It Came and Went So Fast!

I metioned a few days ago that I was very close to the 200 sales mark. Well, yesterday I did it! And then surpassed it so quickly I hardly even had time to celebrate!

I have to tell you, I’m super excited about the successful month I had on Etsy in June. Not only did I far surpass my sales goal, I also had a whopping 46 sales! Woo hoo me!

I am so thankful that I have been as blessed as I have been with this shop. I’m continually amazed at the sales I have had. I’m truly humbled that so many people trust me as they do with their shop identity.

So, a huge “Thank You!!!” to all my customers. You have made my Etsy experience more than I could ever hope for!

 

Continuing On Yesterday’s Thought…

If it’s your thing, make it your thing. Stand up, be proud and don’t ever let anyone else tell you you’re wrong. Not everyone will agree with you, but that’s their problem.

That’s not a direct quote from yesterday’s blog, but a close approximation. I think that it may have been misunderstood.

I am not in any way saying that anyone should be intolerant of someone else because they don’t share your beliefs. In fact, I’m saying the complete exact opposite.

I’m saying be proud of who you are and what you believe. If you’re going to say you’re a Christian, for instance, act like one!  (I use Christianity, because that’s my “thing”, but it holds true for whatever your “thing” is) If someone doesn’t agree with you, that’s fine, that’s their perogative. But don’t back down, don’t let anyone tell you you’re wrong. Be who you are, no matter what anyone else says.

If someone else doesn’t agree, that’s just too bad. Exactly the same as if you or I don’t agree with someone else’s “thing”, that’s too bad for us.

But if you’re going to say I’m this or I’m that, be sure you show that face to the world. Don’t hide it, don’t be afraid of what other people will say or thing. Be who you are, and be proud of it.  Always.

 

Yesterday I Was Called A Hero

Am I? Absolutely not.

What did I do? Well, let me tell you.

First off, I have to start the story by telling you  that I’m a Christian. I’m a card carrying, bible thumping Jesus Freak. If you know nothing else about me, that’s just fine.

So, the story.

At the beginning of spring, my son and my daughter both signed up for baseball. They do it every year and they love it. It’s their favourite part of summer, I think. Practice for both of them was Sunday afternoons, my daughter at 1 pm, my son at 4 pm. It made for a tight schedule with church, but we managed.

About 3 weeks ago my daughter’s coach changed practice time to 10 am Sunday mornings. Not good. That’s when church starts.

So, I told him, if you change it to that time, she won’t be able to come. Why, he asked? Because she has church. She’s not missing church for ball practice. No way, no how will I let that happen. She will not miss church all summer long. That’s not acceptable to me.

So, we comprimised. He moved it to 9 am, and she only stays for the first hour. He sends her back here so she’s home in time to make it to church. The rest of the kids stay and practice, last week for 3 hours!

So, why was I called a hero? Because I stood up to sports. It’s a huge thing in our area (I don’t know about other places). Around here, every sports team, hockey, soccar, baseball, whatever, seems to want to have practice on Sunday mornings. And a lot of parents go with it, are too scared that their child will be kicked off the team if they say anything.

I’m not a hero by any means. But, i did follow my own advice.

If it’s your thing, make it your thing. What does that mean? If you’re a Christian, be a Christian. If you’re a vegan, be a vegan. If you’re a Muslim, be a Muslim. Never EVER be ashamed of yourself, your beliefs, your lifestyle. If it’s who you are then get up on the rooftops and shout it to the world! Wear your beliefs so everyone can see them. Be the person you are and don’t ever, ever let anyone tell you that you are wrong. It’s who you are and that is wonderful.

Not everyone will agree with you. That’s too bad for them. Stand strong, be proud and be the best person you can be.

If it’s your thing, make it your thing.

I’m a Christian. A proud Christian and I’m not afraid to say it loudly and often. I love Jesus with all my heart.

What are you? What’s your “thing”?

 

To Be A Kid Again…

It’s pouring rain outside right now. A literal downpour. And where is my 8 year old son?

In the pool.

I can remember doing things like that, swimming in the rain. In fact, it was one of my favourite things to do when I was a kid and a very warm memory as an adult.

When did I lose that? When did I become so concerned about non essentials in my life that I can’t enjoy a dip in the rain?

When did my life become so important that I can’t enjoy the simple things in life.

When did I become afraid of getting wet while getting wet?

I think I’m going to go for a swim….

So Close and Yet So Far!

I am $4 away from reaching my sales “goal” for June. Yup, $4.

I’m so close I can taste it! But I can’t seem to reach it. It’s like it’s dangling just out of my reach, teasing me.

Not only that, I’m only 6 sales away from a 200th sale celebration.

My hope is to reach both of these by the end of the month. That would be stupendous!

Will I make them? I have no clue. I have no control over my sales. All I can do is promote my shop and hope that people will come by and purchase. I can’t force anyone to buy (although that would be nice too, wouldn’t it? LOL!)

So, here I sit, compulsively checking my sales, hoping and wishing for that number of sales to change….

What Will I Write About Today?

I’ve been thinking about that all day. I just can’t seem to come up with something. So, I’m going to start typing until something comes out of it.

Today was the first day of summer holidays. What in the world am I going to do with these kids for the next two months!

I’m going to have to come up with some sort of a schedule to go by. I can’t spend 8-10 hours a day working now that they are home. But at the same time, I have to complete my orders. So, what I have to do is find balance.

It was a good day, though. We went clothes shopping this morning which was fun. Then they played in the pool all afternoon while I worked. It worked out really well, actually. I was able to have a solid 2 hours of non inturrupted work. I’m actually almost caught up!

Well, I don’t think that was very interesting reading, but that’s all I’ve got for now. Soon, I’ll be able to have  a 200 sales celebration. That will be fun!

 

 

Well, It’s Official

I now only have one child in public school.

Seriously, when did this happen? When did my little baby girl grow up and become such a lovely young lady?

Last night was her Grade 8 graduation ceremony. I have pics, but they’re not downloaded yet. I’ll share later.

It was a really nice ceremony. And she brought home 4 awards!

The Grade 8 Pentecostal Achievement Award (which came with a $100 cheque too!)

The Grade 8 Language Arts award

The Grade 8 Female Athelete of the Year

And she recieved an award for graduating with honours.

I’m so proud of her!

Like I said earlier, I’ll be back later with pics to share. And a video. They made a very lovely slideshow of the graduates, before and after pics. I cried. A lot! LOL!

A Surprise

I am a regular visitor to LOL Cats. It’s a fantastic way to start my day. I get a little giggle (or sometimes an outright laugh!) and it gets my day off to a happy start.

As usual, I clicked on the link in my bookmarks and went, expecting to see the normal cuteness and hard to read captions that I have come to love.

Instead I found this:

and I almost cried.

I know it’s supposed to be funny, but that is one of the most touching pictures I’ve seen in so long.

Any kind of natural disaster is awful. Beyond horrific. The human toll is amazingly high. We lose lives, property, possessions. The cost is more than we can count sometimes.

Not often do we think about the effects on the pets that trapped in these areas as well.

Kudo’s to this man and all those like him who rescue not only the people who are affected, but the beloved pets as well.
 

Early Morning Musings

For the past two years or so, I’ve made a habit of setting my alarm to get up before the rest of the family. That way I can have my coffee, a bit of computer time and focus myself before the chaos starts.

I’m sitting here at my kitchen table, the only sound is the clicking of the keyboard as I type this, and one bird singing his little heart out in my back yard.  The sun is streaming through my kitchen window, the flowers on my back deck are bursting with life and colour.

I don’t often take the time to actually enjoy this part of the morning. I’m generally too busy with my Etsy shops, getting everything organized, making my plans and getting my day off on the right foot. All of this goes unnoticed and unappreciated.

We need to take the time, every day to actually look around us and see the wonders of our world. Whether you live in the city, the country, a small town, by the ocean, under the mountains, in the plains, wherever, it doesn’t matter. Take some time today, really look around and thank God that He has given us such a beautiful place to live. And remember how truly blessed you really are.

 

Kudo’s to Coaches

I just came back from my daughters baseball practice, and I have to tell you, those coaches are better men than I am. Yes, I know, I’m a woman, but still.

Sunday’s game was an absolute bust. I mean it was bad. The umpire made some bad calls (well, a lot of bad calls, to be honest) but the kids played badly. They were missing throws, throwing badly, not hitting, and just plain bad.

So, knowing how bad things were on Sunday, our daughter was a bit nervous about practice tonight. Understandably so, their coach is tough. We told her, whatever you do, keep your mouth shut. The ones who get mouthy are the ones he’s going to work harder than the rest. Do what he tells you and and don’t say a word. Not that she’s mouthy anyway, but you just never know, right?

Obviously some of the boys on the team either didn’t get the same speech, or they didn’t listen. I’ve never seen such disrespect or an adult than I did tonight. It was horrid! The head coach couldn’t be there tonight, but the two assistant coaches were. I know that if the head coach had been there, things would not have been as bad as they were. Honestly, it was awful. They were talking back, cursing, outright refusing to do what they were told.

I don’t understand it. I was taught and my kids are taught to respect those who are in charge. You don’t have to agree with them, you can question things you don’t necessarily understand or agree with, however you treat them with respect. There is no excuse for rudeness.

The coaches kept their cool. They did have to kick two boys out of the practice for dropping the F-bomb too many times and not even trying to follow instructions.

I swear those two men deserve an award for tonight. Or a beer.