Wishing Stars

Well, we're still not exactly back to normality, but we're headed in the right direction I think. Last night was the Meet & Greet at Caylin's school, and today Tommy had his bus orientation. And I'm still working on the wishing stars. They're cut out now!

To be honest, I don't have a whole lot to write about today. I would like to show these image transfers I was working on last night.

Also, I drew this a while ago, but colored it today. I plan on making a cane with it, but I'm not sure what color to make the background. I was thinking a faux wood would be really neat, but I'm not completely sure how I would do that (although I have an idea or two). If you have any thoughts, leave a comment below!

I just love these creations. Here's more info on them:
1. Sea Sculpture Brooch Pin with Stripes, 2. Sea Sculpture Brooch Pin, 3. Lynne's Awseome Blossom Earrings, 4. The six images below show items that will be taught at the Sundance Retreat I'm holding in September with Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg. Read more by clicking on the "Sundance Retreat Workshop" icon on the right side of this page., 5. A Checkered Yellow Sunflower Pendant, 6. Yellow, Copper and Brown Sunflower Focal Bead, 7. garden ring, 8. Polymer Clay Pendant Necklace, 9. polymer clay beads, 10. Polymer Clay Candy Hearts - Feb 08 Meeting, 11. Awaken Tree Pendant - Polymer Clay, 12. Broche arcoiris / Polymer clay Rainbow brooch, 13. 'Lavender Water Lilies'

I would like to say I was feeling a bit in a funk today. I meandered over to Oprah.com and found a couple of great articles.

The first is "Are You on the Right Course?" by Martha Beck. She believes that there's a superhero in everyone of us, we just have to peel down the layers to find our spandex-clad super-selves. Pretty good read for someone down in the dumps.

The other is "6 steps to Get Your Creativity Flowing" As told to Jancee Dunn. There are some great insights from Tom Kelly- IDEO's general manager.

Back to normality?

We're back from "up north" and I'm missing it already. Its so calm and peaceful. The cold crisp air is so refreshing in the morning. And the smell of sweet flowers, grasses and vegetables saturates the air.

Even cruising through the fields on the ATV's was relaxing. Feeling the cool breeze on my face was just what I needed.

Even Caylin got to ride on her own- with the help of a speed regulator. She did great!

Tommy caught a blue gill that was about 6-7 inches long. Not bad for a Lightning McQueen fishing pole manned by a four year old. Unfortunately, I was in town when it happened, and the camera wasn't handy. It was the only fish caught all weekend. I do have my own fish story, but you'd never believe me....

Tomorrow the eldest of our brood goes back to school, with the youngest starting school September 5th. This week is full of meetings and getting ready to go back to school. We've begun labeling school supplies, and packing backpacks. For the 2 grade-schoolers, we've made wishing stars, with goals written on them. We'll be hanging them in their room, and as they accomplish their goals, we'll be putting them on a board for everyone to see. Tommy's goals include learning to write his letters. Caylin wants to read 1 chapter book a week. It's been great for getting them excited about school. I'll put up pictures once they're hung.

It's gonna be a loooong night

Can you believe it's almost Friday already? This week has zoomed by! I can't believe I haven't even blogged since we've returned from Disney! Yes, we did survive... although I wasn't postive we were going to get out before Fay hit. BTW- the hotel had the cutest comforters on the bed. I was there almost a day before I realized that the characters from Nemo were on it!

So seriously, it's 11:09 pm here in Wisconsin- and I'm only halfway done with what I need to do tonight. My mother's birthday is tomorrow, which always means a late night for me. I suppose if I started her birthday presents sooner, I wouldn't have to stay up quite so late, but that just takes all the fun out of it!

Thus far, I've made guacamole, made a custom envelope, made her present, and wrapped said present. I'd show it to you, but my mom reads my blog from time to time... Hi Mom!

Still left to do for tonight, and going into this morning- downloading 158 pictures from said Disney trip. I've also got to pack up these letter tiles to go to the PCAGOE Alphabet project. We're making 2 mosaics of polymer clay letter tiles that will be donated. I don't believe they've decided on who it'll go to, but if memory serves, there was talk of a children's hospital. But, it doesn't matter- they were a blast to make!

Oh, yeah, and I've got to pack tonight, because we're going out of town again! This time, we're going to my uncle's cottage "up north", eh. That's Wisconsin talk for even further north than we already are. And we get to behave slightly less civilized and enjoy things like walking barefoot through shallow water with our pants rolled up to our knees. Or catching frogs and turtles and fish. Or getting four wheelers stuck in some muddy spot.

PS- It's now 12:51 am. I was going to make some of these muffins posted on Lisa Clarke's blog, but I'm all out of steam. Get ready to laugh- maybe I'll do it in the morning before I go to work. Hahahaha!

WOOOOOOOT!

It's official, we're on vacation!
I am off work today and tomorrow (and Monday too!). Last night, I had the last hissy fit allowed for the next 5 days, and this morning my good attitude is back. I suppose you're wondering what said hissy fit was about. Does it really matter now? If you must know, it was a combination of work stress, packing stress, and... well.... you REALLY don't want to know the rest.
So... so long-we're going to Disney! See ya on Tuesday!

I've been tagged!

I started laughing when I found my "you've been tagged" notice in my e-mail- what a fun thing to do, except, I think everyone knows just about everything about me. I'm really gonna have to dig deep to find some interesting things! Thanks Ginny for the tag, I think I'll enjoy this! You can find Ginny's blog at Designs by Ginny Baker.

Here are my things:

1. I have a tattoo on the small of my back, in the symbol above, except the 2 crescents are filled in. I was too chicken to have the circle filled in as well. It is three phases of the moon, which is a pagan symbol of the triple goddess- the maiden, the mother and the crone. It is there to remind me that inside of every woman is a goddess, no matter what age. It is also there to remind myself of my inner goddess, because more often than not I forget she is there. I think there is strength in every woman, sometimes we just need to be reminded of that.

2. I lived in Belize for a month after my first year of college, to study Mayan archaeology. I stayed in a "dorm" made of 2x4's and plywood above the lab in the middle of the jungle. I spent 6 hours a day in a hole that was just barely wider than my shoulders, digging for soil samples for a week. Another 2 weeks I spent excavating the ruins of 2 separate homes, one that shared a site with a small pyramid(that included a burial chamber). Another week I spend excavating an agricultural site. I have many stories of howler monkeys, wild pigs, toucans, and other animals and bugs that would just take up way too much space here!

3. I met my current and my previous husband on the internet. My first marriage lasted just over a year. My current marriage is in its 5th year. We got married in Las Vegas, with our entire family there. After dinner, my husband and I took a limo to another hotel, and saw an "Elvis" show, still dressed in our wedding attire. We also got married on the exact same day as one of my hubby's childhood buddies.

4. My husband was almost sent to Iraq 2 weeks before our wedding. One day he called me from work and started to tell me things I needed to take care of, but wasn't able to tell me why until he got home. I still don't know how he was able to convince whomever to have someone else go instead.

5. I not-so-secretly wish that we had a farm, even though we have a lovely house, in a small town. Every now and then I ask Mike if we can have some kind of farm animal. I've asked him for ducks, chickens, lambs, and cows. I think next I'll have to bother him about a pig. ;-) My daughter really wants a horse too.

6. If I let myself, I can fall asleep on the couch around 8:30, especially if Mike is near. If he's away, I can stay up all night. I'm just more comfortable when he's around, and I have a hard time sleeping without him.

7. When I was in kindergarten, I wanted to be a nurse. When I went to college initially, it was for a degree in nuclear medicine technology (before I switched to archaeology). I went back to school in 2003 to become a nurse, but didn't finish for various reasons-none of which included grades, as I had a 3.8 gpa. If I had the time and resources, I would go back to become an obstetrician. I think it's one of the most amazing jobs in the world!!!

I'm tagging:

Lynda at SCDiva

Pippa at Pipsjewellry

Linda at NKDesigns

Pam at Msplumuniq Say

Laura at Pithy Art Blog

Lilin at Artbylilin

Heather at swoondimples

Artist of the week-Kerijoy

Kerijoy has an amazing story, and she details in it in her profile so much better than I could paraphrase it. Here is a small sampling:

I began the 'Wall Dancers' in February 2003. After 15 years of being a Senior Designer, I lost my "passion" for my art. Just when I said 'No Mas!' and 'I knew' where my life was going (silly me!)- Our Higher Power decided to display a sense of humor and I've been 'along for the ride' ever since! I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in February 2002 that kept me literally bed-bound. It's been a 6-year tough battle but my ‘choice’ was not to take the victim role. The first dolls were actually made in bed with me in my jammies! I was told by all of my doctors that "these were impossible to do" and still to this day they still wonder 'how I do it.' ~smiling~ You just have met the 'Rainman-Of-ETSY!'

I think the one that speaks to me the most is her Peace Destiny Serenity doll. 2 things that I want and one that I try to understand. Maybe by finding peace and serenity, I will understand my destiny. Cheesy, yes. But that comes with the territory.

Technical Difficulties

It must be something in the water. One of my favorite blogs dissapeared a week or two ago, and now I'm having difficulties. My laptop is dying. Yes, I just got it- but it was free for a reason. There is a poor connection bewteen the power cord and the computer, and the only way to fix it is to replace the motherboard. The battery absolutely refuses to hold a charge, and even though I have it on a stationary surface, it'll shut down, usually in the middle of something that took hours to work on. So, I have neglected my lovely blog, but no longer--NO LONGER, I say!!!

And now for something completely different- Something to drool over...

And beg hubby for. Ok, so I've made a VERY strong, VERY obvious hint that it'd make a wonderful Chrsitmas present. So strong and obvious that he received an email from me with a subject line of "Christmas present", the words "HINT HINT HINT" in it, and a link to her website. I'm shameless, I know. And in case you didn't take the time to visit Donna Kato's website, if you pre-order, you'll get an autographed copy. I expect mine under the tree in November, darling.