hello joy

Had to dust off some cobwebs on the blog...haven't been feeling "with it" lately. November was b.u.s.y. If I posted a picture of my November calendar, some may seriously run for the hills and not look back. Aside from the busy-ness of work, life has been... LIFE. Life hasn't been all sunshine and roses.

Dealing with a health issue that I hope is resolved without slicing and dicing. It's a little scary for me. It helps that a friend has dealt with something similar, but at the same time I worry because I'm me and not her. Does that make sense?

Dealing with disappointment and life-altering changes for one of the daughters of my heart. Her life plans have changed and with that, my mind set has to change. It's hard to be strong for someone you love when all you want to do inside is curl up and sob.

I haven't made any Christmas cards. Don't think I'll be sending any out at this point, and I think I'm okay with that.

All this stuff going on has wreaked havoc on my sleep. I wish I could really let go and let God. Gotta have a little faith, huh?

So, I really haven't been feeling all that creative. I have been keeping up with my December Daily album, mostly catching up on the weekends but I haven't posted my pages anywhere. I think I made two cards with my Studio Calico November kit and then bagged it up when December kits arrived. I ordered the Silhouette Cameo and it sat unopened for a while. I even forgot I was expecting it in the mail. I set it up yesterday to get my gift bags made for my friends' Christmas presents. I knew they'd be expecting some handmade paper crafts to house their gifts. I couldn't disappoint.

We celebrated my birthday and Christmas just a little early last night. Being with them put a few things into perspective. These friends are sisters of my heart. They're the ones I can depend on outside my family to hold me up when I feel like falling down. We had a great dinner (SUSHI), walked around the mall for a bit (parents need to stop dropping their kids off at the mall unattended), and then saw "New Year's Eve." Got some much needed laughs and maybe shed a few tears (thought I shed them all already).

And this... this silhouette cut file that Ali Edwards posted in the Studio Calico December Daily forum... invited some joy into my life this week. It came at the right time.