Well life is really happening now. Heidi, my cousin just gave birth to her first child, a girl and I can't wait to see them both. I am sure she is little and pink and beautiful. Her middle name is Grace, my grandmothers name she passed away in April of this year. When my son was born if he had been a girl we were going to name him after both of my grandmothers Francis Eileen their middle names. Jamie, Heidi's older sister has a daughter named Gracie. I think it says an awful lot for the way we all loved her so much. She was an incredible sweet and noble woman and she absolutely lived up to her name. I miss her every day. She was the family glue and it has been difficult trying to fit back together without her. She left an empty space among us...
look no coffee talk? What am I coming too?
I will do better in a day or two.
Wish my name was Grace :)
or Joyce :) another story for another day~

High expectations. I have them it is like I am hard-wired to have them. I wonder if it has something to do with the desire to have hope? No matter how many times I try if I am successful once I will continue to Hope and try again. Is it like that for everyone? I may just be the only pessimist eternal optimist I know. So how does one become a success? By doing the best you can and learning how to market that. This little piggy will be off to market soon. Boy my mind is a busy place this morning I may have had too much coffee today. There is just so much going on in my life right now and sometimes... wow is it like that for everyone? Still waters run deep I suppose.
Hey has anyone noticed I refer to coffee at least once in almost every post? I may be caffeine addicted?
No, I just love a good cup of java~
Off to ready myself for work
Have a great day!
Kris

What a fourth! My neighborhood has a huge celebration almost every year. One neighbor does the day long party complete with all the traditional dishes and barbecue and games galore. We also have a few resident pyros with friends at the fireworks stands. Serious noise and light let me tell ya. I wanted to hide under my pillow and peek one eye out. It was almost a sensory overload the fireworks were really spectacular. I am so ready to sleep peacefully tonight without all the noise. I think everybody started "practicing" fireworks about five days ago and I don't know how others do it. I have to work in the morning and if I don't get my sleep I just feel yucky no matter how good the coffee is :)
Just wait til' Halloween~

What a wonderful time at Dad and Diannes. Dianne made enough food for an army and all of it was wonderful. It was hard not to stuff myself. They live on a cliff overlooking Hood Canal. We saw orcas yesterday, just a brief glimpse but it was enough to get everyone excited. The hike to the beach is tough. There isn't a direct path from the house. You have to hike up the long steep driveway walk a ways on the flat and then another hilly hike. Down an even longer and steeper incline. Mosquitos clouded the few hot rays of sun that managed to stream through the forest canopy. Getting back up that second hill is really hard My poor little girl, I thought she was going to be sick. The heat and the long uphill hike wasn't easy for her but she made it and I am proud of her for hanging in there.
The weather is considerably cooler today so maybe I will feel more motivated to fire up my torch and melt some glass. Funny how a few clouds can make such a dfference in my overall outlook.
Off to motivate myself.
Kris

With the fourth looming ever closer I realize two things, Life flies by faster and faster as we age and I am so glad to be alive and have the freedom to choose my path.
It is absolutely glorious out this morning. I have been up for a few hours already. I did a little cleaning up outside and got a good start on my morning coffee. As soon as my son TJ and his wife Kendra arrive we will be heading out to dad and Dianne's place on the canal for an afternoon barbecue. Me I would love to run out to the foothills this morning to see if the blackberries are ripe yet. I know they must be as I usually try and celebrate the fourth by picking wild blackberries. It does kind of sound like work but I tell ya if I can whip up a blackberry pie in the middle of winter it is well worth it. Convincing my family that blackberry picking is fun is another thing. I love to be outside and the more remote the better I think my daughter has inherited this gene but my hubby can be a bit of a stick about it sometimes. Ahh well Love him as he is :)
Enjoy your day~

What if you post a blog and nobody reads it? Is it like when a tree falls in the forest does it make a sound if nobody is there to hear it? I have been reading my friends' blog this morning ~She has the most eloquent way about her. So much class and her writing style is such that I could eaily spend the day reading her words. Carmon why aren't you writing books? I can't seem to get enough words from your blog to fill my desire to read. Besides, falling asleep reading the laptop would be so much more painful than falling asleep reading a paperback. Dropping a paperback on your sleeping face doesn't hurt as much as the laptop falling down onto it.
Lampworking... my it is difficult to get out to the torch lately with the heat here and All the goings on that living brings. I have just been so busy with school ending and my birthday and fathers day and my stepdads birthday and my hubbys birthday and my sisters birthday. Wow and that isn't even in chronological order.
Of Course I should mention the trip we took to Vancouver Wa last Sunday. My sister and I had a jewelry show at an Aids benefit in May where she won an auction for a catered dinner for eight! So because it is a two hour plus drive from here she hired a limosine. Sunday afternoon came and all eight of us piled into the limo and off we went. The trip was fairly uneventful (except for the stop at the gas station to use the facilities) I think we must have looked like a clown car with everyone piling out. We arrived just in time for our wonderful dinner~ It was awesome! Ever have avacado soup garnished with tiny tomato slices? This was followed by a delightful salad and Prime rib perfectly done. Dessert was an incredibly mousselike cheesecake and the most wonderful coffee. I really loved that coffee it was the best!

Well those SOLD! But not until I put them on ebay~
I kind of got derailed a bit. My wonderful sweet Grandmother passed away unexpectedly in April. My son got married to his high school sweetie and they are expecting their first baby in December. eek! I will be a grandma! A full plate yes...
Did I mention that I will be forty in a matter of days? Midlife crisis? mmm... maybe, but not the red sportscar kind. I have been taking a hard look at my life and well you know the questions. What have I done? Where am I? What haven't I done? What can I do before its over? How?
I guess we'll see :)

04/10/06
Hi everybody! I thought you might like a place other than my auctions where I can offer beads. This set is currently up for auction at Justbeads.com So here we are TADAH! More in the coming days~