Bye~Bye Earrings:)

I really love it when a friend purchases a piece of jewelry. Some items more than others are somehow very special to me ... it's like they're my children ... but when they end up in the hands of a friend, I feel SO happy! I know Debbie will enjoy these earrings for a long, long time ... and I KNOW they will be loved!

Not enough hours in a day!

I have such a dilemma.  My 'to-do' list is SOOO long and full of chores (more than my usual) and even though I seem to be getting to them one-by-one, I still feel as though I can't keep my head above water!!  And the 'dilemma' is the fact that I just don't have the *ENERGY* to get to it all.  It's one of the most frustrating aspects of this illness.  My head and my heart say:  "I have all these desires and wishes and goals and I need to DO them!"   And with that, my body responds "Yeah, right!!  That's not gonna happen!"  <sigh>  It's something I'm used to by now (33 years) but somehow, it's still one of these areas that I find difficult to deal with.  Should I be less ambitious?  How can I still be productive and purposeful within the parameters of a body that does not cooperate?  Just one of the challenges of living life with a chronic condition...one of many.  I guess what I do is simply this:  I take it one-day-at-a-time.  I do what I can do when I can do it.  And when I can't...I don't.  This week, I am preparing for my beautiful granddaughter's first birthday which we are celebrating in my home on Saturday.  Thirty+ people.  Still have some shopping to do and preparing a few little dishes.  Fortunately, everyone's doing something...so it's not all on me.  And then the following day I will be a vendor at a fundraiser for lupus called "Blues On The Bay".  There's always LOTS to do before a craft show or fundraiser like getting pieces in order, polishing up some jewelry, making sure they're priced, getting my business card together (YIKES, something I forgot to put on my 'to-to' list!) and getting it all packed up along with displays & tables & gift bags OH MY!!  My b.p. is going up as we speak.  All I can do is pray for less pain this week and more energy so that I can accomplish AT LEAST the bare minimum of what I hope to accomplish.  Wish me luck?

Back to the blog!

Well, it's been about six months since I've posted here.  At least I have a good "excuse" or reason, I should say for my absence -- OTHER than "I forgot" or "I had nothing to say", lol.  I've been quite busy setting up my shop, JuJuBeader on Etsy.com.  I jumped into it with both feet (and hands and every other body part) and perhaps should've done some research first, but y'know...that's just not how I roll.  My style is to jump in, splash around for a while and THEN eventually, little-by-little figure it all out.  I think I can honestly say that for the first three, maybe even four months, I REALLY didn't know what I was doing!  HA!   I don't know why that makes me laugh, but I guess it's better than crying about it.  My sweet husband and I have differing opinions and styles on how we approach new endeavors.  He is much more of a left-brain thinker, while I'm much more right-brain, more creative & much more visual person, overall.  He will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS read instructions before diving in to anything.  I will hardly ever read instructions.  Again, I'm laughing...which is fortunate because it's just one of many reasons our marriage is as good as it is!  I think we compliment one another in the best ways possible.  And yes, we make a good team.  So, back to Etsy.  I guess it was around April or May when I started to understand the in's and out's of how it works and what I should be focusing on, like better photos and tags & titles for my items.  I had never even heard of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) before I started on Etsy and boy is there a lot to learn!  It can be overwhelming.  But I'm trying to take it one-day-at-a-time.  I still have gobs & gobs to learn but I've come a long way!  This does not necessarily mean that I now know what I'm doing or that I'm any kind of expert. But I'm forging ahead and learning and growing exponentially.  I'm kind of going about it with the attitude:  "fake it 'til you make it".  I'm learning each and every day and I'm enjoying the process of reaching the various plateaus as I proceed with this experience.  And so, I hope that you as my reader gain some enjoyment as you read the trials and tribulations  of my business and of my life and I thank you for riding along!