I didn't really mean to drop off the planet for so long. I've been caught up in real life activities too much and have neglected my gallery here. I have over 2,000 deviations to view. I can't remember the last time it was that high.

WARNING: Long and boring update

There have been some changes in my life this year. I've decided to become more active in our finances, being the one responsible for doling out the money when and where needed and trying to stick to a budget. This is a first for me as I've always left it up to my husband to take care of, not because he's THE MAN, but because I didn't want the responsibility. However, he was at the end of his tolerance for taking care of things and had just kind of given up, was paying things when they called us wanting their money and threatening to shut things off. Soooo not good. I must say things were pretty messy. We had medical bills out the wazoo clear back from 2006 as well as student loans floating around for both of us to name just a few. It took me weeks to go through all the little bill piles stashed in different places around the house. Once I went through everything and tallied up what we owed and how behind we were, I had two weeks straight where I walked around like a zombie feeling the weight of those bills crushing me down. No wonder he had been ignoring the problem. We were never going to get out of this.

I'm not sure when my mentality changed, but slowly I started to come to terms with things. Nothing had really changed, other than knowledge. I now knew where we stood, and that could only be a first step, not the death knell of doom. Knowledge wasn't going to kill me. However, I started plotting out how to start changing things for the better. I started working more and making the most of my hours of work. I get paid on a production basis, not an hourly. I've always made my production, but I've considered that "good enough" and never really tried my hardest during working hours. That all changed. I now squeeze every drop of money out of my work time every day. That's part of the reason I haven't been around as much, as I used to wander around dA after I'd met my production for the day. I'm making $300 to $400 more every 2 weeks just from doing that! Wow, what a difference that makes! I even have my own tiny office space in the corner of our bedroom now instead of the living room to cut down on distractions. No more Grand Central Station while I'm trying to work.

The next thing that saved us was an income tax return. Since I had organized everything, by the time we had it, I knew exactly what things needed to be taken care of. We completely paid off 2 monthly bills and ALL of the medical bills. I couldn't believe it. We were finally caught up. Now with our budget on track and both of us working, we are looking to be in better shape than we have since having our first child. Ironic too, with so many others feeling the financial crunch. I feel lucky and grateful for both of our jobs. I know it sounds lame, but I even take a lot more pride in my work and am taking the steps to move to the next level within the company.

Not everything is perfect, of course. We still have a leaky roof, one broken car, an unfinished bedroom which forces all 3 of my kids to share a room between them, all of us need to go to the dentist, my youngest needs braces, and 4 of us need new glasses. However, I have hope that these problems can be tackled a small bit at a time.

In addition to the money issues, I started organizing my house. All 5 of us share a tiny 1000 square foot renovated farmhouse, and so space is at a premium. I've let things pile up in corners for too long, so we needed some major reorganization. I started in my room to make room for my computer/little work space and am progressing through the house, going through things and really evaluating what we need and what we just keep around out of habit. I now actually have space under my bed, and I can find my clothes in the closet again. I'm starting to know where things are when we need them instead of having that hour long search through drawers and totes and baskets to find it. Eventually, I plan to take the organization out to the scary barn and playhouse which hold even more treasures of the past that need to be gone through. All in good time though.

Anyway, that's it for now. Sorry for the long update. I didn't mean to go into that much detail, but it just kinda came out that way. I will be catching up over the next week or two. I haven't painted any more on Her Pet and, to be honest, I'm not sure when it will be done. I will eventually get back to it. I always do. I hate leaving things undone.

I hope all is well with everyone. I look forward to seeing what wonderful creations you've made in my absence.

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