Thoughts on the Weekend

The wedding reception was a lot more fun than I had thought it would be. I actually knew more people than I thought, my friend Michelle and her new husband Scott were happier than I had ever seen them, the food was actually wonderful, and I had the opportunity to reaquaint myself with a fellow artist who I have admired for many years. Maureen Carlson and I have met on-and-off for almost 30 years. We started out meeting at the Minnesota Renaissance Faire, then ran into each other at some national conventions, and then when she would be invited to teach small classes at the Upper Midwest Bead Society meetings. I have always had a great deal of respect for her, but it was a true delight to spend a few hours in the company of Maureen and her husband Dan. I envy the fact that she is an artist who makes a living with her art and a woman who had the courage to follow her heart. More power to you, Maureen.

I had thought that my Sunday would be spent cutting down a tree and shredding lots of wood at our small house. I was absolutely NOT looking forward to it. But as it turned out, my DH decided against doing that on Sunday. He feels that he can cut down the tree on Tuesday on his own since it will be an easy fall, and then we'll see if we can borrow the truck of a friend to take the wood and brush to the local brush composting area. Since the tree is an ash tree, and there are instances of the Emerald Ash Borer in the neighborhood, we are limited in terms of where we are allowed to take that wood. Mother Nature is trying to take her revenge for our turning our backs on her - she is quite successful :-)

And this week begins the final Beading For A Cure auctions. Since my own item is among them, I'll put mine at the top of this blog to get it out of the way so that I can concentrate on the wonderful pieces that the other participants have created for the remainder of the week. Check out this fabulous piece by Eileen Erinoff (bottom picture) for example. Remember - bid high, if you don't win an item this week, you've lost out until 2011.

One More Day - AACCKK!!!!

My Holiday cards are almost ready to mail - just less than 12 to go for personal messages and they will be sealed, stamped and mailed. My packages for Sharon, Poo and Maja will be mailed on Wednesday (they would have been mailed today but I forgot their addresses and my Palm at the shop overnight so I don't have the address sheet that I wanted to bring home with me after all - silly me!). At the last minute, we have decided to do an after-Christmas sale, so that's one more thing that I need to get going on. If we're not too busy at the shop today, I can probably get addresses entered into the Email database during the day. And I did find and purchase the single gift I am getting for my DH after a delightful dinner with Michelle (thanks for a fun evening, girlfriend!!) last evening. I'm hanging onto the receipt - this one may end up being returned or exchanged.



So, in my own stumbling way, I guess I'm slowly getting there. But not entirely. Wednesday will be EXTREMELY hectic. I need to get the gift card for my Father-in-law, pick up the Honey Baked Ham (mmmmmmmm - yummy!!), finish and wrap DH's medallion gifts, get the certificates that I am giving him all assembled and packed, and still be at the store no later than 2:30 so that we can do our own gift exchange before we close for Christmas. Just too much to do, but I'll be able to sleep in on Christmas morning. That will be a Christmas gift that I relish receiving :-))