Let's Celebrate Our Nurses - Nurse's Week May 6 - 12, 2017

Thanks to the Nurses!

I appreciate the nurses in my life. Some of them have literally helped to save my life. All the nurses who attended to me were courteous, supportive and efficient. They spoke with authority but not with bossiness.

Nurses are people of action. They do what needs to be done in the moment. No easy task since many of them work 12-hour shifts.

I remember when I "passed-out" on an asphalt parking lot and came to with severe contusions to my face and a broken arm so bad that people said to me "don't look at it". An ambulance took me to the hospital and doctors and nurses came to my rescue.

Several years later I met one of my nurses from that event at my daughter's baby shower. It turns out she and my daughter were friends with children in the same school. This nurse and I were seated at the same table, and we connected. She remembered me from that day, and she shared how worried everyone was for my health. It was fun to talk with her and get to know her a bit as a mom. She made me feel good to know she remembered me and my circumstances from that day that was so traumatic for me.

I am not a nurse, but I worked with some of them when I was a compliance analyst at a health care system here in Colorado. The nurses there were caring and dedicated to the welfare of the patients, and they actually wanted to comply with the regulations and policies.

Now that I am working from home selling my handmade lanyards and badge reels, I really need to admit some of the regulations made it extremely difficult for the nurses to do their jobs. Like having one hand tied behind your back. I really appreciated all their efforts to comply while caring for their patients.

Yes, I sell badge reels and lanyards that nurses can use. But most importantly I want to let nurses know how valuable they are and how much I appreciate them.

Believe in Yourself!

Believe in Yourself!

Without believing in ourselves we can be swayed to live according to what others want and not what we really believe is right for us. We can also be defeated by all the obstacles along the way.

Adjust Your Sails

Adjust Your Sails

Years ago I referred to myself as a cock-eyed optimist. Every morning I would awaken with the thought that things would go well, and it would be a better day than the day before. I particularly thought this with regard to my relationship with my first husband. It is a lovely bright eyed idea, but it did not take into consideration that circumstances did not align with the stars in my eyes.

What was wrong? What was I doing wrong? Basically I did not adjust to the situations, circumstances, and personalities in my life. I just kept expecting it to get better. Of course, it got worse, not better.

When I was in the throes of a divorce, I began to learn to adjust my sails. Counselors and wise people in my life helped me see that I needed to adjust to forces in my life over which I had no control. God was there by my side to do that. Fortunately, my basic nature of being an optimist did not get lost. I learned to make choices that brought about positive changes in my life instead of just expecting that to happen on its own.

Some people whine and complain about fate and how they are always victims of misfortune. That actually causes them to be victims of misfortune, again because they are not adjusting to their reality.

Adjusting your sails is no easy breezy thing. Just like a sailor must learn the skills to adjust the sails to the wind so he can navigate through the water, we must adjust our attitudes and our actions to navigate the winds blowing through our lives.

Are you able to adjust your sails?

Adjust Your Accessories

Do you get frustrated and upset when you can’t find your glasses? Perhaps you need to adjust how you handle that and get rid of your frustration by using a Plum Beadacious eyeglass chain or a magnetic eyeglass holder.

Is your id badge getting on your nerves? Make it easier to wear and display with a chain or beaded lanyard, or attach it to your clothing with a pretty badge reel from Plum Beadacious.

Be Yourself

It has taken me way too many years to really internalize what this quote means to my life. For many years I was a person who compared myself to others. In school, even though I made good grades, I felt I wasn’t as good as many of my peers. I was afraid to speak my thoughts. I was so shy.

As I got older, married, had children, and worked in the business world; I got past the shyness, but still looked at what everyone else was doing and compared myself to them.

Now I am retired from the corporate world, and follow my dream of creating handmade items that I sell online. I am being myself, and believe I am and always have been putting something wonderful in the world.

How about you? Are you comparing yourself to others? Are you doing things because you think you should, but maybe it isn’t something you should be doing because it isn’t you? Be yourself!

Be Yourself at Work

As you go to work each day you have many choices to reflect the inner you. One small thing you might like to do is show your style with your id badge holder. Do you like flowers, butterflies, dragonflies, birds, or horses? Check out the selection of photo-glass cabochons badge holders from Plum Beadacious.

Do you prefer a beautiful lanyard for your id badge? Plum Beadacious has decorative chain lanyards and colorful beaded lanyards.

Do you have a student in your life who would like a stylish id badge holder? Take a look at the choices at Plum Beadacious. Choose from over 100 badge reel designs and more than 40 lanyard designs.

Shirt Dresses - Are They Back in Style?

I subscribe to Country Living magazine, and in the February issue they have a full page spread on shirt dresses. It looks like these are making a comeback, and are found at numerous stores.

Shirt dresses, also known as shirtwaist dresses, were very popular from the late 1940s into the early 1960s.  My mother wore one most of the time.  It is the famous garb of June Cleaver on Leave it to Beaver, Lucile Ball of I Love Lucy, and Donna Reed of the Donna Reed show.

Donna Reed - The Donna Reed Show

Shirt dresses are quickly identifiable by the tidy shirt appearance of the bodice.  The button down front, usually has a shirt collar, and may be short sleeved or long sleeved.  The waist is fitted,and the skirt is usually gathered or on occasion pleated.  Comfortable cotton was the fabric of choice for most of these mid-century styles. Women would cook, bake, clean, do laundry, and take care of the children dressed in this "uniform" of the times.

June Cleaver - Leave It to Beaver

Modern versions of these dresses are available at most department stores.  On line you can find them at Mod Cloth.  You may wish to wear a shirt dress to work, and a beaded lanyard would look great with one.

Shirt Dresses from Mod Cloth - Lanyards from Plum Beadacious

Are you planning on wearing some shirt dresses this year?  If so, you may wish to try a beaded lanyard with it.

5 Favorite Lifestyle Blogs

I like to follow lifestyle blogs and read several each day.  I have come up with a list of my favorite lifestyle blogs that inspire and entertain me. So...

What is a lifestyle blog?

Lifestyle blogs speak to a variety of topics.  Lifestyle blogs can vary considerably from one another.  Most of them have a slant towards one favorite topic.  The good ones each have a unique feel, and they all reach an audience suited to their content.

This blog, Plum Beadacious, is a lifestyle blog with a heavy slant towards making and selling jewelry.  Niche blogs differ from  lifestyle blogs in that they focus on one type of topic and rarely if ever go outside of that area.  For example, Beading Daily is a website that blogs about beading of all types. It sticks to beading, and may also talk some about selling handmade jewelry or beads. It is a wonderful resource for people who work with beads, but not so much if you want to find out about decorating your home. Beading Daily is a niche blog.

You will see below in the footer of my blog, middle column, that I list each of the lifestyle blogs that I really like.  I follow some of them on Blog Lovin or by email.

My Top 5 Lifestyle Blogs

A Beautiful Mess -

This wonderful blog is large and full of lots of goodies.  They talk about diy projects, food, photography, fashion and other things.  You could get totally absorbed here and lose all track of time.

Wherever you land on this blog, if the post is about creating a DIY project, you can be assured to receive thorough instructions with lots of photos. Here is today's most recent post.  Yes they post more than once a day.

Wood and Leather Magazine Holder - DIY

The Pioneer Woman -

This is another large lifestyle blog that I truly enjoy.  Ree is the woman behind this multifaceted blog.  She has a wonderful sense of humor.  Her whole life is vastly different from mine, but there is just enough in common for me to really like reading her posts.  She lives in the country; she cooks and she home schools.  She also has her own TV show.  She talks about her husband,  Marlboro Man, and the ranching operations.  

Here is one of her posts from today where she makes Italian Cream Cupcakes - YUM!

Italian Cream Cupcakes - The Pioneer Woman

Katie Crafts -

I discovered Katie Crafts a month or so ago, and I subscribe to it.  This is not a mega blog like the other two I talked about above.  It is a fun lifestyle blog with lots of different things.  Katie Crafts sometimes features Etsy artist shops. She also has recipes. I tried one of the recipes that her husband came up with called  Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu.  It was really good.

Here is one of her posts from today about blue fingernails.  I would not do this to my finger nails, but it is really cute for someone younger than me.

Nail Art: Feelin' Blue at Katie Craft

Momfever-

This is a lifestyle blog that I discovered through a blog link party.  There are a lot of "mommy" blogs around, and most of them are not my cup of tea at this point in my life.  This blog had a good article on blogging that caused me to pause and read.  From there I went on to subscribe to this lady's blog.  She does do "mommy" posts and a variety of other things.

Today Nicole talks about her new curtains which are very sweet and pretty.

Pretty Curtains - Momfever

Everything Etsy -

Last for my top 5, but not least is Everything Etsy.  This has been a favorite of mine for a number of years.  Kim shares lots of creative ideas here and is helpful to those of us with Etsy shops.  She and her husband Tim just started a group called Handmade Tickle that I joined.  It is a group that talks together on forums and also teaches more about blogging specifically for handmade creatives.

Here is one of Kim's headlines for a post about Etsy.

15 Great Reasons to Start an Etsy Shop - Everything Etsy

I hope you will be able to visit these blogs and poke around to see what you like.  Do you have any favorite lifestyle blogs?  Please share those with us in the comments.  I like to read different blogs, and I am sure other readers would like to do so as well.

Next, I will be talking about my favorite business blogs.

Breathtaking Color for the Senses -Holi Celebration

Be inspired by bold, brilliant breathtaking color this spring!

This morning I saw a small report on the Today show about a celebration of breathtaking color.  The celebration of Holi is beginning in India.

Origin of Holi Celebrations

This event is an ancient Hindu spring festival.  There are many stories explaining its origin. Various renditions of this do not necessarily match one another. One part of the story is of a dark complexioned boy, Krishna, who was jealous of fair complexioned Radha.  His mother told him to color Radha's face with whatever color he would like.  So this started a festival of breathtaking color that welcomes spring, and bright colors.  People throw brightly colored 

powders in the air and mix powders with water to paint their skins.

This grabs my attention because I love beautiful colors and am very visually oriented.  I have no desire to throw colored powders or paint my skin with them.  However, this whole celebration inspires me to take in the color and not to be afraid of bright beautiful hues.  Everything does not have to be subdued.

Web Resources for More Information

In the process of researching this holiday, I found a great website called Sensational Color.  I plan to spend some time on that site looking at all the information there.There is an excellent article there about the Holi Festival.

Another informative and graphic rich article is here.

Yahoo has oodles of wonderful images at this site.

Color Inspiration ~

I am always looking for good color ideas to use in my creative designs of beaded badge lanyards and other accessories.  I need to look beyond my usual color palette sources at all the breathtaking color in this world.

Attitude of Gratitude

Live with an attitude of gratitude!

I don't want to sound trite, but I am welcoming this new year with an attitude of gratitude. God has so blessed me in 2013! I am excited about life, having fun each day, and accomplishing goals I never realized I could meet.

So what did 2013 present to me?

•  Early in the year, I experienced great difficulty.  In March, I took a fall that has not been explained yet.  One moment I was walking on a perfectly flat surface, and the next I was down on the ground.  No ice, no cracks in the pavement, and no memory of how I got there. I was so banged up because I did not protect my fall, that they called an ambulance and took me to the hospital.  I had a dislocated wrist, broken ulna, my face was bruised from top to bottom, and to me the worst was the hematoma of my brain.  I was off work for three months to recover and went through every test in the book to figure out why I fell. The outcome is that I received outstanding care, had great support from family and friends, recovered and feel better than ever.  I did a lot of praying and thinking about my life, and what I want to do.  Life is a blessing!
• As I went back to work I found less satisfaction in my job with the hospital system.  I didn't have my heart in it.  My desire was to work full time developing my Plum Beadacious shop here online.  I knew I did not earn enough from my Etsy shop to live on.  So I seriously set goals and was able to increase my revenue from that source every month.  In addition, I started putting one of my two paychecks from my full time job into savings, to see if we could meet our bills with a lesser income.  Most importantly I prayed to the Lord each day for guidance and blessings on my little business.  The business grew immensely, and by early fall I had doubled my monthly sales.
• Next I got the wild idea that I could quit my day job and work the Plum Beadacious jewelry business full time.  I was 63 at the time, and knew I could collect Social Security.  My IRA was growing and thriving as well.  The big monster in the picture was health insurance.  So just for grins I called our benefits department to ask what COBRA would cost for the plan I have with the hospital.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I also went through the hoops of checking out the insurance exchange plans offered under the new Obamacare.  The COBRA was the better deal for me. Can you believe it?
• I turned in my resignation in late October, and my last day of work was December 6.  I actually had time to make Christmas cookies without doing a marathon baking session.  I went to my grand-daughter's preschool Christmas concert during the day.  I attended a performance of the Messiah.  I enjoyed Christmas with my daughter and her family.  Best December ever, and my jewelry sales went through the roof.
• Here I am in January planning a trip to Taos and Santa Fe NM.  Plus I am working hard to learn more about ecommerce, to create new products, and to enjoy the experiences along the way.

Happy New Year to each of you!

Backyard Adventure – Hot Air Balloon

Looks like the balloon is going to land on a house. It is really over the field behind the homes.

We had a bit of excitement here at home this morning.  My husband and I were enjoying our morning coffee and working on our computers when we heard a “whoosh” sound. 

It did not stop, so naturally, we got up to investigate the source of the noise.  Imagine our surprise when we looked out the window and saw a hot air balloon coming down behind the homes in our subdivision.  There is a field behind the subdivision, but from our perspective, it appeared to be coming down over some homes behind us.

It was a great photo opportunity, so I grabbed my trusty camera and ran out onto the deck to snap some shots.  I think the balloon must have been having trouble because it went up and down.  Finally it took off and floated away.  It was my backyard adventure of the day.

Balloon headed back up to the sky.

Do you ever have any backyard adventures?  Share them with us.

Christmas Blessings

Today is the day for me to decorate the house for Christmas.  I will put up our tree and add decorations.  Decorating always brings back memories and sometimes a few tears.  Whenever I hang up the baby's first Christmas ornaments I cry a little.  Tears over the quick passing of time mixed with tears of joy over all the blessings God has bestowed on my family and me.

God has me in a good place.  He has blessed me with an awesome husband, loving adult children, fabulous grandchildren, an ability to move and groove, a lovely home and place to live, a good job, and a growing and thriving handmade jewelry business.

God Bless All of You!

Five Post Holiday Goals Otherwise Known as New Year's Resolutions

Post holiday goals sounds so much better to me than New Year's resolutions at this point in my life.  In years past I would sit and dreamily come up with a huge list of resolutions on New Year's day.  I would feel so inspired and so motivated.  For most of those resolutions, writing them down was the end of it.

So I decided to try a new approach.  It's the day after Christmas.  I am excited to think about my business and to develop better and more effective approaches.  But wait, I constantly read about growing a handcrafted business.  I constantly look at what others are doing.  I can come up with multitudes of ideas for growing my little business!

Hm, not a good idea.  So I thought why not take just five of the most important goals, put them in writing here, and then track and monitor how well I do?  I work a day job that involves monitoring compliance, so why not do the same for my own handmade jewelry and lanyards business?  So here are my top five goals for the next year.

1. Post on this blog 3+ times per week.  If you have been following this blog, you know that I am sporadic in my approach.  It's time for me to be reliable and faithful to my blog.
2. Expand my outreach on Facebook.  This will require a lot of diligence from me, because I don't quite get the best way to use it.  Education will be required.  But in an shameless plug, please Like my facebook page.  That will help expand my outreach right away.  Thanks!
3. Develop a website to market my handmade lanyards.  This is a niche I developed on Etsy, and I would love to grow that part of my business.  Hm, should I try Wordpress for that?
4. Sell 12+ lanyards a month.  That is about double of what I have done in the last six months.  Yikes, .................................... S T R E T C H.........................!
5. Last but definitely not the least important - DELIVER MORE THAN I PROMISE!  Great customer service is the most important thing. 
• Time wise - be early not late
• Quality wise - pay attention to details 
• Value - provide an exceptional product for the price
• Extras - provide extra service, specials, things that tickle the fancy

What are your plans to grow your business or whatever endeavors you wish to improve?

Blessed Christmas Giving

Every year my adult children and I discuss what each other would like for Christmas.  Each year it becomes increasingly difficult.  Why is that?  We are so totally blessed, that we all have or can buy what we need and a great deal of what we want.  So this year, my son proposed that we spend the money we normally spend on each other to provide for someone else's need.  We agreed this was a great idea.

So my son, my daughter and her husband, my husband and I pooled our resources to give to a homeless shelter.   My daughter's church is sponsoring a homeless group for a week in December, and they are putting together packages that include a hat, a pair of gloves, and a pair of socks.  Living in Northern Colorado, warmth is a key factor when purchasing these items.

So yesterday my daughter, her husband, my grand-daughter, my husband and I went shopping.  We decided to descend on Jax, a store that carries clothing for farmers, ranchers, and sportsmen.  We piled up a shopping cart with warm wool/acrylic hiking socks that wick away moisture to keep the feet dry, and gloves with thermal properties and closure at the wrists to keep wind out.  We found some medium, some large and some extra-large.  What fun it was to load up a shopping cart with these items.

We cleared a whole section of gloves and socks out of the store's inventory.  After we checked out, my daughter asked the checker to place everything in one big bag.  She is taking that bag to the church today.  She was excited.  She said she feels like Santa Claus with this giant bag of stuff.

Already I feel the magic of Christmas, and I praise God that we can do this.  I won't miss the presents that I would have received from my children.  The experience brings us closer and makes us value each other and all our material blessings.

Of  course,  I am still giving presents to the grandkids!

Fall Fun at Harvest Farm Festival

The family took advantage of the spectacular Northern Colorado weather yesterday and drove up the road to Harvest Farm.  This is a farm right outside of the town of Wellington, Colorado. Harvest Farm is a unique place that serves men with drug and alcohol addiction.  It is a rehabilitation  center that serves 72 residents.  It provides them with the opportunity to work in a rural environment and receive counseling and help to transition back to society.  It is sponsored by the Denver Rescue Mission.

Every year they sponsor a Fall Festival that includes a big corn maze, a toddler corn maze, and various other small mazes.  There is a barrel train ride, pig races, a petting zoo, pumpkins,and other entertainment.  Food is available also.

We took Maggie, our two year old grand-daughter to this event.  She had such fun.

They said no throwing of the corn ~  But it's so much fun!

Fun on the Barrel Train

You back up, not me

Sittin' on Top of the World

Does What You Learn Lead You to Take Action?

Don't let your learning lead to knowledge,

let your learning lead to action.

                                      Jim Rohn

We have so many opportunities to gain knowledge and to learn from others around the globe in this computer internet cyberspace age.  I don't know about you, but I can spend hours surfing the web reading about all kinds of things ... health information, financial information, marketing on the web, decorating, how to articles, etc.   My mind gets overloaded with all this information.  I can spend hours doing this in the evening, and then, I'm tired and I go to bed.

But ---what am I doing with all this information?  I find I have multitudes of ideas for action, but very few of them come to fruition.

When it comes to my jewelry business, I decided I need to take one of my ideas, test it, market it, and see it through.  I seem to jump around a lot.  I may decide to work on improving my photos, so will take some photos again to post online for the items in my shop.  Then I may read a good article on keywords and off I go rewriting my titles and descriptions of products. Meanwhile my blog gets forgotten for weeks.

Blinders on

Really, I believe I need to put on blinders to prevent me from being distracted by all the data and information coming at me through cyberspace,  totally focus on a plan of ACTION, and see it through.  The plan can be multifaceted, but should have clear goals and milestones.

I am trying to do this by marketing to a niche of  career women who need to wear id badges to work each day.  I am focusing on  making beaded lanyards and selling them.  I set up a new shop on Artfire, LeAllyson's Lanyards and I also sell them at my Plumbeadacious shop on Etsy.  I am beginning to have some success with these.  Here is one I sold just this last week.

Gold Chain Lanyard with Lampwork Focal Bead

How do you deal with the massive amounts of information or knowledge that you take in each day?  How do you put your learning into ACTION?

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.

                                         James 1:22  NIV

Mistakes Can Be Your Friend

"The man who makes no mistakes does not normally make anything."

   - Edward John Phelps - January 24,1899

Oh gee! How many mistakes have I made?  Countless mistakes.

One of the biggest deterrents to taking up a new hobby or activity is the fear of failure.  Years ago I thought I had no artistic ability.  Why did I think that?

My father could draw very well.  He had been a commercial artist for awhile when he was a young man.  When I  was a child, he would entertain me by taking a blank piece of paper and with a pencil, he would quickly sketch a picture of a puppy or Mickey Mouse or any number of delightful pictures.

This was wonderful. Unfortunately, when I picked up a pencil to try to do the same thing, I was slow, clumsy, and really not very good.  I gave up and decided I had "no talent".

It was many years later that I started painting.  I learned that it takes practice and patience.  I really think that "talent" plays the least important part.

Early attempt at jewelery and photographing it

I don't paint much now, but I started creating jewelry about 7 years ago.  Again my first inclination was that beading wire and working with pliers, crimpers, and cutters was definitely not my cup of tea.  Yet I was drawn to the beautiful beads and the endless possibilities to create unique jewelry.  Once again I found that practice and persistence paid off.  Now I am not so clumsy when I wrap the wire or attach a clasp.  It is fun to do these things, and it brings me hours of enjoyment.

More recent piece I made and photographed

Did I goof and make mistakes to start with?  Absolutely!  Many many mistakes. I had to cut wire off the piece and throw lots of it away, and then start again.

Do I still make mistakes?  - Oh, YES! Not as many, and not the same ones, but every time I try something new, I go through a learning curve and make new mistakes.

Never fear making mistakes!  It is part of the path to success!

Have you had similar experiences with learning from mistakes?  We would love to hear your story. Comment below. 

"Though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand."

                                                                              Psalm 37:24 -NIV

Farewell to 2010- A Year Full of Change

As we leave 2010 behind, I am struck by how much life has changed for my husband and me this year.  We moved last January from St. Louis, MO to Severance, CO.  To do that we drove both vehicles across icy windy highway.  Once we settled here, I started work.  Hubby is retired.  Shortly after that I found I had breast cancer, and that knocked me for a loop.  I had surgery, and no chemo or radiation was needed.  I am so thankful to the Lord for that.

We spent time taking drives to new places here in Colorado and enjoyed the spectacular scenery.  This fall I did three craft shows from November 19 to December 1.  It was crazy working full time, plus hauling my things to these places.  Bill, my husband, was an incredible help with this, and we found that we have fun working a craft show together.

Neighbors we barely know came by and gave us a fabulous platter of goodies.  It was so pretty I took a picture of it before we ate any of it.

After the craft shows, I got sick with a cold and then bronchitis.  Somehow we got prepared for Christmas, and had a wonderful time with our family here. Our son came in from California to join in the festivities.

I had neglected to come up with a nice centerpiece for the dining table, but crafty as I am, I managed to piece together a really nice one about two hours before the meal.  I found an inexpensive wreath we have, some white trim, a long red candle, a square vase, and some marbles. The marbles went into the vase with the candle in the middle. The wreath was placed on the table, and the white trim was draped around it.  I was quite happy with it when I finished.

I learned  a lot this year, and am so happy to be close to my daughter, Mary and her family.  Our grand-baby turned one in September, and we were able to participate in the party.

When it was time to decorate the Christmas tree, I put up the ornament I got for Mary when she was a baby.  Today I took the Christmas tree down, and as I removed that ornament it crossed my mind that I had not cried when I put the ornament on the tree weeks ago.  Now, you need to understand, that for the past 8 -10 years I always had a good cry when I laid eyes on that ornament.  Mary, my daughter, was not at home and was living in other states.  I missed her.  How significant, that this year I did not feel the need to cry.   I see Mary all the time, and her husband, and her step-children, and our fabulous new granddaughter.  No tears needed!

Life is good, and we are blessed by the living God!  Let's all look forward to 2011 with anticipation and hope.  Happy New Year!

Teddy Bear's Picnic

If you have been following this blog, you know that my daughter had her first baby last year.  I was so enamored of the baby who lives here in Colorado, that I packed up all my worldly goods and moved from St. Louis to Colorado to be near her and to watch her grow up.  It's hard to believe, but one year has passed since her birth.  I don't regret a moment of making this move out to Colorado.

My granddaughter's name is Maggie, and we celebrated with her in style last week.  Her mom created a Teddy Bear's Picnic for her and the family.  First Mary, my daughter, created darling invitations that she mailed to us.  They were on pink card stock, with a cute poem inside and the dates of the picnic.  She used Maggie and her bear friends in a picture that she glued to the front of the card.  Don't you wish you could be at their picnic? :-)

The weather cooperated beautifully for the party outdoors in Maggie's back yard.  We had some of a bear's favorite foods, salmon salad, lox, cream cheese and bagels, berry salad, and of course cake.  What bear would ignore a good chocolate cake?

Maggie got all dressed up in a sweet purple and white dress.  For those of you into "all things handmade", this is a handmade dress that Mary bought at a small shop in Salida, a quaint town nestled in the mountains.

Then Maggie enjoyed her first birthday cake, and I mean she REALLY ENJOYED IT! She totally immersed herself in the experience.

What a memorable day!

Jewel Tone Colors in Hot Air Balloons

Over Labor Day Weekend I had the pleasure of getting up early and heading over to Windsor, Colorado where a hot air balloon event took place as part of their annual Harvest Fest.  There in a small park they had about 10 or so hot air balloons.  When I first arrived they were laying totally deflated flat on the ground.  It was early in the day, about 7:00 on a Saturday, and I had rushed to get there by 7:00 thinking that these grand balloons would all lift off into the sky at that moment.  When I saw that they all needed to be inflated first, I was a bit disappointed thinking I would be standing there all morning, waiting for them to lift off into the sky.

Boy, was I ever wrong!  Shows how much I know about hot air balloons.  Shortly after I got there several of the people began inflating balloons with huge fans and flames.  I wasn't close enough to figure out exactly how this happens.  It was so much fun watching these large balloons lift up onto their sides one by one, stand straight up full and proud, and then quickly rise into the sky with hot flames shooting up inside of the balloons.

Here are some of the balloons I saw.  The colors are fabulous, and one is quite fun.  The balloon represents the moon, and a cow is jumping over it.

Breast Cancer Survivor

As I mentioned yesterday, one of the reasons I have been away from blogging is due to my health.  In February I discovered a lump in my left breast.  After a visit to the doctor, a mammogram, ultrasounds, biopsies, and breast MRI, it was determined that I had breast cancer in the left breast.  The wisest course of action appeared to be a mastectomy of the left breast.  I had this surgery done on March 30 with reconstruction at the same time.  Two lymph nodes were removed at that time also.

After all pathology reports were done, I am so relieved to know that the cancer did not get to the lymph nodes.  We caught this very early.  There were several cancerous cells in the left breast both DCI and invasive.  Many tests have been done post surgery, and I have been given the good news that chemotherapy and radiation therapy are not needed.  I will take hormonal therapy for five years.  I have a prescription for Arimidex which I will start taking in several weeks.

I am thanking God for this positive outcome.  I am joining the large band of survivors of this disease.  My chance for recurrence is small.

To all women - please take the time to do a breast self-exam each month.  Please do not ignore anything that feels unusual.  It can save your life!

Back to Blogging

I am back to my blog, and thankful to be here.  Since I last wrote here in my electronic journal, my life has changed immensely.  My last post celebrated the birth of my wonderful grandaughter, Maggie.  Her Papa and I dote on her so much, we moved from St. Louis, MO to the Fort Collins, CO area to be near her.

What an adventure and huge undertaking that was.  Papa is retired, but I needed to find full time work in Fort Collins that would approximate my income at the job I had in St. Louis.  We prayed about this, and I asked the Lord to either open the door wide to allow us to make this move, or if it was not the right thing for us to do, I asked that the door be strongly shut, slammed, in my face.  God is so good.  I sent out about three resumes total.  The one position for which I thought I was best qualified was the one for which I interviewed over the phone.  I was offered the job a few weeks later.  I now work for Poudre Valley Health System in Fort Collins, CO.  It is one of the best places to work in Colorado.  It won the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award for 2008.  This is a very high honor and is indicative of the commitment they have to provide patients with the best possible care and provide their employees with the best possible work environment.
I have worked there full time since January 11 as the Clinic Compliance Risk Analyst.  This is truly the best place I have worked, and I have been in the workforce for well over 20 years.

Needless to say, the physical move to Colorado and the attention to my new position left me with little to no time to create jewelry or to blog about it.  In addition, a major health issue intervened.  More about that tomorrow.

Here are some photos of Papa and Grandma with Maggie.