A Banner Year

How do you like my new RockerJewlz banner above? Would you believe it was a prize? I worked with Jenn from The Village Peddler on Etsy...it was really fun and fast...she was into it so it was a great experience. I always wanted to see RockerJewlz against a night sky with mulit-colored stars and now I have it!

It sounds like readers of this blog would like me to be even more intimate...can't imagine why, but I know that is a quality I like when I read someone ELSE's blog, so here goes...

I'm coming down off the stress of having a close family member being rushed to the hospital with what she thought was just a flu...but she'd had it for a week and is nearly 80 years old. Doctors discovered she was so dehydrated it almost completely destroyed one kidney. It shrunk to an unusable level and the heart had some permanent damage as well...aye yai yai!



The lesson here is it's easy to NOT know you are dehydrated and that it doesn't take long for it to practically kill you, no matter what your age and that flu viruses affect the elderly in a very intense manner!

Good news is, she pulled through with her amazing children staying with her in the hospital on shifts over all the 24 hours in a day for 10 days and she turned around with incredible improvement each day and gets to return home tomorrow.

My own experience has been interesting. Since I wasn't able to travel the long distance to be there with her I was not involved with the round the clock care. I did that, though, when my mom's life was ending and in hospice in her home.

I discovered this past week that the fear & emotions I experienced over my mother came to me again, but at a much lighter level, and one where it didn't deeply affect me to the point of not being able to physically or mentally get through a day. In other words, it didn't drop me to my knees this time.

Still felt nervous and anxious, like with my mom, but just wouldn't allow myself to enter the deep wells one can easily fall into...and get there before they know what the hell happened. It was wonderful to be able to function quite normally and stay busy enough to work through the anxiety and stress without even consciously telling myself to do it.

Looking back, I think my survival mode said "hey, you've been through ALL of this before and you can let it almost kill you or you can just use your faith, your calming breaths, and your experience to keep it from being like the first time". It's not necessarily easier, but it sure isn't as terrible. When my husband came home after being one of the caregivers, though, a tightening around my heart loosened and relaxed. I didn't even know it had been there. I'd felt it happening early on but breathed my way through it and didn't feel it anymore...well, surprise, surprise it had been there the entire time!

So... was this story enough of a smack in the face & "intimate" enough for some of you?! Don't let me scare you away. Luckily I won't have many stories that intense to share often. I'm surprised that I feel a little weary and just don't want to chat on the phone or text my buddy like I usually do. It just feels tiring. Typing it up on this blog, however, feels just right...doesn't take the same energy it does to verbalize the whole escapade!

Okay...now onto to lighter fare! Bunnies, ducks, girly paper punches (and more) are in MomsArt studios so they'll soon be seen for sale on Etsy as confetti & stickers. That pink heart up there isn't a paper punch, it's just a sweet reminder that Valentine's Day is coming fast, so be prepared! You can find heart & cupcake jewelry at RockerJewlz and paper heart & kisses confetti & stickers at MomsArt to embellish your scrapbooks & note cards & tags for all your sweethearts.