I don’t have a regularly scheduled “Girls Night Out”, (which I am thinking now I should). I don’t work outside the home. I rarely have adult contact throughout the day, (the husband doesn’t count). Most of my free time is spent at the studio working out, running outside, showering (a long, hot one) or playing Legos. So, this weekend when my scrapbooking retreat came I was so very excited. I have been on two already this year, but this one was different. I was going out-of-town for it.  I was attending a Cool Crops Scrapbooking retreat. Staying at a hotel, meals being prepared for me, and coming back to a bed that had been turned down and ready to go.  Oh Yes. I was thrilled. Not only would I have almost 3 free days of no cleaning, cooking, letting the dogs out, feeding said dogs (and cats too), but I would be able to embrace my creativity. But, in all things “Joy”, nothing goes as planned.

Creativity amid Chaos seems like it shouldn’t work. And when things started to go awry on my retreat, I thought it was hopeless. Boy was I wrong. For starters, no sooner did I arrive in Maine, the husband called to let me know that Landon needed to be picked up from school. He was complaining of a headache. Normally, this wouldn’t have been such a big deal. However he has been complaining of headaches for over a month now. We even had a headache chart the doctor wanted us to fill & monitor. So, of course I am a wreck. Then my neck & shoulder started to throb. Numbing pains shooting down swiftly. It would make me lose all my feeling in my hand (writing hand no less) and mess up each time it did. Then my tooth started to throb. Friday night I felt like someone had stepped on my jaw and broke it into a billion little pieces. I contemplated leaving Saturday morning. How could I concentrate and create masterpieces when my mind was obviously all over the place.

A call to my dentist for a prescription, a trip to a local CVS and lots & lots of caffeine, I made it  through the weekend. And, honestly think that because I had to concentrate hard on not focusing on the pain & what was going on at home, I completed my most pages ever- and some of my favorite ones as well. The moral of the story is: when chaos takes over your life, embrace it. You never know how it can affect you in a positive way. Sometimes it’s best to just “roll with the punches”……. Or my favorite saying, “When life gives you lemons, you make Margaritas”!

~Namaste~

-HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE PAGES FROM THIS WEEKEND-

Please excuse the terrible quality of the photos- as my son cracked my screen on my Ipad…..Boo 🙁