Getting Older is sometimes no fun at all!

This week is a tough one for our family.  My grandfather, Julio passed away Saturday night.  He was our patriarch.  My grandfather brought his wife and 9 children to this country back in '68.  He came with no money and not able to speak the language.  He even had to leave one of his children back in Cuba.  He never owned a car but worked every single day.  He walked everywhere.  People knew him.  The guy in the tall hat with the cigar.  I will always remember the way he smelled, the way he laughed and the way he knew all the curse words in English.  Any time he saw me it was, "Hey baby, how you feel?"  We had a special relationship.  The last 5 years were really tough ones.  Tough on me, but tougher on him.  He had to live in a home in Baton Rouge since Katrina.  He got sick and just never recovered.   During Katrina he stayed.  He stayed with my grandma and one of my uncles in Redwood in Kenner.  He had never evacuated for a hurricane in his life.  He stayed for 5 days after the storm until we could get him out and to FL.  It just wasn't safe for him to stay.  Everything crumbled around him.   He was a good man who was raised in a whole different world and did the best he could.  I think that is all anyone could ask of him.  Anytime I smell a cigar I will think of him - well, a really good, Cuban cigar, of course. 

ADHD anyone?

I am supposed to be getting dressed for the day, but I am stuck in Procrastination Station.  Part of that is because I have to go to the convention center and sit until 5pm.  I am not a sitter.  I have to be doing SOMETHING.  If not, I WILL drive you nuts.  I will talk ALL DAY.  I hate being bored.  Part of this show I am doing is that a lot of the day is a few people in and out of the exhibition hall because they are in and out of classes all day.  There is only a little bit of time that is designated for them to visit the hall.  The good part is that I will bring a lot of images to cut and things like that, but wow, am I not cut out to just sit there. 

The other sad part is that the thought of working 8-5 all day in one place kind of freaks me out.  I havent had to work a schedule like that since '03.  I work TONS of hours on my own, but having to be confined is hard for me.  Do you have any cheese I can have with my wine?

Can you sit still?  Are you someone who can just sit around or are you like me? 

Parenting can SUCK!

Sometimes being a "GOOD MOM" is not so fun.  Tonight I had to be the heavy a little with MG and that didnt make me happy.  I didnt want to make her share her sweatshirt.  It IS her shirt.  Her sister DOES have her own.  I understand all of that.  It was the POINT.  Gawd, I hate having to make a point sometimes.  Here's the deelio.  MG promised B's Bestie that she could borrow her "Thing 2" sweatshirt so the BFFs could match.  Well, B ticked off MG and when MG heard B get up the next morning she scurried over to her closet and PUT ON the sweatshirt so her sister could not borrow it.  So typical Little Sister behavior that I really wanted to laugh.  However, it is not the RIGHT thing to do.  If it was just her sister then you give a break and see her side.  I am trying to raise my kids to be considerate of others.  Tonight I had to make her see that she was wrong and it wasn't mean to her sister, but to the Bestie.  Poor thing.  It pissed her off, but then made her sad.  It made me a little happy that she understood it. 

Sometimes parenting just sucks, but I wouldnt have it any other way. 

Photocredit.

Valentine's Day is for Lovers!

Happy Valentine's Day, Loves!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and more than ever this year I am really thinking of what it really means to me.  Mainly, that is because this cold has been kicking this Metry Chick's butt and I haven't felt up to doing any kind of shopping or surprising. I am thankful for being a little under the weather (I know, WHAT?!?) But I am.  Being sick this week has made me think about what being my valentine is really about.  I have been watching  a LOT of TV.  WOW!  I can tell you that it is NOT a diamond heart or any type of jewelry.  Sarge bought me a beautiful snowflake for Christmas and I like that ice.  It is not really chocolate (Lord knows my butt doesn't need it), but I am NOT going to refuse any chocolate right now.  To me this week it is really babying me when I don't feel good and asking if you can get me anything from the kitchen.  It is a warm bowl of soup or a box of tissue.  Those are my valentine's gifts.  It is sitting on the couch with me and NOT turning up the volume when I am coughing, but asking if I am ok.  (I really HATE that commercial for cough syrup. How RUDE!). 

I think it is really really easy to see romance go out the window really fast these days.  You get busy with life and just forget.  Romance does not have to be champagne and roses, it is much better as a hand hold while watching the news, a pat on the butt while you're feeding the dog, or even just asking about your day.  That is real romance.  You can keep your Valentine's Day, give me the other 364 - but I'll take the chocolates. 

Sick Mom? What's that???

What is it like being a sick mom?  Well, it's a lot like being a well mom, just a little more in slow motion, a little more sleep deprived and a little grouchy!  This week I am under the weather with bronchitis and an ear infection.  Double ow!  Last Spring I got sick like this and was in bed for about 4 days straight and waiting too long to go to the doctor and came down with pneumonia.  So, this year I am trying to avoid that, but being sick and a mom is never easy.  Did you know that there is actually a Facebook Group called "Being Sick as a Mother Should be Illegal"?  Yep.  Their mission statement, As if we don't have enough to deal with. When the kids are sick, who takes care of them? Mom. When Dad is sick, who takes care of him? Mom. They just get to laze around until they get better, being waited on hand and foot by the lady of the house - as it should be. I'm not complaining about that. But when Mom is sick, things still have to get done - laundry must be washed, food must be cooked, floors must be swept, children must be kept from dying, etc. Being a sick mom is a miserable existence. When mommy is sick, everyone suffers. Therefore, I vote that it should be illegal or outlawed or against nature or whatever it takes for it to not happen anymore. Who's with me?!

I have to agree.  Being sick does suck.  I still have to take care of everything although Sarge does help.  I guess I am just feeling whiny and overwhelmed by my evening.  I have to get 3 girls ready for dance team pics today and as my bonus kid's dad said, "that is more of a mommy thing than a daddy thing" and I agree.  That is part of my job.  I will get them ready, nag Sarge into dropping them off and staying to make sure they look good, and then collapse on the couch.

Is it wrong that even at 35 the first person I want is my mom?! 

HELP! I was drowning in Paper!!!

I HATE clutter and disorganization, but a lot of time I feel like I am drowning in it.  This year I am heeding Flylady's advice that I can not organize clutter, I need to get RID of it. I am working hard on that.  My friend, Shirley of WildBlueBerryInk,  was a great motivator to me this week.  She posted a new blog about some home organization.  Not only does she post some awesome pics of her little chicklet, but she also has some awesome ideas!  She recommended Simplify101 and their organization binder!  It is free and LIGHTBULB!  Flylady has been toting the virtues of this kind of binder or home control journal for years and I have tried over and over, but I get bogged down in creating and perfecting my "routines" that I never get it off the ground.

It was thanks to this awesome post and I made a decision.  I was going to do this and not just once, but one for the home and one for MetryChick.  Working at home is never as easy as everyone assumes.  It is not all sunshine and giggles.  You have to be able to balance home and work, all in the same space and working around everyone else.  I also have a small house, so my workspace is at a premium.  I am forever going through paperwork, moving paperwork and all that kind of stuff.  Add to that the fact that I absolutely hate to file and you have a disaster.

So I started by printing out the manual and after reading it I made my own categories for my business.  What works for me!
 

My next step was to assemble my supplies.  Now, my first instinct was to run to OfficeSchmepot and pick up some really CUTE supplies and labels to make everything perfect, but in the past that has NOT worked well for me and I put off doing this until I had the perfect stuff.  For this I scavenged the house and stopped at Walpurple for a couple of things while I picked up meds.  No special trips.  The only special thing I did get was dividers with pockets since my invoices are 5.5x8. 

Then I gathered ALL of the miscellaneous tons of paperwork that are laying around the house for my business.  I had them in about 3 places.  That didn't work for me.   I used sticky notes to label spaces on the table for sorting piles.

Once I had the piles I started assembling my binder.  This allowed me to see what needed to fit into what folders, envelopes, and page protectors.  This is what I wound up with:

I really love it!  Not only does it look cool, but when I go between the studio and the desk it travels with me and I have everything to work with all in one place.  I have been using it and so far, so good.  I am leaving it flexible and treating it like a living object, so I can adjust if I need to.

Thank you Shirley for spurring me on with this project.  My business will thank you!