seasons

pictured: new items up now in neverfeltbetterbyjen.com. i am contemplating doing a holiday show down in sacramento, just a couple weeks after we get down there. it is called indiesacramento and i hear it is hoping to go monthly. i think i can pull off the short notice, and i could use the extra holiday money for sure. what is also sure is that i am batshit crazy for even entertaining the idea, but still i have to give myself props for thinking i have the brass to take it on right now. my mind is over burdened with not only *regular* run of the mill life stuff, but this looming out of state move: you would think that would be enough on my plate. i take comfort in that you never get handed too much so you can't carry--and that brings me to my ailing mom. she is getting sicker and sicker as each day passes. she is not a candidate for a much anticipated and needed kidney removal, and her scans came back with more cancer, more cancer. that is pretty much that is all i have to say about that--to go into the feelings and pain we are all experiencing would take a novel.

reading, reflecting is helping me. i fully recommend a classic--death and dying by elisabeth kubler-ross. right now i am finishing death is of vital importance. that was a gift from my mother in law when my best friend passed away suddenly 5 years ago. and such a gift it really was and still proves to be :)

time for time

wow--i have been neglecting this blog! so much has been going on, but i have felt utterly uninspired to but words to screen. well, that and i have just been basically overwhelmed to the maximum but what else is new? :) i am feeling some relief from my thyroid issues--we tweaked my meds and i feel a whole hell of a lot better on this dose than i have in months--many many months. i feel the brain fog lifting, i am dusting off my planners and my watch...just little indicators that i am getting back to normal. my november calender is staring at me to my right...two weeks from friday and we will all be crammed in our van and a uhaul making our way back to california! i saw the weather this morning and there is already snow in the mountains and i am kinda freaking out about that but i will reserve the total freak out closer to the real date. it looks like snow chains on both vehicles is in our immediate future to get us over that pass. {{shiver}} i am NOT looking forward to that!!!

our new house is going to be awesome, though. a beacon in the fog of this whole move. it is HUGE. cute kitchen...great backyard. i am utterly grateful to my awesome friends for making that happen. and the outpouring of offers to help in any way shape or form is awesome too. i have some ass kicking friends in sacramento i am stoked to see in the flesh again, and i am saying 'aloha' to some ass kicking friends here i know i will see again. it is bittersweet all the way around.

in NEVERFELTBETTERBYJEN.COM news, i am gratefully holding off on any type of advertising blitz for the holidays. no, i need to get personal stuff taken care of and focus toward the spring. i have enough stock for regular sales but really don't have the time or energy to put forth for A LOT of custom work or wholesale. next year it will be a different story but for now i am not beating myself up a whole bunch.

i am still making and listing new items, my fingerless mittens have sold some and pendants are still a good seller for me. i have introduced a different style of pendant, the glass tile version of my soldered vintage fabric jobs. i am doing some more magnet sets-those have done well for me in the past and i had a request not too long ago. so, all in all things are pretty good in the NFB department. i get a straggle of sales on etsy, but my website is where my real business will always be done. i have noticed that sales are twice the "$15" average sale on etsy, as well. when i get everything together i am going to do another ad and try to get out there as much as possible. sacramento is a whole new market for me, and since there isn't much going on there--i am thinking the bay area will be it in all reality. i am pretty stoked on seeing my city by the bay again! :)

our target day for the move is november 21, and it will take a few days to get down there. wish me tons of luck, and i do the same for you. we will get through this holiday stuff together! i just know it.