Knight Cards and an update on the whole "balance" thing

I know I've already posted about these cards when they were in progress, but I really love the noble panoply these invitations make.

(and, okay, I've been dying to use the word "panoply" in a sentence for years)

My Etsy shop has really quieted down a LOT! This time last year, I was frantically working every single night, waking up as early as 3:30 in the morning to work up new designs and pump out orders.

At the time, I LOVED it! Every order was a reason to run around the house screaming. I had so many highlights last year:

• My Italian wedding invitations,
• The Circus invitations that almost went to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie,
• Selling cards for retail to Powell's,
• Getting one of my cards featured on the Etsy Finds Newsletter (resulting in MEGA sales!),
• Participating in Hearts for Haiti and numerous other charitable events,
• and more.

But I have to admit towards the end, all the work, zero downtime and the lack of any balance to my life really started to wear on me, so it was almost a relief when sales went down to a trickle.

Of course, there's every possibility I'm just rationalizing, trying to convince myself that the lack of sales is a relief, not a disappointment.

But I think it's genuine.

Working so much on the card shop left so little room for anything else. It can be hard enough to find free time when you're a mother of two, wife to one and work full-time, let alone when you're spending as much time as you can on a burgeoning side business.

One thing that went by the wayside was exercise. Last year, for the first time ever, I was told that I was borderline hypertensive.

Me! I've always been a little braggy about my phenomenal blood pressure! I would look forward to getting it tested when I donated blood just to hear the nurse nod grudgingly and say "Good!"

But suddenly it was something to worry about. When I talked to the doctor, the first thing she asked was "Have you stopped exercising?"

And, by jove, I had! That was when I took up my new running program (I did the Couch to 5K Running Program) which I called "Running for My Life." Thanks to it's well regulated program, I can reliably run about a 5k without keeling over.

(if you have an iPod touch or an iPhone, the C25K app is GREAT!)

I got the Wii Fit and then graduated up to the more challenging EA Sports Active, which has been a lot of fun.

(can you tell I love gadgets? They really keep my motivation up!)

The blood pressure's down to a non-worrisome level (though I go in for a follow up in a few more months) -- hooray! -- with just a little exercise and cutting out salt here and there.

I don't feel like I've ever neglected the kids, but I now find myself with more time to do things around the house: cook special meals, clean up a bit more, tackle garden chores, etc.

I've even found time to just hang out with my husband! I really neglected him last year -- he patiently hung around letting me work hard on my shop. Nowadays, we've been trying to wedge in an episode of Lost, trying to catch up before the series finale... crazily, it's starting to make sense to me...

Balance has been a good thing!

Nowadays, I might sell a single card once or twice a week and an invitation package maybe once or twice a month (at the height of things, it was easily quadruple that), but this is just about what I can manage, along with occasional blog postings.

While I do miss the thrill of the big sales, I just am not motivated enough to jump through hoops for them any more (I used to customize individual cards for nothing just upon request, which is kind of crazy).

Anyhoo... we'll see how this all pans out!

Meanwhile, another episode of Lost tonight... or we finish the two-part Office where Jim and Pam have a baby... sometimes a little more TV can be a good thing (really!).