Slightly Snowy Monday

Sitting here hoping for a blizzard since the first of my dreaded dental appointments is tomorrow morning. I have an extremely bad history with dentists since childhood and I tend to get totally unnerved, especially when I know just what they intend to do.

So far I'm trying to keep focused on beading and egads! housework. Yesterday I finished working on organizing the garage...at least organization that I can live with until it warms up more. Today I started on the inside of the house. With the new sweeper that really "sucks", I had to empty the container twice. More than enough to make a cat in there. And where does all the flotsam come from???

A nice young woman stopped by this afternoon to look at jewelry. She's into "re-enacting" and working on a gown to wear to a couple of balls. I plan on loaning her something to wear in exchange for her passing out cards to others involved. Hard to put a period on my pieces...part Victorian, part fantasy, part Sci-Fi, part Art Deco, part cat hair.........

As They Say...TGIF

Feel much better today....especially since "sick" episode means I also lost 6 lbs.!
Let's see...So far the cats have managed to filch 3 of the new felted balls. Had an argument this morning with my mother (par for the course). Heard from a long missing friend who found me online. Made a pot of vegetable soup and then managed to spill some in my lap when I tried eating lunch and reading Facebook at the same time. I think I'll go shower and meet some friends for drinks at Bar Louie's. Yeh, that's what I'll do............

Icy Thursday

I can hear the little ice pellets hitting Sugar's window behind me. What a gloomy day. Spent the whole night with my head in a bucket about every 1/2 hour until about noon today. One of those nasty 'surprises' that post-gastric by-pass people get occassionally. All set off by 2 pieces of toast at 10: p.m. Who knew? Should have just had a couple glasses of wine instead.

Prior to that event, I was making bright colored wet-felted balls to make more earrings. Now that they are dry I can start working. At least those counter the dull gray outside the windows. As usual, the kitties are watching them closely, hoping I'll turn my back so that they can grab them for "kitty toys". Speaking of which, a realistic squeaky mouse mysteriously showed up again after being missing for about a year. Where do they stash this stuff?

Still wrestling with my annual January Heebie-Jeebies about surviving as an artist one more year. Don't have another show until late June (if I am juried in) so I'm trying to think of alternatives for now. Home parties? Open house? Gallery exhibit? On Tuesday I went to see "Up in the Air"...George Clooney's movie about a man who goes around the country firing people for corporations. I left it thinking "at least nobody can ever sit me down like that and tell me I'm finished". After 45 years of being my own boss, I may be tired, but I'm certainly not finished.

I suppose I should get in the car and back down the driveway to the mailbox..too icy to walk it. I know that the property tax bill is waiting there.....but so is a new lampwork bead from Shari Slonski and I really want to see it.

So Much for a Happy New Year.........

Sigh.......I had such hopes for a new year. Thursday I had an appt. for Blue at the vet (putting the boy on Prozac), Sugar had to get her beak & claws trimmed and then I had to go to the dentist. None of us were happy. I knew after cleaning and x-rays it was not going to be good news but Geeez.....seems the side effects from cancer treatment/meds has caused an eruption of cavities...far more than I thought. Estimate is $3000. So much for the calmness of having some money in savings. The vet suggested that Blue and Teddy have their teeth cleaned....since it cost me $400 the last time that was done, they had better get used to those "Greenies" for teeth cleaning or else.

Today I'm off to bead awhile with some friends and hopefully get in a better mood.

Have spent/wasted most of the morning working on computer glitch...sigh. At least the sun is out for the first time in days. The photo is one I took yesterday morning of some misguided robin, sitting unhappily in "Sugar's Tree". He seems to be looking wistfully at last summer's nest above him.

I sort of feel like he does....I'm normally an upbeat person but January seems to bring out the worst in me. I suppose it's from looking ahead to sweating out art show juries, arrival of house taxes, impending dental repairs, tackling organization of beads (again), dealing with the cat who insists on pissing on my carpet..and so forth. Fortunately this mood never lasts long. After all, to be self-employed for about 45 years, you have to be an optimist and a gambler at heart....or crazy.

Perhaps the cure will be to start on a couple projects. Have a raven's head glass piece by Wayne Robbins and a client who wants a "manly" necklace incorporating a peregrine falcon. I intend to try sculpting that head out of polymer and fastening it to a large round moonstone I have. Yeah....that's what I'll do...cleaning the kitchen can wait....

Back to work.......

Vacation time is over...time to go back to beading, beading, beading. Also time to apply for this year's upcoming shows. Of course I could be distracted by taking down the Christmas decorations........This morning there were deer once again on the front porch and in the backyard. Stirs the ol' wildlife artist in me to see them.

On tap this week is a dentist visit for me and a cat vet visit for Blue. He's still pissing on the carpet and I'm giving up and putting him on Prozac. They are predicting a lot of snow on the day of our appts. so we may both get a reprieve.

Santa Lew was good to me this year by giving me everything on my wish list which I didn't expect at all. A new camera, a food processor, German cooking knives (which bring to mind the line in a Crocodile Dundee movie - "Now THAT'S a knife!").

New Year's resolutions...End my love affair with chocolates. Make use of all the beautiful focal beads/cabochons I have squirreled away in the closet instead of going to Tucson and buying MORE. Lose 2 lbs. a week (see note on chocolate).