so.. i survived... :)

And i did wind up getting most everything done that had to be done. It really surprised me! I didn't get my employee's gifts done, but i'm still going to finish them up and give them to them soon. I did get some great pieces made for gifts though and here are the photos. The first one was a commission for a very good friend of mine from her mother and the second one is a necklace i made for my nanny. :)

So- yeah.. i have done *something* lately! wait til you see all the bronzclay stuff i've been working on!

5 things that make me happy, plus misc stuff

So, i've been meaning to acknowledge the little things in life that make me happy - especially this time of year when the sun sets too early and the grey skies make me want to pull the covers over my head and stay in bed all day. So, here are 5 things that pleased me today-

1. IT Crowd on IFC. (although i haven't been able to see it because my DirecTV is hosed) I just THINK about IT Crowd and i can't help but smile. Richmond always makes me chuckle.
2. My employees gave me a gift card to the Flying Saucer. I <3 my people. :) Tonight is trivia, and i plan on us at least getting 3rd place again. Especially since we were only down by 2 points!!! last time.
3. ETSY- everything about etsy rocks my socks. I got great gears, beads and Christmas presents off etsy.
4. Queen of Babylon white tea. Teavana is my drug of choice for the moment. I can't afford for Absinthe to be my drug of choice all the time. :)
5. Kitties! I had to take Percy to the vet again today, but luckily it doesn't seem to be anything to bad- she's on special food again. While we were at the vet, she wanted me to hold her so i pulled her out of the carrier and she snuggled up and buried her face in my sweater. SO CUTE! and she buzzes so sweetly. I know i am loved when i cuddle up with her.

I am SO tired of the rain- and it's only been raining a day! When it rains in the summer, it's nice because afterwards everything is crisp and fresh. When it rains in the winter, everything is just soggy. all the piles of leaves are gross, the yard is a sink hole because the grass is dead and the dirt just becomes a big mud hole.. i hate that it is almost dark at 5pm too.. even though i am a night person, when it gets dark that early, it totally screws up my internal clock.
I probably wouldn't mind so much if i didn't have to leave the house when it rains. If i could stay home and lay in the bed with the kitties all day and read, it would probably be perfect because i enjoy the sound of the rain.. i just hate the mess..

What I've been up to...

So- i finally got up the nerve and opened my Bronzclay and started playing. I killed a whole 200gram package (the photo only shows about 50-75 grams worth of goodies) It is so freeing to have that much material to play with.... Now, if i can just figure out a way to convince myself to not be such a tight ass with the PMC... To the right of my bronze pieces, those are glass pendants i've been working on using 'found' images of fairies, goddesses and the like and just almost out of the photo in the top left corner, are my watch gears- i've become almost obsessed with this SteamPunk thing.. it's like victorian gothic with an edge. It's running, jumping, climbing trees Victorian goth! :) (eddie izzard reference for those with a 'huh?' look on their faces)


Patrick got his plate last week- i guess that would have been 11/25.. i'm WAY behind- but i also only go on tuesdays pretty much. I have a routine down, Trivia on Tuesdays, Studio on Thursdays (although i've been terribly bad and haven't been on thursday for a while) I used to have Bellydance class on Wednesday but after i ganked my knee up for the umteenth time, i decided that i needed to lay off it for a while.

But, i digress... Patrick's plate party was great- Andrew made an appearance- haven't seen him as much as i used to as of late. Steve came out- which i have to give him credit for, he does usually come play trivia with us and he helped us get the bonus question right that won us first place a few weeks ago. Patrick's mom and dad were there. The photo to the right is Patrick contemplating how his pint glass could possibly be empty and his mom just laughing.

I had a great Wednesday- i was off work (because i'm working this weekend) so i had lunch with my darling husband, drug him through Michaels (but didn't buy anything because they were being stupid and had long lines and were closing registers!). Then I went to the clock shop beside Chou's to see if i could buy some broken movements to strip the gears from and they gave me two for *free* and told me to come back any time for more! And i got a neat carved wood bead to make my nanny a necklace for christmas at Chous and then scored this neat wool at Tuesday Morning. I'm going to make some mermaid falls with it, i think.

So, yeah. that's what i've been doing.. Not too exciting. I wish i could show off more stuff i've made but i haven't really been able to spend too much time at my studio. I was over there wednesday for a while and i cleaned up so i can actually work in my jewelry area and i made two necklaces that were comissions for christmas presents. I have to go over and finish the piece i'm making for the Employee holiday party gift swap. There needs to be about 40 hours in the day.. i might make a dent in what i need to do if there was just more time...

Music Cheating

Ok.. here's the notes for regular flute

Imperial March - opening little bit- still working on getting more.. but it's a start!
G G G E flat B flat G E flat B flat G

Zelda Original Theme
B flat B flat B Flat B flat B Flat A flat B flat (X2) B flat B flat B flat B flat F F F F F F F F B flat F B flat B Flat C D E F and now i need to play with my fingering more to figure out which of the notes on this piano music is the true melody..

To Be Continued.... :)

Bleh!

Is how i feel today. The cough won't go away and i can't have Nyquil at work- i have too much to do to be fuzzy headed. Grrrr. i need a happy! I need to go wander the woods and take some pictures. Maybe Wolf will call me and tell me my film is ready. That would please me muchly- although paying for it won't...

Update- and 10 things that make me happy

So, i've been slowly sifting through my dozen or so SD cards to pull all the photos we took in New Orleans off. I am mostly recovered from the plague that had me out of work for three days- getting sick right after coming back from vacation is hell. Add to being sick, an allergic reaction to the meds that are supposed to make me better and you have my week. Not to mention that a part of my car, mind you a part that had JUST BEEN REPLACED, fell off while i was driving back alone from taking the kids back on sunday, and you have what is effectively the worst week ever. (from a sheer number of bad things standpoint)

I thought since i was feeling crappy (i HATE lingering coughs), i would make a list of things that make me smile. In no particular order they are:
1. Cuddling up with Andy and at least 2 kitties on the couch and watching tv (like smallville and if walls could talk)
2. IT Crowd. 'nuf said. :)
3. the weight of a 200g package of Bronzclay in my hand. I don't know what i'm going to make yet, but it can be BIG!
4. getting three pieces of my halloween costume that was supposed to be for this year but will now be for next year done. (it's just the shoes, the hat and the sleeves, but it's progress!)
5. Cleaning off my workspace and finding a strand of high quality designer cut beads i forgot i bought. (i often hide things from myself)
6. Percy sleeping on my pillow with her paws wrapped around my face and her purr in my ear.
7. NIN and Enigma. Pretty much any song from any cd of either band and i'm in a better mood instantly. (although "with teeth" and "A Posteriori" are my favorites)
8. My new Absinthe glass and spoon and my **3** bottles of absinthe! Especially the bottles of Mata Hari and Le Tourment Vert. Drinking it with friends makes it even better. :)
9. I finally put stickers on my car- two super sexy silhouettes, one with these great bat wings and the other just looking spooky, a NIN sticker and a cute kitty in flames- like a hell-cat. the two apple stickers i had didn't count- they weren't really stickers- more like identification that i was in fact an enlightened being. I realize the superiority of Apple, i just can't afford it yet. :)
10. The Ocarina app i downloaded to my iPhone. It turns my phone into a musical instrument! i had to download it to see how it worked and i'm hooked. Nothing i play sounds like music, but i am just so amazed at the fact that it works!

NOLA- Halloween 08

Beautiful saint louis Cathedral on Jackson Square. The weather has been great. They called me yesterday (Wednesday) to let me know the parts for my car will be in and hopefully everything will be fixed by Friday. (that's a whole other story that i will tell when i'm ok with being in a bad mood)
The Condo has been better than we could have imagined, except for the bedroom we slept in last night has a window on the courtyard- and the Copper Monkey, on the first floor, is a 24 hour bar. So at 7am there were still drunken philosophical conversations going on. :) Well, anyways- here's a look at the condo. it's so beautiful.. and it makes me want to live here...

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Argh! Avast ye mateys!
Get a lil' Captain in you and celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day with your favorite mates.
It's just plain fun! and since it's Friday, you have no excuse as to why you can't consume copious amounts of rum and make a blooming fool of yourself!
{hugs}

Bellydanca'

So- we had to put on what we thought would be performance make-up for a meeting my bellydance group had a couple of weeks ago.. and this was my look.. :) i don't think the photo looks much like me at all, but it could be the pound of make-up i was wearing (it sure *felt* like a pound!) i have in pink, white, black and lilac dread falls and a pretty silver bindi, although it doesn't show up so well. hmmm.. dress up.. how i've missed you so!

(BTW- i know my face is soft focus and everything else is sharp... apparently my camera found my necklace more interesting than my eyes)