Absent

I have been absent from this blog for three and a half months now.  I can’t believe that much time has passed.  There have been so many times my soul has yearned to come here and share.  And yet, I haven’t done so.  Until the last couple of weeks, my life has felt very out of balance.  I finally feel like I’ve got some room to breathe and things are returning to normal…whatever that means.  Here’s a little on my current life and thoughts.

Both my consulting business and new sticker shop venture are going well and I’m loving how they both are playing out in my life.  The consulting is so near and dear to my heart and I love being able to provide assistance at the level people need but I also love watching this piece evolve.  I’ve gained many new clients who seem to be more of an energetic match at this point in my life and I’ve released a few that were no longer a great fit.  I’m so grateful to have this business that’s grown to right around 150 clients.  It’s really a blessing in my life.

The sticker shop, Emma & Me Stickers, opened June 1st of this year.  After a few months of really long hours, it was finally ready to go.  I absolutely love making stickers for people to use in their planners (one of the top two crafts right now).  I’ve had orders come in regularly and had a big sale in early September.  It went so much better than I had expected…than I could have possibly dreamed.  I was on vacation when I ran it, came back with a nasty virus that stuck around for a couple of weeks, had equipment issues, and still managed to process 100 orders that included 1500 items along side the consulting.  I’m pretty proud of that.  It wasn’t easy but I did it.  Resilient…that’s me.  Committed…that’s me.

After I finished processing orders from that sale, I decided it was time to take it easy for a couple of weeks.  I needed to heal.  I needed to reflect.  And heal and reflect is exactly what I did.

I couldn’t believe the summer was gone.  I’d gone kayaking once and biking twice…that’s it.  We cancelled camping trips due to work schedules and just plain being tired.  Even skipped a concert I’d purchased tickets for.  It made me really sad.

Our fun-loving lives seemed to have died.  I’d lost sight of how important those things were to me…to us.  I realized during those couple of weeks that I really needed to get things back on track.

It’s taken a while but I finally feel this week like things are getting back to the routine that I love.  We’ve got some great concerts on the calendar – Roger Waters, Stevie Nicks, the Pretenders, Eddie Money, Starship with Mickey Thomas…and we’ve got tickets to a Minnesota Wild game vs. Chicago Blackhawks (big rival team).  It’s getting a bit cold for kayaking, biking and camping but I will definitely be bringing those back next spring/summer.  The hubby and I are also back to doing other things…”chores”…together.  We split some things up in the midst of being so busy and we’d had a few conflicts around things…it happens when life gets busy and you’re both running on fumes.

I’ve spent time at my brother’s cabin with family and alone and it’s been wonderful to have that opportunity available and we spent a couple of weekends making caramels…a tradition I started last year.  There’s a couple of recipes here on my blog and, hopefully, I’ll get a few more up soon.  Yes, I made several different kinds.

It’s getting late.  I’m still working on getting back on a great sleep schedule…still struggling with that one.  I guess that’s what life is all about…some things get better and some things take more effort and/or time.  Either way, I’m committed to loving my life and doing whatever it takes to make that happen.

Sweet dreams to all.