Friday, September 28, 2007

Booty, Brains and the Beasts



Here's a photo of the booty I hauled in at the SGB (society of glass beadmakers) meeting on Saturday. The large blue tab bead is from Haley. It is stunning and shiny and everything I love about glass. The puppy bead is by Mary. It reminds me of my own lovely Puppykins and is so cute I want to hold it always. The olive shaped organic bead is from Aja. It is complex and gorgeous and dreamy. Bead people are the best. Getting together is like being in a room with people who totally 'get' you. They understand my jokes about burns, scars and general glass mishaps. Normal people look at you in horror when you talk about how you lit your bangs on fire. These people laugh. How awesome is that? Normal people won't show you the nasty scar they have in between their boobs. Glass people will. We all have scars and all the scars have stories. It's good to be part of that crowd.

For about a month, Desiree has been obsessed with reading. She has finished one book and is nearly done with the second. If you knew what we went through when she was in public school, you would know what a miracle this is. She has never, I mean NEVER, read for pleasure before in her life. She has dyslexia and reading has always been a challenge for her. Suddenly, or maybe not so suddenly, her whole outlook on reading has changed. I attribute a lot of this change to video games. Yes, you read that right. Video games. She is a gamer. Not just an average gamer, either. She finishes games. More and more of the games she has been playing have immense amounts of text to read. Over the years, she has slowly stopped asking me what this word is, what does that word mean? Her vocabulary is now noticeably larger than that of her friends. When she does that text-messaging thing, she refuses to abbreviate anything. She's slowly learned to read and spell proficiently through the use of technology. Who knew my kid would become a brainy book worm?

I got some requests for beads this week. Take a look:



Monday, September 24, 2007

Bead Buddies


I went to my local SGB (Society of Glass Beadmakers) meeting at Sharon Peters' house on Saturday. That's her bead cabinet (WOW!) that my friends, Linda and Tom, are pretending to look at in order to avoid my paparazzi photo hounding. I had an incredibly fun time. I got to meet a bunch of local gals that I hadn't met before and got caught up with some I hadn't seen for many moons. Getting together with them is like being in a space ship with all your fellow aliens. They all "get" me. I love it. There was much bead swapping going on and I got a couple SUPER awesome beads. One from Mary, another from Aja and another from Haley. They are all beads I will treasure. I will have to take pictures later of my booty! And by booty, I mean beads. Not my badunkadunk trunk with too much junk. :)

I made a couple dog beads that I am REALLY happy with. What do you think?

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Obsession

Sometimes, obsession is a good thing.


Once I started making the leaves, I simply could not stop. I absolutely love them.

I got a request for a beagle and, like most new things, it took a while to get it right. I must have made 5 not quite beagles before getting one that really achieved beagleosity. In the end, the obsession paid off...

Monday, September 17, 2007

Making a Kidlet - Loribeads

New Ebay Auction!



I have a new eBay auction! Dem Bones is a group of bone beads that makes me giddy! I love these beads!!!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

I'm going to teach!

Exciting news! I am going to be teaching sculptural lampworking at TemperChi this month! My first classes are scheduled for 9/29 and 9/30 and I am getting very nervous and excited. There is much to do, much to practice and much to write between now and then so if I get quiet, you'll know what I'm up to...

I've put up some more beads on Etsy and will continue to add more later today and the next few days. Lots of cute holiday beads, some bones and some really adorable sets will be available.

Ok, last but not least, I have my PMC class today! I am really excited because I think our first project will be done and ready to take home. YAY! Look for pictures soon.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Monday, September 10, 2007

San Francisco, The Tick and a Busy Day


We went to San Francisco on Sunday. Puppy had a long walk through the Presidio and along the waterfront. We had a picnic and now Puppy thinks that the car makes food and should be searched whenever allowed. She's so funny. And hungry. Constantly hungry.

Click on the picture and see the starfish! The rock is HUGE, by the way. The starfish weren't small but they look tiny compared to the rock. The surf was pretty rough and there were people out in the bay with surfboards and parachutes. It looked like fun. Crazy, but fun.

When we came back to the car, I noticed something on Puppy's foot. I thought she had gotten some old gum stuck to her paw or something. I gave it a tremendous tug, it finally released and then it moved!!!! YIKES!!! I think it was a TICK! I say 'I think' because I flung it out the window so fast that I didn't have time to analyze it. *Shudder* I swear, that was my first encounter with a tick in California, ever. YUCK! Poor Puppy had a red spot on her paw and played up the drama queen act a bit in hopes of more picnic goodies. Of course, it worked.

I called the vet early this morning in a panic and the vet's assistant was able to talk me down from the ledge, assuring me that Puppy was not in any immediate peril. Apparently, the head, if it is still in there (again, *shudder*) will come out within a couple days and we should just look for signs of infection. By this evening, the red spot was completely gone. She also assured me that Lyme disease is pretty uncommon here and not something we should worry too much about. *Whew!*

Today was hugely busy for me. I had a dentist appointment and cleaning that took over 2 hours. My teeth are super clean now and feel great. I am one of those weird people who enjoy getting my teeth cleaned. I think if I was a fish in the ocean, I would get my own personal cleaner wrasse on a full-time basis. My hygienist, Parastu, has been cleaning my teeth for about a million years and has been my personal friend for nearly that long. I follow her from dentist to dentist, like a groupie. :)

Anyway, before the dentist, I went to the post office to mail an international package. I didn't have any of those customs forms left at home and I went to 3 different post offices this weekend and none of them had the customs forms out in a place you could get them off-hours. Grrr.

After the dentist, I took Desiree to Kohl's to pick out a new dress and some nice shoes that she can wear to school. She picked out some adorable ballerina flats and a halter dress that just looks stunning on her. After Kohl's we went to Costco to get Des her first Costco card! YAY!!! We also finally got her new frames in for Rx lenses. She will be a stylin' stylist this fall, for sure.

So, that was my day. Tomorrow is making beads day. All day. YAY!!!!

Friday, September 7, 2007

Sometimes life is just a bummer

Desiree didn't pass her behind the wheel test at the DMV. We have been practicing and practicing and her driving is really good now. She got nervous and the test just went all to hell. I feel terrible for her. We took the test at the Santa Theresa DMV, which I've heard is the hardest place to pass. I wish we'd known that before taking it. She cried her eyes out on the way home. I have to give her credit, though. Today, she got right back on the horse and drove home from school. She is a trooper.

I was so tired today I didn't make any beads at all. Last night was my PMC class and I had a great time but came back to Mark having a tantrum about something idiotic. Whatever, dude. I think I need to have a girl's night out again. Every couple months I just get fed up with his attitude and I need to go out and vent so I can come back and be nice again. Right now, I can't seem to manage nice more than 50% of the time. We're all feeling the pressure of Mark's job and the anticipation of Desiree's graduation. Even Puppy has been acting up a bit. If she eats one more of my business cards....

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Big news!

Guess what?!?!?!? I got a teaching gig!!! I am so excited and nervous and then excited again!!! The name of the studio is TemperChi http://www.temperchi.com/ and the guy who is setting up the classes is very nice. I am so happy! I brought over a rough class outline and I can tell you that the class will be fun. I am planning on teaching beginning to intermediate sculptural beadmaking. All the cool and fun designs, in other words. I will announce when the class is scheduled as soon as I know. YAY!

In other news...I have more beads. This time, you get to choose from a selection of holidays. :)

For Halloween - Bats and Pumpkins.


For Autumn - Here's a September Snowman. He's pretty melty.


And for Thanksgiving - A shaggy dog with a bone. I've not been able to eat a Thanksgiving dinner in peace since we got The Puppy. And for that, I am thankful. :)

Monday, September 3, 2007

Saturday we went to Foster City for a long walk around the bay. It was very pretty there and very cool and breezy, too. We had a really nice time! Puppy liked seeing all the feral kitties living there. We read that they have a program for spaying/neutering the ferals and they feed them every day. We saw a couple feeding them while we were there, in fact. Very cool.

Sunday we just did a bunch of shopping. We needed to get some new pictures for the bathroom and a couple rugs for the kitchen. Mission accomplished! I love Kohl's.

Monday we saw a fire in the hills! I read about it when we got home. It's near Morgan Hill. Pretty massive smoke cloud. Check it out:

That picture was taken in Palo Alto and so were the rest of these. The Puppy loves the trail in Palo Alto. I think I might do a series of sets of beads named after all the cities we visit on the weekends.

Crane! They're everywhere around the water.

Puppy says, "Have a great week!"