Did you all miss me?? I can't believe that July was my last Blog entry! Time sure flies at times. Many good folks have emailed me to say they wish I would keep writing the Blog, and I sure appreciate that!

ON A PERSONAL NOTE . . . Too, too much has transpired in my personal life to even try to catch you up. Suffice it to say that many personal things are still in limbo but getting better. Kids are fine and almost grown (unbelievable!) Seth, my 20 yo son, was robbed at gun point delivering a pizza in December (needless to say, he's not doing that job any more and thank God that he was NOT physically harmed.) Maggie had yet another car accident (see my previous blog about the accident with the fire engine.) This time she chose to rear-end a lawyer on the highway and did about 3 grand worth of damage to the new car we got to replace the last one she totaled. The state took her license for 3 months -- that's good and bad! I am being punished by having to drive an 18 yo everywhere she wants to go (believe me, that's a lot of places!!) Plus, she is not getting any more experience driving during this period. So, I think the suspension is not the best form of punishment in this case. I would advise the powers that be to make them attend more driving classes and have to pass a more stringent driving exam in order to get their license back, rather than just wait 3 months doing nothing about improving their driving abilities. Doesn't that make more sense? Meanwhile, I am paying more insurance for her not to drive, spending more money on gas and more of my time driving her around. Oh well, it's really about what's easiest for the government, now isn't it? Will she be a better driver when she gets her license back? I have my doubts. I know -- I should be more strict about allowing her to drive, but then my punishment becomes listening to her whine about having to stay at home, or allowing her to ride with other kids who may or may not be better drivers that she is! Did my parents go through this stuff? Oh yeah - no, they didn't. Because I was not even allowed to get my temp permit until I was 18, didn't get my license until I was 19, and then didn't have a car of my own, and was only allowed to drive my father's really awful work car until I was 20! Times have surely changed. I think the parents of my generation should take lessons from our parents and take a huge step backwards when it comes to permissiveness and parenting. We seem to want to make our kids happy, no matter what! It has become very clear to me that we are not really doing them any favors. My kids' generation seems to think that everything is easy and owed to them. They expect everyone to make them happy and they are not willing to endure any discomfort in the "things" department (aka - going without, being told NO, etc.) They are "good" kids, but need some harder life lessons before it's too late. Okay - enough about all that.

FROM THE BUSINESS SIDE . . . Let's see, what else is new? My great customers kept me busier than ever throughout the holiday season. And with the pending divorce, refinancing the house, and all the costs associated with that, I was very thankful for the business and to stay busy. I am madly working to get two new projects ready for Create & Decorate magazine. . .  the publishing world works way ahead of the actual calendar, so the projects I am working on now are for the Summer issue 2007. I have had quite a few requests locally for rug hooking classes. I am thinking about getting geared up for that, too, now that I can hold them here in my home studio. So if anyone from Ohio is looking for a class, go to my web site to get contact info,  and then give me a call or email me for details. I long for some design time to start sketching for some new needle punch and rug hooking designs. The magazine projects are always sources for new designs, but I can't offer them on the web site until after publication and that's always months ahead. So, time is a factor in the design department. I can't seem to do good work in the middle of the night any more like I used to. Chalk  it up to age, stress, or something. It would be nice to get that back -- I used to do some of my best design work during the night when it is quiet in the house and there are less distractions.

WEATHER . . . Snow finally arrived a bit here in North Central Ohio. This has been a snowless winter here so far. Personally, I don't mind at all -- at least you don't have to shovel rain! But yesterday brought a couple of inches of the dreaded Lake effect snow off Lake Erie. I live west of the 'snow belt' that gets the worst of the lake effect snow every year, so it wasn't a real snow storm here, but some folks to our east got a lot more snow. Today our roads are clear and we should see about 4 more inches. So not a big deal, just very cold and a pain, as far as I am concerned. It makes the skiers and snow boarders happy!! I am not in either of those groups -- I would enjoy making a snowman though, so a little more snow would help that cause. It is very beautiful to watch as the snow falls, as long as you have no immediate need to drive somewhere! I am getting to be such a woos as I get older (which I hate to admit) -- heck, I don't even like to drive that much anymore, even when the roads have no snow on them! Oh well -- can't stop aging or the weather, so I am about ready to say Bye for Now and go cuddle up with a sketch pad and a hot cuppa joe! I hope all your days are sunny - Happy New Year to all - I will try harder to get blogging more frequently for those of you who actually like to read this drivel of mine!