Still sick. Still getting sicker. Still ignoring it.

Today is my birthday. It was pretty much just a normal day- which I expected.
I managed to finish all of my trainings really early and I was allowed to go home for the rest of the day. That was nice, but I didn't really get to enjoy it because I am ill and my head is killing me.

However.

My brain has been a-buzzin with new jewelry ideas. I never leave home without paper. I will try to remember to scan some of them in and share.

Photo of the day:

I took this from the window of our old place. I kept looking at the way the sun was shining through the trees that day. I finally took a picture because I thought it was something I would always want to remember. I'm super deep sometimes :)
This makes me really homesick.
Really, really homesick.


I took down a bunch of the the jewelry I had up on Etsy. They had been bothering me for a long time because I know I can make them better. I'm so weird about that. It's become this huge fear that someone will purchase one of them and then I'll have to send something that isn't perfect. Yes, I know this is the same story with the earrings. I'm super irrational/ obsessive compulsive sometimes.

That is all.

Today was my first day at my new job. Now I'm exhausted. I'm just doing training now. I can't wait until I get to actually find out about my job. For some reason, it's really difficult to get information about what I'll be doing specifically. I'm too impatient for my own good.
Jewelry production has officially slowed almost to a halt down due to lack of funds and lack of time/energy. I sincerely hope that I can pull it all together soon and get myself on some sort of schedule. I'm having way too much fun to stop.




I miss Flagstaff a lot.



And I want a crooked house.

My Goals For Summer 2009:

1. Love my job, but do not let it become my entire life (...we'll see).
2. Play with Ginny everyday.
   
3. Stop screaming like a girl whenever I see a bug.
4. Keep making jewelry, but not obsessively.
   
5. Keep the kitchen at least reasonably stocked with real groceries, and not just the the salty prepackaged crap.
6. Eat popsicles regularly.
7. Wear shorts and skirts even though I hate how pastey my legs are.
8. Spend time with friends and not just Tom...
9. ...But still have time for Tom.
10. Be active and happy, and not just in my PJs in front of the TV on my days off.
11. Read. Lots.
12. Get back into art/music/films and be passionate about things that are not directly tied to my relationship.
13. Actually use my NetFlix account since I'm being charged for it anyway.
14. Make new friends (cue Girl Scouts song).
15. Eat fruit, not McDonalds.
16. Save money and start paying off my debt.
17. Don't blow off signing up for classes.
18. Find new and effective ways to relax, since I have figured out how to keep stressing out in all of my current methods
    
19. Buy sidewalk chalk and draw on my back patio.
20. Keep a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge.
    
21. Remember to apply high SPF sunscreen to the point of an OCD diagnosis since I bake in even minimal sun exposure.
22. Be happy on my birthday (5 days away!) and still wear a silly tiara or similar, even if I only get to wear it after work.
    
23. Go to the movies, even if they're stupid. Free A/C is great, no matter the circumstances.
    
24. Stop talking like a Psych student ("to the point of an OCD diagnosis? Really?) and become a real person again.
25. Keep my nails as un-disgusting as possible.
26. SMILE :)

OK, so the last one was just to wrap it all up in a cheesy way, but the rest were sincere. I absolutely canNOT allow myself to become a stressball of unfun again.


And now, one of my favorite summertime pictures:

For whatever reason, my favorite part about my new house is the pomegranate trees in the courtyard. I'm thinking about drying some out and then casting a few of the parts for jewelry...maybe a brooch? That's not the world's greatest photo...maybe I'll be more willing to get closer to them when the monsoon season passes and they get a prettier color (this will also be when I'm less scared of desert critters crawling on my feet). I'm really happy that it's getting rainy though, despite the critters, because I always feel more thoughtful and creative when it rains.

The countdown 'til I re-enter the real world continues...

Latest addition to the shop:
I really love this picture. It didn't seem appropriate for a merchandise photo, so I made it my new profile picture, but that's way too small to really appreciate.

...

I took down the Amazonite earrings. I feel that I need to work on them more to make sure they're well-balanced and comfortable. I didn't like posting something that I knew I could improve.



More later.

Ah, to be productive...

Today was a lovely day!

Actually woke up at a decent hour (woo-hoo!) and spent some quality time with the love of my life before he went to work. I worked on a few projects and the actually got around to photographing some of the latest pieces- something I did not expect to have the energy for today.

I posted these:



I'm quite pleased with both of them, since both were neither planned nor expected to be worth posting. It's funny how having the TV on as background noise makes me productive for hours. Background noise is definitely very important.

I'm actually kind of sad that I'm going to start real grown-up work again now that I'm on a roll with the jewelry stuff. But being able to pay for supplies is important (as is my career, I suppose) so I guess work will have to be tolerated :)

Preliminary sketches are being made for some sheet metal designs.

To be continued...?

I was FINALLY able to get my silver "brass knuckles" ring up today. It took awhile because I needed to weigh it for pricing and figure out what size it is. This is the ring---->
Again, very nervous about posting these for all to see, but I'm discovering that it's actually kind of fun.

I start my new job in 6 days so I don't have a lot of free time left before I'm super busy again. I really hope that I'm able to get things at least settled so I'm still able to make jewelry when I'm not too busy saving the world and making dreams come true.

I have a new job! I couldn't begin to describe the sense of relief! I'm going to be working as a case manager for one of the nonprofit behavioral health facilities in town. I start my training a week from today.

In other news, I have a HUGE bruise on the top of my foot because I am the clumsiest person in all of Arizona.

I've discovered a new favorite toy. It's a Remington Emi hairdryer from Target and it's so much fun...seriously. You stick some of your hair in this attachment and the hair twirls around and comes out in perfect ringlets without tangling or any other unfortunate consequence. I'm sorry if I sound like an advertisement.

In closing, a photo of my lovely home.

Image via Wikipedia

Working on this jewelry stuff is a lot harder than I had anticipated. I knew it would be a lot of work, but I really didn't consider how much time would go into getting everything up and running.

Etsy has very quickly become a huge part of my life. It's pretty much all I think about...

I was working on some mini business cards from moo.com last night. I was really impressed with all of the options and, if I decide to get some, I'm sure the range of artwork on the front of mine will be quite wide. What can I say, I am amazingly multifaceted. If I were to order some, I'd probably just use them to put into packages. I'm such a chicken!

Image by brianjmatis via Flickr

I'm glad to have something to focus on that isn't unemployment. That aspect of life right now is a huge headache.

Anywho. More later. Maybe some sketches??



PS: This is Shannon heartofanastronaut.etsy.com and she's awesome. Her bags are super cute (just like her).

Greetings

So I started my shop a couple of days to go and it was nerve-wracking! I've never been super comfortable when people look at the things I've made, so putting my jewelry on the internet is kind of a big deal for me. I've been steadily working on new things. Lots of late nights and clippings of wire all over. Once everything gets more settled here (I recently moved) I'm going to work on some waxes to have cast. I have a rather large shopping list of everything I'm going to need, and it is ever-expanding.

Ginny (my dog, for those who do not know) is driving me bananas. I don't have anything else to add to that...

This is Ginny:


Fact: Moving is the worst part of life. It's exciting to figure it all out, but I really can't stand the sight of boxes and clutter anymore. I've been having mini spaz-sessions everyday when I run around like a crazy person, cleaning everything in sight. But then I get to some serious clutter and find myself suddenly tired. Go figure.

That's pretty much all that is going on in my life right now. Sorry to be so mind-numbingly dull...more updates of a more interesting nature coming soon.


appleyeverafter.etsy.com