All I want (right now)...

..... is to buy a laptop.
Money is NOT an issue.

Good grief --- this comparing back and forth is about to drive me insane !

Catching Up

1. We didn't win the lottery -- boo hoo. Looks like my trip to the Dubai World Cup is put off for yet another year.

2. We've had lots of rain Friday and Saturday. Good for the plants -- bad for the tomatoes.

3. I started working on my Ugly thing for the Tahoe retreat. I'm having more fun with this than I should..........

4. Over the weekend I cranked out the Beaded Embellishment book -- old standby. No, that is NOT the correct title. I will look it up at some point.
Good to browse. There are things I have forgotten!

5. Ahh the last full week of summer: it will be nuts here at the Shore now that the shobies and the Benny's will want one more week.

Life is good for me.

I have 8 of my BJP's -- well, not exactly done.
1 completely done.
Tonight Colleen sat with me and helped me with the backing on the other 8.

I'll let the glue dry tonight and then tomorrow I will start trimming the ultrasuede.
Once that is done, I will begin the edging.

There is one in progress -- unfinished but I am determined to complete it.
I let Colleen place the large stones on it for me.
What a challenge !!
I am so far out of my comfort zone that it is not funny!
But I will get through it!

Once I am done with this group, I will post pictures.

Beadfest Philly, part 1

We started the day early, our annual trip to Philly BeadFest.
And this year, we went on Friday, instead of Saturday.
What a difference a day made! For the first time, we had NO traffic problems on the way.

Before we were barely past the admission counter, we ran in to Nikia -- good hugs and laughs. And dammnit, we failed to get back to her booth -- someone was a bit whiny and He was ready to go home.

Shopping was good -- minimal on floor one.
I bought 2 lampworked beads from GraceBeads ( Gracebeads.com ) .
Some hand dyed silk cord from another booth.
Picked up some small yellow flowers (to use for embellishment) and a couple of charms from Hye on Beads.

There are several cards that I picked up -- in particular, I am giving Him a card (as a direct hint for either birthday or Christmas) for a vendor that had a wonderful bronze metal clay palmtree pendant.

I had a nice conversation with the rep at Soft-flex. I learned a new knot but still have not felt comfortable using their ultra fine wire yet. He said I could get samples from the website -- guess I'll be doing that!

A small set of small polymer clay leaves was ALMOST purchased, to use for embellishment, but I wasn't comfortable as to their durability.

As a whim, I picked up a small bottle of resin -- to do some experiments with. That will be fun to play with !

Grace's lampworked beads were the only ones I bought -- they look like the ocean and I will set them up for myself somehow.
I must be one of the few who do not like round bumpy beads. They are boring to me... just are not my bag.

One vendor has some of the most unique clasps I have ever seen. I saved her card and will maybe order ONE for me.

I fell in to the Swarovski crystal pit -- tiny flower crystals, tiny button like sequins. S'ok -- I love them!

Speaking of clasps, Colleen and I were seeing ones that we LOVED but lamented that we would prefer them to be a focal part of a piece, rather than hidden behind our necks. Weird it is we are!

No cabs this year -- although I was prepared to buy one until the vendor whisked the tray out and took it to someone else. I was saying that I thought I wanted one and he said something to the effect that, "well, I have to show this lady first, she came here specifically for these......".
I said, ok -- and moved on.

My biggest peeve with the show was that, at some booths, there were no prices on things. If I have to ask you, then it's a bit annoying. I'm not saying put prices on every single thing -- but if you have trays of items -- at lease put a little sign: $5 tray, $15 tray, etc.

Colleen was on a search for a particular pearl chip and I think we found them! Hurray!
She and I both bought some.

Once again I ended the day on a wild spree at BeyondBeadery !
Many laughs and good feelings from seeing Betcey, Mark and Starr !
got my sead bead fix AND scooped up many of the elusive 6 mm Cosmo jet Swarovski crystals! They are discontinued and I am hot for them!
I also treated myself to a tube of metal beads -- a rare splurge but I want to try them!
This trip I picked up lots of small beads for embellishments.
My 11's have colors that I normally wouldn't try -- mustards and odd green's etc. ok ok OK -- I did buy 3 tubes of blue -- just couldn't help myself!
The one thing I forgot was my tubes of 3's -- I need those for embellishment and managed to walk away with out them (at this point my knee was hurting and just wasn't in the mood!).

Somehow I managed to leave without my pin backs AND the tube clasps that I wanted.
arrgh !! and I DID have a list !

The Eagles and Michael Vick

I was stunned to hear that the Eagles had signed Michael Vick.
In fact, I'm still trying to wrap my hands and my thoughts around it.

What he did was wrong.
What he did was evil.
Has he been punished?
Yes, he has taken his punishment.

Do I think that had he not been caught, he would have continued?
yes.
Do I think he is truely sorry?
not really.
There is no way to really know if he is sorry.

Michael Vick's actions and consequences remind me of several lines from "Gone With The Wind" -- (paraphasing here....) Rhett tells Scarlett that she is like the thief who isn't sorry for what he has done until he gets caught -- and then he is terribly, terribly sorry.

He served his time, paid his fines, and basically almost lost his career -- just for acting stupid. Now he is allowed a second chance.
I believe everyone deserves a second chance to prove that they have become a better person. Mike Tyson didn't.
Steve Howe didn't.
And there is some football player in Florida that may be on the same road too -- I don't know his name but I beileve the facts are that he was DUI and killed a child while driving - got one year probation from the NFL.He deserves another chance.

The Eagles Coach, Andy Reid, says that MIchael Vick deserves another chance.
Ok -- the court of public opinion has given his children multiple chances -- oh yes, one, I believe is in jail for driving while under the influence of heroin.

Vick is being "sponsored" or "mentored" by Tony Dungey -- a well respected coach.
I look at Dungey as a spin doctor -- pure and simple.

Maybe Dungey sees something in Vick that I do not.

When reading this clip from the Orlando Sentinental, it just makes me wonder ----
"I was wrong for what I did," Vick said in a standing-room-only news conference at the team's headquarters. "Everything that happened at that point in time in my life was wrong and unnecessary. And, for the life of me to this day, I can't understand why I was involved in such a pointless activity, and why I risked so much at the pinnacle of my career."

We'll see.

Ultrasuede

Ahhh, beware the ultrasuede sellers.
The market in Louisville dried up.

I purchased from someone online -- called her store, talked to her.
And when it came, it was thicker than it was represented.
I should have returned it, but didn't.
So I was lazy about it.

It can still be used -- but I would have preferred the completely light form.

Tonight I sat and cut out pieces for my pin backing.
but was a bit stressed out and couldn't do the pins.
Just wasn't in the frame of mind to complete steady work.
I'll work on that tomorrow -- the marking, the gluing and then the trimming.

SNORT !

"due to extreme weather conditions, the USPS will not ship until October 15, 2009".

I can not order my ants until then.

::: stamping feet :::

Saturday -- Ocean City

Yesterday Colleen and I took a ride down to Ocean City.
I wanted to go to the Surf Art exhibit.
Logically it SHOULD have opened at 10 a.m.
Ohhhh nooooooooo that would have been too smart.
It opened at noon.

Ocean City was packed.
We had breakfast at this great little spot: The Ocean City Surf Cafe.
I LOVED it !!
And the food was good too!

We walked up and down the boardwalk a bit -- looking at the sellers......... didn't see much that I liked.
Stopped in a small jewelry store and I bought a cheap pair of earrings.
And a fleur de lys pendant. Not sure exactly HOW I am going to wear it, but it is nice.
It is such a struggle for me to spend money on myself.
I literally have to force myself and then it is stressful.
Sounds weird, I know.
No, I can NOT build a bridge and get over it.
No, I will NOT spend on you......

We sat under in the pavilions for about an hour -- waiting for it to open.
Got to see at least four or five pods of dolphins off of Ocean City beach!

The exhibit was much smaller than I expected .
There was a wonderful 3D piece of art that I was ready to buy.
Problem? could not locate a soul to take my money
That stank -- I wanted it, and wanted to support local artist.
sigh.

Colleen bought world famous Johnson's Carmel Corn.
::: burp :::

I got fresh tomatoes -- yummm, 'mater sammies!!

Friday started out great !
Warm, sunny, filled with promise.

The first warning sign should have been that we could nto figure out what to do for breakfast.

Warning sign number 2: about 2 miles in to the drive, we realized that "I" forgot the beach tags.
Ummm, when did it become MY sole responsibility to remember the tags?

Decided to go to AC beach (because it is free) rather than drive back to the house.

Found a FREE parking spot on the street (Warning sign number 3).
We parked, walked up the boardwalk, over the dune and were greeted with the most god-awful stench (Warning sign number 4).
The stench is the result of a HUGE abnormal wave of mussels being washed ashore all along the beaches.
The local marine experts can not explain the enormous amounts of "baby" mussels that have been washed ashore. They suspect it was a storm at sea.
At any rate, it stinks.
But the seagulls love it-- it's like a free casino buffett -- all day/all free.
We normally go to Margate/Ventnor City (where the aforementioned tags are from). The stench there was present during the week before. It seems to be working it's way down the coast line.

If you were down wind, and for the most part, if you were lucky, it wasn't TOO bad. Thank god we all had beach shoes/water shoes. The crunch crunch crunch of walking across the shells to get to the water was awful.

We used our new umbrella.
We saw lots of dolphins -- and the lifeguards were moving folks AWAY from them -- the lifeguard boat even rowed over towards them to separate them from the swimmers (umm, hmmm, yeah, that works).
It was a lovely day.

da-dum
da-dum
da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum (insert Jaws music).

Crisis approaches.

We pack up our stuff and head back to the car.
As always, I trail the pack.

Final Warning sign:
They are both standing by the car as I approach with my bags etc.
Key is missing.
Not the key chain -- only ONE key is missing.
The car key.
Somehow it wiggled off the key chain.
They trace our steps back and forth.
I look up and down the boardwalk ramps etc.
No luck.
Oh, and did I mention, we ALL forgot our cell phones?

Good sign: if we can get in the car, there is a set of keys, including house keys that are in the glove box.

Car service is called.
We put out chairs BACK up and sit on the sidewalk, much to the stares of passersby.
An hour later, here comes the truck.
In 5 minutes we are in the car and on the way home.

After much laughter and cleaning up, we headed to Red Lobster for dinner (it's my week).
Great talipia -- just a tad too much salt in their blackening spices, though

3 Day Weekend !!

Friday, Friday, Friday -- and I do not have to go to work.
We randomly picked a Friday for a possible water park or beach day.
I wanted waterpark because I love drifting in the tubes.
In the interest of stretching money (quarters for the parking lot vs $$$ for admission), I postponed the waterpark adventure.
Temp is expected to be 84 degrees with ZERO chance of rain.
We'll be packing our beach tags, towels, chairs, sunscreen, umbrella, books, tiny cooler, snacks and His metal detector and off to Margate/Ventnor City beach(es) we will go.

Colleen and I counted the hours all week -- just waiting for today.

Work has been good this week -- a bit frantic, but good. We had a claims meeting --went well. The other unit had a layoff last week.
This week the main part of the office chose to layoff the receiptionist and consolidate duties with others. That was somewhat uncomfortable. My area is just next as you pass the reception area -- I had no clue but she was boxing like crazy and not saying a word.
FINALLY found out what had happened. She'd been there 7 years.
This stinks -- this economy -- it just stinks.

Not much else. I'm reading at night before bed -- seems the only time I have.

The beading takes a priority ! So I can do that while I watch tv and if I have the needle/beads in my hand, I am less likely to want to put ANYthing in my mouth. It works for me !

Vote for Pookie

One of my photo's is up on line at the AC Press:

http://contests.pressofatlanticcity.com/bin/Rate?image_id=1007200134&search=314


It's the Pookie Pug.

I'd appreciate a vote if anyone is so inclined -- only ONE vote, per email address, per ANY photo in the contest.
So if you vote for one, then vote for another, the first one is cancelled out.

Oh -- and you have to roll your mouse over the photo to see the entire photo.

:)