Happy Friday - Happy Days

It's hard to remain positive when so many negatives abound around us that we run into every day, but I'm determined to try for a really positive post for everyone today.

My PT Cruiser has vanity plates and added chrome on the
grillwork and door handles, but she's beautiful and so is this pic.
I love my car!

1) My car is repaired and ready to go to Milwaukee in a bit more than a week. I have headlights that almost look like new, my oil has been changed and everything tightened and checked, and best of all, the total bill was less than $150. SCORE! What a relief!

It's always nice to have a review. Have you left one
for a story lately?

2) I got two reviews on short little stories that were old stories. It's really quite nice to know that some of my older work is still being read, even though my writing skills have improved since then and I would, more than likely, be writing them differently. But the stories they reviewed were ones I was happy with and getting the reviews at all was a real day brightener.

Shruti is on the right, I'm on the left. We were in Chicago for
the 2011 Metal Clay World Conference. I can't wait to
introduce her to Bead & Button Show, she'll LOVE it.

3) I'm looking forward to Bead & Button Show a lot. Not necessarily because of the classes (which will be awesomely fun) but because I'll have the chance to see my friend Shruti again. The past two years I've roomed solo and I've enjoyed going back to a room where I had solitude and rest. But Shruti and I have roomed together twice before at conferences and we've always had a fantastic time. She'll be flying in from New Dehli, India within a few days and I can hardly wait to see her and her amazing art again. She's never been to this show before so this will be overload for her. It's all good.

The Milwaukee Art Museum is lakeside. The wide wings of the museum
open and close once a day. This time-lapse shows how they more. The
photo below shows the building with them open. It's a great building!

This is a side view of the whole building. It's supposed to be
an architectural nod to the ships that are often on Lake Michigan just in
front of the museum. I love the building.

4) I'll be in Milwaukee for the show and that's where Zhie lives with her husband and assorted furry and feathered friends. I've managed to get together with them for meals and talk the previous two years and I hope that I can manage it in this year's schedule again. If not, well that's OK too, but it's always a plus to be able to meet with a fellow fan-fiction writer.

Another great building in Milwaukee, and one that I'll visit for a ball game
and a brat one of these days, is Miller Stadium. This baseball stadium
has a roof that retracts when the weather is nice, and closes when it
is stormy or snowing. I love the look of the ballpark and drive directly by it
on my way in and out of the town each year. Play Ball!

5) I keep focusing on losing weight and am down another pound this week. Call me happy. I'm not quite as low as I wanted to be before the Show yet, but I'm getting there and I'm feeling good. Don't think that I'm anywhere close to my end goal - I have many more pounds to lose before I am at the weight I want to be, but I'm actually succeeding and I'm really pleased about that.

I love my friends and am very fortunate to have them. Thanks to each
of you for being my friend!

6) Finally, I have this amazing circle of people who inspire me, influence me, and help keep me sane and away from the depths of despair (so easy to slip in to and hard to climb out of). So if you're reading this in any of the numerous places that I post it every day - THANK YOU! You're very important to me and my life is enriched by you.

Bravo Boy Scouts of America!

7) And one final thought. A rousing YES! going out to the Boy Scouts of America who voted resoundingly to allow gay scouts. They still won't allow gay leaders, but it's one very important step in equal rights for LGBT people. WTG BSA!