sunrise, sunset

I can't believe how time has been flying by. Each day is full to the brim with goodness, and the weeks skim by one after the other in pleasant rhythm.

I also can't believe how long it has been since I came to this little spot to document my days; it's been almost a month! Once again, I find that if I was to try to catch up, I would give up in discouragement, so I'll just pick up in the here and now. I do, however, want to give a brief sketch of what has been filling our days.

The days have been surprisingly warm for winter in Montana, and we have missed much of the snow almost everyone else is oooing, ahing, or groaning over. We are thankful for the lengthening days of more sunshine. We've enjoyed several walks (with no sled in tow), and most of the residual snow is melting away. I'm even thinking about trying to take Little Man to the park later today.

Since I last wrote, Benjamin has gotten a new job! He is switching from working in IT at the Montana extension of a Texas-based medical equipment company to setting up and running the help desk at our local hospital. The long-term outlook at the hospital is better, and it seems that the whole environment is more friendly. After carefully considering it, to change just seemed like the best move. He starts his new position on Monday.

I have been working away at all my normal activities: washing laundry and trying to economize by drying it on lines downstairs near our wood stove (it seems like this has been taking a lot of time lately!), keeping the house reasonably clean, working on sewing and other projects, teaching and playing with the boys, cooking and coming up with little schemes to please Benjamin.

~I finished and mailed the Valentine cards for all the grandparents and aunts and uncles.

~I designed and sewed new window treatments for my parents' living room. (My mom got this absolutely gorgeous fabric that was pure joy to work with; I'm still wowed by the result of my efforts and that fabric.)

~I made and mailed my first Etsy sale! It was a custom order for one of my sister-in-law's friends who wanted a little apron for her daughter like the one I made for my niece. I was so excited.

~I made a simple, fleece baby blanket for some friends. I hosted a Pampered Chef party last night which was a success, and I'm excited to get some super-discounted new kitchen toys...ahem...I mean tools.

~I got started on the handbags that I want to sell and was demoralized by a bad though mendable mistake. I still have to work up the courage to work on them again, but that will come.

~I switched laptops and am still getting used to this new-to-me one. I'm still trying to work up the energy to mess with getting all my photo stuff going on it (one of the reasons I've been putting off blogging). I've also been trying to build my extensive file system bookmarked posts and sites back up. Sadly, I forgot to back all my links up when I switched computers.

~I got a new piano student who I have yet to teach because her piano books haven't shipped yet.

~Benjamin and I decided that I can learn to help him with his computer consulting side business, and I've just barely started learning about it. I'm excited that I can be a help to him with it.

~And now I'm getting back into blogging. It feels really good!

So, yeah, as you can see, my life has been chock-full of good business!