By Char - Beads, Thoughts, Etc.

Weight Loss, Food and the Personal Trainer

2011-11-21T04:10:00.004-05:00

So, I’ve discovered something about myself.

No, it’s not that I dislike working with a personal trainer. I am sticking with Maddie and though I’m not seeing or feeling results, I know I will simply because now that I’m moving my body there will be results. And, I wasn’t silly enough to think that I would see results in days. I probably won’t see results for quite a few weeks – it’s how my body works and is built.

No, what I’ve learned about myself is that I love food.

I watch the Food Network and Cooking channel regularly.

No wonder I’m overweight!

Not only do I snack, a lot, I watch shows about food and cooking – which in turn make me think I’m hungry so I snack more.

Therefore, resolved today: I will exchange the watching of Food Network and Cooking channel to ESPN or Fitness channels.

Why?

Because it makes sense that if I’m watching people being active I will tend to be more active.

In the meantime, I’ve considered taking up bowling again. It’s a sport I’m good at and I used to enjoy.

So today I’m heading to the local bowling alley to see how well I do. I’m also going to inquire about joining a league.

Working with A Personal Trainer

2011-11-21T04:08:00.000-05:00

And our first day was today. Early this morning. 6 am. Not early enough for me, but she just wouldn’t add a 5 am session to her schedule.

I’ve worked out at the YMCA for about 2 years – off and on. And that’s the problem. It’s an off and on relationship based on workout buddies that pooped out on me after a month, two months, one time after a week. I’m good on my own for about 2 weeks and then I find an excuse to stop. Why? The workout buddy kept me interested with conversation. And I could encourage her while she encouraged me. Left to my own devices I got bored. Hey, I can walk forever but if there’s nothing to see in terms of landscape, people, architecture or farm animals than the walk is pointless to me.

Then I hired a personal trainer at the Y. She was good. I asked for a workout to help me lose weight and to get strong (no upper body strength in this woman). We worked with Cybex equipment and the treadmill. I didn’t see a change in my body weight, but I felt a bit stronger after two months. Then I couldn’t afford the trainer and my workout buddy stopped coming to the Y.

This time is different.

I stopped my YMCA membership.

I joined Anytime Fitness.

I hired a personal trainer for 12 sessions of 30 minutes each.

We worked with free weights and resistance.

I could feel the workout in my body as I did the sets.

We’ll be meeting Monday and Friday morning.

I’m to come 30 minutes early (suits my schedule anyway) and do cardio – treadmill is fine for now, can easily go to stationery bike. Then she’ll come get me and we’ll do our 30 minutes.

On Tuesday morning I joined a group of women in spin class. I survived. Actually, I more than survived. I’m ready to go back.

On Wednesday morning I’m to do cardio workout – 30 to 40 minutes.

On Thursday morning I can take a break or do cardio workout.

On Saturday and Sunday morning I’m to do cardio workout in preparation of Monday with the trainer.

After a few weeks I can do the free weights on my own – I’m not to try them on my own until she says I’m ready.

I can say, in all honesty, that this time is different and I’m looking forward to seeing the changes in my body after 6 weeks.

Was thinking of moving....

2010-12-10T15:27:00.000-05:00

A letter to my poor neglected followers. I'm sorry I haven't kept you up to date with the happenings of my life. I have been updating my other blogs, and gave serious consideration to closing this one and redirecting you to the other ones. But then I realized that I wouldn't have a place to just let loose! Or to share my bead work. I do have another blog going at charleneburke.com and encourage you to check it out. But I don't feel comfortable sharing the same things there that I share here.

Then again, that blog is on a WordPress platform is much easier for me to type in - Blogger tends to skip lines as I'm writing, then doesn't respond when I press enter to start another paragraph. It's been that way for a long and I've always found it annoying.

But to heck with it. For now I'll handle the annoying issues with Blogger and take it in stride. I foresee a few posts that include a bit of a rant. As well as a few posts that focus on my beadwork.

I'll check in again in a week or so and give you a better update. But for now, rest assured, that I'll be keeping this blog for a while. And if I do decide to move it permanently I'll let you know.

Oh my goodness - it's March already?

2010-03-12T12:59:00.000-05:00

I couldn't resist that headline. With the amount of work I've been doing these past two months I am giving serious consideration to hiring a virtual assistance. Two more retainer clients and I will have to.

I picked up an excellent client recently - Turbo Wheelchair Co., Inc. located online at www.merlexi.com Dr. Jane Hermes is the creator/inventor/designer of the plastic wheelchair, an advocate for elder mobility and an all around fascinating woman. I'm thrilled to have her as an online marketing client. Some of the initial website work is done - I am working with the existing site - and most of that initial work has been in the back-end. My plan for her online marketing efforts are based on building one component on top of the other, which means that now I'm into site content, optimizing existing content, writing new content. *sigh* it's a good thing I enjoy writing.

In addition to Dr. Jane, I have been working with Dr. Nancy Keck of New Directions Unlimited. She provides business consulting beyond anything I've ever seen - no, she's not my consultant, but she is my mentor - and the work I'm doing for her is online marketing related. Right now we're in the middle of building a website for her - then we'll get to content.

Hmm...another project I'm working on is for Greater Louisville Business Alliance - GLBA - a business networking group in Louisville for which I am an officer (Secretary). The project is creating a Facebook Workshop - walking attendees through building a personal profile then a business fan page. We've limited attendance to 25 because I anticipate having to hold the hands of about 10 and don't want to be overwhelmed. Anyway, that's scheduled for April 5 so I'm just finishing up the framework of the session.

Oh yeah, I'm presenting to a small business group next week - an overview of business networking on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. I'm supposed to talk for about 20 minutes (easy to do on social media) then allow for Q&A - very casual so should be fun.

Today I just picked up a client who wants me to teach him how to use the software on his computer - in 15 minute increments on a weekly basis. Based on questions he brings to me. Should be fun :)

Most of my time has been spent at the computer. Most people don't realize that adding a page to a website can take 10 hours, or optimizing content includes research first then deciding where to put the keywords and phrases for best results (which can take 5-6 hours). But in the end, it's only important that my clients are happy with the results I said I would give them - and so far they are.

National Conference of Network Members/Agency Owners Online Marketing

2009-12-18T07:48:00.000-05:00

So, I went to another national conference for online marketing business owners/network members a few weekends ago. The conference was held at the Evergreen-Marriott Resort in Stone Mountain, GA. Room rates were reasonable, even better for me because I shared a room with fellow business owner Cecilia Ansola, the food was acceptable and the business owners I met were awesome!

I presented again, this time on Blogging for a Client or yourself. There are many people scared off by blogging, either for their own business or for a client, and I was able to provide a few tips and tricks that would help them along. Then, there were a few that knew there was no way they were going to blog for anyone! and they asked if I was available to contract work to - of course I said Yes.

I met new business owners, connected with some I had met in Las Vegas, and best of all I learned a few new things about keeping myself and my business on track.

My trip to Atlanta/Stone Mountain was strictly business, as was the remainder of my 'tour' through the south. But, I was able to fit in some time with family.

Leaving Stone Mountain on Sunday the 6th, I drove to Homossasa, FL and stayed with Mom at her camper. We spent the entire day, Monday, together...enjoying the scenery, walking the zoo (manatee park), talking and laughing and enjoying each other. Basically, Monday and Tuesday morning were my weekend because I left mid-day Tuesday for Port Orange/Daytona Beach area.

I arrived at my sister-in-law's place in Port Orange on Tuesday afternoon, and she was ready for me! Sweet iced tea, fruit, conversation - yes, she was ready to relax with me. Then came Wednesday. I put my laptop on the breakfast table and started working. I was able to complete a primary research project using my laptop and cell phone, write articles and site content for myself and a client, and enjoy the sunshine through the large windows of Lisa's front room - the occasional strange Florida bird would fly by and distract me for a moment, but it was a nice distraction.

Thursday was fun because Cecilia drove over from Orlando and we spent the day reviewing her businesses and what I could do for her. We reviewed our 2010 plans, helping each other to refine some of the details. I will be writing site content and blog posts for her, while she will be helping me to lose weight (she is a Take Shape for Life coach, having lost and kept off 40 lbs).

Friday was a 'normal' work day spent cleaning up files on my computer, recording notes from the conference, researching a potential market for my online marketing business. That evening was nice because Kevin, Allysa and I went to see Mannheim Steamroller in Daytona Beach. We finished the evening off with terrific Mexican food at their favorite restaurant.

The weekend was fun, too. I took out the laptop for a short time, but decided that because I was traveling Monday I would use Saturday and Sunday to relax and have fun. And I did. Lisa and I drove Kevin to the airport Saturday morning (he had to fly to Taiwan for a day), then we went on to a 'stamping class'. New to me, but I am always so impressed with Lisa's creativity and craftiness that I agreed to the offer - and I had a good time. I don't believe I will become a stamper of her caliber, the woman has as many stamps as I have beads, but I learned a few techniques that I will be using to make personalized greeting cards.

Sunday was spent drinking coffee, talking and getting to know each other, shopping for basic things, and overall just girl stuff - and it was great.

Monday I headed out mid-morning to Birmingham, AL. I was going to spend the night with friends in Alabaster, then meet with a client Tuesday morning, then head home after meeting with the client.

I met Martin at a coffee shop in Hometown (suburb of Birmingham) and we talked about his upcoming product launch via the internet. He's old school advertising and marketing, which means he's very leery of what the internet is all about. I took out my laptop and showed him some details about websites and blogs, advertising, landing pages, etc. He's still very uncertain. After about 3 hours I realized that I had to get back on the road or not be home before midnight. Saying my good-byes to Martin, he handed me samples of his product to try and assurances that he's much closer to putting the online marketing and website into action.

I rolled into our driveway at about 9 p.m. Tuesday the 15th.

I really enjoyed the road trip - it had been almost a year since the last one I had taken and I was getting itchy-foot to hit the road. I was gone for well over a week, but it felt like just a few days...until I parked in our driveway. Then I realized just how good it is to come home.

The trip was successful because I was able to work, pick up a few clients that should start using me by February 2010, and deepen the family and friend connections. It doesn't get much better than this.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-27T11:41:00.000-05:00

This year I spent the afternoon and evening at the Kelly house in Clarksville, Indiana. Rick and I decided that going to Warsaw was going to be too much for him to tackle. He's been working 7 days a week, 5 days out of town and at least 1 weekend day on a side job here in town. He's tired. We talked to Mike and Tammy and look forward to seeing them for Christmas.

Then, Rick asks me if I'm okay with him going hunting on Thanksgiving Day. Knowing that he hasn't been hunting but once this season, knowing how much he enjoys being in the woods and contemplating the issues of the day while sitting under a tree, knowing how much he want to fill our freezer, I realized that he would be a better 'Rick' if I let him go. That left me here, at home, wondering what I was going to do with myself on Thanksgiving Day. I had many options available to me, it was just a matter of deciding which one best suited me.

I could stay home - by myself - on a holiday that is best spent eating/dining/sharing with others.

I could serve meals at the local shelter - they put out a list of volunteer needs and I fit a few of them.

I could join a group of travelers and loners at a local club, meet new people, exchange interesting stories.

I could join the family of a fellow Toastmaster - she initiated the invitation to me as soon as she heard that we would be in town.

I could join the Kelly family.

I decided that I would join the Kelly family, at least those that were in town and able to gather at the Kelly house.

The Kelly's have become second family to me, and now to my husband. We've had a key to the house for over 20 years. When we lived in Indianapolis, Mary and Terry would visit with us on weekends. We traveled many times from Indianapolis to Clarksville and spent weekends at the Kelly house.

The house wasn't full this year, but was still warm and cozy. We all acknowledged the absence of Terry (Pop - died in 2008) and Jamie (Brother - died in 2004).

Mary and Erin cooked the meal. Here's Mary putting the finishing touches on the feast and not knowing I snuck a picture of her:

Dallas, Jamie's widow, joined us with her new husband (actually Kenny didn't want to join in the meal). Here Erin is frenchbraiding Dallas' hair for the evening.

Joe Heuser, joined the Marines on the buddy system with Jamie, still a Marine now stationed in Japan.

Kevin Kelly was there, with Buck, a friend and roommate.

Erin Kelly was there with her two children, Maresa and J.A.K. (Joseph Kaiser, called Jack).

We ate. We laughed. We played. Rick was able to join us late in the evening. Though he didn't get a deer, he looked calm and refreshed, so it was a good thing that he went hunting.

It's been an icky few weeks here...

2009-11-17T13:25:00.000-05:00

Most of you know that I have Crohn's Disease, and a few of you will be surprised to learn this. Anyway, these past few weeks have been physically draining and I can honestly say - thank goodness I work at home! The hardest part of being physically drained is the mental tiredness that starts to set in.

Since I was first diagnosed in 2000, I have learned how to manage pain through mental diversion and meditation; Rick and I both have learned to be flexible with our traveling schedule, as well as simple things like accepting dinner or outing invitations; I have learned to adjust my daily activities to match my physical abilities; and in general I can handle minor flare-ups without difficulty - minor being relative, of course. Most minor flares last about 2 weeks because additional medications begun within the first few days start to work on my body. This time, though, I found myself taking the additional medications, but not getting relief until well into the 2nd week...meaning I'm just now getting back to feeling full functional.

After the 2nd week of having my body fight internal infection, reject foods other than water, iced tea, toast and potatoes, I'm tired physically. Into the 3rd week and my thinking slows down. Then I take two days to make a decision that should take an hour. Or instead of making 10 phone calls, I'm only able to make 2. Keeping organized is difficult and something I'm going to work on...meaning I'm in search of a different system for keeping my projects for work/clients organized well enough for me to stay on top of everything. I know, difficult request.

I have had a challenging project that I have been working on for almost 4 weeks now. Yep, at the beginning I have a flair, which means I'm going to be squeezing most of the project into this week. *sigh*

So, that's why I haven't updated here - I've been trying to focus on business, clients, blogs for business and additional revenue streams. Obviously not all at once - but one at a time.

Rick has been working out of town, coming home on weekends. He'll be out of town for about a year - and we're both glad of it because the pay scale in Illinois is much higher than here in Louisville and means that the stress of my making more than my initial revenue goal/week is relieved for a bit - which in turn is good because it reduces my stress.

So, that's it for now. My hope is that next week I can post something much more interesting, maybe about how excited my client was after receiving the results of the project he entrusted to me! Until then - be well, take care, and say a short prayer for me please.

Training via Webinar and 3 Things I Learned

2009-10-31T12:19:00.000-04:00

On Friday the 30th I gave a training session via webinar to 27 business owners and learned a lot. The training was about Online Reputation Management. Another business owner and myself created the training early this year and presented it in Las Vegas in May to members of a national network - with great success and kudos given from attendees.
Last month I received an email from the national network, asking if I could provide this same presentation/training via the internet and telephone. Of course I said Yes! Who am I to turn down the opportunity to teach, train and present? Three things I really enjoy about being a business owner.

So, I reviewed the powerpoint file from May and realized how much the internet has changed in these short few months. New statistics are available, new sites have been launched and flocked to, social media is exploding with Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn. It is truly an amazing thing to watch because I know that there currently are no limits to what the internet can become.

The powerpoint file needed to be updated, and because the other business owner's name was on it I considered re-doing the entire training module. But after some thought I realized that it was effective in Las Vegas, so why mess with a good thing? I updated statistics, tweaked a few words here and there, and went with it.

During my introduction I made sure to credit the other business owner, mentioning that they are no longer focused on online/internet marketing, but that their expertise in Online Reputation Management was certainly evident in this presentation and that their contribution was invaluable.

The training lasted about 40 minutes and there were many questions afterward - all of which I was able to answer (yay!). Hey, sometimes there's a question that throws me and requires investigation - and yes, I know that "I don't know" is an answer, but I prefer being able to provide something more concrete if possible.

Some things I learned during the training:

I really appreciate having face to face contact with my audience. Because I couldn't see their faces I found myself 'assuming' their reactions as I talked and pointed out things on each slide. It felt awkward because I couldn't respond to a reaction, a noise, a facial expression.
My lower jaw locks up when I get anxious. This was an interesting development and something new. Even in Toastmasters I've not had this happen. But it did on the phone, and it did when I did an interview online via webcam. I felt the locking start about 3 minutes before the training was to begin, and to combat it I stretched my mouth as wide as possible ... repeatedly. This worked initially, but after about 15 minutes I could hear the change in my speak as my lower jaw got tighter and tighter. I'll be looking for an answer to this in days to come.
Although a webinar training module is supposed to be trainer talk, attendees listen - I like having interaction throughout a training session. I did not like having to answer questions at the end about items that were covered in the beginning. Hmm. The only answer I have for this is to layout the slides in a grid on the screen so everyone can see what the questioner is referring to. I'll have to look into how to do this the next time.

Overall I think I did well. I've not received emails or telephone calls about my performance, but I did speak with the moderator and she told me that she received emails from some attendees that gave good feedback and kudos for my performance. I hope evaluations are sent in because it's the only way I know that I can improve. Constructive criticism is vital to a presenter - it's the only way we can rid ourselves of annoying, distracting and ineffective ways of communicating.

Outlook Error Message: 0x80042109

2009-10-29T09:27:00.001-04:00

I know you're asking - what the heck is that? Well, that is the error message I get when I try to send an email using Outlook and my business email address/server.

***Edited to add this solution***

This solution was not provided by a Verizon employee/technician, but by a fellow user on a forum. It appears to work, for now. I say this because there are other messages in the forum that say various solutions were temporary. Anyway...try this:

Outlook 2007 Tools
Account Settings
Highlight email account to change
Select change
Change SMTP to read: outgoing.verizon.net
Select More Settings
Select Outgoing Server
Highlight 'Long on using' Radio button
Enter your Verizon user name and password
Select Ok
Test Account Settings - a test email is sent and you will either receive an error message or a notice saying it was completed and your email is now set up.
Select Next
Select Finish

*****************************************************************************
Today is Thurday, October 29. This started Tuesday, October 27. Until then, I had been sending and receiving emails, doing business, using Outlook as my centralized organization system. Then, boom. I see that emails are stuck in the Outbox. I'm receiving just fine - but can't reply to an email, send to a distribution list, nothing.

I spoke with Verizon via their chat option. Using my desktop I was able to chat with the technician while she looked at my settings in Outlook on my laptop. All settings were good, but she couldn't get it to work. We changed my outgoing SMTP to outgoing.verizon.net and it was not good! Changed the ports from 25 to 587 and it was no good! She then told me that Verizon does not support Outlook, that I would have to contact their Verizon DSL technical support, a pay for service. I don't think so!

I spoke with my hosting company. What a fabulous group of people they are - responsive, courteous, helpful. But everything on their end was good...so that meant it was either Outlook itself or Verizon.

I reloaded Outlook using my original installation disc. Problem still there!

I checked out Verizon's customer forums and found a litany of messages from irate customers who cannot send email using their 3rd party addresses. That means no business can send an email while using VerizonDSL as their ISP! Holy crap!

Verizon support, locally, is fabulous. And their front line people are quite good. Just don't ask for assistance for anything more difficult than the basics of setting up a phone account.

VerizonDSL support is handled by technically adept people who don't speak English very well. I have encountered a few different accents, but haven't truly been able to communicate with anyone well enough to make them understand that this is a VerizonDSL issue - not my Outlook!

I wish I had a choice. VerizonDSL is the only high speed internet provider in my area. Heck, they came here in June of 2008 - so before that I was using dial-up and an unstable wireless system provided by my local town.

So, now here I sit. I can use my web-based program to send emails out - but can't use my contact list, address book, reply to existing emails, etc. I've just increased my work load and am not happy about it.

My hope is that there are others in this predicament willing to Twitter, Facebook, etc. about this issue and shame VerizonDSL (a company all about communication) into looking at their own system as the problem!

If you use Twitter, use hashtag #verizondsl so a stream can be followed.

*Sigh* okay, back to work - because I do have projects that need tending to, and as irritating and annoying as this issue is, I must take care of my clients.

Books are as necessary as food in the pantry

2009-10-15T09:07:00.007-04:00

Don't believe me? Here is my dream room:

My husband stopped breathing when I showed this to him, almost panicked actually. I'm not kidding though. If we had the money and built a home it would have a library that was so filled with books that the only needed accessories would be two chairs and a lamp to read by.

Earlier this year I cleaned out my home library. And I do mean cleaned out. I donated many, many, many books to the local library and their donation spot didn't have room for them all!

I cried buckets. Books have been a part of my life - always. I felt like I was giving away old friends. I know, pitiful.

But it was necessary. I had accumulated so many books that there was a path made between the stacks so that I could reach my desk. It was bad.

So, Rick put his foot down (and rightfully so) saying that he wanted to remodel this room to make it a good office space for me to work in - but I had to clean out every book and piece of paper before he could do this.

That's how I happened to be on my knees, in the room, crying buckets and putting book, after book, after book into large plastic bags and copy paper boxes.

*Sigh* An experience I hope to not repeat.

Today the room is beautiful and spacious and not overloaded with books. Rick got a storage unit with doors for me to use for all my business books and files, keeping the floor free from the stacks. Of course, I just looked down and realized that I had put an entire stack of files on the floor earlier this week and they're still there - NO! I will not let them stay! I will put on my Today List the need to clean the stack.

Hmm...looking around, I think I'll also put on the Today List that I will organize my desk again.

And so it goes. Another day of realizing that I will never be neat, clean and utterly organized for more than a few days. Another day of realizing that this is how I work and as long as I go into action right after the realization I can prevent overload from happening.

Meet Herschel & Mavis....

2009-09-27T16:16:00.009-04:00

Two domestic geese that decided our front and back yards were excellent grazing sources. Here they are in the back, catching sight of me at the french doors to the deck.

Herschel is gray, Mavis is white. Why? Because it makes sense. Trust me...I'm not going out there to check which is which.

Here they found the back missing fence area into the back yard.

They're quite vocal - letting me know that they're there, that in no way are they going to take any guff from me, and that my grass/weeds is really where they want to be.

Until I step out onto the deck, then stomp a foot. Those big wide butts waddle fast and furious! Quite amusing.

It was quite the experience, having Herschel and Mavis visit every morning, then every evening. It didn't take me but a day or so to realize that they lived on a pond about 1/4 mile from the house. I really don't know why they left the pond. And, honestly, was concerned that there would come a day when I would hear car tires squealing and see feathers and down floating on the wind.

Then, one day, they stopped coming by the house. No reason that we could see. At first we were concerned. Then we were happy - no more goose poop on the driveway, or on the walkway, or in the yard. Happy day!

We hear geese squawk and honk throughout the day, so we're assuming that Herschel and Mavis simply got tired of wandering and went back to their pond down the road.

Another Beautiful Day in Indiana

2009-09-19T13:51:00.004-04:00

Sometimes I wonder why we moved to this area, then I remember the troubles we had in Indianapolis. Rick was so heartbroken and needed to be near friends and family to heal, while I was still stunned and shocked over the various things we experienced. Then I wonder why we're still here and I look out the window and sigh. It's another beautiful day in southern Indiana - mid 70's, lightly cloudy, occasional breeze. Yep, it could be worse :)

Now that my business has hit a tipping point - I have customers, I have projects in the pipeline, I will soon make enough money to tell Rick to look for other work - we've talked about our future. That in itself is nice to be able to do. We used to talk about our future. We used to have dreams and hopes and aspirations. I'll be the first to tell anyone that sometimes Life sucks the incentive right out of you - and that happened to us. Until a year or so ago.

So, we've talked and talked and pondered and talked some more. A few months ago we came to the conclusion that we no longer need to be wrapped in the arms of friends and family. That we can live our lives now and live how we want to. That means we'll be moving soon. We need to go south, mainly because Rick just can't handle the cold weather anymore. He's only 50, but has worked out in the cold since he was 9 years old and when he gets cold to the bone - well, let me just say it hurts to watch him try to move.

We'll be looking at the Port Orange, FL/Daytona, FL area because his sister and her husband live there and we all like each other. Also because the cost of living is reasonable, and after having visited there a few times I realized how much I like it.

Now, this won't be happening soon. The plan is to leave in a year or two. It truly depends on my business success. I have a business loan to repay, Rick has some work still to do on the house, and we both need to be on task and work toward the goal of having cash and being able to sell the house. The nice thing is that we're basically debt free - we have a mortgage and I have the business loan.

I'm going to stop here and go back to enjoying the pretty day - maybe I'll venture outside for a few minutes, catch a freckle or two :)

I'm Back! Really I am!

2009-09-12T12:03:00.002-04:00

Really. Not kidding here. I know I've been 'gone' since February - whew, considering how cold, wet and nasty it got here you'd have been gone, too...trust me!

Anyway, in March I began posting weekly to my business blog. I know, that's supposed to be different than this one and it is. Okay, so I've also been spending time on Facebook. This is where the photos went, the notes about daily life, etc.

Then I realized that one thing missing is my posting to this blog. Not that I have many followers (all 2 of you are appreciated!) but instead that I used this place to write semi-regularly about stuff. You know, general stuff. Not focused on business. Not focused on keywords, not focused on increasing readership. Instead, just stuff about my life in general.

Having said all that, I intend to get back to posting semi-regularly again. I guess 7 months could qualify as semi-regular, but I won't say it. Instead I'll just start over and post more often.

So, overall life has been pretty darned interesting. Rick and I survived the winter of '09 and have since been making plans to move south. Our short trip to Port Orange, FL made us both consider our options of where we wanted to live.

Though we think southern Indiana/Louisville, KY area is stunning in beauty, and in general the people here have very large hearts - we both realized that the reasons we moved back to this area no longer exist. Rick has healed from the horrors of our experiences in Brownsburg. We re-connected with friends from the '80s. And now that 10 years have passed, we are ready to move on with our lives.

I have plans for my business. Plans that include multiple revenue streams, portability and a revenue goal to reach this time next year. My plans were put off by a year because of the national/international economy...but are now back on track. Once I meet the revenue goal I will tell Rick that we can look for a place in Florida and prep our house to be sold.

Okay, that's it for now. I'll return in a few days and post some pics of interesting things I've noted along the way :)

More pictures from ice storm 2009

2009-02-01T07:50:00.014-05:00

The following were taken when the ice was about 1/2" thick on all tree limbs and branchs. And all of them were taken from my house in Georgetown, Indiana.

Pitifully droopy cedars, so sad hardwoods, icicles measuring 10"-12" long! and in the sun the sparkle is crazy :)

Pictures!

2009-01-31T12:20:00.007-05:00

I know...finally, heh? So, it was cold and dreary and I used my 2 megapixel camera. Yes these were shot in color - they just look black and white because of the ice and clouds. My favorite is the Redbud tree comparison. Usually it stands proud and tall at about 15 feet...now it's pitiful at about 6 feet. The hardwood trees all remind me of a Dr. Seuss story - I think it's the Lorax one - where all the trees are so droopy and sad looking.

1/2" of ice atop the fencing

Redbud tree before

Still have Power and Heat, thank goodness

2009-01-30T16:42:00.002-05:00

I can't say enough about the Harrison REMC crews. Last September they busted butts to get the county up and running after Hurricane Ike wiped out power lines and poles, and they're doing the same now. Most of our county now has power, while Louisville, KY still has more than 170,000 households that have no power and no heat. Yes, this county is small - less than 40,000 in the whole county. But it is large in square miles and rural.

Rick worked yesterday and today. He's working inside as a carpenter on a school in Milton, KY. Last night he said it was scary driving through Madison, IN - the main road is a corridor of beautiful trees. Now those trees are heavily laden and encrusted with ice - limbs snapping at any moment, limbs hanging to the ground with the weight of the ice. He made it home safe and called me today to say all is well on the site.

It seems that the Kelly house is still full :) Erin says it'll be another two weeks before she expects her power to be on and Kevin says he thinks it'll be at least a week for his place. Wow. Thank goodness for Mom's place, heh?

I've been busy working. Being self-employed does have its advantages - one of them being portability. I took the laptop and customer files with me to Florida and was able to complete a project while down there. Now I'm almost finished with a project and ready to take on new ones. I have 6 outstanding quotes, 4 of which will come to fruition. It's just a matter of funding - isn't that the lament everywhere?

So, why am I not in Florida you ask? I wish I had a straight answer for you. A part of me says "go, go, go now you fool!" while another says "it's nice to be home, to cook like I want to, to sleep in my own". Hmmm. Honestly, if the weather turns bad again I will probably go down to stay with Mom in the camper. Rick has already said he would stay home and go to work, making sure the pipes don't freeze. I will keep you updated.

Glad to have Power and Heat

2009-01-29T16:30:00.000-05:00

Well, we've been home since Monday evening and it certainly has been an adventure.

We left Alabama early Monday morning. After watching the news and weather stations, we knew that an ice storm was headed toward southern Indiana/Louisville and we wanted to get home before the storm hit.

We got home early afternoon. And it was cold! Very cold! We got out of the truck and wondered why we came home!

We had an uneventful Monday night, with temperatures dropping and sleet.

Tuesday was snow and dropping temperatures with occasional icy rain and sleet.

Tuesday night, late, we lost power. I know this because we awoke to a very chilly bedroom.

We bundled ourselves up, lit some candles, found the flashlights and wondered what we were going to do next. Just how bad was this going to get?

At about 5:30 a.m. Rick drove down the road to get some coffee and to get an idea of what were in for. He comes home with a thermas full of coffee and some interesting information. The only store/station open is our little Marathon station that sits in the middle of Georgetown. Everything and everyone was without power. Everywhere. Huge trees were down and blocking the road. Limbs were snapped off and hanging on power lines.

At about noon we started calling friends and found one who had heat and power. They had room for us. So off to the Kelly house we go. Turns out Mary (mom) is in Washington state, so we kids snuggled in for the day. By kids I mean me and Rick, Erin and her son Jack and daughter Maresa, Kevin and Tina. More were expected to arrive by evening. Erin made a pot of potato soup. Rick took Erin's kerosene heater and headed home - our main concern was freezing pipes. We still had water, but the house was getting colder and without some heat source we knew we were in for trouble.

Rick calls at about 4 p.m. - hey, we have power! Yeah! Now, we're in a different county than Erin, Kevin and the rest. It seems that still today Erin and Kevin and all are staying at the Kelly place.

Louisville, KY still has 174,000 households without power.

Ice is caked on electric lines, weighing down trees, coating fences. At least 1/2 inch thick and in some areas a good 3/4 inch thick. We're losing trees left and right - large limbs are snapping with great force and crashing into roofs, onto power lines, onto vehicles.

For those who remember the blizzard of 77-78, this is much worse. Much worse because it is cold and icy and affecting many more people. Today alone 3 people in Louisville died from carbon monoxide poisoning - they didn't have the gas generator vented correctly. The death count is up to 10.

Yes, we're very glad we have power and heat. If it wasn't for the fear of frozen pipes we would head back to Florida and crash at his sister's place, again :)

Traveling and Business and Friends

2009-01-25T10:33:00.003-05:00

My goodness, we have been busy!

The cold hit in December, with our traveling north to Warsaw for the holidays. Had a great time with family. Tammy cooked Christmas dinner - rib roast that melted in your mouth! Yum! We played games with the kids - pictionary. We laughed, we giggled, we had a great time.

Came home and Rick went back to work in the cold. The job for the next few weeks was putting on outside doors at a newly built school. Which meant that he was working outside, in the freezing cold and wind, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for three weeks. My poor husband was frozen every night, chilled to the bone :(

Finally, he comes to me and says "we're having a lay-off for two weeks starting the 15th. Let's go south and warm up!"

I told him that he was responsible for the details and I would gladly come along.

Today I'm sitting in the kitchen of a friend's home near Birmingham, AL. It's getting chilly outside, about 50 or so. But warm enough for me :)

We first went to Port Orange, FL to visit with his sister and BIL. I sat outside, on the lanai with my computer and worked while catching some freckles :) Initially it was a bit chilly, 50 to 60 degrees, but the sunshine made everything worthwhile! Alyssa and I went in to Daytona Beach and we drove on the beach in her cadillac; that was fun :) Then we went to a marina that rescues sea turtles - did you know that sea turtles can get as large as 8 feet long and weigh 1800 lbs? Wow. She showed me a beautiful light house on the point, long and tall and painted brick red. We didn't go in because time was running out and I needed to 'work' on my computer :) But we had a delightful day out, with opportunity to get to know each other. Being married to Rick for 18 years I finally got to spend some time with his sister - and I truly enjoyed myself.

Alyssa and I also found the local bead store, Imagine That!. I found some terrific matte blue beads, not sure what they are but the striation caught my attention. They're round, about 12 mm (I know, large for me!) and they were cheap. I think I'll stitch up some herringbone tubes and string them in between the 5 rounds. Then Alyssa found a strand of square, glass, pinkish/blueish/grayish beads. They're very pretty, looking almost ceramic. She grabbed them up and says "Char, do you think you can make something with these?" Of course I gladly said yes. My first project upon getting home will be to design her a necklace with these. Yes, I'll scan the finished project and post a picture before sending it off to her :)

We left on Tuesday and made our way to the panhandle. Mom is in her RV at DeFuniak Springs, just north of Destin. The 5 hour drive to Defuniak Springs was uneventful and boring - picture I-10 as a tunnel of pine trees for 4.5 hours of the drive. Blah! The cold followed us, so the first night in the camper was brisk - it got down to 35 degrees. Yes, she has a heater, thank goodness. The next morning we all realized that the camper is simply not made to hold three adults comfortably. Our original intent was to sleep in her outside room (a wonderful screened in 'room' attached to the camper), but the weather did not cooperate. Love you Mom, but we agreed it was too close for comfort :)

Rick and I rented a cabin at the resort for the next three days. It faced King Lake, a fishing lake known for large bass, and by Friday the sun was out and it was over 70 degrees. Yes, I caught a few more freckles while working on my computer. Rick met a fella in the cabin two doors down. He was from Iowa and had a boat so the two of them spent all day Friday on the lake. It doesn't matter that they didn't catch anything. All that matters it that Rick finally got a chance to fish in Florida :)

Mom joined us for all meals, whether we cooked in at the camper or took her out for lunch and dinner in town. We had a good visit. I think the last time I spent time with Mom was in Indianapolis sometime in September, so it has been a while.

We left DeFuniak Springs Saturday morning and headed north toward Birmingham, AL. We thought we were in for another 5 hour drive, but we were pleasantly surprised when 3.5 hours later we were rolling into the neighborhood. Dan and Karen live in a suburb of Birmingham. They're friends from Indianapolis and I haven't seen either one of them for about 4 years. Rick has spent some time with them at their cabin on a nearby lake, and at their home. He traveled for work last year and was able to fit in some visiting time. So it is a real treat for me to be here to spend time and catch up with the two of them.

So, that's how I ended up sitting in the kitchen of a friend's place near Birmingham, AL. We'll head home Monday. Rick is relaxed and warm. I am happy to know that my business is portable, and I did catch a face full of freckles :) We'll both be ready to tackle the world come Tuesday. Until then? We'll gladly talk and eat and drink coffee with good friends.

Until next time....bead happy, bead on!

The Season is Here - Christmas Party and Friends

2008-12-07T13:08:00.002-05:00

Wow, Saturday sure was busy. Rick spent the day hunting at the farm, saw a doe but in the end wasn't able to get a deer. He's out again today. The freezer is no longer full, we have about 30 lbs of beef left, and he gave the two bucks he shot a few weeks ago to some very needy families. Now it's our turn to fill the freezer :) Our area has designated seasons - bow hunting, rifle/shotgun, and muzzleloading. So he does have a few more weeks of opportunity. In the meantime, I'm going to meet with my favorite local butcher and stock up on some pork and chicken - not fill the freezer, but provide us with some good variety through the winter. I do this every year and have found it to be the most economical way to keep us in meats and poultry.

So, yesterday I spent most of the day at the shop - got there at 10:30 a.m. and got home at 5:30 p.m. Okay, I squeezed in a late lunch with Katherine and Hope at Max & Erma's to talk business and shop.

Got home just two minutes before Rick and we both set out to doll ourselves up for the evening. Nothing too fancy, but we knew we were going to Saundra and Chuck's place and also knew it was going to be memorable. So, we dressed up a bit and headed out.

Got to Saundra's at 7:30 p.m. and after shedding the winter coats we toured the house. Saundra does Christmas. She has a tree in every room and every tree is themed - Train Tree, 50's movies tree, Africa tree, Sci-Fi animation tree, Santa tree, Music tree. The main tree, located in the front room, also includes the pickle ornament. The search for the pickle is a favorite game for annual attendees to the party - especially when the children get involved.

The other wonderful thing about Saundra's party is that we were assured of meeting fascinating people. This year was no exception. Though I had many conversations throughout the evening, such as the movie producer Hershel who is going to put me in his next zombie movie, Jane the admissions counselor at the local university celebrating her 20 year anniversary with the university, Julie the admin asst/scheduling expert at the local university deciding to become a Passion Party consultant, Jennifer the budding baker and mother of 4 and 6 year olds trying to 'find herself'. I finally settled in for the evening with Hattie, aunt to Saundra.

Hattie is well into her 70's and absolutely fascinating. She shared her many life experiences while making me share some of mine. She kept asking me questions about my life as if I had the most wonderful experiences to share. And I kept trying to get her to share more of her experiences with me. In the end, we thoroughly enjoyed each other.

Rick settled into conversation with Diane, cousin to Saundra. Diane is a local journalist and strong advocate of free speech and expression. Between the two of them they learned quite a bit about both sides of censorship and freedom.

We left the party at 11:30, too pooped to converse any more! But, again, the following morning (today) we found ourselves sharing our thoughts about the people we met while we enjoyed our coffee and looking forward to next year's party at Saundra and Chuck's place.

I Taught a Beading Class and it was Fun!

2008-12-07T12:57:00.003-05:00

Saturday morning/afternoon I taught/led a two-hour Bead-A-Gift Party at Eye Candy Jewelry & Beads. Katherine, my friend, is the owner of this intriguing and wonderful shop located at Watterson Trail and Taylorsville Road in J-Town (an eastside area of Louisville, KY).

We had two women attend, a mother and daughter. Turns out that their birthdays are one week apart and when they saw the advertisement for the Bead-A-Gift Party they purchased a gift for each other!

Julie, the daughter, and Laura, the mother, were fun and creative and willing to try anything I suggested - which made the teaching experience quite wonderful.

Julie, a woman in her 20's, is getting married in June and has incredibly intense, beautiful green eyes. Laura was captivated with Julie's color choices and wanted to expand her palette, but kept going back to black and white. By the end of the party, Laura had a flower themed black and white lampwork bead bracelet, and Julie had a very organic necklace that included warm topaz/browns with bright leaf greens and a spot of yellow here and there.

I was quite impressed with the results and both were thrilled with their creations. The best part? Neither one had ever made a piece of jewelry for herself, yet both walked out of the store with a professionally completed project and were very proud of their creations. They were ready to sign up for the next party!

Such fun. I really enjoy teaching and am glad to have the opportunity to do it at Katherine's shop.

So, immediately following the Bead-A-Gift Party, I have the store manager at my back whispering "please help, please say you'll help". It seems that she had booked a beading party for a 10 year olds birthday and the party room was now filled with little princesses in the making. Now, how in the world could I turn that down?! Of course I jumped in the middle and helped each young one pick out the perfect colors for her stretchy bracelet. Then, with clip on earring parts, we made some especially notable dangling earrings for each of them (which were worn for about 4 minutes at a time because they were "pinchy"). Great fun was had by each girl - and great fun was had by me as I watched them 'glam it up' and pose for pictures :)

I Really Flopped on this one

2008-11-22T09:51:00.003-05:00

Well, Thursday night was the night I was to tell the story of Rick being Rodeo Clown. Earlier this week I realized that the story was simply not coming together. I wasn't going to meet the 5-7 minute time limit, and no matter how I practiced it, it was not good. So, at the meeting I backed out. Told the MC that I the 'speech' simply didn't come together. I wasn't the only one, by the way.

But, upon realizing that with a few of us backing out left only 2 speakers, we were convinced to give it a go. Knowing that I would go over the allotted time meant I wasn't eligible to win the contest, and warning the group that no matter how much I worked on this story it didn't feel right, I did it.

Ok, I say I flopped, but in reality it was a good story. Just didn't meet the requirements for the contest. Those in attendance enjoyed it and encouraged me to participate next year.

So, I tried. I don't like to flop/fail/not do well, but it was a good experience. I don't do comedy, nor do I have much experience storytelling - so this was a good night for me to learn from.

Toastmasters and Me

2008-11-11T15:17:00.002-05:00

Well, I must say that I am truly enjoying being a member of Toastmasters. I knew I would, but am surprised by how much.

According to the 15 or so regular members, they're enjoying me, too :)

Brag time!

I gave my second speech, about beads and beading, two weeks ago and got terrific feedback. At the time, the most encouraging was - "great eye contact and movement. I'm ready to take up beading!"

Last week I gave my third speech, about how communicating is much more than talk, and am thrilled with the feedback. The most important to me is the one from my mentor, an established and accomplished speaker who has been a professional speaker for about 2 years. His comments were "you have a speaker's presence. Keep the work going because you are making your presence known." Wow.

I'm prepping my fourth speech - a humorous tall tale - to be given on the 20th. Of course, I'll be talking about my hubby's attempt at being a rodeo clown (a story soon to be posted). No, it's not a tall tale, but trust me - most people don't believe us when we tell it :)

This Friday (the 14th) I'm attending an all day event being presented by the National Speakers Association. There will be 11 presentations given by well-known speakers and plenty of opportunity to network. I'll be taking notes because each speaker will be giving pointers on how to improve and study the craft. Then, I'll be handing out at least 100 business cards (that's because more than 100 people are registered to attend!) and promoting my research business.

Speaking of my research business, I'm meeting with the President of the NSA/Kentucky chapter to discuss his research needs for his three businesses :) Yes, the meeting will be included in the price - consultation fee!

Okay, back to work. Then back to refining my speech for next Thursday!

Freezing Point

2008-10-28T15:58:00.001-04:00

Freezing Point (Paperback)by Karen Dionne (Author) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/051514536X/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img

Ben Maki, environmental activist, wants to solve the world's drinking water problems by using polar ice and icebergs. A book worth reading. Karen Dionne's writing style is fluid and on target for leading the reader into great visuals, rather than getting stuck in the narrative and not trusting the reader to 'get it'. I'm a fan of thrillers, be they science or medical or psychologically based, and this one is a good one. The characters are believable and have personalities that are consistent throughout the plot. The science is interesting and appears to be well researched, at least the writing was convincing and in fiction that is the point. Knowing this is her first book, I am anxiously awaiting her second.

Check it out!

Happy Anniversary!!

2008-10-27T19:05:00.002-04:00

Today, Rick and I celebrate 18 years of marriage. Wow. And I still like him! LOL

Seriously. Our life together has not been boring. Some things we could both have done without. Some things we both want to remember forever.

Most of all...I'm still glad I said "yes".

I've Been Tagged...

2008-10-19T10:26:00.002-04:00

When I checked my comments today, I saw that I'd been tagged by AJ at http://erthefae.blogspot.com/ with one of those blog memes where you share random facts about yourself and then tag your friends.

So, here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So without further ado, here are some facts about me:

1. I dip french fries in mayonnaise because I really, really, really dislike ketchup in any form - yes, even when cooked on meatloaf (double yuck!).

2. 20 years ago I thought I would marry a tall, dark, white-collar professional man and have three children - my hubby Rick and I married in 1990, he's short, blond, blue-collar man and we have no children. And, we're two peas in a pod :)

3. Though I'm shy by nature I have found that I enjoy public speaking.

4. My favorite color, for now, is orange, followed closely by yellow. Being a Gemini, don't be surprised when my favorites change - they do every few years.

5. I still play classical piano, though not as often as I used to. As a kid I dreamed of being a concert pianist, until I realized that it meant playing in front of people :)

6. I get motion sickness - cars, trains, planes, amusement parks, revolving restaurants. I'm better than when I was a kid, but I still take precautions.

7. With the help from a family member, I started my own business a few months ago - doing what I love which is research and information/fact finding. Hoping to make some money by year end :)

As for the 7 soon to be tagged, here they are:

Lora
Beki
Ellen
Dot
Cyn
Jen
Arline

Now, back to my regularly scheduled writing assignment - speech for Toastmasters, copy for postcards (marketing), review of website for discussion with webmaster tomorrow morning - and yes, I will fit a bit of beading in here!

Whew...what a busy coupla weeks

2008-10-09T13:45:00.003-04:00

So, the insurance company has not completed the claim process for us to repair the roof. Hurricane Ike did quite a number on it, and on over 500,000 homes in the Louisville Metro area - so I know the poor claims adjuster is on overload. I hope we have a settlement and a new roof before winter :)

I've been spending time with the Kelly family - as always, but now with a poignant note during every visit. I'm getting an idea of what it's like to lose a close family member. I admit, though, that I am glad the Kelly's are family oriented - it means they're always around, putting each other first, even as they fight :) Mary is doing well, still caught up in finalizing paperwork and such related to Terry's death. But, because she is surrounded by the kids and friends (me included) she's getting by just fine.

My website for the new business is almost ready. I've written 6 pages of content, have located the news feed I want to include, have signed up with an online payment system, and am now in search of an appropriate photo for the banner. Burke Research Services is in business, I just can't send you to the site just yet. I have had some projects, though - yippee! Small, but they paid enough to pay the bills :) I have some bids out on a few other projects and should know something in a week or so.

As for beading - I have realized that I simply do not like to do bead embroidery. Too much like sewing for me. Besides, one of the best things about off-loom weaving is that my working hand always has beads running through it - providing the same meditative qualities as prayer beads do. This doesn't happen with embroidery. I'm almost finished with a name tag for myself, then I think that will be it for quite a while.

I am teaching basic jewelry classes at Eye Candy Jewelry and Beads in J'town, KY. Can't seem to get anyone interested in weaving classes, yet. Though a few people are asking for more advanced jewelry classes - without providing me information about what they mean by advanced...hmm, go figure. Anyway, Katherine (store owner) will be having beading parties (bead a gift) in November and December, so that should be fun.

Speaking of beading, I'll be doing just that at my Toastmasters meeting. I've decided to do a quick speech on the benefits of beading and my turn is this month. Next month I'm entering the BS speech contest - for those in the know, I intend to tell the story of Rick's attempt at being a rodeo clown. I have a feeling that no one will believe its a true story!

Okay, back I go - time for work. Until next time...Bead Happy!

Good-Bye Terry Kelly - be at peace

2008-09-28T08:04:00.005-04:00

Terry Kelly and his wife Mary stepped in to become surrogate parents to me in the early '80s. My parents moved (with my 2 brothers) to Indianapolis and I was old enough to wave 'so long', as I was really tired of moving.

There is no way to express the amount of guidance, love and attention he and his wife have given me over the years. I have a key to the house. Many times I've come into town and walked into their home, picked a bed or couch and crashed for the night - then to be awakened by Jamie (the youngest) or Mary for breakfast. Every year, since 1990, my husband and I have attended their annual New Year's Eve party.

Countless cups of coffee at their dining table. Midnight calls for help with one of the kids. Jamie, the youngest, was the same age as my younger brother and just as humorous. He died at 32 in 2005. Erin, the only girl, was a bridesmaid for me. Shaun, the oldest, was a wild child and we dated for a short time - very short. Tim, though mentally he is a child his heart is large. Kevin, my age, is a dear friend to both me and my husband.

They're family. We're spending today at the house, by their request. Tomorrow we'll be at their side for the viewing, then Tuesday for the funeral. Ricky will probably be a pallbearer.

Here is a link to Terry's obituary http://www.legacy.com/louisville/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=118044390- which says nothing about the 5'3" Irishman's huge heart, silly sense of humor, constant appearance (after retirement) in the court system to keep in touch with inmates/guards/fellow probation officers, wiry frame that never got over 130 lbs., knack for turning down the hearing aid just as the women got to talking, ability to guide many people along the road of life. He could be found at the bowling alley every Friday night - but he didn't bowl. He liked to visit, cheer people on, encourage people to improve, help people get by. He had a temper that showed through very red ears and squinty eyes, a heart that was generous and giving.

Terry died of COPD and emphysema. We watched him deteriorate for over a year, until finally he became bedridden. On Friday evening/Saturday morning, sometime after midnight, he died in his sleep. Mary found him at 4:30 a.m. Saturday.

Beading Class at Eye Candy Jewelry and Beads

2008-09-23T18:45:00.002-04:00

Saturday, September 27 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. I'm teaching a basic stringing class at my friend's new store in Jeffersontown, KY. Katherine and her partner Debra opened Eye Candy Jewelry and Beads in August (officially) and have asked that I be their primary beading instructor :) Yeah!

The first class is about stringing - picking the right beads, learning about beading wires, using a crimping tool and crimping correctly, learning about proportion of the beads and colors and fit. We have quite a few women signed up for both Saturday morning and Tuesday evening - a repeat of the class. I'm excited and looking forward to teaching again.

Upcoming classes will include beadweaving. I thought I would start with a netted bracelet, then offer another class to guide students on how to embellish the bracelet :)

Another class would be flat Ndebele - an intermediate class.

I'll be talking with customers and students to gauge their interest and needs, and then plan the classes accordingly.

So, if you're a Jeffersontownian/Louisvillian/southern Indianian interested in attending a class with me - send me a note with your questions and/or requests and we'll see what we can do for you :)

Until then...Bead On...Bead Happy!

Time Flies by Fast, Doesn't It?

2008-09-19T12:58:00.002-04:00

Wow. August has come and gone and we're now in the middle of September. Yikes! I really did not mean for the blog to get neglected. Every few days I found myself thinking "you really should update your blog, you have friends and family wondering what's happening with you." Then I would get sidetracked with various 'life' things. Here are some of them:

I purchased the necessary software/equipment to become self-employed. I started my search for a home-based business back in 2003. In early 2007 I came upon a suite of software and a network of business owners that specialized in research/market research/sourcing and marketing, utilizing the internet but also the basic tools used in research such as telephone, library, hoofing it to the front door of a consumer, etc. Anyway, my background includes research projects in a few different industries, expert knowledge in two industries (manufacturing and electronics/engineering), and writing. So, I decided in April 2007 that this was the route for me to become self-employed. Two speed bumps - funding and high speed internet access at home.

Rick and I set out to save as much money as possible, and to encourage our small town to buy into or allow for high speed internet access. I participated in speaking before local business councils, city councils and county councils to present the case for building towers and laying wire for access. The town installed wireless towers in February 2008 with limited access :(

June 2008 is when Verizon came to town with DSL. Yippee! I had the high speed, I had the funds. But, if I were to outright purchase the business tools I needed it would leave me and Rick vulnerable, financially. Oh the dilemma! Then a family member came forward, out of the blue, and offered assistance. Kudos and wowzers to them :) :) :)

So, I am the proud owner of Burke Research Services with a soon-to-be up and running website at www.burkeresearchservices.com. Available to small, medium and large businesses (for profit or non-profit) to provide candidate sourcing for recruiters, e-mail marketing campaigns, market research, competitive intelligence, consumer research, etc.

August was spent studying and learning and studying and learning. I have a suite of software, up-to-date technology, that I needed to become adept at using. I attended webinars, seminars and conferencing classes. I was interviewed for a radio program. I've joined local networking groups. I've been writing copy for web pages. I've been getting the word out that I am in business. Whew. I've been busy.

September 15 was my target date for the website to be up and running. I got sidetracked with beading and illness :( Then the windstorm from Hurricane Ike hit and we're just now up and running with power. Thank goodness we have cash in the bank...we need a new roof :(

Anyway, by end of month my website will be up and running.

I have had some good inquiries that should turn into paying projects, just going to take a bit of time to work the sale :)

In the meantime ---

Took a long weekend to spend with Mike and the family at Winona Lake. Tammy and I spent most of our time on the bicycles and on the jet ski :) Mike and Rick built a large shed...12' x 16' (room addition if you ask me), from scratch...with plans that Mike made. Custom trusses ala Rick :)

I will be teaching beading classes at Eye Candy Jewelry and Beads in Jeffersontown, KY. She's located on Watterson Trail at Taylorsville Rd. Classes will be basic beading/stringing while learning crimping techniques, basic beadweaving while learning netting and spiral stitches. Intermediate beadweaving will be diagonal peyote (Russian Leaf pattern) and flat Ndebele embellished with crystals and such :) First class is Saturday, Sept. 27 at 11 a.m.

That's it for now. I'll post again soon with pics and more info and such.

The Painter of Shanghai - a book review

2008-07-31T09:01:00.005-04:00

The Painter of Shanghai
Jennifer Cody Epstein
Penguin Books
2008
ISBN: 978-0-141-02933-7

Let me begin this book review by saying a few things about my reading habits. First, fictional biographies are not my cup of tea. My experience with them has been spotty with decent reads mixed in with stilted writing and unbelievable scenarios. Second, China (Asia in general), is not an attractive culture to me. I don't care for the art as I consider it busy and garish. I don't understand the 'hidden' undercurrents of that society.

So, knowing the above, I delved into a book that is both fictional biography and set in China.

Wow. What a wonderful surprise this book is! It is a tale of a Chinese woman's journey from the life of a prostitute to being a controversial artist. Beginning in 1957 and set in France we're given a short introduction to Pan Yuliang of today. Soon, though, we're transported to 1913 when she is 14 and her life changes direction. Here is where we learn of her family, the traditions of Chinese life and how they rule the educated and the rural ignorant. Sold into prostitution by a trusted uncle, she struggles to learn and survive. Two years later she is rescued from the life by a kind gentleman who works in local government, who takes her as his concubine. He is a believer in empowering women to be individuals and independent. Drawing and doodling, her talent is noticed by a local artist. She enters art school and becomes the artist she was meant to be.

There. That's a quick summary of the story. Now for the best part. The reading. Jennifer Cody Epstein writes with beautiful prose, introducing various bits and pieces of Chinese life and culture as effortlessly as if she were sharing her own story. Her knowledge and research comes through beautifully, but her skill with storytelling is what held my attention. I was shown how a woman lives in China when it is a Republic, to China when it is Communist.

I was captivated, entranced and curious as to what would happen next. Not once did I believe Pan Yuliang to be whining or play the martyr. Her story is horrible. It is incomprehensible to me that China would consider women in such roles and their traditions are still unattractive to me. And yet each scene and experience is believable.

The tale of Pan Yuliang was told with dignity and respect, and adding in the skill of the writer I believe this is why I enjoyed reading it.

I recommend this to anyone interested in learning about a strong woman's life. And how she got the strength to go forward by believing in others, in herself and having the pragmatism necessary to survive difficult times.

I look forward to reading more of Jennifer Cody Epstein's work. See for yourself at www.jennifercodyepstein.com.

The Bucket List is a winner

2008-07-21T10:14:00.002-04:00

Rick and I watched The Bucket List last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Jack Nicholson portrays a lonely multi-gazillionaire with a hidden heart and Morgan Freeman portrays a hard working middle class family man. Both did a fine job. The story is quite believable, with moments of hilarity and bittersweet poignancy. We laughed, we sighed, we guffawed, we reminisced. Rick and I never had an office 'bucket list', but we both have things and places we want to see and do before either one of us die, so we related to the desire shown by both of these characters.

The best part of the entire movie, for me, is that both characters stayed true to their values. Even when facing death, they did not put their moral character on the line. Quite refreshing!

We both wholeheartedly recommend this one! Enjoy.

BFAC done!

2008-07-10T14:07:00.006-04:00

I named this piece "Choices"

A Necklace

Three bracelets

A Choker

I struggled with the vase idea. While working on the netting I was struggling with being bored with it. To take a break and relax my mind, I dumped a few colors from the project onto my beading mat and contemplated chucking them into the garbage (really, for a moment I thought it). Then I pushed a few orange squares together, a few blue rounds. Picked up needle and thread and worked up a flat herringbone piece. Hmmm. I did the same with a few other colors and larger beads. It was beginning to look like a bracelet that I just might like. My stash of findings include basket crimps and snap clasps (my favorite clasps) and I pictured two bracelet possibilities. Then, looking at the netting on the vase I saw additional bracelets. But I wanted a choice available to me and the final owner - necklace or bracelet or both? End result is 1 necklace or 1 choker or 3 bracelets. I'm happy.

ABBA!

2008-07-02T18:21:00.005-04:00

Ha! Didn't know I was a closet ABBA fan, did you now? So I'm outed. I think I've done well to hide it these past 20 years or so...but now I just can't help myself. I had the opportunity to see the ABBA wannabes with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra a few weekends ago and had a ball! No, they're not ABBA. No, they aren't as good as ABBA. Yes, I sang along with every song, joined my aunt, my cousins and a niece on the lawn of Connor Prairie and boogied until I could boogie no more. Whew! Then I proceeded to try to wear out my ABBA CDs. Yes, Rick is happy to be working out of town during the week...I've had that CD playing every day since the concert. I've been a dancing dervish, boogying fool, jiggly old gal...having a good time, thank you very much :)

There. It's out. I'm an ABBA fan and too old to care if you know it! HA! I hope you do the same :) Oh, I happen to love every song, no particular favorite...so enjoy!

Memorial Day, Birthday, Family

2008-05-28T12:20:00.005-04:00

It doesn't get much better than this.

Memorial Day, the 26th, was my birthday. Rick and I went to Winona Lake to spend three wonderful days with Mike, Tammy, the kids and my mom. What fun we had. Arriving late Friday afternoon, Rick and I were attacked by the kids - nothing beats having an 11 yr old and a 9 yr old hug and love on you for a good 10 minutes.

Tammy made homemade strawberry shortcake, just for me and it was absolutely delicious! yum! She was concerned because she had used the wrong measuring cup for the flour - 3/4 instead of 1 cup. So the shortcake was a bit dense - but it had plenty of flavor.

Saturday was spent on the lake. Mike has a deckboat, perfect for fishing or tubing. Eric swears that this is the year he will learn to waterski. I'm looking forward to seeing his progress come July 4th!

Sunday morning Tammy and I walked the 2.5 miles into Winona Lake Village. My incentive for this walk? Fresh coffee and possibly split a danish with Tammy. We took off at 9:30 a.m., got to the coffee shop at 10:20 a.m. (not bad time, if you ask me). What do we see? Nothing. Nothing in the village is open on Sunday - until noon. Oh my. Tammy was hoping for a shot of caffeine, and I admit to hoping for a bite of baked sweet goodness. Oh boy.

So, we sat on the coffee-house porch, enjoying the sunshine and cool breeze from the lake. We people-watched, talked about the history of the village, and in general twiddled our thumbs for about 30 minutes. Tammy went to college here at Grace College and is very knowledgeable about Winona Lake's history - check out info about Billy Sunday, the founder of the college and quite the evangelist, and general info about this beautiful area: http://www.winonalake.net/

We decided that my legs were now ready to move, so we walked to the lake. Then we walked two neighborhoods. Then we walked the canal. Then we walked...oh, you get it.

As we rounded the corner of yet another block, and I saw by the town clock that noon was finally within minutes of becoming reality, I shared an idea with Tammy. "Hey, do you think Mom would like to join us for lunch?" Thinking this was a great idea, she used her cell phone and within 10 minutes Mom was driving toward us. She brought Kelly with her and we made the afternoon a girls' day out. The best part? Getting a ride back! Don't tell anyone I said that.

Monday morning was spent saying good-bye - for now. Rick needed to be home before 2 p.m. because he was going to be working out of town for the next few months and wanted to get an early start on the travel. I wanted to get home somewhat early so I could hook up with a few friends before the holiday was over. So, we left at 10 a.m. and got home about 3:00 p.m.

HearIndiana Walk a Success!

2008-05-14T12:08:00.000-04:00

I walked the 2.3k and boy am I proud! Carrying this extra 50 lbs is like carrying handweights, ankle weights and a backpack of stuff. But, I did it and can proudly say so.

Thank you to everyone who contributed and donated to the cause. My sister-in-law raised over $650, without really trying :) We're both anxious to start next year's fundraising, stoked to raise more.

HearIndiana received more than their goal of $25,000.

Here are the photos - proof that I did it! LOL

Yeah, it says Runner! I swear the number was random! Believe what you will! LOL

I've caught my breath and agreed to pose with my Aunt Chris, brother Mike, SIL Tammy and the two kids, Eric and Kelly. We've decided that purple really isn't my color.

Proof of movement! Yes, I've been caught in mid-stride. And, I'm only a step or so behind Tammy. We won't mention that I found her pace to be olympic-training speed, or that she slowed down at the 3/4 mark so I wouldn't be lonely.

Hear Indiana...

2008-04-29T12:14:00.002-04:00

My brother and his family have dealt with hearing loss for over 11 years. Both my niece Kelly, and my nephew Eric, are 95% deaf. Both received cochlear implants...Eric at 3 and Kelly at 1. Both are mainstreamed into public schools, are bright and well-adjusted, and are participating in a fundraising effort for Hear Indiana. Eric is now 11 and a budding geologist/mechanical engineer, and Kelly is now 9 and a budding writer and runner (man, can that kid run!).

Here's a link to their page:

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=268380&lis=1&kntae268380=17CADB9C93A34CB49BA05DB3707C5929&supId=213026808

This photo is from August of 2007, a family reunion at Mike's place in northern Indiana. Yes, they're always this silly :) Yes, they're always this happy :) They're great people, and I'm proud to have them in my family.

Any donation you could provide, from $1 on up, would be helpful.

Rick and I will be walking on Saturday the 10th. Rather than set up my own donation site, I want you to go to my brother's and pledge there.

Thanks for your support!

Flu, Wet Noodle, Beading, Dancing....

2008-04-21T13:21:00.002-04:00

Wow. I got the flu, then the flu got me! One solid week of varying temps, ranging from 100.5 to 103. Sweats, muscle aches, froggy throat and voice, settling in to a hoarse cough that I'm still fighting. Blech.

Went to belly dance last night. Considering that it had been over two weeks since my last class, I was pleased with my ability to keep up. Though by the end of the 2 hours I was perspiring profusely, I felt good afterward. This class ended with a choreagraphed dance that I simply could not do. The instructor kept assuring me "hey, it's an advanced choreagrphy, don't worry about it!" But, ya know, I have a tendency to want to keep up or go before others in the class - yes, I'm competitive. Oh well, I tried. I admit to being glad the mirrors were hidden from me by other students! LOL

So, I've been beading. I'm slowly working up my BFAC project, though it's coming very slowly. To brighten up my mood, and because Spring is really here, I'm doing a few herringbone ropes in white and yellow. They'll look nice twisted together and I seem to have accumulated quite a few yellow tops and blouses :)

So, though I still feel a bit like a wet noodle, I'm forging forth. My job hunting continues and I landed a personal interview for later this week with a company I've been trying to get into since '04. Uh oh, may have to shop for a new suit...no matter that I've lost 5 lbs now, it appears that these last 2 1/2 weeks of being ill have softened everything!

Anyway, I'll be loading up some pics later this week. Until then, I'm ready for a nap.

Indiana Censorship...is your state next?

2008-03-26T15:09:00.003-04:00

I'm so embarrassed. Had I known this bill was even being looked at, I personally would have gone to Indianapolis and sat on the steps of the capitol, awaiting my representative and senator. I have written to both, pleading for their support in the removal of this bill. Please read the following article excerpt and follow the link for the full article:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6544559.html?nid=2286&source=title&rid=2007934393

ABFFE to Fight Indiana Store Registration LawBy Rachel Deahl
The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) has blasted a new Indiana law that requires bookstores to register with the government if they sell what is considered "sexually explicit materials." The new law, H.B. 1042, was signed by Governor Mitch Daniels on March 13, and calls for any bookseller that sells sexually explicit materials to register with the Secretary of State and provide a statement detailing the types of books to be sold. The Secretary of State must then identify those stores to local government officials and zoning boards. "Sexually explicit material" is defined as any product that is "harmful to minors" under existing law. There is a $250 registration fee. Failure to register is a misdemeanor.

ABFFE spokesman Chris Finan said the law is the only one of its kind currently on the books in the country. Calling it "clearly unconstitutional," Finan said ABFFE will urge the Media Coalition to challenge the law at the organization's next meeting on April 9. H.B. 1042 does not go into effect until July, by which time Finan is hopeful the lawsuit will be filed and an injunction issued by the court.

BFAC Progress..encouragement needed

2008-03-25T12:51:00.001-04:00

Ok, so this is where I am with the BFAC project. I know, I told everyone I was going to do a RAW project, with part of the challenge being to do everything in RAW. Well, that didn't work out. I was compelled to do netting...go figure. Anyway, so here I am. I have a collar of sorts and I thought I would continue the chevron pattern up to the lip of the vase. Then, I made a flower using 3 bead netting, and in the center I have a square swarovski. Right now my plan it to do two more flowers, net the bottom of the vase in 3 bead netting, then attach the flowers in a small bunch at the base of the neck. Then, at various points around the netting on the bottom of the base, use the drops from the kit. That is my thinking right now. Thoughts from the outside world are now needed! Encouragement to continue with my plan or ideas to enhance or even the occasional "Bleh, bad idea" would be appreciated.

Belly Dancing, Shimmy the Shoulder, Pop the Hip...

2008-03-16T19:21:00.002-04:00

Oh my. I survived my first belly dancing workshop today. I attended a one day workshop with a local instructor that covered the absolute basics on up to stage presence and performance. It was a 4 hour workshop, and I lasted into hour 2.5! :) Yes, I am as surprised as you are about my lasting so long.

Now, this does not mean that I mastered all the moves, a few of the moves, or any of the moves for that matter. Nor does it mean that I am now ready to perform for anyone other than an instructor!

What it does mean is that after taking the plunge into exploring dance as a method of fine tuning my flexibility and fluidity (of which I have none...klutz of the year here...known to have random bruises with no knowledge of where they came from) it is a good thing.

AJ, a beading friend in Tucson, says that after a few months of lessons she stopped obtaining the random bruises, and has become quite adept with being graceful. I look forward to saying this for myself.

Anyway, I'll know tomorrow whether any soreness will be felt, but as of right now...three hours after the workshop, I'm feeling okay.

The instructor is offering beginner lessons, 1 per week for 4 weeks starting this Wednesday. I'll be talking to a friend about joining me in this adventure, but whether she joins me or not I'm intending to take the classes. I truly do not want to perform, or find my inner diva (according to the instructor we all have one) or dance for anyone other than myself and my husband. No, really, I just want to walk a bit more gracefully, have a presence about me and stop the random occurrence of bruising on my body :)

Flexible Cement, Arsenic Soil, Math and a Pond...

2008-03-15T23:00:00.001-04:00

It's the annual middle school/high school regional Science Fair! And, this year I was asked to judge the engineering category, as well as the Final Judge session for "Best of Show".

What fun I had. The Fair is held at the student activities center on the University of Louisville's campus, near downtown Louisville. Judges representing various disciplines come from a wide background of professorial types to the hobbyist to the person whose job is in the field of study. My engineering studies, combined with my previous field work using engineering principles, is what landed me in that category. Though most of the projects were mechanical or structural engineering, I at least understood the principles used in physics and materials. And, the importance of documentation :)

Mathin, the Flexible Cement young man, was a 7th grader who had poured a cement patio with his father, then experienced the dreaded cracking and hollowness of a badly done cement job within 30 days of the pour. Wanting to know what happened, he investigated cement and mixing and such. Happening upon a construction worker a few weeks before the Fair, he learned that mixing a fibrous material with cement keeps it pliable/flexible when dried. He experimented with various plant fibers and man-made fibers, then hit upon a mix of Home Depot cement with Sisal (plant fiber). He is now ready to re-do the patio with Dad this summer. He received 1st place in engineering and a special award during Final Judging. And, a quick remark from me about how adding rebar would make difference :)

Karey, the 6th grader who analyzed soil samples for arsenic was quite impressive. Her concern? Her neighbors in a predominantly Asian neighborhood had gardens close to the house. Which meant that the food was close to old decks and walkouts - made with pretreated lumber. So, does the arsenic in the pretreated lumber leach into the soil, contaminating the food items? Yepper, it does! Her methods were spot on, her documentation flawless, and her conclusions were well represented. And, her beautiful black hair pulled into adorable pony tails to the side of her wide eyed face didn't hurt either! LOL

Casey, the 6th grader who wanted to show that mathematical modeling was the way to go when to determine future effects of global warming and acid deposition in fresh water ecosystems. Holy Macaroni! Did this kid know her stuff? Yepper. She blew the socks of the Math Judges, then absolutely blew the socks off we Final Judges. Yes - she received the Best In Show. Turns out that she out-performed, out-calculated, out-did the seniors! Wow. And, her presentation skills were pretty good, considering she's a really short young woman with enough brown hair to cover half her upper body :) On a side note, loved her fashion sense of wearing long shoulder brushing diamond shaped earrings (picture 3" long), silver, with a black shift dress that had fun silver sparkles near the hem, and finished off with black tights and mary jane shoes. What a cutie! LOL

I'm signed up for next year, have almost convinced Rick to join me (engineering or environmental science) and will be recommending a few of my friends to the Director for future recruiting!

Martian Child - A Terrific Movie

2008-03-09T16:16:00.004-04:00

Starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet and Joan Cusack, and introducing Bobby Coleman.

Now available on DVD - I recommend getting it today.

Based on the true short story written by sci-fi author David Gerrold, this is an inspiring and uplifting movie. Rick and I watched it over the weekend, while we were snowed in. We both thoroughly enjoyed it and will be recommending it to everyone we meet.

Ever felt like a misfit? Ever met a child that you thought was a misfit? Ever sat back in awe of a child's ability to use the imagination in order to survive?

David the writer is a widower and getting more and more lonely as time passes. Thinking that a child would add an interesting dimension to his life, David visits a group home and happens upon Dennis - a child hiding in an Amana appliance box. Eventually the two meet face to face, then share the same house, then David completes the adoption. It's the in-between stuff that makes all the difference on this journey.

I loved the fact that it is based on a true story, as evidenced by the 'special feature' showing an interview with the original David and son. The compassion and respect this man shows is very inspiring, especially in the face of a child whose background is that of abuse and abandonment.

This is a perfect family movie, one that can touch the hearts of children everywhere. It teaches compassion, respect, communication and understanding. Understanding that everyone comes to a situation with varied backgrounds, yet common ground can be found.

Pay It Forward

2008-03-07T12:11:00.002-05:00

My husband and I have always believed that when we receive something from someone, instead of paying that person or persons back, we become ready to give to someone else in need. Over the years, we have received random acts of kindness, money because we had none at one time, dinner because when we were homeless we were hungry, time on the phone because we were lonely, a random card of appreciation for something we had done.

The above has never been a 'formal' project, just a way of living a life of gratitude. Anyway, I have joined a project Pay It Forward. Here are the 'rules' and what I pledge to do:

The first three people who comment on my blog will receive something handmade from me, if they in turn will do the same thing...See the rules below:

Pay It Forward rules: I will send a handmade gift (something beaded) to the first 3 people who leave a Comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange (and email me their mailing address), and who make the same pledge on their own blogs. I don't know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward meaning you will do the same for three people who comment on your blog. Chances are very good you will receive the gift within a few weeks :)

Ok, so here you go. Now it's up to you to formally participate in a Pay It Forward project. I look forward to hearing from you.

I got a surprise in the mail today!

2008-03-05T15:03:00.003-05:00

A cyber friend from the All About Beads forum sent me a necklace! I hope the photo I took did justice to it. It's quite nice. The lampwork focal is a combination of blue, green and rust-orange. The photo shows the spring green side, whereas the blue is a lovely sky blue :) She used pearlized orange 8s for the core beads and lime gree, black and white for the spirals. In the middle of some of the black spirals are light blue Swarovski bicones, the same shade as the blue in the focal. Finishing off this lovely piece is a Bali silver hook clasp. I think it's quite lovely and will be happy to wear it this spring and summer - because I found a wonderful blouse to wear it with! Thanks Marilee!

And Now - the unveiling of the kit

2008-03-04T15:40:00.010-05:00

Beading for a Cure at http://www.beadingforacure.org/ and current auctions at http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZbeadingforacure

BFAC sells the kit for a nominal fee. All kits are the same. Each bead artist is to create something utilizing at least one bead from each size and color in the kit. An additional bead can be added, though all added beads must be the same size and color. For instance, I could decide to add a creamy yellow to the mix in size 11s. That is all I can add. The kit(s) were produced and supplied by Betcey, owner of Beyond Beadery at http://www.beyondbeadery.com/ .

Here is the kit I received:

Many thanks to Dulcey Heller for allowing me to use her photo. You can see her beautiful work at http://www.dulceyheller.com/

So, these are not my colors...really. Though they are earth tones, I do not use color-lined beads. I'm encouraged by my ideas, though. My first thought upon opening the package was - well, no herringbone necklace here! I'm concerned about the slime, er, lime green swarovskis. And the color lined drops. Hmmmm.

I will be embellishing an amber vase using RAW (right angle weave). I will be using 'medallions' along the bottom curved portion of the vase and basic beading around the neck. I may add some pearls to this mix, only because it needs something to lighten it up!

I have some basic work done, but not quite enough yet to post a photo. Though I intend to share progress photos in the upcoming weeks.

I Wanna Go Back!!

2008-02-26T12:03:00.003-05:00

Oh my, I've been home a few days and already I'm ready to go back to Tucson! To heck with the fact that the scenery left me dry (pun intended). Desert and mountains with lots of sunshine and 70 degree weather is preferable to ice covered landscapes and 30 or below at home. I'm losing the freckles! My only claim to tanning, I might add.

Rick is ready to go back to Florida. Which does not help me in any way to be happy about being home now! LOL

He's been making noises about visiting some friends in Alabama. Friends I haven't seen for quite a few years. Friends that have a lake house, with a boat, with fishing equipment. Friends who want us to visit. Friends who recently told Rick that the bass are getting lonely. Aw, geez, how do I fight fishing, sunshine, morning coffee with friends! Ack!!

In the meantime, I continue my job hunt. Though I want to be self-employed one day, actively building a business I have researched and come to believe is right for me - because it requires the extensive use of a computer, research and customer service - I also know that I refuse to go into debt. Therefore, I need to be gainfully employed.

My plan - to get a job in supervision, management, technical something. Keep the job for at least the next few years. Purchase the business and do it part-time for at least a year. Now, if only the rest of the world were on board with this plan!

So, I continue the job-hunt, continue to fend off the urge to tell hubby "let's pack it up for a week and get out of there", bead some new designs and pray.

Oh yeah, I'm participating in the 2009 BFAC (Beading For a Cure) charity. Read more about it here www.beadingforacure.org.

I received my kit and am already working on the piece! Surprise! No thoughts about what to do with this odd assortment of colors. I knew after opening the package what the beads needed to become. Pictures and info after the project is finished.

Okay, enough whining. I only allow myself a few minutes to whine, then I get some cheese and get back to work. So, off to eat some cheese and bead a bit more!

Home and enjoying Tucson Stash!

2008-02-21T15:20:00.005-05:00

Well, I made it home with out all the drama from my flight out of Louisville, thank goodness :) I forgot to mention in that post that though I was wearing 'the patch', upon landing in Tucson I did have to use two bags...thank goodness I don't eat before a flight. And, on the flight home I used 'the patch' and a Bonine. I think I've hit upon the perfect combination. The only issue with using a motion sickness aid is that they tend to make you very drowsy. So much so, I slept 11 hours the first night and 10 hours the second. I should be back to normal tonight.

Okay, so here are some pictures of my purchases in Tucson. I'm missing just a few pieces...only because my mother is wearing them! LOL

Lampwork, rainbow agate and red coral. The black glass has confetti type decoration and I simply could not resist. The hearts and disks are in varying shades of green. My absolute favorite buy is the rainbow agate! OMG, blue and orange with white streaks! Just beautiful! And the red coral matches/accents it perfectly. I cannot wait to start working on a project with these babies.

Fossil squares, 4 pendant pieces from Dakota Stone, some Dave Christensen glass focals, a Netsuke horse for my niece, Kelly. A gold dipped leaf and a bronzed leaf of kale :) The four pendants are picasso jasper framed with black onyx. I fell in love with the gal who designs these. She is Chinese, graduated from Purdue with an engineering degree, then finished with an MBA, married a computer programmer, then purchased a factory in China to produce her work with stones. A delightful young woman whom I look forward to doing business with throughout the years. The last piece is a Devin Somerville lampworked pendant that didn't come out right in the photo. Ack! my lack of photography skills are really showing here. I'll try to scan it later.

Pearls, pearls and pearls :) Mother of Pearl strands in green, grey, teal and topaz. Small seed pearls in cream, green and topaz. Green jasper squares, serpentine rondelles and green jasper tubes - the rest of them were used for something that my mother is now wearing! Red coral 2mm rounds, Lapis 2mm rounds, brown goldstone star and sodalite teardrop pendant.

I love glass. Below is all venetian glass in varying colors of gold, brown, black/silver and a salmon kind of color. Bottom right are swarovski pendants in greens, pinks and topaz.

I found Wynwoods Gallery and picked up a bunch of things :) Now I can go to her website and have a better idea of what I'll be getting :) Two lampwork cabs, a lovely stone cab (no idea what kind), copper links, copper chain, gold necklaces for pendants.

The findings! We cannot forget the findings! Crimps, head pins, snap clasps, toggles in silver and copper. Some gold, some sterling. A kit from Nikia Angel cuz I like the shapes and colors she used for bead embroidery, plus I'm hoping to get some practice in on the bead embroidery :) And, two pair of earrings I purchased from the copper mine after touring the mine with my family :)

That's all for now folks :) On the one hand I have hard time believing I spent the kind of money that I did, on the other hand I'm thrilled I was able to go to Tucson and probably won't be going to a bead show again for another year or so! LOL

Tucson Update

2008-02-10T11:52:00.000-05:00

I'm having a great time! On Thursday evening, my mother and I joined 4 others at a bead dinner at PF Chang's...Yum! Originally this bead dinner, an annual event, had 11 to 12 people scheduled to attend, but only 6 of us showed up. What a shame. First because the organizer was limited to just a few restaurants able to accommodate 10 or more people, thereby reserving a banquet room. Second because once the organizer knew the actual number of people attending we could have eaten somewhere else. Not that the food wasn't good, but the ambience was a bit noisy and dark. We would have preferred a cafe or bistro setting. Oh well, maybe next year the others will join us!

So, my feet are in good shape :) I purchased a pair of New Balance walking shoes the day before I flew out of Louisville and am thrilled with how they're holding up to walking on concrete for up to 4 hours a day. My brain is a bit fogged by beads, beads, beads and more beads. LOL So, mom and I took the day off on Saturday and went site seeing, then joined my uncle and his girlfriend for dinner last night at Olive Garden. While eating, mom and Elda planned my last week here - filled with site seeing jaunts and a few questionable excursions :) Yes, they left me two more days to shop for beads! LOL Though I was assured that the schedule was negotiable.

I found a good vendor for findings and loaded up on a year's worth :) And, today we're going shopping at yet another show. We've only gotten to 5 shows out of 42 you know :)

I think I should learn how to discern gemstone quality

2008-02-06T17:12:00.001-05:00

First let me say that it took until Feb 4 for the RV park's wireless network to be up and running. Then, for it to be stable has taken another day or so. So, there is good reason why I haven't been on every night and bloggin about Tucson.

Second, having now spent 4 days being dazzled by semi-precious and precious gemstones, I've come to the conclusion that I need to learn my gemstones and their qualities. As well as how to determine whether I'm getting a good price or not. I won't give up the bead-weaving, but boy would I love to design a setting for the star-cut citrines I purchased. They're top drilled and will work beautifully with heishi gold tubes I have. But, I can easily see a few of them set in a cocktail ring that would WOW anyone within 20 feet.

But, I'm not a jeweler, nor do I have skill in casting or working with precious metals - yet. I have a feeling there will come a day when I become more knowledgeable.

In the meantime, my poor mother is on bead overload. She's such a trooper. She's driven me to the shows each day and has declared herself my assistant :) Meaning, she drags the suitcase behind her and helps me pick out things to fill it! This is her first bead show and I think she's spoiled :)

I've purchased copper chain, Robert Jennik lampwork, rainbow botswana agate, lampwork pendants, MOP and seed pearls in varying colors, display items for my booth, green turquoise, some cool glass beads in different shapes, some huge green striped lampwork hearts for focals. And the best, for me at the moment, is when I came upon Wynwoods Gallery booth (http//www.wynwoods.com) and finally got some cool stuff...check out Lois' designs, I just love them!

No photos yet. Mom hasn't figured out her camera and I'm too tired to deal with it right now LOL. But, maybe tomorrow or Friday I'll get them posted and you can drool with me.

Until then, happy beading!

I Made it to Tucson - on time, but barely

2008-02-04T19:32:00.000-05:00

I'm now in Tucson, thank goodness. Before I begin sharing my Gem Show experiences, let me take you back...back to last Tuesday, the day before I was to fly out of Louisville and into Tucson. The day when all plans seemed reasonable, when life was good, when all was well, when I knew I was a lousy traveler but made sure all things were in place...

I started the day by gathering my beads and working projects and putting them away. This is a courtesy to my husband who has been out of state for the last three weeks. He'll be home before I will, and I want him to come home to a clean spot in the living room! LOL

At about 1 p.m., I spoke with Judy, my friend who had offered to take me to the airport (at 5 a.m. no less), to help me save money on parking fees. She was ready. She had set all her clocks in the house for 4 a.m. and planned to sleep in the living room to awaken to the television. There was gas in the car and she had already told "the office" that she may be a few minutes late in the morning (this way she could grab a quick nap after taking me to the airport).

Because I had purchased my tickets via Travelocity, I knew I could 'check-in' on-line anytime during the 24 hours before my flight. I was scheduled to fly out at 6:45 a.m. Wednesday morning. I got on-line this last afternoon at home and played and surfed and e-mailed. I thought about checking in, but decided I'd wait until later in the evening.

At about 4 p.m. I started packing. It didn't take me but 30 minutes because I am an experienced traveler and knew ahead of time what I would be taking with me. I debated as to whether or not I should put on the "patch" (motion sickness aid called TransDerm using the drug Scopolamine to prevent severe reactions to motion - from which I suffer). But, I decided to wait until morning. For goodness sake, I was going to get up at 3:30 a.m. Plenty of time for the patch to begin working while waiting for my flight.

At 6 p.m. I took myself out to dinner. I knew this would be the last meal before traveling, a precaution against the patch not working completely. So, I fully enjoyed my favorite meal of French Onion Soup, Oriental Chicken Salad and Blonde Maple Brownie at our local Applebee's.

As I left Applebee's I noticed the wind was quite gusty and that it was 10 degrees or so cooler outside than when I had first arrived. While on the road home I heard the latest news flash on the radio - tornado watch in my county. I get to my town, stop at a gas station to fill up and the weather doesn't appear too bad. The station attendant assured me that 70 mph winds were being felt in a town 15 minutes west of me. Uh oh, this could be a problem.

I get home at about 7:30 p.m. and have to retrieve my trash cans from the front yard. Ok, at least it isn't hailing. The winds were pretty rough, but we've had worse. Inside I go to my computer to check-in and see that my wireless network is down. Guaranteed it's because the tower has been blown down. Shoot! Ok, don't panic, I still have dial-up. I get to Frontier Airlines' website and select "online check-in". 40 minutes later the silly graphics are still not up on my screen. I wander through the house, cleaning up a bit, checking my list for packing, etc. after 65 minutes and the website is still not up I realize that I won't be able to check-in. No biggie. I'm planning to be at the airport by 5:30 a.m. so I'll have time.

The news is now saying that the watch has been reduced to a warning, but beware of high wind gusts. Ok. Here we have steady winds of 70 mph and now experiencing gusts of up to 90 mph. All I can do is hope that this all dies down by in the morning.

I go to bed at 8 p.m. Hey, I'm getting up at 3:30 a.m., what do you expect? So, I'm lightly sleeping, not able to go deep yet, when I think I hear my phone (three rooms away). I figure it's the wind because quite a few squeaks and creaks are being heard throughout the house. Then my cell phone rings. It's next to me on the bed (one of three alarms I had set to wake me). I'm awake now! It's Judy. "Gee Char, I hate to tell you this, but my neighbors' pine tree is now in my yard and blocking my car. I don't think I'll be able to get it moved by 4:30 tomorrow morning". I assure her that, though these things don't normally happen, I do have a plan B. I'll get a cab.

Now I'm a bit nervous. Our area is having severe storms, forecasted to last through the night. I'm unable to check-in on-line. I don't normally awaken well before 5 a.m., and am supposed to get up at 3:30 a.m. Judy cannot come to get me. Do I call the cab company now? or wait til the morning? The winds are loud and obnoxious outside my window. I decide to wait until morning for the cab and snug into my bed for the night.

3:30 a.m. all three alarms go at once. I'm up. I'm out of bed. I turn off all alarms. I make a pot of coffee then hit the shower. After drying off, I put on the patch, I have a cup of coffee. It's approaching 4 a.m. I call the cab company. The only company I know to call is in Louisville. I schedule a 5 a.m. pick up. I tell the dispatcher I'm going to the airport for a 6:45 a.m. flight. I tell him I'm not in Georgetown, but in a rural area. He's convinced I'm in Kentucky and I have to tell him three times that I'm in Indiana, and that he needs to relay directions to the driver or the cabbie will never find my house. I'm assured all is well.

5 a.m. I have cash, coat and suitcase ready. All things in the house are either turned off or turned around. I even have the cabfare out of my wallet and in my pocket for easy access. I'm beginning to feel the affects of the patch so am confident that all is well.

5:15 a.m. No cab. I call the company. I'm assured that the driver is less than a mile from my home.

5:25 a.m. No cab. I call the company. A different dispatcher assures me that the driver is on his way. I tell him "not possible, he should be here by now" dispatcher puts me on hold, I need to pee.

5:30 a.m. No cab. Dispatcher calls me and tells me driver is trying to reach me. I tell him I have phone in hand and no one has called me. He says to give him 3 minutes. I hang up. The phone rings, it's the driver. "Where are you?" I ask. "Hey", he says, "I looked for your place. I found the church at **** road but your house isn't there." "I don't live by a church, you need to come through town and within 1 mile will see me." He attempts to argue with me. "Where are you now?" I ask again. "In New Albany", he replies. Oh hell, he's at least 25 minutes away! So I say "Listen bud, I'm hosed. I needed to be at the airport in the next 5 minutes." He starts to say something, but I interrupt with "You're an idiot and you've lost my business." SLAM goes the phone.

I am now in panic mode. It is now 5:40 a.m., it takes 30 minutes to get to the airport, I haven't checked in and now I have to drive! Good thing I gassed up, heh?

I bound out the door and throw my two carry-on suitcases into the car (told you I was an experienced traveler - never check a bag if you don't have to). I don't warm up, I immediately get out the drive and spin tires to get onto the main road. I hit town. There's an ambulance. Traffic is stopped because said ambulance needs to go down the road two cars in front of me. Traffic begins to move. The lights are all red. I'm starting to get nervous. I finally get to the highway. It is now 6:05 a.m. and I still have 20 minutes of driving to the airport. Yes, my foot hit the pedal and I stayed on 90 mph.

6:15 a.m., I hit Louisville International Airport. I miss the turn into the parking lot. Holy crap! I have to drive to the pick up area before having access to the parking lot. Yes, the man in front of me that is now fully stopped and looking at something on the seat beside him is important. But, not as important as my getting on my flight. HONK! I scare the bejeebies out of him, I'm sure. Anyway, I get to the parking garage. I don't care about parking fees now, I only care about getting on a plane.

I drive to the top floor, exposed to all weather conditions. I don't care. I park in the middle because I don't know where Frontier Airlines' counters are. I've always flown Delta. Oh hell. I grab my bags, lock the car and run to the elevator.

I'm on the first floor, and have two flights of stairs ahead of me. I glance at a clock. It is now 6:20 a.m. (amazing, I know). I don't think, I run. I took the first flight of stairs 2 at a time, the second flight I took the escalator (I have stopped thinking by now).

At the top of the escalator I turn to the left and in front of me is Frontier Airlines' counter. Empty of passengers, has two attendants. I run to the counter and ask for my flight. This really cute, young, wide awake young man grins and says "they're boarding now". Not possible! Can't happen! I put on my best pitiful look, explain that an idiot cab driver couldn't find my house, and could he please help me make my flight? He calls the check in area and asks if I can check in at the counter. Yes. Whew. He takes me through the standard questions. I respond appropriately. I'm free to go. "Where?" I ask. He says "through that hall, turn left, you'll see security." Oh no...security!

I get to security. Half of the city of Louisville is going through security. I show my ID and boarding pass. I try to get into the shortest line. A tough little old lady stops me and tells me which line I'm to go through. I tell her that my flight is boarding. She doesn't care. Two fellas ahead of me back out of the line to let me through - yes, I'm grateful but in too much of a hurry to say so.

I'm out of security, I'm doing the O.J. through the terminal (running like a madman). I'm hearing my name on the loudspeaker for last call for boarding. I see the check in area. The attendant sees me. With raised eyebrows she asks if I ran all the way. I cannot answer. I cannot catch my breath. She pats me down and locates my boarding pass. I get on the plane. I hand over my bags to an attendant. She helps me find a seat (the plane is virtually empty). I sit. I cannot breathe. The guy next to me is cracking up, trying not to laugh out loud. I realize that I haven't put my shoes back on from during the security check. I also realize that my coat is around my waist, my belly-bag/fanny pack is under my breasts, and I still cannot breathe. But, by God, I'm on the plane! Uh oh. Gotta pee! Yes, the flight attendant laughed when I got out of the lavatory.

Whiners, Complainers, Juvenile Women watch out...

2008-01-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

For quite a while now I've been carrying a resentment/irritation/disgust around in my head. Long enough to realize that it has affected my perspective on previous work experiences. So, considering the options available to me to relieve myself of this burden, I believe the least damaging is to write it on my blog.

Before I continue, this is related to a woman that I once worked with. Actually, she was a member of a team that I managed. To approach this person today would be unprofessional, inappropriate and possibly considered badgering :) While working with her I did broach the subject(s) and it was considered a humorous discussion on her part. A different discussion, where I requested that she stop talking about her job interviews while working caused her to lose her temper and start yelling about "free speech", and ended when she told me to meet her in the parking lot. Yeah, I'm not kidding.

Here are some of what I have already said to her, and some things I didn't get a chance to say:

Stop the whining. Sitting at your desk and stating "I just don't know how I will get all this work done" on an hourly basis is childish, annoying and disrespectful to your co-workers.

Arranging your workload to prevent you from participating in a call rotation is also disrespectful to your co-workers.

Telling new people how to do their job, after the manager has already set up a training schedule, is annoying and irksome, as well as confusing to the new person.

Complaining about your husband's infidelity only proves your childishness and immaturity. E-mailing your firefighter boyfriend (from work) about how his hose is hanging is juvenile and disrespectful to yourself and the company.

Bragging about job interviews, while working, is wrong. It is disrespectful to your co-workers, insubordinate behavior to your manager, and is not why the company pays you to be at your desk.

Declaring your experience as a manager, then acting like a toddler needing a babysitter in order to get your work done, does not reflect well on you. Complaining and whining to upper management when your manager asks that you stop whining and use the time to do your work is really annoying. It wastes time, reflects badly on you, and is disrespectful to your co-workers - because when you take the time to complain, annoy and/or meet with upper management, your co-workers have to step in for you and do your work.

There, I've said all I'm going to say. Yes, there is more, but these points are the main ones that have been on my mind. The funniest part of all of this is her inability to see that all along I was trying to help her position herself to be considered for a promotion. Yes, jealousy is a bad emotion and when I realized that this explains her behavior is when I stopped trying to help and instead tried to contain the problem.

and now for a bit of fun

2008-01-28T09:13:00.000-05:00

The Recipe For Charlene
3 parts Flirtation
2 parts Elegance
1 part Prosperity
Splash of Beauty
Finish off with an olive
What's the Recipe for Your Personality?
Hmm, good thing I like olives! I'll have to ask hubby and friends about the other parts :)

Tucson, AZ - Home of the Gem and Mineral Show

2008-01-27T10:16:00.001-05:00

Oh my. I'm starting to get excited. I leave for Tucson on Wednesday, the 30th. My plan, and my plane tickets, say that I'm returning on February 19. Three wonderful weeks spent in Tucson where it is warm, where the rain does not freeze on its way down or on the ground, where snow is not an option, where humidity is non-existent. Oh my. Will I look like an apple that's been out in the sun too long?

My mother is in Tucson for the winter. Two years ago she purchased a travel camper and Dodge Durango then took off from Indianapolis and traveled the south and east coast. She spent last winter in Indianapolis and vowed that she would find someplace to 'settle into' this year. After traveling the Midwest and some of the south again this past year, she found a park in Tucson that is reasonable, had a space for a few months, and was close to the city.

Back in November my mom calls me and says "Gee Char, I've been hearing about this show that comes to Tucson in February. It has booths with beads. If you'd like to go to it, you're welcome to stay with me in the camper."

After catching my breath (jumping for joy can be exhausting!), I assured my mother that the Show she refers to has become an international affair, that jewelry designers, store owners, and collectors travel worldwide to attend. That getting a hotel room is impossible unless you've reserved it during the previous year's show. Of course I said YES!

So, armed with little more than lots of cash, a listing of some 50 odd vendors I hope to be able to purchase from, a new pair of walking shoes, and tons of designs in my head and jotted down in a small notebook - I'm flying out on Wednesday.

The Lottery

2008-01-27T10:09:00.000-05:00

I grew up with a mother who loved to enter sweepstakes and contests. She never won anything, that I know of. When asked why she did this, her response was always the same "somebody has to win, it might as well be me." Personally, I think the local lottery stole this line from my mother for their commercials.

Anyway, so I used to enter the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes, the Reader's Digest sweepstakes, and once the Hoosier Lottery came into being in the '80s I started buying the tickets. With the Hoosier Lottery, my thinking when purchasing a ticket was always "well, if nothing else, at least it's going to education." Hmm.

So, I stopped all the sweepstakes entries. After 20 years of trying and not winning anything, I finally gave up. Yes, I know, I'm a slow learner. But, my saving grace is this - once I've learned something I am not doomed to repeat it!

Then again, here I sit with my Hoosier Lottery ticket - again. I purchased two tickets (sets of numbers) last Wednesday. Thursday morning I went online and checked the numbers, learning that I matched 2 - which gives me a free ticket. Happy that at least I finally won something, I turned in the ticket and received my freebie on Friday. This morning I checked my number(s) and learned that once again I won a free ticket. Hmm. Not quite so happy, but at least I won something, right?

So, later today or tomorrow I will turn in my ticket for another freebie. Wonder what I'll win on Wednesday?

Did I tell you I love Herringbone?

2008-01-23T11:54:00.000-05:00

First it was peyote (see yesterday's post), now I'm back to my favorite stitch, herringbone. Also known as Ndebele (en-duh-belly), an African stitch I learned in '03 via trial and error and drooling over many peoples' work. So, here's a sweet bracelet using brown opaque 11s, silver-lined champagne 15s and 2-3mm button pearls. Oh the possibilities! This belongs in my personal stash because I did not finish it professionally. But, I intend to make a few more using various stones/gems/pearls etc. What do you think? Let me know!

Out of the Box, into the Triangle!

2008-01-22T10:19:00.000-05:00

So, this little triangle box came about when I asked the question "What if...?" I was planning to work on a caged bead to use as a clasp hider for a herringbone necklace I've been working on. Then, I look down into my box of beads and saw these two colors - color lined yellow 11s and pink iridescent magatamas. Well, I don't know what came over me. I pulled them both out, along with some color lined purple 11s, made a few piles on my beading mat, and voila! a few hours later, out came this boxed triangle. Hmmm, quite a color change for me, as I normally don't care for pink. And, this is my first boxed triangle, ever. I'm pretty pleased :) Any ideas on what I should do with it now!? LOL

New lariat photo

2008-01-08T15:48:00.001-05:00

Here is a better photo of the brown and blue lariat I finished last month. I used the basic spiral stitch, japanese 11/0s, and fringe! Yes, that is fringe you see and it did not kill me to do it! Measures 38" and wears beautifully :)

New pendant and earrings

2008-01-08T15:45:00.000-05:00

I used delicas number 1010 and the russian leaf/diagonal peyote stitch. At the last minute I added the pearls.

Christmas is almost here!

2007-12-22T11:59:00.000-05:00

And we're having spring like weather! Today is sunny, partly cloudy, and will be about 65. Amazing. Tomorrow Rick and I leave for northern Indiana to spend the holidays with my brother and his family (as pictured in the Thanksgiving post). They have over 2 feet of snow right now and are expecting more. Yes, I considered asking them to join us here at our place, but realized that our home for two would not accomodate 4 extra people and two really large dogs! LOL

I added a link to The Floating Cow - the shop that purchased some of my work. Any time you're in Madison, Indiana stop by and say hello!

I dropped off some earrings and am now free to look through my stash to take to northern Indiana. My sister-in-law will get to choose from some pretty cool stuff! I'll be taking my tools so I can make her a necklace, and my niece has some pieces that need fixing. So, I'll happily re-string these for her while her mom checks out the pearls, jade and real gold! I will try to take a photo to share!

After we return home I'll start on some new designs. I have an idea for bead embroidery that I just cannot wait to work on! All I can say is "Bride of Frankenstein - Gene Wilder style!"

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Winter Solstice - whatever works for you!

Thanksgiving with family and fried turkey...

2007-11-24T13:26:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah, the fried turkey was a fantabulous idea! First, Mike and Rick did the cooking of the bird - yippee! Tammy and I were truly delighted to spend 30 minutes cooking the side dishes of mashed potatoes (plenty of lumps, trust me!), cranberry relish, sweet corn and green bean casserole. While the fellas spent 1 hour getting the oil to the right temperature, then another 40 minutes watching the bird fry - while the temperature outside was a balmy 32F. Oh, and the snow was light! LOL Anyway, it was wonderful! I would recommend frying the turkey to anyone able to afford the oil. We used peanut oil (which is highly recommended by me and every cook out there) and 4 gallons ran me almost $40. Not an everyday meal, but for a special occasion it sure was worth it.

Mike in the kitchen, doesn't happen often! And the turkey in all its glory.

Tammy and the turkey in the kitchen....sorry Tammy, but it is a good shot of the turkey!

The destruction of the turkey took all of 10 minutes!

Mike finishing up the carving with a little help from Rick.

Kelly on Tammy's lap, thrilled to watch someone else do the turkey!

Some new stuff

2007-11-19T13:15:00.000-05:00

So, I've been beading. Not many interesting things, if you ask me. But, they are new and they were ordered, so I finished them.

Here we have a pair of earrings, kind of sweet actually. I used silver lined orange beads and brown fire polished rounds. They work up quickly and look pretty good on. I made a larger pair, actually 4 more larger pair, in black for the shop in Madison, Indiana.

And this is a lariat. The color is off, I used brown and blue beads and finished the fringe off with bugles and fire polished brown rounds. Hmm, looks much better in person. I think I'll retake the photo and see what happens.

17 years and looking forward...

2007-10-27T10:24:00.000-04:00

Oct 27, 1990 is our wedding date. I was 26, Rick was 32. Both of us were ready and looking forward to a long life together. Here are some pics from back then...oh yeah, Santa Claus was the best man!

Pam, Rick's niece, 16 yrs old, died the following March in an auto accident. Erin, good friend of mine from Jeffersonville, Indiana. Laura, me, Rick. Leonard, aka Santa Claus, my brother Dan and my brother Mike.

Laura was my best friend in Hanover, Indiana. Though I lived there for only a year during junior high, our friendship lasted longer than any other I had during my 'growing up' years. So I asked her to be my matron of honor.

Leonard, aka Santa Claus, was a good friend of Rick's. We joined him and his wife on a trip to Talledegha to watch NASCAR up front and personal! It was wonderful. Leonard and Rick still keep in touch. Leonard and his wife Lorie live in Elizabethtown, KY now.

Expectations...

2007-10-13T09:39:00.000-04:00

If an expectation is not clearly defined, how can you not meet it?

I was asked to leave my job on Friday because I didn't meet his expectations. I didn't know what they were, and am baffled at how I couldn't meet them. Hmmm. Most management positions include a clearly defined job description, expected actions and results, and measurable progress indicators. Not this one. It's been quite an experience. One I've learned a lot from. And, the break up was quite respectful and amicable. They won't be replacing me soon because they really don't know what they want out of the position. Considering I'm the third in as many years, I'm glad they'll be taking some time rather than throwing someone else in right away. The people hurt by this will be the team of 6 in the office. They'll have to deal with no direction, no training, no support.

In the meantime, I now have more time for finishing that beading order for The Floating Cow!

Oh yeah, if you know of any project/contract/short term jobs I can participate in or manage, just give me a jingle - my primary talents lay in project management, data analysis/management, customer service.

The Floating Cow

2007-10-11T09:31:00.000-04:00

and other beautiful things! That is the name of a new gift shop opening December 1, 2007 in Madison, Indiana.

Why does this warrant a spot on my blog? Well, mainly because the owners purchased 2/3 of my current inventory to re-sell in their store! Yepper, I'm not kidding.

Marni, Ann and Ann are the owners. Three wonderfully wacky and generous women from the Madision area. They're going to be awesome business owners because every piece they reviewed was with the customer in mind. You can't go wrong when that is your focus!

So, opening day is December 1. I'm planning to be there for support and for information. I'll gladly tell anyone who asks about my beadwork and techniques.

In the meantime, I'm making additional pieces for the store, trying to finish up a few designs I've left hanging, and looking forward to being creatively free! Amazing how much of a charge this has given me.

Gallery Update

2007-08-27T13:24:00.000-04:00

So, Katherine and I meet up on Saturday afternoon and chat before going to the gallery. I knew better than to go by myself, my mouth was liable to get me into some real trouble! Actually, Rick told me that I would be better off going with another person. He knows me too well :)

Anyway, I get to the gallery and see that all is well. The only thing he's done is move some items around to better display them. I didn't see any additional artwork interfering with my pieces, or Katherine's for that matter. Got myself all worked up for nothin'!

So, I joined Katherine and David for dinner and talked with Katherine about her misgivings and misunderstanding of the whole 'moving my stuff' around. Once we got things settled, we both agreed we did not like the way he does business and won't be doing business with him again. In the meantime, I'm going to participate in a professional photo shoot on Wednesday. Free. Yepper, I said free. Katherine's photographer is offering his services to us. What all this really means is that new photos will be in my flickr album later this week!

Opening Night - Great! The Rest - Not so Great

2007-08-24T13:29:00.001-04:00

Well, despite rain, hail, possible tornado and high winds...opening night was a success for me! I sold a few pieces, met some interesting people, shmoozed about and overall enjoyed myself. Downers: starting two days before opening day...the owner cannot locate my box of price tags. Then he says he will go out and purchase some, then using my price/inventory list will tag my items. Opening night...he didn't do this - instead he used MY business cards, marked a price and inventory number and haphazardly placed them on a few items. Then, coming back to clean up on Saturday morning and finding all my bottles of water and extra cookies gone. Then, being asked if parts of my display is for sale - "everything in here is for sale"- he says. NOT!!!!

This guy is costing me way too much money. I'm out business cards, jewelry tags, some jewelry boxes, 20 bottles of water, about $15 worth of cookies. In addition, days before the show he tells me and Katherine that we're responsible for advertising and marketing! Yepper, he hasn't dropped one dime.

I'm not impressed.

As for the rest of the days...not so great. Seems he is not that interested in presenting/selling my things, or Katherine's for that matter. Instead, on a pretty regular basis (read daily) he's taken liberties with our displays, has moved our items about the room, has recently moved our items OUT OF THE WAY to be able to display someone else's art. Pretty gosh darn rude and unprofessional.

So, because I committed to showing my things until September 13, and I helped pay for advertising and marketing, I'll be keeping a few things there. Tomorrow, though, I'm stopping in to pick up a lot of my things. I'm having a hard time trusting this guy.

In other news today...

I'm researching a new business. Something I can do out of the house. I attended a networking lunch of local business owners and picked their brains about the usefulness of the service I'd be offering and got really positive feedback. I'll be attending additional networking meetings and asking the same questions...while at the same time I'm in the middle of researching the business/company itself. I hope to make a final decision as to whether or not I'll do this by end of September...when we've returned from Michigan :)

Until then...keep smiling, it makes people wonder what you're up to!

It's Official-Press Release and Flyers Are Out!

2007-08-14T16:18:00.000-04:00

"Pearls and Beads and Bling! Oh My!"
Jewelry by Katherine Autin, Michael Skrentny and Charlene Burke; paintings by Carol McLeod.
Chez Moi Art Gallery, 974 Barret Ave. Reception: 6-9 p.m. Thursday. Ends Sept. 13. Hours: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.

WooHoo! Yepper, opening night is this Thursday and I'm half as ready as I should be. But, at least I have 40 pieces out and ready for someone to take home :)

I'm offering two classes this time. One will be Nikia Angel's Sparkly Wheel, a beginner class that all student should complete. Anyone who has taken this class really enjoys it. The second is my own design, Cuff bracelet with Loops. It's an intermediate class using flat Ndebele.

I'll update as the show continues. Please spread the word about the classes!

See me at Chez Moi!

2007-04-05T13:43:00.000-04:00

Yessiree, I'm in a gallery, again :) Located on Barrett Ave in Louisville, Kentucky is a small grouping of row houses converted into galleries. My pieces are being shown in addition to Creations by Katrina - wonderfully designed pearl creations. And, in August, Katherine (aka Katrina) and I will be the primary exhibitors at the gallery! I've been asked to teach a few classes and possibly develop a bead presentation during the exhibition. Goodness, I am certainly going to be busy beading in preparation! The main pieces I currently have in the gallery are Derby Flower pins/brooches and horse earrings. Hey, it's Kentucky...it's Derby time...what else am I gonna do! LOL

Love butterflies and Spring!

2007-03-04T13:35:00.000-05:00

This is a butterfly I originally beaded about 2 years ago. It sold for $55 at a show I did in the Louisville, KY area.

I used the same pattern and color scheme to make a brooch/pin for a very good friend of mine, Mary. She gave me my business name "By Char", in addition to having been the first to purchase my work :) So, as a Christmas gift, I gave her this butterfly as a pin. She absolutely loves it!

Spring is right around the corner...oh my goodness, am I ready to do another butterfly!

Memorial Service

2007-02-26T09:23:00.000-05:00

So, we had a memorial service for Gwen. I'd say all went well. There were over 60 people in attendance and I was asked to do the eulogy - followed by another person who reflected on his experiences with Gwen. The service lasted about an hour, followed by food and fellowship. Everyone was encouraged to share their memories of Gwen with each other, so there was lots of chatter, laughter, tears and remembering. I'm really glad I participated in doing this. So are lots of other people...as evidenced by their gratitude to me and the others who planned this service.

Privacy? An unknown in this day and age

2007-02-21T10:50:00.000-05:00

So, the other day Rick walks in the house and says "hey, we have wireless phones, don't we?". Hmm, well, yes, we have a single cordless phone and have two cell phones. This is why he asks:

He's at the end of the driveway, getting the mail, when an older gentleman (about 60ish) drives into the driveway and asks if he's Rick B. Rick says yes he is. The guy says "well, just wanted you to know that my wife and I have a scanner and we've been able to hear your phone conversations for the past few months." Whaaaaat!? "And, anyone in the vicinity with a scanner would be able to tune into your frequency". He knew our address because one of us had given it out on the phone.

How interesting. Rick and I determined that its the cordless phone, not the cell phones.

Honestly? I gave this about three minutes of thought and concern. Rick started to get upset, until I reminded him that we have very little privacy in this world. We could give up the convenience of a cordless phone (which we've had for 15 years). Or, we could shrug our shoulders and figure that someone out there is enjoying our lives as much as we are! LOL

We'll probably change phones. For now, though, we're content with knowing that we are not paranoid - the amount of privacy afforded to each family is getting smaller and smaller as each day passes.

sigh I'm in charge

2007-02-21T09:39:00.000-05:00

Well now, here I sit trying to gather my thoughts because guess who's been made the 'main person' for Gwen's memorial? Yepper, me. I'll be welcoming people, introducing the chaplain and meditation, guiding the attendees. Hmmm. A bit nerve wracking as I've never done something like this before. Not scary though. Probably because its for Gwen and she always told me how great I did when speaking in public. Thank goodness for podiums! My knees never stop quivering when I present in public :)

This Saturday afternoon we'll gather at a local hall and spend a few hours remembering Gwen, consoling ourselves and her family. We'll have deli trays and coffee, a few candles, some flowers. But most importantly, we'll have gathered the various people that Gwen touched and who feel the need to share their experiences with each other.

Gwen touched each person differently. My perception of Gwen is one of a woman of dignity and compassion, a person who loved NASCAR (Jeff Gordon especially), motorcycles, eighteen wheel trucks and tending to her flowers. She was quick to speak her mind, held grudges forever (didn't speak to me and Rick for over a year because of a faux pas on our part), and was willing to open her mind to new ideas.

I hope to do her proud :)

No Funeral!

2007-02-13T08:47:00.000-05:00

I'm so angry I could spit. It did NOT have to be this way. The family decided that there will be no funeral, no visitation, no memorial, no services for Gwen. Why? Lack of money. They went for immediate cremation. Knowing the hundreds of people that loved Gwen, personally knowing tens of people who loved Gwen, these two 'boys' of hers said that they could not afford to do anything to honor her. Before knowing they went for immediate cremation, I made a few phone calls. Ten of us offered a couple hundred dollars each and were ready to pay a funeral home for basic services. Nope...too late.

I know, they're grieving. I also know they're not the brightest bulbs in the world (Gwen's words). I also now have the privilege of knowing that her drug addict grandson, having lived with her these past few months, managed to be able to move out on his own (with his girlfriend) because Gwen's last home equity loan covered his expenses. PTHTHTHTOOEY! (big spit)

Goodness, combined with this sense of loss, getting a bit angry is putting me over the top!

So, we do have a plan. With or without the assistance of the family, a few of us were talking last night about renting a room and having our own memorial service/wake in Gwen's honor. Right now we're thinking of having three of us say some words and share some stories, then guiding the guests to do the same with each other. Combine that with a bit of food and I think we can at least feel like we honored her in public.

Whew, what a week.

Random thoughts about Gwen

2007-02-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

Gwen died last night, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2007.

A strong personality, Gwen seemed set in her ways. But, having sat at her kitchen table many, many days and nights, I knew her to be a woman of dignity and great compassion. She was a strong believer in self-development as well. One of the many changes she wanted to make was to stop disliking and being afraid of black people :) In her late 60's, she realized that she was missing out on a lot of relationships and experiences because of her bigotry. She made a conscious decision to learn more about the black people in her town. Despite her fear, she attended functions where many black people were present...she stuck out her hand and introduced herself to black people she came in contact with. By the end of a year she called a few black people, men and women, her friend. Trust me, being able to watch this transformation was quite an eye opener for me.

Gwen welcomed many into her home, but had little tolerance for the beggar and loafer. If you were wanting to help yourself, she went out of her way to assist you. If all you wanted to do was whine, she'd offer you some cheese as she showed you the front door.

Coffee was always brewing. One time when Rick and I were visiting she started complaining about how expensive coffee was getting. On and on she went about the price of coffee. Rick and I were puzzled, mainly because coffee prices had remained constant for quite a while. We soon realized, though, that it wasn't the price of coffee that was getting to her, it was the fact that she had been having so many visitors that she was buying three times more than usual. On her fixed income, this made a large dent. And, she wasn't going to stop offering coffee, or complain about the number of visitors. That day Rick and I went to Kroger and purchased 5 cans of coffee, dropped it off at her house and put a stop to the worry :) Because really, what's the price of coffee compared to keeping Gwen's kitchen table available for the next person needing her guidance?

Milk and Pepsi, her favorite drinks during the summer. She would sometimes have a fresh 2 liter of Pepsi and a gallon of milk in her fridge, then wonder why she didn't have enough bread to make a full sandwich! She and I would just laugh, and I'd make a quick trip for some staples. Who am I to ask her to not treat herself to milk and Pepsi?

Gwen considered me one of the smartest people she knew. I would often get a phone call from her asking for the definition of a word or phrase, and then asked to put it into context for her. Sometimes it was a word from the Bible, a novel, or a word search puzzle. Didn't matter. I happily assisted in her endeavor to learn.

She was always concerned about losing her brain power. So, to keep the brain active she enrolled in a correspondence accounting course. She got through the first lesson with little difficulty, but approached me on the second lesson. She just didn't understand the terminology being used and was frustrated because she had been a bookkeeper for so many years, she thought she was losing her mind. I looked over the lesson and exclaimed "goodness Gwen, are you studying to be a CPA?" Of course she was startled and said absolutely not, she just wanted to work a bit with numbers - you know, keep the brain active. The course she had signed up for, accidentally, was the final course in a CPA study program. Yeah, she got a refund for that one :)

Gwen loved the big rigs and had a trucker friend that occasionally came through town and would pick her up and take her down the road for a few hours. Rick had a full sized pick up that she loved, but couldn't get into. So, being the carpenter he is, he made her some steps and away they would go! She also loved motorcyles and three wheeled bikes. Definitely a woman on the go.

Just a few thoughts that came out of the well of emotion I'm experiencing. Her loss will be felt throughout the cities of Louisville, KY and in Indiana throughout New Albany, Jeffersonville, and Clarksville. May she rest in peace.

In Memory of Gwen

2007-02-09T12:19:00.000-05:00

Saying good-bye to a valued friend is one the saddest experiences I have ever had. I have known Gwen for about 25 years, and she was a big part of my life for a good 15 of those years.

Gwen is 83 years old and until a few months ago was in pretty good shape. Since November she's had a nagging back ache, but was able to go out at night and entertain visitors during the day. Last week she suffered a minor heart attack and was taken to the local hospital. After a few days and the standard battery of tests it was determined that she had stage 4 cancer in her spine and lungs. Rick and I got a phone call Sunday morning from her granddaughter saying she had cancer, but that she hadn't been told yet. We visited with Gwen Sunday morning for a few hours. It was obvious that she was ill. She had lost at least 50 lbs since the last time I saw her, and she had that 'cancer' look, if you know what I mean.

She was quick witted and up for a good visit, so the three of us talked and laughed and remembered for a few hours. Saying good bye was tough, because Rick and I could see that the chances were slim that she'd be leaving the hospital.

She hasn't passed on, yet. But with kidney failure occurring and not responding to stimuli this morning...chances are good she'll be leaving us today or tomorrow.

Pray for her, for her family and for those of us honored to be called her friend.

The art of looking sideways

2007-02-03T17:55:00.000-05:00

is a book I received as a Christmas gift. And what a book it is! My husband has several nicknames for me, one of which is "johnny 5" (from the movie Short Circuit, because I required input on a regular schedule or I go nuts!). And this book provides enough input to keep me satisfied each evening. Reading a paragraph, viewing a drawing, contemplating a definition is very much like savoring a delightful dessert treat after a scrumptious meal.

The book is chaptered or sectioned by experiences, i.e. "culture", "dreaming", "automation"...to name a few.

From the section titled "ECONOMY" is a list of quotes that when read in the order written feels much like a poem. I will type the quote in bold italics and credit the owner in plain text. Enjoy.

Less is more Andrea del Arto by Browning
Less is only more
when more is no good Frank Lloyd Wright
Achieve more with less Norman Foster
Less is a bore Robert Venturi
Less is a snore Gianni Versace
For me more is more Gianfranco Ferre
Less is less Theo Crosby
More of less newspaper headline on a political appointment
Less is more - providing you
had more to begin with Rodney Kinsman
As you get older
less is always more Ivana Trump
More means worse Kingsley Amis
I'm for maximalism,
minimalism is very protestant Ettore Sottsass
More matter with less art William Shakespeare

Trust me, this book is way cool. So much so that I intend to share pieces of it with you as I blog about my beadwork and my life :)

No knowledge is useless Charlene

Lavendar and Yellow?

2007-02-03T12:19:00.000-05:00

So here's a pendant I came up with that turned out better than I originally envisioned. I was staring at my delica collection and fondling some swarovski crystals when I realized that just because it's winter does NOT mean I can't bead something for spring! LOL So, using ceylon coated lavendar and yellow delicas, I brick stitched this pendant. The fringe includes 4mm Swarovski Jonquil bicones. I'm finishing up a twisted herringbone necklace and am considering doing some earrings with crystals to match :)

New beadwork

2007-02-01T12:12:00.000-05:00

I finally got busy and finished a couple of things. As always, any and all comments are welcome!

This has turned out to be one of my favorite pieces. I used black and gold (22k) delicas, brick stitched and fringed the pendant and used twisted herringbone for the necklace. I finished it off with a vermeil clasp. I find myself wearing it with pretty much every mock turtleneck I own, regardless of the color. I get tons of compliments, so was inspired to produce another brick stitch pendant...see below :)

Now, I need help with finishing this one. I used chocolate brown delicas, silverlined copper and silverlined orange delicas. I'm up for any suggestions. Fringing is fine, though I'd really like to do something different. I'm thinking of possibly adding some dimension by attaching matching triangles in the fringe.

Nothing like a work in progress to keep my fingers itching!

Christmas was wonderful, of course!

2007-01-06T12:08:00.000-05:00

And why shouldn't have been? Rick and I went to Warsaw and spent the holidays with Mom, my brother Mike, his wife Tammy and the two kids Eric and Kelly. Rick played Santa - was almost eaten by the dog outside! I felt good so was able to really enjoy spending time with Tammy and the kids :) Presents were wonderful, as always. Overall, we're very grateful to be a part of this family, to be able to enjoy each other and especially to want to be with everyone! I'm waiting for pics from both Mom and Mike...so as soon as they're here I'll post them.

Goofy lights and Now We've got the Spirit!

2006-12-17T19:01:00.000-05:00

This little guy is our one and only inside tree. I found it at Target. It has fiber optic lighting that blinks different colors, which is why the lights look a bit blurry...they're blinking. LOL
So, Rick laughed at me when I told him we would have an artificial tree...then he grinned when I set this one up in the dining room. Personally, I think it's as cute as can be. The two gifts underneath are for Rick and our niece Kelly. She'll get her gift on Christmas, when we travel north 4 hours to spend the entire weekend with my brother, my SIL, and the two kids, Eric and Kelly. Oh man, are the kids gonna have fun - Rick will play Santa again! I hope to post great pictures this year!
Told you the outside tree looked goofy! We haven't fixed it, or the other tree just like it, because we're not the only ones who did it this way. Down the road is a house that has red on top and blue on the bottom. Yup, looks just as goofy :) The other tree is only about 2 more feet to my left, but just far enough that I couldn't get it into the picture.

The job is good :)

2006-12-03T16:35:00.000-05:00

So far, without thinking beyond the fact I've been at the job for just over 30 days, I like it there. They're people who want to make money, are professional in their dealings with customers, and do not whine or complain when I ask them to stay late or come in early or do extra work.

I've given the department the go ahead to decorate for Christmas. I was quite surprised to learn that they didn't do anything special in their cubicles or in the office in general. Not for lack of wanting, just for lack of encouragement. So, I'm encouraging. I'm also hoping to lead by example by bringing in my own tree and ornaments to sit on my desk, in addition to some garland I want to drape around my office. Oh yeah, I'll also either wrap my office door in Christmas paper or hang a wreath...I'll figure it out once I see how difficult finding our wreaths at home will be!

Rick and I decorated two of our trees in the front yard. This is a big deal - we've never, ever decorated outside of the house before. Actually, its been since 2000 that we've decorated the inside of the house. Mainly because the house has been a wreck for that many years with remodeling. Now that we're close to being finished, we're both getting into the spirit. Anyway, even though more lights are needed, and they look a bit goofy with blue lights on top and white lights on the bottom, I like our two spruce trees being lit up at night.

If I can remember - I'll get pictures of the office and home and post them.

2006-12-03T16:23:00.000-05:00

My attempt to string! LOL 8mm unakite beads, bone carved beads and red tiger eye. I like it, though I haven't gotten a single comment on it...other than Mom saying 'hmmm, I guess it's ok' .

Pearl and mottled green seed beads turned out to be the perfect combination for this twisted herringbone necklace. I'm currently working on a pearl pendant to wear with it. I love herringbone, it works up so quickly :)

Lightly twisted herringbone. I was thinking, and drinking, heavily creamed coffee and put some brown and tan beads out on the table. About 18" long, it fits nicely with a turtleneck.

Now on to Christmas! I'm currently awaiting the arrival of special order beads for Kate's pendant, have begun beading a dimensional ornament designed by Paula Adams, and am still in search of a handful of 6mm round sodalite beads for my SIL's watchband.

Thanksgiving - Yum!

2006-11-25T12:15:00.000-05:00

Rick and I spent Thanksgiving with Mike and his family in northern Indiana. My Aunt Chris and cousin Kate joined us for the day, while Mom stayed through Monday, and Rick and I stayed through Saturday morning.

Tammy did a great job cooking a fresh turkey. It was simply wonderful - enough so that I will definitely use fresh if I ever cook a full turkey again. I was in charge of the sides and didn't do badly at all - mashed potatoes with lumps to prove they were mashed by hand!, green bean casserole (yuck!, but a hit with those who eat it), and candied yams (again yuck!, but with a hand from Mom there were very few leftovers).

Tammy and I got to spend some good time together - yes, we went shopping, but didn't buy anything that she didn't need. I just love having a SIL. Being the oldest and having only brothers really deprived me of some quality sisterhood stuff. Thank goodness for Tammy!

Rick got yanked on, trampled on, squeezed and hugged pretty much the entire time we were there. The kids really enjoy being around him, and I know he truly loves the attention.

I actually got some beading done! Yes, I was surprised. I did up a few simple twisted herringbone necklaces to match a couple of sweaters. Also got a few orders - one from Tammy and one from Kate. Now I'm on a mission to find delicas in a Green Amber color ? Wish me luck!

No pics at the moment. I'll be posting some new stuff this week, though, so keep checking back.

Terrific ceremony

2006-11-13T15:41:00.000-05:00

*sigh* what a wonderful experience to have participated in the vow renewal of such grand people. The crowd was small, but the enthusiasm and support was quite large. Essentially, Katherine and David walked through a ceremony whereby they told each other what the past 28 years have been like and what they hope the upcoming years bring...each speaking quite eloquently about the other. Afterward we took group photos (how I wish I had one to share), and enjoyed finger foods, punch and good company. I enjoyed viewing their original wedding photographs and getting the inside scoop on family members from David. The only glitch to occur was that they forgot the music CD :( How I wish I had known a piano was in the room ... I would have been happy to prepare some terrific music for them. Oh well, maybe next time!

Show not so good but the people were great

2006-11-03T14:16:00.000-05:00

Well, the U of L show was a bomb. I sold a necklace. Had I had specific U of L items I am sure I would have sold more. The people were a lot of fun, though. I met some wonderful grandmothers - alumni with grandkids currently enrolled. And I got to hear some interesting stories about 'back in the day'. I also met a wonderful gal who had the booth next to me. Her jewelry designs were quite elegant, using semi-precious and strung seed beads. After numerous conversations (between customers) she may contact me about taking a class. What fun it would be to get back to teaching. It is something I really enjoy doing.

The job has been interesting so far. I spent two days at the manufacturing plant. I would have really enjoyed myself if I could have used some of the machinery. Instead, I stood around, watching someone do their job. I asked as many questions as possible, while trying not to interrupt the worker's rhythm. Whew, am I glad that's over! Nine hours of doing nothing really got to me - just ask my dear husband! LOL

I'm back in the office now and have gotten caught up on paperwork. I'm learning more and more about veneer and its applications - which is good because I can't wait to start selling this stuff! Right now I'm handing sales leads over to my inside reps, but am anxious to start making my own sales :)

Rick's mother has taken a turn for the better. She will be leaving the hospital sometime this weekend (if all goes well). The infection is under control, the bleeding seems to have stopped, and though the doctors can't say for sure what is happening, they're glad that she is healing. Keep the prayers coming because she's not completely out of the woods yet!

Tomorrow my friend Katherine and her husband David are renewing their wedding vows :) Its their 28th wedding anniversary and David has Parkinson's Disease. She's always wanted to renew their vows and kept putting it off. Now that David is showing more symptoms I am glad she's taking the opportunity to celebrate their life together now, rather than later. I'm looking forward to the festivities. She has such a cool range of friends :)

What a week!

2006-10-26T19:06:00.000-04:00

First, I start the new job. All is well. The gals I manage are terrific, very knowledgeable and all have a great sense of humor about them :)

So, on Monday evening my hard drive dies. Yessirree, very little warning...thought at first an e-book I'd purchased was infected when I tried to download it. But, no. I have this nasty habit of leaving my computer on ... always ...unless Rick and are going out of town. So, a few power surges, outages and spikes and before you know it the hard drive just kicks the dust. My only regret is the loss of photos. I'm hoping I can download some from my Yahoo album.

Rick's mother is in the hospital. She had a bowel resection done three weeks ago, developed an infection, developed leakage, went septic, got ok, went septic again and just recently has developed a bleeder somewhere. Rick has been keeping vigil with his siblings these past three nights. I'll go to the hospital when he asks me to. Although I think I should be there, I respect his wishes and will not force myself on him there. So, many prayers are needed please for Carol, my mother-in-law. She's 73 and in generally good condition, but tonight is on morphine and diuladid for pain - so its pretty bad. Doc won't do an MRI because the dye would hurry the shut down of her kidneys.

Tomorrow is our 16th wedding anniversary. We're going to dinner at Del Frisco's in Louisville Saturday night, providing we're not at the hospital with his mother of course.

I'm finishing up some beadwork for the U of L show on Monday. No new designs. Due to the loss of marketing material on my hard drive I'm limited on brochures/handouts/etc. But, I am planning to print out really cool price notes instead of actual price tags. I'm curious if they'll make a difference in sales.

Well, back to piecing together beading/business/personal information for my hard drive :)

Oh yeah, I have no e-mail addresses. If you're reading this, please e-mail me so I can get my contact list back in shape.

Until next time...

Couple of new beaded items

2006-10-22T15:57:00.000-04:00

Anybody recognize the pendant!?
I'm doing a Christmas Boutique at the University of Louisville Alumni Banquet and needed a few things that used U of L colors - black, red and gold. I'm doing a twisted herringbone necklace of black and gold in the hopes of selling the two as a set. If not, then I'll also have some black leather necklaces, too.

What do you think of the flower? Too cool, heh? Thanks to Barb Grainger for her netted flower instructions. The button in the middle sparkles 100 times more than the photo shows. It measures about 4" in diameter. I think it will look marvelous on a Derby hat! I've done this particular flower in burnt orange, neon blue and neon yellow...so far. I'll let you know how many I end up with.

How to attach to a hat, you ask? Well, after much consideration, shopping and consulting with hat makers, I've picked up some hat pins that will work perfectly. They'll also allow the flower to be used as a brooch...should someone decide that is what they prefer.

I got the Job!

2006-10-18T17:04:00.000-04:00

Yessiree, I start tomorrow. I know, starting a job on a Thursday is strange, but what the heck. So, I'll start in the office for a few days, then spend a few days out in the plant manufacturing wood veneer, then back to the office for the real work - managing five people in a customer service/inside sales department! I'm really looking foward to the challenge. Thanks for all the good thoughts everyone!

Now, back to beading. I have a few items I'd like to finish up tonight. This weekend I should be able to post new pictures.

Pendant and musings...

2006-10-15T08:16:00.000-04:00

When I was in need of a pendant, just for something different, I came across a fellow beader's site and was inspired to make this. She had used various celtic swirls and knots in her beadwork. I guess the Irish in me just couldn't stop the image as I was working up the pattern for this. I usually wear it on a gold chain.

The hunt for a job continues. I had a face to face interview early this week, followed by a 2nd and 3rd interview later in the week, followed by a request for references...of which two were contacted the day of request. According to the references, it looks like I can expect a job offer. I can only hope they offer the right amount of salary...this is not a job to sell yourself cheap for! A lot of work still needs to happen for the department to tighten up and get into shape.

What a glorious day

2006-10-08T12:51:00.000-04:00

My goodness, we couldn't ask for better weather in the Louisville area. Sunny skies, 68 degrees, light breeze....hmmmm. A perfect fall day.

Last week was quite an eventful week for me and the job hunt. I attended a few networking lunches and an evening cocktail hour meeting, in addition to meeting with a gentleman about my resume. I handed out quite a few business cards, met a lot of interesting people, was able to connect a few people with other business owners, and will be sending my resume to a few people to forward to their contacts. I'm enjoying the networking much more than I thought I would. I anticipated being overwhelmed or out of place, but in all actuality I fit right in.

I've had a phone interview and am scheduled for a face to face interview with another company later this week. There should be at least one more meeting scheduled from a different company, though I won't be hearing from them until Monday.

So, in the meantime, I'm resting today. Actually, I'm beading, but that is the same as meditating and resting for me. Either later today or tomorrow I'll be taking photos of my latest work to post here and at an online forum I'm active in. Until then...the beads are calling me!

A new start

2006-09-30T08:24:00.000-04:00

So, after over a year of managing a customer service/sales department it looks like I've worked myself out of a job. Well, not quite, but close. I was initially hired to tighten up the business end of the office/department and begin developing sales programs to assist the company in their growth plan. Within six months I had completed the tightening up and was just beginning to present my program ideas when it became apparent that the customer service employees required more of my attention.

After another six months, it became quite obvious that the company was not ready for my position. During this time we unveiled a new division where I was the first contact and also became a design engineer - because the primary design engineer was out for quite a few weeks due to surgery - and a customer service rep in the original division was out for surgery - so I was doing three jobs for quite a few weeks. Yet, we succeeded to provide quality products with excellent customer service to our customers.

So, a few more months passed. I met with my boss and we discussed the company goals, the department needs, my expectations and his expectations. It boils down to the fact that I am being replaced by software and a customer service rep. The company hired me about 2 years too soon.

Now, I am out and about. Meeting new people, networking at business lunches and beading up a storm. Look for new designs to appear on this blog, as well as an update on my job search!

Another bracelet

2006-09-26T20:03:00.000-04:00

African Helix, a wonderfully elegant stitch. This bracelet sparkles plenty and looks absolutely wonderful on the wrist!

Single spiral lariats

2006-08-30T12:41:00.000-04:00

Black ice lariat sold at a Christmas show at IUS in '04. The lady who purchased it was so excited I couldn't help but be happy to have sold it to her. She looked very sharp with it on!

This green lariat/body wrap is finished with Thai silver leaves and beads. While shown at a local gallery it drew quite a lot of compliments and oohs and aahs...which is always fun to hear about my work. Still available for sale, I'm looking for just the right person - someone who wants to stand out in a crowd, be noticed, be an individual on the street.

Leaves are cool...

2006-07-26T09:05:00.000-04:00

These are another very popular earring design. I made the purple ones last year and have sold many, many colors since. I always get compliments and requests for color options when I wear these.

4th of July

2006-07-09T09:08:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July! What a wonderful weekend we had. My brother and his family (wife and two children) moved from Memphis, TN to Warsaw, IN (near Fort Wayne) last month and invited us to join them for the weekend. Their place is on a beautiful lake and we spent most of our time out on the deckboat watching the youngsters try to hang on to their innertubes!

The fireworks display was absolutely wonderful...according to the kids. Personally, I don't care for fireworks. I'm not sure if its the noise or the repetition of patterns. Its just not something I'm into. So, I stayed at the house and listened when the kids came back to share the experience with me. I just love the young ones and their enthusiasm :)

Back to Normal...

2006-06-08T08:55:00.000-04:00

whatever normal is! LOL

What a month this has been. First, my boss...the VP...was out for surgery, then one my three customer service reps was out for surgery, then it was decided that we would unveil a new division with its own catalog in May. Wow, I've been too busy to bead! Essentially, I was doing three jobs and loving every minute of it. What a challenge. I wasn't absolutely certain that we could do it, but as each day passed I realized that John (the other engineer) and I could handle the business. I must admit, though, that I am glad that both employees are back and able to take their workload back. I'm enjoying the break!

Now, on to the business of beading. Last year I decided that my company...by Char...would remain a part-time endeavor. I've been approached many times to grow it to a regional level, requiring me to attend shows in Ohio and Michigan, but I have resisted. I do not want to become a production person. I have found that my creativity is stifled and I become resentful when forced to complete a project. This is very interesting to me, because I am so customer focused at my day job. The customer comes first, satisfying the customer is the most important part of the business, etc. Yet, when it comes to my personal art, I simply cannot bead according to someone else's request.

So, I will continue to bead at my leisure and exhibit at local shows only. I will also sell wholesale to a few local boutiques. The teaching portion will continue to be done on a weekend basis, either through my local bead store or the customer's venue. I think this will allow me to continue to be creative, to sell my work on my terms, and to be focused at my day job.

Ready for Derby!

2006-04-17T08:51:00.000-04:00

These earrings sure are popular! All sets are made with Swarovski crystals and either silver-lined beads or gold-lined beads. Actually, I made a pair that used both the silver and gold and they were gorgeous! These particular earrings were commissioned by a friend, since then I've sold quite a few in preparation for Derby next month. Look for more next year!

Love the Wave

2006-04-05T08:46:00.000-04:00

This bracelet, made wtih 4mm carnelian rounds and gold-filled seed beads, was a breeze to make and sold the first time I wore it out. Finished with my favorite clasp...the snap clasp...it is currently being enjoyed by a very happy lady in Louisville.

Teaching gig didn't work out

2006-03-24T11:58:00.000-05:00

The LBS teaching opportunity just isn't working out. The new management isn't taking much interest in my work or classes and doesn't comply with my requests to contact me when people inquire about the classes. They seem to think that if a class is described it is scheduled - which it is not - and that if a student shows up I should be able to drop everything and teach on the spot. I don't think so! The classes are scheduled for a reason - to accomodate my day job. It will always be this way because my day job is the priority.

So, I'm no longer affiliated with that bead store. Instead I think I'll offer myself to the community in some way. Keep an eye out for my plans!

Herringbone - I love you!

2006-03-15T18:23:00.000-05:00

One of my first tubular herringbone necklaces. Done in Fall of 2003. It took me way too long to stitch because I was naive enough to think it wouldn't be a big deal! Now, I know better. I ended up selling it to an attorney in town in February of 2005. She was attending a class I was giving and I happened to have my completed pieces with me for inspiration. She went crazy over the color and purchased it on the spot. The last I heard she was proudly wearing it around town.