Needing a Little Help....

I mentioned yesterday that it had been a rough week. Thank you for all the well wishes - it gave me strength and truly helped me feel better...thank you!! You don't know what it meant to me to read them!! I need a bit of help.. here is what's going on....

Have you ever watched those folks at the circus juggling plates on sticks?? I often feel like that is me...one plate is the preschool, one for each child, one for the art, one for the bills - etc etc... all loved plates but only one me trying to keep them all spinning and safe. Now although this is stressful - hello don't all of us have plates spinning, it has been a joy really to have these plates to spin. I really thought as I was spinning all these plates that my feet were on solid ground but it seems I was on a throw rug and it got pulled this week.

A week ago a man pulled up in front of our sweet little cottage and started messing with our picket fence - went out to ask him if I could help him - he said he was erecting a for sale sign????!!!! Ok my heart is in my throat and I asked him if he had the right address... well it wasn't us it was the West# of the same street. But...the hair was up on the back of my neck and I had that deep chest feeling I get...I knew what was coming. Thursday afternoon the owner of our little house called to tell me they were putting it up for sale in one year. Before I say more, let me say this - we have been blessed by this couple to have been here at all and hold no upset with them for this decision. So the whys for their decision is unimportant... it's the "what now" for me that is.

We had expected to be here permanently and at the very least five years. This opportunity has allowed us to pull ourselves out of deep poverty, me to start two businesses & pay the bills every month, be off welfare for the last two years, Jim to go to college, the kids to have their own rooms in a home they are proud of, us all to loose the "poor" and move on to "doing ok", and a couple of pets we adore. Now.. I know your thinking - but you have a year - yes and thank the the owners we do. However having to move this soon truly endangers all of this, we are not so many feet away from abject poverty pit that we don't know it's looming. Moving to a comparable house and finding a rental that will allow a daycare is not only very difficult but will cost us several thousand dollars to manage. So... my first reaction was absolute terror & lots and lots of tears. I - we have worked soooooo hard to get where we have in the last two years... but honestly I needed two more to get to that safe spot where a move wouldn't threaten everything. Right now that is not the case. Beyond that... honestly I adore this little house - adore it. I had expected, hoped, hearts desire wanted it for ours and really had thought it would be and that we had the time to make that happen.

So - here is the really hard part for me - I need help with something from you - no not money. A very dear friend (thank you Sherry) reminded me yesterday to let go and pondered what wonderful thing would come out of this. Breathing... yup sniff, sniff.... light bulb. Have I not already learned this lesson - sigh.. yup have. So today after two evenings crammed full of conversations with Jim & a couple of dear friends, a pity pool, tears, movies, a romance novel and lots of therapeutic artwork... here I am - breathing and a little better, kinda still a bit scared but better. We are... speaking with our bankers and the VA (Jim is a vet and current Guard), although the chances are slim for a loan- it's a no if we don't ask. We are putting out feelers and contemplating our options here - thank goodness they gave us time to do this. Here is where I need your help - I need a wishcast on Saturday- a really big one, prayers, anything you have.. because everything I have built is riding on this one, and I know in my heart all the wonderful things that have happened in the last two years where important and are not meant to be lost. I have learned to ask for what I need & send it out there with intent..I don't know where this will lead but would you join me please and help me send this wishcast out there?

I wish to.....
1. Keep the momentum I have going financially going forward not backwards.
2. That I am able to keep moving in the direction I have been - that being the artwork as a main source of income.
3. That we are able to somehow purchase this home, but if not.. be offered up a similar or better home that will meet our family's & business needs - rental or otherwise.
4. That Jim will be able to continue on with school.
5. That we will not loose our beloved critters.
6. Lastly - that I can have peace with what's coming whatever that is and search out the blessings. I know if I am calm the family will be calm.

Thank you from the very bottom to the top of my heart! Thank you for being there and helping me pick up my plates. Namaste & Love, Sarah

A Geisha Fairy or Two...A Witch or Two

It has been an amazing art week for me!! Here are two new Everyday Witch's shops that sold before I could pop over here and post them - whoo hoo doing happy dance!
Otherwise it has been a very rough week, but I will post about that later -I am breathing.



Along with the witchy town I am working on, I have been playing around with a forest full of fairies and the like. I can't tell you how I ended up doing Geisha's fairies or Bonsai trees - but here they are. Funny where the muses lead us sometimes. I haven't quite finished the warrior, she needs wings and something else, hmmmm.... - so I guess it is a WIP we shall see where she leads me. Japan has always fascinated me and I love bonsai trees. Well anyway - here is what is rolling around in my head.

A tribute to Our Mom....

I was toodling through the blogs on my dashboard this morning & I came across my sister Anne's post about our Mom... ok I am still trying to type through my tears.. She wrote the most wonderful tribute about our Mom - I couldn't say it better if I tried. So I won't try. I just wanted to tell her thank you for touching my heart & let her know that... I know Mom is watching and deeply proud of you and so am I!! So go off and read her lovely post if you have a minute. Later this weekend I will add my part and post some pictures of our Mom on my blog. Thank you Anne & Huge Hugs!

My Wishcast

I understand that Jamie is away this week - hope it is for something fun. She has some wonderful women offering up wonderful verbal dishes on her blog - so go visit her this week!!

New note**** Genie has added a wishcast today - what do you wish to find on your doorstep... I guess mine kind fits -a little....

That said - I think I'm a bit lost on Wednesday morning... I do love the wish casts...so I thought I would just offer up something anyway. A bit of wishing and a bit of musing maybe.

I did a bit of wish casting with a friend of mine in New Zealand a few months back. Sue and I sent out a money wish together - for abundance in the income area and let it fly. Well.... it has shown up in interesting places. She works at a resort and they have, despite the economy been full to the brim with requests. So her plate has been full and her pocket has been compensated too!! She is really ready for the off season this year.

What happened for me....my art began to sell - after months of dead sales and a major lack of direction ... my muse returned from vacation and ideas started to flow. More importantly... buyers found me. A couple of them were dear friends (hugs), some of them strangers. So.... my wish has been fulfilled well beyond my expectations & clearly along the lines of my hearts desire.

So... that leads me to my wish cast today. I have a full house full of kiddos this summer this I am very thankful for, this fall I would like to take a new direction with my school. I am at the ledge... ready to step off in a leap of faith. Being a cautious kinda gal - this is a nerve wracking place to be. But my muses are pushing me and my intuition is saying it's time. I would like to stop offering preschool this fall but offer only an after school program from noon until 6pm. Right now I am all day. My darling Nonni is off to kindergarten this Fall - yes am a wreck. I would like to spend my mornings doing my artwork. I would also like to be free to visit school and Nonni and Fox's classrooms. I have had several parents ask me if I offered this at my school - so I know the client base is there. Several of my current students are off to kindergarten with Nonni this fall. These kiddos will be with me in the afternoon, so I'm not starting this new idea without clients - just need to fill spots. I will need to cover some of the AM lose with sales of my artwork - but only a small potion to start with. So my wish is... that can take this leap of faith and make this happen. This is my wish cast for today.
Thanks for popping by & Namaste, Sarah

More Camera Play....

Quilting Bee of Women (& Men) #7

Good morning folks! It would seem that we lucky ladies have some brave men in our midst, so I will say folks instead of ladies!! Did you enjoy the coffee and muffins last week? Today I thought it might be nice to offer you all some fresh fruit, mmmmm look at those berries!!! There is yogurt and cereal and donuts of every sort set out for you on the sideboard. There is also coffee & tea. I have racked a wonderful quilt today with little squares of delightful things. Please pull up a chair and join me!

It seems like the last 9 months have been dominated by money issues on the news. Clearly an issue in my house and I’m guessing it is on some level in yours too. Many of you know that I come from a very fortunate background, a nice way to say..I was quite well off growing up. Many of you also know that since my divorce 11 years back I have been quite not so well off. I have heard the phrase, “Do you know the difference between your wants and your needs?” thrown around a lot of late and got to thinking about what it means to me now.
I guess in this area I had gotten a bit relaxed and have not been following my own advice from the last ten years of life training. I have not contemplated my wants and needs too much for the last year or so. Given the economy and my income, which is not quite as lovely as it was a year ago, I have gone back to revisit this old friend. I have what’s called a 6 tubby rule – you know those 18 gallon plastic Rubbermaid tubs with lids. I know your scratching your head… I’ll explain.

In 2000 we were living on an amazing 40 acre ranch (rented) with a wonderful, tiny cabin. I loved it there! I had animals and a garden & my beloved woods! It was truly heaven to me. What wasn’t heaven, it was waaaaaayy out in the toolies and we had a constantly breaking 4x4. At the end of that year, everything tanked, Jim’s job, my job and..the truck gave it’s last dying gasp. We had little choice but to take up an offer from Jim’s family to move back east and find work there. The problem, we were taking the train and could only take 6 tubbies with us. I spent a month packing and unpacking those tubs, rethinking what was a want and what was a need. I must have done it twenty times. I had a lifetime of things to decide about. It was heartbreaking at the time really. I had to leave some very dear things of mine behind. But…. ultimately… I managed to narrow it down, cram those tubbies full and duck tape them like crazy. And then…. we left.

Here is the thing… to this day there are only a couple of things that I left behind that I can truly say have been missed. So…. I guess 95% of those things were not needs, but wants. I followed this “6 tubby rule” for a very long time. When I went to a garage sale, or thrift shop, Target… where ever – I remember having to choose the items to place in those tubbies. I reminded myself that not everything is a need, some things are just wants. More often than not I put things back. Until the last year or so, I kinda lost track of my tubbies. I have indulged in a bit of “want” buying – it’s a good thing sometimes – we all need treats. But… I found myself buying without consideration for my money situation, or true need – I got pretty selfish really with my attitude about money. Did I deserve a treat – sometimes yes – did I spend more than I should have on Ebay on occasion – yup. Have I gotten a grip – uhmmmmm yes. Head hanging, embarrassed, I learned this lesson already…yes.

I’m happy to say that we are not anywhere close to where we were nine years ago and the list of things I can put in those tubbies is larger and we are nowhere near where we were then. So…. what’s my point?? We all have “things” of value in our lives… our loved ones, our critters, our homes, jobs, family treasures, photos etc. . Those really important things! I look around my sweet cottage and wonder…. Could I put my life in 6 tubbies now? Twenty tubbies, one hundred tubbies? Yikes – lots of tubbies, time for me to regroup! I have become way too attached to my “things”!! Could I walk away and start over again and be ok with that? If my house burned to the ground what would I most want to have kept safe? My point is….those are the “needs”. The “wants” can be replace, every single one of them is replaceable. What is not replaceable in your life? What things would you put in your 6 tubbies?

So…. I am going to wander over to the sideboard and get a bowl full of yogurt with granola and a large cup of coffee. Yummmm. Would you like to take a break and join me? Next week we will have a selection of coffee cakes – place your order! Have a great week and thanks for pulling up a chair with me today! Namaste, Sarah