Hello, I am back. I have been away since late August/early September, and I decided to take a break. I had to re-evaluate a few things.
History of blogging
In case you may or may not know, I have been blogging non-stop in some form or another since 2009. I started out with a blog, called MDN Creates, had to split it into 2 blogs. Then along the way, those two became 4, which finally became 5. I although I enjoy writing, I had to ask myself if I was doing too much writing. After all, by the end of 2015, I had a total of 8 blogs. (2 on WordPress, 5 on Blogger, and a seldom written blog on Tumblr). On top of that, I was trying to work at a craft store, which I quit for my handmade business in 2010. The reason why I quit the job was my hours were severely cut down to 4 hours a week by the new manager. I was used to pulling 35-40 hours, and suddenly, the new manager decided that she really did not need me, but strung me along. Another reason for me quitting was the new employee policy was I could not have a business. I was not even allowed to do any direct selling for not only any company that sold scrapbook supplies (which was the policy since I was first employed there but other companies, such as Longaberger, who had no interest in crafting at all. Anyway. Enough with that.
I decided to focus in on the handmade business, direct selling, and writing, as well as anything that was related to these areas. By the time June 2017 rolled around, I had cut all but three, and I was keeping them up just in case something from these two subjects popped into my head. I took a much-needed break in July because I was doing some traveling to family events and I wanted to really enjoy myself, and what the summer would bring me. I had planned on recapping around Mid-August, and I started packing for my cruise. (The last post was actually August 14, 2017) I decided at that time that I would recap everything from the summer and my cruise on September 16th.
No cruise for me.
I was devastated when I heard the news that my flight was canceled on September 7, 2017. Hurricane Irma and her children, Jose and Katia had landed in Florida, Puerto Rico, Grand Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic, and U.S Virgin Islands, the very places where I was to cruise from and to. While I was glad that the Carnival Conquest was not caught up in that mess (she sailed 4 days later to only Cozumel for what would have been day 4 of this 7-day cruise), I am glad that I was not stuck on the ship waiting to disembark like guests on 3 other Carnival cruise ships (Carnival Glory, Valor, and one other ship). It took them like a week to get off those ships. I am sad for the people who live on those islands. There are U.S citizens who had to fly from their home in Puerto Rico to the U.S. Mainland to be evacuated. Some may never return to their homes.
On second thought, re-schedule that puppy!
However, I was happy to learn that we (my group and I) could re-schedule for another cruise. So, next month, I am going to Cozumel, Montego Bay, Jamaica, and one other island, Belize I think. I will not tell you of the exact date for privacy. So, my air has been paid for, my cruise is paid for (I need to check in online), and my one night in New Orleans after the cruise is reserved.
Back to the reason behind this post.
As I have said at the beginning of this post, it has been a good 3-4 months since I posted anything. No more excuses for too many things happening in my life (2014), I had an accident (2015) or I have been sick (2016). This time I was burned out of subjects and re-evaluation. I am still working on my “Lessons learned or learning” series. I am finding out that as I learn these lessons, is it a lesson that I would have learned on my own, or would I have learned them by reading it from someone’s experiences? For instance, when I wrote, Lesson 2: How to be a Dutiful Daughter, the lesson was to learn how to take care of my aging parents. I now question myself on the premise of, “Should I already know this or is it something that naturally comes out when we get to that point in our lives?” I helped daddy take care of mommy when she had surgery one year. I did the washing and folding of clothes, we shared in cooking and cleaning. She was younger then and I was a teen. Fast forward to 2014. She had another surgery, though minor, she still needed time to rest. Of course, I was well out of the house by then, as well as my nephew, who was 18, but me and my dad did what we could to help mom heal. This year it was a different ballgame. This was serious than the other two times, and at times I seriously thought that I was going to lose her. She stayed in a rehab facility for last part of January, came home and finished her recovery there.
What also kept me from writing a blog post in the last 3-4 months was dad’s time in the hospital for some issues. Because doctors advised mom that she could not stay by herself if dad is cone for any length of time, I had to stay at the house. Since that time and that post, I wonder what new lessons I would learn now? In 2018? Or even beyond that point. I have concluded that as long as I am alive, I am constantly learning something, rather it is about myself, someone else, or a new skill. Besides that, my goal should not be what have I learned that was new, but what do I have to teach to someone who is younger (or older) than me?
What I have also learned in that lesson on being a Dutiful Daughter, is something that was taught to me from the moment that I opened my eyes for the first time. It is the word, Obey. I know that some people have problems with the word, obey, but let me throw in another word after it, and that word is trust. I will have a full post on this subject, but I have learned that while I had to obey my parents, any other authoritative figure, such as teachers and first responders, and God, I have to trust them as well. This is why all these women and children who are now adults are coming out, telling the world that they had to obey these accused men, and they had to trust them with their careers. Many of these men took the opportunity to say, “If you do or meet me at XX place, I can make your career soar”. When the act is finished, and these men had their little sexual fantasy, they probably told these naïve beginners, “if you tell, no one will believe you”. or “You will wish you never heard of Hollywood because I will ruin you”, The next thing is “obey” and “trust” or thrown out the window and that person is broken and to the point where they do not trust anyone.
No take away this time only explanation.
I will have some holiday stuff. I am trying something new. I do have a video channel on YouTube that I am trying to build viewership on. In conjunction with my blogs, My Ambiance Life, and P. Lynne Designs, I am going to attempt to do my first, Vlogmas 2017. I say attempt because I never have done one before. I heard that you should vlog for 30 days, starting anytime after Thanksgiving. Since I am preparing to spend time with the parents, family, and friends, as well as, putting new things in my Etsy shop, preparing for things at my church (I need permission to video during those times), and preparing for this cruise, this is a hard task that I am willing to do. I want to do this.
So, consider this my Day 1 of Blogmas 2017. I will try to keep up and I may not get to it every day. See you on day 2.
