Changes...time for me

It's been awhile since I posted here...I've been very much bitten by the sewing bug and it's made me very happy!  But the sewing has pulled me away from my first crafty love...stamping...and after spending some time reflecting on that...and where my life and career are right now...it's time for some changes.

first (the long part)...

I've joked (sort of) here previously about entering the "silly season" at work...unfortunately "silly season" is turning into regular business.  Previously my "silly season" would run about April - August...all prep, planning, and actual administration of an annual exam for the licensed operators at our plant.  The past two years I've played a fairly active roll (the first year wasn't too crazy...the second...about killed me) and I will be playing another active roll in the exam this year.  I enjoy being on this exam team, it's a huge learning experience, and it's something different from my regular day-to-day job...but it's actually starting to take up more time than the April to August time frame...as a matter of fact we've already begun meetings and assignments and conversation for this year...so back April up to January.  In addition to that...I've had to take on some additional responsibilities in day-to-day stuff, plus teaching in one of the most stressful environments we have for the first time.  All of this has come to a head in the past 7 days, and unfortunately some rather unpleasant side effects started popping up...

For the past 18 months I've been convinced that my biggest ailment is STRESS...and after taking a cold hard look after a bit of a scare earlier this week...I became very concerned that a health issue I've dealt with in the past has started to resurface.  So I threw in the towel and called the doctor...now, I'm not a huge fan of going to the doctor, have had some bad experiences (and some good), but it's just not something I like to do (I'm wonder woman in my own mind...and doctor's aren't necessary in my little world).  But I did the "grown up thing" and made the call, explained the situation, and I go in on Tuesday to have some tests run.  I'm hoping everything comes back fine and it is really just stress that I need to get a better handle on...but until I know for sure I don't want to take any chances.

Taking all of this into consideration, I've been looking into my own heart to determine what it is that I want to really do in my free time...and right now...sewing is the hobby that makes the rest of my world manageable.  This leads to

Second...

I'm not giving up stamping and scrapping...but i'm cutting wayyyy back on it.  I'm going to be clearing out a lot of my supplies and slimming it all down to those stamps/inks/papers that I really expect/intend to use.  Thankfully I have some friends willing to take a bunch of this off my hands!  LOL!

Third (and final)...

I spent a lot of time last year apologizing for this or that...not posting enough...posting a lot of non-scrappy stuff...a lot of venting...etc.  I'm done apologizing.  It's time for me to take care of me and put me first on a more regular basis.  I have to remind myself that the world is not going to end if I don't get a post done in time, or post a card on a regular schedule, or post something non-scrappy just to post...you get the idea.

I need to make myself important again.  I need to blog about plain ole stuff that makes me happy (see my book reviews from last year) and stop sweating the small stuff.

Most importantly, I need to take better care of myself.  Hopefully I'm starting off 2012 in the right way by going to the doctor and addressing these issues head on.

I'll share more later when I know what's going on health wise...no one worry, my ailments are not life threatening, but treating them will improve my overall quality of life.  The sooner I know if it's just stress or something else, the sooner my mind will feel a bit more at ease.

Catch you all later!