And….she’s home…

We made it! There was a small village involved in the process, but Mom is safe and sound and asleep in her very own bed with her very own puppies and kitties. Big sigh of relief!

She came home with an array of equipment that would make an engineer proud, and a rainbow of drugs to ingest.… Read More

Mom to run marathon this weekend

Seriously. This woman is amazing! All the nurses are pleased at how well Mom is doing today – she breezed through her physical therapy sessions, and still has almost no pain at all. They had her on Percocet today, though, and she was very sleepy most of the day.… Read More

Success!

Mom’s surgery this morning went like a breeze. Not only was she a trooper, but they were able to save her kneecap which was an unexpected bonus. It will make her recovery that much better. She came out of surgery less dopey than we expected – dang!… Read More

Off to see the Wizard….

From June
It’s 4:30 a.m., and I’m waiting for Jill to finish getting ready to go. Today is the Big Day that I get the first of my two bum knees replaced. Woo hoo! I am so ready. I’ll bug Jill to post sometime later this week, but she will be somewhat tied up waiting on me.… Read More

After the shows

I can’t decide whether to be happy to be home, or sad that I have to wait a whole year for the frantic fun and insanity of the Tucson Gem Shows to come around again. There’s a little of both rolling around in me right now.… Read More

Home, Sweet Home

From June
I apologize for not updating sooner. I got home on Monday, and what an eventful trip THAT was! My plane was scheduled to leave Tucson at 5:30 p.m. for Dallas, with a connecting flight to Austin. I got to the airport early because we really didn’t have any money to shop, and I couldn’t see any reason for Jill to hang with me when she could go back to the cottage and take a nap.… Read More

Where, oh where to start

This has been quite the week – ups, downs, drama, laughter, broken things, happy reunions. It’s like a soap opera – As Tucson Turns.

So first of all, the drive here was uneventful and actually pretty pleasant. In years past I’ve always started out in such a sleep deficit that I have had trouble keeping awake along the way.… Read More

News from Tucson

From June
Jill is falling down on the job here. She was going to update you last night, but I dunno what happened – I went to bed at 8:45. I think I’m still recovering from Wednesday. It was go to bed at 11:00, get up at 3:30, fly to Tucson, then work at the booth until 8:00.… Read More

Touchdown in Tucson

From June
I just got a short e-mail from Jill on her Blackberry saying she’s having trouble connecting to the internet. She asked me to let y’all know that she got to Tucson just fine yesterday. I fly out in the morning and get in just before lunch.… Read More

And she’s off……

From June:
Jill just left on the drive to Tucson. I know she had planned to leave earlier, but realistically, we both knew that wouldn’t happen. Of course, the hour we spent searching for one of the samples this morning didn’t help.… Read More

Saturday, it’s Office Depot who’s my friend

So close…SO CLOSE…

But on the home stretch of printing, we’ve run out of toner – we literally down to 60 more patterns to print. Yet now it’s going to cost $300 in ink to get that accomplished. ARGH!

On the other hand, please note that I do not leave Austin until Sunday.… Read More

UPS is my friend

Oh, how I love our various delivery services in the US. The Post Office, UPS, FedEx – they’re all my very dear friends. How would I ever manage a business without them? And today UPS became my special friend for delivering a big ol’ package of beads a whole day early.… Read More

After a day of printing patterns with Mom, and working on last minute jewelry samples on Sunday, I got a very special break from work on Monday night. I actually made time to go out to dinner with a friend I’ve known for more than 25 years now.… Read More

Glamorous day

I did not get out of my jammies all day today. I did not leave the house except to pick up a UPS package on the front step, and spend five minutes in the back yard, enjoying the 80 degrees out there with the dogs.… Read More

It’s my Birfday

Monday was such a lovely day. I had birthday wishes from so many friends and family (including Donna Mehnert of Blackberry Beads who said it was my “Birfday” – that sounds SO much like me, so I’m stealing it!) I was able to sleep to my heart’s content with no guilt over things I should be doing.… Read More

More from Temple, Texas!

I’m pretty sure we all managed to pack several week’s worth of fun and gabbing and beading into a single day today. At least that’s what it felt like! As a regular at the Texas and Shreveport retreats for the last few years, it’s like a mini-reunion each time.… Read More

Tip: Don’t be late to a bead retreat

So a lady walks into a bead retreat….okay, it was a little later than she thought she’d be there…it wasn’t really her fault…okay, really it was. But she had good intentions. And she was THERE after all. And she sees some of her very best beady friends and is so happy and starts giving hugs and catching up.… Read More

Texas Bead Retreat, here I come

Ah, best laid plans. I had scheduled myself to leave the house today at 10am for the quick, 1 hour drive up to Temple, but then the alarm went off, and I’d only gone to bed at 6am, and I was so comfy, and zzzzzzzzzzzz….… Read More

Another sneek peek

Ladies, I present to you, another peek at one of the new kits we’ll be debuting shortly: Ramblin’ Roses. Gorgeous, isn’t it? Mom’s been doing a great job all of a sudden, cranking out new things that have been percolating in her mind over the last year.… Read More