Scrap Therapy 101.

So life has finally settled into the new normal, not that by any means it's normal, but I've gotten used to the idea that I no longer go to work, I've stopped feeling guilty about sitting at my scrap table instead of getting ready for work, I've gotten used to (and actually like) that I don't spend 8-10 hrs a night racing around a restaurant, stressing about staff levels, guest satisfaction and whether or not the chef's going to be in a good or bad mood. I like eating a nice dinner at a reasonable time, in warm comfortable surroundings without having to worry about early guests walking through the door! In short I really don't miss the stress and pressure, I do miss the people I've worked with, and over the 30 odd years I worked in restaurants, I've worked with some amazing people, some I'm lucky enough to keep in touch with, thank you Facebook, and others sadly I've lost touch with. Admittedly there are some that I'm happy to have lost touch with, but overall I've enjoyed the company of the majority of people I've worked with.
So what now, well sadly my life has been turned upside down with not one but my two best friends being diagnosed with cancer. They're not just friends they are "sisters from another mother". I read that term in some song lyrics the other day and immediately it resonated with me that it describes my little adopted family perfectly. But we battle on, we enjoy the good days and endure the bad, it's all we can do really.
Anyway the upside to my new lifestyle is that I have time to play in my scrap room, (ex dining room) and I have found a new love for this hobby. With time to play I've been discovering new styles and ideas, I've begun to experiment with the new brighter, funkier papers, and I've really enjoyed what I've come up with. 
The other thing I like about this new style is that the pages take less time, have a cooler edge and I can actually fill up an album with the photos scrapped from a particular occasion, holiday etc much faster, which really suits my time constraints and my short attention span. ( Always wanting to try the next idea that's my problem).
Of course Miss Molly likes the new lifestyle, she no longer spends the afternoons and nights alone and she has 24hr attention so to her it's all a bonus, although she doesn't appreciate being told to get off my scrap table lol, but she does like the routine of her morning comb up. This is such a routine, she'll come and get me and shepherd me to the couch in the front lounge where she sits beside me and I comb her. Absolutely true, she loves having her fur combed which is wonderful given that her beautiful fluffy coat needs combed everyday, and so we sit on the couch and I comb her fur which is wonderful for both of us.
So yes life is very different, still coming to terms with it, and wish it had come about in a different way but hey right now my life is what it is and now it's my job to enjoy the good bits and find ways to cope with the bad, but then isn't that everyone's life?
Ltrs.

Lunch with an Ibis.

Surfers Paradise Vibe.