Saturday, November 21, 2009

WARNING!! Long Post Alert!!

I am posting today to finish up where I left off on the last post even though I am sicky again and this time really sicky!! YUCK!! I am tired of every bug in town thinking it has to come visit again and again! Tired and achy is how we roll around here evidently! Ok, enough of that because I am sure you all out there are fighting the battle of the bug in one form or another as we speak. I digress so easily it seems. Any way here is where I left off. The pic of the so called box (train case or Travis Case) is by B.E./Creative Imaginations. I altered it with a little victorian flare of my own for my new DT position with an amazing store here on Long Island called "Not Just Scrap"! The owner of the store is Diana and she is an amazing artist and super nice gal with a huge heart! I have posted a link on my right side bar to her blog for the store and I believe from there you can get to her main site as well. I believe she is moving towards getting her site up and running for internet sales in the future. She has been in business here on LI for 5 years and has done an amazing job of making her store feel like home! When you walk in you immediately feel that peaceful "I'm home" feeling along with a great big "Hi! How are ya?" from Diana in the most amazing NY accent in the world! Little chuckle here because they think I have a "cute" accent from the midwest! Lol!! I will take cute yes I will! I seriously love New Yorkers and their accent the most though because it is so full of meaning when they speak, straight from their hearts is what I like to say it sounds like. So, there you have it, my little bit of happiness in an otherwise scrapless world around me!! I am so fortunate to have found Diana and her store! Here are some more pics of the box/case, a layout, and a mini-peak: The layout is a Prima one and I got my inspiration from one that the amazing and uber talented Cari Fennell did as a dt layout for Prima! Diana wanted something very similar to help customers see how to cluster Prima flowers together with some bling. Here is the gorgeous layout by Cari that Diana wanted me to go from : See! I told you her work is gorgeous!! And if you haven't visited her blog yet you definitely need to check her out!! Here is her blog address: www.meandmymaryjanes.blogspot.com . So please check her out because you will definitely be inspired!! Oh, and don't forget to show her some love!! Ok, now that I am done with all the pics I will fill you in on what has happened in life since I left Wisconsin. My niece Shelbie got married right before we left for New York so we were able to be there and we are so proud of her. I love her like she were my own child!! We had a huge garage sale and sold most of our earthly belongings so that we wouldn't have to pack too much stuff (side note: still had way to much stuff!!) since this was the first time in 23 years we decided to do the move ourselves!! Never again I tell ya never again and if I should happen to mention that we are please shoot me on the spot!! Lol!! I drove the car to Long Island and Terry drove the moving truck! Talk about stressfull!! Aghhh!! So glad that part is over!! Then we had Terry's change of command out here and he took over running his new station down on Jones Beach! Gorgeous area!! We settled into our new home with out any living room furniture until a about a month ago! Didn't think that would be such a big deal but let me tell you it was!! Definitely delayed the getting settled feeling for awhile! I tried to get settled into my new studio which is down in the finished basement here. Not so easily said and done I tell you!! I have way too much stuff! Let me repeat that WAY TOO MUCH!! Not enough room!! Still, on this very day, I am unpacking and trying to get it finished when time permits!! UGH!! Not happening as fast as I need it to! Then on a very sad note we lost Terry's Mom...that was one of the hardest most difficult things ever! Love you Mom and miss you tons!! It cames as a super hard hit for us and I am so proud of Terry. He stayed with her until the end! Dad and Peter are by themselves now and I must say they are doing really well considering how hard this has been on them and the whole family. Terry has been making trips back and forth to help out and support them as much as he can. Next on the list of goings on is that my Mom came to live with us full time back in July and this is where things got even harder! She was diagnosed back last year, after having 2 heart attacks, with Dimentia. The hardest part is that since she has gotten here my Mom as I knew her is almost completely gone due to this horrible disease! She peaks out at me once in a very great while and on those days the suns shines so brightly with her smile! This is why I have lost all of my bearings in life and have gone through such a dark time. It is so very hard to see a loved one go through what she is having to go through. It is not fair for the person who has this in any way shape or form and I know unfortunately that thousands and thousands of people are going through this as we speak! Why don't we have a cure or a way to stop this from happening yet with all the advances in medicine that we have? It is not an easy thing to be the caregiver of a loved one who has this as I know all too well but to be the person with it is just horrible. My life and every thought (sleeping and awake) is for her and her safety and wellbeing. So, my friends this is the number one reason of them all that I am so far behind on keeping in touch and life in general! I just thank you all so much for your support and prayers that keep coming our way! She has been fighting off this yucky bug that has been going around for awhile now and is starting to show signs of improvement which is a blessing for her and me. She is starting to get better sleep at night and not coughing the night away. If any of you know about Dimentia or Alzheimers you know that the patient can also suffer from what they call Sun-Downers which put to put it easily means that once the sun starts to set in the sky that is the time that a person suffering from dimentia has the worst time of all. Mom unfortunately has this so the nights are awful for her and needless to say we don't get much sleep. For Mom that is the time when her mind struggles with why can't I remember and worries if everyone and everything is taken care of. She will wonder the house at night endlessly searching through cupboards and closest for something that she can't remember what it is. It just breaks my heart to see her have to go through this and of course with the coughing the doctor said she has got a double whamy of bad at night right now. Not much sleeping going on at the Lathrop household! So, please forgive me if I haven't responded to your posts or emails right away or even after awhile, I am trying my dangedest to get this so called life in shape and functioning as best as I can with a little help from my friends. I may just burst into song now that I started it cause you all know we can't get by without a little help from our friends!! Lol!! We see the Dr. again on Monday so wish us some luck! Lord knows we need it! This is another reason Dianna at "Not Just Scrap" is such a God send!! She has the patience of a saint when it comes to my DT work! Thank you for that Diana! Cause you all know that when Tracy hasn't gotten crafty in awhile she isn't a happy camper and needs her fix of studio time which right now isn't a whole lot! As always, my dear readers, thank you for stopping by and putting up with my long tirades!! Lol!!, Tracy

Monday, November 16, 2009

Cob Webs!!!!

Wow, there sure are alot of cob webs on this blog!! I am here for the first time since the move which happened 5 months ago now trying to get things up and running again! I am just amazed at how much time has gone by since the last time I posted!! Well, we are here on Long Island and finally all unpacked and starting to make our new home a place where we can feel at home. That is the part that is taking me the longest (feeling at home here). I miss everyone back in the midwest so much that I have gone through a very dark period in my life with this move. I wish I could say that after 23 years in this military life with my hubby that moving was a piece of cake and that we could do it without any saddness but that just is not the case! I know alot of people tend to think that the life of a military spouse is always full of new exciting adventures and making new friends, etc.. But, I am here to tell you that it is not all that all the time! Lol!! I don't know if it is my age or this specific time in my life or all the wonderful people that have come in to my life during our last port of call that has made this the hardest one ever for me or what. Maybe I am on an extremely long pms haul or some sort of mental break down or ughh....... something just isn't the same this time!! I sat down today and looked at the calendar on my desk just stunned! So much time has passed and I have nothing to show for it, no great accomplishments, nothing...nada...zilch. Life has swallowed me whole! So, needless to say today is the "wake up and smell the roses (or coffee! lol!)" day for me!! Today is the day that I am grabbing life by the horns again, putting on my high heels, filling my tool belt with the neccesities and taking a ride back on the journey bus to MY LIFE! (I can almost just barely hear the crowd cheering "you can do it"!) I am no longer in stand still mode I am now in "full speed ahead baby" mode!! So, if you are one of my many awesome friends who has emailed me and not heard back from me I am here to officially tell you that I do not have any excuses to give you, but, I can tell you that soon my friend, real soon, I will be in touch some way some how!! I am not dead I just fell off the earth for a couple of spins and now I am back!! So, on that note, since I have already bored you to death with my troubles such as they may be, I will now leave you with a pic of a little something that I made for a little something I am doing....is that vague enough for ya! Lol!! Next post will have more pics and some deets on what I am talking about! As always...Thanks for stoppin' in! You truly mean the world to me!!, Tracy