Happy New Year!

Not really. I have been sick as all get out for 2 weeks. My sister and I just passed the first anniversary of Mom's death. My father-in-law died last week. Hopefully, things will start looking better in the coming weeks.

On the brighter side, the weather has been unseasonably warm, which has helped to lift my spirits. My husband has the cast off his foot so we went for a ride on the scooter. We were able to take the grandpuppy for a walk without heavy winter outerwear.

I'm hoping to be more active on the etsy street teams that I belong to, etsybead, and BBEST. I just hope my jobs don't take up too much time and energy so I have the time and energy to devote to crafting my jewelry.

I'm in another treasury!

I'm a member of etsybead but haven't done much due to life getting in the way. When I saw the current theme I was excited because I already had items listed that fit the theme and since it is a 2 week theme it seemed worth the effort to figure out what I needed to do. One of the members snagged a treasury and selected one of my items to go in it. No sales as of yet, but at least more views, so a few more people know I'm out there.

I'm also a member of BBEST and had a convo with someone who lives less than 2 miles away. Maybe we can meet at Starbucks or someplace like that.

Only 2 more school days until Christmas vacation. There are so many special activities going on that the days just fly. Today the chorus from another school came and performed for us. Tomorrow is the holiday dance and Friday is our sing-a-long. Families are invited and we sing holiday songs led by our music teacher. It is a fun time.

Hard to Believe

I did not realize how long I been neglecting my blog. It seems like an eternity since I last posted. so much has happened. Thanksgiving has come and gone; the first one without Mom so that was hard. For the past 10 years the gathering was at her house. This year we went to my cousin's in Philadelphia. My one aunt, who usually came, was visiting family members in Boston so that was different. One of my cousins noted that this was the first time we were together without any of our parents present, so that was a bit emotional.

My sister and I had our annual "sister time" shopping for Black Friday bargains. It is not like that is the only time we do things together since we see each other 3 or 4 times a month and talk 2 or 3 times a week. We each got some great bargains.

I had been toying with the idea of an open house for my jewelry since etsy is not going well for me, and my sister scheduled one at her house. It went very well and when I have all orders filled I will have sold about 50 pieces. I had a smaller open house here and sold about 12 pieces so I am very happy. I am relisting etsy items that had expired, but I hadn't renewed in case they sold at one of the open houses. I'm also listing pieces that were made for the open house but had not sold.

My husband got his cast off this week and he does not have to go to physical therapy. His doctor said to ride the exercise bike to see if that would rehabilitate the foot.

My knee has been giving me problems again. I got a cortisone shot in it and was prescribed a knee brace. I'm waiting to see if I will be approved for Synvisc.

One of my uncles had brain surgery in October and passed away in November. One of my aunts (not the one whose husband just died) had gall bladder surgery this week.

I am still trying to get ready for Christmas. Our small tree is up and my cards are done. Still need to finish shopping and wrap gifts. I don't think I will be baking cookies this year. I just won't have time.

Busy Days!

It seems hard to believe that October is almost over. It seems like so much has happened in a very short time. I've been a bit negligent in posting, but things in my life are moving right along. DH and I celebrated our birthdays in the past 2 weeks as did my sister. I went on my first, second, and third scooter ride, however, on the third ride, we laid the bike down. I have a few bruises to show for it. DH, on the other hand, has a broken foot. The boot that he wore on his other foot most of the summer is now on the other foot. The first few days he was in considerable pain, but that has eased quite a bit and he gets around quite well with the boot and/or crutches. Tonight at Wal-Mart he rode one of the motorized carts which surprised me, but I'm glad he did. He goes back to the doctor on Wednesday. I'm not sure what they will be looking for, since it took a CT scan to see the extent of the break.

Last week was not the best at school. It was full moon and it seemed to be adversely affecting many of the students. I was really glad when Friday was over. Hopefully everyone will have had a restful weekend and be refreshed and ready for a new week.

I'm thinking seriously about having an open house for my jewelry to pick up some business that way. I guess I need to get busy creating so I have ample inventory to make a nice show. My sister spent last weekend with members of a message board that she is on. I had made a bracelet for her to use as a contest prize and she got orders for 12 more so I really do need to get busy. I not sure what I want to do about etsy. Do I want to relist items as they expire or just wait until after the open house so I have a lot of items to list, which will keep the shop coming up in the time machine?

Pictures are my biggest problem. Taking clear ones, selecting a background to show of the pieces to their best advantage, good lighting, editing, and organizing them--all of these cause me great difficulty. I have pieces I could list, but I'm not up to dealing with the photography aspects of it, so they are not listed. There is so much more to selling jewelry than making it and saying look what I made.

Back to work

Unfortunately all things must come to an end, and I went back to work today. I must say that I am tired and it wasn't really a very hard day. My knee is still a bit bruised and sore, but it is not too bad. I guess I'll see how tomorrow goes.

I found a thread on the etsy forum about exchanging blog links so I added a number of links to help people browse through etsy shops. Hopefully others will add a link to here and that will bring some traffic to my shop. BTW, I just added a few new pieces and expect to adding a few more in the very near future since I have a few pieces near completion. I also just got Photoshop; I now need to install it. I hope that will improve my pictures.

The big news is that on Saturday my DH passed the test for his motorcycle license. Now I need to get a helmet so I can ride with him. I'm excited about taking my first ride. His birthday was Saturday so he got a really good present.

It got cooler over the past few days so fall is here. I would like fall so much better if it didn't lead to winter. Of course, winter wouldn't be so be if I didn't have to go out in the bad weather

I've been busy!

I am quite excited! Since I have been off I spent some money at the bead store and I have 3 new necklaces completed and 1 that is a work in progress. All I need to do is take pics so they can be listed. The problem is pricing. These necklaces will be more expensive than anything else I have listed. One is a "floater" necklace. I wore mine the other day and received several compliments so I handed out my business card and figured it was time to get one listed. One of the other pieces is made featuring top drilled Sworovski crystals. I think the piece is absolutely stunning and I am quite pleased with it. I just hope that someone else thinks so and buys it. The third necklace is gorgeous. It is made with top drilled pearls, semi-precious teardrop shapes, and Sworovski crystals. I plan to donate this as a raffle prize for the playground fund at the school where I teach. When I calculated what it cost to make, I was a bit surprised. I am going to check around, but if I list a piece similar to this one, it was be by far, the most expensive item I've listed on Etsy.

It has been awhile

It seems like life is flying away from me. I need a 3 day weekend every week just to keep up, never mind get ahead. My surgery was on 9/28 and it went well. It seems like I spent all my time since the last post preparing for it. Pre-op testing had to be scheduled and done and I had to have my classroom in order for my sub. I'm going in Monday for inservice, since that will be computer work, but then will be off until the following Monday for sure, although the doctor said it I didn't think I could handle it he would give me more time.

My stitches came out yesterday and I got to see pictures taken during surgery. Thankfully, they were not bloody, but more like x-rays. (I have a weak stomach about such things!) It was explained to me that the inside of my knee was better than expected, however the outside was worse and needed more cleaning out. There was a piece of loose cartilige along with the tears. Arthritis was also found (no surprise there) but if One was to have arthritis in one's knee that would be a "good" place to have it. Have to look for the silver lining in the clouds!

I am getting back into making jewelry to list on etsy. I plan to try to get lots more done next week before I have to go back to work. I went to the bead store today armed with 4 coupons. Yipee!!! I have so many projects in mind. I would like to have a backlog of items to list on a regular basis, so even if I don't have to make things, I can list on a regular basis to keep the shop appearing in the time machine.

Of course, the bonus is 3 weekends off from the deli, but then it is 3 weeks with no pay from the deli. I guess everything has a trade-off.

Other big news is that my husband got a scooter, which is like a motorcycle but has an automatic transmission. There are other differences, but I couldn't tell you what they are. He had been looking and took me along and I talked him into a bigger one. I wanted a more comfortable seat and I liked the color better. Besides, I was thinking that with 2 of us on it, we would need a bit more power. The difference in price wasn't a big as I thought it would be. The first time he rode it, he was a bit intimidated by all the power, but he soon got over that and is glad I talked him into the larger bike. Everybody who sees it says they think it is neat and one neighbor pronounced it cute.

Right now, he is in the middle of motorcycle classes. If he passes the class, he will have his motorcycle license (he has a learner's permit now). Then he will be able to ride after dark and have a passenger. He's already said that before we head out on the road we will have to do parking lot practice, but first I need to get a helmet!