She's Baaaaaack!

Just a quick note to let you know that I'm back. Remember that I said that I called my sister to let her know a package was coming for her birthday and she said she wanted me there as well??? I got there right after her package did. What did I send her, you may ask? She just discovered Hannah Montana and has had a blast engaging in marathon viewings of Hannah and all her antics. What would be a better present than a box full of Hannah gear. Yep, that's right, I sent my silver haired sister a long blonde wig and a microphone and a very usable shoulder tote. If you hang in there with me through out all these pictures, you just might see Sister in the wig. Don't worry, I asked her first. That's it, so enjoy...

She was happy to see me!

We had fun playing drums...

We belted out a few old favorites (the playing is so totally staged, but I did wail out the tunes)

I made new friends...

and laughed until I needed Depends...

I had my first fondue experience...

I even got to see some surprise snow...

We did lots of retail therapy, so as the packages start to arrive, I may share with you some of my various birthday booty. I had a lovely time and am very thankful to have such wonderful sisters. They know that I love them, but I wanted to say it again. I had fun and while there's no place like home, California if a great place to visit...if you have a sister there.

Just a quick trip!!!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I am taking a quick trip to CA to see my sissy. It was quite unplanned. I called to let her know that I had sent her birthday package and she got excited about that, but what she said she really wanted was for me to come see her. Since my birthday is on Sunday (we are five years and five days apart), I decided to shock her by agreeing to hop a plane and fly out. I am not the greatest traveler, but once I get in the airport, I do alright.

Therefore, I'm off to San Diego early Friday morning and will get back 9:00 pm Monday. Maybe I'll have some fun photos to share when I return. So keep me and all the pilots in your prayers and I'll be back soon.

This and That

I'm still in the midst of spring cleaning, so I really don't have any art to post. I did make a loomed bracelet on a child's craft loom to get back in practice. I have a large beading loom, designed by Don Pierce, that I am planning a project on, which will be fun I'm sure. If you are not familiar with beading on a loom, check out his web page.

I am always seeing fun things out in the yard. I have several squirrel nests high up in my trees...

If their nests become flea or insect infested, they abandon them.

My neighbor has feeders. I'm not sure if this is a bird feeder or a squirrel feeder, but the hubby was able to get a quick shot, through the screen and quite a distance away, but you can see the determination in this little fellow.

What a hoot!

Look carefully and you can see him stretched out between the feeder and the tree that he is literally hanging onto my a claw. Funny.

As some of you may know, the Cardinal is the state bird of Virginia. There is a good reason for that. I saw this little guy fly by today and was able to snap a quick shot of him.

Isn't he gorgeous?

Several weeks ago I mentioned that I'm not a practical joker. I have one favorite joke that I pull on my hubby. Whenever I'm letting the length of my hair grow, I always get a little fake hair scrunchie and wrap it around my short little pony tail to mask the growing out process.

My trick on the hubby is to come running out of the bathroom with the fake hair in my hand and act like a big glob of my hair has come out. I know this is not really very funny and the last time I did it to him, we were on vacation in California and it just about scared him to death.

While doing my reorganizing, I came across my "partner in crime",

Looks like Ric Flair hair!

and thought I would show her to you before she is retired to a life as a doll wig.

Well, that's all from me today. If I get some art or jewelry finished, I'll be sure and share. Until then, enjoy your week, give someone a hug today and tell them it's from Susan.

Five new friends

We have five new friends. At least I thought they were friends. They seemed to be a bit miffed at me for taking their picture and haven't been back for several days. Imagine living in a reasonably large suburban area and having these sweeties in your back yard. I love it. While everyone else on our street has back yards, my neighbors and I have yards and wooded acreage. We have a very small crick that runs along the property line and since having so much rain and snow this winter, this little stream is supplying lots of critters with a cool drink. I've seen groundhogs and squirrels, but way too many bees for my tastes.

In addition to watching the wildlife, I have been doing a bit of spring cleaning. Yesterday I tackled one of my art storage areas.

Shower stall in extra bathroom used as storage

This is just the first area I'm working on. I'm planning on organizing the closets, the laundry room (where more of my polymer, lampwork and beading supplies are) and maybe getting new curtains or draperies for several rooms. Lofty aspirations I know, but that's what a little bit of sunshine and fresh air does to me. Right now I have the hubby toting heavy stuff out to the curb for the bulk pick up guys. Ahhh, springtime.

As most of you know I have a weight loss blog, so I usually don't post that sort of thing here. Recently though, I read several statements that really rang true with me. One of the things I read somewhere was "if hunger is not the problem, then eating is not the solution". This really hit home with me. How often do I eat when I'm not hungry? Only all my life. The other thing that I wanted to bring to your attention is the current post of Roy Cohen. He mentions how much time we spend doing daily activities and how we could borrow from those minutes to make time to work out. Really good article, I hope you have time to read it.

In Roy's profile he uses the word mindful several times. This is a word that I have often used and to me it means that you have thought something through. Being mindful of the way you live is a good thing. If we all just went through life willy-nilly, nothing would ever get done.

As we all know, life is like anything else... you have to think it through, figure out what is the best way to go about things and then do it. If at first, what you thought was best isn't, that doesn't mean that you just stop trying. Certainly it's ok to sit in a chair with binoculars and watch the deer for twenty minutes at a time, but you need to eventually get out of that chair and do something else. It doesn't have to be productive or mean something, but you do need to grab onto life and show it you're in it for the long haul.

Set aside an hour or so for blog reading and then get up and do some one minute exercises. Do some stretches or what ever you are physically capable of doing. Unless you aren't mindful and overdo it, you'll feel better.

With all this being said, it's time for me to hit the treadmill. Enjoy your day and if you'd rather, put on some peppy music and dance your way through life. At the very least... you'll be getting some exercise.

Happy Easter

What's in your "to do" box?

Today is April 1st and since I don't really like pranks, I thought I would address one of the little jokes we pull on ourselves. You know the one where you start a project and for some reason you never finish it?? Yeah, that one. Whether it's a knitting project that just got boring,


...or an entire shopping bag of jewelry that you keep because you KNOW that you are someday going to redesign the pieces, we all seem to do this.

What about you? Do you or any one you know do this routinely? It could be the latch hook kit that your mom put away for so long that mice ate the yarn (I know someone else that remembers that one) or maybe you have a bag of half-done embroidery projects. I have a beaded project that I decided to give up on and placed the magazine with the instructions and all the components into a bag and was going to give to someone else to finish,


but....I just can't seem to part with it. I know I can finish it someday. Blessedly I have room to store these treasures, and it's a good thing, because I plan on being able to do my crafts and art and jewelry for a long time to come.

And I ask again...what about you? Do you always finish all your projects? Do you feel guilty if you walk by the same necklace for months at a time and then make yourself finish it and then realize that it took about ten minutes.



Have you been wanting to whip up some stretchy bracelets and are such a whiny baby that you find every excuse not to? Now's the time.



Even though I'm much more a "lady of leisure" these days than in the past, I still find myself procrastinating on some things and spending way too much time on others (blogging and web surfing, just to name two).

Here is a piece that I started several years ago, that was inspired by the neck wear on Dancing With The Stars, but what would I ever wear it with... so here it sits..



Is the key multi-tasking or motivation? Right now I'm out on the deck making this post because it's just too beautiful to stay inside (multi-tasking). I do set little goals for myself, and try to stick to them. I clean the house for two hours and then allow myself to play in the studio for three, (motivation) . What's your method of getting your favorite things worked in with the must do things?

Right now I have to make a decision. I want to stay out here on the deck,



but in between dodging all those wasps with the crazy long legs, that keep circling me, and the desire for some tea with honey to combat my scratchy throat and cough, I think I'm going to have to go in.

How did you spend April 1st? Any jokers in your crew? Are you now so worried about your "to do" box, that you can't concentrate on any thing else? Hmmm, maybe I'm more of a trickster than I thought.

Take care, and let me know how you deal with some of the quirky little things that we do to ourselves.

Enjoy.