Funny how...

Life is a long series of funny coincedences, don't you think? Just when things look their bleakest, out pops a ray of hope to show you that you are not in control, but that someone (in my case God) is watching over your life. In December, I started going to counseling because I was pretty low in the bottom of life's brine. I felt even more depressed than I had normally felt, and at that moment used up and thrown out. My brother had moved last summer taking my nieces and nephew to Kansas, and I had a hard time with missing being with the kids, and the support that Mark and Cheryl had given in caring for our parents. Summer is also very difficult at work, due to the fact that a large part of my job is working with our fuel inventory (I work for a chain of gas stations doing the bookwork) and that gets pretty crazy when the farmers start up their irrigation pivots. The end of June, all of July and August, and much of September is spent up to my eyeballs in fuel bill of ladings, inventory sheets, reconcilation reports, and finally the state fuel reports. I bring a great deal of my fuel work home with me, because most of the time I spend at work is doing books and entering the data on the computer. There are just not enough hours in the days sometimes. So relationship issues, work issues, and just keeping up with life as a Mom, Wife, Daughter, Worker, Friend, Girl Scout Leader, and Sunday School Teacher had left very little for who I am for me inside of me. As Bilbo tells Gandalf in Fellowship of the Rings, "I feel like butter spread too thin over too much bread" (big Lord of the Rings fan!). So I started counseling.
Through counseling, a change in medication for my depression, the support of my wonderful husband and daughter, I have learned to see my life through different eyes. I have just started reading "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne and it talks about the law of attraction to the point that you can get anything you want in your life by applying that law to get it. (I have oversimplified but I did just start the book). So I come to the funny how ... title~I started counseling in Dec., which improved my outlook and self esteem and through an illness I started going to an Ear, Nose, and Throat Dr. Chris was in the bead store one day with me and picked up a flier for the Central NE Bead Show in March in Kearney. My new and improved outlook (and optimistic husband and encouraging friend Carla) got me to enter my jewelry in the design contest. Yes, I went a tad overboard and entered 7 items, but I came out of it with 2 honorable mentions and a better understanding of design contests. Two weeks later, I started this blog, and my Etsy site. The ladies at the ENT clinic loved my stuff, and I was invited to exhibit my jewelry at the craft show in Sept, and Nov. I sold a bracelet to Leslie, whom I have become friends with through Mina and Taylor being friends and Leslie also exhibits her craft work at the very same show I was invited to. My Dr and I run into each other all the time at Wal-mart and last week we were talking and decided to get together to have lunch, coffee, or whatever. So Mina and I are meeting with her and her daughter next week for lunch. I went from being worn down and wanting to be left alone (really the last thing I needed) to being connected and have more friends and blessings than I can count. Well, I am off to bead, enjoy the evening!