I'm Back!

Wow. Has it really been since JUNE? I hate that I haven't been writing, but in my defense, I have been a little busy. I feel like I've been dealing with my blog the way I deal with phone calls to my parents... I WANT to. I know I NEED to. And when I do, I enjoy it THOROUGHLY. And yet, their phone does not ring, and I do not type.

Sooo... how to catch up? Well, the biggest things I've been wrestling with have been physical. I guess if the last post was in June then it had only been a short time since I'd recovered from my January car accident. Surely that was enough pain and suffering for one year, yes? No. At the end of October I was working a flight and hit some clear-air turbulence and hurt myself. I've hurt myself a million times because of turbulence(SO STAY IN YOUR FREAKING SEATS, PEOPLE!!) and thought that this time was just like the others and I'd be sore for a couple of days and then be as good as new. Well, here we are four months and one shoulder operation later and I am not as good as new. Turns out I had a rotator cuff tear and had to have that fixed on January 2th along with the frayed tissues in a couple of parts of my shoulder and then have the bone shaved down to make more room. Not fun! I'm still struggling to get through the day and to get sleep and the pain is unbelievable! Most days I'm completely miserable and lousy and I can't stand it anymore. I want to be myself again, and I want my life back! Because of the nature of my job, I can't have ANY restrictions so I can't go back until I am cleared for full duty. As it looks right now, it's going to be a while. They just moved from stretching only to some strength building in physical therapy (and when I say strength building, I mean bench pressing a broom stick and shaking like it weighs 100 pounds) and yesterday I was hurting so much from the ONE DAY of strength training that I felt like I'd been shot! I'm fed up and feeling sorry for myself. Wahh.

The one thing that I've been able to put some energy into that helps keep my mind off of things is being creative again. Jeff's niece was making a hair bow one day while we were visiting, and I made one too and realized how much fun it was and how good I was at it! SO, I started making and selling bows on Etsy and Ebay! I also started making hand-painted personalized art, like signs for baby's room or family with quotes and Bible verses, and letters that spell out children's names or phrases like 'dream' or 'love'. All of this creativity has just been pouring out of me and I've done so well that I'm actually in the process of getting a web store up and running. The site is done, shopping cart installed- and now it is just a matter of adding the rest of the products! I can't wait to post the site once it's live. I'm also a vendor at a big children's event here in Las Vegas in 15 days and so I've been painting and bow-ing non-stop! It's been my saving grace, as without it I don't think I would have been able to stay sane through all of this. That, and my Nanny who has become a 'personal assistant' and I couldn't have made it through some of these days without her help with errands and appointments and keeping my house in order. She's a Godsend. And of course, I have to thank Jeff who loves me even when I'm miserable and cranky and gives me rest just by being close. I love you, babe.

Anyway, I'm all caught up now and so I feel like I can start blogging again without having to recap everything. Missed my blog family a lot and hope to get back in touch with you all.