The next day

Things always look brighter the next day. Pat sent a very insightful e-mail which really spoke to what I was feeling about my neighborhood and life. I want the warm fuzzies we used to have back. I want everyone to feel safe and secure in all aspects of their life. I want change!

VOTE!!!

My neighborhood, part 2

I've written about how much I love my little neighborhood, in the heart of the city. This time it's a little different because it's a new side to my area.

Around the corner and just down the street a 16 year old boy was gunned down at 4:00 this afternoon by a drive-by shooter. I can honestly say that I never thought I'd be typing that into my blog. I was driving home and saw the commotion a few minutes later with a dozen police cars, fire and rescue all on the scene. Not knowing what exactly had happened, I waited to see what the news reports were and then called a neighbor. For all it's size, Grand Rapids can be a very small town. My neighbor recognized someone they talked to in the report and all of a sudden it didn't happen to "someone else" but instead, someones relative.

It's a very unsettling feeling to have that kind of violence happen so close. That's never been part of my world. Things are feeling shaky enough in other areas, I don't want to lose my feeling of safety and security in my little neighborhood...

Going to Texas

Next week Michael and I are going to Richardson Texas, a Dallas suburb to do the Cottonwood Art Festival. Everything I know about the festival has come from friends and it all sounds like fun so we'll see how Texas likes my jewelry!

So when I think Texas I think big so, do does that mean they like big jewelry? I don't work big! Especially now with the price of gold. I'm trying some new pieces so we'll see how it goes.

I went to Houston for a show recently and really enjoyed it but it was something like 52 hours round trip in the van and that was just too long. Dallas isn't quite as far...

Updates, floods and sleep

My studio is now dry and 1/2 of the carpet has been cleaned. It should be dry tomorrow and then I can at least move some things out of the other areas and onto that carpet. Then I need to find a carpet installer to put down new pad and reinstall the other carpet so that can be cleaned. Oh will I ever have my studio in working condition again???

So, my sleep study was really interesting. You're in a room that looks just like any nice hotel room with all the amenities. They even come around with a bedtime snack! They wire you up from head to toe and tell you to go to sleep. Luckily I was tired so I fell asleep quickly, just like normal even though I had an "ET" finger with a bright red light on it.

I was one of the lucky ones. I showed signs of "sleep disturbances" immediately so halfway through the night Sam came in to try me using the mask. That's what I was really looking forward to, the miracle machine! It went down over my nose and then PANIC! Raging claustrophobia hit and I ripped it off panting. Poor Sam hadn't run into this particular issue before I guess. I finally was able to settle down and get used to it enough to try to sleep. And sleep I did. I didn't move, no tossing and turning. Just deep restful sleep...

I wanted to take the machine home with me but unfortunately it takes 10-14 days to get the results of the test. Huh??? I thought I was the poster child for good results! I want the machine and I want it now!!! I know it works! I want a good night's sleep. But I have to wait...but not patiently. I'll call my sleep doc tomorrow and see if I can speed it up. This girl wants to sleep!

Sleepy days

I'm not sleeping well these days and my best friend has become a 20 minute nap so I finally said something to my doctor. Since I've long been a fan of self diagnosis, I think I have sleep apnea. My Dad has it as well as many friends so I'm pretty familiar with it.

My consultation was today and because someone else nicely cancelled, I have my sleep study tonight! Since I'm big on immediate gratification, this was perfect for me. I'm really excited to actually find out what's going on so it can then be fixed. It is that easy isn't it???

Riverwalk Fine Art Fair

Just back from a lovely weekend at the Riverwalk Fine Art Fair in Naperville IL. I wasn't able to do the show last year because I got really sick just a couple days before so I was really looking forward to going back this year. Easy drive, pulled up right in front of my space for a really easy set-up and then got to go to the Crate & Barrel outlet store! Life is good!

The area where the show is held was under water just a week ago due to the floods from the remnants of Ike but you would have never known it. They did a beautiful clean-up job and the community was ready for an art fair. Perfect art fair weather with clear skies and not too hot but it was much warmer than we expected! The picture above shows my goofy flag and my booth on the right and down the street. It was taken just as the show was opening on Sunday morning because at most shows, there is no one but artists there at 10 am! The streets filled up quickly.

Right behind my booth is a new yogurt place called the Red Mango. Because it's a chain out of California, I highly recommend looking for it when you're traveling. They call it "authentic yogurt". Just 2 flavors, original unflavored yogurt and green tea (which I thought tasted like grass). They have fresh fruit toppings and oh my, the stuff is GREAT! And Jon, it's gluten-free!

Back to the show, lots of good friends were there which makes it much more fun and Lynn Krause was my wonderful next door neighbor. So perfect weather, spending time with girlfriends and a lovely show. That's how all art fairs should be! Oh, we need great sales as well!

I came back to a still smelly studio though...

And a little more on water...

No smell! Turns out that when everything is dry, the smell goes away. The guys just put down the antimicrobial stuff so the beginning of the week we can start reinstalling carpet. And paring down the "stuff" in the studio.

A few years ago I just felt overwhelmed by how much "stuff" I had that was related to my business. I started pulling things out and then invited friends over to take what they wanted. Display pieces, lights and on and on. Got rid of all of it. Reorganized what was left. Now it's time to do that again. I'm holding on to too much because "I might need it". I won't. Time to clear out! Thank you to Luann for reminding me how freeing that can be. I encouraged her and now she's taken the whole thing to a new level, complete with blogging about it! I'm ready to attack those shelves.

Why do these thoughts only happen when I have no free time to actually do the work???