Into the wilderness

Well, I'm off. Off to the deep, dark wilderness. Actually, I'm off to the Boy Scout camp about an hour away from my house. But still... I mean, an entire weekend with a huge group of little boys shooting BB guns and bows and arrows and running around in the middle of the night? I might as well be in the darkest heart of Africa.

Should be fun!

The whole family's going on this trip. Well, all except Duffy. He's not allowed. Apparently, the Scout's think he's.....a DOG!!!! Quel horreur!

Does this look like a dog, I ask you?

I've also made a pivotal decision regarding my lampworking future. I've (be calm and don't panic when you read this) decided that (seriously, STAY CALM, I beg you) it's time for me (deep breaths, all) to (here it comes) join a group.

OMG, there it is. It's out there. I said it.

I, Laurie Whitney, notorious loner and anti-joiner, am considering the possibility of joining the local chapter of the ISGB, the Florida Glass Dragons. Don't ask me why. In the 3 years that I've been lampworking, I've never joined or participated in anything with fellow craftsfolk.

I am not a joiner by nature. I like my own company and I am horrendously shy about my work. That's one of the things I like most about this job: the solitary nature of it and the relative anonymity you can achieve by communicating via the Internet.

That sounded a little creepy, didn't it? Sorry.

Anyway, lately I've been feeling a little bit lonely for like-minded conversation and a little bit of fellowship.

I don't know. We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I've got auctions ending: ~Ba Da Bling~ and ~Xmas Coffee & Donuts~ are ending this weekend.

And I've got some new things posted.
Have a peek.

These are some new focals that are currently listed on eBay:

~Sweet Dreams~

~Dream On~

and these are some new things up on Etsy.

A little dis and dat

Wow, another busy weekend!

We had our annual Veteran's Day party. It wasn't as hectic as usual. Normally there's around 50 people, this year a little more than half that many. It's more fun that way. I actually get to talk to people instead of dashing from group to group for about 74 seconds apiece and then moving on.

Plus, since the kids are older now I don't have to constantly wonder about them. They're much more self sufficient now.

Then, on Sunday we took the kids to the fair, as we always do. That was a little stressful. I accidentaly got into a word fight with the chick in the the lemonade stand. I'm a really calm person, for the most part, and am used to dealing with difficulties. But that one just sent me over. I'm not going to go into any tiresome details but lets just suffice it to say that:

1. I don't like people who are self-important and arrogant and

2. I hate it when people mouth off to me.

Well, in any case, I don't think she'll pull what she tried with me on any other customers, that's for sure.

Here's a picture of one of the Monarch's the kids 'hatched' this year. It was a very friendly one and didn't want to leave. Please ignore Connor's 'bed head'. He's growing his hair out and right now the style looks a little bit like my mom's. Sorry, Mom, nothing personal.

Finally, on a businessy sort of note, everything on Etsy is still marked way down, so try and check it out.

I've also got some new beads listed on eBay right now.

~Ba Da Bling~

~Coffee & Donuts~

Barack the Vote!!!

What a great day for America!

No matter who your choice was, no matter what your political views, this is an accomplishment that we should all look at with pride. Finally, American's were able to look beyond the color of a person's skin and make a choice based on ideas, beliefs and common goals. Make a change that's been too long coming.

Will he be a perfect president?

Of course not. No one can.

Will he accomplish everything he sets out to do?

Most likely not. That would take a lifetime.

Will he solve all the problems we face as a country?

Impossible. This didn't happen to us overnight and it will take a long time to fix.

But I do believe that he has a vision that he will fight for. I do believe that he wants to end the war as quickly as possible, but not at the expense of our soldiers safety. I think he'll fight to get our economy back on track, rebuilding jobs and the dream of a future for our children. And I think that our tax money will be put to better use than it has in a very long time.

Interesting times ahead, to be sure.

Now, how about a woman next time?

We can do it, you know we can!

P.S. Completely off topic, I've marked every single item in my Etsy shop down 20-25%. Come check it out.

Rock the Vote!

I always loved that slogan to push young voters to the polls. It was quite effective.

Did you vote?

I just got back myself. Helping make history, one way or the other.

Hope everyone had a spooky Halloween. We did. Lots of candy was eaten by all and we had a chance to see our neighbors and socialize a little bit. Very fun.

I'm on my way over to Etsy right now to mark down a bunch of stuff. I'll post again when my discounts are done. I've got to start moving some things out of there. We're in a major financial crunch right now, so every little bit helps.

Right now on Etsy I've got some holiday cuties listed:

~Snowy Guys~

How pretty is this?

Just had to pop in and share.

A while back I did a trade -my beads for some findings (which I still haven't had time to use) - with a beady friend, Dhea Powers. She sent me a pic last night of what she made with them and it really turned out beautifully.

Mine are the leaves. I love those acorns, though. I'm not sure if she made them or if they were from someone else.


Of course, her work is always gorgeous. She also makes the most amazing boro beads. Here's a link to her Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=103579