PSA

I don't feel good. Hive Girl is making a recovery - although she still has hives. My oldest teenager has worn me out. Last night was the latest round, and because I wouldn't allow him to go outside - at 9 pm, 20* outside - to meet with a kid who just got out of juvie (and is a well known drug user/dealer), he flipped out. He pulled a knife on himself - and every time I would say he could not go meet this nefarious punk, he would cut his wrist.

Before I get a bunch of comments and email about what a horrible parent I am, let me make this quick point: he's been diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar. We've been in therapy since he was 2 1/2 - he's almost 17. He's been hospitalized 7-9 times in the psych ward. I have to call the police on him when he becomes violent. I've been through this with him countless times - and the "cuts" he was making on his wrist were extremely superficial, most not even breaking the skin like a scratch would. As a former paramedic, I know what the laws are...as a current mom, I know what needs. That is not said to be arrogant - this is just so cyclic with him, I know how the ordeal works. I also know what calms the situation down...and what escalates it.

I didn't mean to go off on that lil' tangent...but I really don't want a bunch of comments/emails saying he should be hospitalized, he has issues, etc. I'm already aware of these things - remember, I've done this dance for about 14 years. And I've done it all on my own - not like I had his father or a husband involved, or to lean on.

So...he's worn me out. I'm sure the stress is what's gotten me sick...but I feel something akin to something really rotten. (I'll spare you the mental image I was going to paint - I don't want anyone spitting Corn Flakes or Diet Coke on their screen. Or having nightmares.) I'm going back to bed.

Before I retire to the Royal Rubber Room (aka master bedroom) of Castle Crazy, I wanted to share something I feel is important. Most of my buddies who read my blog, write blogs themselves. While checking out Mama Asid's ENTREPOD blog today, I came across an informative post. "How bout a Lil Bad Behaviour, Honey" should be required reading for anyone running a website - whether you run/own a domain, write a blog on Blogger or Wordpress, or program websites in any form or fashion.

Mama Asid, aka Re, is a wonderful person - with talent coming out of every pore she has. She's a talented BadGals Radio Wonder Woman, podcaster, amazing blogger, wonderful website designer, and just all-around "more smarter than me" - especially in reference to running great websites that are clean, informative, tackle interesting issues, and frequently updated. Basically, she's the Super Woman I aspire to be. I have no idea where she gets all the hours in the day - or how she's learned all this stuff...but she has. Plus, she has a heart of gold...and she shares all this knowledge freely. Awesome!

Read the post I linked to. I'll admit I don't fully understand it - but I'm smart enough to know it's important. I've followed her advice - and in the spirit of wanting to help and protect my blogging buddies, I think it's worth your time and consideration, too.

That ends my Public Service Announcement for the day. Go about your business...I'm going back to bed. I apologize in advance for not sprinkling this post with pictures. You can find a beautiful picture of a flower on Re's post I pointed you to.

xx,

Wanna Win a Flip? The Video Boss & Patina Soul

Yeah, so do I. I only wish I had one to give away. Ok, so I really wish I had one of my own to tell you about.

Since I don't have one - or have one to give away - here's the next best thing: I know someone who does. His name is Nate Hines and he runs an interesting blog. All you have to do to enter is click on the picture of the Flip below, and enter. What could be easier??

By clicking on one of my links to enter, you're also giving me another chance to win. He's actually giving away two Flips (one to a random winner and one to the person who has the most referral entries)...and I would actually flip to get one. Seriously. You help me to win the second Flip by clicking on my link, and once I receive the Flip, I will post a video of me flipping. Just for your enjoyment. (And enjoyable it will be, since I haven't done a flip in at least 20-25 years!)

Once you've entered, you'll be tempted to stick around Nate's site and check things out. Nate has some great articles on his site - I learned what ThumbVu is. If you're a website owner or blogger, you should be interested in it, too. He also gives you some tips on how to "Promote on Facebook". I like that he does this in video format. 

I've been taking some classes from Andy Jenkins (The Video Boss) about why video gets more viewers, completes more sales, etc. His newest video classes focus on helping you to make your own video - and each session he does is jam-packed with information.

So there ya have it - my two PSAs for the week. You're sure to be the court jester if you don't enter to win Nate's Flip Video. What are you waiting for? Go to Nate's site and enter. Then, when you have a few uninterrupted minutes and want to absorb some fabulous information (in an entertaining way, no less!), head over to Andy's site (The Video Boss) and learn why "Video GETS MORE Money than ANYTHING". I'm usually not into stuff like that at all - but Andy makes some great points and really is entertaining. (Not to mention I think he's kinda hot, too.)

And one more quick note...have you been to Patina Soul? What a blog!! Not only is this blog gorgeous, but there is a massive giveaway going on. You have to act quick, tho - it ends tonight. I'm sorry! I just found out about it like 2 minutes ago - but it's too good not to pass on to you lovelies.

Thank you for all your well wishes about Hive Girl. She has almost morphed back into the Princess. I'm still on pins and needles - but her breathing is under much better control. The hives are obnoxious (she was diagnosed with chronic urticaria) - but not life-threatening. I'll post more about the condition in the future.

I actually have several exciting new things to tell you all about...and I will - very, very soon. Promise.

xx,

Google Thinks The Queen Sucks

Right off the bat, let me say I'm confused.

I looked back at my blog, and I have well over 100 comments. (I have many more than 100, but I'm too lazy to count them all.) On around 250 posts. According to Google Analytics though, I suck. And I'm awful lonely.

I've checked my stuff on GAG (Google Analytics Gauge) several times over the years. I never get any information. There is always some issue with my blog that prevents GAG from reporting. I always dutifully fix whatever issue GAG claims, only to remember to return a few months later and find another issue. This has been my relationship with GAG.

 

After reading Nanny Goats in Panties today, I was curious what some of the search terms are that people use to find my blog. I turned to my trusted nemesis GAG to figure it out.

Apparently, according to the figures displayed (rather largely) by GAG, my blog has enjoyed a sudden popularity, although it's a bit confusing when looking at the raw data. You see, to this point The Queen Speaks (um, the name of the blog you're currently on) has never had a visitor. Ever. My statistics have remained at zero. They haven't budged. It has been the one thing I could count on in life.

Surprise! While checking GAG this morning, I was shocked. Stunned. Amazed. The Queen Speaks (that's the blog you're on, remember?) has enjoyed a sudden surge in visitors. This little ol' blog has gone from a record low and high of zero, to SEVENTY-SEVEN! I'm not kidding...look:

Isn't that impressive? Just don't look too closely at the top half of the screen shot - it says all my stats remain at zero. I was very excited by this news. It was like learning all the voices I hear aren't coming (only) from my head. Until I looked at this page:

How can this be? I just had a surge in people finding my blog - a whole 77 of them! How can I be down 100% - when I started with nothing? Wouldn't I have to remain at nothing - or get less than 0 visitors - to fall 100%?

I'm so confused. I don't know if I should have 77 thank you notes engraved, or bring back the black veil in anticipation of my 100% drop.

On a side note: I apologize for not responding to comments and generally being rude lately. Remember how bad Hive Girl was? Of course not - I had no readers. (Does that mean I also made up the comments?) The reaction she had when I originally posted was nothing compared to the latest go 'round.

As of Friday, she went into full anaphylactic shock. She almost died. We now have an epi-pen that she cannot go anywhere without. We are going to see an allergist/immunologist this morning - I will post more about it tomorrow - but please keep your fingers crossed we figure this out. Even with the epi-pen, there aren't any guarantees. I'm pretty unflappable - just look at my children. They scare me but haven't run me off...yet. However, I am really scared about Hive Girl's condition.

xx,

One Lovely Blog Award

I'll admit it...I'm a horrible blogger. A terrible blogging friend. An inexcusable award poster. (Award poster? Somehow that's one thing I never saw myself as...a poster. I've known for a long time that the childebeasts were poster children for good birth control, but me? I wonder what I would say as a poster.)

Sorry.

There is this most incredible blog I read - Candles, Crafts, and Whatnot. The author is Kat, a woman with a heart of gold and a treasure trove of talent. She's incredible in so many ways - and maybe that's why I put off accepting such an award. I don't feel like I deserve it - especially from someone like Kat. She gives me something to aspire to, someone to emulate, and her talent provides me with a creative jolt. I absolutely think the world of her...even though she probably hates me for taking six eons to post the kindness she bestowed upon me!

Not only does Kat run Candles, Crafts, and Whatnot, she also keeps another blog - Soy Wax Candles. Both blogs are equally interesting - and both have a wide variety of information. Candles, Crafts, and Whatnot is a great place to go if you're looking for a laugh - Kat's sense of humor really shines on her blogs. Whether you're looking for interesting information or a good laugh, this lady has you covered. Definitely a daily must read!

Thankfully, Kat has included a link to her ArtFire shop on both blogs - and it's a great place to see her latest pieces. For example, check out this incredible necklace. Don't you just love it??

 Seafoam Necklace - Kats Candles

If you want to see more of Kat's gorgeous pieces, be sure to visit her ArtFire store, Kats Candles. You can view her delectable creations - and this is the place to pick up some of her gorgeous handmade items for yourself. Kat has done a fabulous job of making her offerings very affordable - without sacrificing quality or beauty.

Now that you know a little about Kat and her wonderful spirit, her creativity, and her tremendous talent, you can see why girlfriend has accumulated a whopping 30 awards. WOW! I will get on with the rules of the "One Lovely Blog Award".

Kat explains the rules like this:

Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Not an easy accomplishment! I've already gotten the first part done, so it's on to naming 15 other blogs I've newly discovered. That's the hard part...but here we go - in no particular order...

 

 

Thank you so much, Kat. I accept the Award with gratitude - and please know that my inability to get this posted has nothing to do with the way your kindness touched my heart. I'm just a terminal dork. I can't help it.

** Please note: If you aren't on this list, it doesn't mean I don't love and adore your awesome blog. The rules of the award state you must include recently discovered blogs - and you can only have 15. I could have named many more phenomenal blogs because each of you is special, amazing, admirable, and wonderful. I chose these blogs based on the ones I've found most recently, then kind of whichever I came across first when I got to the group of great blogs I found about the same time. **

Creativity, Organization, & Lesley Riley

The bead shower (mentioned below) prompted me to get online...to relax and catch up on some blogs. A brief exchange with the amazing Lesley Riley had me visiting her website - a site I hadn't fully soaked in before.

Lesley's creative space/studio has given me such a boost. Frequent readers of my ramblings will already know I finally settled on taking over the living room to carve out my studio. I decided on the living room mostly out of necessity...but due to the move, it's a mess. More of a mess than I would like. (At least it isn't as bad as it was in the infamous blog post I did a few weeks ago!) I will admit (only to you, my dear loyal subjects) that I really need a medium-sized warehouse in order to be fully organized and have room to work.

Instead, I live and create much like everyone else - crammed into every nook and cranny possible. However, much like Lesley, my favorite place to create is on my bed. I don't know if it's the yellow and periwinkle walls I painted, before carefully stenciling morning glories around all the walls...or the randomly placed bees, dragonflies, butterflies, lady bugs, etc I painted and stenciled all around. It's bright and I'm just comfortable in there. Even though I've tried to "force" myself to work downstairs by moving my desk down there...I still carry stuff up to my room when I'm serious about working on things.

Back to my point...I see all these studios/creative spaces in magazines that only serve to depress me. Am I the only person in the world who lives amongst disorganization and kids? How do people find time to create when they are constantly putting things away in perfectly lined up spaces? (And how do they remember where everything is?) But seeing that someone as phenomenal as Lesley Riley creates similarly to me, had a great effect on my attitude.

I thought I was all alone in my creative chaos. That everyone else created in quaint rooms with organizational equipment costing thousands. Then I thought maybe my disarray is due to me undertaking too many realms of art...fabric, jewelry, paper, soldering, book making, etc. But why limit myself just so I can be "organized"?? Yes, I get frustrated when I spend part of my limited creative time looking for supplies...but if that's the price I have to pay in order to play in multiple creative realms, then ok. I'll be ok with that.
Here are some articles about studio organization if you're interested. I've decided that until I have a professional come in and put things in a pleasing arrangement - that I can actually keep up on my own - I'm going to be ok with a little funky mess. If you aren't, try these articles for tips.

eHow on organizing art supplies
eHow article on studio organization
A neat blog, Collage Contessa, with some tips
Ideas from Noadi's Art Studio (cool polymer clay artist)
Suite101.com - always some helpful info on different topics
Quilting Arts ideas - I want Beryl Taylor's studio...or Misty Mawn's...or Virginia Spiegel's...or... :)
And one more
(You can easily find tips by Googling "organized studios" or similar phrases)