you are my sunshine

Just in the last couple of weeks, Lydia has taken an interest in drawing. Here's a recent self-portrait: She says, "It's me, being the sun!"

She is our sunshine, for sure.

hiatus

In some ways, I am thankful for the effects that the CPSIA has had on my own life, though not for business in general. It has made me pay much more attention to politics. It has brought opportunities for involvement in a delightful online group of people I might not have known otherwise. And it has reminded me that, even when I started out on Etsy, I never meant to make toys forever.

But I am a person who has a very hard time with change, especially sudden change. And changing on the fly, in the midst of an already busy life, is nearly impossible to do well. So I am cutting myself some slack and putting the Etsy and Artfire shops on vacation, at least until the end of Lizi's school year and maybe a little longer. Just to give me some time to finalize the plans I have in my head and make some new things. Just wait - it's gonna be cool!

And a nice side effect of that will be a somewhat lower-tech lifestyle for a bit. Sweet.

planted

Six easy steps to plant a garden:

Appoint guard cat over plants.

Dig up the herbs from last year that you never thought would survive the winter. Put them in pots, because it might restrain the oregano that got bigger than you ever could have imagined. Put pots on back porch so you don't have to run out in a rain shower to cut herbs for supper.
Also dig up weeds, and amend soil a bit.
Have your helper touch up all the places you missed.
Relieve guard cat of duty. Plant.
Water. Done!
At least that's how we do it at our house!

This is: sugar snap peas planted on New Years Day, which are just now beginning to bud; carrots, eggplant, assorted peppers with space left for more (they were out of green bell pepper this morning), and a flat of Better Boy tomatoes (36 plants). Oh, and there's also 3 watermelon plants hidden amongst the peas - my reasoning is that about the time the peas are dying down, the watermelon will just be needing the space.

Did you notice there were no squash?

Mixed bag

I know of many people who are dismayed tonight. But oddly enough, I'm hopeful!

Senator DeMint (R-SC) sponsored another amendment to the CPSIA that would have brought relief to the many businesses and industries suffering under this ridiculous legislation. It failed, BUT:

1) The original vote on the CPSIA was nearly unanimous - this one was 39-58. I call that progress!

2) Both my senators voted Aye - a big THANK YOU to Senator Sessions and Senator Shelby! I will once again consider voting for you.

Take a moment and look at the vote position, and see where your senator stood. Then either thank them for me, or educate them!

And once again, Thank You Senator DeMint!

Today's the day!!

It's finally here - the day of the Amend the CPSIA Rally in Washington DC! And no, it's not an April Fool's joke! You can watch the rally live on Amend the CPSIA, or if your internet connection is too slow for that, the site has other ways to participate as well.