In Remembrance

Despite what goes on in the news, back and forth, this person's opinion and that person's opinion, I would like to say to those in the military, as well as their families, past and present, that there are those of us that remember and care.

We care about the fact that you have sacrificed so much to defend us so that we could be free.

Despite whatever garbage goes on in politics, whether or not there are really ulterior motives for this war or that, whether or not we should be fighting or should not, the fact is that these men and women in the military, along with their families, are sacrificing everything for us while those of us back here choose to intellectualize the debate or kick back and watch TV.

The simple fact is that they are out there,

we are not.

The families are waiting anxiously, or mourning in the deepest sorrow that we cannot know unless we have also had the misfortune of that experience.

My heart goes out to the parents who have lost their children,

the men and women who have lost their spouses,

the children who have lost their parents,

the siblings who have lost their brother or sister,

all those who have lost that person they so love.

Blessings to you.

I know it is not enough to say thank you, but thank you.

Thank you all for your sacrifice.

To those men and women that are back home, may your future be bright.

To those still out there, may you safely come back home.

God Bless you always.

Happy Birthday to My Baby Boy!

Today my baby turns 25! Dude! You are a quarter of a century old! Ha Ha!

I am writing this at almost 6:30 in the morning, the time he was born 25 years ago.

Whew!

To all moms out there, you know it is hard to believe.

All the cliches are true when you say it seems like yesterday.

He was supposed to be born on the 4th of July, and instead, here he comes, five weeks early!

He was only 4 lbs, 15 oz!

And 37 hours of labor, which I will not let him forget, and here it is in print, for all to see!

But he was worth it.

As you can see, he has become a handsome young man, who is maturing into an honorable, respectful young man, more so everyday.

When he was in high school, we hit a lot of rough spots, but he is back to the wonderful person he started out to be.

I am so proud of him.

He is working hard, has a wonderful girlfriend, the hurry-up-and-be-my-daughter-in-law Janine, and I know he has a wonderful future ahead of him.

My Blessings to my Baby Boy.

I love you, Eric.

Love,

Mom

May 21, 1977

I can write this because my husband never reads this blog, which is good, because I would like to write this, not only for myself, but for my kids.

Today, thirty three years ago, I got married.

Mind you, this was to my ex-husband.

But this is not about him. It is about a young, twenty one year old woman (was I ever twenty one??), having planned her wedding, and getting ready to embark on that journey that a young woman dreams about.

By this time, at 7:00 am, I was somewhere in the process of getting ready.

The time I do remember is about 9:30 am when I looked at the clock as I sat down to eat breakfast.

I remember sitting in front of the mirror above my dresser, as I looked at the finishing touches on my makeup.

I remember when my mom told my dad to come look at me, all dressed up in my wedding gown and veil. He came out of his bedroom and looked at me standing at my bedroom door.

"Oh, mija, you look so nice," he said, and hugged me.

And then he broke down in tears and ran back into his room.

I remember sitting in the car, riding to the church.

I remember standing on the brick steps in front of the church, while my cousin, my maiden of honor, straightened my veil.

I remember standing in the church foyer, in front of the doors to the sanctuary, the music playing, announcing that I was about to walk in.

And from that time on, I began a new life.

Time goes on and some things are good and some not so good.

There can be lots of anger, bitterness, and regret.

But despite it all, there are these pivotal moments in a young person's life when you begin a new journey, full of hopes and dreams.

Those dreams might be shattered, and you can go down an ugly road.

But even that time passes, and another pivotal moment comes when you choose to lay aside the past and begin life anew, remembering where you came from, remembering good intentions, choosing the best, and moving on.

And so, for my children, as well as myself, I choose to lay aside the past, so that I can fully enjoy that which was, and has always been, the best,

and that is you two, my beautiful children,

the Joy of my heart,

who I will love for always.

Love,

Mama

Pretty!

Here's another necklace, with matching earrings:

I have it rolled up here, but it's about 18 inches long.

Spring Necklace

Here is another necklace I made:

I just love the colors! The beads remind me of a beautiful spring day.

I am not showing it full length because when I take pictures like that it doesn't come out as clear, but it measures about 19 1/2 inches, including clasp.

What I now need is a model that can wear my jewelry while I photograph. But my son's girlfriend Janine is not here all the time, and my daughter is here even less, and I think my son and my husband would make horrible models, so forget that!

I'll figure something out.

Meanwhile, til I open my Etsy shop again, if you are interested in something give me a holla! You can write me at CarolBDesigns@gmail.com. I intend for my prices to be very reasonable.

'Til later,

Have a beautiful Spring Day!

Carol B.

Learning to Take Better Pictures!

Yowie, zowie!

I'm finally learning to take better pictures of my necklaces!

Still have a lot to learn and more practice to get even better pictures, but there's a definite improvement.

I got a request from someone to make a necklace with a brown color scheme, so here is the necklace, with matching earrings;

I really think it's beautiful.

I'm having a great time learning all I can about being more creative with my designs. Soon my pictures will be good enough so I can finally start up my Etsy shop again.

By the way, I want to give a shout out to Lorelei Eurto. I recently discovered her site and wrote to her asking for help with taking pictures and she answered back immediately and was so generous with information that was a great help. Go check out her site. She has gorgeous jewelry and her videos are a crack up!

Thanks to all who have given me such encouragement!

'Til later,

Carol B.

Guilt By Any Other Name

So here it is.

My version of a Bag of M&Ms.

None of them little wussy bags for me.

Of course, I'm going to kill my husband for giving it to me.

You see, about a week ago I bought one of those semi big bags, I think they're a pound. I was going through one of my fazes of getting a bag. Then I lay off them.

Anyway, I had opened it and I had it in my dresser drawer and on Sunday evening my husband and I were watching a movie and I felt like having some so I went to my drawer and I sneaked a few, even though I was eating them in front of him.

He didn't say anything so I felt a little bad, but mostly I was thinking maybe he didn't want any since he hardly eats chocolate, so I thought it would be safe to just take out the whole bag and eat more instead of sneaking them little by little.

As soon as I took out the bag he leaned over and said, "ooooh! Gimmeee!"

I said, "NO!" but then I felt bad and sighed.

"Alright," I said, making a face so he would feel bad, but he didn't.

And then we ended up eating the whole bag.

Now, mind you, after I got them at the market I put them away and I really didn't feel like eating them, which is what often happens once I actually get what it is I am not supposed to be eating. So they had been sitting in my drawer and I really didn't want them anymore, but then I felt guilty that I had bought them so I ate them anyway.

Now, of course, once Monday morning hit, just because I no longer had any, suddenly I was craving them like crazy and was mad because my husband helped me finish them.

Yes, I blame him.

So I was craving them all day Monday and then I was craving them all day yesterday and it was driving me crazy.

When my husband came home we had to go to Walmart for something so I said he had to replace my bag of M&Ms. He was getting this big bag and I said, "No, don't do that. I don't want to eat that much." And he said that he planned to eat some, too, and I said, "Well, you better, because if you don't, I'm really going to be mad if I eat that whole big bag by myself."

So I thought when we got home after dinner he would open the bag and eat some but he didn't and so now this big bag is just sitting in front of me, tempting me, making me feel guilty that we even bought them.

*Note the consistent theme running here: Guilt. And yes, that seems to be a consistent theme in my life, no matter what the subject.

In the photo I posted, it is sitting on top of my kitchen table, but that's not where it's really at. I just put it there for a nice picture. It's really in my room, where anyone that knows me could tell you.

And here's the last guilt story.

When my kids were little I used to buy me the one pound bag of M&Ms and I would hide them in my dresser drawer because if I had them out, of course the kids would want to eat them, so I would hide them.

Then when I wanted some I would sneak away, lock my bedroom door, quietly open my dresser drawer, and then, as quietly as possible, try to open the bag of M&Ms without rustling the bag too loudly. Of course, it still makes noise and so then I would suddenly hear a knocking at my door.

"Mom, are you in there?"

"No."

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Are you eating M&Ms?"

"No."

"Yes you are. I can hear you."

"No."

"Can I have some?"

"No."

At the time, I didn't feel like I was being a rotten mom, but when you say the story out loud it does sound pretty rotten.

But you know what?

Do I feel guilty that I didn't share my M&Ms with my poor little kids?

No.

Hey, you gotta give up the guilt sometime.

'Til later,

Carol B.