Monday Mojo...Nick Vujicic

Feeling a little down? Feeling defeated? Feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders today? Stop, take a breath, and remember all there is to be thankful for. Do you have a roof over your head? Do you have food to eat? Did you wake up today? It's up to you to decide if today is going to be a bad day, a good day, or a great day.

Need some motivation? Put your life in perspective. How would you deal with life if you were Nick Vujicic. Would you be thankful or would you feel sorry for yourself? It's a choice. So, what's it going to be? I chose to have a great day!

Monday Mojo...So What?

I've got big plans today; lots to do, so I need a song that's going to get me pumped up and ready to take on the world.  Major house cleaning, major gardening plans. I'm psyched to finally get something green in my yard. Of course, most of my flowers will be in various shades of purple, except for the few that Little Man picked out, but that's ok, I guess. Yeah, it's going to be a great day.  So let's crank up the volume, roll up our sleeves, and get this day (and this week) under way!

I guess this would be a good time to let you know that I am a huge P!nk! She is the baddest, toughest most talented rockin' chick out there. If this song doesn't get you pumped up, in my opinion, you don't have a pulse. (Oh, and definitely expect more videos and blog posts featuring P!ink.)

The ABCs of Life...H is For My Husband Harry

I've been debating with myself whether I wanted to go happy and lighthearted (Harry), or serious and talk about my issues with Hypothyroidism, and I decided Harry gets the featured spot this time. My health issues can wait for another time.

Harry and I have know each other since way back in 6th grade. This is pretty much the way I remember him, but change the serious military look on his face to a big ole' grin, and that's him.  He always had a joke or some funny story to share. Time passed and we went our separate ways, but I never forgot him, and would look him up online to see if I could find him...and one day I did, on Myspace (remember myspace?).  We chatted about old times and compared the journey of our lives, which turned out eerily similar. We also discovered that we had a lot in common. Within no time we were completing each others' sentences and singing the same song.

He's still got that wacky sense of humor, but there's so much more about him that I really dig.  He'll do the dishes or laundry if it needs to be done, he works tirelessly 6 or 7 days a week and never complains, and he loves his parents and isn't embarrassed to say so.  He would do anything for his kids, and someday they will all know just how much he loves them, as usually happens when kids have kids of their own.

He's a huge history buff, all kinds of history, you name it, he can can tell you all about it. He can hold his own in the kitchen (always a plus), and if he were to go on Jeopardy, dare I say I think he would do quite well.  On more than one occasion he has come up with some obscure fact and I just look at him and ask , "How do you know that...and why?!"

He's a man who knows who is he, what he wants, and what he knows he has to do to get there. He is determined, and motivated. He is my rock. He keeps me going when I don't think I can, and he believes in me when I doubt myself. He is my biggest fan, and I am his.

You Know It's Spring when...

I love living in Lower Slower Delaware. My mother has been down here 20ish years now and I've visited as often as I could, depending how far away I was living at the time. But now that I am here full-time I really appreciate the little things that make it special.  When the nice weather comes back, so do the road-side stands. Local folks set up tables in front of their houses with various fruits, vegetables, flowers, and handmade crafts with a small sign and a bucket or some other small container for people to leave their money.  I caught sight of this table this past weekend, after having a particularly bad day, so I had to stop. When I pulled up the gentleman came out of the house to help me out.  For $3.50 I ended up with 5 large, bright red, best smelling tomatoes I could ask for. He totally made my day. (I've stopped at other spots where people just help themselves.)

Before moving down here we lived in a townhouse community on the edge of Philadelphia.  Two summers ago I had a small garden in our tiny patch of dirt; basil, tomatoes, and peppers.  It was so neat to watch the tomatoes grow and start to turn red, until the one day when I realized someone had stolen every tomato I had. Yup, gotta love that brotherly love. Needless to say, the next year I left that patch of dirt exactly the way it was.

Sorry, Philly, I am not missing you, not one bit. Can't wait for the roadside flowers to appear.

Monday Mojo...Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

A friend asked me recently about the songs I choose for Monday Mojo.  Sometimes a song will pop into my head, sometimes I will remember a song from way back that made me feel happy, and sometimes a situation will bring a specific song to mind.  This is the case with today's Monday Mojo.

Not many of you know this, but my mother is 94 and sometimes she is not too happy with that fact.  She has been blessed with relatively good health, but her body is letting her know that she is officially old and she doesn't like it. Some folks go with the flow and accept the aging process and some folks go kicking and screaming.  I love my mother. She has been my rock, but now my rock is crumbling. If it weren't for my faith or the strength and grace of my best friend, Melanie, I wouldn't be mentally prepared for all of this.

Last night, after another not so great day, my husband looks to me and says, "Look on the bright side." And, of course, Monty Python popped into my head, and brought a smile to my gloomy day. So, enjoy you Monday, and Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

Monday Mojo...The Banana Splits!

It's Monday! The kids are back in school after having a week off, I am officially gainfully employed, and it's going to be a beautiful day today. I've got some organizing to do, planning on making some bread today, and hit the grocery store in a bit so I can take in the gorgeous day...Maybe I'll even go for a walk on the beach :) I hope your week is starting off just as well as mine. But, if not, maybe this will help. It always make me happy...

Monday Mojo...Why Do Fools Fall in Love?

Here's a sweet reminder of days gone by while giving a little shout out to April Fools Day.  Hope you all had a great weekend and have an even better week. If you have a special someone I hope this song brings a smile to your face, and if you don't, may you burst out laughing at all the crazy fools out there who got suckered in.

Proud Momma Moment

Back in 2007 I was teaching kindergarten and my pride and joy was in pre-school. After school was over I'd go pick him up and bring him back to my classroom while I cleaned up and prepared for the next day. He loved to write on the white board, as all kids do.  One day, my 4 year old little genius called out to me to see what he wrote. Of course I had to take a picture.

It was indeed a proud momma moment for me. Every time I see that picture I go back to that day. He was so happy and I was bursting with love and pride. All parents think their children are wonderful. This was one of those times for me.

Surely you have many of those warm fuzzy feel good memories. I'd love to hear them. If you have a blog post about any of them, please share the link to your blog post below. It's ok to brag about your fabulous offspring. I do it all the time....Love that little guy!

Monday Mojo...Born To Be Alive

Every day we wake up is another opportunity to have a great day.  You made it through another day. You're here and you're alive! Now go out there and make the best of it...starting with this celebration of life!

The ABCs of Life...G is For Goals

Way back in January, when I was full of hope and motivation I sat down and wrote a blog post about setting goals. So today I thought would be a good day to revisit that post and do a little follow-up. You can see the original post here.

I posed some questions in that blog post; things to think about, so here are my answers:

What do I need to do that I'm not doing now?
~I need to go back to posting a daily to do list and physically check off each one when it is completed. I had started doing that in the beginning of this year, but let it lapse and my productivity, both at home and with my shop, has been affected. There are days that I plan on doing all sorts of great things, but then somehow they don't get done and I put them off for another day. That is a major waste of my time and effort. I know that, but I need to hold myself to being more accountable.
~I need to post shop quotas so I see the steps I need to take to reach my goals. Seeing a number of items I expect to make in a week or a month is so much more effective than saying I need to make more stuff.

What am I doing right and what do I need to work on?
~I am promoting and posting on various social media websites and I do have a blog, which I have posted on more this year than I have in the past two years combined. I continually work on becoming a better shop owner (audio books, trade journals, books, online research). And I haven't given up. I am still positive that I can do this and I will be successful.
~I need to work on learning new sewing skills and techniques so I can offer more items in my shop. I need to work on SEO (like so many others), and I need to find my niche. I think it's still out there waiting for me to figure it out. If I focus on the things that are important in my own life and find a way to express that in my work then I believe I will have found the key.

My Goals
So, I had set some goals for myself, and the truth is I'm not really doing so well with, but in my defense, I'm not totally to blame. 

I have been spending a huge amount of time looking for a job, which has cut into my daytime sewing hours. The dilemma; sew and make stuff that might sell or find a job that will pay? Until I have a safety net to fall back on, the guaranteed money must come before the possibility of money. (I am happy to say, I did find a job and I will be starting next week. It is part time, so I will still have time to sew without feeling guilty.)

I also have a mother who is 94 and has dementia. This is a rough time in our lives, and sometimes what I want to do just isn't nearly as important as I think it is. We moved here to be near her, so when she needs me, the sewing can wait.

So, my first goal is to strive for a specific dollar amount per month that is doable for me at this time. And how did I do with that one? Let's just say, I'm still working on that one.

Set a weekly quota of goods to make.
I started out keeping up with this quite easily, but then I fell behind and then I lost my momentum. Getting back on the horse now.

Blog three times a week
Again I was right on target with that one, but when life gets you down, the last thing you want to do is bring them down with you. It's hard to write positive and uplifting blog posts when you don't feel so positive yourself. At least I did manage to keep up with my "Monday Mojo" blog posts. But, on the bright side, I am feeling better, and I have a bunch of blog posts just dying to be shared.

Craft Fairs
I absolutely want to do craft fairs. Love them and love meeting the people, but when you don't have the money for the table fee, they need to be put on hold. Hoping that changes soon.

So, why would I put myself out there and let you into my not-so-perfect world? Because, none of us are perfect. Life doesn't go the way we plan. Whether you believe in fate, Divine intervention, destiny, or letting the chips fall where they lie...the fact is we are all dealing with "stuff" that will keep us from our goals if we let them.  You are my accountability partner. The next time I share an update about my goals I will have a better report for you. I am not done yet!

The images shown are all from Etsy sellers. I hope they motivate you, too. The shops featured, from top to bottom are:
DecalsForTheWall
DecalDrama
NeueGraphic
Gratitude Jewelry