Perspective . . . and stuff

Only 21 days into the new year and it's been quite a whirlwind for me so far.

First, I moved into a brand new apartment. It's so much smaller than my old home, which takes a bit of getting used to. It's funny how you don't really have a clue how much junk you've collected over the years until you have to pack it into boxes. Downsizing my personal possessions was an awful, but necessary endeavor. It's the letting go part that stings the most, I think. Whether it was giving my belongings to charity, saying goodbye to the stray cats I befriended over the years, or closing the door of my old home behind me for the very last time . . . *sigh* . . . letting go is always difficult, isn't it?

As if that wasn't enough to deal with, wouldn't you know it? When I finally settled into my new place my computer began having horrible fits, which pretty much amounted to its final death throes. So even more letting go . . . this time to my trusty old Emachine. Goodbye Emachine! You served me well for being a midnight impulse purchase at my local Wal-Mart. I will look back fondly on all the times you crashed for no reason.

Finally, the icing on the cake that has been the introduction to my new year -- and I say that with venomous, dripping sarcasm -- is that I managed to get a strep throat infection.

For awhile I viewed these recent events with ill humor and I dreaded what the rest of 2009 had in store for me. However, after much useless cursing and shaking my fist to the heavens I had an epiphany!

I've come to realize that you can't control what fate has in store for you, but you certainly can control how you view such events. For instance, I can cry a river over the fact that I no longer reside in the wonderful, big house I lived in for 14 years . . . or I can look around my cute, little townhouse and revel in the fact that less room means less cleaning. :) Plus look at the pretty view that greets me every morning from my back lanai:



And it did suck to have my computer die out on me at the most inopportune time. Not to mention it cost me a pretty penny to replace it, but now I have a new Compaq that doesn't freeze up when I'm trying to blog about how it's been freezing up.

As for my strep throat -- yes, it's awful to be sick and in pain, but it also gives me the perfect excuse to rest up and eat all the ice cream my heart desires. :)

It's all about perspective, you see. Change your perspective -- the way you view your life -- and you'll find that things aren't always as bad as they seem. There really is a silver lining.

So 2009 . . . bring it on because I'm ready!

Well, thank you all for allowing me to wax philosophical for a moment, but now onto more cuter and craftier things.

The winner of the Happy Swirly Cupcake is . . .

I will be contacting you shortly Mushroom Meadows! :)

Also, I'm slowly but surely getting into my crafting zone again. I plan to list a new item in my shop every few days as I get it done so I might not blog about here, but please check my Etsy store often if you're interested. I have some Bashful Blooming Cacti and some Happy Swirly Cupcakes coming up. Here's a peek at one of them:


Oh, before I go I wanted to share a photo of dear Loovee taken on a field trip to Hawaii's premier shopping mall, Ala Moana Center. I loved the big-eyed lemurs and I thought big-eyed Loovee would fit in perfectly among them:


Well, I've been so very out of the loop lately so I'm off to check out what my blogging pals have been up to. Hopefully, you've all had a better start to the new year than I did. :)