Happy New Year!

...and today just happens to be Josh's and my 7th wedding anniversary.   Our anniversary usually gets the year started off on the right foot, pretty good deal if you ask me.

and I'm 15 weeks pregnant today...and having to start transitioning into maternity clothing.  Yeah, the pants aren't really buttoning up anymore.  I've been using the rubber band trick to keep them closed for the past few days.  I took to the sewing machine over the Holidays to start sewing knit waistbands into some old pants.  Much better.  Now for the tops....

So with needing to finish up altering some of Josh's old button-ups, along with a nice long list of emails and crowns to tend to, it's going to be a busy week.  (Plus a kitty cat who seems to have a liver infection! :(   I just want to curl up with the little guy all day long!)

I may have to go in for Jury Duty next week (I call-in the night before for a full week to see if/when my group gets called).  I truly don't have a problem doing my civic duty..but next week is not a good week to possibly have to go in for Jury Duty.  Praying my group doesn't get called.

the Garage heaters have been running for an hour now...in another hour or so, it might be warm enough to start work for the day...the more pregnant I get, the less willing I am to work out in the cold garage.  ugh.  It could be worse, though.  So on that note, that's it for the Monday morning ramble.  I'll see what I can do to keep you entertained this week.  Happy New Year.

oh yeah...

..and I cleaned up the blog a bit. I had switched things around when we were away, as the video windows were getting cut off, and I had been posting pix.  and well...I'm not doing that so much any more.  so back to a nicer, cleaner layout.

...out of shape...

My arms are SO tired and sore from all the metal polishing I've been doing today!  Those 6 months in England has taken tolls on me in ways that I did not expect!  Who knew that my polishing "muscles" would have gone away!  (who knew that I even had polishing muscles???!).  Weird!

First Look at Baby!...oh yeah, and I'm back to work now too

So this past week has been a whirlwind.

We flew back into the U.S. last Sat night.  Rested all Sunday.  Monday-Thanksgiving has been unpacking/cleaning/laundry.  We had my family over here this past weekend.

And then this morning Josh and I went to take a sneak peek at baby Midge!  (our nickname for the baby).  The u/s went well..and was followed by an appt with the dr.  everything is look great with both baby and me.  I'm 10 weeks along, and Midge is measuring 10 weeks and 1 day.  "she's" got a strong heartbeat of 168.  My official due date is June 27th....yes, this will be impacting my work.

But this afternoon, I'm working like mad to answer all those emails I neglected over this past week.  sorry customers.  I still love you..just trying to readjust to being back in our house, after being in the UK for 6 months.

Anyway, here is the first (of what is sure to be many dozens) picture of our baby!

I'm going to keep making as many crowns as I can while pregnant..but a few styles will have to be ruled out becuase of time/labor/chemicals.  Thanks for understanding if I tell you "no" to any crown requests!

Heading back to the US!

Hey Crown folks!  The time has come where I need to face reality:  it's time to head back stateside.  Josh and I are flying home in a couple of days.

Our six months in England (for Josh's work) has been incredible...and we're flying home with the future crown lady:  I'm pregnant!  (yes, I'm convinced it's a girl, and yes, I'm assuming she'll want to make crowns for a living..who wouldn't?!).

I didn't keep up with blogging and posting pix.  I know.  For that, I am sorry.  but seriously, I was having too much fun to keep myself tied to the reality of the computer.

And my business didn't completely fizzle while I've been away.  My parents have been amazing...and it was mostly my dad who did the work.  Yes, we had a few shipment mix-ups.  Yes, a crown or 2 arrived with some 'issues', and I had a few grumpy customers.  But you know what, that may have happened whether or not I was at home.  So I'm feeling pretty good about everything.

and wait until you see what I have planned for 2011.  Yes, new crowns..but how about some coordinating hair accessories for bridesmaids and flower girls.  How about some veils and hair pieces that coordinate and integrate perfectly with crowns?  I'm hiring my mom on part-time to help me develop these new lines.

And no, just because she's my mom, doesn't mean that she's automatically qualified.  But let's face it, who do you think taught me what I know about art and creating?  I'm working on the "about Peggy" page to tell you more about my mom...but in the mean time, take a look here.

And I have not forgotten about Crown cases.   Give me some time to get back in town, and I'll have some answers about case progress.

Ok, so all these new grand ideas...plus a baby on the way create a bit of a space concern.    I'm considering taking out a business loan to remodel the attic and turn it into workspace.  You can bet that as soon as I can, I'll be pulling down the attic stairs and crawling my way to see if there is actually room to make this worthwhile.  There should be.  The real trick is building the staircase up to the attic without taking up too much garage space.  we shall see!

So my apologies for not keeping the blog up to date as we traveled all over the UK...but I did upload a few new pix to that slideshow for your entertainment.  I'm actually looking forward to getting back to our home in Indy.  I loved the life we had before going to England.  and I loved our life in England.  and I thoroughly intend on loving my life even more with our return.

Thanks to all those customers that grinned-and-bared this weird time in our lives.