What I did this weekend...

...which may or may not be a good thing...I haven't decided yet:

What I obviously did not do was write up my resolutions so I could post them as promised in the previous entry. I suppose this means that my first resolution ought to be "write more blog entries on time."

I will get right on that.

In the meantime, it's come to my attention that there may be certain people reading this blog who are not the intended audience. All I can say is...you're welcome to read (it is posted on the internet after all) but just realize that you may not like what I have to say. This is live and uncensored and my place to vent sometimes. Not everything in here ought to be taken literally at face value...it may be an expression of a temporary feeling or exaggerated as I tried to work through something.

Anyhoo, I guess my point is...caveat lector.

'Nuff said.

KJ

Music: "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac

2007 - A Year in Review

I’m a little late with this, but I thought it would still be a good idea to write about my resolutions for 2008. First, though, let’s take a look back at 2007’s resolutions:

1. Spend more time with the kidlet.

Definitely achieved this one. Not only did I spend more time with him in general (cutting back on some of my own goals and activities in order to do so), but due to some unfortunate behavior (and the consequences thereof) of his father, I’ve pretty much had sole custody since September, 2007. Hopefully, the ex will work his way out of his difficulties and will be able to take up his role as a more involved dad later this year.

2. Lose another 20 lbs. Even though I met my weight loss goal back in October and have kept the weight off, I feel like I can go further in this area.

Mixed results on this one. I was halfway through losing those extra 20 lbs. by July and looked to be on track for achieving my goal by December. Then, my life and schedule changed radically (see #1 above) and that really had a tremendous impact on my ability to keep aggressively pursuing this goal. Plus, like all dieters, I backslid a bit. So, need to re-double my efforts in 2008.

3. Expand my social horizons – both romantically and platonically. I took a couple of stabs at this in 2006, but I need to focus more attention on it in 2007 and explore more options.

Did pretty well with this. Joined a couple of singles groups at church and joined Parents Without Partners. The only downside has been that with my schedule changes, I haven’t had the time to take full advantage of attending events put on by these groups. Still pursuing the internet dating as well. Results are mixed.

4. Clean up, re-organize and re-decorate the house.

Definitely made progress here. With the help of some friends, I cleaned out and re-organized the garage (including getting rid of the bulky shelves and work station that the ex built in there without my input or agreement that took up half the damn place). I spent Labor Day weekend re-decorating my bedroom including painting one wall all by myself, getting a new bed and all new linens and pillows and getting the rest of my grandmother’s antique bedroom furniture set out of storage and into the room. I still have a lot more to do to not only finish that room, but get going on the rest of the house as well.

5. Add more outdoor activities to my workout schedule. I’m finding the gym is getting a bit boring so I’ve hit a couple of bike stores to price bicycles and want to start taking walks at the beach on the weekends.

I did really well with this. I made a point of walking on the beach at least once a week – either after work or on the weekends and it was great. I bought myself a bike for Christmas and have been hitting the road on that as often as I can.

6. Be thankful every day for my family, my health and my FREEDOM.

This was a no brainer. I am so grateful every day for how well my life is going and how much happier and at peace I am. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t some really painful memories and some work I still need to do to complete the recovery process, but I have an amazing kid, a truly wonderful and supportive family and I know God has a plan for my life that will make all of the events of the past couple years into a process that ultimately made me a better, more mature and happier person.

All in all...I think I did pretty well considering this was the first year I've ever made actual resolutions.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my 2008 resolutions.

KJ
Music: “Poems, Prayers and Promises” by John Denver

A picture is worth a thousand words...

...or in my case, it's a perfect substitute for having nothing to write about and/or no time to write about anything.

So, my excuses appropriately made, time to move on to the pictures:

I found a great site for an artist who will custom-design lampwork bead sets for you and she really makes the cutest things. I bought this set with the idea of doing something for Ryan's teacher at the end of the year.

And then, as I shopped around her site, I came across these cute baby bugs:

Maybe they'll make a cute summer necklace or bracelet. I know, I normally think bugs are icky, too, but how can you resist those faces?

I was telling a fellow beader about the site and she went and looked and found this darling turtle bead set for herself:

Then, I loved my Clay River porcelain pendants and beads so much, that I had to go back to that site and pick up a few more things so I'd have enough materials to work with:

Continuing the porcelain kick, I picked up these pretty pendants from Marcia Neal:

And lastly, these darling "beach" themed clay beads from Earthenwood Studio:

I wouldn't be me if I weren't thinking of summer-themed jewelry in the dead of winter.

And, of course, just to prove that I do actually MAKE stuff with all the things I buy, here are a couple of recently finished pieces:

This pendant reminded me of the sun for some reason and I'm thrilled with the way it came out. I still have to design a necklace to hang it from, but in the meantime, I thought it was too pretty not to share it. It's especially nice that it's in a color scheme that I rarely work with - being that I'm more of a cool blue/green/purple kinda gal.

And then there's this poor disaster:

I was really happy with the cab and the bezel beading. Then I tried to do the edging...several times with several different designs and didn't like any of them. Finally settled on this design and finished it and then did the necklace and now I'm not happy with it at all. The edging design is still not right and I think I pulled the tension too tight on it because it seems to want to "roll" up on itself. The necklace doesn't have the right proportions of bead sizes and the clasp is the wrong color and size. I think this baby is headed for another round of re-do...just as soon as I figure out what the heck the RIGHT design is for it.

That's it for tonight. I promise a real post made of actual words and stuff soon. Honest. It's half-written...I just have to finish it. Which may not happen until next week as I am headed into a weekend of what can only be described as "birthday hell." Two parties to take the kid to on Saturday and then the kid's own party on Sunday.

At Chuck E. Cheese.

For 2 hours.

With 14 children (so far).

Note to self: stock up on Extra Strength Tylenol prior to attending party.

KJ

Currently listening to: "Truth No. 2" by the Dixie Chicks

P.S. I apologize for the spacing in this entry. I do actually know how to separate paragraphs appropriately and in a grammatically correct fashion, but for some reason, blogger.com has decided that those grammar rules do not apply tonight. I've fixed the spacing and re-posted this entry about 5 times now and it keeps reverting to being all smushed together. So, I am giving up the fight and going to bed.

**SALE!!!**

To kick off the New Year correctly, I thought it'd be fun to have a sale. Starting tomorrow, January 7, 2008, all orders over $20.00 will be 20% off!


I've updated the site to add a few new things and here's a preview just to whet your appetites:



This is my latest pair of bead embroidered earrings. The center cabs are labradorite.

And, of course, Santa was nice enough to bring me BEADS this year:

These gorgeous pendants are made by an artist out of porcelain and hand-painted. I can't wait to incorporate them into my designs!

These beads are clay - fired and glazed. I guess I'm on a clay/porcelain bead kick lately. I just thought the colors were so lovely and rich. Can't wait to work with these materials! Now...if I could just find the time...

Happy 2008, everyone!

KJ