When in doubt.... ReGroup!

Day 84

If you are one of the few people who read this blog then you probably noticed that I was not around for a while. Frankly, I got bored, things in life were going on and I just wanted a break. I was enjoying my Facebook and Twitter accounts but even then I was just not posting as much. Eh, no big deal right?! It doesn't mean we weren't doing anything, just not sharing.

We (I) really needed a regrouping in my life. I find I have to do this regularly kind of take stock in what is going on and weed out the stuff in my life that might not be working. Starting a business is a tough road. Starting a business with all the usual family stuff, kid activities, household chores OH AND homeschooling while trying to maintain the right vibe to run a creative business is that much harder. I am not saying I would change anything just sayin' when things get overwhelming time to step back.

So while we have been focusing on getting a schedule down....maintaining a website (which neither of us have done before) and the blah blah blahs of businesses that MUST be done we were watering and playing in our green backyard (ok almost green BUT more lush than I have seen it since we moved here) but I will take what I can get in the high desert sands. But we harvested snap peas this year and these pungent delicious onions! We seem to have some sort of melons coming up for the Fall, keeping my fingers crossed that they are the pumpkins....for some reason in our garden seeds remain dormant for the first year we plant them and pop up in force the next growing season.

We took a origami class at our local summer library program-the girls and I together-I actually made this pinwheel thingie and I swear I have never been able to focus and make any of these seemingly complicated crafts ever so that was a cool new learning experience!

Can you not help but stop to take a breath when you see a water iris about to bloom?


or these night blooming jimson weed flowers attracting huge hawk moths the size of hummingbirds



or this orangey heavily scented rose that bloomed along with my 5 other bushes outside my windows that are FULL of flowers and filling the open windows with breezy thick smells that no perfume or air freshener can capture

I am enjoying my roses because roses were my Grandmother's favorite flower--especially red roses, red anything really. Grandmother passed away recently and it has only been now that I could even bring myself to go through pictures I had of her. She was smart and strong. She was beautiful. She was in her 90s. The girls had met her only a few times because we did not live close which makes me sad. They do have memories of her and they have the stories I tell. She let them call her Nana but as a child we were only allowed to call her Grandmother very formal, no nickname but it cracked me up that she was so easygoing with them. I see a lot of her in my girls, especially when we are arguing or they are taking a stand or learning things. My Grandmother you see graduated college, very rare for someone of her age and it makes me proud.

So many cool things about her...including that we looked alike lol. Hmm can you tell she was from Greece? Kalamata to be exact, home of my FAVORITE olive! In September-her birthday month and my girls' birthday month AND my husband's birthday month OY-we plan on having a party with an olive bar in her memory.


I still have this Mother Goose book. I can remember her smell and the creak of the wood rocking chair. I swear I made my oldest some pants out of vintage fabric that was a near match to these she is wearing lol.



Love that hair and I believe I had a haircut similar to that when I was a teen.

I believe this was probably my first birthday--goofy little kid--she knew I loved her, she knew the girls loved her. She will be celebrated and missed as well.


So I think what I am really trying to say is that when you are feeling rushed or pulled in a billion directions give yourself permission to take stock of what is going on around you. It really is all about quality not quantity in the end.