THANK YOU.....

Thanks to all of you that have sent cards and condolences for Uncle Steve.  I really, really appreciate it, more than you know.  So many of you emailed me regarding the "Crayon" story that I shared from our wedding, yes, it is great, and yes, that was just the way Uncle Steve was.  The day after he passed away, I was picking Hallie up at extended day at school when my cell phone beeped that I had a message....any guesses who?  Uncle Steve.  I wasn't going to listen to it until I got back home, but I just had to hear his voice again.  Big mistake for me....I had to sit out in the parking lot for 30 minutes sobbing my eyes out again.  He was calling to say "Hi" and that he was looking forward to the weekend with us.  I have really been broken up about it, basically angry that his life was cut so short.  We are having memorial services this weekend in Indiana and Lexington Kentucky where he was from.  We have all had this crazy stomach flu too, I have had it for 4 weeks now off and on again.  I was going to make an appointment with a GI doctor, but after talking to a nurse I decided to wait.  It's finally gotten a little better but not after I dropped 10 pounds from hardly eating anything for over 2 weeks!!

Ok, on to other topics J  As you probably know, I haven't had a chance to work on new designs (I am catching up with my emails this morning too), but the good thing is, all this chaos and sadness has not stifled my creativity.  Making beads has always been a source of comfort for me and zoning out in front of the torch is the next best thing to a hug from my kidos J   I do have a funny "HAIR" story for you.  Yesterday was Jesse's "Crazy Hair Day" at school, this boy jumped into my bed at 6:30am to go and get his hair chalk at Wal-mart!  He was so excited!!!  I did learn a valuable lesson yesterday that I'll pass along....don't have your kids stand by the car while you apply fluorescent green hair chalk!!!  EEKKK!!  When we finally arrived at school.....a half hour early....Jesse was nervous to get out of the car....when he finally did the kids at school ran to him wanting to touch his "Glow in the dark" hair...it was cute and he loved the attention.  Today was "Nerd Day", but I don't know how to dress like a nerd...come on!!!  Seriously, I had no idea what to put on him, so he went as "Jesse" today...that was his idea!  All the kids had taped up glasses on and pocket pencil holders on!  It's hard to believe school is out in less than a month....where does the time go?

S P R I N G  is finally here....I think!

I woke up today, after a terrible night, to a bright "sunshiny" day!  The grass is green, birds are singing and the kids are ready to be outside 24/7.  I have been working away, I mean seriously making beads to fill all my orders and re-stock the store for Mother's Day, just trying my darnedest to make everyone around me happy.  It's times like these, when everything is chaotic, lots to be done, things to do and people to see.....when something always happens (w/o fail) to put things back into perspective for me.  I tend to lose focus of the important things when I get like that, friends & family take the back seat, unfortunately with consequences....as some of you may know.  Yesterday, without warning, our Uncle Steve passed away.  I am seriously still trying to wrap my head around it.  We were planning our annual trip to Keenland this weekend, to visit Uncle Steve and Aunt Ann, attend the races and just "hang" out with them. They are two of coolest people I know.  Aunt Ann has purchased beads from a bunch of other girls on Artzee, some of you know her, she is a sweetheart with a true passion for collecting everything....especially our beads :)   She shows them to everyone and will tell you without hesitation "My niece makes the best plunged florals I've ever seen"!  Uncle Steve was her grounding force, he kept her "in-check" so to say and they always bantered back and forth with each other.  They were the first people to come and visit us when we moved to Troy.  They kept in touch with an occasional phone call and my yahoo account was (is) overflowing with Uncle Steve's emails. He will be greatly missed.  I have to share my first encounter with Uncle Steve.  Ed and I were just dating when he invited me to his Uncle Steve's annual pig roast in Lexington Kentucky.  It was my first time meeting his family so I was very nervous and wanted to make a good impression.  Uncle Steve immediately took me in and was really sweet.  Ed's dad wanted to play a round of golf and asked if I minded that he slipped away for a while. Ummmm....sure....I guess.....leave me here with all these people I don't know!  While Ed was gone I made the most of it and so did Uncle Steve.  He gave me a concoction of Kentucky moonshine (the real stuff!), lemons and sugar all shook up together, yes, like a lemon shake, and told me to try it.  It was good to say the least but I had no idea what I was drinking, just that it was good, and I kept drinking it. UNTIL an hour later when my face started to get numb and I couldn't form a sentence!!!!!!!  By the time Ed came back from golfing I was smashed....completely smashed!  I later found out that Aunt Tulin had been initiated into the family the same way HA!! When we opened Uncles Steve's wedding gift there was a crayon inside, I didn't think anything about it, just that it mistakenly got placed in the box somehow.  He asked me if  I received his gift with the crayon inside...yes and what's up with the crayon I asked?  Here is what he said:

We will be in Lexington this weekend, not celebrating at the Thoroughbred Club with Uncle Steve and Aunt Ann as originally expected, but celebrating the life of Uncle Steve and his love for his family and friends….life is short….color outside the box.

Happy TGIF!!

You've probably been wondering where I've been?!  Spring Break kept up busy here!  Not to mention I have been very sick the last week.  Do you remember our girl’s day out trip to PF Changs & IKEA?  I just happened to hear that there was a Hepatitis A outbreak going on at PF Changs while we there!!!  HOLY COW right?  After much discussion with their risk management department and the other "girls" that went, we were past the window to get the vaccination and decided not to worry about it, since the individual that had the hepatitis did not wait on our table.  There is nothing you can do once you catch the "A" type .  BUT, a couple of weeks ago I started to get really sick with strange stuff.  Aches and pains and just "blah"...I mean really "blah"....I couldn't get out of bed for a couple of days this week.  It never entered my mind once that I could have hepatitis until after I went to the doctor.  So I spent yesterday...yoo-hoo L.....making a trip to Cincinnati to go to my old doctor for testing.  I am fine, just have the flu....thank goodness... but not after worrying myself half to death over it for a week!!  We have not found a family doctor here in Troy that we like...or that is accepting new patients.  It's crazy.  So in the meanwhile I still have to go to Cincinnati to get anything done....like I said it's crazy and very time consuming since it's a 1 ½ hour trip…..each way!!  I'm just glad to be feeling better today!!

Last weeks Bali bead sale was a huge success!!  I have started to work on a few new things but will be working on orders all weekend getting caught up.  A HUGE thank you to everyone that purchased beads this past week!  Watermelon sets have been flying out the door like crazy!!  I will be playing catch-up the next couple day but will have everything finished this weekend!  Look for a whole “crop” of new goodies next week!!