It is ALREADY July??!!

WOW!!! Summer is just flying by isn't it?? This is what you see as soon as you turn the corner around my garage. I just LOVE all my flower beds and I LOVE them looking a little wild and untamed. Although there are some goose neck that need to be tamed for sure!! I will post some more pictures of the beautiful flowers my Mom planted for me later. The pink minature zinnias above are the only ones that are planted in this spot that are not an annual flower. We have gotten this side of the house to almost be all annual plants which is wonderful. There is also a yellow and red theme in this garden (save for the pink minature zinnias). I should add that not all of my blooms on the black-eyed Susan have opened yet! It is SO full! to give you an idea how tall it is, it is about 2 to 3 inches to the ground from the door out of the garage. The black-eyed Susans are as tall as the doorknob and are every bit as wide as the door. I swear I think this plant would grow on the concrete if it could! For those of you who may not know, I can not stand to put my hands in dirt. The deal is that my Mom comes over and plants my flowers and then I will water and weed them the rest of the season. My cardinal has faded, but I can not repaint it without it looking worse. Cardinals have a special meaning for me personally! It takes me right at an hour to water all of my plants each evening, but I get so much enjoyment from them!

Work is fairly better. My coworker is back, but there is still going to be some rough days ahead for them. The extra work I got is not seeming as daunting as it first did. Quite honestly, it was how I was told I was going to do this extra work that was more upsetting that the work itself. The good thing about my new duties is that I am going to have to stay on top of my job more than ever which I really think in the long run will be a HUGE benefit to me. Not to say I didn't do that before, but there were certain aspects of my job I would procrastinate about doing (i.e. chronos). That never really mattered or impacted anything all that much. However, my new duties require me to make sure some information is entered into the computer very timely because it CAN have an impact if it is not there and I am not available. So, I am just doing this part of my job as it happens which has made for some busy days, but, again, in the end, it will benefit me. Thanks to all who e-mailed and/or offered their support some way. It was and is very much appreciated!

Still in the work theme, my supervisor announced they would be retiring by the end of the year. That means there might be a chance for a promotion. . . . . I will have to seriously give it some thought. We will see. The job announcement has not come out yet and it may not for a few more weeks.

Onto other exciting news for me. . . . I have had some great sales on Etsy lately!! I have also been asked to be a member of the Out of the Box Sampler team. I was very honored by this and will be participating in the boxes beginning with the August box. I will be contributing some samples through at least the end of the year. The idea behind this store is that they gather samples (no less than 25) from various Etsians and then make sampler boxes they offer for sale. The boxes sell out quickly. It is great free advertising for me. I think I may have gone a little overboard on my "sample" for the August box, but. . . . I will say it is not something I have made for sale in my store yet, but similar items are coming for sure!! Check out their store: http://www.outoftheboxsampler.etsy.com

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th!! I went home and went to a terrific fish fry and then to a picnic hosted by family friends. ALL the food was good of course and it is always great to spend time with family and friends.

My Grandaddy fell just before the holiday. He was trying to use the table to help push himself up and managed to flip the entire table over as well as cause himself to fall backwards. He will be 94 in September. Can you believe that he had NO serious injuries in regard to this incident? Not a broken bone or anything. Don't get me wrong, anything that happens to him at this stage in his life is serious, but from this fall he just sustained some deep bruises, has been very sore, and was hospitalized for a couple of days. Much to his chagrin, he is having to use his wheelchair more just because he is so sore. He normally uses his walker and has a goal of being able to not even have to use that some day!! I hope I have his attitude if I make it to my 90s!

I have scored some great vintage stamps lately and I can't wait to share some new creations using them!! I have SO many ideas and am just having difficulty in finding time to "play." I have done some serious purging in my scrapbook room and that has added fuel to my desire to create!!

It is July and I am STILL waiting on my roof to be repaired. Yes, that same damage that was done the first Thursday of April. I have a new roof contractor that really seems to be on the ball and I have had a second inspection by the insurance company of the damage! The adjuster met my roofer out at my house last week and I hoping to hear back from the insurance company this week. I do know the adjuster acknowledged there was more damage than he initially noted, so. . . . .keep your fingers crossed.

I am back on my low-carb, low-sugar diet and have lost over 14 pounds so far!! This is really an easy diet for me to do. Now, I just have to get my exercise routine back up to par with my eating habits!

Enough of a break for me for now!! Back to finishing my samples, making some cards for some special people, and creating new items for my store!!