Merry Christmas!

I was very difficult to buy for this year. Preston kept asking me what I want, and I kept saying, "I'm good". Which, while really not helpful, was actually true. Through the miracles of medical science, I got to keep both my Mom and my dog this year! What more could I want? I feel very blessed. Plus I got to see my son; with 3,000 miles between us that doesn't happen very often.

I finally put up a sort of a tree a couple days ago. It's the fiber optic one I had in the shop. Neither of us could justify spending all that money on a real tree, even though we prefer a real one, when after Christmas I immediately start itching to get it out of the house. The house is very small, and a tree in the living room takes up a large amount of living space. So I brought this one home and plugged it in. Little did I know that it not only lights up, but it rotates, a situation I found completely unacceptable. Besides it freaked Myah out. So since there was no on/off switch for the rotating aspect, I unplugged it and hung a string of lights on it. That's it, no ornaments, no angel on top, nothing. Well there are a few candy canes on it now but that's it. Really I just put it there to have someplace to put the presents because they just looked strange sitting in the corner with no tree. But I think it looks nice. Especially with Myah under it.

Skating Away...

...Not like there aren't other things I should be doing!! I got these last year at a yard sale, big score for me!!! A big box of ratty old skates. You know what they say, about one person's trash.
I've been doing these for years and they seem to be really popular. It gives me an excuse to use glitter (!!) and a purpose for all sorts of odds and ends of glitzy trim. They may start out ratty, but they end up looking like this
Or if I'm feeling really tacky, like this one I made last year:

By the way, I still have it. So what does THAT tell you? Sooner or later though, much like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, someone will come along who appreciates it in all it's tacky charm and give it a good home.

Like I said, I got these last year and they've been sitting in a box waiting for me to be inspired as to what to do with them. Last week I had an order for one specific one, and when I went to dig it out of the box to paint it, inspiration just reached out slapped me upside the head and out they all came, suddenly each with its own purpose. Funny how that happens sometimes.

So this week I have been trying to paint and glue and glitter while trying not to get glitter in my computer, because in between skates I have developed a really destructive "Words With Friends" habit. If you don't know what that is, it's like Scrabble played on Facebook. So I have 4 games going with Sparky, a few with my sister, some with Preston, and a bunch with other friends and relatives. It's supposed to be keeping my brain sharp but I don't think it's working. If I was that sharp, I'd get off the computer and get some work done!

Bits and pieces...

...every once in a while I drag them out and see what I can make with them. The little book ornaments are now finished, and I have to say I don't think I'll be making any more. They're kinda cool, but they were a pain in the rump and I cut myself on the wire (I can almost hear all the jewelry and stained glass artists going "wah, wah, wah"). But leave it to me to do myself an injury working on such a simple project. Anyway, I stayed up until 2am, determined to get them done and thereby clear a large mess off my kitchen counter. Mission accomplished. Now, back to the stuff I SHOULD be doing!

Sage Advice From Steve Jobs

Not being a techie, I can't say I ever felt one way or the other about Apple. In fact, the IPhone I just bought is, as far as I can recollect, the first Apple product I've ever owned (more on that later). We have PCs at the house, and what I call my IPod is really a Creative Zen. Ipod is just easier to say. Anyway, whatever millions or billions that Steve Jobs made, none of it was attributable to my household.

I was saddened to hear of Steve's death, if only because I knew he had just recently retired. My dad, who was of course much older when he died, had a long, long retirement to enjoy. That's how it should be, I think, but of course it's anything but a perfect world. So let's just say, I didn't really know much of anything about Steve Jobs except that he co-founded Apple.

Every once in a while, you see or hear something that just stops you dead in your tracks and makes the light bulb go on. I had just such a moment while watching the news broadcast announcing Steve's passing. They showed the clip in which he gave what was, if I remember correctly, the commencement speech at Stamford. The thing that grabbed my ear was this: "Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice". I know so many people to whom this notion has never occurred, and that's just sad. Imagine living your life doing what everyone else thinks you should be doing, resolutely shushing your inner voice just so you can "fit in" or live up to someone else's expectations. How many artists' and musicians' work would we never get to see and hear if they didn't listen to their inner voice? What does YOUR inner voice whisper when no one's listening?

The Latest Random Project

Like I said, I held off as long as I could from starting new projects, having a backlog of already-started stuff. But I'm weak.

I bought a bag of unusual papers at a yard sale for 50 cents! I didn't have anything in mind to do with them, but 50 cents is insanely cheap for fancy paper. ( I know, I've been on the Loose Ends mailing list since I used to watch Sandy on the Carol Duvall Show). And there was a lot of it. And see all those little doodads? I have a junk box full of miscellaneous tics and tacs that were too cool to throw away. So these little books, which measure about 2" x 2-1/2", are going to be Christmas ornaments. Probably I won't make any more, they take a long time to make, for Christmas ornaments. But it was one of those things where I had the magazine page that inspired me, the paper, and the junk box set aside for like two years just waiting in queue for me to begin the project. This is what my storage shed is like, many many intended projects. NEXT!!!

Oh yeah, I have a blog.

It's been an eventful three months and while it doesn't take long to get on here and post, it hasn't been uppermost in my mind. A few days after my last post, Sparky ended up in the hospital where she stayed for almost a month. She's doing really well now, but during the last couple of months my dog, who's also doing well now, also had some serious medical issues. I'm knocking wood....everyone else is ok.

Autumn is here and I couldn't be happier. Although the last couple of days have been stinking humid, it won't last too much longer. The crickets and katydids have been singing during the day, not just at night, which is how I knew fall (real fall, not calendar-fall) was right around the corner. I live for fall. It's the only thing that makes dealing with the other three seasons (ice, mud, and sweat) bearable. I only wish it would last longer, but I'll take what I can get. In fall I get what other people get in the spring...the urge to do the spring cleaning thing.

Which brings us to The Purge. My friend the dumpster is gone now, having been filled with as much flotsam and jetsam as we could cram into it. And wouldn't you know, there's still more stuff left! But it had to go, as the dumpster people were starting to call me wondering if I had skipped town with it or what. As if. Anyway, we did manage to get rid of a tremendous amount of crap...well over two tons of it, judging by the bill I got. And damn, the yard looks big! Now all we have to do is make a few more trips to the scrap yard and we will be done.

I swore, as I do periodically, that I wasn't going to start any new projects until I finished all the ones I'd already started. I did pretty well, held off as long as I could, but I just couldn't do it. I'm still working on the already-started ones (which include few orders that are long overdue) but I did start a couple more because I just have no self-control. Pics with my next post.

Beating the Heat...

Is much easier in the pool for poor Myah, who suffers so much from the heat. As soon as we put in the air conditioner, she parks herself in front of it and barely moves until October or whenever we are able to put it away for the winter. Today it's the 4th and although it's been hotter, it's so stinking humid that you can't move without breaking a sweat. Mosquito weather.

Today I worked more on "the mess". I moved a bunch of scrap wood, which turned out to be so rotted that it wasn't any good even for campfire wood so into the dumpster it went. I felt a little bad at the upheaval I caused in what was really a tiny little ecosystem all its own, but I guess the critters will find somewhere else to live. There were many pissed-off ants, big ones with eggs. Wonder if they'll move into Sparky's house now.

So today I celebrate freedom from junk. I know it's not what our founding fathers had in mind, but it's what's on MY mind of late. Seriously, the whole process is having a major effect on my outlook, and I may need therapy when this is over. After spending so much time sorting through the odds and ends that my dad couldn't ever part with, I have the really disconcerting compulsion to get rid of all my stuff. I don't really have much personal stuff to begin with; I have only a few knicknacks, and only one or two of them really mean anything to me. I don't have a whole lot of clothes; not because I can't afford them, but because a) I don't have a lot of closet space, and b) I HATE to shop. Really, the only thing I have a lot of are sewing supplies and fabric. But those are the tools of my trade, and they're in their own storage shed, not in my house. So really, what would I get rid of? But the thought of having STUFF makes me a little claustrophobic, if that makes any sense.

Therapy. I told you.