Well...hello, it's been awhile...

 

It's been almost a year ago that my "life event" occurred.  My dear husband of 34 years passed away from an illness, and my life took a sudden turn.  My charmed life of a wife, mother to 10 beautiful children and grandmother, now looked different. I was physically alone and making all the decisions.  Facing challenges, duties, and mundane items that I never had to bother with prior to this event. Notice, I said "physically".  I thank God that I serve a Lord that has promised to never leave me or forsake me.(Hebrews 13:5) But still...it has been a year of adjustments...change...and just struggle.  But, slowly one learns what one must do and as Elisabeth Elliot used to say  just "Do the next thing..."!  This simple advice has carried me through the long year and for that I am grateful.  

So many of you have sent cards and letters of love and precious thoughts.....I have so appreciated this.  I tried countless times to answer them...I did manage a few attempts, but I still have several letters that I wrote...never sent.  Finally I submitted to my relegated season of life  and focused my attention on the immediate, the necessary...life.  

I still face new challenges (who doesn't?).  I now use  youtube , not just for pleasure, but how to fix items around the house, and if that fails...I call a professional! But the sun still comes up, and I find myself falling peacefully into bed each night.  Thank you Lord!

All this to say...I hope to get started with letter writing again.  So, first things first...my desk!  This is where it all happens, so I want my supplies at my finger tips...and whatever inspiration I can find.  (More on that later-- it's still a work in progress) .  So here is a picture  (sorry it was taken at night) of my desk as it stands right now.  Leave a comment below if you have any questions about my set up.  Also, if you love your desk and find it to be a happy place for you, tell me why in a comment!

Check back later this week to see my outgoing snail mail!

Happy Snail Mailing.

Pam

Pen Pal Kit

The Real Life Of A Letter Writer

Real or Perceived?

This my dear friends, is REAL.  I am terribly behind....AGAIN on letter writing.  I could give you all the sad details, you could hear me bemoan my bad habits,  but short and sweet, I over commit, then become mentally exhausted,  my creativity is drained, then you guessed  it, no letters are being written.  But life seems to get one corrected  in one way or another.  My life's correction came by means of my husband being  very sick.  Changes needed to be made in my life so I can focus on him, and so I did.  Not only does he benefit but I've noticed a huge change in myself, more relaxed, rested...and I've noticed that I can look with REAL interest in that pile of letters.  

Perhaps that is the REAL reason letter writing has been on the decline the world over?  Are we all just too busy with life that we are mentally drained and can not focus on the quiet , thoughtful repose of letter writing?  It seems to be  a definite link for me.

Now, not to get too serious here....I thought I would interject my perceived  (Romantic) ideas about letter writing. We have 4 desks in our home, two of them being mine.  This desk sits in my bedroom.  It is very small so in order for it to be productive, it must stay clean.  Ha, ha,  That is a difficult task for me, but I do tend to keep it neat.  This is my "Pinterest"  perception, in other words, what I want you to think goes on all the time.

And here is my my REAL  "work horse desk".  I love the fact that I have a large area to spread out and get...messy.  But I first must get it clean, so that I can think.  But, it doesn't stay that way for long.

Before you know it , it looks more like this.  I really do get messy, but there is a method to my madness...most of the time.

Sheryl sends me the most gorgeous cards made from her own photographs.  She uses Shutterfly, but I'm sure there are others as well.  It's a great idea if you are a  photographer like she is.  

Finally,  I wanted to share with you the little Pen Pal Information sheet that Sheryl sent in her last letter.  Isn't it great?  I love the homey hand- made feel.  It is so simple yet it covers all the major questions.  I have made some copies of this and have started sending them out.  I plans on using the completed forms  putting them in a binder.  On the back side I hope to put a log showing when I sent or received from this pen pal.  It should be very helpful.  I hope that those who I send it out to WILL send it back, completed.  

Must get back to Letter Writing.  If you have written...I am getting to yours.  I have already written 7 letters and hope to get at least that many over the weekend.  Thank you for your patience.  

Clean that desk, and get writing!

Pam

How Did I Live Without these? and... Clean Desk Club

Do you like making new discoveries?  I do!  I just found this "Little B" washi tape for the first time.  I found it at AC Moore.  The packaging is really sweet in that it has a cutting tool in the cut out.  Just like a tape dispenser...clever!  The two in the middle  are so pretty.  The gold is all metallic, a nice thin strip.  The multi colored  also has metallic elements.

The picture does not do  the tape justice...the  tape here has beautiful jewel tones with a splash of metallic...so pretty when the light hits it.   I can't wait to use it.  Should it be called "Stain Glass Window"?

Here in Virginia, the leaves on the trees are beginning to morph into a dizzying array of spectacular colors...Oh, yes.  Virginia is Beautiful in the autumn!  Why not share the beauty by sending some fall colors in your mail?  I have been using these  leaves as enclosures  or "tuck ins" in the pages of my letters.  The packages on the left were purchased at the Dollar Tree (they look and feel so authentic...you would think they were real!)  The Spritz brand is from Target , more expensive, and not as nice as the cheaper  Dollar Tree find.

A nice touch ! 

And, I just thought I would send you a picture of one of my writing desks.  Haha...it had been a mess.  (According to the Side- Tracked Home Executives--remember that book?)   I am a "pile-er" not a "filer" until I am forced to !  Ugh, a trait I am not proud of.  So I am happy to report to you  that I am in the good graces, once again, of the "Clean Desk Club". Yay!  What about you?  Do you struggle to keep your desk  at the ready for letter writing?

Then there’s the joy of getting your desk clean, and knowing that all your letters are answered, and you can see the wood on it again.

-          Lady Bird  Johnson

Write Letters.

Write Often,

Lady Pamela