February um....Where Did You Go? And can You find March?

March 20, 2012.

I swear I have no idea even where February went, and now March is more than half over.  I feel like Rip Van Winkle and I just woke up from a long winters nap.    I mean, I know what I have been doing and spending all my waking hours on, but it is like Spring already!  How can that possibly be when I am pretty sure that I missed Winter, you know while I was sleeping and all.  But in all seriousness this is a list of sorts of what I have been doing:

Traveling The Globe....actually just the State

I swear I have never traveled this much in such a short time in my life.  I feel like I have been living out of my suit case since around October, with trips back and forth to the Bay Area to trips around the state.  I am not complaining, I just keep singing the OneRepublic song Good Life:

To my friends in New York, I say hello 
My friends in L.A. they don't know 
Where I've been for the past few years or so 
Paris to China to Col-or-ado 

It has not been all fun and exciting jaunts around the country, many trips have been soccer tournaments and a business trip (oh wait...that WAS all fun!).  I have found just packing alone takes a lot of time, and some of it has been time away from my family.  So, with that...blogging took quite a back seat.

Lots of Research & Little Remodeling

We have lived in our  home for a little over seven months, long enough for me to know what I like, what I don't like and what I "OH MY GAWD I can't live with for one more day!".  I won't bore you with the laundry list of remodeling projects, but it has turned into an overwhelmingly long list.  The hiring takes time, the purchasing takes time and more time is invested in convincing my husband to PLEASE help takes even more time.  

But most of my time has been doing research on what, when who and how we will do all these projects.  Not shocking to anyone, but the getting bids alone takes a small village to coordinate with schedules.  I am not one that enjoys that much research.  I kind of, no wait I KNOW what I like and that is all there is.  I am enjoying poking around Pinterest for ideas, but really the site is just a plain time suck until I decide to make a cupcake tower made to look like a Disney Princess.

The other problem I have is I am....wait for it...very impatient.  Everything takes twice as long as expected.  Everything. I have a soft spot for little Ms. Verruca Salt in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factor, "I want a pony NOW Daddy!"  No, seriously the worst part is waiting and then waiting some more.  I am trying not to get too impatient though....that would be the old me, the one who just started tearing down parts of my house without a plan or a prayer (true story).  

Licensing Art.....Best Part of Being Busy

Most of my time has been spent on this larger than life....well not that big, but still big project.  I mentioned earlier that I met a wonderful woman in Atlanta and came to find out we could collaborate on a project together.  A five minute conversation on the bus to the Atlanta Convention Center has resulted in her signing me to create a large number of product lines for her company.

I designed a line of products for her company, frames, mirrors, wall art, clocks - all new and all very very tough for someone who has beeen working on 6 x8 tiles for the last 9 years.  I think in terms of "Jane's Room" and how can I wrap my designs around the tile.  It took a leap of faith for the company to take a chance on me, but I am super excited too see the final results.  Samples are being made in Shanghai as we speak and I am soon starting another line of products.

Of course with licensing (like I know what I am talking about) these won't be available till 2013, so as excited as I am I need to just sit back and wait and see what happens.  I am optimisitc, but more realistic.  I have listed or blogged more than once things that never came to fruition and almost amazing opportunities.  I have a really good feeling about this opportunity, which means either I am getting less pessamistic or I am too old to worry about it. 

Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere. 

                                                                                                                                                        ~Glenn Turner