words of wisdom

Say what you feel and feel what you say,

because those who mind don't matter

and those who matter don't mind.

Dr. Suess

a new nest

May be I did not find my 4 leaf clover the other day but I found this nest . I am taking this as a sign that Cal and I will have good luck in the new "nest" we will be creating for our selves on AZ!!!!

clovers

I am in the desert working on a project . Early this morning I got up and sat in the grass as I gazed at this view . The grass I was sitting on was filled with tiny clovers. It brought me a few moments peace with its shear coolness. While I lay there on it I saw tiny clovers. My thought was does a 4 leaf clover really bring good luck ?Because if it does I would like to lay here all day till I could find one.

The power of the blog

I am here!!! I got in this am with the van. Now to unpack and fit all this into the tiny condo. It is such a relief to have the packing and driving part behind me and I will feel even better when the van is turned back in tomorrow. My to young "20 something" cousins are helping me unload .Thank god for family!!! And god bless them!!! That is the main reason I am happy to be here in AZ .I am so close now to many loved and loving family members . Now to get my beloved sister here!!!

O.K. on to a more serious subject .I REALLY hate to have to blog this. I really do !! But once again feel I must and as you read you will see why. Blogs are like journals and we are kind of our own life journalist . Cal's clients, that have not paid their last bill have taken to reading my blog. Then yesterday through an email to me from their attorney, they have threatened to sue me for slander because I said they have not paid their bill and EVERYONE who reads my blog knows Cal's clients (Question of the day what our the names of Cal's clients ???? ) They have also implied that Cal is addicted to oxycontin because I blogged that after nearly severing his finger weeks ago he was given oxycontin for the pain. I am also being accused of "happiness " because we have moved out of town. HMMMM . I am still trying to figure that one out ?!?I guess they expected Cal and I to stay close by and supply them with a warranty and punch list work even though they had not paid the thousands they owed him and the subcontractors ??? Well, to me" no pay" means "no work" !? I do feel really bad that the clients made the choice over 3 years ago to build their home and then in the middle of the project the housing market fell to one of the worse we have ever seen . I am" guessing " that when the clients started building they had grand visions of the sky being the limit and the house going up in value. The opposite is more likely the case. We our self took a horrible loss on our home sale this summer ... well we really just gave it away for what we owed. Many contractors like Cal have had to go out of business as the housing market has dropped, while building cost have gone way up due to the cost of gas . You can now buy a home for way less then you can build one. Well, all thorough the building process the clients spent freely, gladly paying all along and arrogantly spending on costly change orders and EXPENSIVE re do's, simply because they changed their minds "that stone shipped from France was just not the right shade !!!" or" HMMM we ate out at a restaurant last night and now we want that ceiling." All this when many people in this world would be happy to just to have a ceiling over their heads !!!. I personally find this kind of frivolous action shameful in light of our countries troubles as many have faced losing their homes. So now with the housing market crashed and the clients moved in .The careless spending of their past comes into questions when presented with paying Cal's final bill . They reviewed it and have turned on Cal blaming him for their careless choices . They want Cal to take the finical fall and blame along with many unpaid subs. These hardworking subs dearly need their payments as Cal needs his .Our economy needs them to be paid too so that it stays strong and healthy. These hard workers are the back bone of our country, the working middle class. The sad issue here too is Cal charged way to little for labor and his services and these cost swept him under along with the economic crisis . Cal is a great builder but not so great a business man, and as he found this out at the close of the project it sent him emotionally into the space he is in now. He is doing better but not nearly ready to face the world, Yes, I know most of your might ask , Julie why post this , why ask for more anger from the client !!! Well, I do so to say. I will not retract my post( as demanded ) I will not stop my writing and I live in a great free country that allows me these freedoms . This message is for the clients more then anyone. Beware of the humble working man as we are the back bone of this country. We have a voice .We may not have the funds for big powerful attorneys but we have our voice !!!! And so in posting this I encourage everyone with this thought. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!!!! Let freedom ring!!!!

On a Roll

O.K. So I just finished up my proposals for the new "Adorn Me" retreat planned for march 2010 it will be just a jewelry retreat and sounds so fun. Wish me luck again. You all did so good sending me good vibes last time when I submitted for Art Fest and I GOT IN!! So see me there in Portland Townsend in march and do not forget Sept. 19th in CA at Artistic Affair.... WOW I think I am on a roll ,just like this little guy a made for one of the Adorn me class proposal. I call him "Rolly Pulley" He has been a design in my head for a while. Oh and I am moving this week and back in Santa Fe. The phone company got things wrong (as always, Qwest&#$%^&%$#%) and they shut my internet down too early, so I must run up to the cafe to post and check email all week . But it is really not so bad as I am having a piece of SUPER cherry pie right now. Oh Cal is doing better everyday Yipeee!!!

recharged and Happy!!!!

You know that feeling when you push the little charger into the cell phone port and it makes the little click connection then starts to charge. Well, that was me yesterday at the vendor event at Art Unraveled. I was re charged by everyone that came by my booth, THANKS to you all. I had know idea how many friends I have made in our little creative network and world and It was a day full of visiting with so many friends and making new ones too. It was just what I needed after the past trying months. I am so grateful to all of you . You are all truly the BEST. I am honored and thrilled to all call you my friends . Plus you all helped me confirm that the path I am on is the right one . Now I head this week to NM to pack the house and load the van and say good by . I am ready to say good by and start our new life here in AZ . Last night I also talked to Cal and he is greatly improved. Yippeee and Thank you lord. Good job Cal! He is a brave man to face his problems head on and get help! I am very proud of him . And so my dear friends , I am a happy girl and proud too know you all of all Oh and last but no least a special THANKS to Deb ( my aunt) for helping me in my booth so I had time to visit . Love you GIRL!!

fly away

One of the reasons I love blogging is because it seems that everyone tends to focus on the positive and the little moments of life with post and images. It helps keep life in focus for me . So it is hard for me to blog when I am passing through a rough patch . But I know that blogging has helped me when I see others share their rough patches and then I know "Hey " I am not alone and in turn neither are they . Knowing that the downs in life are normal helps when you look outside your self and see into others worlds. My life the past 6-8 weeks has been just like I am spinning in water going down a drain. My husband Cal hit a very rough time in his life . He was a building contractor .I say "was" as he lost the business in the past weeks. The housing market is so bad that he just could not hold it together, after 35 years in the business. The last client did not pay the final bill on the home he built for them and so that was the final event that sent him and the business over the edge . He spiraled into depression so deep he became unable to do the smallest of functions . While trying to help him I took over the managing and closing down of what was left of his company . I must say I was a fish out of water. I knew very little about this type of business !!! But I learned and I managed to get the job done. Mean while our house sold (yes we passed the inspections!!) and we close at the end of the month to wonderful buyers who will love the home as I have. So I am packing and trying to get us moved to AZ. In doing so I have made many trips between NM an AZ in the middle of all of this .We are down sizing from a 3400 sq. foot house to our condo of 1150 sq. feet. The high stress for me has been my worry for Cal and how will I do everything while still trying to keep my art business alive as I will be the soul supporter while Cal finds his way back to "center" . As you can see by my etsy shop and class cancellations, the thing that fell to the wayside was my art and blogging the two areas where I draw so much strength. A week and a half ago I checked Cal into an out patient clinic for the treatment of severe depression. He will be their for 35 days . He had almost reached the cationic space of no return . I am happy to say when I saw him sunday he is talking coherently again . I feel hope, but it will be a long recovery. Men are physically stronger then women but inside they lack so many of the strengths and emotional insights that we women draw upon .I am not saying women do not get depressed, we do and how!!! It is just that we are lucky to be women and more in touch with our emotional needs . So being a woman I felt that I needed to express this in my blog/ journal . Putting my tough journey of the past months out in the open and therefore one more step towards letting it go. I bet I am not alone in this as I know many of you have hit hard times also with the bad economy . I hope my sharing the losses Cal and I have had will help, those of you who may be going through a similar experience not feel so alone . Sometimes in life we can loose a "safe " lifestyle, but as long as we have not lost our life ,we have not lost the true treasure !! This week I am squeezing in some creative time.... Yippee . I just said I need this!! Oh plus I am a vender for Art Unraveled on Sat. I do have to say I will have MUCH less to offer then I had hoped . Due to our problems , but I am going anyway as I need to interact with the creative energy of those who will be there too. The piece I have posted this evening is based on how I have felt these past weeks. I just wanted to fly or run away from it all .This piece is also part if a group I am doing for Somerset Studio called "One Palette". Well, alas I think the worst is over and the tide has turned.

artistic affair

Hi everyone I just want to announce that I am sooo honored to be invited as a teacher at Kim Caldwell's Artistic affair Sept 18th and 19th . This is a romantic evening vendor event followed the next day fully packed with 3 creative classes and dining !!! All this is done in Kim's blissful beautiful style more then your hearts can even imagine., Come and create ,make and or meet new friends and just plain have fun . I would love to see you there!!! Visit Kim's link and check it out. This is a must "to do" all taking place in the beautiful hills of southern Ca. www.artisticbliss.typepad.com

www.artisticblissdesigns.com