Countdown to Going Away (aka panic & scream time!)

Well it's that time again, time to get everything washed and packed ready to go away.  I shoukd tell you that packing is one of the most annoying things around for me.  I hate it!!  I hate planning it, I hate choosing what to take, I hate finding the stuff that's been chosen, hate getting it into the case, hate the whole damn thing!!

Unfortunately for me that is what I've been doing today. I've got the washing all sorted and done, and am part way through figuring out what to take. But that's as far as I've got. I am shattered!!! EDS & fibro have def interferred as per normal.  I simply don't have enough spoons to do all of that. I had help from my DA, M, to get that much done and even then I was shattered and really want to spend the rest of the day asleep.

I am so very tired now, don't know if it is these new meds or what, but I feel so very tired these past few days.  My pain levels are dropping a bit, so they are definitely worth persevering with.  Hopefully the side effects will wear off as I get used to them. After all it normally takes a few weeks or so for your body to settle to new medication.  Also I need to get the old meds out of my system as well.  So I am bound to feel a bit messed up until my body settles to them all.

Hmmm, changing meds very shortly before going away may not have been the best idea with hindsight lol. Ce la vie.  Guess DH and DD are going to have to help out with the packing this time, coz I'm certainly not up to doing it all!

Sleeeep, I neeeeed slllllleeeeepppppp, don't care it's only 17:30, wannnaaaa ssslleeeeeepppp, night all, God bless xxx

Sad but not surprised

Today I finaly told DM & her DH about getting the artwork into Facets. I got them both together, facing me, we weren't in the middle of anything else so it should have been the perfect time to tell them. 

I said that I had some really good news to tell them & I wanted to see both of their faces as I told them.  They both said at the same time "K is going to have a baby brother"!! (Why brother and not sibling I don't know!) I said no, rather surprised as Im not sure where that one came from, and her DH said go on, you can tell us! Goodness knows what K has been saying when she was left there with DM on Sunday for an hour!!!

Anyway, I told them the big news about getting five of my pieces into a real shop, started by saying "Ive done it, Im a real artist". He was genuinely very happy for me and was very encouraging. But although she was also quite happy for me going by what she said, he was far more enthusiastic and she had very little emotion in her voice or face/eyes :'(

I went on to tell them about the sales to my neighbour L and the commission I have from her, but again he was the only one who seemed genuine in his congratulations.

I dont know, maybe Im wrong about all this and Im not seeing/hearing enthusiasm from her because that is what I am expecting now. Maybe she is being supportive etc but Im just not noticing it. Thing is, its not just me by a long shot who isnt noticing it. Others are saying the same thing as me, even my DS who knows DM the best, after all DS is older than me.

I dont even care if DM doesnt a actually like my work, all I am after is support and enthusiasm. Is that too much to ask? Ce la vie, time to learn to accept it and move on I think - that's what TA reckons I should do. DS thinks I should confront DM about it and try and get out of her why, etc. Thing is DM has been like this for a fair while, DS always used to confront her and it never made any difference. Whereas I went for the ce la vie approach, and DM & I get on fair bit better than DS does with her - not that that is saying a great deal tbh lol.

Anyway, right now what matters is that I have achieved it with God's help & guidance, and that I have friends and family who do support me and encourage me! I guess all in all I am quite blessed in that respect :-)

(Though it would be greatly appreciated if a certain NC would return certain Egypt books to where they belong & pay the fine pretty please. It is currently at £5-60 but I have renewed them to stop it getting any higher for now. And yes I do know you are reading this NC because you said you were, all of it, lol. Love you loads wonderful lady xxxxxx)

Thanks for reading folks, Im off to bed now so goodnight and God bless xxxxx

I sold a piece of my art!

Good day today :-) my neighbour, L, came up to look at my portfolio of artwork and she likes my work!!! She bought one of my favourite pieces, "Morning Reflections", as well as two of my printed cards, yay!!! :-)

L actually REALLY wanted to buy my watercolour teddy as well, but it has already been promised to my best friend TA. She likes it so much though that she's asked me to do one for her too!! So I'm over the moon with that.

L has also very kindly volunteered to take my fifth piece down to Facets Jewellers for me as they definitely want it, but said that it needed to be protected with the bag first. So L will take it down tomorrow for me, she kinda knows the owner K anyway and she needs to go into Lancing tomorrow anyway so said it was no hassle at all. What a lovely neighbour! God bless L!

xxx

I Did It! Im a Real Artist!

Well as you can see from the title Im very excited right now. Yesterday I actually did it! I took my portfolio into Facets Jewellers in Lancing and, after a bumpy start, they have taken five pieces to display for sale in their shop!!!

Have to admit I was really worried at one point, really didnt think they were going to take any of them, they werent they style he had meant/been after. But thankfully he kept looking and he decided he did really like a lot of them. His wife (???) really liked them too and she was definitely a big bonus on my side! He was only really intending to take a couple, but she decided it was going to be five! God bless her!!

It's all on a trial basis and he will be taking (a very reasonable) commission from sales. So I Really Need to sell at least one piece to convince him it is a good idea and that my work will sell in there! I think I've only got a week or two to get the sale(s) so prayers would be very gratefuly appreciated peeps!!! Keep your fingers crossed lol!

Even if I dont sell I will still be happy though because with God's help & guidance I have accomplished this much! Thank you Lord! God bless you all xxx

Ups and Downs

I had some fantastic news today, but now Im feeling pretty down as not had many people to share the news with.  I was handed an amazing opportunity - to have my artwork in Facets Jewllers in Lancing!!!! He, the owner that is, actually asked me if I have an outlet for my work!!!

He is going to give me a small bit of space on one of the walls in there. My work will need to be restful to go with everything else in there - he is a holistic therapist as well - but thats fine with me. After all, he saw my busines card then offered it to me, so he must have liked what he saw on there. He'll take a commission of course, and he cant promise me any sales, but it is still a brilliant oportunity and one that I want to take advantage of as soon as possible! Thank you so much Lord Jesus!!!

Unfortunately, after such great news Im now feeling pretty flat and down, a couple of very important people to me havent seemed to care less when I told them. One person in particular, I should have learnt by now and known better, but she had phoned me re something else so I had to tell her, really thought she would be really happy for me!

Anyways the long and the short of it is that I am now feeling down/flat and a long way from the cloud 9 I was on earlier. Its daft I know, their reactions shouldnt drag me down so easily, but somehow they always do. Its fairly late at night now, too late to ring anyone, and no-one is on chat, so I guess Im gonna go on Twitter for a bit, see if anyone is on there.

Will let you know how it goes.  Love & God bless,

Mic

(@mic_riddy)

Blood out of a Stone

That's what it felt like today at one point! Really needed my DM to do a statement for me for some legal wrangling that's going on (and on and on lol). I knew it would be hard as she never talks about herself and that was what was required, but dear me!! How hard I just had not appreciated. It wasnt like I was after any private information or anything that wasnt publicly available knowledge, but she certainly made it feel like it.

Thank goodness it's done now - I hope! I will so not be a happy bunny if the solicitor comes back and says it isnt enough for what they need. I think it will just have to be tbh after all, I cant see us geting anything else out of her. Its not as if I'm asking her to lie or anything, I wouldnt do that, even if I did need to - which I dont.  My reputation, moral and legal/professional is worth far more to me than any claim and nothing would make me jeaopardise them by lying, or committing perjury. After all, that is what it would be as this is all being done to the Court.  I just pray that whats been done will both be suitable and sufficient!

Now all I have to do is drag a statement out of my DH, and then do my own one which wil need to be much longer.  Its a good thing I can touch type is all I can say lol. Wish me luck peeps, Im gonna need it :-)

Shattered after SCOPE sale

Well it's finally over, I've done my first really public sale of my artwork! It went pretty well actually and I sold four pieces, yay!!! But I gotta admit I am sooo very worn out now. It's taken so much out of me, which I knew it would, but still I am paying for it now.

Why is it anything I want to do I always have to pay for afterwards?! This is part of my life and I have to accept it and get used to it I know. But still, I always struggle afterwards. The life of a spoonie huh!

Have the doctors tomorrow for a med review. Pretty nervous about that as I dont know the doc I'll be seeing, but my stepmum trusts him and says he's good with rare conditions. So I'll just have to pray and wait and see. Not easy though is it peeps!!

What's not helping right now tbh is my hubby is sitting next to me shivering on and off with man flu. Arghhhh!! If he's really ill then of course I'd care for him and be sympathetic, but really, man flu?!! That's more than I have the spoons to deal with right now. Still, he's finally taken a couple of paracetamol at least! Fingers crossed he will be better by the morning at least for work.

Really tired so I need to get some sleep now, just hope I will actually be able to get some sleep for a change. I hate sleep problems, they are one of the worst things for me about my disabilities. Lack of sleep always make things seem worse somehow. Ce la vie. Have to admit I've been thinking about asking for sleepers for emergency use only. May just have to do that :-)

Time to try that thing called sleep. Nght night lovelies, God bless you all xxx

Amazing Love

Isn't life strange sometimes? You never know what tomorrow is going to bring or what will happen next. So live evey single day to the full, accept the wonderous miracle that is life in all its fullness and wonder.

Give thanks to Jesus for the amazingly wonderful gift of life, of forgiveness, of grace, of His life for ours! How amazing is that, that God, the Creator of all, actually came down to us as His son Jesus. He put on one of our bodies, felt every pain and emotion that we feel and go through, He truly knows these feelings as He has been through them! HE WENT THROUGH THEM, FOR US, FOR YOU AND FOR ME!!! JESUS ACTUALLY DID THAT, HE CHOSE TO GO THROUGH THIS FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US!

And yet people still don't listen, don't believe. So many do not know or even want to know. Pray for them, I pray they will come to know our Saviour and understand that He saves US! We have done nothing to earn this, in fact there is nothing that we can do to earn redemption, our sins are too great too numerous and varied. Yet none of that matters. The price has been paid! So no matter what you think is standing in the way there is nothing there really. All that has been wiped away.

Jesus is true pure LOVE, love that never ends and cannot be twisted or distorted. Love encomasses all and forgives all. So come, accept Him accept His love, and find the true freedom and forgiveness and never ending LOVE that is Jesus!

Lord you are amazing and I thank you more than I can say for Your sacrifice and amazing gift of life of love of grace and of safety. In Your arms I don't need to fear. I know that even though things are uncertain for me and my family now You are in control and will bring us safely through this time. I entrust my life and.may family into Your arms Lord knowing that Your plans for me are only good and You will bring us through whatever lies ahead. Thank you Abba Father, I love you Lord, amen!

Work, babies, and faith

Can't quite believe I'm 30 now, bye bye to my 20s!! No idea if that's good thing or bad, but I guess it just is what it is.

Life has been turned upside down enough lately as it is. My best friend now lives practically on the Welsh border and I miss her like mad!!! Yes we still talk on the phone all the time like always, but it's not quite the same. To top things off, just as I was starting to get used to that DHs job is on the line. His company are in liquidation!!! There's a chance they'll be rescued/bought out by sister company, but if not then he'll be made redundant along with the rest of them, gulp!!!

Much as I'm trying not to freak out or think too far ahead it's pretty hard not to. Especially when DH is freaked out & now obsessing about each & every tinyest little thing. To put it bluntly, he's driving me nuts!!! I'm trying to be as supportive as I can, but it's hard when you have to convince him even to go food shopping! We still need to eat and life has to carry on as best it can. We don't know anything yet and won't for nearly another week. Starving us all in the meantime is NOT going to help anything!

Unfortunately DD is picking up on all the stress etc, unsurprisingly, problem is though it's making her act out and have more outbursts than normal, and worse ones. We are struggling enough as it is, outbursts are definitely not helpful!

Feel like I'm playing referee here all the time. Whoever said that all mums are qualified referees certainly wasn't joking!! Any tips peeps?

On the good side, we had a real answer to trayer today. Baby DD of a close friend was admitted to hospital yesterday with breathing problems - very scary!! Anyway very many people have been praying, I sent the word out to the networks. God answered our prayers!! Baby is doing much better suddenly and has been allowed home. Thank You Lord Jesus!! Truly nothing is impossible with Him, ask and He will always answer! So that has been a real bonus today and something that I'm trying to focus on instead of the bad stuff. We must trust in Jesus, He will lead us through even when we can't even see the path ahead! Really wish and pray that DH believed that too!

Anyway, I'm doing this on my mobile so going to cut it short and leave it there for now. Love to you all, God bless xxxxx

Feelings of a Spoonie Artist

I've not been well for the past few days coutesy of a stomach bug that I could really have done without. As always it's knocked me for six and left me very weak and worn out. My legs are making their presence felt in a very unwelcome way!! Tonight is definitely one of those were I kinda wish I didn't have any legs - so that the pain might stop. In reality however I will trust in God. I read a verse that I've put on Facebook today that's pretty appropriate right now:

"Do not fret. Ask and pray, and God's peace will be with you" Phil 4 v 6-7

What a great promise and amazing couple of verses, so very simple and clear! What else do you need with a promise like that?!! So, guess what I will be doing soon as I've posted this blog lol - yup that's right, I'll be praying and asking the Lord to grant me a peaceful sleep free of pain, so that I can recover from this bug properly too. Sometimes when you're ill sleep really is the best way to recover.

I had planned on saying more about my art tonight and my foray into the medium of acrylics, but I am simply too tired, so you will have to wait until next time.

For now I will simply say goodnight and God bless xxx

Beginning to Blog

Hello, thanks for finding your way to come and read my blog! Who am I you're probably wondering so let me tell you a little about myself. My name is Mic and I'm a married mother blessed with one daughter. I am many things amongst which I'm a Christian, an artist, a spoonie (disabled) with multiple chronic conditions, a legal secretary, medically retired; and I can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and RedBubble.

You will come to learn much more about me and who I am as I write this blog. As to what the contents of the blog will be, you'll have to wait and see. All I can really say is that it will be about me: my life, family, views, things that happen, my artwork, friends, and who knows what else.

So come in, sit down, grab a drink, and have a read, I hope you enjoy - and that I will come to know you as well :)
Bye for now. Take care and God bless.
xxx