Winter Is Here.....Camping Season is Over For Now.

Took me a while to get this post up, been kind of busy with other things.

We closed the camper up Halloween weekend, so now it is winterized and ready to greet us in the Spring.
Hopefully we will have better weather next year than we did this year.  Not many hot days, well not hot enough to get the pool temp up to a comfortable "warm".  It was quite cool most of the year.  There were a few weekends where it was very nice and the water was just right for swimming and/or just floating on our floaties and noodles.  I even acquired a moderate tan!

Now that winter is here, we stay in most of the time, maybe go out for dinner or to visit mom on the weekend.  I have taken up crochet again, and we have been watching a lot of old movies and lately the Christmas shows that have been on TV.

We haven't been playing much World of Warcraft, I guess we need a break from it.  I get on occasionally to do a few things but we don't stay on for hours like we did last winter.  It just isn't a priority for us.

I have been contemplating re-arranging furniture to get a different look, but not many ways to change it around in these small rooms.  The living room is pretty much the way it will stay since there aren't enough solid walls to put a couch against or enough room to re-arrange end tables or other furniture to make it work.  The bedroom is about the same although we have the option of moving the bed from one wall to the other, but that would make the angle at which we need to lay to watch TV would be an uncomfortable contortion LOL.

Missy Dawg continues to be a source of entertainment for us.  She seems to even converse with us.  We tell her something and she makes sounds like she is answering, or most likely sassing.  She knows our schedule and routines and never fails to remind me when it is time for bed, or when it is time for me to get up, even on a weekend!  She did finally adjust to the time change, took her about a week this year.  But she still doesn't know how to read a calender.

Work has been pretty steady, lots of Wal-Mart's and Sam's Clubs going up and we are doing almost all of them in our area.  We are looking for a new location for the office and warehouse since our landlord sold the unit we are in now and the new owner wants to use it for his own business.  So hopefully we have until maybe February to actually move out.  I am already stressing about the move, worrying about getting everything packed, getting rid of what we no longer need to keep, making sure everything gets moved without damage, especially the computers and my big plotter.  I am not going to worry about the warehouse, let the guys deal with it, but the office is mine and I have to make sure everything is moved and relocated at the new place in the correct locations.  I am really hoping to get an office that has more than 1000 s.f. this time, as we have literally grown out of what we have now.  The only other thing that concerns me is how much further I will have to drive to get to it.  I don't like expressway driving, so hoping it is somewhere that I can take back roads that are plowed and salted in the winter and don't flood in the summer.  Is that asking too much?

Time To Get Back To Business

I've been slacking off. Not only has it been almost a week since my last post, but I haven't done any creating in a week. I'm not sure if I was on the verge of getting sick or if I was just having an uninspirational week.

Anyway, last week was a really exhasperating week at work, one thing after another went bonkers, starting with no power all day on Monday, no phones Thursday morning, no phones all day Friday, plus my wide-format printer decided to crap out on me Friday.

My husband and I decided on Friday afternoon to run away for the weekend. We had a blast! Went about 2 hours north of home, and holed up in a cozy suite for the weekend. Saturday morning we went out for breakfast and found a bead shop nearby that had beautiful beads from Botswana, Africa, and many other exotic locations. I also found the gunmetal findings that I've been hunting for.

If you're in Illinois or Southern Wisconsin, this is a great bead shop to stop at. Their website is http://www.beadsandreeds.com and they are located in Rockford IL, right on State St, near the Cherry Valley area. The sweetest lady runs the shop and they not only have beads and findings, but also hemp craft items, display products, classes, and handmade jewelry for sale. I have a feeling we will be taking more trips there in the future. The beads I found there are unlike any I've seen before. They have the standards and also some really unique items.

I am hoping work will be less tedious this week so that I have energy when I get home to create more jewelry and accessories for my shop. I have so many beautiful beads to work with, I know that once I get started, I'll be on a roll. So keep your eyes open for new items in my shop real soon! I will post the new items here so if you subscribe to my feed or blog updates, you'll be the first to know about them!

Is It The Maturity Factor, Or Is It Sheer Exhaustion?

Have you ever been driving somewhere that you go to regularly, such as work, and took your normal route, but for some unknown reason the scenery didn't look familiar? Did you think you missed a turn, or turned at the wrong spot? A cold chill runs up the spine because you're thinking you have to turn around and figure out where you are.

This happened to me this morning. As I was driving to work, I was thinking of some new jewelry design and calculating what I need to complete it. I mechanically made the necessary turns, but after making the third one, the landscape looked strange, or different. Granted, it was dark, and I was a bit on the tired side, but still, I really thought I missed my turn. Panic gripped me for a moment as I tried to figure out WHICH turn I missed. I am driving thru a heavily industrial area with a lot of sub-lots and half roads and not really sure what went to where. All of a sudden I saw the familiar curve in the road that tells me the next corner is a sharp right turn, and I felt better.

I hate when that happens!

THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!!