Happy Thanksgiving!!

Greetings!

I hope this year’s annual Thanksgiving email finds you all healthy and happy. It’s been quite a year hasn’t it. Filled with so many ups and downs, forward steps and backward tumbles. Good news and bad news. So many challenges had to be faced this year. Childcare, e learning, traffic, teleworking, good wi-fi, finding what you want at the store! The “new normal” is difficult for so many of us. Was it hard for you this year, to find joy? Well, hopefully this year’s email will help you remember…it really is the little things sometimes. It’s the little things that make you smile and laugh. A nice compliment. A good joke at the right time. It’s the little things that make you feel good, like your favorite comfort food or comfy shoes. All those small things that gradually add up to create your day, week, month, a lifetime. Don’t forget to be thankful for those things. Especially during these trying times.

I’m thankful for:

* Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Discovery+ - anything I can stream without commercials or news commentary!
* Cheese
* Funny animal videos - I dare you not to laugh at fainting goats or cats and cucumbers!
* Roasted brussel sprouts! – who knew??
* SiriusXM – Christmas music now playing!
* People who laugh easily.
* The Farmer’s Market at work
* Hyacinths, sunny days, sparkling snow and especially Autumn
* Cheese
* Quilling – hobbies are a great source of joy
* Rummy bears 😊 – gummy bears soaked in rum. Ya ya!
* Handel’s ice cream
* Sparkles
* Vacations – home and away; long and short
* Hobby Lobby – for so many reasons!
* A heated garage!
* Cheese – did I say that already?
* Marvel superheroes – the world needs more good guys, you know, like Thor!
* Good stories and their story tellers
* Crockpots
* Ice on demand

I am profoundly thankful for another cancer free year for my mom and husband. Every day, I'm thankful for my job, friends, more than I need, dependable transportation, a home, good health and my family. Wacky, challenging and difficult at times, but all mine. I'm super thankful that my sister-in-law has been there to look after my brother. She's remarkable!

I'm grateful for everyone that came out to support me at my very first arts and crafts show! 

Every single day I'm thankful for my husband of 32 years. His funny side and patience really keep me going sometimes. He's my huckleberry and he always has my back. 

I've felt loved my whole life. I'm pretty lucky.

Life is good.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

ME!!!

Soooooo, you know I love quilling. I wish I knew why. Maybe it's just because I can create something pretty in just a couple weeks. Also, the colors are endless. Oh! and the possibilities are endless. I mean, I think you could quill just about anything! And there are so many different techniques. Also, very unique.

That's the first thing. Next, I've been kind of artsy crafty my whole life. So the other thing I've always wanted to try, is to sell the things I make. Wouldn't that be cool?! To think, a stranger would want to spend their money on something I created!?!?!?! That's so crazy to me! I think I've mentioned this before, but when I walk around art fairs, I can honestly appreciate the time and skill someone puts into their art or craft but you really have to be different and stand out for me to stop and actually look at you stuff. Could I be that different?

Since I've been quilling, I've never seen anyone at one of those art fairs that does it too. I'm not sure why either. Anyway, a few years ago I attended a local arts and craft fair and actually saw someone who did quilling. She did some jewelry and decorated some boxes. They were cute but....it really inspired me. I thought, I could do this. And my stuff is WAY better! I talked myself into it. It's small, about 2,500 people attend this fair. And the booth space was super cheap. Only $70. Some art fairs are $200+!  

Also, this was a juried art fair - which means you have to submit samples of your work and be selected by a jury to participate. So I entered and was accepted! Holy smokes! So, for TWO years, I built up an inventory. It sounds like a long time but I do have a fulltime job after all. The last few months I've really put a lot of pressure on myself. I've been scared, petrified, excited, nervous, worried, nauseous, felt like crying, not sleeping. It's been awful! Mostly it was just the thought of having to talk to people. Strangers. Ewww. And what if I didn't sell anything??? What if I did??? OMG!

Well, last Saturday was the day. My sweet, wonderful husband was such a huge help. Besides just being supportive and encouraging, he really helped me. He made all my picture stands. He helped me pack everything up, ran errands with me, the list is endless. Love you honey!!

So there I was, in my little, gigantic 10x10 space. And guess what? It was a huge success!! I did it! I put myself out there. Out there to be looked at and judged!! Ugh! People, strangers, loved my work!!! It was only open for about 20 minutes before I made my very first sale. Then, I was busy all morning!! I was stunned. I wanted to cry again because I just couldn't believe it! SO FREAKING AWESOME!!!

Whew. I didn't realize though, how tense I had been all day until after dinner. Then I started to feel like I'd been hit by a truck! Geesh. It really wore me out. I feel like it's going to take me a few days to recover from all that peopley crap. But I did it! Hooray!!! Fairly certain I won't do it again but man!!!!! I did it!!!!!

The United Stats of America

Did you see that series? It was a 2012 limited TV series. Really, really fun. It was 6 episodes of the best statistical information. Narrated by the Sklar brothers. Very entertaining. 

We watched a couple episodes last night, for the 2nd time. I love the 2nd one, Moving On. All about where people live and the influence of 7 inventions that moved people out.

For instance, did you know that 99% of Americans live on only 8% of the land?! No wonder cities seem so crowded! 83% of Americans live in urban areas. 

But what influenced how and where we moved?

* The first invention that moved people from the east coast, west, was the railroad. 

* The next invention that influenced where we lived, steel. The steel frame of a building. What used to take up 16 city blocks could be crammed into 1 building. In Chicago, 13,000 people live in every square mile! Whoa.

* Which led directly to number 3 - the elevator. Now buildings could be even taller.

* Number 4 is the automobile - which moved us out to the suburbs! 

* Number 5 is the highway! A direct route to wherever the city was.

* Number 6 is air conditioning! Now we could move farther south and into places like Arizona, where 168 days a year are over 90 degrees! 

* The last invention that influenced where we lived? The airplane.

See? Wasn't that fun!?

Collecting

Some people call collecting things, hoarding. Like me...I "collect" Christmas stuff!! LOL My fella would probably say, that's hoarding. :-) 

That's not really what I mean though. I mean having a collection of like things. I used to have a pretty extensive collection of Beanie Babies. Now, I have a small collection of Funko Pop. Does that really make me a collector though? I mean, I'm not on the prowl for them or anything. Some people have a really HUGE collection of movies or music. Oh! Bee happy things!! I totally collect those 😃💗 

I read a fun article this morning about how "collecting" became even more popular during the pandemic. That makes sense. 

Psychiatrist Shirley Mueller recently told Smithsonian Magazine, during times like this pandemic, “Collecting provides solace and structure, and ways that we can still be productive doing something we can enjoy.”

So what are the hottest collectibles? According to this national online survey at LifeStorage.com, the top 10 list is:

1. Antique furniture
2. Vinyl records
3. Comic books
4. Coins and currency
5. Classic cars
6. Trading cards
7. Dolls and toys
8. Stamps
9. Wine
10. Fine art and jewelry 

I would question that...classic cars? Really? More popular that trading cards? Because I'm pretty sure that more people can afford trading cards than classic cars. Still, collecting things is a fun hobby.

tell me again, what time is it??

 Here we go again...getting ready to change our clocks, for FOUR months. Ugh.

You know I hate that. Did you know, that your State can opt out of Daylight Savings Time and just stay on standard time? But it takes a literal act of Congress to stay on Daylight Savings Time. I don't understand. Please, somebody, explain that to me. What difference does it make?? IT'S STILL THE SAME AMOUNT OF DAYLIGHT!!!! OMG! I don't think DST is that big of deal. Honestly, I would rather be on standard time. I bet most parents feel like that too. It's hard to get your kids to go to bed during the summer when the clock says it's bedtime but the sunshine says otherwise. And I would rather have that sunshine on the clock, during the winter when the weather is so gloomy anyway. Either way though, just pick a time!!! Good grief! 

It's really ridiculous in Indiana. We should be on Central time but lawmakers chose Eastern time so we would be the same as NY. whatever. BUT, not all of Indiana is on Eastern time! The northwest corner is on Central time, to be like Chicago. And the southwest corner is on Central time, to be like Louisville. For the rest of us, it's like living in Alaska during the summer! 

Stop it already!!! (I'll be back in 4 months to complain about it again!)

Timelines vs the U.S.

The first year of the Jewish calendar is 3761, BC. The year of creation, according to the bible.

5,781 years ago. Five THOUSAND. Yep.

The first day of the Maya Calendar was August 11, 3114....BC. That's 5,134 years ago. 

Moses gave the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people in 1240 BC. 

That's 3,260 years ago.

The Roman calendar started in 753, BC.

2,773 years ago.

Siddhartha Gautama, founder of Buddhism, was born in 563, BC.

2,583 years ago.

Alexander the Great conquers an empire that stretches from Greece 

to western India in 334, BC

2,354 years ago.

Construction of the Great Wall of China, began in 221, BC

2,241 years ago. Construction continued for over 2,000 years.

Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by John in 27, AD.

1,194 years ago

The Colosseum, built by the Emperor Vespasian, opened to the public in 80, AD.

1,941 years ago.

Year one in the Muslim calendar is 622, AD.

1,399 years ago.

Marco Polo begins his journey to China in 1271, AD

750 years ago.

Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the world in 1577 (to 1580) AD.

444 years ago.

The first permanent English colony in America was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.

414 years ago.

The Seven Year War, from which Great Britain emerged as the world's dominant power, 

ended in 1763.

258 years ago.

The Revolutionary War ended in 1781.

240 years ago.

The Continental Congress ratifies the declaration by the United States of its independence from Great Britain, in 1776.

245 years ago.

Construction of the U.S. Capitol began in September of 1793.

228 years ago.

Napoleon invades Egypt in 1798.

223 years ago.

Delaware became the 1st State in 1787.

234 years ago.

The Louisiana Purchase was made in 1803.

218 years ago.

Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959.

62 years ago.

The city of Damascus, Syria, is believed to be as old as 10,000 BC. 

St. Augustine, Florida is the oldest city in the US. Founded in 1565.

I posted this because I was thinking the other day about how young our Nation is. 

I thought about it because I was listening to some commentary on the radio about how hard it is to find things to buy that are "made in America." It's been difficult for a long time. Then I thought about everything Americans contributed to the WORLD. What we invented, what we industrialized, what we built. It's really amazing. Now, we let everyone else do it for us. Is that ok? Other countries have always relied on imports to have what they want. If the US is going to do that then we better be good at something else. We're so arrogant as a country. And bossy. And self serving. I mean, who do we think we are anyway?!?! Babies. Oh, I like to believe that we are still caring and generous and good, at heart. But holy cow are we  dysfunctional!!! It's easier to see now, why there is such a lack of good old American pride. I don't think we know what we're supposed to be proud of. 

Here are the top 10 countries in the world;

#10 - Netherlands

#9 - Sweden

#8 - United Kingdom

#7 - New Zealand

#6 - United States

#5 - Australia

#4 - Switzerland

#3 - Germany

#2 - Japan

#1 - Canada

Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/overall-rankings

How they were ranked: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/methodology