August

Greetings friends and fam!
This is the first time in over a month that I've taken the time to leave you a note. I apologise. The littler of my boys has begun the 6th grade, which in this small town, means he's now in the HIGH SCHOOL. I suppose there are some hallways that seperate the high schoolers from the middle schoolers-they're in the same building-but, really, I'm not thrilled about it. I know. "Let the boy grow up! Let him be! Stop hovering!!" Shut up. As my last little bird, I do almost consciously have to remind myself every day that he's growing up. Right before my eyes. DARNIT!
The elder of my 2 boys has had as exciting a summer as he ever has, I believe. After rebelling against..."what have you got"? (No, it's not that bad, but sometimes it seemed like it), He began working. Oh, but work wasn't till after he'd flunked the (ALL OF THEM?) classes he was taking @ the local community college.
First it was at a Graphic Design place. (Lasted a few months, I think.) Then at a factory, where the fumes made him sick-possible. (Lasted a week or so.) And lastly, at the restaurant where the Big Guy works. Oh, yeah, now he's quit there and about to have Orientation working at WalMart.
<sigh> I don't even want to start on how many ways I see MY OWN teenage thinking in him. When I reflect back, I'm just astounded at my self-centeredness, impatience and real lack of any kind of motivation to WORK. He talks occasionally about a car, but doesn't have his license yet. At 19. His gf is a very industrious girl, was working 3 jobs this time last year, and going to school. Now she's down to one job that pays a little better, and still working hard at school. I expect her to see the pattern he's developed any time, and dump him. Of course, he's thinking of proposing. No....NO DISFUNCTION running through our families!!
Now you have a tiny idea of why I haven't been here lately. Oh! Here's another reason:

I've been working on crafting, specifically, making logo pendants for a friend's band. There are several variations, but this is the one that turned out the best. I'm pretty sure the resin I've been using is all used up, so I might have a VERY "Limited Edition" of these babies. LOL

JUST in case I have any readers left, you can go here: ABsolutely Charming to see the entire collection, including a few that have nothing to do with a band, but they're just pretty.

Ta ta for now!





Dancing as fast as I can...

Hi there, friends! It’s the beginning of June, so I’ve been out of school for a MONTH! YAY!! I have a piece of paper now that says I’ve put my time in, and I’m at least minimally competent to Serve Humans. And, as I’d promised myself, I’ve been creating things. A LOT. Some good, some iffy, and a few that are actually kinda impressive. : )

I need some kind of identifying moniker to put on the items I’ve been creating, but haven’t come up w/ anything yet. So…I’m fairly obsessively making pendants out of Scrabble tiles. It’s not a novel idea, really, but I hope to have found a niche or two, that will make mine stand out. In the morning, I’m planning to package up several pendants and send them to a friend of mine. He’s a very productive sort, and I approached him a couple of months ago about the possibility of supplying the band he’s in with some one-of-a-kind merchandise. He’s gonna check it out and then we’re gonna talk about money.

Having NO business sense, whatsoever, I’m feeling rather vulnerable, but like I said, he’s a friend, and I believe his integrity is above average. Actually, more than that, but I can’t think of a good word that describes how highly I think of him. I guess it speaks of how solid my relationship is with the Big Guy, b/c almost every other day I’m telling him something impressive about my friend, and it occurred to me recently that anyone else would be insecure or worse, but Big Guy gets it.

I’ve been way isolated of late., so having more than a 2-sentence text with anyone is really unusual, and an INTELLIGENT, conversation about real stuff, that just thrills me.

News: My Sweet man has encouraged his employer to hire my eldest and his gf. She has lots of experience waiting tables and has a decent head on her shoulders. My boy, on the other hand…well, I think he’ll do fine. He’s just not gung ho about working 6 days a week. (Breaking your heart, ain’t it? Yeah, mine too.) He’s not going to get much pity here, especially since his gf is working AND attending classes. It’s been entertaining when she comes over after training and tells that all the servers have a mad crush on the Big Guy.  It makes me giggle thinking of the little (and NOT so little, I understand) girls crushing on my Man. Big Guy said it himself: a lot of the attraction is probably the fact that he’s a NO-DRAMA kinda guy, and that makes him REALLY stand out there. The gf said the first training day she got an unwanted earful of all the boys her “Trainer” had slept with…(I guess that generation isn’t really familiar with the words “Cheap” “Prostitute” “Ho”…or at least the negative connotation has not yet sunk in for them. Geez.

So, as I’m typing this up at home, I’ll be sending/posting this for you in a little while. PLEASE tell me what you think of my pendants, and yes, the pics are not nearly as good as I’d like them, but everything is subject to revision and improvement, right?

I don’t think I want to get in the E-bay pool, and Etsy is really intimidating, too. I’m thinking of maybe just creating an email address and selling online…?



Scrabble Tile Pendants pre-silver-plated bails



I think I need a business manager.

So, O, Silent Ones, how have things been in YOUR neck of the woods?

OH, and just so ya know: America’s Got Talent is back on and it’s just as awesome as ever. I love me some Howie Mandell, and the Stern isn’t nearly as much of an ass as previously thought. Those of you who’ve successfully disengaged from your tv’s, you can get the clips online. Please let me know what’s new in your worlds.

                               

Checking in...

Hi, guys! It's been just about forever (In my world, a month IS forever) since I"ve grabbed a few minutes to write, and even now, I had to spend 45 minutes reading some of the many blogs I like to try to keep up with, before landing in my own writing space.
Here's what's new:
I passed the class, with like a B, I think?!! WOOT WOOT! And last week I got the official paper that says I've got my Technical Certificate in Human Services.  ALERT THE MEDIA!! Yeah, they're so beating down the door. (ahem.)
Anyway, I FINISHED it. And, despite pressure from ALL sides, but least of all my Sweety-thank God-I'm NOT going to run out and get "anything" in the way of a job. The idea of deserting my youngest at this time, is just not setting well with me. Honestly, in a perfect world, he'd never go back to public school and I'd supplement our income by creating pretty and unusual things. It is very important to me that I can be there when the boy needs me. Thankfully, the Big Guy and I are in complete agreement in the overall $$ issues: don't need much, just enough to stay afloat and some left over to give away. And being the faithful kinda God that God is, He's taken great care to let us keep the lights on, the vehicles gassed up, and clothes on everyone. (I hate to admit how much my Mom's been assisting us, but I know if she weren't, we'd really be up $hit Creek.) We were talking about that recently, and truth is, I know she likes to help us, whether or not it's related to the illusions of control she also has. I can totally see how I'd feel if my boys "needed" me when they hadn't for a long time. God help us, we're really anxious to get out from the help that she gives us, just for our own mental health's sake, and I'm hopeful that that time is right around the corner.
Here's why:
I recently started keeping up with an old associate (30 years?! Dangit how old AM I!??!) yes, from 30 years ago, who is musically inclined and generally very talented and an all around great guy. "Scott" is a member of a local band that's gotten to be ridiculously popular. They've got the videos on Reverbnation, thousands of friends on facebook-the TRUEST test of genuine like-ability, right? ; ) - and all matter of merchandise available, from caps, to lighters, t-shirts, etc. etc.  So I've been fiddling around with a bit of creative creating, and so I got ahold of Scott & asked him if the band had any kind of jewelry in their merch? He said no, so I said I'd be working on somethings to show him (and his domestic partner) as soon as I finished with that last class. He said great. Sooooo, I've been making pendants from misc. game pieces; primarily Scrabble tiles and dominoes. (I've found several sizes of Dominoes and they're pretty great.) I'll post a picture of some of the non-band pendants I've got so far, and you can judge for yourself if they're adequate to put out on the market. I like them, but I have confirmed AGAIN that I am by far my own worst critic, and even though I've gotten 98% positive input from everyone (the 2% being from Mom, of course),my second-guessing skills have been kicking into overdrive like you wouldn't believe. If this continues, I am very hopeful to find a market for them, w/ or w/o the band's being included.

Pendants by Abz

I think a better camera will be necessary, b/c these were taken with my phone. Can you see them ok? Idk. If I were more blog-savvy, I'd be having a contest to give one away to a lucky reader, but since I'm not, I'll just send one to a friend of mine.
I pray that you are well-fed, rested, and peaceful today. If not, then hopefully it's b/c you had a wonderfully productive day and you're worn out from that.  : )




                                 

Just dropping by...

I've been missing you all, what with the mystery illness Mr. Man has been dealing with, and the usual craziness, it's been impossible for me  to get over here. Here's a picture of some jewelry I made the other day. Those of you who know me will not be even a little bit surprised that I feel drawn to STEAMPUNK-ish stuff. The bracelet now has a thin brown ribbon threaded between the links. I like it. I'm looking for some inexpensive way to get ahold of more charms...

Went to the State Convention last weekend for the original Anonymous fellowship, and had a ball with the usual cast of characters + a few new ones. I stayed up way too late last night-like ALL NIGHT, somehow-and so I know I'm jumping all over the place mentally. 

I'll show you some more as soon as it's finished. 

P.S. my friend Johnnie from "Savedbylovecreations.com" generously passed on some cool resin-y stuff to me, so I'll be making things I've never made before. Thank GOD for a good, legal outlet. What are things you do to get your mind off of "life on life's terms"?

My entry into Thrifty Thursday is sponsored by Appliances Online and the Bosch Washing Machines.

A little craftiness to get me through...

My friend, Johnnie, has a great crafting blog (www.savedbylovecreations.com), and she has the greatest crafting ideas, I swear! As I mentioned earlier, making things helps me to calm down and clear my head. It's probably as close to meditating as I ever get. So, I thought I'd show you the last thing I made, that I did get from Johnnie's blog. If you like it, you will find her tutorials EASY-peasy, and what a lot of satisfaction I get (and I suspect you will, too) from making even a simple thing, with your own hands.

Blessings and peace to you and yours on this Christmas Eve. Oh, and here's the paper-coiled Cross I've been working on:

Wonderful Land

Hello, friends!
It's Wednesday, and it's really quite grey outside. I sincerely hope it's not going to remain this way throughout the winter, but experience tells me that it's likely. Thank God for vitamin D. Among other things, I seem to deal with "Seasonal Affective Disorder". I've heard of people buying a sunlamp or something like that, to combat the s.a.d., but vitamin supplements are much more within my budget.
I'm so tickled that you're here!! I'm feeling SO MUCH MORE LIKE MYSELF, since the Dr. put me on some appropriate meds. I hate depending on all that to function at my best, but I suppose it is what it is. And today, I can accomplish much, even FINISH projects-no, really, I CAN! 
I've been creating coiled-paper crosses for Christmas presents, and yesterday for a change of pace, I fashioned a couple of little ornament/tags...I guess I'll have to get a picture & show you. I'm not entirely sure of my crafting abilities, but as logn as I keep in mind that PERFECTION is just NOT necessary-nor is it going to HAPPEN, EVER-I tend to do alright. 
I just remembered that I want to post a link here on fb. I'm hoping to get back to the library tomorrow and if I do, there will be pictures for you to admire (or scoff at, whichever you prefer). ;)
In the next week or so, I plan on getting a lot more things on here to look at and interact with; suggestions? 
ttfn!

P.S. Here's the little snowman thingy...kinda cute, huh?

Down the Rabbit Hole...a good place to begin

Hiya!
It's the first day on the appropriate meds for one -or more- of the things that make me, Quirky Me, so it seemed like a great day to finally begin this blog. I'll be writing primarily about Mental Health stuff, but expect the occasional craft-making post or other misc. things. (I find creating things to be therapeutic, and maybe you do too?)
Anyway, if you found your way here from my Freshman blog "Cross Addicted" (abbiegrrl.blogspot.com), I hope you'll let me know. I'm open to suggestions as to what you'd like to read about. As I am in the process of acquiring a degree in Human Services, with a Mental Health concentration, that will be the focus.
Please, Let me know if you stop by.