Life Gets in the Way....

Hello again! How was your Christmas and New Year's celebrations? Mine were crazy, busy, exciting and worry-some (is that a word?). First, let me apologize for not updating my blog for so long. I had so many cards and other projects to share, but that went by the way-side after the morning of the 23rd. I received a TEXT (yes, please remember that part) from my youngest brother at 5:00 in the morning that my mom had been hospitalized on the MORNING OF THE 22ND. He said that she "wasn't doing too well" and that I needed to get there. Now I had a *few* reactions to this:

#1- OMG, please let her be OK and let me get there now
#2- Wait, did he say *reading text back s.l.o.w.l.y.* "she's been in there since yesterday morning..."???
#3- Why am I receiving a TEXT instead of a phone call
#4- Why didn't my step-dad call me?

So after I got over my initial what.the.hell calm reaction I notified my boss of what was going on, called RJ's daycare, packed our bags and loaded my truck with everyone's Christmas gifts. Long story short, my mom has recovered and is back to her usual self. Which includes riding her Harley and her Suzuki sportbike.....yea, she's more adventurous than I am! She did have to spend Christmas day in the hospital (which she was NOT happy about), but was released the next day. As for my brother and my step-dad, they are still on my 'list'!

Now, Christmas day was CA-RA-ZEE!! RJ was SO excited for Santa to come. I don't think he fell asleep until 12:00AM. My Dad Santa made sure to bring him the "big, big truck" that he kept asking for. Along with another gazillion gifts. Grandparents don't listen when you tell them not to over-do it....gotta love em. Santa also brought me what I really wanted and was *sure* I would not get:

My hubby got me a Nikon D3000!! I've wanted a dslr camera for a while now, but couldn't justify the cost. Especially since I'm just a crafty mom who wants to take better pictures of my family and my creations. I didn't even take it out of the box until 2 days ago! I snapped a few 'test' shots and I LOVE this camera :-) Of course, I'm using it in 'auto' mode but it is still amazing! Kinda makes me wonder why I didn't take the plunge sooner...

We are in the middle of de-cluttering and re-organizing our home and we started in the garage. I have snapped some 'before' pics and will share them at a later time with the 'after' pics. I also *stole* an hour from the project yesterday to work on a Valentine's Day card idea that's been bouncing around in my head. I'll share it once I'm done.....whenever that happens. For now, it's back to packing away Christmas decorations and clearing out the garage.

Thanks for stopping by :-)