Snow day!!

I took the day off yesterday. Yesterday was primary election day down here, and schools were out as a result. So Crazy and I played hookie from work to take the kids snow tubing at Liberty Mountain.

If you've never been tubing, I very highly recommend it. Totally fun. Remember those huge slides at amusement parks that you'd fly down in a burlap sack? It's kind of a cross between that and sledding. In a giant inner tube. Hee! And you can link your tube up with someone else's and go down in groups - loved that... you get a lot more speed that way.


Nothing like throwing yourself down a mountain just for kicks.

SOLD!!

Heeeeee! I'm so excited, I cannot even put into words. I got a message Friday evening from the owner of the store where my jewelry is being sold. Two pieces of jewelry have been sold!!! A man came in and bought these pieces for his wife for Valentine's Day:



God, I don't even know what to say. Someone bought MY STUFF!!! I've made the identical pieces again and am bringing them to the store tomorrow - we have to make sure they have inventory!! Heeeeeeeee!!! *giddily jumping up and down*

Gung Hay Fat Choi!

It's the Year of the Rat. I know. Technically Remy here is French. But whatever.

Happy Chinese New Year!! Eat lots of dumplings and noodles for wealth and longevity!

Seriously. I should not be ALLOWED to come into the office on Wednesdays.

Why? Because I am a total hot mess on Wednesdays. See, Wednesdays are usually my work at home days. But for the last couple of weeks, I've been in charge, which means no working at home. Problem is, it seems like whenever I come to the office on Wednesday, a whole bunch of stuff just goes wrong.

This morning, I had to fight with the dog to lock him in the bedroom because the workmen are FINALLY coming to paint the wall from the ceiling leak (which occurred a month ago - but we won't go there). Then, running late (see fight with dog), the lid pops off my mug and tea spills all over the car. After spending a bunch of time cleaning it up, I prepare to leave, grab my new sunglasses and the arm falls off (screw came out). I hadn't even left the freakin' garage yet! I nearly said screw it and walked back upstairs, but I have too much crap to do and meetings today.

Well, I'm here, at my desk. My sunglasses are fixed - I have a repair kit in my desk. (Hey, I work in ophthalmic products. Of course I have a repair kit.) I realized I didn't lose that much of my tea, and I am enjoying it now. And I am trying to get perspective on the fact that it's all good. I will be fine. And later I will have a good laugh about it. Well... maybe tomorrow.

Okay, okay! Here are jewelry photos... Geez, people...

The photo shoot itself was not easy. We wanted to do all the shots in natural light... but our apartment really only gets morning sun. So we had to go to Crazy and Sweet-Pea's house, since they get really great afternoon sun... only problem was, it was on-and-off cloudy all day long. It was literally: Set up shot. Get ready to take. F$#@ cloud! Wait (dodidodo). SUN'S OUT!! Take it!! Dammit! Cloud!



Considering the difficulty of it all, I think the photos came out nice. I wish we could have done more different set-ups with each of the pieces, but we literally could only get one, maybe two set-ups (in terms of the props) before we had to move on to the next piece, just to make sure we photographed everything. I designed all the shots and Turg took them all. We made a pretty good team.


We could not figure out a set-up that did this peridot necklace justice. Nothing we had brought out the color of the stones as well as they looked in real life:




This necklace is the same as the one on the red bowl above - but you can see the whole thing here. And my ghetto laser printed tag to boot.


They were excited about everything. So I hope other people will be too...

The jewelry has been delivered...

Now I hope someone will actually buy it.

Finding a craft

Apparently, today is "Talk about Crafts Day." I didn't realize this when I started writing this post.

I've always been a believer that everyone has a "craft" - you know, that "thing" (or things) that a person does to show off their creative or artistic side. (And for everyone out there who says they aren't creative or artistic, it's in there, trust me.) That thing could be anything - cooking, writing, baking, quilting, knitting, music, photography, etc. etc. etc...

For a long time, I thought my craft was singing. But in the end I didn't really make anything from that - well, except noise. But it was never my own, not the way real musicians or performers make it their own. I wrote poetry for while - and when I look at the stuff I wrote now, I feel like cringing and throwing up. Then I was just a scientist. For some it's a craft. It can be VERY creative for the brilliant. For me... well, I loved it for a while, and then it just became a job. It just wasn't satisfying after a while. And, well, it's just too nerdy. So, for a while, I was without a craft.

I was originally inspired to start the jewelry making because of some beautiful jewelry gifts, handmade by Magenta, and the availability of places nearby to buy supplies. It seemed like a good fit - working with my hands, precision, details, symmetry, balance, etc. I just never thought it would be such an outlet or that I would love it so much. I love designing pieces and having them come together. I love the gemstones. I love designing pieces for other people, for their personalities. I loved giving gifts that I made with my own two hands. And it was creative. I was outside of my Kingdom of Nerds and Geeks and being creative and making beautiful things. The first day that I sat down and started making stuff, I didn't move from my spot for hours and hours. I had found my craft. And it suited me.

And as excited as I am about my new venture, I am nervous. There's always that fear that people are not going to like what I make. Or not understand. And whether or not someone buys one of my pieces is an indictment of sorts of whether or not I'm any good or talented. But these are my own insecurities about "putting it out there," so to speak. And I have to remember that everything is a matter of taste - and that not everyone will have the same taste as I.

Okay, enough of this runimating. I'm crewing at the bit to leave here and make more jewelry. I'm hoping to bring the first pieces to the store this weekend. Wish me luck.

Testing....

Your IQ Is 115

Your Logical Intelligence is Above Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Above Average

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Thanks for the link, CawfeeGuy.

The Kiang Baby Bumps

My neice and sister-in-law and soon to be baby Kiangs

When I think about it, and the idea of becoming an aunt again in about a month, particularly to Jay and Ang's first child, is absolutely exciting. So many people are convinced that the baby is going to be a boy (I'm personally hoping for a girl, but something tells me that it'll be a boy). Dad is excited about being a Grandpa again. And he's obviously hoping for a boy (conversation after picking up a card for the baby shower):

Me: What do you want the card to say?
Dad: Happy Baby Shower. Congratulations and lots of love for our new grandson.
Me: DAD! They don't know if it's a boy yet. You can't say that!
Dad: GrandCHILD. Write GrandCHILD.

About 6 weeks after I become an aunt again, I will become a GREAT-aunt for the first time to JP and Cin's little girl. That just seems absurd. I mean, in my head, JP is still twelve. Twelve. I mean he's really almost 27, but I think he's twelve. Seriously, though. I'm going to be a great-aunt. That's just nuts.

How beautiful are the two hot mamas?

Wishing Upon Stardust

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I just don't. But this New Year's, Magenta made one for me. That I would put myself out there and attempt to sell my jewelry, in some fashion.

In the past 2 years that I've been making jewelry, I've been wanting, but been too scared to sell anything. I've given a bazillion gifts, but not sold. Why? Because when you give stuff away, people generally accept graciously. When you're selling, people must choose to buy. There have been many people in my life who have been saying, what the hell are you waiting for?? Hence, the New Year's Resolution by MS above.

Well, yesterday, I showed my jewelry to a new upscale boutique in the area, and both the owner and designer agreed that they would sell my jewelry!! It will be on a consignment basis to begin with. But I'm out there. I'm so terribly excited, that I can't even put into words.

The only thing I did not have was a name for my jewelry line. Until now. So, beginning today, my jewelry line will be known as Stardust River Jewelry. Why? Stardust to give the feeling of sparkling and glimmering (and it also happens to be the name of a book and movie from Neil Gaiman, who I love). River because the literal translation of the Chinese character for my last name is "large river," a fact that I had never taken advantage of previously.

I'm soooo excited! You'll hear much more about this soon.

It's in the stars

Thanks, CawfeeGuy.

Your Inner Muse is Urania

You are most like this muse of astronomy. Your head is in the stars, and you look to the future. You give off a heavenly, mysterious vibe. And you're not too bad at predicting the future.

What Muse Are You?

Ask Dr. Tina

I went over to TC's parent's house on Christmas Eve Eve for the traditional dessert mooching. During this evening, BC (TC's sister) tells me that her 5-year old son, Nicky, wants to be a scientist. He asks all sorts of very insightful questions and "invents" things (apparently, the favorite among the family is the pogo-stick plunger - just think about that for a moment). However, as much as BC has answers for many of his questions, there are some things that she can't or simply doesn't know how to answer. When Nicky asks a question, when you respond, it is usually followed by an equally insightful counter-question, and this goes on until he is (somewhat) satisfied. Or unless he wants to take time time to think on your response.

TC and BC informed Nicky that I was, in fact, a scientist. He was facinated. He tells me that HE wants to be a scientist, too. An EVERYTHING scientist. And proceeds to ask me a ton of questions like why dirt doesn't burn, and what would happen if your buried an oxygen making machine underground to help the dirt to burn, and why the dinosaurs are extinct, and what would happen if you send an animal, like a dog, to Mars with a closed house with it's own supply of oxygen and how long it would survive.

After the flood of questions, I told BC that if there was ever a question that she couldn't answer for Nicky, then she should just email me. Actually, why not set up an email address that she and Nicky can email science questions to - Nicky could have his own personal scientist. Which is exactly what I have done.

There is now an email address and accompanying blog for Ask Dr. Tina, where I will post the question and response. There's nothing there yet, since Nicky is currently away on vacation. I'm sure there will be when he gets back later this month.

I think this will be fun and funny. I can't wait to see the kinds of questions I'll get.

Auld lang syne and some such crap

Happy New Year. I'm exhausted already. But for good reason. MS and Master Chew were here for the past few days. And except for a couple of moments, Chewie-love and Thor, Dog of Thunder got along very well. I particularly loved the moments where Chew was running circles around (and under) Thor while Thor stood looking at him with the face of, "I can't possibly go THAT fast."

TTW and Fibji came over Sunday and brought their Wii. Much hilarity ensued (MS will post said hilarity later). But I also woke up with "Wii arm" and "Wii back" the next morning, and realized how old and out of shape I actually am. We also had a wrist injury that night (Turg). I so can't wait for my Wii to arrive.

But now that all of the fun and drinking are done, it's time to get down to business. I took the rest of this week off to deal with my crap. My office is a total sty. I've dealt with some of my papers this morning, and have already filled a trash back full of stuff. And I'm not even close to done. I really need to stop making "filing piles" on the floor, because eventually (as had already happened), there will be no floor left.

I will be cleaning and tidying for the rest of this week. And I'll hopefully be able to find some organization by then.

I may even be able to find some time to relax. One can only hope.

Bah! Humbug!

I should have left over an hour ago. It's 5pm on the 21st. I wrote on my timesheet I was leaving at 4pm because I have about a bazillion things I need to do before going to New York tomorrow. And I considered that when I handed in my timesheet and wrote 4pm. But I'm still here. Why? Because Patsy didn't get his file done. And I'm in charge of my branch today. Which means I need to stay until he's done and I sign it out. I could blame other people for the slowness of the workflow. I could. But I won't. Because he's the team leader and it's ultimately his responsibility to get shit done. And he's very passive-aggressive on days when I'm in charge and he has something due. He holds everything close to his chest and doesn't give me updates. Won't let me look at stuff. Tries to bypass me to and have the director look at it instead. Except on days, like today, she's incredibly busy. And doesn't have time to do the primary edits, which she tells him to give to me (which he should have done in the first place).

I'm annoyed. Annoyed beyond words. Because I have so much crap to do. Far too much. And I have NO IDEA when I will be leaving. None.

Wha? Hey! What are all you people doing here on my birthday?

So, I'm THE BEST girlfriend ever because I was able to successfully plan and execute a surprise birthday party for JS (aka Turg) on Saturday. He turned 35 on Sunday, so why not throw him his very first ever surprise party. (See. I'm totally awesome.) You know, we wanted to have a genteel, sedate and elegant affair. *cough cough* What? What was I saying?

Well, whenever there are too many people around, and Turg is in a really good mood, and there are martinis and cash, shit happens...



I hope you all were not too disturbed by my fits of laughter... even I'm embarrassed.

Merry Christmas...

Or Happy Hanukkah, as it were.

We are not naming this blog "All about MS's stupid freaking puppy"

But this picture is so funny. And MS put the thought bubble in just for me (because, in my head, Mr. Chew Chew is saying this anyway, in Cartman's voice):


And then actually walking out...

Seriously, you can't make this crap up

We decorated our Division Christmas tree today. When I was nearly done putting the finishing touches on the tree, one of our secretaries (SM) comes by for a chat:

SM: It's so nice that you guys are decorating.
Me: Thanks. It's our pleasure.
SM: You're doing a really nice job.
All: Thanks.
SM: (to me) You've done a nice job on the tree. It looks really nice.
Me: Why, thank you very much.
SM: Of course, I'm nearly blind, so you really can't take my word for it.
Me: Oh! That's rough.
SM: I'm just kidding (giggles as she walks away)

General collective groan from all.

Seriously, though, she is actually almost blind (trust me, the irony that she works in the Division of Ophthalmics has not escaped us). I just couldn't believe she said it.

(Nearly) endless entertainment

I have to say... even after having Thor for 6.5 years, I still get a kick out of putting peanut butter on the roof of his mouth. He just sits there and licks for ages. And I just giggle. I know. I'm cruel.

I am apparently a dork above dorks...

I don't remember when it was that MS said that I was the "queen of the nerds," but apparently I am the leader of the dorks too...

From my workmates: