Mother's Day - Better late than never

So Rich was home from school a week before and then the week after mother's day because of finals. We planted loads of flowers and started the vegetable garden. I think this year I am only going to play flowers, herbs and tomatoes. In the past I haunted the farmers market looking for tomatoes to make the perfect tomato sauce for pasta. So this year I am hoping to have enough basil and tomatoes in the garden that I won't have to venture far to make the sauce and I do love to make the sauce.

I can't believe how another year of higher education has made him more mature, more willing to help out around here when he is home and more equipped to handle decisions. The pursuit of his education makes me the proud mom but the little tweeks in his personality regarding being more polite and more of a gentleman makes me oh so happy.

When he's working in the garden I can still see him as a little boy at the lake house on a pile of sand playing for hours and hours, his friends coming and going and late into the evening covered in sand and ready for food and a shower being all tanned and in the morning ready to play again. Yesterday we had lunch with Best Friend's mom and her brother and it felt like being home. I love to watch Rich dote over his grandma and I can't wait to venture home soon for a visit with the rest of the nieces and nephews and now grand nieces and the such. I'm not sure when they grew up but they did and I love being part of their lives. Each of them feels a little like my own child and their complex natures really do make me want to be close to them and figure them out. Each of them have so much going on. I am venturing home to celebrate my nephew graduate from med school and yet a niece is leaving for germany, one just arrived home from italy, there's a new baby to hold and cuddle, and I miss them all so much that I am going to hug them very hard.

Business stuff is clicking right along. April was the best month I've ever had but I think most of that was some very large wholesale orders. Etsy is clicking along just fine (I will write more about this in my next post) and I am working on two new lines, a clothing line I've been working on part time in stolen spare moments forever and a line of baby hats like you've never seen before. I am the elf in the shop working on those and for those of you that have noticed, I've let my listings spin down a little as I have hundreds of new new new designs I am posting soon. I have been making and just waiting for a little etsy marketing move before I list them. Now that that has happened, look for them. I have a whole new line of earrings that are over the top and I purchased hundreds and thousands of vintage watch cases that I am going to fill with some wonderful treasures. I am also going to start playing more with resin and the kawaii fun stuff and adding them to my store. You all know I love having new things working through my studio to offer to new and existing customers. I have sold more custom photo pieces than ever before so if you are looking for a one of a kind gift you should let me know. The bracelets make a wonderful gift for a new bride filled with photos of either her wedding party of people who couldn't attend the wedding to let them know they are still close to her on her special day. I can however fill a piece with your art, your children, your pets, your travel photos for a one of a kind keepsake. You can always contact me at Summerpoet@msn.com and you can find my work at www.poetsummer.etsy.com. I am always open to wholesale orders.

Thanks for spending this time with me, Carrie.

A Little on Alice and Adventure:

I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!

I feel like Alice sometimes. It's a balance really, wanting all the time for some adventure to plop itself in front of me and the other time wanting to have a very level head to promote my business and work out the details that are my life. I think I find inspiration when BestFriend is here, she was here for a week and I am full of inspiration. This trip was even more special because my sweet niece Katie came to visit with her husband Ben. What to tell you about Katie? She's magic. She has a way of making things work, supporting her husband while he's finishing med school, taking care of people who are emotionally and developmentally challenged, and making people just feel comfortable around her. We all laugh that Katie will answer a text message weeks after you've sent her one and we all just smile knowing she's out there working working working and keeping it together and making it look stylish to do so. I keep thinking young Richard will pick up on the idea that she and her husband are working toward a goal so they don't have to spend 8 hours a day gazing at eachother finding a reason to pick an argument out of boredom, if nothing else. Now that he's a 3 hour drive away again it's much easier to deal with his "male growing pains." Children are supposed to move away, it's the natural course to life and I am enjoying his random phone calls rather than his daily presence in my house. I take some joy in that he's off getting antoher degree and when he starts his life he will understand that hard work is really the only key to any success.

What did we do for a week? Hahahaha time spent with Goofygirl flies, it always has. I remember going to the lake house on a friday and before the blink of an eye it was time to drive home on a Sunday and we still had a list of things we hadn't done yet. It doesn't matter if others are around or it's just the two of us, time grows wings. She makes me laugh, after 20 years she still makes me laugh and she's my best audience for material. She's my cheerleader and she always gives me a different turn on life, a new window to breathe from. We visited with family, played some silly game where you had to pass an electronic machine that gave you clues to give a different team. Goofygirl is always about the game. I love that about her. We watched a few movies, she helped me get some work done, we shopped, shopped and shopped. I have a closet of new clothes. We wandered a bookstore and looked for poetry, a few bookstores, and looked for cookbooks and I found a stack of old Gourmet magazines for $4. I am going to find the best recipe in those magazines and perhaps post one here. We met up with an old friend we both worked with and spent the day wandering, lunching, trying on clothes, laughing. It felt like vacation in the middle of the winter. We've had one of those winters where it never stops snowing and the cold cuts you like a knife so a little vacation in the middle of that was a welcome treat. I miss her this week but I am sure I'll see her soon, such is life.

It's baby time here. My sweet nephew Matt and his wife had a baby boy, Andrew David and a few days later my dear Cousin Denise had a new baby boy, Luke Reilly. I am anxious to see them both and feel blessed that there are more little voices in the world to add to my world and very glad I am not yet a grandmother. Very glad.

More good news? Moonstruckmagic is open again. Ok, check out her stuff at www.moonstruckmagic.etsy.com. Her new york spa soap is to die for and those little tubes of foot relaxer cream oh they are wonderful. I wrote to her the moment I saw her open again and put in an order for that lovely soap that smells like mango and vanilla and makes tons of suds and a little oat on the top to exfoliate. My bar kept getting smaller and smaller and although I've made other soap purchases as I am an addicted homemade soap girl, nothing compares to the soap in that shop.

Christmas was insane here, I felt bad that I didn't post but if you sell things at Christmas time you know you are in for more work than you can handle. Sleep was a luxury through November and December but I did manage to spend some holiday joy with my family and even baked. (It really helps to hire some help). I went easy on myself as far as obligations other than work because I didn't want to feel overwhelmed or frustrated that I just can't do everything.
I am dedicating the new year to taking better care of myself, working out more, taking the time three times a day to get on the bike or the treadmill and I am giong to swim more this year as we have a new health club that's only blocks from the house. I am looking forward to swimming when it's cold. I am hiring someone full time to help out with issues outside of creating and this year I am going to get some help with the garden. Life is good and it feels like taking care of me will give me even more inspiration on the business front.

It was the Dutchess who said, "Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves." I am off to take care of me. I hope you will do the same. Thanks so much for spending this time with me. I promise to keep up here more than I have been as things are a little quiter. This is the season of romance so I hope you are doing something special for someone you love. If you'd like to see more of my work you can find it at www.poetsummer.etsy.com. You can always contact me at Summerpoet@msn.com. Thanks, Carrie.