The past week has been one of heartbreak and deep sadness but full of laughs and love.  My dear father-in-law passed away suddenly, somewhat unexpected Saturday morning at his home.  The events of that day are etched in my mind but are also hard to recall.  It was one of those days that you couldn't plan for or predict - he just  passed away.  There was no warning, no call for help, no great suffering -  he just passed away.  Yes, he had been sick for a long time with emphysema and he had been in and out of the hospital over the past few months but still  - he just passed away.  The past week has been hard.  Things had to be done and some things had to be said that were tough.  Lot of tears have been shed but I believe there have been more laughs.  Good memories and love outweigh the pain.

One more thought before I go.  Sometimes all it takes is a kind word from someone we don't really know to get us back to where we need to be.  With that said, I want to say thank you to Diane W.  You were the inspiration I needed to do this today and I thank you.  

Here I go again...

 All I can say is wow.  Where have I been?   What have I been doing?  Where does the time go? To be honest I don't really know.  Life seems to be so hectic and at the same time dull.  I have no real reason or explanation of my whereabouts.  That is a little disturbing to me and sad at the same time.  I love my blog and I love to write on this silly little thing.  I don't know if any one really gets anything from it, but I do enjoy it so.  Seems lately though that a lot of things that I love have been pushed away and left to sit and wait.  Again, I really don't know why.  So much has happened that I haven't told you about and then when I think about it all nothing really happened or changed.  I just knew a few months back when I made the grand announcement that I was back I would feel better about things (don't really know what things) and the funk I was in was on its way out the door.  Unfortunately the funk seemed to have latched on tighter, not wanting to leave and burrowed itself in way deep. 

Recently I have been thinking (scary I know) about a lot of things, really big picture kind of things.  Maybe this is a sign of my age, the condition of world, my faith walk, or just wanting/needing to make a difference.  Not sure about any of that but I do know it's time for me to be back here and I want to be back. 

If there is anyone out there who reads this or checks in from time to time I want to tell you how much I appreciate it.  I know how precious time is and I thank you for sharing yours with me. 

So with all of that crazy talk and things said  I will again announce that I am back.  I really am this time.  Check in on me again and hold me to it.   I need to be accountable for what I've told you - make me!

I'm still here.....

I never really went away.  I guess I've been on a break.  I hope you all haven't given up on me.  The slump hit hard and there may still be some of it lingering about but I am going to push through.  I am sitting here at work, hating the piles of files on my desk and dreading to do anything.  That's not good.  Work is just wearing me down. It will get better, I know it will, it has to.  I am so thankful to have a job.  (I am blogging during my break time.)  I have missed you all so much.  What can I tell you about?  It seems like so much has happened, but then it seems like things are normal as usual.  Easter was wonderful, Mothers Day was great, I had another birthday,  my kids are great, grandbaby is awesome and life in general is good. I'm still not crafting much.  I think I'm looking for something new to try.  I don't know what it will be but when I find it look out.  I do need to work on a couple of prayer shawls for graduates and a couple of baby gifts.  That might be what I need to get me kick started.  

So enough about work and the slump and whine, whine, whine.  Here is the newest addition to our home.

Hubby finished the keezer.   Isn't it gorgeous!  I can't imagine the hours he has put into building this masterpiece.  Lots of late nights in the garage.  Yes, hubby has skills!  I love the cherry wood he made the cabinet from.  The color is so nice.  I love the 4 kegs of home brew it holds too. :-)  Yes, this sits in my dining room and is probably the nicest piece of "furniture" we have.  It really is nice.  Hubby still has a couple of things to do to it before he considers it complete.   I will show you an updated picture when he gets that done.   

Thanks for waiting out the slump with me and checking in.  It means alot.   

For Doris

Just Enough Light

By Stormie O’Martian

Sometimes only the step I’m on,

or the very next one ahead,

is all that is illuminated for me.

God gives just the amount of light I need

for the exact moment I need it.

At those times I walk in surrender to faith,

unable to see the future

and not fully comprehending the past.

And because it is God who has given me

what light I have,

I know I must reject fear and doubt

that threatens to overtake me.

I must determine to be content where I am,

and allow God to get me where I need to go.

I walk forward,

one step at a time,

fully trusting that the light God sheds

is absolutely sufficient.

Tulips and The Slump

Happy Spring!  I made this pot of Blow Pop tulips for the staff of Little Girl's school recently.  I thought it would be a nice surprise and a way to say thank you for all they do.  It was a hit.  I thought you might enjoy seeing the one and only creative thing I've done in a long time.  I don't know what's wrong with me.  I guess I'm in a slump.  If you are a crafter I think you would understand.  Sometimes the creative juices just aren't flowing or seem like they have completely dried up.  I think that is where I am right now.  I'm not worried though, something somewhere will catch my eye and I will be inspired to the point of being obsessed and that is all I will talk about and do until something else grabs my attention.  I do have this one little idea that has been tumbling around in my brain for a while.  It seems to roll around more often lately so I may be creating something new soon.  No promises, but I might. 

I think this creative slump is also why the blog has been neglected over the past few weeks.  The slump and work are probably to blame.  The atmosphere at work has been very intense lately with mountains of work to do.  To be honest, after spending all day on the computer at work I don't even want to look at one when I get home.  I realized recently that I haven't even been checking home emails.  I do sneak a peek at the blogs I follow on my lunch break, just so I don't miss out on anything, but that's about it.  I know and you know this is just part of a cycle and things will get back around to "normal".  Until then I hope you will bear with me and keep checking in on me.  I will try harder.  I do have some things to blog about - seems like it is mostly beer stuff, but that's okay too. 

Thanks for hanging out with me and I appreciate you checking in!

Southern Hockey

John Deere Zamboni - it's a southern thang.

We were fortunate enough this week to score some free tickets to a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game.  Thank goodness for good friends who think of us often.  We had a blast.   Of course we always have a good time when we get to go to a game - win or lose.  We lost in overtime - pooh.   I would love to be lucky enough to get to ride on the Zamboni and do my best parade wave.  Wouldn't that be fun?

We've had a busy week.  Monday night we went to our weekly trivia game, I have to tell you about that sometime.  Tuesday I went shopping with my little girl, it was fun but exhausting.  Wednesday night we went to the hockey game - GO CANES!  Thursday we had to run some errands after work and last night I had to catch up on my house work.  Today we will be going to a home brew competition and see how well Hubby's brews manage.  It will be exciting and fun with a little anxiety in the mix.  I'll let you know how he does. 

The weather is suppose to nice here this weekend.  I hope it is in your little part of the world.
Enjoy your Saturday. 

Brewmasters Bar and Grill

Oak City Flight -

Lonerider Dead Eye Jack, Big Boss Bad Penny,

Roth Raleigh Red and Carolina Pale Ale.

 Good food!

 Sweet potato beer - unique

 Irish Cream Ale - yum

That rowdy bunch from Roth Brewing!

Friday night Hubby and I decided to treat ourselves and went to the new Brewmasters Bar and Grill in downtown Raleigh.  Love it!!!  This is the place to be if you enjoy beer - real beer - not yellow water.  They do have some of that yellow water stuff but if you like beer, are a homebrewer, enjoy good food and good folks this is the place.  It was crazy Friday night.  Our friend Mark from American Brewmaster (the brew shop) has stake in this place and has worked hard to make it awesome.  We think it is going to be the next big thing.  This place is like 5 minutes from where I work and I can see it being a pit stop on Friday nights before heading home.

We enjoyed beers from several Raleigh breweries and then some that we haven't heard of before.  They have 66 beers on tap - crazy choices.  The atmosphere was great.  There were some local breweries there giving samples of their beers including one of my favorites - Roth.  Oh how I love those boys!  Fullsteam and Big Boss were also in the house and have some great beers.  It really was fun and we even ran into some of Hubby's brew buddies.  A great time was had by all. 

 

Treat yourself and enjoy a good beer this weekend.  It will make you smile.