Wild, Wild West

Here's my latest jewelry duo (necklace & earrings).  Turquoise always reminds me of cowboys, but this is green turquoise, and chunky.  And yes, I was wearing my boots that day.  I live in the West, you know.

Loss

We lost our beloved furry cousin today.  He was such a great part of our family and he will be dearly missed by all of us, but no more so than by our Uncle Frank and Aunt Judy.  We feel so sad for their empty home.  We love and miss you, Boomer, with all our hearts.

My Boy

Keystone, my beloved boy, gets his teeth cleaned tomorrow, for the first and only time in his life.  We have been extremely nervous to do this, because putting a beloved furry family member under anesthesia scares the hell out of us.  But he needs it, and we've chosen a really good vet.  So, fingers crossed.

Keep Stones in your thoughts tomorrow!  I'll post as soon as I know he's OK.  I am going to be nervous all day.  He is such a GOOD boy.  Such a lover.  He'd rather have love=hugs & belly rubs, more than treats!

UPDATE:  Keystone made it through just fine!!!  WAHOO, I'm so relieved.  Can't wait to see his pearly whites.

Magical Marvin

This little guy is Marvin.  He's my boyfriend.  He loves quiet walks on the beach, candle lit dinners, tormenting his sister (or is it the other way around?), and keeping in shape.  He had me at his coy demeanor and cute little double curl tail.

Maybe I am so fond of him because of how much I love the Men In Black movies, or maybe it's just because he's a cool canine.

The resolution could be a little better but this is just so cool, I have to share.  Look, he really IS magic (care of Tricia):

Booze & Beads, Episode 2

This is a special edition of Brunch, Booze & Beads. Life is getting so busy that we didn't want the weekend to slip completely away without some girl time. So we got together to bead, brunch, and toast our wonderful creative badass selves with coffee, White Russian style. Fabulous, right?

Tricia and I have both been creative geniuses lately. And the woman just learned to wrap wires today. I give her an A+ for dedication. Or is it obsession?!? Yes, it does become an obsession. 

I whipped up a mean sausage, egg & cheese casserole and cute & tasty blueberry cream cheese bundtletts.  My favorite part was the coffee.  I ground up wonderful "City of Fountains Blend" KC coffee beans (thanks Suzie & Kevin).  To the brewed coffee I added: half & half, Kahlua & vanilla vodka.  Why have I never thought of this before, Hello?!?!  Amazing.  I really enjoyed it, but sadly didn't get tipsy.  I was very relaxed though.  Which in hind sight is a good thing because I'm still awake and did not nap.  Actually, I may be awake all night after two cups of that stuff.

I spent hours this past week in the evenings after the gym, wrapping sterling silver wires on my Angel Judy's necklace. I will publish pics of this T-best-ever-masterpiece ON her birthday. If she is reading this, she doesn't get an early peek. Let's just say that there are never any surprises under their Christmas tree on the 25th.

Pictures were demanded requested, thus I am fulfilling the request.  In this picture, in the upper left hand corner is a beautiful ensemble in shades of green (with cute little red HEARTS).  This was Tricia's first creation.  Today she completed the trilogy with earrings.  The bracelet on the top middle, is a beautiful blue kind-of-braided bracelet that Tricia made.  I wish you could see the detail.  It looks like little flowers, very glitzy and very cute.  The bracelet at the bottom right with the silver tubes, is a creation I made, and it will soon be on eBay!

Next up, on the left hand side is a necklace and earrings combination I made for Tricia.  My inspiration was the main tear-drop shaped stone.  Kind of a dark lime green and black.  It's a favored color, and I knew she'd have something in her closet to match it.  I like the little dangles at the bottom of the earrings so much, that I may make myself a pair of them.  On the right hand side, is a sterling silver trilogy I made that will soon be on eBay.  The little silver tubes are curved, and the mix of square glass beads should go with just about everything (or nothing?) for someone who needs a new set of "pretty's" (as my grandmother would have said).

Saved the best for last, a close up of a gorgeous black & silver ensemble created by Tricia.  She used the cutest beads that are like woven balls of silver & black metal.  So versatile, and so cute.  I have to apologize here and now for the overuse and abuse of the word cute.  I just can't help it.  I will, however, try to refrain from typing the phrase "super-cute" too many times.  But it is.  You can see a little more detail on the gorgeous blue bracelet, but because it is a profile view of it, you can't see the beautiful design.

So, there you have it.  The fruits of our labor over the past week.  And a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning/afternoon: looking at beautiful beads, brunching on goodies, dreaming up wonderful new ideas and ways to use our stuff.  I so wish we could have everyone over for a whole weekend of Booze & Beads.  Let me know if y'all are ever headed my way!!!

I Should Wear A Cape

I took one step closer to fulfilling one of my goals yesterday. I donated blood. I have a personal goal of donating SIX times in 12 months. Why, you ask? Because I can. And because I should.

Did you know that there is NO SUBSTITUTE for blood?  It can't be manufactured.  And that every two seconds, someone needs a blood transfusion? Someone out there needs my blood. I've got 10 pints in my body, I can easily spare one single pint. While doing research for a speech I gave last week, I learned that blood supplies in the east are low. This is due to the holidays being a time of low donations, and then the continual snow storms have caused havoc with planned blood drives. How can a blood mobile make it to the planned destination in a foot of snow? I learned that they like to have a 3 to 5 day supply of blood in reserves, and they have been operating under less than a ONE day supply for a number of months.  Blood is a very perishable product. It has a shelf life of 35 days. That's why we can't have like two major blood drives a year and have all that we need. 

This is the least I can do to help people I will never meet. I pray that my loved ones will never need donated blood. But if someone does need it, I've given my share. I can donate every 59 days. I've given 3 times in the past 5 months. I'm well on my way to fulfilling my goal.

I will always feel guilty for not having donated since my mid-20's when an inexperienced ignorant nurse who had to stick me several times recommended that I not give blood because I had rolling veins.  I don't have rolling veins, she just didn't have enough experience to do it without hurting me.  I am so impressed with the guys and gals who take blood in my local area.  They look like they are all of 12 years old, and yet they take such pride in their work.  They are very young adults, but they have been very well trained and act with the experience like people twice their age.  All 3 of my experiences have been painless.  Never again will I let an inexperienced nurse do anything to ruin my blood donating experience.  If you've had a similar experience, I urge you to try again.

The most AMAZING fact I learned is that with my single pint of donated blood, I may save up to THREE lives.  To reiterate a few of their motto's: http://www.unitedbloodservices.org/

Be a hero, donate blood. Not all heroes wear a cape.