Long time.....no talk!!

Omg! It's been like 2 and half months since my last post. I don't know if that is good or bad, but a lot has happened since then, oh my goodness! My sister had her baby, sweet little baby girl, named her Isabella Paige Rogers....calling her Bella, Paige and also GiGi.....poor child won't know her real name!! LOL! Who is born into the world with 3 nicknames!!

Well time is crunching for my business exit. I'm a little on edge with it, as I knew I would be. I've had a few VERY WEIRD job offers, and opportunities I couldn't believe even existed, what I want to know is where are all the REAL 8-5 jobs???? All I'm getting is........make $5K in one week, or Make $150K a year helping people plan their future. Where are the real jobs anymore?? I did happen to have a guy call today and want to talk to me about a REAL job in the sign industry.....which I plan on investigating some more.........and I know what you all must be thinking.......back in the sign industry?? What is going on??? But at this point, I have to make a buck, and the market is absolutely dead in new construction and renovations........so it's on to plan B until I can get plan A to work. My life is always like this it seems, but I guess I really don't know how to live it any other way.....so life goes on.

Things are good.

Well, things are good right now. We're staying busy with school starting, soccer starting, and new business adventures starting.



Jake is in the 7th grade this year, and I have to say, he is SOOO mature for his age it's really amazing. He's going to be in the band, playing the sax, and he made the all boys choir. He also was nominated to travel to Houston this coming spring to be apart of the National Juniors Leadership Conference. We're so proud.



Kennedy is in the 1st grade this year, and absolutely loves it. She's doing great and learning to read so well. She's playing soccer again so once again we'll be on the fields every Saturday morning for 2 months.



I've recently bought a laser engraver and plan on doing custom laser engraving for everyone, personal and businesses alike. I can etch tile, bricks, leather, denim, mugs, glasses, knives, baseballs.....you name it. I'm hoping to get custom orders for Christmas going this year, so if you know of anyone that wants to personalize anything, give me a call. Jake is helping me with this and he is going to be quite good considering he is quite the computer guru! I'm mostly doing this to supplement my faux painting income when I leave the sign business. That way I don't HAVE to go back to a 8-5 job. I so need my own schedule! LOL!



Well we're off this weekend to Texas. My mother's side of the family is having a big reunion, then we are going on down to Galveston/Houston area for a little R&R. Hopefully the hurricane will stay east and we can enjoy our short fun-filled trip! Let's pray!

Surgery

Well amongst all my busy-ness, I have torn some cartilage in my left knee. I went for a MRI scan this morning and will find out results this coming Tuesday. If in fact it is torn cartilage they will do surgery hopefully within the same week. I'm not looking forward to it, but if it helps relieve the pain, I'm all for it. The good thing is, it's out patient so will only be in/out same day and then home to rest......wish me luck!

I QUIT!

Well, if you are reading this, you know me, and you KNOW I'm never still and am always up for a new adventure. First of all, my long time job of working for Ken's Signs is finally coming to and end.........seriously!!! I finally have an official QUIT DATE! LOL! January 1st I will no longer work for Ken's full-time.....I'm kinda on a "on call list" but won't be going in to work every day. I'll still be on the payroll for emergencies and if I feel like selling a sign I can make commission on the sale...but that's about the extent of it......but today I bought a Laser Engraver. I'm hoping to supplement my income from my faux painting and canvas biz with doing a little engraving and etching on the side. I can make signs, stone signs for yards/patio and you name it, anything that comes to mind. When I get it going I'll post some pics. I'm hoping to do fun raisers for schools. I've got a really cool idea and as soon as I do one for Kennedy I'll post pics of it. I'm relieved that I'm finally able to "retire" from Ken's, it's been a good ride, but I'm ready to move on to something new. My dad is also retiring, and my brother will take over.......so overall everyone is happy ........I think!

Summer Is Here!

We have finally had sunshine more than 12 hours for the past week and should have more this week! I'm totally excited that the rain is "somewhat" moving out. Although my plants and shrubs are loving it, I prefer the sun without rain.
The kids are out of school in two weeks, unbelievable how fast this year has gone by. We are gearing up for a very busy summer. As soon as Kennedy finishes softball, she'll go into t-ball, then Marty is letting her play with the boys in the fall, baseball machine pitch. He's been working with her, and I really think she's going to be pretty good. Unlike Jake, she's all about the sports, which is right down Marty's alley.
Well I had plans to stop doing my faux painting in residential homes, and totally concentrate on my new canvas painting business, but I think the Lord has different plans for me. I've started getting so many phone calls for faux painting that I am booked thru part of August. I don't know what is going on.....I hadn't had any calls in a few months, I had even closed out my accounts, and then all of a sudden, I'm slammed. I'm literally working every free minute doing my faux after leaving the sign shop....nights and weekends. So between Kennedy's ball and that, I'm bushed at the end of the day. I'm going to continue to do both until I can't do both any more. It's hard, but I love the faux. It's my outlet. I get so absorbed in it, it's like it's not even work. My partner called me last week, and I think we're going to make our first sale on our canvas paintings. I'm really excited, I've been working on a few designs in my "free" time.......we'll see what happens!

OOPS! I gave the wrong website!

OK! I'm having a blonde moment! I totally gave the wrong website for the cute little re-usable grocery bags!! OMGOSH! I guess I had jotted down so many sites, I looked at the wrong one! So here's the actual site I got my bags from........http://www.gigglefishgifts.com/accessories.html
By the way, I got the bags in....too cute! I'm taking them on vacay, I'm sure I'll use them for everything, including toting my stuff to the beach....

Going GREEN

Well, it's bound to happen sometime I guess....I've decided to be MORE considerate of our planet. I mean, not that I haven't been, but I'm thinking there's tons more I can do to help with the "going green" time that we are currently in...so I've researched a little and found the most adorable and stylish re-usable grocery bags. The link to the site is www.reusethisbag.com and look under accessories. They have individual bags, and a set of 5.....which I ordered. The bags are equivalent to two plastic grocery sacks, are waterproof, stylish......did I mention stylish? and they can roll up and fit in your purse! PERFECT!! So we'll see how this works...I've changed out most of my light bulbs to those energy saving bulbs....I can buy them at Sam's in a large pack and save a little bit of money.......they are expensive!! And I really didn't realize how MANY bulbs we actually have in our house! WOW! So anyway, it's a start....hopefully we'll keep doing the things we're already doing and making a difference little by little.

I LOVE SUNSHINE

I love sunny days! AND it's Friday! What a great start to the weekend. We have big plans this weekend....cleaning out my dad's warehouse....oh what fun! Getting ready for a huge auction. We have so much stuff in this warehouse.......I know I have 6 truck loads of stuff.....mom and dad have tons of furniture and who knows what else down there......our auction is planned for April 26th as of now......so we have to have all items ready for sale by this MONDAY!! Not much time and I could probably round up another 5 truck loads at my house!! Too much junk, why do we accumulate so much stuff??

Well on a good note, Marty went to the doc yesterday and received great news about his head. His headaches have diminished and now they are concentrating on his diet....just what every man wants to hear. I'm actually taking him out tonight on a date. We don't have those very often, especially without kids, so I surprised him and we're going to eat at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. It's supposed to be so divine.......we have to dress nice and everything....so this will be special........I'm trying to keep his stress level down, so maybe this will help some....we'll see.

Another Rainy Day...

I don't know about you all, but I'm sick and tired of this rain! How much more can we take?? I feel so sorry for the people who are dealing with the flooding in their homes, cars, and businesses. I would be totally devistated!

Well I 've decided to blog.....I'm thinking this is the way to go to keep in touch with all of my friends and family whom I never get to see anymore. I miss you all very much.

Where do I start? There are so many things to talk about....as usual, our life is crazy. Everyone going in different directions....we've just started softball with Kennedy. They had their first practice last night. And guess what, I know this will shock some of you........MARTY IS THE COACH! LOL! I had to worn him that coaching girls is a little different than coaching boys. There are multitudes of feelings at stake! I'm sure he'll get his fill of it this year....I can't wait to get it all on video! Ha Ha!

Jake is doing excellent in school this year. We are so proud of him. He's been super busy with all kinds of activities. He's even been teaching classes after school to the teachers! I don't really understand where he gets his high level of I.Q....it is for sure NOT ME! :) I just pretend I know more than he does, so I can still be a "smart" mom....isn't that crazy?

We've had some scares with Marty lately...we had to take him in to the doc to get his head examined for severe pain and headaches he's been having lately. We thought at first it was mini-strokes, but they've kind of ruled that out and think now it's high stress related. So he's on all kinds of meds and having to moniture his pain levels. Next week he'll go back and they may do a cat scan.....we're praying for good news.

I have recently joined partners with another faux painter out of Kentucky. She's one of my best friends and believe it or not, we talk everyday thru phone, email and texting. She only lives 5 minutes from my sisters house! So I get to see her everytime I visit Kim. What we've basically done is take our faux finishes and put them on stretched canvas and are selling them as art pieces for interior and exterior surroundings. Everything is handpainted, not like what you see at Hobby Lobby, which is printed then stretched.....we are doing custom designs as well, and are getting ready to sell them online and then eventually take them to market to sell and hopefully find a retailer that wants to carry them in their stores. We've just launched another line, these are for baby's rooms up thru teens. They are canvas wall hangings with dowels and everything to hang from your walls. We're putting their names on them, monogramming them you name it. They are so cute! Right now this is my favorite line....once we get our website up and running, I'll add a link on my blog to the site.

Well that's all for now.......