Open for Business

For those of you who don't know, I have been preparing for a few months now to open up an Etsy shop...an online "store" that sells handmade items to folks around the world. I plan to sell some of my crafted items and original artwork in my Etsy shop. In the past few weeks I've been doing some of the necessary work in preparation of listing items for sale. Last night I finally was ready to list my first item.

It didn't really go smoothly. I "lost" the listing a few times...listing an item is a multi-step process and on more than one occasion I lost or basically deleted my listing before I was done. There is also no inherent way to save an unfinished listing and go back to it later. (I found a way later). Then when it came time to upload images, I couldn't get it to work. I hit my head against the wall for a good hour before I came to the realization that it was an Etsy problem and not a Risa problem. No one was getting their pictures up on Etsy. So I saved my work, went to bed very late, and then woke up very early this morning to upload my images.

Viola! My first listing was ready to be posted. My Etsy shop is officially open for business.

I was pretty excited today to see it up for the whole world to see. Tonight I added a second item. In the coming weeks (especially after the Art Crawl), I'll be listing more items.

For now I am listing necklaces that I have beaded. More handmade items and original artwork to follow.

(Pictured above are images of necklaces that are or will be featured in my Etsy shop. Please click on the left side buttons to go to my Etsy shop)

My Day

As a social worker, I spend a lot of time with people; hopefully helping them. Some days my job is just hard. I watch as families struggle to find a way to feed their children and put warm clothes on their backs. I listen as people tell me their life stories...of childhoods spent without loving parents and growing up in foster care. How do you grow up to be loving, caring, protective parents if you never saw how that's done? How do you heal that sort of hurt?

My day is spent juggling compassion, while scrambling to find resources. My day is sometimes being social worker/taxi driver--helping families get to those resources. My day is spent showing parents how to be the type of parents they wished for as a kid. Sometimes before you get to that place you have to deal with all the bad stuff that came first.

I believe in the resilency of kids and adults. I believe in the power to heal from all that hurt and be a better person. I have to or I could never do my job.

But sometimes at the end of the day, I come home tired, discouraged, and for a moment hopeless. I'm tired from being with people and just want time to myself. I don't necessarily want to hear on tv about politics or how the economy is failing. You don't have to tell me how hard a time families are having--I see it every day. I don't need to hear any more doom and gloom. And I don't want to hear a bunch of promises either.

So my evening may be spent escaping in a baseball game or even better, doing something creative.

And then the next day, I'm ready to do it all again.

Ahoy!

Well, I think the Golden Slugger's birthday celebration may officially be over. Friday night we decided to take advantage of the warm weather and drive out to Stillwater. On a whim, we went on the Paddleboat dinner cruise up (or down?) the St. Croix. It was a beautiful night; very relaxing being on the water. And fortunately, no pirates were encountered. It was, after all, National Pirates Day.

The rest of the weekend has been laid back as well. I did a bunch of shopping/errands (lots of stops at Joann's, Michael's and Dick Blick)...and I finished 3 more necklaces.

This last little bit of summer was quite a treat. I think we'll need to savor this weekend for quite a while to come.

Happy Birthday, Joel! My Golden Slugger!

September 8th

I returned to work today after a week off...not a bad day...actually a fairly decent day. Late this afternoon, Joel called me and I answered my phone by saying, "How's the man I said "yes" to 2 years ago today?" Yup, today's the day we got engaged at the baseball game (that story here).

What was nice was that my husband remembered the day and wanted to do something to commemorate the day. We settled on a wonderful romantic dinner at Kincaid's, a St. Paul restaurant we've been meaning to check out. My review--great for a special dinner. And if you go early--between 5-6 pm--you can get a fabulous 3-course dinner for $25.

And just let me say, I'm still tickled pink that I said "yes" two years ago today.

RNC

Police State?

The view at Rice Park--the location of the MSNBC broadcast

Landmark Center decked out for the RNC

No getting past this gate

Just wanted to post a few photos that I took on my walk downtown today to catch some of the action of the RNC...well, what you can see from the street. It's been sort of a surreal event taking place in our backyard. There have been cops everywhere in every form...on foot, on bikes, on horses, and even in the air (helicopters). There are cops in uniform, cops in polo shirts and cops in riot gear. And then there are the Secret Service...some in suits and some with bullet proof vests that identify them as such. Downtown St. Paul is normally a very quiet city, but not this week.

I look forward to a return to normal.

RNC coming to town

The Republicans are heading to town. And I would like to run for the hills. Not purely because it's the Republicans (although that doesn't help), but because I'm tired of this whole convention mess before it even begins. For months here in St. Paul we've heard about how many people are coming to town, what roads will be closed, what businesses will be closed...We've witnessed the banners being hung and the streets being cleaned and spruced up with flowers. It's all nice, but I can't wait for this whole thing to be over.

It's not like the "locals" are encouraged to participate or even to observe. If you want to take a walk anywhere near the Xcel Center, you better be ready to be frisked by a Secret Agent. No thank you, I'll pass.

To be honest with you, I'm a little tired of politics in general. I'm tired of the rhetoric and political posturing. I'm not really interested in debating politics with others either. I know who I'm voting for. I encourage everyone to vote. But I don't want to get in an argument about it. My vote is no more important than your vote...my opinion is no more important than yours. I'm not going to try and sway you if you should think differently than me. I just hope you go out and vote.

Don't get me wrong--I think this presidential election is very important. And I really do care about the outcome. But I hope this election makes this country more unified rather than divided between two candidates.

The very nature of elections doesn't encourage that.

So during the upcoming week of the Republican Convention, don't be surprised if I bury my head in the sand. Wake me when it's over.