I meant to post an entry in December--just as one last nod to 2015, which was a very trying year for me. Unfortunately, that never happened, and I ran out of time. Where does all the time go? The older I get, the faster time marches on. If you think about it, when you're a kid, maybe 4 years old, you have to wait a whole year until your next birthday. A whole year to a 4-year old child is 25%, or 1/4 of their lifetime. That's a long time to wait. Conversely, for myself, from one Christmas to the next, it's just 1/40th of the time I've been around, and that amount gets shorter as I inevitably age.
I hope that you had a lovely holiday season and you got to celebrate it in a way that was meaningful to you. While I struggled through much of 2015, it wasn't without some moments of joy. I lost my beloved grandmother in 2015, which was a huge blow to my family, but I believe we have been all been helping each other cope. In October, we took a much-needed family vacation to Disneyland! I've not been there in years, so I had really been looking forward to it. Life is in a constant state of flux. You have to experience sadness in order to know what happiness is. It's looking for the small moments of joy, or finding your happy place, which may not necessarily be the same thing for you as it is for others. It's also focusing more on hope and solutions rather than dwelling on your challenges and stressors at the moment.
For most of 2015, I was in the dolldrums. Down in the dolly dumps. On a doll downswing. In a dolly depression. Whatever it was, it wasn't fun. This was a dark time when I toyed with the idea of selling everything and getting out of it altogether. I didn't feel like commenting on photos posted in my favorite online doll forums or on flickr. I couldn't muster any enthusiasm for participating in holiday swaps like I've done for the past five years. I barely submitted any entries for photo challenges on the forums I'm a fixture on. I turned into a lurker and lost my online forum voice despite the fact that I am a moderator on Dolly Market and Dollchemy. I thought that the Blythe bug was calling me, and I brought a couple custom girls home. I even embarked on a re-rooting endeavor, and that worked for a little while, but it was short-lived. It was so unsettling, and I thought I was really and truly done with the doll hobby. So much so that I contemplated on selling everything. But I didn't. For some reason, as I stared at all those little ABS & resin faces, I couldn't do it. I'd hear little voices in my head..."If you change my outfit, I bet you'll feel better." Or..."Fix my hair. It's falling into my eyes." It sounds weird, but I'd do it, and I actually did start to feel pretty good.
When November rolled around, my husband surprised me with a 12th anniversary gift. It was a very large, flat (or tall), heavy box. I opened it and it turned out to be a curio cabinet that needed assembling. I had been upset that my current dolly shelf was breaking down, and it meant so much to me that he actually took it upon himself to get me a new shelf JUST for MY dolls. The husband tolerates the dolls, but doesn't quite share my enthusiasm for them. He'll admire them for a while and listen when I talk about them. He told me that he found a really good deal for this glass curio cabinet, and the price was even better if it was purchased unassembled. I don't mind putting together simple projects like that, so I tackled it one Wednesday before work.
Once I broke down the old shelving unit and cleaned up the new one, I got to move all the dolly inhabitants back in. The downside is that it's smaller than my old shelves, so it's a lot more crowded. But look--it has a door! No more picking out lint from doll wigs.
And despite my doll-depression, I still managed to bring home two more lovelies who had been on my wishlist for a while.
This is Shinpachi the Valko (Taeyang) and Chi the Banshee (Pullip). They are both ebay purchases, which I felt were fairly good deals. The Taeyang was a pre-owned display dolly with all of his stock. His price was the lowest I could find. He got to me nicely packed in his box, but a little dusty and his left arm was unattached. I cleaned him up and reattached his arm--he seems to be fine. The Banshee I believe to be one of those Tuesday Morning $39.99 dolls that the seller was hoping to flip for $$$. I put in a low offer for her, was given a counter offer, and then I put in one final counter of my own. The seller accepted (I didn't think she would). I'm happy to have these two finally.
Earlier in 2015, I had posted my doll resolutions. I haven't gone back to look at them, but I don't think I followed them all that well. The best laid plans...don't always get followed. I have a smaller list of doll resolutions but that'll be my next post. Gives me an excuse to come back here to check in. :) Until next time...
I am slowly remembering the joy that the doll hobby was about for me. It seemed like for the longest time, I was burnt out on the dolls. I didn't want to anything with them, but I couldn't bring myself to sell them. Even though 2016 didn't really get off to a great start for me, my spirits lifted when the Carolina Panthers made it to the Playoffs. And then when they continued rolling on...and on...to the Super Bowl, that made me really happy. And of course, being part of the Panther Nation from Day 1, of course I had to do some kind of photo shoot with the dolls to commemorate this momentous occasion!
And depending on the outcome of the game, there may be a post-game photo. If there isn't, then it's because the unspeakable happened. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Now...if there was a way to make sure that Leonardo DiCaprio FINALLY gets an Oscar, then I would be elated.
