Mountain Girl Silver - Hand-Stamped Customized Silver Jewelry - Portland, Oregon

Without my Loosha in the passenger seat.  That being said, she really is my first ‘real’ dog…  Yah, I never had dogs as a kid, my dad hated them, as he was a technician for Westinghouse when he was a wee lad, and got bit, chased, scowled and barked at by dogs… so he never really was a big fan.  Then,, when I was in the Coast Guard and during my tour in Illinois, I figured I was grounded for awhile, meaning, not at sea, so I decided to get a siberian husky. That had to be at the top of the list of the lamest decisions I made during my youth.. maybe not at the top, but pretty damn close. I failed. …    So when Eric and I got married, or before rather,, I KNEW he was a dog person, and he KNEW I was a cat person.  But a coupla years ago, I opted to go out on a limb and get him a puppy for Valentines Day.  And that’s when Loosha was saved..  we saved her. Actually I did a lot of research on breeds before deciding. He grew up with labradors, I always knew that if I ever got a dog I wanted a weimaraner. So I searched and found a litter of lab/weims. A good mix…  

And yah, not being raised with dogs, my patience wears thin with the crap she pulls. Eating butter off the counter, or freshly cooked bacon…  raw bacon… rotten bacon…  pilfering thru the recycle bin for the last little tidbit in any given yogurt cup…… finding it shredded to ribbons in the basement…  ice cream sandwich wrappers are her favorite…  and I buy cases upon cases of ‘flossies’… a high end treat for dogs… if you have dog, you probably know what I’m talking about… 

But she is such a good dog, and she tries so so so so hard to be good. When she’s begging at the table, all it takes is a glance her way, a little tid bit of eye contact and she looks away, she will lie on the ground defeated, knowing that she was caught, and will continue to wait patiently for just that little bit ……  and she’s one of those dogs that can catch flying food in the air…….  mid air….     I love her so..

So in this picture, she’s waiting in the passenger seat of my bug, knowing that we’re soon headed down to Heather’s house to drop off the days load of work, anticipating that 10 minute window that she can play with Ruby, Heather and Christopher’s dog.  It’s her favorite thing to do….   She’s my co-pilot. She goes EVERYWHERE with me…  the front seat is her seat… I’m surprised she doesn’t know how to buckle the shoulder strap……  I heart my Lu Lu Ski …

It’s been a bit since I’ve blogged…. and quite honestly, that’s simply because it’s MOTHER’S DAY…   Ummm… Yah,,, Mother’s day is almost as busy as Christmas for Mountain Girl Silver. My neighbor, who is building this GINORMOUS fence in her backyard asked my opinion on how to trim her lilac bush yesterday, and whilst we were down the hill, me taking a look at it, she asked,, “So.. how are you doing?? How is business?”   and I told her that I’m feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment and that I have to take breaks during stamping and that managing the kids and the house and the business and stamping etc… it really does take a toll on my head and my heart.  And she stared at me….  and said.. “Ohhh boo hoo,, I’m so sad for you that you have a thriving business in this shitty economy,,, my heart really goes out to you!!”…  obviously being sarcastic…   And then it sort of hit me.    I think I probably flunked ECON in high school,, I’ve never given two poops about the stock market, I know nothing about interest rates, politics, or anything like that because it simply doesn’t interest me. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I watched the news.  My sis, Neen can totally vouge for me on that, because during the election with Obama and Bush,, I would call her endlessly asking her.. “Okay,, what does so and so mean about so and so??”     Does that make me totally a red neck hillbilly that doesn’t seem educated??  Maybe…. or maybe it just makes me a person that doesn’t care about things that I have NO… NO … NO control over.  My neighbor used to tell me.. “You’re totally the reason, Erika,, that this country is going to hell in a handbasket.”… She’s probably totally right.  But that was after I told her a few years ago that I didn’t feel the need to vote…   I’ve evolved since then,, and do vote,, but honestly.. I still could give a rats ass about politics, and fanny moe and freddy mike…   The only thing I keep my little eye on .. is the silver market..  duh…………  I’m sure .. some of you, reading this, just wants to slap me sideways..  But seriously,, why involve yourself so heavily in things that “little ol me” has no control over.  It’s self preservation for me..   purely… simply..    I start watching the 10 o’clock news with my hubby, and w/in the first 5 minutes I’m just like sick to my stomach with the crap that is going on in this world, that I would rather just roll over and start counting sheep……   Dreaming of that little log cabin in flippen Alaska that I would ultimately like to live in when my kids are out of the house….   Maybe it’s just me… maybe..  I have some friends who started a business about 5 years ago when I started my business.  It’s funny how we crossed paths..   And they, presently, are so burnt out on the business that they started that they are moving on and quitting said business and starting a new business. Not because their business is doing badly, but because their business has become so unbelievably popular and sought after, that they just can’t keep up. Actually,, they can keep up, but it’s starting to affect their quality of life, and the hours in which they get to sleep each night. Which, is a good “problem” to have. But when your business is losing money because you have too much business (which unless you are business person, you wouldn’t understand that analogy) then you know it’s time to move on.   But you see.. they are kick ass at whatever they start, so I’m like their biggest cheerleader. … which… this is totally off the subject, but I don’t even know what the subject is of this post…….. OH.. Yah.. the economy maybe??  

Bottom line…..  I’m soooo thankful that I trained myself to stamp, started a small business via word of mouth, got better and better and better at stamping with practice and trial and error, had a website made, started taking orders online, made customer service like my total priority (even if it meant answering the phone at 5:45am in the morning to those on the east coast or overseas that had absolutely NO idea what time it was in Oregon), doing everything, and revolving my whole entire life and day around Mountain Girl Silver…..   And so here I sit, this fine Friday evening….  having shipped out roughly 50 orders today with Daneen right there with me, that We stamped yesterday, my wingman Heather oxidized and polished overnight, and off they go…..   As my sister put it this morning… Mountain Girl Silver is a “way of life”…. it’s not just a business,, but it’s a total dedication … a dedication to our customers concerns, their wants, their needs, their orders, the extremes in which we go to get said order from point A to point B, it’s the lack of showering, it’s the lack of cleanliness of our homes…   these are the times… these are the times that get our adrenaline pumpin’….     An adrenaline rush surpasses anything in my book.  And the cake topper??   An order from Ireland today.  MGS is totally global,, but I’ve never shipped to Ireland before…   I need to get one of those maps with head pins on my wall…..    Cheers to a good weekend for anyone reading this…….   me… well… I’ll be stamping my fingers to the bone tomorrow…   and that’s in between yard work, baseball game, oh.. yah… and I think we’re going to move soon….

What an EASTER break!!!  I’d like to get my hands around the throat of the person who ultimately decides “when” spring break is….  The rest of the country gets to have their spring breaks around the Easter holiday… but NOOOOOOOO  not Oregon… or not my kids’ school district(s) anyways.  So yes,,, we had Spring break a couple of weeks ago, where it rained the whole time, our beach trip was cut short due to some violent vomiting plague, and well…. it just wasn’t a “break” at all…   So every year, I yank my kids out of school around Easter and fly us down to California to my family’s property and we celebrate Easter in all it’s sunny, beautiful, green glory.  We left last Thursday the 9th, and had only planned on staying until the 13th (monday), but on Sunday, during all the festivities, (and mind you,, I’m NOTORIOUS for pulling this crap),, but I opted to call Alaska Airlines and extend our “spring break” by a couple of days. Why leave when you’re having a good time?? Right??  The sun was shining (it wasn’t here), the birds were chirping (they aren’t here), cousins and happy smiling faces all around… I mean seriously.. why leave??  All the while, having to force Anders to do some math homework, serious reading, his weekly homework,, had to shove that down him… having to pay for taking the time away.  Like I said….   THROTTLE THE NECK!!  Maybe one day they’ll catch on….. when their funds drastically reduce during the week before and after when REAL SPRING BREAK SHOULD BE!!!!!!!  ehem….

But man,, what a great time it was. Picture this….   My kids, who never really get to see their cousins but maybe once or twice a year, just running wild in the green fields, dodging horses, listening to the peacocks, running from the geese, picking up the turtles in the pond, swinging from rope swings hanging from beautiful creeping oaks, skinning their knees on granite rocks, laughing, loving, LIVING……    What they both learned these past 6 days on what I constitute as a “real break” far surpasses what they could’ve learned in the classroom.

I got a great day skiing in with Neen up on Sierra Summit on Monday morning. It had been a long long long time… like a decade since my butt had been on those lifts.  So much has changed. Definitely a day to bank in the memory vault. Good times… good good times…

I mean, just laying on the couch with my mom, after putting the kids to bed at night, and she scratching my head like she used to….  I was in such a happy place.  Going home is hands down, finding my happy place.  A really good friend of mine, today, pointed out, that while I dread coming home to the grind and the grill, I must hang onto the happy chunk of time I just had, and let it drive me thru the next few weeks as we approach the busy Mother’s Day rush. Seriously, there were orders I had left undone from the 9th, just laying on my workbench. Sometimes we just gotta “let it go”…..   the work will be there when you get back. Sometimes you just have to say “screw it”…  I’m now a firm believer in that. When I first started this business, I ate, drank, and slept it. Everytime I’d go home to my family in California, I’d spend the day packing up all my stamps, all my silver, all my tools, etc…. fighting with security when they saw my hammer floatin’ thru the x-ray machine… it was a total hassle.  Not to say that I’m not as dedicated as I once was, but I’ve matured in a business sense, and learned that you have to let it all go from time to time. People understand…..    It’s cool to just quit for a few days.  ;c)   

But now we are back. Hubby held down the fort while we were gone. All my fishies are alive and thriving, the animals are all still standing, my house was SPOTLESS when I walked thru the door, the fridge was totally full with the necessities…..   He even folded the MOUND of laundry on the dreaded damn spare bed in the basement……     

Everyone is saying that we’re supposed to hit the low 80’s by Sunday.  I told a customer this morning that I’d only believe it when I was slipping my flip flops on my feet. My hopes are high, because coming from sunny Cali, I’m sitting here chilled to the bone……     It’s good to be home, yes, of course it is……    I just wish that my home wasn’t so far away from my home sweet home……   know what I mean???   Maybe someday………