Visit my new Maison Celeste store and my E-Bay auctions!! I have very few up at the moment, because I am just recovering from The Great E-Bay Debacle of 2006, wherein I had to admit to myself that my commitments: school, night class, side business, etc. have overwhelmed me. This will be a dark time - and I will probably earn my first negative rating in my sterling 266 positive comment career. Oh, well. It was a good run while it lasted. I finally have sent all but one of my orders out, but I have had a refund that I made for not sending out one order on time. I have another person gunning for a refund, but I don't know if I'm going to grant that one. I guess I need to add a refund policy to my auctions.

Enough of that. I am in testing right now, fun fun fun. I got up at 5AM, after a restless night, to pick up a friend at the airport. She came in on the red-eye from Sao Paolo, Brazil. It was her son that I took to New Orleans last weekend. I offered to pick her up, because her husband had to take the boys to school. For a moment there, I thought that she had pulled a Shirley Valentine (not returned!), because her cell phone was not turned on, and she didn't appear until an hour after her flight. But she showed up after only my third pass around the airport terminal, and we made it to school in plenty of time. I had a PB & J sandwich and two Diet Cokes (breakfast of champions), but I may duck out early. I am on the wierdest sleep schedule.

Last night was a big disappointment as there were no Gilmore Girls. Not even a rerun. I went online and checked all sorts of astrological, numerological, and tarot readings, and pasted them lovingly in my paper journal. It's like the secret room from A Beautiful Mind in there!!!! Not really. But it is pretty busy. Not exactly an art journal, but I do tape things in there.

Yesterday, I taped this message from Daily OM. It was entitled: The Weight Of Objects, Clearing Your Space For Change. This is what it said:

In life, we tend to have an easier time acquiring possessions than we do getting rid of them. Just as we harbor emotional baggage that is difficult to let go of, our lives can tend to be filled with material objects that we may feel compelled to hold on to. Most people are not conscious of how much they own and how many of their possessions are no longer adding value to their life. They fiercely hold on to material objects because this makes them feel secure or comfortable. While it's true that the ownership of "stuff" can make you feel good for awhile, it seldom satisfies the deep inner longings that nearly everyone has for fulfillment and satisfaction. It is only when we are ready to let go of our baggage and be vulnerable that it becomes possible to recognize the emotional hold that our possessions can have on us.

It's not uncommon to hold on to material objects because we are attached to them or fear the empty spaces that will remain if we get rid of them. Giving away the souvenirs from a beloved voyage may feel like we are erasing the memory of that time in our life. We may also worry that our loved ones will feel hurt if we don't keep the gifts they've given us. It's easy to convince ourselves that unused possessions might come in handy someday or that parting with them will cause you emotional pain. However, when your personal space is filled with objects, there is no room for anything new to enter and stay in your life. Your collection of belongings may "protect" you from the uncertainties of an unknown future while keeping you stuck in the past. Holding on to unnecessary possessions often goes hand in hand with holding on to pain, anger, and resentment, and letting go of your material possessions may help you release emotional baggage.

When you make a conscious decision to fill your personal space with only the objects that you need or bring you joy, your energy level will soar. Clearing your personal space can lead to mental clarity and an improved memory. As you learn to have a more practical and temporary relationship to objects, positive changes will happen, and you'll have space to create the life that you desire.

Isn't that perfect? I have been thinking about this for a while. I am in the mood to be ruthless. I want to give clothes away to Goodwill, put already made and any salable things on E-Bay, plan what I can turn into projects for my 8-week course (if it's not too late to propose now!!!), organize the rest of my crafting objects, and wait a little to make anything new.

If I can.

I honestly don't know if I am going to make a deadline to market my Easter bells, although I may put a couple on E-Bay. I could send out an e-mail or card to the Atlanta-Toulouse Sister Cities Committee, but am terrified that I will over-extend myself. There is also a tiny matter of 3000 glittery and befeathered egg ornaments that I need to either unload or make something of. Not to mention, oh, say, 250 chicken baskets. E-Bay!!!!