I feel like there are a lot of new faces around here lately. So whether you are a newbie or a long time follower of Poofy Cheeks I can not thank you enough for your ongoing blog and shop support. You guys keep me plugging along and brighten my day with your awesome comments! Now I’m going to go off on a tangent – forgive me now because I’m unsure of where I am going with this.
The past few weeks have proven to be crazy busy with no end in sight! I have orders from my shop piling up, I am finally getting more hours at my ‘real’ job, and I have been struggling to find a balance. **News Flash – I just picked up MORE hours tonight since two people called in sick!** I can’t believe that it has been so many days since there has been a blog post – but life happens. I started my shop after having my first son, and I started my blog a few months after having my second son. I don’t know what I really wanted to get out of it. I didn’t even really know what to write about on my blog. I started sharing things about my family, ETSY finds, and updates about my shop. Some of you have been with me from the very beginning. I watched the numbers grow, and I soon began to realize that this little blog wasn’t so teeny tiny anymore (you know when you pass 50 followers and you squeal with delight?!). My blog was growing and so was I! It came evident to me that the reason I blogged and crafted was for pleasure – to escape – to get a break – to have contact with the outside world – and to feel a sense of belonging as a mom stuck at home with an infant and a toddler.
Then there are days like today when I sit back and realize I have been so wrapped up in other daily events that I have failed to take the time for myself. I have not taken time for the things I love. I have not written, planned or prepared a blog post in nearly a week. I have new items to add to my shop, but haven’t had time to take the pictures or create the listings. I just want to blog and spread the word about my shop so badly – it has become like a second job (a second job I love), but there are so many other things that must be done. Or do they? The laundry is overflowing, there is still a pile of clean clothes that need to be folded from last week, I haven’t cooked a family dinner in days, and I have been missing my boys while I have been working these random extra hours.
Hopefully things will go back to some sort of normal soon. When I can manage to balance everything the way I used to. The blog posts may not be as frequent, but for my happiness’s sake they will be there! One major help is that my husband is going back to day shift. This is the ultimate of good news!! My husband works in law enforcement and has been on night shift for the past 4 months. He has worked 6pm-6am since the beginning of November. Can I just tell you how stressful this has been on me? I have been the trash taker-outer, grocery shopper, bill payer, the maid, the mom, the get-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night if the kids are sick and the keep-them-quiet-so-dad-can-sleep lady! My husband works hard at his job to support our family, but having the weight of EVERYTHING else that keeps a family going can be a LOT!
So what is the point you ask – let me sum it up. I have a few days off this weekend from my 9-5 (oh gosh I wish it was a 9-5 job – more like whenever they feel like scheduling me job) and I have a bunch of projects planned. I want to get the projects done, take the pictures I need, and then it will be 10 times quicker and easier to get blog posts cranked out! I seriously need help – SERIOUSLY! (WANTED: I’m looking for anyone that has PSE or Photoshop and wants to learn a few things. I am willing to teach in trade for a few hours of help resizing pictures and doing some fun designs each week!) Whew – I think that is all. Did I ramble enough for you? Sometimes I just feel like my plans are bigger than the amount of time I can afford and it is so frustrating! So I’m wrapping this up – giving it to God – and letting him guide me along my destined path. 