Gorgeous Weather and Busy Days

The essential part of creativity is not being afraid to fail. — Edwin H. Land

So... yesterday was a little on the crazy side and I didn't get a lot done. NO writing, so at this point, I'm four days behind on NaNo. Can I catch up? I have no idea. It's discouraging for me that the month I really want to hunker down and write is the month my DH takes off of work every year. I realize I can hunker down and write in ANY month, but I can't get the kind of support from the world as I do during NaNoWriMo -- and it really does matter.

*sigh*

Oh well, at least the day was gorgeous yesterday - sunny and mid-60s. It was VERY windy, but it was a warm wind, so it didn't matter. I contemplated blowing the leaves out of my flower gardens, but then opted not to. *G*

I did futz around on eBay a little to see if I could find better deals on beading supplies for DD (that's her shop, Distinctively DD, over there on my sidebar ---> for those of you who didn't already know). And I did. But... it could get a little dangerous because there is so much there and most of it is really quite inexpensive. We realized that packing supplies and such are going to take quite a bite out of our profits (not to mention Pay Pal fees... OUCH), so that's not good. Am looking to find boxes and earring cards as cheaply as possible, as well as padded envelopes. We'll get there. It's still a learning process.

I put up about 10 more earrings yesterday, and hope to do the same today. As an aside, my DH actually made two pairs of earrings to put up in the shop, so hopefully you'll see those for sale, too. It was a hoot watching my big macho man making jewelry.

And, I'm trying to decide whether I want to start a Facebook fan page and twitter account for her shop as well. Artfire lets you auto-post all your new items on both sites.

Ah... big business.

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In other DD news, I'm trying to decide whether I should break the news about Santa (and the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny) to her. Fact is... if she was in school, she'd know already. Decisions, decisions... your thoughts?

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Okay, provided no one gets up in the next twenty minutes, I should have time to write at least a few words, so I'm heading out. Have a great day!

Oops... typed that too soon. The moment those words were off of my fingers, the floor above me creaked. DH and DD are both awake. *sigh* Oh well, maybe later.

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People Love That You Are Open and Confident

You're the type of person that's easy to get close to. You're very comfortable in your own skin. You have no problem showing people who you are, and you're genuinely interested in them in return. You are an accepting and involved friend. You are truly curious about what is going on in other people's lives. You may be the first in your group of friends to express concern when someone is having a hard time or making bad decisions. It's only because you care so much.

What Do People Love About You?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

Not entirely sure this is true, but ... heck... it makes me sound good, so I'll take it. *G*

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Surrounded but not Surrendering

Sickness comes on horseback but departs on foot. ~Dutch Proverb, sometimes attributed to William C. Hazlitt

So... DD is sick with whatever DH had. Blech.

There are a few reasons why this is so much worse than when DH got sick. When he was sick, he stayed away from us -- worked in the basement, etc., and we hardly even saw him. Even so, I followed behind with my can of Lysol and anti-bacterial wipes, lol.

DD, though, is a very needy child even on a good day. She's touchy-feely, constantly needing hugs and kisses and to be in contact with me. She's also not as cognizant of touching things (for instance, last night she leaned over the breakfast bar and wiped her hands back and forth across it like windshield wiper blades). She won't just go into her room to read or even up to the schoolroom to watch TV. She wants to be near people.

So, even though I have my handy can of Lysol and the wipes, and I've washed my hands so many times I think the skin is peeling off; even though I'm bombing my body with my "cold bomb" (zinc, vitamin C, oregano oil and echinacea) three times a day I'm a little worried I may still get the bug.

This is bad on two levels. One: I hate being sick, of course. But the biggie? Our equivalent of a state fair is next weekend. The fair is something DD says she looks forward to as much as Christmas. She's been talking about going all year long, pretty much ever since we walked out the gates last year.

This creeping crud seems to linger. DH has been down with it for nearly a week and is still not feeling 100% (or even 75%). I figure DD will be well enough next week to go to the fair, but if I catch this bug in a day or two ... I'm not.

So, I'm going to fight the good fight. I don't want my DD to miss the fair because I'm sick. And I keep reminding her of that when she comes over for kisses and hugs. "It's not that I don't love you, but don't you want to go to the fair?"

Wish me luck.

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Our library book sale is today. YAY! Mom -- I'll look for stuff for you. The cool thing is this: today I'll go for the stuff I REALLY want and pay the regular price for it. But on Monday, I can go back and fill up a box for only a few dollars with the stuff I wanted to read, but maybe not keep.

I love books.

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My neighbors had their landscaping people come by a couple of days ago, and one of the things they did was walk all over the entire yard with this spray, and individually spray herbicide on weeds as they found them.

Here's what makes me scratch my head. If you're going to hunt them down one at a time anyway, isn't it just as easy to pull them up as it is to spray poison on them? If you pull them up, you don't have dead weeds all over your lawn AND you're not adding toxic chemicals into your environment. Seems like a no-brainer.

:::scratches head:::

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I think we've made a decision on DD's store name -- but until I'm certain, I'm not going to announce it. Hopefully tomorrow. And, hopefully tomorrow I'll have the website graphic done (thanks to Judy and her Goddess Fish mad Photoshop skills) and the store opened.

My friend, Chris (whose fault this whole beading thing is) says to beware: beads are like crack ... addictive and a hard habit to kick. She's right. I can't stop going to the craft stores and looking (and buying, of course). Yesterday we went to a nearby bead store (WOW! High prices!!) and then to AC Moore. We got two strands of the prettiest twisty beads and a pile of silver separators, plus more crimp tubes (you can never have too many, lol).

We're going to work on either bracelets or earring next -- which require all new supplies, of course. LOL... Thank heaves AC Moore and Michaels both have coupons in the Sunday paper!!

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My Little Entrepreneur

"Big thinking precedes great achievement." — Wilferd Peterson

So, DD is really enjoying beading stuff. She has the book thongs down and made four yesterday (for an order she already got *G*). They're gorgeous -- see? Here are two I took pictures of (the other two are on colored ribbon with colored beads):




I'll be honest and say that I had no idea beading was so complicated. I took her to AC Moore and Michaels and got pretty much the bare minimum in supplies. I spent ... a lot (and that with coupons, sales AND my 10% off teacher discount at AC Moore) and we came home with: 6 different pliers, wire, hemp, ribbon, leather, and twine, crimping beads and tubes, three kinds of needles, a book on beading and beads. And what I got isn't even for regular jewelry making or using those itty-bitty beads.

In any case, she's excited and really applying herself (and taking her time) which is good to see. She's not the most patient kid in the world.

After she does several more thongs, we'll move on to bracelets, I think. I hope I don't need more supplies for them!

I told her once she'd made at least 6 more thongs, I'd open her Etsy shop for her. She's already planning on how she'll spend her millions...

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We picked all our apples yesterday. They were the UGLIEST looking things you've ever seen, but boy did they taste good! We all ate some, and then I made a pile of applesauce. My SIL called and said our other SIL had dropped off a bushel of peaches from their tree and SIL had spent the morning pureeing them and did I want some? YOU BET.

I didn't have time to can the sauce yesterday, so today I'm going to make half regular applesauce and half peach-applesauce and can it all up. I think I might make some peach jam, too, if I have enough puree.

I'm also going to experiment with making my own refried beans (we use them a lot and they're so ridiculously expensive to buy) and canning them in pint jars. I don't know if I have to pressure can them or not, so will have to investigate.

Feeling a little like pioneer woman, lol.

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