How the Immature Deal with Death

Hi everyone!

Wow, what a sucky couple of weeks this has been...

Anyhoo, want to know how an adult with the mentality of a 10 year old deals with death? Escapism! Well, of a sort anyway. Since Toot and Zippy won't take me up on my offer of taking my car and going to the zoo by themselves, life is still moving forward, no matter how much I want it to stop and wallow with me.

So I've been taking what small private time I can get and play with my dolls. Yes, you read that right. And no, I'm not crazy. Well, I am crazy but it all balances out. Taking pictures of my dolls has been a solace for me recently, a way to get out of everything, at least for a little while. :)











I could keep going but I'll stop...for now. :) You're welcome to visit my doll Dolly Flickr anytime! Toot does:



What has helped you in times of sorrow?

Goodbye

My brother died today. I was with him until the very end and am thankful to have been able to be there.

I don't have too much to add as I attempt to wade through this storm. Thank you for your thoughtful comments and e-mails during this time. They have meant so much to me.

Thank you.

While He Sleeps

My brother is dying tomorrow.

I don't blog a lot about my problems or bad things that happen in my life. It's not because I want to seem like I have the perfect life or that I'm the perfect person (I think my recent craft fails can attest to the fact that I'm not). It's because I like using my blog to showcase the sweetness life can bring. I also want you all to think of this blog as a "safe place" where you can come to be entertained, even if it is at my expense. I enjoy making you laugh or at least bringing a smile to your face with my snarkiness.

But I can't snark my way out of this one and I'm lost. I have one brother who is younger than me. He's been dealing with some form of addiction for what seems like his entire life. A result of this has been seizures that the doctors have not been able to cure. We're not sure exactly what happened, but on Monday afternoon he was found by the side of the road.

As far as we can tell, he had a seizure and collapsed, resulting in a severe head injury. Since Monday night he's had three brain surgeries. This morning they removed part of his brain and skull to help with swelling but he's never woken up or been responsive. The doctor told us today that he has less than a 5% chance of survival and even if he does make it, will more than likely be in a vegetative state. They're giving him another 24 hours and tomorrow morning we have to decide whether or not to let him go.

He's been in pain for so long. He's been so unhappy and everything has been a struggle. But he has the sweetest spirit of anyone I know. He loves the hardest and he's the first to forgive. I don't want to lose him. I don't want to say good bye.

But I also don't want him to hurt anymore. I want him to be at peace and be happy. But it sucks. I'm hurting so much right now. And I don't have the luxury of curling up into a ball and shutting it all out. I've got babies that want to be played with and don't understand why they won't see Uncle Ty anymore. Some moments I forget and everything feels normal then it will hit me, that I won't see him anymore, I can't talk to him, I can't do anything.  Has it really only been two days?  How can there only be 5 stages of grief? It feels like I've already been through 20.

Is this post making any sense? Probably not. I don't want to do this. I'm sorry. Please don't feel like you have to leave a comment. I just had to put this all down before I explode. I feel like there's no where for it to go.  I've been to the hospital and said my good byes.  I wish he was able to say good bye back.

How to Save Your Stickles

Hi everyone!

Today I want to get real with y'all and talk about a cause close to my heart. This is a serious issue and if we don't do something about it now, future generations will be effected by this horrible disaster. I'm speaking of course, about glitter waste.

Wasting glitter happens when you sparkle up a project, try to get the leftover glitz back in a container and it goes all over the place. The average person will end up frustrated and just wipe up the excess glitter and throw it away, only to end up finding glitter in unexpected places for weeks later. (This happens because glitter has a strong will to live.)

Some people give up on loose glitter and move on to glitter glues*, like Stickles. When I first started hardcore scrapbooking, I discovered Stickles and it's like the Heavens opened up, a light shone down and the hallelujah chorus started to sing in glittery harmony.

But then Stickles betrayed me. They would run out and leave a teeny tiny bit in the bottom of the squeeze bottle, never to be seen again...until now. It's time to free the glitter!

Once your Stickles stop coming out and seems pretty empty, curse at it for a while, especially if you need more of a particular color and now you can't finish your project. After that, squeeze it for all it's worth (that's what she said) and then finally, give up. Take your trusty scissors and cut the tip off at the base:

Take up your scissors again (they work so hard, don't they?) and stick the pointy end into the hole (I swear I'm not doing the innuendos on purpose):

Then just push up on the scissors and the base will pop right out!

Now just grab your brush (another trusty employee) and brush those Stickles around to your heart's content.

No more glitter waste and the universe makes sense once more...

I hope this helps you on your quest to make everything around you sparkle. Your children's children's children's children will thank you. Remember, we're doing it for the kids.

*BTW: What's up with glitter "glue"? It's not like you use it like a glue because then the glitter gets covered up, totally negating the point of having glitter. Why wouldn't you just use regular glue?