of this week looks like I’ll be there a lot. It all ends Sunday tho, so that is okay. Monday was pretty crazy. I was back & forth a few times filling in gaps. So as a store we have made just over 7000 dollars so far. Unfortunately, when you unevenly divide that by 12, it sucks. My personal sales are less than half of last year. I’m just amazed tho that as a store we have presented ourselves so well. The public is so excited to have us here, they all want us to always be here. Well, the mall is no place for people like us, with their rules. We will be looking for something as a stand-alone shop.

I keep mentioning that so much is changing in my life. It’s hard to know where to start to put those things on paper (or computer). Right now I’m waiting for the hubby to get home so we can shower together & maybe even splurge for a cheap dinner out to get some alone time. We’ll see. Not sure how much I can get into things until he’s home.

Many people know that my views on things, on life & everything around us, is different than most. Lately it has been changing more rapidly. My views, my thoughts, are all growing & changing so fast. My eyes are opening wider & wider. Some of it scares the crap out of me. Some of it makes other things make so much more sense. Of course, they are still just my views, which we are all entitled to. A lot of things are based on facts, but a lot are also based on spirit & belief. I think as the New Year begins, I will attempt to venture down that road on writing to share my thoughts, my spirit, & my findings, with all of you. I tried once before to have a spiritual journal. Never went anywhere. I think that was the groundwork for now. I have already begun one on here.

And the hubby is home. Insert gap. So we got a nice shower together ………. But we opted for dinner at home. I’m distracted now tho so anymore stuff will have to wait.

Busy

I found enough to keep me busy yesterday at the mall. It was pretty boring, but the time went by. Our daily sales totals are increasing which is nice. My personal sales are still crap compared to last year tho.

I made a post earlier about giving away free stuff. Well, they came & got it. I’m glad to have it out of the garage. If it weren’t so danged cold, I’d try to organize out there a bit. Who knows what else I might find to unload.

I’m wondering if we’ll even get to do photo cards this year. It finally snowed last week, but we have yet to have time to go out & take a fun picture of us. I’m hoping for this weekend. So, they might be late, but nothing wrong with that huh? I guess they could be Happy New Year cards instead. Since I can’t afford to send gifts to people, I really would like to send cards. We’ll see if it all comes together.
What else is new? Remember all the crap with hubby’s mom & step dad over vacation? (I don’t remember if I wrote it all out or not) Well, it goes to show things have not healed for the holidays. His mom made a comment when she called to say she was sorry. She said nothing would ever come between him & her. Never mind his wife. Or family. So she asked what he wanted for Christmas. Not a word about me or Connie, just him. He told her he’d love a Lowe’s gift card. Easy for her. Cheap shipping. So it came the other day. Addressed to only him. But inside were Wal-Mart cards for me and Connie in the amount of $25 each. His Lowe’s card? $200. He was so pissed at the 25 for me. Not so much Connie, but his wife. He said he almost felt like sending them all back. It’s not like they hurt for money at all. It’s just another knife in the wound. Just another confirmation that the words that were spoken during the argument were true.

On a different note, I’ve been wondering what the New Year has in store for me. For my family. For my business. Lots of thoughts so far, but not too many answers. It depends so much on money. Unfortunately. There are some possibilities of things that could happen. Things that might make for a bit of relief for us financially. Things that might change our way of life for a bit. Nothing concrete tho. Just talk right now.

Well, since I can’t shower, do laundry or dishes, I guess I should go run a couple errands. One of them I can’t do tho, until I have a last name. I was part of the Secret Santa we did with our Etsy group. But the lady I got, only gave her first name. And within her shop, there is no evidence of her last name anywhere. So why can’t I do stuff? Because of the frigid temps, our pipes froze. I totally did not think to leave the faucets dripping. We have water in the front bathroom sink & our bathroom sink (cold only). Front shower has no water. Our shower has only cold water. Kitchen has no water. Lovely huh? Let’s hope they unfreeze soon. Sometime today would be nice. At least we can flush the toilet. And we can heat water to take a wash cloth bath. LOL that should be fun for the hubby.

Well, off I go for now.

Just when you think life is good ...

Funny how life can change in an instant. Just when you think life is going along just fine, wham.

I should elaborate.

Life has been going along the past few weeks on fairly positive notes, with a few kinks here & there. It seemed the kinks were nothing any of us couldn’t handle.

I’ve mentioned how I feel like the red headed step child when it comes to the market. Well, Saturday things went rather well on a personal note at the market. No, I didn’t have anything cool like record sales. I did get some of my new bookmarks made. I even sold one. Got many compliments on them as well. My day was good for a few reasons. I saw the cold shoulder I was getting from “them” but it didn’t matter. I was in a fantastic mood for no particular reason. To start the day, I located my assigned spot, which was on the opposite side of the row from normal. Wow. I wanna be on this side always. The energy on this side felt so much better. A record number of people came into my space. People noticed, commented on & asked questions about my coasters. I sold 2 smaller sale prints, one new book mark and 8 of the other ones! It only amounted to $36, but I was happy. Along with the sales, came some nice conversation, visiting with my market neighbor who turns out we have allot in common, some friends came to hang out, the sun was shining… a good day. Money wise it still wasn’t worth my time, but all the rest more than made up for things.

One of the things I got to talking about with my neighbor there was the idea of having our own store at the mall for the holidays. All Etsy crafters. She loved the idea. Mention was made to another fellow Etsy crafter who also sells at the market. She loved the idea too. Both are ready to take part, give the time required and the money. Things were ready for me to move forward with. This felt great since Connie & I had sat & brain stormed about the thought of this last week. We talked about details, big things, options, everything.

After the market, we (me, Tim & Connie) went to a newly discovered, small, hippie vintage clothing store. We brought along 2 of the friends who had spent time with us at the market. It was fun. I didn’t buy anything, but Connie & one of the girls we brought did.

So … I had a wonderful weekend. Saturday evening was … Oh My Goddess good.

I spent allot of time recently thinking about how things have been going. I was looking forward to talking to the people at the mall. I was happy to have such a positive response to my new book marks. I was making new connections in various things. Life was good. We’ve even been thinking about truly checking into the house next to our friend that has been empty & for sale for quite some time. He seems to feel he has some connections that may help us out.

Today was a good day too. I was again in a good mood for no particular reason. Things were going well. Life was good for the most part. Connie & I went & ran some errands this morning before heading to the mall to meet with Stacey. We got to go in & see the space, walk thru it, & ask questions. It looked like everything was falling into place & going to work out well.

We came home, relaxed a bit & I headed out to water the plants. Moved a few from the too sunny back deck area back to the side & front where the rest of the potted plants were. Cleaned up some that were dying, in hopes that they are salvageable. Got the hose out & watered the heck out of everything. Connie came out & helped to get the huge hollyhocks cut back. We have a bunch of seeds saved for next year when hopefully we have our own yard to plant them in. We have plenty to even share with friends. This is the only way our big ass trash receptacle ever gets full. We put bunches of stalks in there. So in cleaning everything up, we found that there are new shoots coming up!! YAY!! What a fun surprise. We cleaned things up so that some of the self seeded sunflowers could have room to grow.

Then as we were cleaning up … Tim came home. Our lives were about to change. Fast.

After the typical Hi honey I’m home stuff… he asks me how I’d feel about him working a swing shift. Possibly from like 2 to 10. Sounded good to me. But … what about all the overtime?? No more. No more overtime. Gone. 3 months before we were ready. We knew that come late fall, the overtime would pretty much disappear until spring. But we had plans in place for that. By the time the OT went away, the mall money would cover it. Then income tax time comes to help us thru till the OT kicks back in. Well. Guess not.

I’m kind of in shock. I haven’t spoken more than a few words all evening. To anyone. I know it’s not his fault. Whether he went to swing shift or not, the overtime was going away. Now, they are trying this out to see how it works. Neither of us can see any reason why it won’t work. They have some huge jobs that need to be done so they are hiring 3 new guys and splitting everyone up into 2 shifts. I asked if he asked for a raise since he was the one out of the group who was turning his life upside down with the shift change. He said he hadn’t asked. I said he should. So he says he will. He even felt it was worth a shot to ask. Even a $2 an hour raise won’t make up for the OT he’s been getting but it would help make the transition a bit easier. We’ll see.

Right now I’m ever so thankful we have Connie here to help. Without her help, within a month we’d be up shit creek, without any paddles.

I know something has to change. I just have to figure out what & how. How do I find work that’s temporary … since the beginning of November we are supposed to go on vacation to Florida, and then I’m supposed to do the mall? So I look for something and say I just need something from now till the end of October.

One thought is to actively pursue the Leavenworth Art in the Park. But I don’t have enough stock to get started right now. And obviously, don’t have the money this moment to make more stock. This rock & hard place crap is getting old.

Somehow, this has happened for a reason. Somehow, we’ll make it thru this too. I’m just not sure how right now.