Getting Back to Normal

Life is finally settling back into a regular routine. Sue is slowly improving from her hip replacement surgery and the Great Lakes Mega Meet is over, so things should be getting back to normal.

Don't you just love spring. I can't believe how much the trees have changed over the last week. The flowering trees are gorgeous and the grass is green. The spring bulbs and the lilacs are in full bloom, and the trillium and lilies of the valley are coming up. We haven't seen any hummingbirds yet, but there have been a couple of orioles around.

The Great Lakes Mega Meet was wonderful. Barb and I had a great time papercrafting and shopping for three days. We stayed in the same hotel as last year (even though it had changed from Baymont to Holiday Inn Express)... we even had the same room! They had a great breakfast bar: eggs, sausage, cereal, muffins, bagels, juices, yogurt and absolutely wonderful warm cinnamon rolls. Dinners on Thursday and Friday found us at Applebees.

I took seven classes: two cardmaking, two acrylic mini albums, a mini tag album, a mixed media mini album and a 6x6 canvas book. The classes went really well. I actually finished a couple in class but also completed a couple in the hotel room in the evening. I still need to make them my own with my photos and/or embellishments. I even won a couple of prizes which is always fun.

Of course, there is the all-important shopping as well. I tried my darnedest to stimulate the economy. I picked up an assortment of papers and paper packs, a ton of embellishments and a mini album project that Barb and I are going to work on together. But my most important (and most costly) purchase were my Copic markers. Yes, I decided to take the step (actually a giant leap!) into the world of Copics. Now I have to figure out how to use them. I'm hoping to "play" a little this weekend.

It was tough coming back to work after being gone five days. Things were a bit chaotic on Tuesday when I returned. I ended up at the office till almost 6:30. I also found out when I got back that one of the administrative assistants had decided to retire. She's been with the company for 45 years. I was 11 when she started working! This does take a little pressure off the rest of the admin staff though. There is still the possibility of more lay-offs but this should provide the rest of us more work.

Sue is progressing. She is still using a walker but continues with weekly physical therapy and gets up and down the stairs regularly. Her therapist wants her to walk more so she's been circling the main level of the condo. She has no pain in either her right hip or her back, but now her left hip hurts. We may be in for the whole procedure a second time.

Lastly, I had a very pleasant surprise a couple of weeks ago. I found that a card of mine had been published in the June 2009 issue of Crafts 'n Things. I probably sent the card in over a year ago. In fact, it was sent to Rubberstamper, which was bought by Crafts 'n Things. If I remember correctly, the card request was for stamping on photos. I used all Stampscape stamps and a sunset photo I had found at http://www.freefoto.com/. This is my first time published and I'm really quite pleased.

I'm looking forward to getting back into challenges again. I've got all kinds of new stuff to use. And, of course, there are my Copics. Can't wait to give them a try.

Cheers, Judi