Wow. What a retreat! The annual Shreveport Bead Retreat this weekend was a whirlwind of beady friend reunions and amazing classes and nonstop laughter, as per usual. There’s a reason why I look forward to the two bead retreats each year! We had a lot of new faces this year as some of our regulars had to sit out this retreat for a variety of reasons, and it was delightful getting to know and encourage them.
Julie, who sat near me, had never been to a retreat before and was nervous about entering the Bead Challenge. And guess who WON the challenge!! See, Miss Julie? Anne has been wanting to take my classes in the past, but they were always full by the time she got to do class sign-ups…this year she got into both of them and we are now fast friends! Leigh is a sweet, southern lady with the accent to prove it, but she’s sassy as they come! Love that! Rebecca came to the retreat from Arkansas for the first time after reading about it on my blog. We’re glad to have her! There are many more stories, but only so many brain cells left at this moment to tell them.
I taught two overflowing classes on Saturday, and they plumb wore me out! By the end of the day I’d lost my voice from talking nonstop. So after feeling completely worn out when I woke up Sunday morning, I made the decision to stay in Shreveport one more night so I could be fully rested before I take to the roads for my six hour drive. Driving sleepy is just too dangerous, and I’d have a lot of folks mad at me if I managed to kill myself by falling asleep behind the wheel. Besides, I have too many designs in my head that need to get out first. 🙂
A few teaching announcements: I’ll be teaching in Lake Jackson in December – classes to be determined. I’m going to teach a few class at the Bead Renaissance Show in San Antonio on Halloween weekend. I still need to pick which classes, but I’m pretty sure one will be the Kumihimo with Beads. We haven’t set the date yet for teaching in Ft. Worth for the Wild West Bead Society, but it will probably be in November. And I’ll also be teaching a class at Bead Crazee in Tyler – again, date and class to be determined. I’m gonna have a busy fall!!
Back to bed now so I can get an early start for home in the morning. Mom returns to work on Tuesday, so I’m going to take her out for a nice steak dinner Monday night. She’s got great timing – we’re having our roof replaced on Tuesday, and she’s going to miss the special excitement of being inside a house all day with all the banging and noise and insanity. I can’t wait to see how the dogs take it!