WHERE DID THE HOW TO'S GO? WHERE DID I GO?

For those of you who have followed my blog, you know I am prone to an occasional mishap now and then...well, frequently ha! I'm so very sorry that I inadvertently blocked my How To's page. I was working on a test blog page and instead of setting that one private, I didn't notice I blocked the How To's instead.

I am happy to report that the How To's page is now back up and fully accessible. The link is located at the top of the left side margin.

I want to thank those of you who have emailed me about my absence. You are darlings for thinking of me. I'm very sorry I was not prompt in replying.

Once, when a couple of my favorite bloggers vanished without a word, I felt concerned, confused and frustrated not knowing what had happened. I do treasure my blog mates and have always taken much pleasure in participating in the various blog parties. So many of you have been so kind to take time leaving me such wonderful and thoughtful comments. So for these reasons I feel compelled to explain my abrupt absence.

I guess it's easiest to say things haven't been going too well. Generally, I bounce back fairly well. But this time things have been...difficult.

My son started college, most of you know the drain on expenses that can be. To make it more challenging, the week before my son was going to move into his dorm, my position became another unfortunate statistic in this declining economy. I woke up one morning and "poof" no job, no severance, nothing.

I haven't had the heart to tell my son; I didn't want to spoil his college experience. He was so excited and had so much fun getting ready to move into his dorm. Moving day was wonderful for him, it was great to see him so full of hope and joy.

In the midst of all that, my mother had a slight episode that caused us great concern for several days. This was then followed by the news that her sister, who is 3 years her senior, passed away. I will miss my wonderful auntie very much.

All the while, I was hitting the job market very aggressively. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to compete with 20-30 somethings. What is laughable is it was hinted to me by one 30-something human resourcer that my age was a hindrance. I guess he thought he was doing me a favor. ha!

It is true, when it rains, it pours! I'm afraid I didn't handle all this very well. I was overwhelmed and became a sad puppy. I wallowed in self-pity. Then one day it occurred to me how foolish I was to carry on so. We all have our own burdens. There are so many others who have it so much harder and have lost so much more than me.

Now I have a renewed hope. I continue to search for another position and in the meantime I've worked on my prototype and filing for my patent. At this point, my prototype is finished and I have a few manufacturers in mind; now I need to get my proposal together and find an investor would be interested.

More importantly, I have my treasured loved ones close to me. Their love, support, laughter and companionship means everything to me.

I realize that it is time to let some cherished pieces go. So I've been coding my own ebay template. I decided to use the same background I'm currently using on this blog page. I hope the listings comes out nice. I'll post it when I get something up.

So you see dear hearts, my glass is not half empty, but in fact, half full. I have much hope and am determined.

Again, thank you so much for your concerns. I cherish all the wonderful, caring, and thoughtful people I've had the privileged to become acquainted with through these blogs. To those of you that I've let down, I am deeply sorry and hope to make up for it soon.

Fondly,