Ahh finally some normal winter weather~ It is cloudy and grey out with some blue sky showing through in patches. I am pretty sure the weather heads told me it is going to be in the 40's today and I am happy that is warm enough to brave my garage studio and cook up some beads. I have an order for custom work so I'll show ya later~
I am really excited Bullseye just added more colors to their glass rod line and I love them all. Three are rich earthy red browns, there is a fabulous golden green color and a shade of ivory and then cyan blue. I can hardly wait to get my hands on some of the stuff. I am color obsessed it's true :) Color inspires and motivates me.
I got my hands on a truly delish cup of coffee this morning it is perfectly strong and dark and the organic creamer I splashed into it just takes enough of the edge off~ Bliss

It is still dark out and snowing like mad, again. I got up around 5:00 am this morning and looked out to see a skiff of snow and medium to tiny flakes coming down steadily. It is now a little after 6:00 am and the flakes have increased in size to those big clumpy fluffy ones we all loved to catch on our tongues as children. It is snowing like crazy now and accumulating quickly. The news crews are reporting Pierce County as the worst place to be driving this morning. We seem to have the most accidents :) compared to the rest .
I'll be back to say more later...
So now it is much later~ 11:30 and the snow turned to light freezing rain for a couple of hours but now I hear dripping melting noises outside~ Yay! Maybe tomorrow there will be school and we can all return to our normal daily routines here. If it gets warm enough maybe I can sneak out and melt some glass today. Matt got a heater for my studio but alas the breaker isn't big enough to run the heater and all my other "stuff" too. I will bundle up like I usually do :)

The setting sun~

Making Snickerdoodles and Time in the afternoon sunshine. I spent a bit of special time with Samantha this afternoon making snickerdoodles, an old childhood favorite of mine. They just don't taste like I remember them.
Time ~fleeting, intangible yet dragging its timeles feet toward the end of time.
My Fathers older sister passed away over the weekend. She had been suffering from alzheimers and her family suffered right along with her. She was a very special woman capable of brightening a room with her presence alone. I will miss her, my Auntie Karen.
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." -Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Making snickerdoodles and Time ;)

Migraines and January sunshine~ I had a migraine start this morning. I have to admit I have been having warning signs all week. Tuesday I had a hard time finding the right words, Wednsday and Thursday I was fine. I was even fine on Friday except in the night when I had a sudden pounding headache that was fleeting thankfully and then yesterday I noticed some things going on with my vision and I had numbness in my right hand. All signs I would have picked up on quickly in the past when I had migraines more often. Mine usually come from stress and hormone fluctuations (could it be the start of menopause?) and I have noticed bright January sunshine seems to also be a trigger for me. So first came the "missing spot" I look at things and can't quite see the whole thing. I used to run to the bathroom to see if part of my face was gone from the image in the mirror and that was how I could tell one was coming on. The next phase for me is the "element" I get the whole looked at a light bulb too long visual effect this is usually when I start to have some pain starting in my head as well as lose my ability to make much sense speaking :) Then for the grand finale' I may have numbness in my face, tongue or hands and or vomit. How fun :( I am always glad when they go away quickly I usually have to sleep them off and I think the worst one I had I slept for 14 hours solid, it was awful. I still have enough of a headache and brain fog to be useless and I hope I am making sense here forgive me if I have punctuation or spelling errors today hehehe...
I'll have more to say later maybe

All puffed up trying to stay warm!!
Part of a huge flock of Geese going over the house yesterday.
The trees across the way

Its a chilly seventeen degrees this morning. The world outside is icy and cold. I may make an attempt to get to work today I haven't decided yet. Ugh I really hate this, the decision making part. I would be there in a heartbeat if the weather was different or if someone could tell me about the roads between here and there. I guess we'll see :)

Slediquette~ Our morning started with some surprise snow. What we had yesterday actually had melted away and pretty much dried up. I was hopeful that I could return to work today. lol... Matt woke me up at some point in the night to tell me it was snowing again. I really couldn't believe it, as the weather heads said we would be done with snow by 8:00 pm last night. I really know better than to believe everything they say, really I do. So I hustled out to get some photos in my jammies big coat and boots ( a lovely sight for the neighbors I am sure :) Then we had a hearty breakfast. After that we all bundled up for a walk and some sledding. The sled hill is about a 70 degree rock strewn hill a block long. Steep and scary. I secretly think of it as Deathwish Hill. The bottom of the hill ends where the road cuts across it. We started our walk over and were joined by about 7-10 kids as we walked along. A man coming back with his two children met us on the way over. He said "Great sledding over there, nice paths, they fly right out in the road though, thats quite a crowd you got there." as he walked by. Thats a pretty big blurt for a stranger~ I'd say he had his morning coffee :) We continued over to the hill. There were about three different paths you could sled on so we sent Sammy up the one with the fewest kids. She came flying down. First words out of her mouth were "Daddy its your turn" Of course Matt (we had to pretty much drag him along) Didn't want a turn. What no turn? So she went a couple more times then I went couple times too. We headed back to the house with Matt pulling Sam in her sled.
We got home and Sammy and I had a little snowball fight then Matt wanted to get in on that so we all had a snowball fight she was helping him (no fair :) All in all it has been a nice morning for the three of us. I am glad we were able to make the best of the unexpected day off.

The pond at the back of the community we live in gets kind of pretty with snow around it~
The real reason I wouldn't leave the house this morning :)
Taking a walk in the cold fresh air with Samantha was fun! We took lots of pictures.
~ Angels are everywhere~
Fickle weather~ The forecast is ever changing. The snow and cold arrived as predicted. thankfully with a lot less drama than I expected. Knocking on wood cause it ain't over yet :)
I base my decision to stay home or make the drive to work on a couple of things, one of them is if school is closed or not. I was really surprised that my daughters school district was closed today. They are normally 2 hrs late when everyone else is closed or they are last to report. There isn't a lot of snow this morning but it is supposed get very cold by this afternoon and the drive home could become treachorous. I woke up around 4:30 and looked outside and there wasn't any snow so back to my cozy bed. When I woke up again a little after 5:30 the windows looked brighter so I checked outside again and lo and behold everything was covered and it looked like a blizzard outside. I was a little surprised because it happened so quickly. So here we are tucked away in our home for a bit. Matt will brave it and go in to Tacoma to work today. Why don't I have him drop me off? I am terrified of driving and riding in the snow and ice. I had a really traumatic experience about 23 years ago. I was in a rollover accident and then run over later the same day~ Not so fun, then two weeks later ... yeah, so I try and try to get over it but the fear just roars back to life no matter what I tell it :) It is pretty frustrating for me.
I just talked to Matt he got to Tacoma allright and swears it is 65 and sunny there phhh... He is selling me a bridge later too ;)

Have I mentioned that I don't want to play "Wind" anymore? The smaller storm that went through Friday night had sustained winds of 30 -45 mph with gusts up to 50ish. The rain was absolutely torrential. Now they are telling us to expect another storm Tuesday evening with strong winds again and then snow from about 5:00 pm on. It isn't very often the weather heads talk about snow with even a note of promise in their voices. Last night they sounded like "Its gonna snow and I mean it" Ugh... Let the preperations begin again. We haven't even been able to get the 6 volt batteries restocked at the store since the December storm ;)
Today I will sip my coffee and enjoy the quiet for a while, maybe catch up on my laundry and the other things I can before I go out and melt some glass. I have orders to fill!

The New Year is off to a nice start. School is back in and we are slipping back into our regular routine here. The weather is still kind of wild though and we are expecting some cold winds again. Only 30mph this time, so not too bad I suppose when you take a look at the BLIZZARDS south of here. Amazing! I have friends living out in the middle of that, they are doing allright but it sure isn't easy for anybody. Preperation is really everything.
I am sipping some coffee and gearing up to go off to work. Sue and I finished up a custom spoon bracelet this week~ I absolutely love how it turned out!

Thick silver foil combined with glass and frits makes the nicest organic effects. These are some of my pre-power outage beads. I haven't been to the torch for almost three weeks now and I am anxious to get out there. Matt brought me a new space heater for my studio for Christmas. I will be toasty warm out there :) We had a great Christmas with our extended family and we are looking forward to a nice quiet New Years Eve.
Lately this has felt a bit like "Kris's weather blog" So I may as well update you all while I am here. We've had snow twice in the last week ~not your regular south sound winter event. It has been very cold and icy the last two days. Yesterday my car door was frozen shut I couldn't get the lock to turn and when I finally did the door wouldn't open! But of course it finally did and off I went to my day job. I can hardly wait for spring to arrive.

Honey, Tacoma Tent and Awning called, They want their canopy back.
What an amazing series of storms we have had in the Pacific Northwest. Record rainfall followed by record flooding. Then came the winds. First one storm then another then the third and strongest. I am not sure how high the wind speeds were, at the storms peak most power was lost and no measurements were recorded. I belive 70mph plus is what has been reported by the local news. Over a million people were without power from Canada down to Southern Oregon including us. We also lost our internet service it just came back this morning. I work in the local hardware store and we fired up the generator a few lights and the cash registers, Passed flashlights amongst ourselves and and helped wherever we could. We ran out of generators, propane and D batteries right away. People are generally good natured and helpful to each other and it really is heartwarming to see and hear. Our local radio station has made it easy for the needy and the helpful to get together. They are broadcasting when people offer help and what and where it is, if you call they give phone numbers out. We shared our generator with our neighbor. Matt hooked up her heat and fridge as well as ours. Our power went out on Thursday night before I got home from work. I thought I would have a little time because the worst of the storm wasn't supposed to come until after midnight. When the weather started to change we had weird violent weather squalls, mad rushes of wind, torrential rain and lightning in unexpected areas. Sammy went to stay with her cousin who never lost power because they are so close to the substation. I worked friday and most of Saturday with no lights. Saturday night we had power back at home and celebrated by watching a movie! Some of the people I work with still don't have power and it is Tuesday the 19th. WE are expecting another storm only 30 mph winds though that doesn't seem like much after last week. Matt and I also became grandparents on Wednsday~ Woohoo!!! Alena was born by emegency c-section when her heart rate dropped too low. T.J. and Kendra are such proud parents and I am so proud of the two of them. What a little beauty! Yes I am biased... so? Lifes a blur!
I am so glad to have my internet service back,and thankful for heat and light. It has been one long eventful week.
Merry Christmas!!!!

Ahh we contininue to wait for the birth of our first grandchild. She was due to arrive on the 5th but they are never right on time are they? The kids were over tonight and Kendra will be induced early wednsday morning if she hasnt given birth by then. So Matt and I will be Grand by next weekend one way or another~ And some will be Great :) It is all about waiting and wondering. You wonder when... You wait to see.
Sammy has developed her own unique personality. She is really a study in contrasts. Just today Matt pointed out that she was carrying a hot pink purse in one hand and Godzilla in the other lol . She said to me the other night "Mom I don't feel any older, I still feel eight not nine." my advice to her was to concentrate on staying in that eight year old frame of mind and not to worry about feeling any older until she is about 45 or so.
Christmas preparations I always think I have more time and energy than I do. I just run out of both way too soon. Matt has put decorations and lights up outside, it is really pretty at night. Our whole neighborhood looks so festive :)
It is great to be right here right now.
still waiting...

I meet the nicest people! Sometimes we are unexpectedly blessed with a new friend, sometimes it is just someone passing through your life. It is always a joyful thing for me. I am delighted and surprised by the kindness of others. Easy to please, just be nice... hehe thats me. Doesn't get much simpler than that I suppose. Just a short happy thought from me today~ I will post more this weekend.

Another Grey Day in the Pacific Northwest. I managed to get a lot of those things on my chore list done yesterday. Woohoo! I listed a lot of new items and loose beads in my Etsy shop. The Christmas tree is decorated. Now if I could just get someone to fetch some groceries while I go out to the studio and get busy. I have a couple of special orders I should be working on today so one more cup of coffee and I am off to glass~land :) I have to admit sometimes posting here feels like I am talking to myself hehe... Does anybody read my blog? Chime in, speak up, helloooo??? Is anybody out there...

Help has arrived! Finally the new hire is in place. Poor guy, his first day we had so much snow that 3/4 of the staff called in. He showed up though :) I was sick the day after that and I am still fighting the remnants of the worst head cold so far this season. Ugh... The snow washed away when it got up to a sweltering 40 degrees on Thursday and things seem more normal weatherwise here than they have for a while. I think we had a years worth of weather all in one month. Life marches on.
Our first Grandchild is due any day!!!! Doc says she's a girl A girl. I can hardly wait for her to be born.
Today we are putting up the rest of our Christmas decorations and hopefully I will be able to get the rest of my etsy shop done. I have still got a lot to add and some tweaking of words here and there. Who am I kidding? Done? Maybe I will get a good start on whats left though.
Meanwhile I am enjoying the most delicious coffee thanks to our next door neighbor. She is so incredibly generous and shares things with us often like this yummy coffee. Matt and I are very blessed with wonderul neighbors ~The bad one moved away~ hehe :)
Here are some Pix cause every story needs eye candy!

Listening to the news this morning you'd think the whole west coast was a solid sheet of ice from Oregon to Canada. We got snow late last night and then the temps dropped down into the teens early this morning, thus the sheet of ice. Now, my fear of ice driving or being a passenger in icy conditions is HUGE. I was in three ice related accidents in a two week period. One of them included being run over/into by a spinning pinto station wagon as I tried to run out of its way. I am pretty sure she hit me while I was in mid-air. Needless to say I didn't leave for work this morning I am home getting caught up here.
Sammy, excited by all the snow hopped out of bed at 4:00 am turned the bright hall light on fed the dogs and turned them out (including putting Glorias' coat on) I couldn't believe she was up so early and then I made her wait until 8:00 for the rest of the humans in the neighborhood to get up before we went outside. Poor kid she was "snow" excited she was fit to burst.
I finished listing ALL of my bottlestoppers over at the Etsy shop and may do a bit more editing and adding of other items later. I also divided things into sections. I am really having fun with the whole thing since they updated to V2. Not a plug to make you look it is just something I am really enjoying doing.

Let it *Snow* and other random thoughts~
We woke up yesterday to about two inches that melted away over the course of the day. this morning it is a sheet of ice out there and school is two hours late. Just a little bit ago we had another mini blizzard it blew in here and covered everything with a fresh skiff in about five minutes flat. Hmm... keep my little girlie home or send her out?
The coffee just tastes better on days like this. Right about now I wish I had a cozy wood stove out in the garage~studio It would make it so much easier to talk myself into melting some glass today! I must as I have orders to fill.
I have also been busy adding more things to the etsy shop this morning. Mostly keychains and later some bottle stoppers.

Giving Thanks~ I am thankful for so many things I don't know where to begin, My family is healthy, I am thankful. My pets are healthy, I am thankful. My Friends (sorry the pets got mentioned first didn't they :) are healthy and I am thankful for that as well. Most of all I am thankful to just be
yep just to be...
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you~

An Old favorite of mine~
The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.


The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. "Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

It is all about the weather lately... Yesterday was no different. We had very strong winds throughout the state. The worst of them were up north I think the strongest gust here was somewhere between 50 - 60 mph. We lost power for about 6 hours. Matt hooked up the generator and we watched news and kept the cold things cold :) Then the cable went out too so we played Sorry with Sammy until bedtime. Matt won~ Power came back on in the night and the heater coming on was a welcome sound. My Etsy shop is back up and I really like the new format they designed. I will be adding some loose beads soon. Take a look!

And then the winds came... It was very windy throughout the night. Matt and I didn't get much sleep. Sam slept like a little log and we didn't hear a peep from the dogs either. Sams lunch is made her breakfast is eaten and she is out the door with her daddy. Off to school~
I am just sitting here sipping my coffee trying to get motivated to go out and cook up some beads.
We got our electrical problem taken care of for the time being. There is a "bad ground" somewhere between the house and the transformer. They came out yesterday (Sunday can you believe it?) and put in a temporary transformer until they can get back out and do a wire trace? We lucked out they were in the area doing a repair and just happened to have the transformer for some reason or other. I guess what the guy meant to say was " We don't usually show up on Sunday within 20 minutes of your call." hehe...
Have a Great Day!

Hehe... my day started with the news that my usual route was "closed due to flooding" I always get up a little early so I can have a coffee and catch the news. So I jumped into the shower after I finished debating with myself about whether I should even go down the hill. I finished up and grabbed the camera and headed out. Now about halfway down the hill there was a flashing sign that warned of the closure. Thing is at this point you can no longer exit! I was chuckling to myself. Traffic was very slow, everyone was funneling through the small town where I work. All of the highway traffic down Main Street Sumner. I was happy to have a few backroads to follow. I finally got to work after 45 minutes this is normally a 10 - 15 minute drive~ getting home took 2 hours. The damage to me personally was small, my family is safe and dry our pets are cozy in our home. I just spent more time driving than I usually do. My friends however had some stories to tell. A dike gave out in Orting and the river came up suddenly and quickly. Animals and homes were lost. It breaks my heart to hear about the animals, somebody thought it was a good idea to tie them up. I am heart sick over that. A sweet little backyard creek turned ino a raging torrent of water washing away years of love and care, the damages are still being assessed.

Be thankful for the peaceful moments in your life,

hug your loved ones as often as you can,

and above all Don't get so attatched to your "stuff"

you don't get to keep it in the end anyway.

A "little" flooding here. My fifteen minute drive to work turned into forty five and coming home was even more fun (read dripping with sarcasm) Boy the things we take for granted like getting around easily, electricity, warm heat and water from the tap~ I took some pictures of the flooding and will share all the drama when I am not so exhausted :)
((Hugs))

Life is about adjusting whether it be adjusting your outfit to the weather or an attitude adjustment. Learning to accept and adjust isn't an easy lesson but it is a worthwhile one. I was reading some life lessons written by my little circle of friends. Mostly it was about things you realized at the age of forty that you wish you'd realized sooner. For me it was about realizing that I can't control and am not responsible for the actions of others. Whew what a load off! I am excited to say that Everything isn't my fault. Except for the fact that now I am writing in italics yep that is my fault. LOL I am such a computer illiterate. Just ask my brother I send him blank e-mails all the time. Well thats about enough of this~
Night!

Lately I've been checking this out: http://www.wavelit.com/?ch=Wildlife&sh=africam
It's fun to take a peek at the animals when there are some. I was just watching some gazelle and baboons. The sounds are fascinating, the dogs think so too. I also like to go and look at Petes Pond They are taking that one down soon for the rainy season.
Today we are facing flooding here speaking of the rainy season. The weather folks are saying this will be the worst in over ten years. Yikes!
Here are some more bead pix to soothe your senses~

Driving upstream! That was what coming home felt like tonight. We have had torrential rain and warm wind for most of the afternoon so lots and lots of water running down and across the roadways. I left work around 4:30, just in time for the last bit of light to leave the sky. Some how I ended up on the freeway behind a motorcycle at first I kind of dreaded that thinking the last thing I ever want is to run over some poor guy that tips his bike over. I pretty much decided he was probably safest in front of me (I leave lots of room) Just as we started up the hill he almost lost it and then he kind of slowed w a y down like he was going to stop Yikes! he finally got himself stabilized after a moment or two and we proceeded on up the hill. I sure hope he didn't have much further to go. I am really happy to be home safe and sound. The first big winter storm is supposed to hit Sunday night into Monday so batten down the hatches ~
Here are some more bead pix to keep you happy :)

Well I thought I'd give it another shot so here they are? :) I am off to do a small local show today and I hope it goes well. I am actually hoping somebody else cancels so I can even get in hehe not the way I really like to plan things so I'll just be waiting to see...

I can't get the pictures to load
~Sorry~

We had our first good frosty cold snap this week. Burr... I wasn't ready for it. I have to adjust my timing when I make beads they need to go from the flame to the kiln a wee bit quicker when it is that cold or annealing cracks appear. I got out of practice over the long hot summer and had two beads from Mondays session that had cracks. Ah well maybe it is time to turn the heat back on in the garage :) I also had a little piece of glass snap off and land right on my lip this week ouch that hurt. Luckily my fingers were so cold I could use them for ice hehe. Today it is pouring buckets of rain and a bit warmer out Yay! Here are some shots of beads currently up for auction on Justbeads~ Seeya!
Kris