Bring On the Hearts!

It's beginning to look a lot like Valentine's Day here! I have joined my friend Tammy in a swap she is hosting for ornaments.

This is just the start, the ideas HAVE NOT come fast and furious this time... More like molasses! It's hard when so much of my supplies are packed in storage. I had to go raid the locker and pull out the boxes I found, hoping for good stuff inside. I usually put everything I think I might use on a table, and go from there. Since that's not really possible right now, I felt a bit stifled.  So, here's what I'm up to at the moment...

Enjoy.

A New Place to Land

I'm tired. I'm tired in ways that I haven't been in quite awhile. The four-days-in-a-row job has sapped my energy. I am so thankful to have a job, but man, do I feel old! Wow, it seems like a weird concept, but four days in a row is a killer for me. Since I graduated nursing school, I have worked 3 days a week. The12 hour shifts are long no doubt, but the trade-off of having 4 days off a week was nice!

Now, I am learning a whole new group of patients, new doctors, new procedures, new paperwork. I loved my job in Interventional Radiology, and this is similar in many ways. You tend to see the same types of patients over and over again. (Remember A? I never told you, but she died this past summer. She flitted through my life like butterfly... I wonder if she remembered me.)

My new colleagues are a great bunch. I have laughed a lot in these past four days.  I feel like I fit in with this group. It makes me happy to hear directly from them how glad they are that I was hired, and how after my interview they knew I was the one. Maybe that's karma, baby. Or really, answered prayers.

There are others things I am praying for. First and foremost, that some ponies get sold. Second, that we find a house. Third, that this year is a good one.

So, while my hair gets every grayer, and my legs ever more tired, I am smiling!

Chaff and Grain

" A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away."
- Arabian Proverb

I like this quote. I think it says a lot about friendship. Well, about all relationships really, whether it be family, spouse, children, or colleagues. I love the idea of a person's soul being cupped by a friend's heart, who gently sifts out the ugly from the good. Friends can be like mirrors for us, reflecting what we are to them. We need to look in those mirrors more often, and stop the negative thought process that spins daily in our minds.

I think when it comes to our friends, we do this instinctively. But with ourselves, not so much. Right now I feel like a lot of chaff, and very little grain!

Anyway, I am joining a swap over at The Other Side of Me. Tammy is hosting "Hearts of Friendship" ornament swap, just in time for Valentine's Day. I have a few weeks to create- nothing like a deadline to light a fire under my butt!!

I am stuck for a theme, idea, or quote... anyone out there have a copy of JoAnnA Pierotti's tutorial on how the make faux mirrored glass ornaments?

hugs, Lee

PS- I can't upload any pictures- anyone else having issues?