upside down and at the end of the ball...

the days are nights and nights are days again. i am fine with it, my doctor is fine with it. my husband is bitchy. nothing new, but still hard to deal sometimes. 

i am usually so worn out by the holiday season by the time it passes, my sleep habits revert to just sleeping on dimes or nickels or in day times or night times. it feels weird to be so exhausted, but it happens. it is a lot of stress to manage as i load myself into a new year. 

things that need accomplishing most in january are generally financial in nature

and generally NOT FUN

(in no particular order)

 the new seasons of long awaited downton abbey and sherlock holmes

taxes

FAFSA forms for college aged student children

college applications for high school students looking toward college

recuperation of health from abuse of it over past six months

actual cooking meals

sorting out inventory

catching up with wholesale clients

getting ready for valentine's day for store orders

getting health insurance needs sorted out

figuring out what inventory is left and what ought to be either replaced, retired or continued

taking care of bills

what is direction of the new year?

figuring out the new year's show schedule many months in advance 

what shows are even worth doing

what shows should be considered

and the biggest of the big... paying for everything 

this is accompanied with the big post season clean up. 

or dare i say, the full studio clean-up and reorganization. 

lots of stuff needs to be done and even some cleaning falls interstitially within this task list. 

usually, since i am not expected at lots of places during conventional working hours, 

i can get what i need to be done, started and sometimes completed. 

it is a juggling act. 

and this is simply january. 

the rest of the year is a blitz. 

one of the things most of my show peers are commiserating about is how tired we all seem to feel. 

it is the time of the year that we finally sleep after working until 3 a.m. often and driving to set up for a show at 6 a.m. that same morning. 

it is a busy and hard living style of earning a living. 

and somehow, we talk ourselves out of being unwell 

or full of hopes 

or full of refreshed dreams

or sad about life that has passed us by accidentally while we were cranking along. 

it is not easy being this independent. 

so there are a few things i have been trying to do to make myself feel ok about my life as it whishes by.

there is a bag of yarn that is being converted into knitted hairbands, with big flowers on them. 

ends of pretty skeins in progress

hopefully they will look something like this someday

a lot of trays of itty bitty findings have been sorted and thrown out. 

not everything needs to be kept. 

beads ... gosh, the beads... they are getting sorted and stored. 

there are post 2013 necklaces being constructed. 

dorina ballerina v.1

dorina ballerina v.2

not only one time, but even twice. 

peacock 

unfortunately, this was not what my client had in mind. 

the peacock is a tad too vivid. 

the peahen...

a messier and darker version is constructed as per request...

and yes, it is hard to learn how to use photoshop to make newly useful application photos. 

ugh. 

when is it all gonna get done?

i just have no good idea, so the nights become my days. 

and the kids awaken me to fit their schedules as we all can cooperate  on this.

it is all fine and dandy, 

until i get a cold. 

of course, i am mama, so there is NO down time for me. 

sheesh. 

still i will keep waging war on those full to overflowing dresser drawers 

and unmatched laundered black athletic socks. 

the dog who only likes a quick trot to take care of business and a fun walk or game with his bestie two doors down, is my uncomplaining companion. 

everyone should have a dog. 

they get you no matter what. 

well, that laundry just is not gonna jump into the drawers without an assist. so i best get cracking. 

nice to see y'all again. 

xo.w.