Digging Out

We have been home for over a week now, but I am still digging out from underneath my long To Do list.  I have been busy, but haven't felt like I have accomplished much.  Yesterday was different.  I did some major cleaning in and outside the house.  We washed both our cars and I said a final farewell to the Minnesota bugs gracing the front of mine.  I wasn't sad to see them go.  Following up that burst of productivity, I awoke rejuvenated this morning and finally pulled almost 500 pics off my camera before starting my work day.  I got through most, but didn't have time to set up a blog post until now.  Because five o'clock somewhere has finally reached five o'clock here.  Yay!

While we were in Minnesota, we jumped.

We ran.  Or rather, Todd ran and I rollerbladed next to him.

We enjoyed the view.

I enjoyed watching my boy grow up a little bit more as he was allowed to navigate.

We enjoyed some fabulous sunsets.

Did a little kayaking in the wannabe kayak.  I wasn't brave stupid enough to bring my camera in that.  Especially with a girl child on my lap.  We did not tip, but water coming in from the oar got us a bit wet.  Made a note-to-self to not be brave next time and leave my camera on the shore.

And we put our feet up.  My feet were up a lot, actually.  The kids were off and running with grandmas, aunts, uncles, cousins and new friends.  They were wound up and high on life, stretching the days well past darkness (and boy did darkness come late Up North) and playing volleyball or basketball until they could no longer see.  I caught up on some reading, as well as cleaning out my computer of photos that were not needed which freed up close to 20 gigs of space.  So even though my feet were up, I still managed to be productive.  Yay me.  :)

I have been on the torch twice since coming home (once each weekend) and have made a total of 40 beads.  With the exception of four, they're all sitting in the sink waiting to be cleaned.  I'm not sure when my next shop update will be, but not setting a date so I don't have to offer up lame excuses later.  Getting the beads cleaned and then photographed would be helpful.

And on a parting note, I had a Sally Field moment of "She loves me, she really really loves me!" this morning after I read Mallory's post.  Mallory has been in my thoughts a lot over the last few months as she has stood by her daughter's side fighting off cancer.  Her daughter was just declared 100% cancer free last week.  After living through multiple cancer battles in my own family over the last two decades, I rejoiced with Mallory like she were my own family.

Back Home

Todd and I arrived home late yesterday afternoon after driving 450 miles (we conquered 850 miles on Wednesday after leaving Northern Minnesota!) to a broken AC unit and a car that wouldn't start.  Plans that we thought were going into effect this month have been delayed.  So in the meantime, I am listening to this song again.

This weekend I hope to upload the 400+ photos I took over the last two weeks (really, that's it?!) so I can share a bit of our vacation with you all.  What I can tell you right now is that there was plenty of relaxing, not enough fishing and too many desserts!  My belt is really not happy staying at the same notch and thinks it should be loosened one.  I'm fighting that and vowing to eat nothing but healthy now that I'm back home.  Somebody come flog me tonight if I touch the desserts at my husband's tennis match, ok?

I'm Still Alive

I can't believe it has been a month since I last blogged.  Time has slipped through my fingers.  Thank you to those of you who have reached out via text, email and facebook to check on me.  Who have randomly sent me messages encouraging me, telling me you don't know how I manage to keep up with so many things in my life, asking me how I keep up with so many things (gosh, how I wish I felt I were keeping up!) and to just do the best I can do.  You don't know how much I appreciate you.  And others, I see faithfully hitting my blog to see if anything new posted that might not have shown up in your blogroll.  You all really are just the best!

We'll play a quick catch up.  The last week in March, I got a little over 31+ hours of sleep in one week.  It was miserable between nightly storms with Little Horse's panting and late work nights.  I got sick and spent six days with a 102+ fever.  That carried into our spring break, which meant I did not participate in the Taekwondo camp with my family and spent over half sleeping in our cabin.  Up until that weekend, I had refused to go to a doctor because I knew I would just be told to keep doing what I was doing....alternating advil/tylenol, sucking down fluids and getting lots of rest.  But I broke down on Monday morning because Tuesday we would be starting our roadtrip to Florida and I didn't want to be sick through our entire vacation.

The doctor in North Georgia told me I had the flu and she thought I was on the tail end of it.  If we hadn't been leaving for Florida the next day, she would have told me to suck it up and come back in 2-3 days if not better.  So she prescribed my antibiotics and steroids, which kicked my fever two days later and had me feeling back to 100% on day six when we drove home.  I lost eight pounds in the process.  Two weeks later, those pounds have not come back.

We visited a rather cold Jacksonville Beach and had the pleasure of meeting up with one of my friends from work who is just THE best.

And a crowded Disney World (note-to-self -Thanksgiving is SUCH a better time to go to Disney if we go again) where I was thankful I had long lines to rest in, which gave me breaks from walking from one ride to the next.  I loved that throughout the parades, Chloe would shriek "She KNOWS me, Momma!  Snow White KNOWS me!"  I heard that for every Disney princess we saw.  And then, "And there's the Princess and the Frog and that Princess does not know me.  But she will."  She was so matter of fact about this and would not back down when her brother insisted that the princesses did not know Chloe.

Our last day was spent at Clearwater Beach.  The kids had a blast and I had so much fun just sprawling on my beach towel photographing them playing in the waves.  Another note-to-self - if changing clothes and applying sunblock in a restaurant bathroom before hitting the beach, do NOT miss the backs of the knees with the sunblock.  At the end of the day, we drove into Tampa and met my good friend Chel.  I have known her for almost 20 years and she was my maid of honor at our wedding ten years ago.  We rarely talk on the phone and are bad at keeping up through email.  But no time has passed and we can pick up right where we left off and catch up quickly when in person.  I wish she lived closer.

We drove home on a Saturday and spent most of Sunday doing laundry, straightening the house, driving to the trainer's/kennel to pick up Little Horse.  I was so thankful my Dad had called during our vacation to offer to drive up and cook us dinner Sunday night.

The next day, I took Little Horse to the vet's to start his heartworm treatment.  He came home two days later with steroids and valium to get him through storms, along with strict orders for no exercise jumping and four weeks of crate rest.  Then he can start round two of the heartworm treatment and another four weeks of rest.  Yegads and leetle fishes.  Twenty-one more days of rest until round two starts.

This past weekend, I took the kids out for a mini-photoshoot.  I was a bit crabby because they took FOR-EVER to get several things done I had asked, so we were off to a late start.  During the middle of the photoshoot, Little Horse chewed through his leash and took off running for close to a half mile at top speed.  And I lost my cool, yelling at the kids asking why I don't have problems with other kids listening to me when being photographed.  Really not one of my finer moments.  I was thankful when Monday arrived this week.  I had planned on re-washing my fabric and ironing to prep for cutting before piecing and then quilting.....because this boy thinks it is the best nap spot in the house.

I have these beads clean right now, although I still need to photograph each set individually to go into my Etsy shop.  I have another 50+ beads hovering over my kitchen sink waiting to be cleaned.  It has been over a month since I torched and am pretty sure my torch is giving me the stink eye every day.  My goal is to have the beads ready for a Saturday shop update (as in April 23rd, the day before Easter).  But I'm not making any promises and will firm up a date/time as I get closer to having all the beads cleaned/photographed.  The eggs need to be etched.  And the buttons on the bottom mandrel are already off to a new home where some of you may see them grow up on another blog.

I promise to not let another month go by.

San Diego Zoo and Aquarium

I had never visited the San Diego Zoo before this trip to San Diego.  My good friend Sara made sure I got there.  Twice.  And also took me to the Scripps Aquarium.  I have never been to an aquarium before.  I was stoked to see so many cool animals and marine life.  And even more stoked that Mellisa was able to come out and join us Sunday afternoon at the zoo.  Woot!

Here are my favorite pics from the aquarium and my second trip to the zoo.  I hope you enjoy them all :)  And I couldn't start off without posting a pic of this sweet chunk of a baby.  I held him.  A lot.  :)

Okay, this isn't the aquarium or the zoo.  It is the mooring for boats next to the bridge into Coronado where we went for lunch one day.  My friend Sara's mom lives in one of those boats.  I can see it on google maps and it makes me smile almost as much as driving by in person.

This guy had the nappiest dreads hanging from his body.  I don't recall seeing such a dark brown camel, but he was just gorgeous.

I was initially pretty irritated with the fencing blocking my view of the flamingos, but it turned into bokeh in this pic.  So now I'm not irritated any more :)

I really wanted to grab his nubbies and pull on his ears.  He might have liked it as much as Little Horse loves for my to grab his snout and pull on his ears.  Maybe.

Palm trees make me happy.

We rode in the skybuckets from the back of the zoo to the front.  And then walked a ton more.

Mr. and Mrs. Birch were the founders of the Scripps Aquarium.  They were friends with Ted Geisel.  Dr. Seuss's drawings weren't too far from reality.  What a great inspiration for him to see these guys, some of which were kept in the Birch home.

LOVE the combination of the stripes and all the teeny tiny pin dots.

He's waiting to be triggered.

Who knew sardines were such scaredy cats?

This ginormous eel looks quite friendly and inviting, don't you think?

I loved these jelly fish.  I think I may need to print this off big.  I'm in love with the colors.

Last November, I stood on that far reach of land looking into the cove at the sea lions.  It was fun getting the opposite perspective this time.

Lionfish have the coolest fins.

I know my boy child would have loved this fish the best.  He is fascinated with mohawks and this looks like the longest one ever.

The sting rays have such happy faces.

This was an awesome room with floor-to-ceiling glass and bleacher-like seating to just sit and watch the many different kinds of fish in this tank.  Look near the bottom and you will notice some fish that liked to hang out vertically.  Strangeness.

And in the bottom left of this large tank was a little shark parking lot for the ones needing rest...

Octopi must prefer red lighting, because that's what was blasting away in this tank.

That is all for my weekend of photography and friends new and old.  I am taking another vacation day today from work and spending much of it at the torch.  I already have a couple dozen new beads soaking away in the kiln.  We will be back to our regularly scheduled programing of bead pics come tomorrow and a shop update this Saturday afternoon.

Gratitude Sale

Here's a brief recap of our trip to Disney.  I'm not ready to come home, but probably should while there is still money in the bank account...

I want to frame this to put in my studio!

The African safari in Animal Kingdom was my favorite thing!

Especially because I got to see meerkats in person.   I don't think I told you in my birthday post that I love meerkats or that Todd got me season 4 of Meerkat Manor for my birthday.  I am utterly fascinated with these strange little creatures.  Watching the MM episodes is like an extension of Watership Down, which captivated me as a child.

 

 I love mouse ears.

Chloe got princess hair and make up for the bargain price of $54.  Gulp.  Really?  Fake pink hair, lots of gel and hair spray and a little glitter on the face costs over fifty bucks?  Wow!  But it made her incredibly happy to be a princess for a day and was a rare splurge.  We heard one family with two girls received a bill for over $500.  How is that even possible?

Both kids liked playing these African drums.  Owen danced around between several to get in as many beats and sounds as quickly as possible.  I had fun watching him.

This was taken before we left the Magic Kingdom Sunday evening.  I really wasn't ready for the weekend to end.  We had soooo much fun!

Don't forget my Gratitude Sale is still going on through tonight!

Thanksgiving Holiday Break

On Tuesday, I got in my last hugs and pics of Little Horse before taking him to the kennel.  He is a sweetheart, but he can't be trusted left alone for more than a few hours.  I know he is in good hands because he gets to play with all the other dogs inside and outside all day long.  He will come home worn out when I pick him up next week!

Yesterday we drove down to Davenport, Florida which is just South of Orlando.  A normally 8 hour drive took us closer to 12 hours in the car with holiday traffic.  Even though we arrived before 10pm, I didn't get to bed until after midnight.  There were plenty of things I would have loved to have taken pics of to share with you, but I drove all but an hour and a half in my Mom's car.  During that hour and a half break, I was sleeping because I was so exhausted!  This is the one picture I did get when I woke up and took back the driver's seat.  I think Spanish moss on the trees is so cool.

This morning, we took off for Clearwater Beach and ate lunch at a cafe right on the ocean.  We sat outside and I enjoyed the best helping or Huevos Rancheros.

Then we walked all of 100 feet and saw this wonderful view.

There was no hesitation in taking off my shoes and socks to bury my pigs in the sand today.  It was so warm!  In the 80s with a nice breeze (that'd be 29C for you anti-Fahrenheit folks) and I didn't even get cold walking in the water.  I was shocked to find that it was warm enough for me to wish I had a swim suit to go all the way into the water.

Right as I walked up to the shoreline, I saw a dorsal fin.  There were only two dolphins and they didn't stay long.  I felt so fortunate to witness this because normally I'm the one with my eyes shut or back turned when everyone else sees the shooting stars or the deer cross the road.

My kids had so much fun chasing each other and running through the sand and water.  This is my most favorite shot of the day.

I liked the silhouette of Pier 60 against the horizon.

More pure joy and exuberance from my kids.  I really could not have asked for a better Thanksgiving Day.  So many things throughout made me pause and think about how thankful I am, both for things that happened today and already in my life.

My honeys is at the top of my list.  He is my rock and keeps me grounded.  He helps me to not be so serious and remember that being silly is a good thing.  I could not ask for a better father to our children.  Or a better supporter when I want to try something new.  He is my love.

I am thankful for my children, who help me see so much through new eyes.

My family and friends, who aren't afraid to remind me of when/how I screwed up in the past and how much I have grown.

My friends who are patient with my lack of reaching out to pick up the phone or send an email and trust that when I'm no longer drowning with work and life that I will call and email them.  

My time on the torch to create, relax and unwind.

My wonderful customers and friends who keep coming back to my blog to look and comment.  You guys really keep me going.  I know very few of you in real life, but your support and encouragement means so much to me.

So.

My way of saying thanks...

For coming back to my blog, even when I'm slack and can't keep up with posts.  

For being repeat customers.

For just being you.

If you see something in my bead or jewelry shop, enter GRATITUDE in the coupon code field at check out for 20% off your entire order.  This little appreciation sale will be going on through Monday, November 29th.  All items will ship out on Tuesday, November 30th.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day if you celebrate this holiday.  

I hope that you are surrounded by love and have more blessings to count than you know what to do with.  

I hope that you may also have as wonderful of a day as I had today.