Sweet October

It's raining today, hence my presence here. Don't get me wrong, I love rainy weather. Love it, Love it, Love it.
Let me 'splain. I am a random free-thinker who doesn't particularly enjoy the company of other people. I sometimes don't even enjoy my own company. Rainy days provide me with the perfect excuse. Actually, they make it so I don't need an excuse at all. An excuse to stay inside, watching Lord of the Rings and 90's slacker movies and eating my kids prepackaged lunch box snack cakes. I don't have to feel guilty for missing out on 'Lunch with Girlfriends' or skipping that 4,000th trip to the park. It's perfectly acceptable to stay inside while pot roast bubbles in the crockpot and weeds visibly sprout taller in the flower beads.
I love rainy weather!

I did, however, in a burst of non-slackerism, clean off my work bench this week and make a couple of sets of beads and some new focals. Nice, stormy day activities.
Here's wishing you some lovely, soothing rain.

The Wheel

So, I'm doing pretty well in school. Yeah, those are words I never expected to hear myself saying at my age. (Am also not telling you all my age!)
It's been a frustrating week. First and most horribly, Connor broke his arm on the playground at school. It was awful, getting that call, racing down to the school to pick him up. I get so queasy in any sort of 'grossly swollen' or 'horribly twisted' or 'pointed the wrong direction' sort of medical situation that I almost passed out on the floor of the school clinic. I know that I was almost passing out because I have done it before, in a similar situation. I ended up breaking my own nose, that time. Fortunately I managed to restrain myself and, instead, ran to the bathroom and threw up.
His teacher asks me, "He jumped off the monkey bars. He must have landed wrong. Are you upset with me?"
In theory, no I am not upset with her. It was not her fault. She has 18 other children to watch and cannot follow behind him, arms upstretched to catch him when he falls (jumps). Besides, that child is not referred to as Monkey Boy for nothing.
However..... I want to yell at her, "I managed to keep him safe, happy and whole for 5 1/2 years. You have him for 3 weeks...3 WEEKS...and he's broken. What the h#** is going on?" Somehow I managed to restrain myself, smile politely and say.."Well, he's a very active little boy."
Good for me. I am patting myself on the back as I type this. ( and that ain't easy, let me tell ya!)
Oh, and another really sucky part is now my husband is stuck coaching a T-ball team that his own son can't even play on. Ironic.

So now what....?

Yeah, so the kids are in school. My son started Kindergarten. I'm here. At home. Alone. You probably think that's a good thing, right. Well, maybe so and maybe no.
It's just quiet and a little lonely. I haven't had this much time to myself in ten years.
Upside - I can get my nails done whenever I want. Downside - I never want to get my nails done.
So, there's beads out there to be made, a swimming pool to clean, laundry to refuse to fold, pets to stare at, dinner to dread cooking...You see where I'm headed with this, don't you?
I did register for a couple of classes at the local college, just in case I want to go back to work. I want to go back to work.
More later.
Laurie


1 comments.
Posted by Sue:
Hi LaurieSaw your post in the LE gallery and thought I'd pop over to your website! Nice beads, Loved your gallery post!Read through your blog a bit and totally agree with wondering where others find the time for all the networking/site building and all that stuff! LOL I Was wondering where in florida you are too? I'm in Lake Wales. Maybe sometime we'll meet!Take care!Sue
August 31, 2007 @ 9:21 PM

Here I am again.....

That should be my personal tag line, "So, here I am....finally"
Seriously, I try to make it here, I do. It's just, I'm really, really busy. But I have been working. I've been listing on a regular basis and I've been filling custom orders like crazy. I'm actually a little behind, because I'm trying to get the kids organized for school. I'm also trying to spend some extra time with my little guy, getting him prepared for a full day away from me. Or vice versa.

Since really buckling down and focusing on my glass business for the past few weeks, I am finding out one thing.... I don't have the time to properly market it. I mean, I see so many artists out there that are totally flinging stuff up on every lampworking sight, networking like crazy, posting pictures all over creation, signing up to be featured artist in publications, etc.... And it's working for them, they're really getting it out there. I, unfortunately, don't seem to be able to do that. Internet marketing just takes up a really lot of time.
I mean, I have two little kids, pets, a house, a husband, a job. How are these other people doing it? I must learn their secrets! (Insert slightly evil sounding laugh here and picture me wringing my hands.)

I am liking Etsy though. I like the way I can put things in my little shop and not worry about them again. I don't have to constantly monitor them. Of course, I'm sure I should be doing more marketing over there, too.
Click here to visit my shop.
I did want to post a preview picture of the beads I'm listing on eBay tonight. It's impossible to see in this photo, but these beads are gorgeous. Very deep, lots of layers, and shimmery with reduced silver. They remind me a little of the waters off the coast of my favorite beach.

So, the good news is.....

I'm actually still alive. Summer is such a tough time, with both kids home. Little Angels (she says with a grimace thinly disguised as a smile). And it's an extra long summer this year, almost 3 full months. 3 FULL MONTHS!!!!!!!
Actully, we're having fun. It's Connor's last summer before Kindergarten, so I'm trying to soak up the last weeks of his 'babyness' before I send him out into the word where he will discover that I am not all-seeing and all-knowing. I think I'm prepared for the first time he is writing a note and asks how to spell "love" and then, instead of giving it to me, he puts it in his backpack for Miss So-and-So, his teacher. Aaaaaaa!

Oh well, such is life. Anyway, I have new beads on eBay!

Thanks for checking in and have a great day