I've been a very, very, very bad girl LOL! Every once in a while I make the mistake of trolling through the bead listings on e-bay and since I have NO WILLPOWER WHATSOEVER...a lot of stuff ends up coming to live at my house as a result. Only this time it's worse because I looked at gemstones, too. But seriously, how can ANYONE resist something called "flamingo pink chalcedony?" And if you saw the picture as well...you'd be hooked, too. Of course, it'd be nice if I ever got to make any of this stuff up into finished pieces but beading time has been super scarce lately (thank you, Typhoid Maurice aka Ryan).
Took the kidlet to the doctor on Wednesday and he's got a sinus infection so now he's on an antibiotic. So far, if anything, I think he sounds worse than the day he started it, but he does seem to have more energy so maybe it's just his body finally getting all the crap out of his nose and throat.
The jewelry article is done and ready to be printed and submitted and that's been the status for quite some time now, but I had to wait for DH to get back and then our color printer broke down (fixed now) and now I'm just waiting to get a copy of the latest mag to hit the market to see if that's where I want to submit it first.
The only jewelry piece I've put any time on is the necklace to match the teal peyote tube beads bracelet and earrings set. It's taking a LOOOOONNNG time to get enough tubes done and I had to go buy more crystal, too. I've had it strung a couple of different ways and am not satisfied yet so I'm still playing around with the design, but I seriously hope to have it finished this weekend so I can start playing with all the new goodies I've bought at the last couple of shows and this week on e-bay.
I took in a repair job, too, and still have to get that done as well. My poor customer...usually I'm much quicker than this, but life just intervened over the last few weeks and said "uh uh" every time I tried to get anything done.
Totally unrelated to anything else...I'm a full-on "All My Children" addict (been watching since 1983!) and the big reveal in a long-term storyline is about to happen in the next couple of weeks (I'm guessing - since November is sweeps month) and I'd just like to say "get ON with it already!" Geez! I mean I know it's a soap and everything but this has been going on for over a YEAR! ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! And as long as I'm bitching anyway...what is with the CLOTHES on this show? Erica is like 80 something and yet is always wearing leather. Greenlee, besides winning the stupidest name of all time competition, is always wearing either strapless sundresses or halter tops and low cut jeans with her ass basically hanging out...and yet she's supposed to be a hi-level corporate executive in the cosmetics industry???? And please, can Maria NOT wear mini-dresses any more? It just looks stupid on her - especially when she's at the hospital in her capacity as a (insert guffaw) "neurosurgeon." On the other hand, Ryan and Ian can wander around in as little as they want...forever :-)
Oh, and it's a great place to check out jewelry styles!
That's it for now.
KJ
Friday, October 29, 2004
Monday, October 25, 2004
The Black Hole
Sometimes I feel like my life turns into a big black hole that just sucks me down for several weeks while the rest of the world passes me by. Then, eventually, I re-emerge and wonder where the hell the time went!
It's been a seriously un-fun couple of weeks around here. Ryan came down with stomach flu on 10/14. This was full-on flu with stuff coming out of both ends...repeatedly. In between changing him and cleaning him up, I had to run multiple loads of laundry, disassemble and wash a piece of furniture and steam clean the carpet in our family room. While all this was going on, DH was preparing to leave for 10 days to Minnesota. He left early on 10/16 - although not as early as he would've liked considering that his shuttle to the airport never showed up! I had to call my poor dad at 5:30 AM to come get him and drive him to the airport. I couldn't take him myself because by this time, I was coming down with the stomach flu, too.
I spent the next few days crawling between my bed and the bathroom floor (spent a lot of time just laying on that floor, too). Thank God for my parents who came over and helped with Ryan (who was still sick, too) or we never would've made it.
I finally made it back to work on Tuesday, 10/19, but started feeling a sore throat coming on that afternoon. Greeeeaaaaattt! I made it to work Weds and part of Thursday at which point I threw in the towel and went home sick. Fortunately, Ryan was well enough to go to daycare all those days so I only had myself to worry about until 5 PM when I had to go pick him up.
DH got home Saturday night and I was so glad to see him, but I still felt so crappy that I'm afraid I didn't muster up much of a "welcome home" for him. Managed to make it out briefly yesterday long enough to get Ryan's Halloween costume - he's going as Spiderman - but spent the rest of the day in bed. I made it to work today, but still feel pretty lousy. Had to take cold medicine to keep me from dripping all over the keyboard. Plus, it's cold and gray and rainy out which just reinforces that "I wanna go home and curl up in bed" feeling.
Throughout all of this, I got NOTHING done on my jewelry. I kept thinking I should drag out a couple of orders and work on them while I was home sick, but I just couldn't make myself do it. It's awfully hard to focus when you feel so rotten (and the cold medicine doesn't help, either).
Plus, I lost all the time I needed to work on Halloween stuff! We play a game in our neighborhood where you leave anonymous treats on the doorstep of several neighbors and I'm late in getting mine done. I wanted to wait until I was as healthy as possible since I'm baking from scratch and figured the neighbors wouldn't want a dose of "virus du jour" along with their treats! I hope to get it done tonight, but it'll be tough. I HATE cooking on weeknights after a full day at work. Then there's Ryan's Halloween party at daycare on Friday that I have to make something for as well. And I can't do it Thursday night because DH has a board meeting and won't be able to watch Ryan while I'm baking.
At least he seems mostly recovered from all the illness although he still has that same nasty-sounding cough that he's had all along. I'm going to try to get him in to see the doctor again this week, but am sure that once again, they'll tell me it's nothing. I just don't understand how a kid can have a nasty, phlegmy cough for a MONTH and it not need an antibiotic to clear it up. GRRR!
Lastly, to the person who sent me a very nice comment on this Blog - it was great to hear from you! I agree that it's amazing how similar our lives are (jewelry, small children, etc.) I tried to reply to your e-mail, but couldn't get it to go through :-( Loved the comment, tho, so please keep in touch!
Cheers to all of us "super-moms" out there who somehow manage to hold all this stuff together and get everything done each day!
KJ
It's been a seriously un-fun couple of weeks around here. Ryan came down with stomach flu on 10/14. This was full-on flu with stuff coming out of both ends...repeatedly. In between changing him and cleaning him up, I had to run multiple loads of laundry, disassemble and wash a piece of furniture and steam clean the carpet in our family room. While all this was going on, DH was preparing to leave for 10 days to Minnesota. He left early on 10/16 - although not as early as he would've liked considering that his shuttle to the airport never showed up! I had to call my poor dad at 5:30 AM to come get him and drive him to the airport. I couldn't take him myself because by this time, I was coming down with the stomach flu, too.
I spent the next few days crawling between my bed and the bathroom floor (spent a lot of time just laying on that floor, too). Thank God for my parents who came over and helped with Ryan (who was still sick, too) or we never would've made it.
I finally made it back to work on Tuesday, 10/19, but started feeling a sore throat coming on that afternoon. Greeeeaaaaattt! I made it to work Weds and part of Thursday at which point I threw in the towel and went home sick. Fortunately, Ryan was well enough to go to daycare all those days so I only had myself to worry about until 5 PM when I had to go pick him up.
DH got home Saturday night and I was so glad to see him, but I still felt so crappy that I'm afraid I didn't muster up much of a "welcome home" for him. Managed to make it out briefly yesterday long enough to get Ryan's Halloween costume - he's going as Spiderman - but spent the rest of the day in bed. I made it to work today, but still feel pretty lousy. Had to take cold medicine to keep me from dripping all over the keyboard. Plus, it's cold and gray and rainy out which just reinforces that "I wanna go home and curl up in bed" feeling.
Throughout all of this, I got NOTHING done on my jewelry. I kept thinking I should drag out a couple of orders and work on them while I was home sick, but I just couldn't make myself do it. It's awfully hard to focus when you feel so rotten (and the cold medicine doesn't help, either).
Plus, I lost all the time I needed to work on Halloween stuff! We play a game in our neighborhood where you leave anonymous treats on the doorstep of several neighbors and I'm late in getting mine done. I wanted to wait until I was as healthy as possible since I'm baking from scratch and figured the neighbors wouldn't want a dose of "virus du jour" along with their treats! I hope to get it done tonight, but it'll be tough. I HATE cooking on weeknights after a full day at work. Then there's Ryan's Halloween party at daycare on Friday that I have to make something for as well. And I can't do it Thursday night because DH has a board meeting and won't be able to watch Ryan while I'm baking.
At least he seems mostly recovered from all the illness although he still has that same nasty-sounding cough that he's had all along. I'm going to try to get him in to see the doctor again this week, but am sure that once again, they'll tell me it's nothing. I just don't understand how a kid can have a nasty, phlegmy cough for a MONTH and it not need an antibiotic to clear it up. GRRR!
Lastly, to the person who sent me a very nice comment on this Blog - it was great to hear from you! I agree that it's amazing how similar our lives are (jewelry, small children, etc.) I tried to reply to your e-mail, but couldn't get it to go through :-( Loved the comment, tho, so please keep in touch!
Cheers to all of us "super-moms" out there who somehow manage to hold all this stuff together and get everything done each day!
KJ
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Life is a roller coaster...
Boy, ain't that the truth. I was all set to come in today and post about how much fun I had at the bead show this weekend and some pics of the goodies I bought (well, I'm going to do that anyway), but then last night and this morning turned out to be kind of a nightmare.
Let's start with last night. Don't know if you've heard about a drug called Vioxx that was recently removed from the market by the manufacturer because it turns out that it can cause strokes and heart attacks, but this has really affected me as this was the one drug I could count on to knock out my migraines and still leave me capable of functioning. But, not wanting to have a heart attack or a stroke, I had my Doctor prescribe a replacement medicine for the Vioxx. Last night I went home with that familiar "migraine onset" feeling so I took the new medicine and....all it did was make me dizzy and didn't do ANYTHING for the pain! Not only was it ineffective against the pain, but the dizziness means this is something that I can't take at work or while I'm watching Ryan w/o DH around (like last night). I was in severe pain until about 1:30 AM this morning and was on the edge of asking DH to take me to the ER. I even considered taking a Vioxx after all but was afraid to mix it with the new medication! Luckily the migraine FINALLY abated on its own - but that is VERY unusual.
This was my second night in a row with very little sleep so I'm really dragging today. So I finally get up this morning and am going to wake up Ryan when DH comes running up the stairs swearing and I'm wondering what on earth is going on when he tells me that we've been ROBBED! Yep. Some asshole(s) apparently broke into our car that was parked in our driveway last night! Stole the stereo and DH's golf clubs (including his new driver!) and some other miscellaneous items out of the car. Just swell. I'm glad no one got hurt and insurance is going to cover the losses, but still...it just PISSES me off! And I felt so bad for DH...there aren't too many things in life that he loves more than golf (and his clubs) so I even refrained from pointing out that maybe now he could stop making fun of me for insisting that we LOCK everything up all the time and that it isn't a good idea to leave valuables in your car ;-) I earned major good karma points for keeping my mouth shut on that one!
In other news, Ryan is sick (still) and I'm trying to get him in to the doctor before DH leaves for 10 days in Minnesota. I get to be a single parent to a sick kid...right after we were robbed and I'm feeling oh-so-not-safe. Lucky me.
Anyway, I'll post the pics shortly of the fun things I bought at the bead show this weekend that I can't use until next month because I won't have any beading time since DH will be gone.
Sigh.
KJ
Let's start with last night. Don't know if you've heard about a drug called Vioxx that was recently removed from the market by the manufacturer because it turns out that it can cause strokes and heart attacks, but this has really affected me as this was the one drug I could count on to knock out my migraines and still leave me capable of functioning. But, not wanting to have a heart attack or a stroke, I had my Doctor prescribe a replacement medicine for the Vioxx. Last night I went home with that familiar "migraine onset" feeling so I took the new medicine and....all it did was make me dizzy and didn't do ANYTHING for the pain! Not only was it ineffective against the pain, but the dizziness means this is something that I can't take at work or while I'm watching Ryan w/o DH around (like last night). I was in severe pain until about 1:30 AM this morning and was on the edge of asking DH to take me to the ER. I even considered taking a Vioxx after all but was afraid to mix it with the new medication! Luckily the migraine FINALLY abated on its own - but that is VERY unusual.
This was my second night in a row with very little sleep so I'm really dragging today. So I finally get up this morning and am going to wake up Ryan when DH comes running up the stairs swearing and I'm wondering what on earth is going on when he tells me that we've been ROBBED! Yep. Some asshole(s) apparently broke into our car that was parked in our driveway last night! Stole the stereo and DH's golf clubs (including his new driver!) and some other miscellaneous items out of the car. Just swell. I'm glad no one got hurt and insurance is going to cover the losses, but still...it just PISSES me off! And I felt so bad for DH...there aren't too many things in life that he loves more than golf (and his clubs) so I even refrained from pointing out that maybe now he could stop making fun of me for insisting that we LOCK everything up all the time and that it isn't a good idea to leave valuables in your car ;-) I earned major good karma points for keeping my mouth shut on that one!
In other news, Ryan is sick (still) and I'm trying to get him in to the doctor before DH leaves for 10 days in Minnesota. I get to be a single parent to a sick kid...right after we were robbed and I'm feeling oh-so-not-safe. Lucky me.
Anyway, I'll post the pics shortly of the fun things I bought at the bead show this weekend that I can't use until next month because I won't have any beading time since DH will be gone.
Sigh.
KJ
Monday, October 04, 2004
A Comment...Woo Hoo!
Someone actually READ my blog and POSTED a comment! YAY!!! I don't know who this person is, but he or she OBVIOUSLy has fabulous taste LOL!
So now I've got some catching up to do.
I've been working like crazy on my article that I want to submit to a bead magazine for publication and rough draft is done including all the photos and illustrations except one. I'm trying to finish up two more complete pieces to photograph for the very end of the article and then I'll be ready to put everything on disk and submit it. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much as I'm pretty sure the odds on this are kinda long, but then again, you never know so what the heck? Why not take a chance? The pendant on one piece is done. I just have to do the necklace part. The other piece hasn't even been started :-( And I've got so many other things in my "mental pipeline" that it's driving me nuts that I can't get to them due to lack of time. I didn't do ANY beadwork the whole weekend...sigh. It's so tough to find the balance between my day job, being a mom, being a wife, housework/chores/errands, and my hobbies. Oh and sleep, too, LOL! Gotta fit that in somewhere or I can't do any of the rest of it. There just aren't enough hours in the day! Anyway, I've got to get back on track this week so I can get some of this stuff finished up!
After the article pieces are done, I've got a gal who wants to buy some of my finished peyote beads so I need to get going on making those up as soon as possible. DH is taking off for his homeland on the frozen tundra (aka Minnesota) the latter part of this month which is pretty much gonna put the kaibosh on ANY beading time while he's gone. I told him when he gets back that I get to go to a spa for a weekend or something to recover LOL! I was mostly kidding, but it would be so great to get in 8 uninterrupted hours of beading time! But who am I kidding? I'd miss my li'l guy Ryan sooooo much. He's such a total doll and I'm so incredibly lucky to have him in my life. What a great kid!
Next after the peyote beads are all the projects I have in mind to go with the current fashions (remember all those cool beads I bought at the bead show in August??). I got even more inspired after doing my own fall clothes shopping this weekend and I definitely need jewelry to go with my new stuff! I just love being able to custom-make anything I want to match a particular outfit. Especially after you see the jewelry that's being sold in the stores and how crappy, cheapo and lightweight it is and yet how much they are charging for it! It's pretty insane!
And finally, news on the "great spider expedition of 2004." I finally got the chance to take my camera out last night and try to get pictures of the spiders I was talking about a few posts ago. Unfortunately, the two I saw last night were spinning their webs higher up between two trees and my digital camera SUCKS at taking close-ups of small things. You have to be practically on top of something to get a shot and I just couldn't get close enough so I'll have to try again.
I'm thinking I need one of those cheapy 34mm disposable cameras to get the shot! It's a shame, though, because the spiders and their webs are pretty impressive. The webs themselves are 3' - 4' feet across and are usually stretched between two trees or a tree and the side of house, etc. I'm pretty sure they are either Golden Orb Weaver spiders or Jeweled Araneus spiders which means they are trying to capture flying nightime insects and the web placement and the fact that they spin each evening at dusk would support this. Anyway, I've got to keep trying to get a good picture as I still plan to submit a photo to the http://www.whatsthatbug.com site to get a formal identification.
Let's see, what else? Oh, I'm off to another bead show this weekend! I know, probably shouldn't be buying more stock when I haven't made up the stuff from last time, but I just can't resist. Besides, last show I was pretty cash poor and had to leave some things behind that I really wanted so hopefully I can pick them up this time ;-) There was that strand of large Kyanite pebbles and that strand of funky dotted glass cones and that fun-looking candy jade and some small briolettes perfect for earrings and the Peruvian opal and all the gorgeous Italian glass at Via Murano and, and, and....okay now I need a cold shower LOL!
C'est tout pour maintenant, mes amis. Au revoir!
KJ
So now I've got some catching up to do.
I've been working like crazy on my article that I want to submit to a bead magazine for publication and rough draft is done including all the photos and illustrations except one. I'm trying to finish up two more complete pieces to photograph for the very end of the article and then I'll be ready to put everything on disk and submit it. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much as I'm pretty sure the odds on this are kinda long, but then again, you never know so what the heck? Why not take a chance? The pendant on one piece is done. I just have to do the necklace part. The other piece hasn't even been started :-( And I've got so many other things in my "mental pipeline" that it's driving me nuts that I can't get to them due to lack of time. I didn't do ANY beadwork the whole weekend...sigh. It's so tough to find the balance between my day job, being a mom, being a wife, housework/chores/errands, and my hobbies. Oh and sleep, too, LOL! Gotta fit that in somewhere or I can't do any of the rest of it. There just aren't enough hours in the day! Anyway, I've got to get back on track this week so I can get some of this stuff finished up!
After the article pieces are done, I've got a gal who wants to buy some of my finished peyote beads so I need to get going on making those up as soon as possible. DH is taking off for his homeland on the frozen tundra (aka Minnesota) the latter part of this month which is pretty much gonna put the kaibosh on ANY beading time while he's gone. I told him when he gets back that I get to go to a spa for a weekend or something to recover LOL! I was mostly kidding, but it would be so great to get in 8 uninterrupted hours of beading time! But who am I kidding? I'd miss my li'l guy Ryan sooooo much. He's such a total doll and I'm so incredibly lucky to have him in my life. What a great kid!
Next after the peyote beads are all the projects I have in mind to go with the current fashions (remember all those cool beads I bought at the bead show in August??). I got even more inspired after doing my own fall clothes shopping this weekend and I definitely need jewelry to go with my new stuff! I just love being able to custom-make anything I want to match a particular outfit. Especially after you see the jewelry that's being sold in the stores and how crappy, cheapo and lightweight it is and yet how much they are charging for it! It's pretty insane!
And finally, news on the "great spider expedition of 2004." I finally got the chance to take my camera out last night and try to get pictures of the spiders I was talking about a few posts ago. Unfortunately, the two I saw last night were spinning their webs higher up between two trees and my digital camera SUCKS at taking close-ups of small things. You have to be practically on top of something to get a shot and I just couldn't get close enough so I'll have to try again.
I'm thinking I need one of those cheapy 34mm disposable cameras to get the shot! It's a shame, though, because the spiders and their webs are pretty impressive. The webs themselves are 3' - 4' feet across and are usually stretched between two trees or a tree and the side of house, etc. I'm pretty sure they are either Golden Orb Weaver spiders or Jeweled Araneus spiders which means they are trying to capture flying nightime insects and the web placement and the fact that they spin each evening at dusk would support this. Anyway, I've got to keep trying to get a good picture as I still plan to submit a photo to the http://www.whatsthatbug.com site to get a formal identification.
Let's see, what else? Oh, I'm off to another bead show this weekend! I know, probably shouldn't be buying more stock when I haven't made up the stuff from last time, but I just can't resist. Besides, last show I was pretty cash poor and had to leave some things behind that I really wanted so hopefully I can pick them up this time ;-) There was that strand of large Kyanite pebbles and that strand of funky dotted glass cones and that fun-looking candy jade and some small briolettes perfect for earrings and the Peruvian opal and all the gorgeous Italian glass at Via Murano and, and, and....okay now I need a cold shower LOL!
C'est tout pour maintenant, mes amis. Au revoir!
KJ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)