BlueBelle

PLEASE NOTE ABOUT SWAPS IN FEBRUARY: My husband was just put in the hospital with cellulitis. It has been one emergency after the next for me this year. I will get my February swaps sent out, but then I'm taking a break from swapping for awhile- at least until I can get things settled at home. I've been late on all my swaps lately, and I don't want to keep doing that. Thank you all.

I had a note on my profile at the end of '12 saying that my family and I were sick for a month from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and that this set me behind on swaps. Now that everyone's well and I've gotten our lives back on track, I have to write a similar note. This time, the bathroom plumbing in our 107 yr-old house disintegrated. As in, it broke and crumbled at the bath spout, and when we started to go into the wall to fix the problem, we discovered rotted plywood, old pipes, a poorly designed pipe system, and leaks that had been leaking for years, which subsequently rotted the floor and joists. (whew) So everything's torn apart, but no one has started to fix anything yet since we're waiting on estimates for the work. We have 3 plumber/ home improvement contractors who are preparing bids for the work - in stages, so we can choose which parts we can afford to do now and which parts we have to wait to do later. This comes at a GREAT time because I just lost my job. My hubby just filed our taxes. We'll be using that $$ to pay for the bathroom, since there'll be no new loans in my house for awhile. Until the refund comes in and we can finally get the remodeling underway, we'll be going to my parents' house every night to shower. Long story short - please know that I WILL get all of my swaps out! And I will post all my ratings! Thanks very much for your understanding and patience. I hope the rest of 2013 gets better.

I have a wonderful life, and I love it! It's not my intention to make anyone sick from reading this ultra-sappy, sickenly sweet, wonderfully perfect and delightful post, but if you have a queasy stomach, you might want to skip to the next part!) I don't believe this wonderful life was randomly dropped into my lap. It wasn't. I've worked hard to cultivate this happiness. I know how I got myself here, and I will NOT go back to the dark places I lived in before. I fully believe that your life is what you make of it, or what you believe it is. Gratitude is Essential!! And happiness is a choice.

I have been married to my DH (Dear Husband) since Sept. 2002. He's a wonderful, strong, and faithful man. He's saved my life twice, bringing me back from those dark places I mentioned before. The second time, he pulled me out and helped me find help and healing. I don't ever want to let this man down or have him question how much I love him. One of my favorite parts of our marriage began a few weeks before we actually got married. During our pre-marriage counseling, we took one of those personality/ relationship quizes - the ones that show whether you are compatible in different areas like money, family, conflict resolution. Well, we scored 100% on Recreation. We recreate really well together. I guess that means that we're often on the same wavelength and have the same energy level. I love sitting back on the couch with him, relaxing and joking with him about how much I love when we recreate! :) I really mean recreate, like the word recreation, not a code word for you-know-what! You know, hanging out, doing fun stuff we both love, enjoying being together, or even just having an interesting discussion. Really. No hanky panky meant here. At least, I wouldn't talk about it on Swap-Bot!

I have two absolutely beautiful, caring, witty, and intelligent children. I really like them a lot. My son is so kind, selfless, and humble. He has the sweetest heart. But he's not a pushover! This kid knows who he is and doesn't get sidetracked by peers or marketing or whatever. (So much more than could have been said about me at that age.) He enjoys being himself and pursues interests that, while they might be quirky, are completely true to his person. When he turned 13, I told him he wasn't allowed to have any more birthdays because I am NOT old enough to be the mom of a teenager! But he went ahead and kept growing. He's 15 now and a Freshman in High School. He's going through Jr. ROTC and already knows he'll be taking Driver's Ed next Fall. I'm actually kind of excited about him driving. I think it'll be terribly convenient.

And my daughter, 8, brings so much light and joy into my life. I love to laugh with her and to simply spend time together doing Girl-Stuff. We love to do Girl Stuff because it means we will be spending time just her and I, totally focused on being happy together. She is also teaching me patience and steadfastness. If you ever wonder what kind of kid requires a parent to be patient and steadfast, read about the Highly Spirited Child. Really. Look it up.

I belong to a Book Club called the Underground. I love these girls! My favorite book is whatever we're reading for the month. If anyone has a great book they've read in a Book Club, let me know!

We've recently read American Gods, Cry Wolf, The Kitchen House, and Julia's Chocolates. Waiting for our next selection!

Also - I like The Help, Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and Sandman stuff (although it's been years since I read anything Sandman), the poetry of Pablo Neruda, Walt Whitman's Blades of Grass, Clan of the Cave Bear, Valley of Horses, and the Mamoth People (the rest of this series just wasn't as good as the first three), People of the Earth, People of the Fire, People of the River, and more of The First North Americans series, hardcover books with good bindings that can be altered, and craft books with fabulous pictures.

I'm totally into Ralph Fiennes and Gary Oldman. My husband knows he could lose me to either one, but he's OK with it because my chances are pretty darn slim. Can't wait to see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

I recently saw the Royal Albert Hall's 25th Anniversary production of The Phantom of the Opera on a PBS pledge drive. Holy smokes. It left me speechless. The whole production was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. And the actors who played The Phantom and Christine did so as passionately and as artistically as I have ever seen. Ever. Anywhere. I'm in love with The Phantom (who's real name is Erik, which I just found out). I would just die to melt into that movie. I'm ordering it next payday from Amazon.com. If you want to see clips of the show (and trust me, you DO), go to YouTube. Look up "Phantom of the Opera joshmia." Sounds weird, but that search will bring up the very best clips - the ones that show entire songs and not just 60 second bites. You'll know you're in the right place when the first comment is: "Yes, it has Italian subtitles. Deal with it!" Trust me on this one. Go look it up!

I also like The Other Guys, Avatar, The Young Victoria, The Last of the Mohicans, Dangerous Beauty, Anchorman, Elf, Zoolander, the Star Wars movies (yes, all 6), and Hairspray, Hello Dolly, Grease, and Cry Baby because my daughter and I sing and dance to them.

Glee (duh), New Girl, House, The Office, Mythbusters, Deadliest Warrior, 30 Rock, The Pillars of the Earth, almost any documentary. However, I have a 7 yeard old daughter, so I also know a lot about iCarly, Victorious, A.N.T Farm, Shake It Up, Jessie, Spongbob, Kung-Fu Panda Legends of Awesomeness, Phineas and Ferb, So Random, Good Luck Charlie, the Wizards of Waverly Place (I found the ending of the Russo Family Wizard Contest to be pretty cool and satisfying), and Zoey 101. We're also starting to watch Austin and Ally. Not sure if I'll have to leave the room for this one yet. A person can only take so much tween-TV.

Crochet and any kind of paper craft!

NOTE: I WILL TAKE ANY HOMERS. I don't understand why homers are limited in so many of our swaps. Isn't that the whole point of swapping? Filling up FBs, LBs, etc., and sending them back to their owners? I've received a few of my own filled books/ bags and I was so grateful that I want to return the favor.

I also like: Journals; FBs; writing; gel pens; fountain pens; blue ink; purple and pink ink; crochet; humor; learning; whimsy; anything else purple (can you tell it's my fav?); shoes; reading; handmade books; vintage stuff; funny or clever quotes; all kinds of craft stuff - adhesives, printed or textured or cool papers, paint, embelishments like paper flowers, ribbon, buttons, any kind of ephemera, rub-ons, and alphabets; cool images from magazines or old books that I can collage with; anything from other countries; anything that another artist has made; the summer solstice; hot tea in the winter; handmade lemonade; and a cold glass of iced tea in the summer.

I love natural/ nature inspired things like trees, flowers, and all kinds of birds. My fav birds are the falcon, sparrow, and owl. I like my nature stuff depicted both as cartoons and as realistic drawings or actual pictures.

I'm not a newbie to the swap community. Besides Swap-Bot, I've participated in a Round-Robin Altered book group, several other swaps/ collaborations like recipes (the moderator bound all submissions into a book for each of us), tag books, challenges with themes like The Four Elements (that was my favorite one), and a ton of handmade card swaps. I really love this swapping thing and writing to people all over the world!!