As Time Goes By....

Yes, I realize it has been MONTHS since I last posted anything. I am sorry for that. We have been caught up in the usual daily ups and downs of family life as well as conducting a little unforseen business ventures.

My dear MIL has been experiencing some balance issues and has had a few falls in the last few months. No bones were broken, but she did end up with a BAD bruise, sprained knee and a shoulder injury. We have been going to her house every other Friday for a while to make sure she is OK and to take dinner, help her with house work and have some family time together. My SIL checks on her during the week and my husband is on the phone with her daily, also. It has been hard on her as she is very independent and loves to go to her church every time the doors are opened, and is not used to slowing down to just be still. She is beginning to feel much stronger now and is looking into some changes for around her home to make daily chores a bit easier. One of those changes is installing a stacked washer/dryer pair upstairs in the spare bedroom closet so that she does not have to go down to the basement to do laundry. This will be such a blessing to her, I know.

Our little one is now involved in a homeschool co-op on the Fridays that we are not at my MIL's. As a homeschool family that also means that we are involved. No drop-off kids here. The parents are part of the group and help with the nursery duties, teaching the classes, clean-up and general
over-seeing of order and helping students with the projects they are working on for the day. The kids have Geography/cooking, Science, Art, lunch time, Music and play time together. They all enjoy seeing each other and learning together. It has been a wonderful blessing to us. I am glad that I now have a group of supportive homeschool moms to talk to as well. I was starting to feel very lonely. These ladies are great and have so many good ideas to share. We are already planning for the Spring classes after the Holidays.

Now for the decorating-business portion of my life. I have been blessed with a number of wonderful opportunities in the past couple of months. I had a friend's daughter recommend me to do a candle fundraiser for her school's FBLA Club. That was fun and the kids did a really wonderful job of selling the candles. They earned a good deal of money for their organization, too. I really enjoy doing fundraisers, it is a good feeling to know that the money goes for good causes. I have also had a home organizing job with a client that called me out of the blue. She is a sweet lady and we have been working very hard to get her home organized so that it is the haven she wants for her family. Life is so much easier and more pleasant when things are well organized. This past week-end, I was invited by a marketing group out of Chicago to demonstrate "How to Set a Holiday Table" at our local Kmart. This was so much FUN!!! All of the items used on the tables were Kmart merchandise and the ideas just kept coming. If you have not been to your local Kmart store lately, you are in for a pleasant surprise. They really have a LOT of cute stuff and the prices are GREAT! The marketing group paid me for my time and I had a really fun time working with them. This was a blessing to me. I have also been helping my wonderful friend set up her new window treatment and fabric shop in a nearby town. We always have such fun working together, and her mastery at creating window treatments and upholstery are AWESOME. I can't wait for her shop to open officially, she has been in business for the last 31 years but just recently decided to start offering budget fabrics from the bolt and to showcase her talents in her own shop. This is going to be exciting and I will keep you posted on how things are progressing for her.

I hope to commit myself to a new blogging schedule that I have come up with so that it will not be so long between posts next time. I have 3 blogs and it has been just as long between my last visit on each of them. For now I will say, "good-bye and have a Blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends."

Hugs from WV,
Charlotte