looking at the past to conquer my future

most here who follow me already know that my husband, daughter, dog and myself all live in my childhood home with my parents. it's been tough, we're all adjusting constantly, yet we are all thankful to be here.

my childhood room pretty much looks the same. it needs to be re-arranged, to suit our needs better and yes, i need to go through my childhood years up to college memories.

this morning as i was getting ready for the day, i saw a plastic envelope and in it were drawings of mine and some valentine cards i received in the fourth grade. among these items(mainly my drawings were about horses, go figure) i saw the one that you see here. it's a coloured pencil drawing that apparently i did during my art class at the firehouse gallery under the instruction of juanita.

i did this in 1979 when i was just 6 years old.

as i looked at it and felt how i pressed down hard on the paper, i can see that for a 6 year old, this is quite an amazing drawing. sure there are many out there that did better at a younger age, but for me i was amazed. and my mom and dad were too, enough to save it.

just last night i was reading my latest free subscription to Inc. Magazine. i have no idea why i'm getting this, i'm not being charged, but lately, it has become a favorite periodical of mine. why?

the articles that were in this latest issue really hit home for me. there was one about not lowering your prices for adding more value to your services. you don't want to cheapen your products or services.

another about a woman photographer who owns a few galleries that only sell her work. her photographs sell up to $30,000 each. she was worried about having to shut down or cut back on the hours her galleries were opened.

these latest articles aren't on the site now, but you can read the latest issue at your favorite place to hang out, or hide, like borders or barnes and nobles. i used to go to the one in burbank across the street from ikea before i had my daughter. first i'd hit ikea in the early morning around 9AM and have their awesome $1.99 full breakfast. then afterwards, go across the street to B&N and have a starbucks and read the periodicles.

so today i fianlly uploaded my new and improved website:
http://www.deirdreryan.com



i'm really happy with how it came out! it was a lot of work and i think it can use some improvements. a website is like owning a house, there's always something to be worked on.

i added new features like a way to search my stock photography through photoshelter and an email form.

i've had a really rough couple of weeks here, both physically and spiritually. this is why you have not seen me here in a while and for that i apologize to all who are following me and those who graciously choose to place their ads here.

so on that note, here's my list:

-my daughter
-my husband
-my family
-my friends
-my dog
-new migraine medications
-facebook
-my church choir members
-finishing my new site
-Inc. magazine (you know those signs that we hear about all the time? well getting this particular issue at this point in my rough days was unmistakeably A Sign).
-my new and wonderful dentist to help me with my painfully new TMJ symptoms that i didn't have before.
-finding little treasures of my past
-having the funds for COBRA this month
-technology
-a warm place to rest my head at night
-my midday naps
-windy weather
-library books

say good night gracie :)