It's Friday!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!

I don't have anything new and beady to report. I've spent a lot of time this week cleaning beads, but that's not really exciting or blog-worthy.

I WILL say that I waited a long time to get my new bead cleaning tool thingy and I went and bought a dremmel to use with it and I am NOT impressed. I wish I could say I was... but I'm not. :(

I'm going to have to go back over all the beads I've cleaned again. ugh. My old method of just using the mandrel to clean little beads seems to be JUST as effective as this expensive tool. I wish it wasn't so.... but that is MY finding (please don't try to debate with me about it... if you're having good luck with the tool. Hooray! I'm happy for you!!!!)

In other beady news... well, there isn't any... so we're moving onto non-beady things...

Cake Wrecks!!!!

I hope this ends your week with a laugh. I found it thanks to my wonderfully amusing cousin Emilie (who writes a fantastic epicurean blog called ifagioli - I have no idea what that means, so don't ask me... just check it out sometime.)

http://www.ifagioli.com/

ANYWAYS... thanks to Emilie, I laughed my butt off at these "cake wrecks" today!!! My favorite ones are all the mis-spelled ones or misinterpreted directions by cake-decorators. Hooray for Cake Wrecks!!!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

so... happy Friday to you all!!!

no music
same old coffee...

no tiny blah..... oh, I guess that was tiny... oh well!

Quickie catch-up blog posting..

Life has been, for the most part, busy and happy. Beads have been made, but nothing huge and wonderful as I had hoped. I did make one really interesting bead on Saturday... it was a 2 hour project and just as I was finishing I heard that awful "crack" sound that makes a beadmaker's heart sink.

I went ahead and finished the bead because I wanted to see how it looked finished, but was disappointed, both because it cracked and in the way the colors reacted with each other (you don't always know until you try though).

I spent the rest of my beadmaking time making little simple beads. It seems that my hands are shaking again. It's SO weird how I now that I know what causes it... it's SO obvious. I wonder why I didn't figure it out long ago. At least I know now. It's nothing I can remedy, but at least I know why it happens. HOPEFULLY it will subside soon and I can get back to what I love.

In the meantime, it's little basic beads for me. It does mean that I can't participate fully in my own workshop which is a total bummer... but that's just the way it is. There is SO much more I'd love to say here, but I'll save it for conversations with friends (sorry, dear readers who aren't my in-person friends... you'll just have to be out of the loop on this one).


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - same old same old. I'm in a rut. Need to change things up, but haven't found a drink I like as much as my Cinnamon dolce Latte

music - listening to the radio today - Dave FM. Right now it's Gavin____ Gwen's husband. It's a beautiful song, but I can't remember his name or the name of the song! LOL

FINALLY Friday!!!!

We made it! (well, close to, anyways!!)

As I was driving into work this morning, I was thinking (something I do in the car quite a lot). For me, driving down Lake Forest (a tree-lined back road) always puts me deep into thought and I have no idea why! Some of my best ideas/epiphany moments occur when I'm on that road. Weird, huh? I don't think I have the same sorts of ideas on other roads... wonder why.

SO... I'm driving down Lake Forest and I'm thinking about my online class and life. I'm reading a book that's making me a bit teary at its ending (which I'm sort of avoiding because I don't feel a happy ending coming on) and it's too long to go into, but it's sort of about the twists and turns of life. The story is about a man who time travels and his relationship with his wife. He knows his future, but can't change it and at this point of the book, he's sort of wallowing in a bit of self-pity, knowing what’s ahead. Not that I might not do the same thing... not sure.

Since I was thinking about the book and then thinking about my workshop, I sort of had some "hmmmm...." thoughts about beads and life.

The saying "when life hands you lemons make lemonade" seems kind of flippant to me when people are going through real hardships, but it is sort of an attitude that I encourage in my creativity workshops... making the most of the things you create that didn't quite turn out the way you'd planned... embracing the mistakes for the opportunities they can offer... doors they can open to explore new ideas.

How does this fit with life??? Well, I was thinking of the last 10 years of my life and all the things that have happened in my life that were NOT things that I wanted to happen... but how I dealt with those situations was up to me.

No one ASKS for a fire... no one wants a diagnosis or a failed relationship... but bad things happen in life and where you go from there is up to you. I had the choice of how to react in all these situations - sitting and feeling sorry for myself, blaming God, myself (I’m bad at that) or others for the places I'd ended up or just saying... ok, what do I do now???? Looking back, I’m really proud of how I’ve handled things. I’m DEFINITELY not perfect, so that’s not what I’m saying, but looking back over the last 10 years, given what I’ve been dealt… I can say that for the most part, I’ve weathered the storms and come out a stronger person because of them.

In beadmaking, it’s sometimes really hard for me to look at my work without that inner critic telling me everything that’s wrong about a piece. But for some reason, in my life, I don’t have that same pessimistic attitude. That’s not to say I’m not hard on myself (because I am) and that I don’t get sad… I’m real… I hurt and I don’t mend easily, BUT I try not to live in that place… even though, in some of these situations that would have been very easy to do.

SO, as I teach people to see the possibilities in every piece they create… I need to remember to use that same attitude myself more often. It’s easier to do in the context of the class where it’s SUPPOSED to be an exploration than it is in the studio when you have something you wanted to make and it doesn’t go the way you want. BUT I need to remember to apply my attitude towards life to the studio as well.

I’ll be in my studio this weekend and I plan to make some REAL beads this time… not just the assigned ones for my class, but some real artistic expressions of things that I’ve been mentally brewing for a while now. I have no idea if I’ll be successful or not, but it’s time to try… and not to beat myself up if they don’t go as planned… embrace the possibilities of the positive that can come from imperfection…. and the hope of something wonderful on the other side.

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - Cinnamon Dolce Latte

music - more of the playlist "Chick Flick or Should Be" Right now it's playing John Waite "Missing You". For some reason, that song always reminds me of driving down the highway when I was in High School. I'm not sure why that's the memory that's triggered, but I'm glad that's what I associate with it. I know people who associate it with a person... I don't. OOH! And now it's playing Sade's "Maureen" which is a song I LOVE!

It's STRESS FREE THURSDAY!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!
Good Morning World!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(and I DO mean world...)

• United States
• United Kingdom
• Denmark
• Canada
• Australia
• South Africa
• Switzerland
• Italy
• Germany
• New Zealand
• Singapore
• Turkey
• Unknown (scary!)
• Netherlands
• Hong Kong
• France
• Hungary
• Israel
• China
• Ireland
• Russia
• Belgium

TOO CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone or someones in all these countries read my blog. That just blows my mind!!! The internet is such a cool cool thing. I was talking yesterday to someone about my online class and how I have people in 6 different countries participating. That's crazy isn't it???

In what other workshop could people be around the globe and STILL in the same class??!! I think it's super cool that I'm uniting the world (ok... I'm being silly here, I KNOW I am not personally responsible for any form of world peace. LOL... I'm just saying it's cool that people geographically far away can participate in something together all at the same time that I'm responsible for.) Very cool indeed.

That said... my workshop needs tweaking. <--- that reminds me of a scene from You've Got Mail when Tom Hanks tells Meg Ryan that he's been away because he has a project that needs "tweaking" (when he's figured out it's her-his rival that he's been e-mailing and he's trying to figure out how to win her over even though she hates him) ANYWAYS, I digress... I have 4 groups of people participating in the workshop. Each group has 10-12 members. I have a waiting list of 17 people waiting to start when I'm ready for them.

My challenge is that not ALL the members of the other groups are participating. All for different reasons... some people have busy schedules and can't do their assignments every week... some have just not participated, but I don't know why... some have family things that have come up unexpectedly. I have to figure out how to deal with this. The classes NEED a good number of people participating to make it work. Right now I've got about 1/3 of the people in each group doing their work regularly and a few others in each group doing something sporadically. (I do have one group where 75%ish are participating every week... I THINK it's because a lot of them already know each other, so there's sort of an accountability factor there)

No one is paying for the workshop and I'm sure that's part of it. We tend to commit to things that we have attached monetary value to... sort of like going to the gym for me. I really do love going to the gym, but a lot of times I get busy and it's easy to put that on the back burner. If I've PAID the trainer, however, I always show up... even if my schedule is crazy busy. I didn't PLAN on charging for this workshop, but should I consider it... just to get people committed??? I hope to charge for it someday... but I wasn't going to yet because I wanted the positive word-of-mouth advertising from those who participated in it with these groups first.

And do I EVER want to charge for it anyways??? If I do it online and I can get it fairly self-sufficient... shouldn't I just be proud that I'm helping people develop creatively and let that be its own reward??? I am truly proud that I help people find those "aha" moments every now and then. What if I could be partially responsible for a whole group of beadmakers descending on bead-world with such wonderfully unique work that it really mixed things up???!!

ok... I'm talking too much today. I'm just thinking 'out loud" and have to figure out how to "tweak" the classes... put people together that are actually participating. But how to do that without offending those who aren't??? hmmmmm.... more to think on.

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - yummy cinnamon dolce latte made by Omar the genius barista

music - my ipod playlist "Chick Flick Songs (or should be)" Right now it's Kelly Clarkson's "The Trouble With Love" which IS from a Chick Flick. Love Actually which is one of my very very favorite movies. It's just about the time of year that they play it on TV since it has a holiday theme. YAY!

Happy Wednesday World!

I am ONE step closer to world bloggy domination!!! I have added more countries to my map! woo hoo!!! (hello to all you people out there having your coffee with me that I don't know. And hello to those of you who I do know too)

I'm in a good mood today and it's not just because of my readership boom. I'm just in an overall good mood which is nice for a change. I hesitate anymore to say that because I always feel like I jinx things... but I'm a logical person and know that I DON'T... it just seems that way sometimes.

ANYWAYS... I'm in a good mood. A productive mood. A creative mood.

I'm sure someone will try to "step on my buzz" today because that's just how life goes sometimes, but for now, I'm feeling very upbeat.

I didn't get to make beads last night as I had hoped, but I'm hoping to have more time to devote to it this weekend. I'm working on organizing crafty stuff in the meantime.... that I can do in a more stop/start manner than I can beadmaking.

I've always had one room in my house that was specifically my studio, but I have other pursuits that aren't necessarily bead-oriented that need some space too and I'm working on making a new place for that... which is a cool thing. Little by little it's happening. I'll keep you posted.... about my organizational progress AND my beadmaking.

Hi to my frequent Atlanta-area readers and hi to Israel!!!!! WOW! isn't that crazy??? That I have people reading this in Israel???


tiny blah blah blah....

Coffee - Cinnamon Dolce Latte (do they have Starbucks in Israel??? For some reason I think they might!)

Music - Corrinne Bailey Rae. I just love her music. It's so upbeat and perfect for a day like today. I wish she would release a new album though!!!!

Scattered Tuesday

I feel like my thoughts are all over the place today, so I'll make this short (hopefully) and just do some quickie bullet point sort of things...

• found my camera charger! YAY! Need to upload all the good pictures to facebook and snapfish to get prints for scrapbooking (this only SORT OF has to do with beads. There are a few beady pictures, but most of them are family/friends. I'm really happy having my camera back again!)
  
• 
  
• Need to scrapbook the pictures I already have! (this has nothing to do with beads, but I'm writing it here anyways)
  
• 
  
• Need to make some weekend plans (for beadmaking - hey, I'm TRYING to stay on topic! I might be making other plans too though)
• 
  
• Need to start making Christmas presents (this IS beady, but i'm not going to give specifics because gift-recipient people read this blog sometimes)
  

• Need to make a hair appointment (I've cancelled 4 times due to "stuff" so she's probably getting a little miffed! - again, nothing to do with beads)
• 
  
• Need to reorganize the groups in the online workshop. One group is thriving, one group fizzling... needs tweaking. It's all experimental, so I guess that's bound to happen. (OOH! actually on topic again!)
  

ok... that's all the "need tos" that I'm going to post for today, lest I feel overwhelmed.

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - for the first time in 3 days, I'm actually drinking a Cinnamon Dolce latte. 2 days in a row I ordered a drink and they got it wrong AND I didn't notice until I was driving down the road. ARGH! Made me very unhappy. I miss Omar when I have to go to other Starbucks!

music - Today is a Bob Seeger day. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's reminiscing about high school. Not sure, but I love "Against The Wind" this time of year.

books - I haven't had this one in a while, but I'm reading a really cool book, so I thought I'd include the info here. I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wife which is REALLY interesting and intriguing. Hard to describe, but it's one of those books that i have NO idea how its going to end, but I'm enjoying it as I go along, not racing for the finish like i sometimes do.

Hello world! It's Wednesday!!!!!

WOW! This week has flown by... because it's' just been an abby-normal one.

I took a few vacation days (which meant vacation from the blog too) and had fun with friends/family/people in line at the polls.

I don't have anything real beady to report, so this is a short one. Things are still very topsy turvy in personal-life-land and that has made it hard to focus on anything else. My online classes are rolling along and have gotten a lot more self-sufficient, so that's a good thing.

I did find a little time on Saturday to make beads. Not anything huge or wonderful, but it was good to just sit down at the torch and make a bead or two. I have GOT to get focused soon and go at it from a more professional stance. We'll see how that goes.

In very happy news... I found my camera!!!!!!! Not my bead camera. I've had it in the studio the whole time, but my fun camera that I carry all the time to take pictures of the kids and friends, etc. I hadn't seen it since the end of summer and it was really bumming me out! I had a couple of days worth of pictures on the memory card that I would have been sad to have lost, BUT it was more the feeling of not being able to "capture moments" when I wanted to.

I had last seen it at a pool party and was worried that it had somehow been lost at the pool (even though I'd looked there over and over). For some unexplainable reason, I put it into a drawer in the house... one that I never look in! I have NO idea why... but that's where I found it. At least I found it!!! YAY!!!

Now, I've just got to figure out which outlet I last had the charger plugged into and I'm good to go!! YAY!!!


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - a not very good cinnamon dolce latte. I think they put peppermint syrup instead of cinnamon! It just does NOT taste right!

music - James Taylor. I need to decompress a bit

Friday Friday Friday Friday Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


that just about covers it. :)


Happy Halloween everyone!

I'm going as an angel tonight... but that would have been the obvious choice, right?????


tiny blah blah blah...

starbucks coffee - the usual

music - Dave FM, which I turned off a little while ago to answer the phone and forgot to turn back on! I just realized I've been IMAGINING the music that's in my head... Jason Mraz

It's Thursday... FINALLY.

It's Stress-free Thursday... and it BETTER really be or I'm going to start asking for a refund!!!!


I'm a little more settled than I was yesterday. It doesn't mean that the things that were bugging me yesterday are any more solved than they were... I just am feeling a little more settled about them. (this makes no sense... I know)

I have a weekend to myself and plan on decompressing... hopefully that will help too.

TONIGHT, however, I am with my "G" just the two of us. I'm going to see if he wants to make beads... he might, he might not... you never know with him. Just depends where his mood lands. I think it would be fun since it's just the 2 of us and he wouldn't have to share torch-time w/ his brother... but we'll see.

My weekend plans are changing a bit, so I'm going to see if I can sneak some beadmaking time in where I might not have had some before... we'll see.

If nothing else, I need to get my photography stuff set up!!! I need to find a place for it that's sort of permanent so that I don't have to put it up and take it down all the time. I'm not sure where that will be yet... but I need to get it done because as I'm making beads, I need to take pictures and get them posted to the net.

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee today - Cinnamon Dolce with all the toppings! I deserve the whipped cream!!!

music - listening to Dave FM and they're playing really really good stuff today. Thanks Mara Davis! (right now it's Matthew Perryman Jones - "Save You"" great song!)

Topsy Turvy Wednesday

I'm having lots of days like this lately... where things just aren't as they should be. No explanations necessary (or going to be given) but it just is NOT normal around here lately and I don't like it. It effects my mood, my work, my art.

I'm longing to make beads this week and I really haven't figured out how that is EVER going to happen mid week, unless I become a night-owl (I think I said this yesterday... so you can tell I'm really struggling with it). And it's not just for financial reasons that I'm thinking of this. I'm really feeling the NEED to make art... not just make things like jewelry, but make ART.

I have wonderful ideas swirling in my head and no time to explore things.

(I found it necessary to erase a lot of stuff I felt like writing today)

The more I lead this workshop, the more it reminds me of my capabilities and gifts and how a lot of them are being wasted right now which really sucks. For the last year and a half-ish, I was so focused on non-beady things that required ALL my focus... it was totally fine with me to bottle my creative side. But now it's starting to bubble up out of the bottle and it's very difficult to keep a lid on it. And I hate wasting the bubbles!!!!

I'm so glad that I have the opportunity to help other people grow creatively... but I really need to also.

ok... this posting is not nearly as optimistic as yesterday's was. I'm just really frustrated.


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - same ol' cinnamon dolce latte

music - Dave FM who changed their morning show... HOORAY! More music less talk!!! Right now I'm listening to John Mayer's "Daughters"

Happy Tuesday to me!

And it really is pretty much a happy Tuesday. I don't know that i could have said that much in the last few weeks, but I do feel a little more on an up than an "aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh" today. Not that things are DIFFERENT... just that I'm feeling a little less on edge. But enough about that...

let's talk beads!

How in the WORLD am I going to find time to make beads????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My schedule is totally topsy-turvy now due to family stuff and I have NO clue how i'm going to find time to make beads... and I DESPERATELY need to make beads... for the creative reasons AND financial ones. I have absolutely NO idea when I'm going to be able to do this... do I treat it like an after-hours job and START at 10:00 at night when my son is in bed??????? Work until midnight??? And what can I get done in 2 hours anyways???

I am TOTALLY stumped as to how I'm going to do this, but I have to. I don't want to be an absent single mom who goes to work instead of spending time w/ her kids... but I totally understand the necessity of it for so many people in my position. I'm stumped, but will have to figure it out. I don't really have another option.

Online class - wow. just wow. I can't BELIEVE the incredible stuff that's being made. I'm posting a link to the collection of beads that have been created as of today. I'll be adding more as the class progresses. The group is also posting their follow-up creations as they use these beads as inspiration for future work. If I can, I'll post some of those later.

In the meantime... Here is a collection of fun work from beadmakers from around the WORLD!! (isn't that too cool???!!!! I have participants from as far away as India and South Africa!)

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66791&l=43028&id=683356612

And speaking of far away... I'm up to 22 countries for my blog! Look out Pinkie... we're taking over the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tiny blah blah blah

coffee - cinnamon dolce latte (I need another one)

music - listening to Dave FM... a great collection of music today. Thank you Mara Davis DJ extraordinaire !

It's Monday and it definitely feels like one.

I was listening to the radio and they were playing Jackson Browne's The Pretender this morning... which was the perfect song for a day when you've got to just...

"get up and do it again... amen"


I'm dragging... both physically and emotionally. I'm not going into it, but stuff is really getting to me and I'm SO glad I have the distraction of my online class. I'm really feeling good about what's happening there. It's exciting to see the things developing through the activities. It makes me smile and makes me feel good about what I'm doing.

I hope that the people participating are feeling as good about it as I am. It's not an easy process, challenging yourself, going outside your comfort zone... but it's good for us.

I've got an assignment bead to work on this week and I'm hoping to find time before Friday. I'm out of town for the weekend, so I need to make sure that I've got it done before I go. It's a really interesting assignment (if I do say so myself) and I can't wait to see how people interpret it. It's more esoteric and emotional in nature than the other assignments, so it's either going to be a hit or a bomb. I've not done this one before in one of my classes, so this is a test. I think it could be really cool though... so hopefully it won't be a bomb.

ok... need to go "struggle for the legal tender" in the words of Mr. Browne.

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - no, but I probably should have. I'm trying to eliminate starbucks from my daily routine to save money and just prove that i'm stronger than my habit... BUT it's not going so well.

music - no... I turned it off after Jackson Browne was on. I like that song and it's sort of haunting, so I've just got it on "repeat" in my head.

It's "stress free thursday"

Boy... I sure hope so. I neeeeeeeeeeeed a stress free day.

Lots of beady things going on, but no beadmaking. Bummer. I wish I could say that I've been making tons of beads and doing all sorts of creative things myself, but I can't.

My tremors are back. :(

I had figured out some time last year that they were stress-induced, but boy, I can really tell that this week. A lot of the stress had disappeared from my life in the last couple of years, but the events of my life recently have multiplied that stress times a gazillion (yes, that's mathematically possible) and my hands are back to shaking again.

I'm hoping that life finds a new normal and the stress lightens so that I can do what I love.

In the MEANTIME, I'm thrilled with the online workshop. Everyone seems to be really enjoying it (or pretending to anyways) and I'm loving watching people have "aha" moments that I helped them to find. That is SO rewarding.

It's hard to watch everyone else get to make beads though... I'm dying to. I'm actually going to give it a try tomorrow, but I'm not going in with too much expectation because lately, I'm having trouble even typing. We'll see.

Back to the class though... one of the people participating suggested that I think of writing a book about the process. I really never considered anything like that and it did make me wonder if people would read something like that. Not sure.

I've always believed that the same processes could be translated to other mediums, but I think if I did write a book it would focus on beadmaking. Still... I don't know how many people would actually be interested in something so esoteric. It seems that a LOT of the beadmaking world just wants "how to" and not something so crazy as I'd be offering.

something to think on anyways...

tiny blah blah blah for today...

Coffee - maybe later. I'm having iced tea with lots of lemon this morning

Music - random stuff on my ipod. I found a playlist called "recently played" and I have NO idea how it collected the songs it did because these are NOT recently played songs. I'm liking it though. So far it's been a cool collection. Right now I'm listening to Jason Mraz sing "At Last" (the etta james song) which is a really cool cover of that song.

quickie post...

My quest for world domination is closer to reality!!!

(very Pinky and the Brain of me don't you think?)

ANYWAYS... we now have readers in 44 of the 50 states (plus D.C. and some "unknown"... not sure what that's about... do we have a state called "unknown"??? Is it close to Montana???) and 20 countries!!!!! WOW! That's crazy!!!

(Kentucky, West Virginia, Delaware, Vermont, Alaska and Hawaii are the non-sylvie states. I wonder what color those would be on the big election map...I'm not sure I could be represented by just one color (the Republicans and Democrats aren't very creative... obviously... red states and blue states... BORING) I think MY states would be "purple and green polka dot states".

ok... I have nothing really beady to talk about today, but had to share that little factoid/silliness.

And tomorrow night...

"We'll take over the World!!!!!!!!!!!!" (and if you haven't ever seen the cartoon Pinky and the Brain... that was just totally lost on you. oh well)


tiny blah blah blah...

Coffee - being delivered by my dad (who I work for... he went on a Starbucks run). I TOTALLY need some. Chick fil A tea just wasn't enough.

Music - Sylvie's long mellow playlist - Norah Jones "Don't Know Why" is playing now (I'm on my 2nd time through today)

Hello beady/bloggy world!

I've missed you!!

Unfortunately, until things calm down in my non-beady real life, things might be quiet here.

My online workshops are rolling along and I think everyone is enjoying them so far. We're still in the "forced experiment" stage, but some of the people are using the ideas and moving in new directions with their own NON-forced work. That's the exciting part to watch. I hope more people post pictures for everyone to see what they're doing (if they're doing something) with the inspirations from the group.

I have people on a waiting list for a 5th group. I really am not sure if I can do that or not. I'm going to wait and see how these 4 groups go first. I MIGHT do it, but I have to make sure I'm not taking on too much. Once things calm down in REAL LIFE, I'd like to get some beads made myself!!!

So much for marketing a Halloween Head Over Heels, huh???? Maybe I should shoot for May Day!!!

ok... time for the Tiny Blah blah blah

coffee - SO needed this morning. Cinnamon Dolce Latte and I'm predicting there will be more than one consumed today.

music - my long mellow list. We just switched from Jack Johnson's "better together" to Corrinne Bailey Rae's "Breathless" which I absolutely love. YAY for my ipod!

It's Friday.

That should come with a huge sigh of relief, but it's not. This is going to be a challenging weekend (those of you who know what I mean know what I mean) and I don't have that "whew! the weekend!" feeling that I normally would.

In beady news... the creativity class count is now up to 36!! OMG! And that's with 2 people that had to drop out!!! Crazy! And exciting.

I'm happy for the little bit of distraction that it is. The beads for this week's challenge are beginning to be posted and I'm already WOWed. It's SO cool to watch this process happen. It's too hard to describe, and it would start me on a long rambling dissertation again, but I really do love seeing the "aha" moments that it brings. So, even though personal stuff is crazy, this is a good thing.

It was my intention to participate in the workshop... not just moderate. BUT I'm not sure if I'm going to get any torch time this weekend. We'll just have to see. I might see if Griffin wants to make beads with me for a little while on Saturday morning. Of course, that would probably mean that Griffin makes beads and I sit there wishing I had the Y connector so that we both could!!! LOL

ok... going to run and get through this day. I feel like I have lead feet and I keep having to remind myself to BREATHE.

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - Cinnamon Dolce Latte from a foreign Starbucks. I like Omar's better.

music - My chick flick playlist (right now it's Elvis Costello Allison)

quickie Thursday post.

Stress Free Thursday?

I sure hope so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not going to talk personal-life other than to say, I'm taking a deep breath for a minute. I'm appreciating the small things. (that makes sense to only a few people and that's ok... it's MY blog!)


beady things...

My class groups are started. People are working on their assignments. It's funny that each group sort of has its own personality already. They're all doing the same thing, but there is a different vibe in each group (all good... just all different which I think is cool). The first assignment is due Monday and I can't wait to see what everyone has made.

I have 3 people on a wait-list for a group. I need about 8 to form another group. It's not fun with just a few people. I'm still not ready to say "open call" on Lampwork etc. because I think i'd get TOO many people and I wouldn't be able to handle the work... especially since this is a volunteer thing. I'm hoping that I'll have one evening a week of REAL work on this and the rest will just be monitoring/moderating a little. BUT I didn't expect to have 33 people either!!!

ok... must get back to real job and real life. I've just missed my blog this week.


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - nope. Chick fil a tea

music - Sylvie's "Chick flick soundtrack or Should Be" playlist

As you can see I've taken SEVERAL personal days. I'm hoping to find a new sort of normal, but it might take a while.

I'll keep you posted on beady things if they develop. No beads for now....

Hi all....

It's Monday night and I'm just now sitting down to blog. Life is totally crazy right now and it's not the type of stuff to blog about, so I'm not going to.

BUT just know that if I'm not here for a day or so... that's why. No need to alert the media or send out an all-points-bulletin like you sometimes do. I'm just doing

taking a personal day...

no beady stuff is as important as family.