Fall is in the air!

It has been looking, smelling and sounding like Fall! Kid's feet crunching on leaves, pumpkin muffins baking...YAY! I've been thinking a lot about a small vacation for the family. It is hard to take time to get away, especially with two little ones in tow. San Francisco is calling to me...The kids would love the crazy streets, GIANT Bridges, and Ghirardelli chocolate (do you think they make decaf chocolate for the caffine impared?)! I can't wait to take them some day.



Today is about making beads and getting the house in order. My big boy has been home all week with the flu. Fever and a cough. Yucky stuff but he is on the mend. He also lost his second tooth! It had been hanging on by a thread all weekend. He was having cereal for lunch yesterday and about 10 minutes after he had finished and was watching a cartoon, he came back into the kitchen looking around on the floor and his cereal bowl and said "Mom! I think I ate my tooth!" And sure enough, he opened his mouth and no tooth! So I had him make a tooth out of clay to put under his pillow for the tooth fairy. I'm thinking of adding them to the site! We had a good laugh though! Today feels like a "Harry Potter" day. I sometimes put on a good movie to get in a mood. If I really need to kick bead butt I put on "Charlies Angles: Full Throttle". A super fun and funny movie. I love movies. As a kid my Mom always took me to the movies. We lived in a hot and crowded city and it was a great escape from the outside world. It is still a great escape from what ever mood may have taken over or if I need a lift. I'll have to post a pic of the "tooth"!



Last weekend our good friend "Aunt Cookie" AKA CarolAnn, popped in for a visit with her Mary Poppins goodie bag! What doesn't she have in there? She made her amazing "burnt just for Robert" chocolate brownie cookies as well as a plethura of amazing fun goodies for us, not to mention her great company and wit. Maybe we should call her "Aunt Mary Poppins" because she's "pratically perfect in every way" (Another great movie!) Among the protein shakes and natural toothpaste samples were some funky peanuts! They were all stripy and sweet tasting. I love the color and stripes! They are heirloom, shade grown, organic, Equidorian peanuts! Too cool! Together we worked on wire wrapping bead, told stories and had a great time. Aunt Cookie has a wicked memory and more creativity than you can shake a stick at. We love Aunt Cookie.

A rough night.

It was a rough one! How do you explain to a two year old that she should be sleeping all night? I'm trying to wean her from night nursing but she's not having it and will spend up to 30 minutes WAILING! I feel like I am torturing her. I may have to give in. At least when I was nursing her at night I was the only one getting woken up. Now the whole neighborhood is probably awake. I've spoken with other parents and have gotten some good advice... A security blanket or other comfort item, showing her how her "baby" can go to sleep. I try to give her water but all that does is have her wake up for that and then still want to nurse. I cuddle her, she kicks. I sing, she screams wildly. I put her in the other room in her brothers unused bed and she flails and kicks, hits her head... UGH! And me on decaf! I thought that maybe my caffeine intake had something to do with it but I don't think so. I can have a little or a lot and it makes no difference. We'll this isn't getting bead made. I have 10 days of work to cram into 5 and I'm finding lots of distractions. Calder and Naomi are always ready for Halloween!

Decaf sucks!

Well, it happened... I'm officially on decaf now! Fine. See if I care. Take it all!

It turns out It was all the caffeine making my heart go wonkie! So I'm on decaf (it only has half the caffeine of regular) and told to get more exercise. Yep, I'm right on that. But no real heart problem so to speak. I'm very relieved in spite of my irritation over the coffee thing. Much worse things could happen. Apparently the more people I talk to, the more people say they have the same thing... ok. Is that acceptable? Are we such creatures of habit or so sleep deprived that we will accept a over-caffinated heart as normal? Maybe we all need a nap and to learn to say "no" once in a while.

A friend of mine asked me to create a necklace and bracelet set incorporating some beads that were from a bracelet from a dear relative who had passed on, wore and cherished. The black hematite beads came from her bracelet. I also used labradorite, garnet and chalcedony beads. She picked the main focal pendant style and color and told me to go wild! It is a really meaningful project for me and I hope she loves it!




We finally have a bit of rain! YAY! A bit of thunder and lightnin' as well! I love weather. I mean REAL weather. I suppose if I had to live through a tornado or hurricane I'd change my tune... try living through earthquakes though. Not fun either...

I've been bouncing a few ideas around it my head. Stay tuned!

Bunnies and lips and Heart murmers! OH MY!

Ok, just being silly! It seems like everything (myself included) •KNOCK WOOD• is falling apart! My printer took a dive, the kiln is needing some TLC and I've been stressed to the gills! I've been so stressed in fact that I've been having some chest pains. Nothing really dramatic like a heart attack •KNOCK WOOD• but enough to send me to the doctor. It all started about a week go when I was trying to get this last firing done. Fluttery chest is the best way to describe it. If you've ever been stopped at a traffic light next to a truck spewing exhaust and you start to feel light headed and "light in the chest" so to speak... So we were on our way to a surprise birthday breakfast for Robert's mom and in the car on the way there my heart starts racing. The kids are done with their "fun" drive in the car and start in on each other. My heart races more. The traffic and "defensive" driving in the crowded San Fernando Valley send me over the limit and I'm in official panic mode! Robert pulls over and get's me some water and aspirin. I calm down enough to get going again. I was panicking and causing myself to freak! So it is off to the Doctor with me. An EKG this morning looks normal so they drew blood and are setting me up with some 24 hour heart monitor. Fab! And no shower for the 24 hours either! Yum! So I'm at breakfast, asking friends about the the panicky feelings and tight chest and they are all like "join the club!" WHAT? I'm describing my symptoms to the nurse and in a particularly cheery voice, as if we now belong to the same club, she informs me excitedly "Oh yah! I'm having the exact same problem! They just did my EKG yesterday!"

You don't say.

Was I the last person to get the "painful chest is normal" memo?

And the doctor informs me that I may want to cut out my 2 cups of coffee in the morning.... Um. Nope. Not gonna happen. I am a "Weight Wathcher" and have been smoke free for 6 years. YOU CAN NOT HAVE MY COFFEE!!! Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean...

As my last firing was full, I had to schedule a second firing. Sorry Melanie, your goodies went into this firing and will be to you shortly! This extra firing did give me the excuse to hand paint a few pieces for myself to play with! Wheee!

Out of the frying pan...

and into Ojai! We've had 100+ degree heat for more than a week solid. Some days have been 115 degrees! Let's just say it has been hard to put a thought together let alone work. Cranky and surly best descibes my mood lately. See Joelle, I'm not always happy! Crank up mother natures furnace to 115 and it's no more Mrs. Nice Gal! Luckily, they say the heat wave is over for now and the temps will only be in the low 90's today. I am officially ready for fall. Cooler weather, hot coffee and changing folaige. I'm days away from my firing, YAY! I have a few new things that I can't wait to see. The lips and bunnies should be quite fun! Oh! A necklace with lips an bunnies would be funny! Bunny love! Ok. No more heat for me...

I am waiting for my friend Caitriona. We are working on her jewelry tags. We keep planning these "sculpting in wax for silver" dates and they haven't happend yet, so I hope to soon have some new silver designs to work with. New bands for my rings and maybe a pendant or two...