Monday, April 16, 2012

I am excited, stressed, sort of pulling hair out, and jumping up and down today trying to get my taxes done. It's been so busy for the last month that I had only gathered the papers and not actually sat down to do them!  I managed to get about 60% of the way through last night and am now twiddling thumbs because the 21 month old REALLY does not want me to do taxes unless she's "helping" me. (Though who knows? Maybe that's a good thing when it comes to IRS forms)

The good news is that it was busy due to an awesome wedding, my 40th birthday, and tons of sales in both shops!

Next weekend I get to attend a beginners lampworking class here and learn the basics of glass bead making with torch and kiln. I have really come to be fascinated with that art as I use lampwork more and more in my work. I love to look at beads now and try to figure out how they were done. Then I got to have a "play date" with a torch a couple of months ago and loved it. So that is my 40th birthday present. Friends and family chipped in so I could take the class.

Am I upset about 40? Not really. I actually feel pretty lucky at present. I am retired. I get to see my kids all day and randomly take them to the beach.  I get to make creative things and occasionally sell them. I captain my own ship and if somebody annoys me I don't have to work with them. I really don't feel different crossing the 40 line, just probably less stressed than when I crossed the 30 line. It's pretty nice.

I would say my only gripe is still the Fibromyalgia and zillions of accompanying physical problems, but I have reached the stage where I have found the lemons I was given, made lemonade out of them, and most of the time am on the porch sipping lemonade. If I take things VERY slowly I can get some things done, like planting a garden.

That's what life really is anyway.  It's a garden and as the old saying goes, you reap what you sow. You get out of it, what you put into it. "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

Love you all out there that are trying to "plant your gardens" or even get through your own personal lemon grove just so you can make lemonade. There's hope. If you are newly diagnosed with one of the silent illnesses that rage through our bodies, you're not crazy. Listen to yourself. Listen to your doctors, but with a grain of salt. You know what's best for you and with many illnesses the management is unique to the individual. For instance, I take lyrica, and that med makes some people really sick, others not.

Just keep trying and you will eventually find ways to manage parts of your illness and things DO get better. 

Again, if any of you want to message me on FB under windscrydesigns, or here on blogger to talk about this, or if you just want to post, please do!