Words to live by

BALANCE (thoughts + words = actions) HARMONY (in all forms) COURAGE (do what brings the above) GENEROSITY (give to others and yourself 50/50) HAPPINESS (no spending unnecessarily) BEAUTY (inner strength, confidence) WISDOM (make good choices) CLEANLINESS (no clutter)

I'm having fun

This is a new product I'm adding to my jewelry line. My biggest challenge in making jewelry is working with the split rings and small jump rings that hold everything together. Many of them 'fly into oblivion' when I'm trying to attach them. They are all over my studio.
The little kids on the bracelet are my grand nieces Janey and Lauren, and my grand nephew Oliver. They are all adorable, sweet little kids and I love to use their pictures on my samples. Their mothers and grandmother keep me supplied, thank you very much Hilary, Janell and Ani.

Did'ja ever...

Did'ja ever have a day that started out so good, but somehow just couldn't keep the momentum? This is that day. I was looking for something to wear, and found a pair of chinos that didn't used to fit, and - guess what? They fit! (That yoga must be working.) But, wait... I'm scheduled to attend a C of C luncheon. Oh well, it's just a brown bag lunch - I'm OK. There isn't a dress code. Tried to work on 'something', 'anything' - just to be productive. Wound up moving stuff around. No progress. Tried to order group tickets for our Church Fellowship group, but can't because one couple hasn't responded. grrr. All of a sudden it's time for the luncheon. Closed up and rushed over to the Community Bank on Butterfield. The notice said the luncheon was in the Community Bank Board Room (The last was held there, too.) Got to the bank a few minutes late, to find 'no meeting' in board room. Went to inquire downstairs. Was told "It's at the new chamber office" they have named their board room - you got it - 'the Community Bank board room' grrrrr. I could have rushed back, parked and ran over there, but I would have missed half the program. I gave up and decided to go to JoAnn's to pick up some stuff I need for my jewelry that is on sale. Since I was way South at this point, I decided to go out to Geneva, see Amy, bring her an egg salad sandwich and chocolate doughnuts, and shop at the JoAnn's on Randall Road. Half way there, I changed my mind and turned North to go to the JoAnn's in Bloomingdale instead. (I guess I didn't feel like driving to Geneva.) By this time, I'm starving. Did my shopping, with my lunch bag in the cart so it wouldn't cook in the car, came back to my studio and ate at 2:. Ordered coffee for the church 'Flea and Craft' (I sell Fair Traded coffee as a small mission.)but my favorite Toffee flavored coffee was sold out. I have three purses to make, and I think all of the above was to put off starting on them. I'm not is a sewing mood. There is a Zoomba class later that I am, was, am, planning to take. We'll seeeeee

Another picture of my mom

Isn't this adorable. My Aunt Grace is on the left. When we celebrated mom's 75th with a big surprise party, I outlined mom's picture and made a lot of Little Vi's that we hung from the strings of helium balloons. It was really cute.

When we celebrated Bill's birthday I did something similar. There weren't any baby pictures of him, so I put his adult head on a baby picture I found and made a baby picture of him. It was pretty funny.

Flooding in Elmhurst July 24, 2010

Picture from the Elmhurst Independent Newspaper

This is the railroad tracks underpass in down town Elmhurst the day after we had 7" of continuous rain. Many homes were flooded as well. We've had so much rain this year, and broke a record for hottest summer ever - and still counting! Last year we didn't have 'summer' at all, but we did have a very warm February. How can people not believe in global warming??
BTW the little white square in the upper right portion of the picture is the speed limit sign, so you get an idea of just how deep the water is!