gruskal

I live in Sandwich, Illinois. It is a small rural town, with lots of farm land. Even though Sandwich is a small town, it is fairly close to Chicago, Illinois - about 60 miles. I am married and have two grown boys and two fun loving Dachshunds.

*** 08/01/2018 *** It was a long and challenging year, since my last post and the changes that happened throughout the last year continue. I've started back up a couple of times this year and always look forward to swapping. Some of my recent interruptions have been typical with aging parents and some have thrown me (and my anxiety) for a loop.

Will be off of here for a while. Heading down to see/help my Mom. Last week, she had a hip replacement "removal" to put in a new hip replacement. There had been a "recall" on the type of replacement they used. It is much more difficult to take one that has been in for a while out then to put one in. The surgeons expected her to only be in a wheelchair for recuperating about 2 weeks. However, because of the extent of things they had to do, she cannot use that leg for a minimum of 8 weeks. It's been more painful as well.

Just returned from a short weekend away to attend my niece's wedding. It was beautiful and fun but there are a number of family dynamics that made it a stressful time prior to the wedding.

My 92-year FIL moved in with us late last year.. He's been in fairly good health and is pretty easy going, so it's the best of a BIG change in our house. We are still trying to workout the dynamics and find time to ourselves. We recently had to make the decision to cancel a special vacation for our 10 year anniversary.

In the meantime, my younger son moved out and lives fairly close by. He's doing very good on his own although during the summer he has to be at work at 6:30 (up by 5:30) and he has always had issues with oversleeping. Mostly because like many his age he doesn't go to bed when he should. For him though the added problem is sleeping through alarms because he doesn't wear his hearing aids to bed and he also doesn't hear his cellphone ring. I've made him text me every morning and if I don't get a text by 5:45, I'm usually headed over to pound on a window to get him up. While it has only happened a couple of times, he can't afford to loose his job and the mom in me wakes up to look for the text. He goes back to second shift in two weeks !!! I'm hoping when school is out next summer, he will have a better routine and I'll get more sleep.

*** previous posts at the end ***

I love to do many things and try something new all the time. I have just started making cards with stamps, inks, glitter, embossing and more. I also make stationary and note cards, with homemade envelopes and started writing penpal letters. I also love to take pictures and learn all new technologies.

On a sunny 75 degree day - I usually enjoy it out on the patio with a great cup of coffee and chocolate of course. I also love going to concerts and small parities with close friends and family.

ANY Postcard to make it a fun mail day.
(Note: I prefer NAKED and Stamped, unless it is a swap of many PC's in an envie).

It is interesting to learn about each place as well as get beautiful or fun pictures. I love mountains, fall scenery, dogs, horses and really anything in between.

• Historical buildings
• Museums-
• Cafes - any coffee cafe
• Churches
• Victorian/Vintage Homes
• Nature - all types of outdoor photos
  • Mountains, Waterfalls, Sunsets, Winter, Spring or Fall
• Animals - I love dogs and especially Dachshunds. ** I have two dachshunds that we rescued. Olive and Truffles - they are so much fun.

So I have always had a love of Office Supplies as long as I can remember. When I was dating my husband, he bought me a bag full of Staples and Office Max like items, for my birthday.

-Paperclips
-Push Pins..in rainbow colors :-)
-Pens
-Pencils
-Highlighters
-Notepads
-Notebooks -Post-it Notes
-Label Sheets
-Tape
-Glue
-Stickers

noun pl. ephemeras or ephemerae 1.mayfly 2. a.an ephemeral thing b.ephemeral things collectively 3. printed matter (as theater programs, posters, guidebooks) meant to be of use for only a short time but preserved by collectors

Origin of ephemera Modern Latin ; from Classical Greek ephēmeron: see ephemeron

I've always loved the items below. I had no idea, until I joined swap-both that it was called Ephemera and who knew there were so many others that have similar interests.

-Stationery
-Calendars
-Newspaper/Magazine Articles
-Maps
-Photos
-Stamps
-Envelopes
-Greeting Cards

I will always pick up a good romance (Nicholas Sparks my favorite) or legal thriller (John Grisham and more)..have read so many can't ever put them down.

Now I love a lot of non-fiction especially memoirs.
The New Cool - about robotics competitions Memoirs of a Geisha, Eat, Pray, Love. Steve Jobs

I listen to all types of music and have it have it going all the time. There is nothing that helps my mood like Music. I've used Pandora for two years and have just recently switched to slacker.com for streaming.

An endless list Adelle, Elton John, Coldplay, Five for Fighting, Lifehouse, Michael Buble, Parachute, The Script, Train, and so on. I've seen Sister Hazel enough times to be considered a "HazelNut". I listened to classical Bach, Bethoven and more, while growing up. It is still so beautiful.

I love Sundays with Sunday Morning to start the day and 60 Minutes to finish it.

Other fun favorites - Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, Private Practice, Smash - oh and hooked on American Idol - thank goodness for a DVR - otherwise it would take to long.

I will always send my swaps out. If for some reason you don't receive my swap in a timely manner, if you could let let me know before rating me. With other postcards swaps, I have noticed that it does take a while to get to Russia and a few other countries. If the swap package or postcards, for some reason don't make it to you, please message me and I will resend.

Previous Posts: *** 04/01/2017 *** I haven't updated in a while. The holidays were busy and it took through January to get back to a normal schedule. February I decided to get a license for substitute teaching and applied for a very part-time position at the library.

While waiting on feedback for both of those, the end of February brought tragic news. A very close friend of 17yrs. died in a car accident. This has been very hard to deal with. Most of the time having crafts/swaps help me get through things but with this I just haven't been able to focus.

Two weeks ago, I was asked to sub. So I did my first day of substituting (7th grade Lang Arts). While the kids were surprised the teacher wasn't there, it went fairly well. They just tried chatting a lot and moving around after attendance. I was happy to be there helping out the teachers. I've always given teachers a lot of credit for doing what they do and this proved it - hats off to you full time teachers :-)

Then this week, I was offered the job at the library. I will be working at the circulation desk. I've done one day of training and loved it. I've always wanted to work at a library and I live so close I can walk.

I'm heading back to the craft room here and there. I've been in touch with my friends mom and daughters and we are helping each other move forward.

*** 10/3/2016 *** I'm current on outgoing swaps and should be caught up on rating. I will be on vacation until mid-October. If I receive something, while I'm away, please know that I will rate as soon as I return.

So we've been planning a cruise (my first ever) with my Mom and Stepdad for almost a year. Now that the time has arrived, so has hurricane Matthew. We are all expecting to make our flights to get to/on the cruise. The cruise is along the northeast coast and up to Novia Scotia. We are anticipating some rainy days while stopping at ports throughout New England. Hopefully, rain will be the worst of it.

*** 07/30/2016 *** Back in the craft room :-) OMG did July just fly by. My brother is doing very well. He graduated from a walker to a cane and doesn't need a lot of added help anymore. We were able to attend my husband's nephews wedding last weekend in Newport News, VA. It was a quick trip overall, but the 15 hours on the road made it seem a bit longer. We love road trips, so we had a lot of fun. Would have liked to stay a bit longer, but it was a heatwave of 95-99 degree days, so we headed back.

*** 07/03/2016 *** Hold that thought on more crafting/swapping time. On 6/22/16, my brother fell when he was getting off of his roof. The ladder went right out from under him. He fell directly on concrete and broke his pelvis in 3 places. Given all the other things that could have happened, he actually was very lucky. Once he was released from the hospital, my husband and I and my son are helping him. It will be a 6-12 week recovery time for the bones to heal. We are very close and luckily live very close, so I am glad that we can help him as much as he needs.

*** 06/14/2016 *** Back to swapping :-) Received #happymail today and getting ready to do/send out some swaps and sign up for new ones! It was a busy May/early June.
---Returned from Portland and a whirlwind trip to the Pacific Northwest of Washington with my older son. Both the scenic views of the northwest coast and Portland were amazing, while getting to vist with my son. While in Portland, I met a fellow swapper in person. It was a first for both of us and we both had a great visit, shared crafty ideas and actually shopped at a craft store and antique mall.

*** 05/30/2016 **** Back from Florida - my FIL is just about ready to move into a new place now and my SIL will be there to help. Some of the major tests results for my Mom came back with good news! She still had to have surgery and is now recovering. I leave soon to see my older son in Portland, so I'm not in any new swaps (missing them). Getting caught up on my incoming mail now.

*** 05/15/2016 **** So while I had expected to be unwinding from work and figuring out my "new normal" post retirement, some unexpected things are happening... My 90 yr old FIL sold his home and needs our help to find a place and get ready for the move. Around the same time, my mom called with unexpected health issues. So we have headed to Florida to see our parents. The packing is in progress and we find out more about my Mom tomorrow. I'm taking a break from swapping until I really can unwind-hoping for positive outcomes in both cases.

**** Big Update 04/15/2016 ***** After 32 years of working at various places in Information Technology (aka:IT), I have decided to retire. It was a big decision since I'm a bit young for full retirement..there are no benefits from work regardless of age and I'm still too young to qualify for Socsecurity/Medicare. But my husband is a bit older and we are able to make due on his benefits. Work had become very stressful, so choosing to do with a little less in order to enjoy life more became the better option. I plan to remain active on swap-bot and look forward to more time crafting and meeting people with similar interests.

^^^^^ My favorite time of year is the Fall and this year it started out with some family visits. My FIL stayed with us in September for two 2 weeks and he celebrated his 90th Birthday with us. We enjoyed showing him our home town and attended the Sandwich Fair, visited Starved Rock State Park, did a cookout and my husband's sister came to town to celebrate as well. My FIL is amazing for being 90 years young.