bleh...

well, it's been a crappy week already & it's only tuesday!

first, my husband is sick. that just sucks just in general, cuz he's a terrible patient. most men are, but he's so high energy (i.e. ADHD *smile*) that it's impossible to keep him in bed. when i left this morning to take alexander to school he was in bed asleep hunkered down under the covers. when i got home, he was outside moving boxes out of the basement to take to the duplex. still feverish. still nauseous. stupid man!

of course, i'm sick, too. i've got a sinus infection that makes my head ache something awful. and i've still gotta get up & get the kids up & dressed & fed & get alexander to school. i was proud of myself cuz i went to the gym anyway, even though i felt like ca ca. amazingly enough, the workout felt good. it kinda cleared my head a little, which was awesome.

but then i got home and found out that i didn't get chosen for my first juried craft show. i really anguished and agonized about which photos to send, cuz you only get to send 3 thumbnail size pics. and i've got over 13,000 pics on my computer, most of which are jewelry. that was a really tough choice! i'm on the waiting list, and my sister made me realize that it could be worse. i guess i won't sell off all my inventory of beads and start panhandling or anything :)

but on the upside, we got a great package from grampa yesterday containing fabulous movies for the kids, and some movies for MOMMY! i was so excited, cuz usually the box contains nothing for the parents, and tons of stuff for the kids. but my dad is letting me borrow the complete 1st season of the tudors, and i'm totally stoked! my friend kellie are planning to have lunch dates to sit and watch them while the kids are in school :) yay me!

and i'm anxious about my first jewelry party. my friend kellie is hosting it at my house, and i'm really excited about it. i'm working on making new displays for it & trying to get my inventory ready. i just need to know that people are coming! i'm terrible at throwing parties. for my 21st b-day party i was so convinced that no one was coming that i was pretty toasted before the 1st guest arrived! oops! :) i'll try to control myself a little better this time :)

...on corsets and choral interjections...

well, i'm just back from dropping my family off at grandma's house. i have to sing at church tomorrow and then opera rehearsal, so i didn't get to have a sleepover. oh well. but since i had the car to myself on the ride home, i took the opportunity to work on the opera i'm working on -- lucia di lammermoor.

i'm really excited about it, cuz it's my first repeat opera. unfortunately, the last time i did it i sang alto & now i'm singing soprano. for most of the show, it's not a problem. but occasionally the chorus has a random interjection that's in 4 parts, and my brain goes to what i know, and not what i'm learning. it's amazing what your brain remembers! :) and of course, i'm practicing in my car, which has always been my favorite practice space, so i'm not looking at the score. i've got my handy note-cards with me & using passing headlights to see the words i can't quite remember, but i've got no way of seeing the notes. so most of the time i'm cool with what i'm singing, but every once in a while, i'm not quite sure if i've done the soprano part or the alto. oh well. i guess i'll find out in rehearsal tomorrow :)

and i had my costume fitting on friday before rehearsal. this show is awesome cuz we've got fabulous corsets that are REAL corsets. they hook in the front & tie in the back. 8 years ago, when we last did this show, we had a fabulous dresser in the ladies dressing room, and she could really yank on those corset strings. i felt like i was in gone with the wind or one of my books holding on to my bedpost so my maid could get me into my corset. and we looked FABULOUS! it's amazing what proper foundation garments can do. :) but i was surprised this time, becuz it's been 8 years & 2 babies since i last did this show. it's the same production, so we have the same costumes, but i don't have the same body. but once i put on the corset & had the dresser cinch it up tight, YEE HAW! :) the do have to do some alterations, but they told me that if they don't let the skirt of my gown out a little bit, christopher will never let me do another show :) sometimes it's not good to work in the same company of your husband. :)

shopping with children -- the husband edition

so, i do about 95% of the shopping for our household, for the things that we use everyday from food to clothing. and i pretty much only shop before rest time, cuz the rest of the day is pretty unpredictable. if it's not done before 3pm (preferable 2pm) then it doesn't need to be done. my husband takes care of all the outdoor and home repair stuff. but every once in a while he decides that we all need to go to the store together for whatever we need. usually it's a big lots shopping spree, but tonight it was a trip to target. after dinner at the restaurant (eat n' park *smile*)

now, i love target. they've got the big carts with 2 seats for bigger kids, and that's awesome! i'm all about confinement for my 2 little ones. and when we got there, i found an appropriate cart and got them both strapped in, and they started whining about getting out. i'm a firm believer in confinement, but my husband told them that if they were good they could get out. i stopped to check out the jewelry (for inspiration *smile*) and the next thing i knew, they were both out of the cart, and the madness began!

i really don't know what he was thinking. our children have not yet grasped the concept of looking with your eyes and not your hands. they don't understand that we need to use our inside voices when we're inside. they don't understand that they can't just go look at something just cuz they want to, even if we're not going over there. they want to look at what they want, and not what's on mommy's list. hence the need for confinement. but my husband's got isabelle on his shoulders and alexander by the hand, and they're both talking a mile a minute while i push this ginormous cart that's completely empty. i found everything on my list while he went to look at bikes and toys and whatnot, and was forced to explain that they both already have bikes, so we're not taking the princess tricycle home. did i mention the need for confinement? *smile* by the time we were ready to check out, he was ready to leave them both in the store. it was after 9pm -- past their bedtime on a late night -- and we were both frazzled. they were both jazzed by being up late, even though they didn't get any popcorn, and they wanted to sing all the way home. needless to say, they're both asleep and i think my husband is too. they're exhausting on a regular day, but let us try something new and different, and i need an adult beverage! maybe next time he'll remember why they need to be confined in the store!

a snow holiday

we've been in our house for 5 days now. except for our little snow holiday. we went across the river to harmarville on monday night and randomly picked a motel. it was the calm between the storms -- the roads were relatively clear from friday/saturday's storm, and the tuesday/wednesday storm hadn't started yet. actually, even monday night some of the roads were pretty bad. i had to go back home after we had dinner cuz i'd forgotten my meds and i was slowed down by an accident and 2 bobcats removing snow from the roads. with all the snow we've had to clear, i think they're running out of places to put it! :)

it took christopher 2 solid hours to clear our driveway on saturday. i don't think i could have done it. and it was really too much even for a snowblower. and of course, being the guy he is, he went out after he did our to help a couple of other people do theirs. :)

but we've only gotten about 8 inches of additional snow since yesterday, although it's still snowing. i have no doubt that tomorrow will be another snow day for christopher. i feel bad for the kids, though, cuz it's too much snow for them to go play in. although chris did build a snow cave for them on sunday. they haven't been out to play in it since then. it's really cold and windy with blowing snow and they just sink down in it. the 22 inches we got over the weekend was too deep, so i have no idea what they'd do in almost 3 feet of snow! :)

i'm so tired of being sick and tired

there really is no rest for the wicked, or the weary. i got lucky today, becuz it's sunday, and usually i'm at church in the morning. chris is used to being in charge today. so i called off from church, ate breakfast with my family (our sunday morning tradition), and went back to bed for several hours. what an amazing feeling to wake up after 1pm! i haven't slept that late in YEARS! chris took the kids to mass and then they came home and had lunch. apparently, alexander checked on me at one point and saw that i was still sleeping, so he didn't bother me. amazingly i didn't even hear him come in. since having kids, i've developed mom-senses and can hear the tiniest thing. but not today. i guess i really needed that nap *smile*

after my mega-nap, i worked on our taxes for a while and the kids played with play-doh. they're napping now, and i really should be doing more jewelry stuff to get ready for my big adventure. i've only got a week left to get all my signage and everything together. chris built me some beautiful displays, and i'm really excited about the whole thing. it's coming together nicely *smile*. i just hafta remember to take pics of all the new stuff before i take it to the shop. i like to have photos so that i 1) remember what i've made & 2) have a reference if someone likes it and wants something similar. you can't really copyright jewelry designs so i'm not worried about that. i'm always taking pics of stuff i like and doing something similar. or at least planning to *smile*

early Christmas music and other random thoughts *smile*

so, i turned on the radio the other day and was thrilled to find Christmas music! already! and it's not even thanksgiving! :) I'm so excited. i listen to Christmas music year-round anyway, so it's nice to be able to just turn on the radio and have it for my listening pleasure. what bothers me, though, is that the day after Christmas, it's nowhere to be found. couldn't they wean me off it slowly? i mean, in the stores, they've started adding it every 3 songs or so, but even they make me go cold turkey. it really sucks :)

but today is alexander's birthday. 4 years ago right now i pushed him into the world. amazing! i can't remember a time that he wasn't here with me. my life without him seems just a fond memory or like something i read in a book--similar to my life, but not really something i can relate to. but we had an awesome day. his nana, grandma and aunt amie sent him money, so he & daddy spent it all at big lots :). meanwhile isabelle and i went dress shopping. she's been on this dress kick lately, and we didn't really have any with sleeves, so we had to go shopping. when i was revamping their fall/winter wardrobe she wasn't into wearing dresses, so i made sure she had jeans that fit and long sleeved shirts, but no dresses. so now she has some, but she's wanted to wear a dress every day this week so far. we need to make a trip to once upon a child :)

so alexander's birthday party is tomorrow. he's SO excited. he's invited 7 kids, 6 of whom are coming, and christopher has really outdone himself thinking up games and activities. i just hope it turns out the way they hope and everyone has fun. with alexander's track record lately he'll spend his entire party in time out :)

and i made my first sale of the Christmas open house! i'm so excited! check out audrey's blog for all the info on how to enter the contest to win this beautiful red jasper & pearl bracelet, as well as 13 other beautiful prizes (including one from the quilted house!). for the open house, i'm offering buy one get one 1/2 price on everything, and with all orders of $15 or more (not including shipping) you get a beautiful keychain! you even get to specify the color! i've only got 2 for sale in my shop right now, but i've got many more in progress, and i'm having a great time playing with color combinations. :) i've added some beautiful sterling silver and 14k gold items to my shop, i've also got several special orders in the works, and we haven't figured out what we're doing for the laret family Christmas gift. we've been doing a handmade gift exchange for the past couple of years, but we haven't decided what it'll be this year. at this point, though, it had better be something quick and easy :)

life doesn't get any easier

well, i'm tired. that's really nothing new, cuz i'm always tired. but i've hit a new level of tiredness, cuz i'm trying to do so many things--play with my kids, feed them regular & nutritious meals in a timely fashion, take care of the house, work a little to pay my bills, take care of the house (do we really need clean clothes EVERY day?) and make jewelry in my spare time. there's not as much spare time as my many projects demand, so i've been stealing time from my other duties to do jewelry, which hasn't been going over well with my husband. oops *smile*. but i've got so many projects going on!

the holidays are coming up and i'm participating in a Christmas open house (check out the button on the right hand side of my blog). there's 13 other etsy shops participating and you can check out the particulars either on my other blog or on Audrey's Country Crafts. the open house doesn't start until november 15th, and audrey won't have all the info up until then, but each shop is have a special promotion during the open house (i'm offering 1/2 off your second item and a free gift for purchases over $15 *smile*). and we're each donating a giveaway prize, so everyone has 13 chances to win! my giveaway is this beautiful pearl & red jasper bracelet. who said that 13's an unlucky number? *smile*

so in addition to that, it's the holidays, so i'm trying to make sure i've got enough stuff in my shop to make some money this holiday season. plus i've got the stuff i'm doing for blossoms of verona. she's got her grand re-opening on saturday, 11/14, and so i'm trying to get another set of stuff ready for her, too. and it's different than the stuff i've got in my shop. so many design ideas floating through my head simultaneously!

and to top it all off, my husband expects the children to be dressed and fed every day! too bad they can't live on fruit snacks and sponge bob yogurt *smile*.

but i'm in my pj's and my snuggie, ready for another evening of creating while i do laundry. there really is no rest for the wicked. or is it weary? either way, if the shoe fits...*smile*

for the love of power tools :)

when i was in junior high i took both wood shop and metal shop, not becuz i really cared, but becuz that's where the boys were *smile*. but while i was there, i discovered a love of power tools. i could do a pretty darn good puddle weld with the oxyacetylene torches *smile*. i made a pair of shelf brackets and a bookshelf that i still use *smile*.

when i was a single girl, i had a tool kit with all the requisite screwdrivers and nails and my own power drill. i could put anything together, but don't ask me to sew on a button or hem a skirt. that's what safety pins and double sided tape are for *smile*. but when i got married, i married a man who really uses power tools, so i put mine away and was content to let him do all the work. i never had to put together another shelving unit, or take out the garbage, or worry about changing the oil in my car.

but then i started making jewelry, and i wanted real, professional looking display cases. and since i didn't want to spend the money buying them, i decided to make them. but my husband didn't have time to do it when i needed it done, so i rediscovered my love for power tools. what a thrill! *smile* i tried to talk him into letting me use his table saw, but he said no *smile*. plus, it's more of a table and storage area right now, so he'd hafta clear it off to use it anyway. i only needed to cut dowel rods, so i guess it would have been a little excessive, but it would have been a lot of fun *smile*