Finally Back to the Pool and the Olympics, Of Course

So, a quick post before dashing to the pool. Yesterday I skipped the gym, texting a friend that I was too exhausted from the Olympic Curling mixed doubles finals to be able to swim. They might not understand my love for curling, but I'm quite sure a lot of them are catching whatever they can of the broadcasts. 

The majority of the USA Curling team are from the Duluth 
Curling Club, which is HUGE. We're busy watching the 
men's curling now. 

Last night was figure skating - Ice Dancing. I actually had caught most of that during the afternoon while I was cooking, but it was nice to watch without having to dash back to the stove or pull something out of the oven. I didn't get everything I needed cooked yesterday. I'll still have to pull off my stuffed peppers either tonight or tomorrow night. There was a lot that needed cooking, and my baked fruit was more important than a dinner was. I'm now stocked for another 14-16 days of fruit, so the time was well worth it. 

Chock and Bates pulled out the Silver Medal last 
night in an almost flawless performance. Well 
Done!!!

Do any of you use or work with Facebook Ads? I've never bothered, but apparently it's a very important part of my liquidator's contact weapons. I thought I had given him all of the information needed, but he's still having problems. But ... I'm sure we'll figure it all out. I've never used Facebook for advertising, and I'm not fond of my friends getting notifications like that, but it won't be for a long time and then I can pull back from the ads part of the software and go back to the friends part only. 

I don't really do much with Facebook at all, and have 
never received any Facebook ads to the best of my 
recollection. I can't say they'll be a major splash, but you 
never know. 

But, now I'm going to wrap this up and get to the pool. Missing it yesterday was a good decision- I really needed that extra bit of sleep - but I don't like feeling like a slug in the mornings. Have an excellent Thursday, and enjoy the Olympics if that's your thing. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

I Got Sucked In - I Joined The Conqueror Challenge

Happy Tuesday. I joined an online "thing" yesterday, after vacillating about it for more than a week. It's called the "Conqueror Challenge" and basically, it's an exercise challenge where you enter what activity and mileage you've done (you can enter several times during the day if you're like me and do a variety of things in an average day). You plug in your mileage and your activity and progress along a designated virtual pathway toward a specific area or location. I chose three different challenges - walking to Petra, Jordan (40 miles); walking the Giza Plateau and pyramids in Egypt (46 miles); and walking along the Inca Trail in Peru (26 miles to end at Machu Picchu). 

The route and the front of the medal (there are two sides, 
both decorated beautifully) for the Giza Plateau route. 
I'm looking forward to walking/swimming this 
route, but I started with Petra, instead. Of course, I 
couldn't resist the medal - it's a winged scarab, 
after all - LOL. 

Along the route, you get regular post cards showing you the environment you're in and giving information about the area. At the end of each challenge, they will mail you a rather fancy medal along with a honeycomb display for it. I'm finding it quite fun, and one more thing to keep me accountable for my exercise routine, as well as in my daily activities so that I don't become fused to my chair in front of my computer screen. I'm quite sure this wouldn't be for everyone, it's relatively expensive and somewhat silly in some respects, but so far it's a lot of fun, and it has a large and active FaceBook community, which is also very enjoyable. 

The Inca Trail medal has an elaborate cutwork 
design on the back side, portions of which 
can be seen from the front. I'm looking forward 
to the hike, but it's the third one on my list, with 
Giza coming between Petra and the Inca Trail. 

Our next snowstorm is scheduled for tomorrow - of course, my "errands" day, shopping day, and generally very busy day. I'm hoping I'll escape the worst of it, and I probably can ignore my Co-op and Whole Foods, but I'll need to make a major market stop at my local grocer. I need a LOT of stuff.  But, as long as it's safe to drive (not super bad visibility and highly dangerous roads), I'll be fine. I'll have to keep a close eye out on the weather, though. It always pays to be a bit cautious at this time of the year. 

The Petra challenge medal doesn't come across 
as well in the photo because it is a dark 
lacework doorway between the 
decorated framework border. So far it's 
been really interesting. I'd never realized the 
wadi leading to the site was as varied as it 
is, but it's clearly quite remarkable at foot 
distance while I'm walking through it virtually. 

We were quite busy at the store, yesterday, so I have some serious clean-up to do this morning before I open. I'd probably better get in gear and wrap this up so that I can accomplish some other things before I leave for work. As always, I hope you have a truly fabulous day - one filled with accomplishment, love and satisfaction when you look back at it tonight. Be safe, be kind, and I'll return tomorrow. 

Monster Cakes and FaceBook "Friends" - You Never Know Who Your Friends Truly Are

Sometimes you just have to go for something fun, and that's what DH did when he was out shopping for groceries earlier in the week. He was looking for his favorite - white cake with white frosting - and came across this "Monster Cake" instead. He couldn't resist, so bought it and we'll share it over four days so we don't overdose on sugar (more likely for me than for him, he's a sugar addict). Still, it was such a fun monster and I just had to share. 

The Monster Cake is so funny, it's a shame to have 
to cut it into pieces. The eyes are Oreo cookies with 
white and black buttercream frosting. The cake 
itself is marble and quite yummy. 

We had our first pieces last night and it was excellent - pretty sweet, but I don't mind that on rare occasions. It's the season of sweet, after all. We've got All Hallows Eve coming up soon, and somehow bags of mixed mini candy bars seem to have made it into the house. Since I didn't buy them, I know who to blame - LOL. With rationing, they should take us through the end of the year, maybe even into 2021. 

From overhead, he doesn't look quite as 
scary - LOL. Every time DH and I looked at 
the cake in the refrigerator, we'd start 
laughing. It's a good monster who brings 
such joy and we're enjoying eating this one. 

With all of the tales of destroyed ballot collection boxes and burned ballots, it's turning int an election that will be fought through the courts after the final counts are in. I know my ballot was collected by someone qualified to collect it, and it's been opened and scanned. The actual tabulated votes from absentee ballots won't be downloaded until Election Day in my state, and I think we have several days afterward when absentee ballots can be still be counted into the final totals if they are postmarked no later than November 3rd. But, I'm very grateful I'm already out of this game. 

If you prefer to vote in person on November 3rd, you
might want to take the added precaution of having
a mail-in ballot available in case your lines are too
long. You can have it filled out and turn it into
the polling location on election day, just as if
you filled out your ballot in person in the little booth
and fed it into the machine. If you end up voting 
in person, you can just shred your mail-in ballot at home. 

I had to block an old acquaintance on FaceBook on Tuesday and it hurt my heart to have to do it. She's a Trump supporter, and that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their own political viewpoints. But when a person on her page pointed out that Biden's tax increase won't hit until people are making at least $165,000/year, she shot that person down, calling her a sheep who just follows dogma blindly. I thought that was way out of line and pointed out that everyone has a right to their own political opinions, which I guess didn't hit her well because the next post I got from her was her narrative story about how she would unfriend anyone who basically disagreed with her. I decided to block her instead - I'll think about unfriending her at a later time, but at least I don't have to read her vitriolic hatred any more. What a shame. She's a bright, talented and creative person and I adored her mother. Oh well, that's life. 

I hate unfriending anyone, although I have done so in 
rare cases. I blocked my friend rather than unfriending 
her. I will consider reactivating her after the election 
is over, or I'll delete her entirely from my feed. I don't 
have to decide immediately. 

On that note, I'm going to have some hot tea and oatmeal because I'm cold today. It's above freezing, so I shouldn't be so shivery. I wish I could curl up in a blanket for some more sleep, but that's time I really don't have. Enjoy your day, be kind, stay safe and please wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Thoughts About Geodes - Those Hidden Crystal Worlds

Thanks to all of you for the various FaceBook suggestions. I sent the message out to my three nieces last night. I'll wait a few days to see if any of them respond and go from there. *Hugs* to each and every one of you. 

Geode cakes feature a cut into the side where
rock crystals are placed to replicate the shining
surfaces of geodes in nature. This cake, although
it is using fondant for the frosting, actually has
a rather nice geode interpretation. 

Did any of you catch the final episode of the Spring Baking Championship last night? The three final contestants were assigned a Geode Cake as their project, with five hours to make a layered cake of at least three layers with rock candy crystals that they had to make from scratch. It was fun to see the final cakes, but I wasn't all that impressed with their interpretations of geodes. Still - it was far better than I could have done, so silly me for criticizing at all. 

Amethyst geodes are quite common and feature
larger crystals of the well-known purple hued
stone. This one is particularly nice. 

Geodes in nature are so beautiful. The hollow insides filled with crystals are actually air bubbles caught in the rock formations while the rock was being formed. The crystals themselves are often quartz or calcite (there are other types also, but those two are the most common). The crystals range in color from clear through amethyst and everything in between. 

Here are some unbroken geode rocks. You can buy these
at your local rock shop, but (of course) Amazon also
sells them. As an aside, what did we ever do before
Amazon became the world's store and go-to place? 

At many festivals there will be a stand with "dinosaur eggs" or "crack your own geode" stations for kids and adults to experience the delight that can come with breaking the right thing. No vase on the floor here. Instead, they can crack open a roundish sphere of rock, using a hammer or device - whatever the stand is offering. Once cracked open, a new world is revealed to the light for the first time in long ages of geologic time. It's a magical moment for the purchaser as well as for the geode itself. 

A hammer is the traditional way to open geodes, but you don't
always get a good cut. Sometimes people will actually cut
them open using a rock saw. That takes more time, but can
give a more predictable result. 

Sometimes people are like geodes - very hard exteriors that are hard to get into, but insides that have unexpected depths and surprises. Sometimes it's worth the extra effort needed to crack that hard exterior, just to discover the beauty that lies hidden within. 

This lovely group of polished geodes give you an idea
about how different each stone can be. Just like people.
Variety is what makes the rocks, and each other,
fascinating and always a surprise. 

Here's hoping your day is fabulous and fantastic. Enjoy the geodes I've peopled this post with and I'll return tomorrow. 

Memories, Old Friends and Facebook

Yesterday was a rush to the past for me, and I had so much fun with it. It started in the early morning with a long-time Facebook friend putting out a post for an old group I belonged to to check in - to speak out and think about the community we once had. Before you know it, many of us had posted, reminisced, commented on the posts of others, remembered those who were no longer with us, and generally joined a rather good-sized parade walking down memory lane.

The topic snowballed. People were contacted by other friends and joined
into the conversation. It was rather amazing as the day progressed. So many
old friends and good memories. 

It was so much fun when we first got together. It was the early days of the internet - one step above the old bulletin boards, but far below the multiple social network posting options we have available to us today. These were the days when there was no massive money machine behind "Bead & Button" magazine. These were the days when "About.com" and their beadwork section was read by thousands of us every week, everyone downloading the latest pattern and asking questions about stitching and finishing techniques. These were the early days of AOL, CompuServe and Prodigy. This was the group that I joined in 1996.

Most of us actually joined earlier than Version 5.0. I think
I joined in 1996, and 5.0 came out in 1999. As annoying as
AOL might be (and might still be in some respects), it
managed to accomplish something revolutionary and beat out
its competition over the decades. 

AOL was king in those days - sending downloadable disks into everyone's mailboxes and saturating the portal market. The competition crumpled under AOL's onslaught of advertising and their depth of news and communities. One of those communities was in their crafting section - a beaders community that chatted every day, shared tips and techniques, arranged for exchange boxes and bead swaps, and started an annual beading challenge to raise money for cancer research.

We gathered together, the AOL Beaders, at the Tucson Gem Show, the early stages of Embellishment/Bead & Button Show, and others. We rented extra rooms at the hotels for a beading room and met there after classes were finished for the day to bead, chat, and interact. Firm friendships were formed that still exist today. Yesterday, on Facebook, we joined together once more, this time in cyberspace. It was wonderful!

I'm not fond of Facebook, but I do check in every few days. Yesterday I
was checking in often, just to talk with old friends, and I ran into another
old friend on a completely different board. I haven't had so much fun
with social media in a long time. I wish it could always be like that. 

Noises were made about possibly starting a FB group just for us - those who had been together in the early days of the craft, before it had been blown apart by big business and people running after the immortal dollar sign. It might happen or it might not. Even if a new group is formed, I don't think it will have the same magic. The friends, though ... yeah. I'd join just to be in touch with my Beady Buddies one more time.

Have an awesome weekend. I'll be swimming in the 50-meter pool today, then off to work. I want my weekend, so I'm just patiently waiting for the close of business tonight (or maybe NOT so patiently). Be back on Monday *throws kisses out into cyberspace*.

One More Day in the Salt Mines

I work on Saturday, but have my Sunday off and I'm already looking forward to it. I've had this crappy creeping crud cold for ten days now and it's gotten really old. Can I say BORING? I didn't make it to the gym all week because I can't stop coughing. As much as I want to get back to the gym next week, I don't dare until I'm actually over this. I've been spending my time apart from DH since he has the same crud and I don't want to get more sick. That's kept me up-to-date on computer things at night and allowed me to add to sleep time in the morning. All good. But I really need to get back to a normal schedule again.

I do find comfort in following a schedule. 

I finally wrote something - only a small triple drabble (300 words) but it's the first thing I've written since the end of NaNoWriMo in November, so I'm quite pleased. I need to get back into a writing groove.

Finally, I've managed to write a story. Crazy things my muse does to me. 

But I've been posting some of my other works on FaceBook because an acquaintance nominated me for Five Days of Art. Do you follow me on FaceBook? I have a large number of friends there. Feel free to message me and I'll give you my info so that you can find and friend me.

I use FB often, but like anything else, I find it easy to put aside for days
at a time too. 

So today it's one more day of hacking and coughing at work, followed by the second half of the chicken stir-fry I made for dinner and a quick update on my FB Page for my Day 4 of Five Days of Art choices. Then sleep. Yippee! Sunday will be spent doing some serious laundry. I can't wait! Have a wonderful weekend.

Beading Success

So, last week I posted about how brain dead I was, making a bracelet that had no resemblance to what I wanted to make.  So I ripped the incorect one apart and started again last night.  Two hours later the bracelet was complete (except for a clasp) and I'm much happier.  I wanted a small example of what can be done with Tila beads for my customers, and that worked very well.  I ams also working to discover what will be time-reasonable for holiday gifts.  Tonight I want to try a different project and see how successful that will be.  I want my casual gifts to take 1-2 hours to make, on average. 

 This tombstone was fastened to the back of
Chickie's chair.
To see more of my photos, check my Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=101345&id=1183567447&fbid=1701689900435

My finger is in really bad condition under the best of times.  Poking it with the needle many times last night was not really a good thing.  Today it hurts - a lot.  It will be OK again by tonight, but it has a long way to go before it is actually healed. 

From L-R, me, Chickie and Angie eating our salads with chopsticks.

Chickie Mom took lots of photos.  To see
those, check out Chickie's Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2092663&id=1472259881&fbid=1667907625522

The party on Saturday night was magnificant.  I put photos up on my own Facebook page, and Chickie posted a lot of photos on her page as well.  Here are a couple of pics, with links to the two different Facebook albums if you want to look at all of them.  We all had a fantastic time. 

Progress

Chickie has her 40th birthday in early November and I'm organizing her party - uh, funeral.  Yesterday, when her Mom dropped off her old lawn mower for us to have, she also dropped by several excellent photos for the storyboard.  I can get started on that now.  And I revised Heather's poem for the remembrance card.  She still has to get back to me about the revisions.  Next week I'll have my final count and can let the restaurant know for sure on that.  I will also have to Email Angie and Alex and remind them that they are driving Chickie to and from the restaurant so that she can actually have a drink and not have to worry about driving home.  Now all I need is the weather to cooperate.  It will be early November, and we've had snow by that time of the year in other years.  So I want the weather to stay relatively mild through Turkey Day, and if I get lucky and all things go well, that will be the case. 

Isn't this a great image?  Just love
Death holding the birthday cake, and
the little hat is da bomb!

I set up a Facebook page for the business.  I have had a personal Facebook page for a year or so, but hadn't done anything for the shop until now.  I still need to upload other pictures, link things, etc., but it's a start.  If you are interested in following us, search for "Stormcloud Trading (Beadstorm)" and you'll find it.  We also tweet for the shop, that's under "Beadstorm", so if you are so inclined, sign up to follow us there too.  We're going to start really using these services within a month or so. 

Friendly Encounters

I live in an electronic world.  If you're reading this, so do you.  In this world I have sent tendrils of myself out in exploration of kindred souls - friends, in essence.  And those tendrils take many guises.  I always was good at making "friends", but I never was that good at making FRIENDS.  What's the difference?  A "friend" is a person of passing acquaintance - one who you may know for a short time or as long as several years, then fall out of contact with and never truly share time and activities again.  I have a lot of those and I'm sure that most people do.  A FRIEND, on the other hand, is someone who sticks with you and who you stick with, through thick and thin.  FRIENDS include long-time friends who are almost relatives - my cousin Missy comes into that category.  We've been FRIENDS since we were able to walk and are still in contact after more than 50 years.  My FRIEND Sharon is another of these people - friends since High School, we get together annually for a special and wonderful time together and then separate again for another year.  We're there for each other.  My DH is another FRIEND, and if your spouse or significant other is not a FRIEND, perhaps you should re-examine your choice in companion.  Spouses can be difficult, however, because they can switch between best supporter and worst enemy at the drop of a hat and mood. 

Best Friends are Forever!

Anyway, to return to the basic premise....  I, like anyone reading this blog, have sent out my own electronic tendrils.  Those have expanded to a Facebook page and now to a Live Journal page.  I got those pages because I was friended by people on those sites.  I also have a small presence on other social networking websites, but those are minor.  I have had the opportunity, through attendance at various events, to meet some of these "friends" that my tendrils have made and I have found that I really like them.  There is a commonality that I feel with them because of the activities that we have in common.  So I will continue to send out my "friend" tendrils and see what they find.  Who knows?  A "friend" may become a FRIEND of my future. 

Facebook AARRGGHH

So, I have a virtual pet on Facebook app Super Poke Pets. Hopper has been in existence since mid-March and he/she's doing really well and I'm having fun with him. I wanted to start a second pet with a different Facebook account. I got the Facebook account set up, and then got a bunny set up. But, it turns out that the SPP account and the Facebook account aren't talking to each other and when I try to get either one to acknowledge the other, they are telling me that the account already exists. I'm going to have to find out how to delete my new pet completely, and cross my fingers and hope that Hopper won't be a secondary casualty to that deletion. What should have been simple turned out to be a royal PITA because Facebook is NOT a very user-friendly app even though it is turning out to be ubiquitous in my cyber-world.

But, today is Saturday and that's a great day. I work an hour less, and I go to the shop an hour later. Any time I only have to be there for 9-1/2 hours instead of 11-1/2 hours is great. And tonite I'll play Lord of the Rings Online with DH. Sunday we'll cut the lawn and do some miscellaneous work, I'll get some more beading done, and we'll have a nice dinner. I think my weekend will be fabulous and hope I'll get some design work done also. Exercise your creative brain over your weekend - look for colors, shapes and harmony to put forth into your own work. Then you can start your next work week with an enriched perspective.

Checking Out the Past

Facebook has made me brave. OK, that statement probably needs a little bit of explanation - LOL. Because of the search feature, and the semi-ubiquitous positioning of Facebook in the lives of people in this country, I have been taking some time and searching out people that I used to know many, many years ago. You know...when we were still painting around our hands in caves and acting like total idiots in tie-dye, headbands, and beads. (Actually, those days were really quite fun, even if they were somewhat insane.)

The first old friend I found was a rival from high school. We had spent some rather intense years together, trying to one-up each other in our musical careers. I am delighted that she has continued in her music and currently teaches music at the high school level back in the Colorado that I miss (although I don't miss the cities in Colorado at all).

And last night I got an Email contact from a person I had been hunting for - the guy I almost married instead of my DH. I just wanted to catch up with him and find out if the past years have been kind to him. He was an important part of my life for several years and even though I ended up with a different guy, he was still a lot of fun and a good friend. Facebook allowed us to get back into contact, so I'm very grateful. I'm going to enjoy hearing about his career over the past years. So....have you reached out yet? Why not try finding and contacting someone from your past. It can be a totally rewarding experience.

Facebook Musings

I know a lot of my friends are on Facebook. I'm also there, but I keep wondering why I am bothering. I fully admit that some parts of it are quite fun. But it is another time sink - another opportunity to use computer time that is already overloaded with work, recreation, and my morning communications. So where am I supposed to fit Facebook into things? Should I Facebook instead of cleaning up my blog front page so that it looks more fun and inviting? Should I Facebook instead of keeping up with my blog and reading my fan-fic pages? Well there is only so much time that I have for my projects and computer time, so, I will continue on Facebook, but only to comment and very occasionally to add another list or take another quiz. But I don't think I'll be putting the work into it that other friends of mine have done.

If you are on Facebook and are interested in becoming one of my "friends", feel free to attempt it. If I actually know you, I'll probably approve you. If I don't know you, or if I haven't been in previous contact with you, I probably will ignore your "friend" request. Don't take it personally....or maybe, do. Either way - Facebook will NOT rule my life - my life is too full of art that needs to be done and project deadlines that are already staring me in the face :-)

Communication, Links and Love

I'm really trying to enter the 21st century - LOL. My friends (beading friends, mostly) invited me to join and set up a Facebook account. So, I did. I'm still trying to figure out why...but it has its' fun moments. I also am blogging 6-days a week (which you can tell if you are reading this). I am enjoying setting my thoughts into order every day. It seems to start my day out well, so I'm keeping up with this. I'm still not sure about Facebook though, and I refuse to Twitter. I don't think that anyone needs to know the boring details of my daily life in 140 words or less - LOL.

(picture above by Paul DeCelle)

Today is Saturday, pasta for dinner, and it's Valentine's Day in the US (and maybe in other countries also). For those who may live under a rock, Valentine's Day is a day for sharing and rededicating love between people. I rarely have nice holidays, but V-Day usually is pretty good. I started going out with my DH many years ago right around this time of the year, and that turned out pretty good, because we've been together for more than 30 years. And even though sometimes I think I would rather be on my own, I think I would actually miss him a lot. So, Happy Valentine's Day to each of you reading this blog. May you share some of this day with someone or some entity with love between you (in other words - share a hug with your cat/dog/pet, talk with another person and brighten their day, share your dreams through prayer). And don't forget to thank Spirit for the many gifts of love that come into our lives. Love is the driving force of the Universe and passing it on is the MOST important thing that we can do. Have a wonderful weekend!