Random Wednesday

Today is being spent cleaning up the house, doing laundry and playing with fire.  Headpins will be going into the kiln, in addition to beads.

I just found out my in-laws have decided to come a little earlier than previously planned, which means they will be here in time for my birthday.  Over.  The.  Moon.  Happy to know the people who mean the most to me will all be at my dining room table for my birthday.

There are already a dozen beads in the kiln and all of my new shipping boxes have been stacked neatly on my shelves.  Most of my new glass has also been put away in my glass cabinet.  My supply of boxes had severely dwindled to just a handful, so I ordered a hundred new boxes last week in three different sizes.  I think that will help with holding smaller amounts of beads better and it is also spurring a change in shipping pricing (I'm eliminating the additional $0.50 riding each extra item.  I will still waive shipping fees for purchases $40 and up).

Faith is an easier concept for my children to grasp than death.  Thank you for all of the kind comments and emails you have sent my way regarding Maggie.  The house feels empty without her, especially at meal times when she would have been the first one lined up and waiting at her food bowl.  Or her nightly ritual of making two rounds around the downstairs before heading upstairs to her crate.  Her protective presence is greatly missed.

I am getting made fun of for my love of the papyrus font.  I'm waiting to hear suggestions on alternative fonts that I would like just as much, but so far those airwaves are silent.  I am still snickering at this website that was shared with me, though.

Jezzie is still just as much of a snuggler and company keeper.  She was on the arm of my chair while I was melting glass.  By the time I got my camera app opened, she was climbing the back of the chair and giving me a kiss on the nose when the shutter closed.  And this picture freaks me out because it flipped everything from right to left like my office/studio is laid out completely different than it is.

Today, I am replacing toilet seats.  Exciting stuff.  I also cleaned the half bath from ceiling to floor.  Walls and baseboards included.  Before I left the phone company, I hated cleaning.  But now I am embracing it and finding a strange sense of accomplishment in my days.  No, this is not your opportunity to invite me over to your house to clean.

I will be photographing a wedding in a little over a week and am very excited about this.  This weekend, I will be going back to the location just before sunset to better scope out perfect spots for the bride and groom.

I love these boots, but think it may be awhile before I can save up for them.

Due to not being on the torch at the end of last week or beginning of this, I have moved my shop update from tomorrow to next Thursday.  There are reminders of the date/time at the top of this blog and my shop that show the next update, too. 

My hair is growing out and is now past my shoulders.  I've got an itch to cut it, but don't know what I would do with it.  Plus my year from the last hair cut isn't up yet (cause I typically only get my hair cut once a year).  I'm just thankful that it's not giving me headaches.  Yet.  Cause I'm a wuss with my thin hair.

That is all.

Good Night Sweetheart, It's Time To Go

Today we said goodbye to our Maggie girl.  We rescued her when the boy child was barely six months old and he is now nine.  At the time, she was 2-3 years old and had boobs hanging down to the ground from the six puppies she birthed days after being pulled from the pound by the rescue.  She went through mastitis (I could relate painfully well, as I was dealing with that at the same time) after we brought her home.  She had seven BB's under her skin from being shot at by who knows what hateful person.

Maggie was a boxer bulldog, but was routinely mistaken for a pit bull with her brindle coloring and distrustful growl/bark, although she was good with the cats.  She assigned herself the post of guardian dog and took her job seriously.  When Owen was first learning to crawl, she repeatedly moved herself between him and the stairs so he could not go down them.  After Chloe was born, Mags routinely kept post in the hallway just between the two kids' rooms.  Rarely did a day go by where she didn't bark at someone walking by the house to make sure we knew who was around.  

Maggie had manners.  She was rarely a crotch sniffer.  She stayed out of the kitchen or dining room during our mealtimes.  She sat before she was allowed to eat her meals.  She was smart and knew hand commands to sit, stay and go (finger pointing OUT of the room).  She loved car rides and walks.  Maggie was also the stinkiest and noisiest hound I have ever known.  If she wasn't barking, she was farting (in her younger days, her gas would wake her up and she'd take off running like someone shot her in the butt, but slept through it in her later years).  And if she wasn't farting, she was snoring.  She has kept me company for a good nine years while I worked in my office every day with her sweet disposition and all of her noisiness.

Last night, she was unable to get up from her pillow and didn't make her nightly 7:30pm trek upstairs to the crate she so loved.  She was on the pillow, unmoved this morning.  A simple check by the vet found that there was a problem with her mid-spine.  X-rays confirmed that, but also showed a large mass on her spleen.  This last year has not been easy for her to get around.  Our stairs and hardwood floors have caused her to struggle and slow down.  And so this morning, we made the decision to have her put to sleep and we said goodbye through tears streaming down our cheeks as she laid in a patch of sunlight on a thick blanket.

Good night sweetheart, good night.

Family Expansion and New Eggs!

Last week I hinted that our family had expanded, which initiated a few emails from family and friends --> Are you pregnant?!  The answer to that is a big no as Todd seems to feel he's too old for more and we're done.  Sniff.

But.  We did get a new pet!  One of our Tae Kwon Do friends mentioned to Todd a few weeks ago that his neighbor had an old ferret in need of a better home.  Since Todd shared that with me, I considered that to be consent and promptly brought this boy home.  Meet Ernie.

It has been four years since we have had a ferret in the house.  Our last one was Sammy and she was 8 years old when she passed.  Todd and I vowed to wait until the kids were grown before we took in ferrets again because the passing is just so hard.  But this one needed a good home.  He was old and sick and not getting any attention.  Ernie was extremely underweight (to the point that I could easily see his ribs through his skin) and very dehydrated.  The vet visit last week confirmed adrenal disease (which I expected with his bald tail.  adrenal disease is very common with ferrets and we fought it with many of our other ferrets in years past), his dehydration was gone (yay!) and that he has neurological problems which are disabling him from walking normally (his back end gives out on him).  She said she didn't expect him to walk normally or be able to climb again.  I felt so defeated.

But last night, I found Ernie trying to climb.  He didn't make it into the hanging hammock just above his head.  But he tried and that made me happy.  And this morning, I heard him making noise and when I walked around to see him....he had climbed up to the first level in his cage.  Rock on, Ernie!

This weekend went extremely fast (I can't remember the last time we had a slow weekend, but maybe this coming Memorial Day weekend will be since the kids will be spending time with each of my parents Saturday - Monday).  We spent many hours cleaning up and straightening the house and doing laundry.  A karate festival was in there (complete with a dunk tank where they made sure that the kids got to dunk the instructors, even if their pitch wasn't strong enough to make it happen), a soccer banquet and a get together with friends (which included a walk down to the creek and a cookout).  I also squooshed in time to make 20 new eggs.  :)

I will be making more this week (I hope!) so I can have multiple sets to throw into the shop for the next update.

Another Visitor

Yesterday morning while I was working, I noticed a small movement outside out of the corner of my eye.  But then I didn't see anything.  I went back to working and noticed another small movement, but saw nothing that could have caused the leaves to move.  I wondered if the chipmunks were back.  It went on like this for close to five minutes before I saw the source.

He was a little guy, but with beautiful orange markings.

Look at this ridge down the back of his shell!  It's like it leads directly to his tail.

He was a shy guy.  As soon as I touched his shell, he pulled in his head, legs and tail.  Then he closed up his shell.

Tight!

Not at all like the last turtle who probably hunts deer and wild coyotes.

I removed him from the backyard so he wouldn't be harassed by the cats or dogs.  I released him in the side yard and within an hour he was gone.  I just loved those orange spots on his front legs!

Got the latest egg order shipped out yesterday.  It is going all the way to GERMANY to Nicki.  I can't wait to see what she does with them, but I will certainly be sharing pics. 

Todd got home yesterday after playing five tennis matches in four days in the USTA State Championship in Augusta.  His team made it to the finals and lost in third set tie breakers.  If you don't understand tennis scoring, then just know they were close enough to taste the title of State Champions.  And they were pleased.  After driving the three hours back, he was so very sore.  I'm pretty sure that soreness and stiffness will last throughout the week and be a lovely welcome to his 45th year.  Today is his birthday.  Tonight we are having a mini-celebration before going to the girl child's little graduation ceremony from pre-Kindergarten.  The big family celebration will be Saturday night and combined with my Uncle Mike's birthday, since he will be in town.  I will be spending a good four hours in the kitchen making an Italian creme cake for these two deserving men.  I'm looking forward to it!

Today is also the birthday of my good friend Lorelei.  Please stop by her blog HERE and leave your birthday wishes.  I know good things are in store for her this year.  I can feel it!

Tomorrow night I will be back on the torch and making eggs again.  Karyn, you're up next! :D

Happy Friday!

This is a great day and I am so glad it's Friday!  So many wonderful things happening after being a crazy, hectic week.

Monday night I noticed my Henry boy was peeing blood.  He had bladder stones two years ago and we almost lost him, so I was really worried.  Henry spent all day at the vet's office on Tuesday before they got a urine sample and found that he just had a very inflamed bladder.  They think he has Interstitial Cystitis (IC), which caused the inflammation and suggested putting him on Prozac for the rest of his life.  Because stress in cats causes flare ups with IC in cats.  Seriously?  Henry is the most laid back cat ever.  He bumps noses with Little Horse every day.  He is not a stressed cat.  And I don't need TWO pets on prozac.   After four days on anti-inflammatory meds, he is acting like his normal self again.  I was very thankful we wouldn't be going through another surgery to remove bladder stones. 

On Tuesday, my Mom's car started smoking.  The shop told her the radiator had cracked and needed to be replaced.  Thirty minutes later they called her to say, "Oh, by the way, the radiator leaked into the engine and now you need that replaced, too.  That's just another $4-5 thousand bucks.  K. Thanks. Bye."  Her little Civic had 120,000+ miles on it and was just done.   So we started talking about what should be her next car.  We started off thinking that Hyundais or Kias with their 10yr/100,000 mile warranty would be best.  But a friend's brother used to work for Kia and he said that that should really be the last car you would ever want to buy.  He should know, since he went to court for the company to dispute all the lemon law cases.  Sigh.  That returned us to our normal mantra: You get what you pay for.  Such a shame.  She test drove the Kia Forte and absolutely LOVED it.

On Wednesday, my 91 yo Grandma passed out at her neurologist's office in the exam room.  It took them a minute to find her pulse, which was really scary.  It earned her an ambulance ride to the nearest hospital and a one night stay.  She was discharged yesterday and will be getting one of those fun heart monitors to collect data for a few days before returning to the cardiologist's office for a follow-up.  She has a really low heart rate (it hovers around 50 or lower), which may be contributing to some of her problems.  They didn't run a bunch of tests this time (because they did that a week ago and didn't find much of anything wrong. sigh) and just kept a close eye on her.  Physically she is strong, but her parts are wearing out.  Basically, it's heck getting old.  I am thankful her memory is shot and she has no recollection of all these hospital visits or even how she felt a few hours prior to any conversation.  And I am thankful she maintains her overall cheerful and loving disposition.  She so enjoys being with our family and I'm looking forward to this weekend when we can have her over for dinner on Sunday.

On Thursday, Mom got over her bitterness with Hondas and Civics and test drove a 2008 Civic and was very enamored.  She found it at Carmax where they have the no haggle pricing and the price was only sixteen bucks more than the Kelley Blue Book suggested Private Party Value.  Yay for great deals and fair shakes!  She has the car on hold and will be going back today to likely buy it.

Mallory included me in one of her lovely treasuries.  Go check it out HERE!

Today we have sunshine and temps in the mid-80s.  Happy dance!  I'm also lighter by a good 5 to 6 inches.  I got my hair cut short and think I really like it.  :)  I showed pics of short cuts I liked and a jaw length cut that Todd liked and told her to do whatever she wanted, I just wanted it to be different and shorter than it was.  She chose super short!  I'll get pics this weekend to show you all next week.  Or perhaps I'll make another video.  We'll see what kind of weather comes our way.  Weather.com is calling for thunderstorms tomorrow, so we'll see.

And with that, Random.org chose lucky number 10 out of the 18 commenters.  Cindy Higgins, please email me at kelleysbeadstudio@mac.com with your two favorite colors and your address.  I'll get your worry stone made this weekend and shipped out on Monday.  :)  Thank you everyone for commenting on my Giveaway!

Tonight we have a kids birthday party.  Tomorrow we have soccer games.  Sunday we have more soccer games and another birthday party.  Some time in there I will find time on the torch to make more/new egg beads, more nuggets and hopefully more worry stones than just the one for Cindy.  :)

This has been a long week, but with multiple happy endings.  I am thankful the weekend is here.  I hope you all have a most wonderful weekend to relax and do the things you want to do!  I will be posting pics this weekend of my visit with Cas of Metallo Bianco from last week when we went out for lunch and a walk through a local Antique Mall.  It was FUN!

New Year's Giveaway - Take 2

Ok, Bianca had a week to claim her $50 gift certificate and she didn't respond to me. :( sniff.

But! That gives a new shot to my currently loyal 67 blog followers :)

abeadaday
Alison Kelley
Ames Mama
Artisan Clay
Beads On Fire
Becky, yep
BIANCA
BlueStoneOfOrcasIsland
Brenda Hayes
ChatElaine
Creative Treasures by Donna
Diana
Eileen
Emi_FTLOB
Evie's Tool Emporium
gaffergirls.com
GemmaBeads
gunilla.back
Heather
Higgins Design Studio
hint
How Charming by Michelle - Jewelry Design
Indian Creek Studios
Jan and Shane
Judy
kat
KimberlyRies
kristinann
Lauren
Leslie
Lisa Lutz
Lorelei
Lori
Lucid Moon Studio
lunedesigns
Luthvian
mandywillard
Marbella Jewelry Designs
mari nilda aparicio
Marsha Neal Studio
Mary Ann Carroll
Metallo Bianco Jewelry
nomadcraftsetc
PAM
pearlandpebble
Pink Quartz Minerals
PolymerClayTutor
PowersArtGlass
prettylittleshop
rmar261783
Rosanne
rosebud101
Sarah
sassyglassdesigns
Silver Parrot
SmuTopia Jewelry
Stacey Graham
Stefeny Stanyer
Stephanie
SummersStudio
susikdesigns
Tabitha W.
The Bead Stylist
The Beading Gem
Tosha.jewelry
Veda's Beads
wiredmetal

Number 55 is Silver Parrot! KJ, I think your bead porn stash is about to increase nicely in size. :)


On another note, this is the new boy we are adopting within the next week! Isn't he handsome? He's a two year old Great Pyrenees that I found through a rescue for these gentle giants.

Right now, he is getting over a case of kennel cough and is scheduled to get neutered on Thursday. I'll be bringing our Maggie dog up to the vet's office on Friday for a controlled introduction between the two dogs and hope to bring him home on Saturday. I am so excited!!!!

We are still throwing around names, but have narrowed down the possibilities to Beau, Jack(son), Isaac, Samson, Simon and Wilson.