Fall Blessings

 Hey Party People! Hope everyone had a good weekend and celebrated life! I know there was lots of celebration in the streets of America and man, nothing makes me happier to see that. I know we still have a lot of work to do for ourselves and each other and for the future of this country but for now I am basking in the glow of the happiness.

God swooped in the last couple days, blessing us with gorgeous fall weather. It's been 65-70 degrees and sunny here in Northern Michigan! This time last year the snow had already started had made it's permanent landing on our yards. Now we have more time to do outdoor activities, even if they are not the fun kind, and rake up leaves and pull plants from the garden to get the soil ready for a long winter's nap. I've been feeling a strange calm. Almost like a calm before the storm? I never want to sound pessimistic however, I have to admit the gorgeous weather and everyone's celebratory spirit has made me wonder what will happen next. Is that sad? I think it's just a sign of the times. I mean, I'm happy but I'm also keeping my fists up to block any bullshit. Simultaneously trying to be involved with the world and our communities and watching the news while also trying to escape, stay off of social media and ignore negativity. It's a strange tug of war. 

Let's get into some more good news! I've had more orders from my etsy shop and it's just like they say, when you make a purchase from a small business, there are literally people doing a happy dance. I get so excited when my phone tells me that someone made an order. Not only does that pay for my listings but the extra cash goes right into my bank account and it makes me feel like a successful artist/maker. So far most purchases from my store have been for the few select products I sell that aren't made by me. Buying expensive handmade cards isn't everyone's forte nor in most people's budget. but I absolutely love to spend money on cards so I know there's more people like me out there who will purchase my cards to give to someone special. I put so much thought and care into my thank you notes and add fun stickers because my shop is all about celebrating happy mail! and supporting the United States Postal Service is pretty cool too! 

The girls are officially in the shop now! Which girls?! The holiday pin-up girls, of course! I've been working so hard since Christmas-in-July making these babies and they are just too fun. It took hours the other day to make 5 listings for the groups of cards I'm selling and take pictures and calculate shipping and all that other fun detailed work. Soon I'll also be adding an option to buy a single card at a time. Right now they are grouped into styles and themes. 

In more happy mail news, I have a winner for my vote day giveaway! These 3 handmade cards are going to a lovely blog reader in Indiana. I am so excited to share these with you guys. If you ever need a pick-me-up or are need in some happy mail please let me know because I just love sending my cards and that doesn't always mean someone has to buy one to get it. Always feel free to make a happy mail request from me for you or someone you care about or if someone needs a pick-me-up.

So...today is Sunday and I often talk about the Sunday Scaries. Sunday Scaries are the anxiety you feel for the week ahead. I like to hash this out with you guys because after I write about it I feel much better. My first anxiety is covid-19 related. Covid-19 is up here and very present now in Northern Michigan. Even the little shop I work at downtown has had close calls with infected shoppers. According to a source who works inside the hospital, we have 2 full covid ICU wards and they are average about 1 death due to covid a day. This is a huge increase from what we were experience during the thick of things through quarantine. As you know, my husband is a funeral director/embalmer and this puts him on the front lines of the illness. After the CDC put out it's latest announcement about the contagiousness after days being on a surface I can't help but picture tiny little spores bouncing everywhere and off of the things and people that come into the funeral home and getting on the surfaces that he touches or on his skin. It makes me so anxious. I just pray so hard that nothing will happen. Due to covid-19 or otherwise. I absolutely could not live without Eddie. I mean, of course I would still go on because he has passed this strength on to me with his love. and of course as I've stated before we have almost all of our estate planning done and have our life insurance policies good to go and lawyers all set up. Everything is already set up or is in the process. If you have any concern at all for your future, no matter how young you are, please take these steps. The last thing you ever want to worry about when losing a loved ones is how you are going to pay for funeral services, bills, credit cards...all that. Find a lawyer who specializes in estate planning and get. that. shit. done. Do not under any circumstances assume that your loved ones who are left behind will know exactly what to do or where your money is at or how they are going to afford to take care of all of your crap. We all have crap. Some of us have more than others. Literally and figuratively. Make notes and official letters to your loved ones and lawyers. Make a little official folder with all of your documents. Tell your loved ones where the paperwork is at. Add a beneficiary for your bank account. 

When you die, someone somewhere will have to pay for your end of life services. Period. Where do you think that money will come from? Make it accessible! Put some aside and do not touch it! This is for your loved ones to give you the best send off that you deserve and that they need. Even if you are one of those people who say, "throw me in the ground. I don't need a casket. I just want my cremains spread. Put me in a garbage bag". I hear that all the time and although the sentiment is nice, it's not helpful. You can't just dump a body in the ground or burn a body for free. It all costs money. Lots of it. This may all sound horrible and harsh but maybe you don't see what I see and hear what I hear having worked in funeral homes. Not only is there so much paperwork and official documents to take care of, on top of that we all have accumulated so much crap in our lives that it fills our houses and storage units and will take hours and hours if not days, weeks or months to sort through. All of that will need to be done after you pass. So make it a bit easier and have the official stuff done so that your family can go through your items with less stress and just focus on the good times and memories. Not to mention we are going into times ahead where people are opting not have more kids or not have kids at all. This may be Eddie and I's fate. We won't have adult children to sort our stuff out. It will be our surviving siblings. Think about how your relationships with your siblings ebbs and flows and how much love you have for them....ok enough of this tangent. I'm getting myself worked up over here!

I just wanna update you all on my rash/allergic reaction etc. Today is my LAST DAY PREDNISONE! Whooo-hoooo! There are some red marks on my neck this morning. Just very minute. I'm praying so hard that it won't come back. If you have had experiences getting allergen tests done please DM me because I may or may not be going on that journey depending on if this comes back or not. As I stated earlier, the weather has been really awesome and warm but that has made my under-mask area sweaty again and I panicked and used my prescription cream last night even though I am not supposed to as I don't know yet if that is what's causing it. I can't just throw it away! It's like a gold when you find a product that prevents really painful cysts from developing over night! After sweating all day under masks yesterday I had a moment of weakness and used the tiniest bit on my jaw line where it's the worst. I woke up with no new cysts but just the tiniest amount of red rash. If that really is what I am allergic to then I'm not sure what the next step is. I can't keep getting these pitted and discolored scars. it looks so bad. Like when I'm using a filter on Instagram and my face goes out of focus and I see the pits and scars and discoloration it makes me so sad and reminds me of middle school when I couldn't even look at my own face in the mirror without crying. I spent most of my twenties wearing super heavy foundation to cover up my acne scars and then ages 28-35 I was finally able to to do light coverage or CC cream instead. Last year I got so many compliments on my skin and never felt like I needed a skin smoothing filter. but now since this whole maskne fiasco the texture has been damaged once again. Once the vaccine comes out and mask mandates are over, I plan to do laser treatments at a local cosmetic dermatologist. I can't wait to blog about my experience with that! I'm so pumped. I just have to get through this next year or so (I'm guessing on the time line) wearing masks and trying to do the least amount of damage possible. I'm not going back to full coverage cakey makeup. The world will just have to deal with my uneven skin. 

As you guys know, or maybe you'll learn now, I'm doing a full month of daily meditation for November. I have always used Calm app and they really should be sponsoring me lol but alas they aren't. Not that I've even asked them to. Anyway, I still love Calm app but I wanted to test out the mindfulness meditations that are on my fitbit app since I already pay for that premium service along with my customized workouts. The consensus? It's great! These new exercises in meditation are new and exciting for me. Hearing different voices and new fresh ideas has been invigorating and inspiring. I've been doing a few minutes of meditation a day usually before I leave the house and sometimes right before bed. It helps to soothe my mind. Will you join me in this challenge?

If you haven't yet, please go to my etsy shop and like the shop or your favorite products. Just adding them to your cart without purchasing makes a huge difference! Did you know that? Now you do! Or you can share the items on your social media. As a blog reader, you get a special discount code THANKYOU10 for 10% off. For those of you who click on the advertisements on this blog, oh my goodness! I appreciate you so much! I can always tell when someone is doing that because it gives me the tiniest boost in income. The algorithms one must follow to make money online is intense but every little bit helps.  Follow me on twitter, facebook and instagram. I'm always trying to post helpful and positive things online to make the world a better place. Love youuuuuuu!