Tag I'm It!

Well, I've been tagged again! It's a little time consuming, but it's an honor and it's fun. I was tagged this time by Waterstone Jewelry. Waterstone has a wonderful shop with some really unique jewelry. She also has a great blog where today she was talking about, and she showed, how she has improved some of the photos in her etsy shop. Take a moment to check out her shop and her blog.

Here are the rules of this tag game:

1) Link to the person who tagged you on your blog
2) Post the rules on your blog
3) Write 6 random things about yourself
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them
5) Let each person know they've been tagged

Here are 6 random things about me:

1) My husband and I started dating on April 6, 1968...one week before he turned 16 and could drive. So, he lived on the river and I lived one block from the river. He came to visit me that first week in his little motor boat!

2) We bought our first and only house in Decmeber of 1972, 6 months after we got married. The house at that time was 660 square feet. In 1982 we put on a 300 square foot addition and we have raised 3 kids and had lots and lots of dogs, cats, birds, fish, hamsters, guinea pigs, mice and a rabbit during the 36 years we have lived here.

3) I love Colorado and my goal is to live there one day. My dream would be to have a log cabin on some acres and some water and try to live as simply as I possibly can.

4) If any of you remember the horrible Cary-Grove High School bus accident in 1995, where a bus got hit by a train and 7 high school students were killed....that was my school and my kid's school. One of my boys was in school there at that time. It was a tragedy that changed all of our lives forever.

5) I am a Special Education secretary by day, and a card and home decor creator by night. I am so happy that I found etsy.

6) I fell out of tree when I was in 6th grade and broke one of my wrists. That was one year after my best friend fell out of a tree and broke her back.


Tag you're it!

Pickles On Pizza
Alice in Paris Loves Art and Tea
Diary of a Young Designer
Jonara Blu Maui
Vegetable Art
RanaMuck Photography and Hemp Jewelry

I hope you will check out all of these great blogs!

The Making Of A Jewelry Maker

About a month ago, my daughter, Tresa asked me if I would make her a necklace for her to wear for her wedding in March. I was so honored that she would ask me to do that, because I am not a jewelry maker. Yes, I've taken old jewelry apart and used the beads to make keyrings or earrings, but I don't really make jewelry.

See my kids think I can make anything, and normally if you show me something I am able to recreate it....but her wedding necklace?

I told Tresa last week that I needed to know what length she wanted the necklace to be, so she put on her wedding dress and tried on some of her necklaces. She decided that 16" would be perfect, and one of her necklace styles looked kind of cool with it. I had her UPS the necklace to me so I could see it and it arrived today. The following are our e-mails from this afternoon.

ME: "Got the necklace!! Would you like the "chain" to be little beads and then a large pendant hanging?? Not beads like these, but little glass ones? I've never made a necklace like that, but I'm sure I can figure it out, or do you want a chain?"

TRESA: "Hmmm...I don't know...surprise me."

ME: "Good Lord and what if you don't like it. Nothing like a little pressure here!"

TRESA: "Well, I love the one I sent you , so that should help you. I just think it will be more special and fun if it is something you make for me with some of your creativeness. THANKS!!!!"

And that was the end of our necklace conversation. Okay, now I am a really good sport and I've told you before that I don't get stressed about things, and I am not really stressed about making this necklace BUT do you realize how important this necklace is? Do you know how many people are going to see this necklace? I mean this necklace is going to be in all of her photos! What if she doesn't like it? What if it breaks? Ahhhhhh!

Deep breath.....deep breath......deep breath

Okay, I'm better now. I have a sketch of what I think I want to do and tomorrow I am going on a hunt for "parts". I know I want some little glass beads with a little bigger glass bead every so often, and then I want a rectangular "something" hanging from it. I need the plastic threadlike stuff to make it with and a clasp of some kind. I've been looking at those clasps...how the heck do you attach those things?

I'm sure all of you jewelry makers are either cringing or laughing hysterically right now. If any of you have any words of wisdom, I would love to hear them. If you have any little insider tips that you can give me about what I should be sure to do and what I should be sure not to do....I'm listening.

Over the next month I need everyone to send me positive jewelry making vibes while I work on this masterpiece. I am going to need all of the help I can get!

Busy, Busy , Busy

I am in the process of filling MyOtherShop with cool stuff, I'm revamping FourDogDay, my daughter's wedding is in a little over two months, the shower is in 2 weeks, I need something to wear to two showers, the girl party and the rehearsal dinner and haven't bought a thing yet, my new diet is awful, I still need to get my dress altered and we are going to get 8 inches of snow tomorrow which means it will take me forever to get home. Am I stressed? Of course not! What's the point? It won't get anything done any faster and it isn't going to stop the snow.

The biggest thing for me right now outside of etsy is the shower. We want it to be really nice for Tresa, so my daughter-in-law, Bernadette and I are hard at work. Today we decided on the menu and the wines, figured out the place cards, and Saturday we are going to shop for the paper for the menus, the ribbon for the favor boxes, and the things we need for the centerpieces. I wish I could show you stuff and tell you what we are doing, but Tresa reads my blog and we aren't sharing any of the shower details with her. I'll take lots of pictures though and post them after the shower.

Once the shower is done, the next thing in line is finding clothes for the other events, shoes for the wedding and getting my dress altered. The dress is royal blue and I want silver shoes. I kind of like these, but I'm thinking I might want a higher heal....although I am not a high heel person and I will probably break my neck in them!

Well, I have turnips in the oven (Ugh) and squash in the steamer (Yuk). I might have a veggie burger with it (Boring). This diet is the pits...but tomorrow I am treating myself to an egg and cheese croissant from Dunkin' Donuts and my chai latte from Starbucks. I've done really good this week and I deserve a reward! Yum! Can't wait!

My Sure Cure For A Nasty Headache

Before I fell asleep last night I got a nasty headache. Not only that, my upper back was hurting really bad. I lay there trying to get comfortable, and started thinking about what I might have done for the back ache. Then I remembered that I did some arm exercises earlier in the evening. The headache could have been from my first day doing pilates again. I felt better knowing why I was hurting, but it didn't make sleep any easier.

I woke up a couple of times during the night with my head still hurting, and woke up at 4:30 a.m. with the headache still there. Hmmmmmm....hate starting out the day like that, but I got myself ready and headed to work.

About an hour after I got to work, I headed to the kitchen to warm up my tea that had already gotten cold. When I walked in I smelled this wonderful smell.....mint. Man did it smell good. I looked at the table and there they were...a plate of assorted Girl Scout cookies that someone had put out. I immediately spotted the little gems that were giving off the lovely aroma....thin mints! I could eat a whole box of those little guys in one sitting.

Unfortunately for me, I am on a special food sensitivity diet and flour and sugar are a no-no. I have not been perfect on the diet, I am still drinking my Starbucks chai lattes a couple of days a week, but to eat a thin mint would be a sin.

Then I remembered something from my 5 years of working in the natural health office....mint is great for head aches. My boss use to have a little roll on bottle of peppermint oil, and when she had a headache, she would rub it on her temples and her headache would go away. She swore by it.

With my head still pounding, I picked up one of the precious little chocolate gems....NO I did NOT rub the thin mint on my temples!!! I grabbed a napkin and held the little thin mint in it and then I breathed in the yummy scent. Over and over. I walked back to my office, napkin wrapped cookie in hand, sat at my desk and sniffed some more.

I left the little cookie sitting on the napkin next to me on my desk and started to work. Every once in a while I would pick the little guy up and take a whiff.

Well, about 20 minutes later, I suddenly realized that my headache was GONE! I mean it, it really was.

So, was it the magical little thin mint, or had my headache just run it's course? We may never know, but when the Girl Scouts come around next year selling cookies you can be sure I will be buying a few boxes of the thin mints.....for medicinal purposes only of course!

(And no, I never ate the cookie. It is wrapped up in the napkin, still sitting on my desk...just in case I have a headache tomorrow!)

There Are No Bad Dogs....

Isn't that what they say? There are no bad dogs, just bad dog owners.

So, Wrigley and I are walking down the first street and I told you yesterday that I heard guys yelling for their dog, Lady. Then I see the younger guy, I am assuming the son, chasing the dog all over the place. Are you kidding me? Did he really expect to catch the dog? You don't chase dogs for one. They think it's a game and they'll run all day long with you chasing them. I thought about turning around and going the other way, but alas it was too late, Lady came running right at us from down the street.

I tried to stay calm so Wrigley couldn't sense my nervousness. Dogs know when you are nervous and it makes them nervous. So, I just kept walking. The hair stood up all the way down Wrigley's back when the dog approached and I will say it rattled my nerves a bit as well because it turned out to be a pit bull. It was only a puppy, but it was about 4 times the size of Wrigley and I had no idea what it was going to do.

The owners continued to try to coax her into the house, and they kept saying, "She won't bite," and I kept thinking.......are you sure?

I know that pit bulls get a bad rap, but if you recall a couple of years ago, there was a little boy and girl that were out selling something for school door to door that were attacked by 3 pit bulls.....well the little boy almost died. He was in the hospital for a long time. That attack happened at my corner. It was one of the most awful nights ever. We heard the gunshots when they shot the dogs. It was terrible. Those kids were ripped apart and have physical and emotional scars that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Needless to say, as much as I love dogs, I am leery of dogs I don't know, no matter what breed they are, when they are loose.

Lady jumped on me a few times...not a friendly little jump, but a running jump! Man was she strong! The son kept chasing and the dad kept telling him not to. I continued to walk, but she kept following us.

After she had approached us a few times and didn't try to bite me or attack Wrigley, I started putting my hand out to her, hoping she wouldn't rip it off and eventually I was able to grab her collar and her owner came over and took her.

We live in a neighborhood with a lot of dogs. Many people like us have more than one dog. Many of the dogs are in their yards and are allowed to bark at every person that strolls by. It's really annoying. Some of them are in their houses barking and lunging at the windows! It's unnerving.

Dogs that run around their yards barking at people, or dogs that do the same thing inside their houses are bored dogs with irresponsible owners. I feel bad for dogs that never leave their yards. How awful that must be. Even if you have a fenced yard, dogs need to be walked. They need to get out in the world. They need to be on a leash so they know that you are the boss. They don't need to be in the yard to play alone, they need you to play with them.

Bad behaviors happen when dogs are bored and aren't getting the attention and exercise they need. If you have a dog...walk them, play with them and always let them know that you are the boss. Discipline them with love and be consistent. That's what they need and that's what they want. So give your dog a big hug and then take him for a walk...it'll be good for both of you!

It's January 5th...Do You Know Where Your Goals Are?

Okay folks...it's January 5th. Have you set your goals? Do you plan to set some goals? Did you read my blog posts about goal setting and achieving your goals? Here is one, and here is the other. I did set my goal and I have my plan in place. I just need to make the final copy and post it by my computer so I can stay on task each and every day.

I got off to a great start this morning. I got up at 4:30 a.m.......yes, that's what I said....4:30 a.m. I start work at 7:30 and I have a 50 minute commute on most days. In the morning, I am going to work out, fix a good lunch, check my etsy shop, my blog and the forums and then get ready for work. I need 2 hours to get it all done. I don't like to rush. I did it this morning and hopefully it will be a tiny bit easier tomorrow and each day after that.

Work was tough today. I had so much to do and I have only been at work twice in the past 2 weeks. There were things on my desk that I looked at and went, "Hmmmmm, now what the heck was I suppose to do with this?". It was quite a day. I am normally extremely organized, but I felt totally out of sync this morning. (No, that is not really my desk!) As the day went on I started to remember what my job was and by the end of the day I was thinking, "Oh, yes this is what I do for 40 hours a week!"

When I got home I immediately changed my shoes and grabbed the dog's leash and we headed out the door. Poor little Wrigley hasn't had a nice walk in weeks. The weather has been awful and the roads have been covered in salt and that hurts her little feet. So, off we went. The first street we went down, I heard 2 guys yelling for their dog, Lady. I slowed down a bit because I don't know Lady. The men were yelling and chasing and doing all of the things you aren't supposed to do, but we'll save that topic for another day. I'll tell you tomorrow about what happened.

Anyway, we did survive our walk, in fact, it was quite nice. We got back and I headed into the workshop. I did not spend my hour talking to Irv like I planned, but I needed to get pics of my new decoupage stuff done so I can post a couple of things tonight. He understood. He asked what I would like for dinner and he headed for the kitchen. I'm so lucky!

I started photographing and most of them turned out pretty good. We'll see how they look when I get them in my shop. I did have trouble with one of them and I'll have to redo those next time around.

So, with pictures taken it was time to blog, so here I am! It's 7:30 p.m. so that means I have less than 2 hours to finish up my "to do" list for today. I am bound and determined to do this.

Like I said in the beginning, have you made some goals for yourself. Have you developed a plan to help you achieve those goals? If not, what are you waiting for? Let's go!

I'm Throwing My T.V. in the Garbage

Not really...if I did that, my son would be very upset with me. We are t.v. sitting for him right now until he gets his house. So, I have this gigantic t.v. in my little living room right now. I will say that it is much easier on the old eyes, but.....

Over the course of this past year, I have found myself watching less and less t.v. It's almost to the point where I think I could be one of those people that doesn't have a t.v. at all...and I can't believe I am saying that!

Do you watch much t.v.? What is your favorite show?

I do flip on the weather channel occasionally to see what kind of storms...snow or tornado are headed our way. I will also confess that I am one of those silly people that love American Idol. I know, I know....it's a ridiculous show, but I love the laughs at the beginning of the season and I do get attached to some of the performers by the final weeks. I have always loved music and I enjoy the talent.

The other show I really like is the Amazing Race. I don't enjoy the bickering and the nastiness that always seems to rear it's ugly head, but I do love to see the countries they travel to. If I had the travel channel, I could enjoy that part of it without all of the silliness.

I talked before about my immense dislike of violent movies...well I feel the same way about t.v. shows. I just can't watch them. I don't find murder and torture entertaining. In fact, it really bothers me. I know it isn't real, but much of what you see on t.v. really happens on a daily basis, and that's what bothers me. It is kind of real.

Medical shows have taken over the airwaves too, and I really don't want to watch one sick person after another paraded across the screen. I know there are horrible diseases out there. I don't need to be reminded of that every night. I use to watch Grey's Anatomy, but every character has become dysfunctional in some way or another and I got bored with it all.

I was a fan of "24", but each season it gets more and more violent. I'll try watching it this season, but I have a feeling I might be done with that show too.

Yep, I am a real barrel of laughs aren't I? Perhaps you can recommend some good quality shows for me. I don't have digital cable though, so I am a bit limited as to what I can watch.

So, what do I do instead of watching t.v...I make things, I blog, I read, I do Sudoku puzzles, I try to do logic puzzles, I plan, I journal, I text with my kids and I e-mail friends and family. I do things that make me happy.

I don't begrudge anyone their hours in front of the t.v. My husband watches t.v. every evening. He is a huge fan of House and the Law and Order shows...oh, and Criminal Minds. If t.v. makes other people happy, then that's great for them. I guess it's all in what you call entertainment and what you choose to do with your time.

Now, when baseball season starts, you will find me in front of the t.v. any time the Cubs are playing....and believe me....that can be torture!