Look Ma, no Hands!!

Blogging just became a little bit more fun! As I write, I am folding clothes, with two hands. How is that possible you might ask? I am using a speech recognition program.

I am fortunate enough to have a new computer. It arrived with Windows Vista loaded onto it. What I didn't know when I bought my computer is that Windows Vista has speech recognition software built into it. When I found out that I had such a cool tool hiding in my computer, I had to give it a try! After 1 hour of learning and practicing, I am now able to write with out using my hands! Well, at least until I need to edit my work.

I am an occupational therapist. Many of my clients struggle with the writing process. As a result, I often recommend that my clients use adaptations to improve their writing abilities. So, I have known for years that speech recognition programs can be very helpful. But I never thought that I would have my own!

Not only does using speech recognition software make writing more fun, it allows me to multitask in a whole new way. Just imagine the possibilities!

Happy Typing!

Summer Sale

It's sale time! All items in my Etsy shop are marked down by 20 percent!

http://treefrogjewelry.etsy.com

What size are my toes?

Why wear toe rings? They're fun! During warm weather when your feet are exposed, toe rings are a fantastic and inexpensive way to express yourself. And they are a lot easier to put on and take off than nail polish!

Toe rings are made either closed (not adjustable) or open (adjustable). Adjustable toe rings can be easier to fit because they can be squeezed tight onto your toe.

So, how do you know what type and size of toe ring to buy? First, consider where your toe ring will rest. Will it have to fit over a wide spot, a knuckle? If so, you might be more comfortable wearing an adjustable toe ring. If not, either closed or open toe rings should work.

Now, how to find the correct sizes for you toes? It's actually an easy thing to figure out. Follow the simple steps provided by Amazon at the link below.

http://images.amazon.com/media/i3d/01/ring-size-finder.pdf

My "Top 10" list of the great things about being Mom

Being Mom can be totally engulfing. As the mother of 4 children, life seems to move at such a rapid pace that, sometimes, I barely notice my family! I have been on that crazy treadmill all spring. So now, I'm going to blog on the great things about being Mom. It's time to focus my mind on my kids for a while.
Here are my “top ten” favorite things about being Mom - not necessarily in order since all are very important:
10. Development - Witnessing my children develop, watching them learn something new and internalize it, is magical. Sometimes I can actually look into their eyes and see the connections get made!
9. Ideas - Sometimes I am floored when I hear some of the amazing ideas/thoughts my kids have. They must come into this life with wisdom already!
8. Love - Being appreciated by my kids for who I am and what I can give them is sometimes breath taking. The simplest gestures can have the biggest impact. They love to do things for me too! The more I give of myself (time, attention, respect) the more they give to me.
7. Values - Seeing my kids learn important life lessons, lessons that will carry them through life, is very rewarding. For example, when my oldest son watched me give a needy man my last $5.00 he said, under his breath, "mom, are you sure you want to do that?" (worried about money). I told him that it always comes back. And 2 days later it did, when an unfamiliar woman put a $100.00 dollar bill on our restaurant table to buy our family dinner! My husband insisted that we didn’t need the money but she insisted. Home run!
6. Self-confidence - Watching the kids test and expand their abilities is awesome. Knowing when to step in and help and when to hold back and wait is the hard part.
5. Compassion - Feeling the love and caring that my kids have for others helps me to know that my husband and I are doing our jobs.
4. Physical comfort - Snuggles, hugs and kisses always feel good, even when the giver wiggles constantly, unable to sit still, or climbs into bed in the middle of the night. My heart fills every time.
3. Talent - When I take the time to really observe what my children can do I am amazed at their talent! My oldest son and my daughter are amazing musicians. And they are both naturals at caring for others (go figure). My third is a fantastic visual artist with an almost intuitive ability to work with colors. And my youngest has always been a master at physical coordination. It's hilarious to watch him dance and make faces!
2. Nurturing - because I am Mom, I get to nurture, to give, to feel love.
1. Fulfillment - Being mom really matters! Even on my worst days my kids can pull me back to what really matters - Love, Gratitude, Faith, Joy, Inspiration. They help me to be whom I need and want to be.

Depression

Depression has won another battle. I spent this afternoon at a funeral grieving for a mother and her children, friends of mine. They lost their husband/father a few days ago. He couldn't fight any more. His depression won. And this is not the first time that I have lost a friend in this way.

Having struggled through bouts of depression myself I know that simply existing can be exhausting. At my worst I simply felt numb, like nothing really mattered. Moving around the house, feeding my kids, answering the phone, I felt as if I was walking through waist deep water. Exhausting.... However, my depression has never felt so painful that I ever considered ending my life, and I hope that it never does.

How do people do it, I wonder. How does a person, living with such excruciating emotional pain, make it through every day? I know that problem solving, planning ahead, just thinking, go out the window when depression takes over. Is that why some people loose? Is that why they don't find the right medicine or the right therapy or the right whatever they need to feel better?

It's not right! It's not fair to their loved ones. My friend was a fantastic father. Now his boys don't have him anymore. Helpless, that's how I feel, helpless and angry. WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN? If I could figure out how to stop it I would do anything that I could to help.

More tears and lots of prayers. Please pray for them all.

We have a winner!!

Congradulations to Lynn at http://www.1000markets.com/users/silverwork You found the tiny little skull on the bottom of my amethyst rock! How it got there is a mystery to me.... Maybe you'll see it now that I've told you what to look for.

Thanks to everyone who played!

Sheryl


http://www.1000markets.com/pictures/0256/2189/Amethyst_Toggle_necklace_5.jpg

Game Time!!!

Thanks to Alyson2 and all of the amazing folks who contributed to the Photography Guide, I spent a lot of time taking pictures last weekend. Then something amazing happened!

I was editing my pics, preparing them for my shop, when I saw something unusual in one of my pictures! It's as if the image is actually part of the prop that I used (hint, hint), but it wasn't REALLY there!

If you can find the unusual spooky image that appeared in one of my pictures, you can choose a pair of my earrings as my gift to you. The first person to respond correctly wins!

When the opportunity presents itself, why not have a little fun, right? Happy searching!

http://treefrogjewelry.1000markets.com/

http://treefrogjewelry.etsy.com/

Fun with Copper

Copper is my current obsession, probably because it is beautiful to look at, easy to work with, and relatively inexpensive. Just recently I learned how to solder several flat pieces together. It's like making a peanut butter and bananna sandwich, except that the flame is the knife. What a cool feeling when the two pieces of metal "squish" together as the solder flows, very similar to smashing the bananna into the bread!
The thing about copper is that it likes to change from copper color to green. It's ony natural. I like bright copper, for jewerly at least. So I have searched and read about how to seal copper, to prevent it from doing the natural thing. So far all of the techniques that I have read about either chip off (like nail polish) or slightly change the appearance of the fihished copper.
If you have any suggestions I'd love to read about them!!

Brain Injury

I had the privilege of attending the Brain Injury Association of Maryland's annual conference last week. What an amazing gathering of people! Health care providers, survivors (as some people who have sustained a brain injury sometimes call themselves), and caregivers were present.

Being able to interact with survivors and their families in an informal setting is so very different from interacting in a health care or school setting. It is humbling to bear wittiness to the Love, pain, and wisdom that so many survivors and caregivers exude. We weren't together to solve someones problem, to need to fix it, or to feel unable. We were all people with a common purpose, to share and learn.

During the conference I was acutely aware of the effort required by many survivors to do the most simple of tasks, such as get to lunch or navigate to the bathroom. As my friend and I were leaving the keynote speaker's presentation (an amazing woman and story - you should check it out - http://kimberlydozier.com ) I heard a voice call out, "I need my wheelchair." Shuffling through the room, surrounded by the crowd of people trying to get to lunch, was a woman, a survivor. I was pulled to her by some unseen force. "Resistance is futile," I learned a long time ago. I would worry about her later if I didn't check. And, besides, I love to help.

When I arrived, the lady ("T") repeated that she needed her wheelchair. So I offered to get it for her. Well that was it for lunch. I never did catch up with my friend. T and I spent the next hour together, me directing her into the elevator (she has a vison problem), her laughing, and then me laughing. We ate with another survivor and they shared stories with one another. I waited on T and she made me laugh. We both got helped!

Incredibly, looking into the eyes of the survivors that I met felt like medicine. I felt my heart swell and my energy level increase. Something about being with the ladies at lunch and the young man in one of the sessions helped me! Maybe being together simply helped me to feel appreciated, something that almost always feels good. And maybe there was more than simple appreciation. Either way, I'm very grateful to have been blessed by such an amazing group of people!

So Sweet!

Mothering 4 kids can be like walking, sometimes running, on a treadmill while reading, pulling up your socks, and blocking the sun from your eyes all at the same time! Rarely does any one person get my full attention. And I feel scattered, unfocused, most of the time.

This reality seems to have the biggest impact on my youngest child. It's very hard for him to get a word into the conversation when his silblings are around. No wonder he gets frustrated so easily!

Tonight he and I were alone at home together and we had the most wonderful conversations! Thomas is such a smart and imaginative person! And boy can he talk. I forget that about him after some time with the pack (we do seem like a pack of dogs from time to time).

Alone time with our kids is SO important! Alone, uninterrupted time with real listening, that is.

Now I remember the innocent happy soul who is my youngest. That should get me through a few more grouchy days with him. Or better yet, how about more alone time to prevent them!

Sick Kid?

Does this every happen to you? Your child was sick yesterday and, in the morning, still seems a little under the weather but is much better than the day before. Do you to push your child to go to school or allow him/her to decide what to do?
This probably wouldn't be such a big deal if I were a stay at home mom (or maybe it would, I don't know). But staying home today means I miss another day of work. It's not the money since I have sick leave. It's missing time with my students and teachers. I feel an obligation to both my family and my students.
I don't want my child, who gets sick more often than any of my other kids, to stop listening to his body. I want him to be his own best advocate. But I also don't want him to take advantage of me and my time.
This is one of the hardest things about being a working mom!!

Spring ~ Easter Sale

Hi everyone. I am having a Spring ~ Easter Sale on my jewelry site. If you want to check it out go to http://treefrogjewelry.etsy.com

Pay if Forward give away!!

Information on my Pay it Forward give away is close to the bottom of my posts. I can't figure out how to bring it to the top so I'm referencing it here. If you keep a blog, make something by hand, and want a gift, you can be one of the 2 people left who will receive a gift from me. Just follow the directions that are posted.

Wolf Rock

Sunday was a family day. The weather was warm and cloudy. Mark and I decided that it would be a nice day to go on a hike as a family, especially since we have been overwhelmed with work and school demands.

Comfortable and safe, we rolled out in our Expedition at about 11:00. As we drove up Rt. 15 the decible level decreased. "Look at the deer!", Mark joked, pointing at a field of cows. "Those are cows, Dad!" Thomas informed us, not getting the corny joke.

As we plodded up the trail (it was almost all uphill for about one mile), there was some complaining. More importantly, though, we heard occasional bits of interest and insight from the kids. Mark and I had the chance to teach our kids why it's important to stay on the trail (to prevent erosion and protect the natural environment), how to walk safely, not run on a trail, and how to wait at a trail intersection for the rest of the group. Since we both have a love of the natural world, it was very satisfying to see our kids practice respect and appreciation for nature.

Wolf Rock doesn't really look like a wolf to me. It looks more like a turle's head with an open beak. The hiking itself was actually pretty boring. If the kids hadn't been complaining and asking the occasional question, it would have been meditative. In contrast, walking along the rock was HARROWING with Sam and Thomas! They had no awareness or fear of the deep crevases that exist between some of the rock formations. Alone, or even with the older kids, I would have been quite at ease. But with my two daredevils, I was a couple of jolts away from a panic attack! Thank God for little arms and grown up hands!!

Eventually Mark took over and everyone was happy! Thomas even learned how to find a foot hold when climbing down a rock!

Following our visit with the Wolf/Turtle, we enjoyed a satisfying late lunch at the Country Kitchen, a wonderful little diner in Thurmont. They served us good food at reasonable prices. And we bought home baked deserts for the ride home!


Thank You for my Family and for Hiking!!

Pictures of the Hike http://picasaweb.google.com/treefrogjewelry/WolfRock#

Doggie Number Two

I know what you're probably thinking but that's not the "number two" I am talking about. In my previous post shared about my encounters with needy animals, most recently a stray dog. At the end I asked the question, "Is this the beginning of a new spring trend?"

Today I met dog number two. While running errands I saw a beautiful shaggy dog, doing what, sniffing a tree of course! There were no people around and lots of cars zipping past him. He was a couple of feet from the curb. So I dutifully turned around, put on the hazzard lights, and got out of my truck. When he first saw me he looked like he might bolt. But when I squatted down and put out my, hand he crept up for a sniff.
Thankfully this boy dog had a collar WITH tags. I called his house and talked to his surprised "mom" who thought he was in the back yard. She rushed out in her slippers, said thanks, and quickly walked him home. Actually, he walked her home.

It seems that dogs are the theme this spring.

Animals out of the blue

There is thing about me that I don't understand but that I accept as a gift, a way to help. For some reason, needy animals find their way to me from time to time. Last spring, I happend across injured birds on three separate occasions. One of them was an injured baby duck that I found crossing a busy 6 lane intersection. There was no water to be seen, and no other ducks. So, I jumped out of my van, carefully crossed the street (which amazingly to me, had no oncoming traffic), and scooped up the quacking duckling. I made it back to the van before any cars arrived!
Dutifully and lovingly, my son Thomas and I transported that little duck to Second Chance Wildlife Refuge (It is a non profit that cares for injured and orphaned wild creatures with the goal of returning them to their natural environments). Because I had already made at least one trip to their center that spring, I knew exactly where to go with my wiggling quacking bundle. It was just a side trip before hitting the play area at the mall.

Well, it's a new year and spring is approaching. Yesterday, Caitlin and I were on a mother daughter shopping trip. On our way from the shoe store we spotted a little white dog next to a busy road. I stopped to hold him, thinking that he had escaped from his walker or home. I didn't want him to be injured! And, of course, Caitlin was smitten immediately!
Spunky (as he was later named by the kids), walked right up to me and let me take his collar. I looked around expectantly but there were no people running toward me saying, "Thank you for holding him!!" And there were no open gates. For that matter, there were absolutely NO people anywhere in sight! So, with a breaking heart, I picked that dirty little sweet boy dog up and put him in our truck.
Caitlin, Spunky and I drove around for about half of an hour, hopefully looking for people and asking questions of those we did see. Noone recognized him. So we took him home, fed and watered him, set up a quiet quarantined space for him to rest, and went about our important Saturday activities. Finally, when the day had ended at 10:30 pm, I realized that Spunky had to go to the animal shelter where he could be given medicine and a really good bath. We would LOVE to adopt him but we already have 4 kids and 2 dogs! We miss him.

Is this the beginning of a new spring trend?

Pay it Forward

I got a pay it forward from this great blog - http://countrygirloriginals.blogspot.com The picture of her kids is SO sweet!

This means that she will make something and send it to me, and I will do the same for 3 other people. Those people will be the first 3 that post a comment on this post. Here are the rules (which I copied from her blog).

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.

2. Winners must post this challenge on their own blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your 3 Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!SO, REMEMBER... Pay it forward!

Studio Pictures

Here is a link to pictures of my wonderful little studio:

http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=67381581252&view=all

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog site! I am starting this not knowing where it will lead. My hope is that using it will help me connect with people who are interested in me, my family, and my jewelry business.
Some exciting news for my jewelry business, I had my first web site jewelry sale to someone who does not know me! Many of my friends and family members have supported me. For this I have been greatful! But, honestly, now I feel like I have "arrived".
Here's my site if you'd like to check it out www.treefrogjewelry.etsy.com