Missing Tucson

Once again I am missing Tucson. Why, you may ask, do I care about Tucson and what brings me to state this in my daily blog? Well, right now Tucson is the heart of the gem and bead-buying nation with the Tucson Gem Show going on now and most of the bead shows scheduled for this coming weekend. Fortunately I still have gemstone material from my last major trip that I can work with in my own work, but it was always a nice break from winter, to head down to the (relative) warmth of Arizona, look at amazing rock, gems and beads, and catch up with friends. My DH and I have wanted to go together to the show for many years. When we retire, I'll try to get us down there just so that he can have the experience of it. It is a unique, fun, and overwhelming experience that I always enjoy, no matter how much or how little money I have available to spend.

Aren't these crystals amazing? Just a small part of the Tucson Gem Show that people will be seeing this week.

I started reading through CB's story yesterday. I committed to do some illustrations for it, so I'm plowing through it as quickly as possible, marking some possible passages for illustrations. I still need to finish the burning waters for another piece, and I'll trot my "Lifelike Portraits" book along with me today to review before starting the next batch of illustrations. I have three pending stories also, guess I won't be bored for a while :-)

And in miscellaneous...I finished reading Lionheart yesterday. Highly recommended to me and I pass that recommendation along to all of you. Well worth the read. Apparently robberies of smart phones is very high, even attacking people to steal them. One more reason for me not to upgrade, even though it would be fun it would be more money than I want to pay. Enjoy your Tuesday, you are one day closer to your weekend :-)