Mr. Dragonfly

Hanging outside this past Saturday, William came inside all excited and said that a dragonfly has landed on his finger and just sat there. When he went to come and get me it flew away. I told him dragonflies will do that. About an hour later, Will and I went out in the pool. He said the dragonfly was still hanging around. We started looking at it. When we got close to it sitting on the plant, it didn't move to fly away. I told William to watch it while I went to get my camera. When I got back, it was still sitting there and William was talking to it, trying to coax it onto his finger.

The dragonfly wouldn't go on his finger again but didn't fly away either. William felt sorry for it because his wings looked like they had been through the ringer. Then William asked me what dragonflies eat. I told him I wasn't sure. He asked if it would eat a Cheez-it. I told him I didn't know. He asked if I would go in the house and get him one, just so he could see.

Here he's trying to coax the dragonfly onto the Cheez-it.

Here the dragonfly is crawling onto the Cheez-it.

And what do you know, he got the dragonfly on the Cheez-it. The dragonfly sat there for a few and then took off. It didn't go near the Cheez-it again, but as Will and I were in the pool, Mr. Dragonfly kept us company. He would flit from plant to plant or sit on the cool decking in the shade.

Now, this goes back to the tribute book I'm making because the man that the book is about was an avid fisherman. It just seems symbolic because I'm doing this book, then the thing with the mailbox and now this dragonfly hanging around my house. All coincidence, probably, but it makes you wonder........

What do you believe happened????

I don't know if it's fate, or karma, or a higher power but something unexplainable happened to me last week. I only thank goodness that my son was my witness because if I had to explain that it was something that only I witnessed, people would probably be calling me crazy. I'll do my best to explain....here goes:

Last week, I took a phone call from a woman looking to do a memorial/tribute scrapbook because her husband has just passed away. She asked if the store took on projects like that. I told her no, but that I do it personally so I got her number and we made a plan to meet and discuss her project. I met with her last Thursday. Her husband's funeral was only a week prior so she still had all her pictures out to go through. During our visit, I was overcome with sadness for this poor woman. Her and her husband had only been married for 26 years and she misses him so terribly, it was just written on her face. She said that since he loved to fish, they were going to have "Gone fishing" put on his gravestone. She then began to cry. She said if she just told herself he had gone fishing and that's where he was, it made it more bearable for her. I reached out and hugged this woman. This woman, whom I never met before, who just needed a shoulder and she allowed me to hug her. I also got misty but she snapped out of it, so we continued discussing the book. You have to admire someone for finding the ability to go on when part of your life has been irrevocably shattered.

So, that's the back story. Well, that same night, Will and I were out walking the dog, like we always do after dinner. During that time, we check the mail. I still can't explain what happened. I put the key in the mailbox and William told me to wait. He wanted to check the mail for me. I put the key in, took my hand away, and before William could do anything, the key TURNED BY ITSELF! IKID YOU NOT! If William hadn't been standing there and witnessed the same thing, I would say I'm crazy. William looked at the mailbox, looked at me and said, "Did you see that?" Yeah. I checked the box, which was empty and we walked, fast, home. On the way, William kept asking me, "Did you believe what we just saw?" I couldn't, it was too weird, too movie-like to believe it could be true.

Now, I am a Christian (Catholic) and I believe that somehow, this woman's husband was letting me know, that he appreciated me being there for his wife and doing this project for her. In thinking about the project, I just said a little prayer. I said, she's going to love the book and I will make you proud. I just have such a good feeling about this project now, like it's been blessed or something. I know that probably sounds creepy or weird, but it's true.


I also have a friend whose husband is a mailman and he said there aren't any springs in these locks for the key to just turn by itself. Things that make you go......hmmmmmmmm..............

Christmas in July

The store I work for, the Scrapbook Barn (yes, I am shamelessly plugging them) had a 12 hour crop event on Saturday the 31st of July. It was called Christmas in July to help crafters get ideas and prepare for the upcoming holiday season. Preparing for it was difficult for me because I personally don't start thinking about Christmas until October....but once the event was here, I had a lot of fun.



Picture of Jen, Wendy and myself. Jen is one of the owners of the Barn. My dear friend, Wendy, used to work at the Barn and is now starting a new venture as a business owner. Her and her husband Bill now own Unique Pages. Check them out at uniquepages.net for more info.




One of the crew on the left is Patty. She's an amazing designer and teacher of all things heritage at the Barn.
On the right is Janna. She is our rep from WeR and was on hand to demonstrate the Cinch machine.



Our other fearless leader, Teresa, taking some of our crafters through the steps of a make and take.

And here's Melissa teaching one of the make and takes.

Here we have Crystal helping our crafters check in.

The crop went from 9 to 9 and everyone had a great time. Sorry I didn't get any pictures at the store. Charly, Lori, Becky and Rhonda held down the fort for most of the day while the crop was going on. The crop was held at a different suite then the store. The next one is being held on October 23rd to celebrate the stores 11th birthday. You'll have to wait and see what kind of theme it will be....but it'll be super fun! Thanks for looking!