There are 13 of me, how many are there of you??

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 239 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

allergies, smallergies, I think it's the flu or a cold

I just noticed my map from the last post didn't show the eastern seaboard, so it didn't include New Hampshire, Massachussetts, Vermont or New York. I don't know if Illinois or Kentucky count since I have only been in the airports there, but they would probably count since I have touched the ground there.

I have had plenty of time to ponder strange things the past couple of days. No work, no Easter celebration, just sitting home and wallowing in my misery. Sleeping all the wrong times of night and day, and coughing and sneezing, and generally feeling like crap. I think I might almost feel not quite as bad tonight as last night, but I feel bad enough so it is really hard to tell. I am a miserable patient. I want to be doing something, but feel bad enough to not want to do anything.

I am determined to make something creative tomorrow whether I want to or not. Here is my latest creation, shrink art hand drawn and colored starfish with a Thai silver starfish:



Here is the other piece, shrink art charms hand drawn and colored by me, Swarovski crystals in hyacinth and capri blue and Thai silver spacers with a sterling silver toggle:

Stupid, Stupid cold!!

I am having an allergy attack topped by a lovely spring cold. What a lovely way to spend the first day of spring . . . again!!

I made a pendant for a challenge on WetCanvas.com and the site it down and has been since yesterday. Poopy!!

So I, throught a friend's blog, found a site where I could make a map of all the states I have visited. Could do foreign countries, too, but I have only visited the closest corner of Canada, Victoria and Vancouver, BC. Here's the map:



create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

Where have you been??

Happy St. Patty's for real this time

I went to visit my dad this afternoon and he was lying in his bed when I got there. I had expected him to be at the St. Patty's party. I asked him why he wasn't at the party, and he said because he didn't feel like it. I asked him how he was feeling, and he said fine. I said then what the heck was he doing in bed, get his butt up because we were going to the party. He said, Okay, since you put it like that. I think he was glad I "made" him go. He got a nice hot cup of coffee, some green filled oreos, some peanutbutter and caramel filled chocolate candies, and got to listen to some nice Irish music. He hummed along ate his treats, and told me he was glad I "made" him get up. I reminded him the less he does the less he will be able to do, and I think he really would like to come home at some point. Right now he is still tired from being so ill, and but I think he is also enjoying not having to do anything much for himself.

I wore my new pendant today. I call it "Balancing Act." It has a beautiful lampwork bead handmade by my friend Pam Brisse, torcher extraordinaire. Here it is:

Happy, Happy!!

Happy St. Patty's Day world!! Happy Birthday, Ed!!!

Fell asleep in front of the TV again. Got to go to bed before I do it again.

My dad is in the rehab center, following spending four days in the hospital. He is right where he needs to be. He is doing great. They are supposed to start his PT today. I hope they can get him all fixed up so he can come home. They have him in the short-stay ward. Right now he has no roommate, so he has some peace and quiet and is finally getting some sleep. He said the hospital kept him awake so much being in rehab last night was a relief. He finally got some rest.

I will attempt to catch up more tomorrow. We shall see. Bed is calling me, I am feeling the need to answer.

This one's for you Ed!

My friend Ed stopped by today and told me I was falling behind on my blog. He said it was terrible, and I better knock it off. He had nothing else to read when he woke up at 3 am and had resorted to rereading my old blog. So, Ed, this one is especially for you.

I have a lot of catching up to do, so I will start with the trip Tess chaperoned to the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport with my granddaughter's class. This occurred on February 28.

The Marine Science Center trip was really fun. The group of kids we had were awesome, unlike the kids some of the other parents got stuck with. We had my granddaughter and two other girls as well as two very well behaved boys. One boy told Tess, I think your daughter is really pretty. (Tess said he was such a shy kid my granddaughter would probably never notice him.) She is so bubbly and outgoing like her momma. We got to look at all kinds of critters, and the kids touched lots of different intertidal animals. Clams, mussels, sea urchins, sea stars (starfish), fish, sea anemones, and a sea cucumber. There was an enormous octopus, a bonded pair of wolf eels, and so many cool things to look at and do. One of the fish in a really big reef tank kept following me around. They must do that because they are hoping we are there to feed them. It was so beautiful there we ate lunch outdoors in the beautiful sunshine and the kids ran around after lunch and burned off some of their excess energy. While everyone was eating lunch I asked several groups if they were eating fish for lunch, I got a bunch of eeeww gross comments, and a few puzzled looks. I had to laugh. Haven't they heard of tunafish sandwiches??

Here is a picture of the octopus, and two of my favorite anemones, and the view from where we ate lunch.








We had a great time. Then Tess and I went on to shop at Walmart and headed for home.

This past Thursday I drove my cousin Nick to Portland for a doctor's appointment. Wow was that a long day. I got up in the middle of the night (5:30 am) and drove to my cousin’s house and picked him up at 6:30 am. We then drove for 2-1/4 hours to his doctor appt. We got right in so had the rest of the day away to play. We went out to lunch, a fabulous Chinese buffet in Portland, a thrift store, an art store, Michael’s Craft Store, then on to a bead store I had been dying to visit. Then of course we had to go to Walmart so he could buy a new TV for his bedroom, and then had a two hour drive home. I was really beat, but feel great for all I got done and the cool stuff I found.

I also got a little soldering torch and fuel. It has all kinds of tips, even my dad thought it was a good buy. I showed him the beads I bought and he was happy I had found some things I like and can use. I bought a big fish bead for Cassie, a pretty green leaf pendant for Tess, and at the thrift store I bought Athena a big unicorn toy she will love. I am sore and really really tired, but relaxed, and happy. Oooh, I bought some Qwan Yins at the new bead store. It is such a great store. I got two types of Qwan Yins and some Thai silver they had bought in Thailand recently. Had a great day!!

At Michael’s I got a few beads, and some Shrinky Dinks!!! Here is a picture of my bead purchases.



See Ed, sometimes you get what you ask for. I don't know if you will finde this interesting, but it is a glimpse into my crazy world.

Friday night flight of fancy

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways . . . this could apply to a lover, but how about applying it to a fabulous new piece of equipment? I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new direct printer in our shop. It makes the most wonderful printing directly on shirts, fabrics, possibly even on coasters, and other things which are flat enough to go in. What goes in, comes out with amazing speed and perfection, but must be able to withstand 30 seconds of 365 degrees farenheit temperature. The picture in this column is from a sweatshirt we did yesterday as a test. It is a collage of local photos I gleaned from my friends' website, Oregon Coast Today, a local newspaper featuring entertainment options. He said we could use any of his photos we wanted, and I did. I turned several of them into a work of art, if I do say so myself. I want one of the shirts to send to my cousin in New York. I think he would appreciate it, and it might make him want to come visit a little sooner. Hee-hee. Tomorrow I am going to start trying to find more cool photos and other images we can put on things. This could very well be addictive. I want to put some of my paintings on shirts and bags, too!! Fun, fun, fun. More sooner.