Friend? Really?

Since when do you have to be rude to express your opinion? I know I have my little rants, but if I'm speaking directly to someone I try my best to be even keeled and present my side logically because that's how I was raised. Nobody wants to listen to someone belittling the other party or screaming their opinion. If someone has already admitted that they may not have had as solid a grasp on a subject as they originally thought, don't berate them, educate them. If someone says, "The way you are presenting this is very rude and I don't appreciate it." don't say, "Welcome to the internet, yours isn't the only opinion."

What you really mean to say is, "Welcome to the internet, where I can be rude to you because I don't have to look you in the eye."

*sigh*

Woohoo!

My old roommate Amy bought a necklace!! I'm SOOOOO excited! That means I've sold three things in a month :) I know it's not a lot, but it's something!

I've been making loads more, though I need to make myself stop with the jewelry for a minute and do some coasters and bags!! I also need to get my sewing machine set up... and for the fabric stores to carry jersey material...

Keep your fingers crossed for me, I have a lot more to put up and I think this thing might really be getting ready to work out!

Beebop A Reebop Rhubarb Pie!

This week has been... draining. There's a lot of really ridiculous stuff going on at work and a lot of us are seriously worried about our jobs, so I'm in the process of trying to feel out all my options AND get the business stuff off the ground so that I can potentially make that at least a feasible carry-over option. Clearly, I would very much like to make running my business my first option but I doubt that will happen for another year or so!

So, if you know anyone who wants some jewelry made or little gifts or some sewing or some tutoring... just send them my way!

Jeremy ran a half marathon this week at the Sweetwater State Park and had a great time-- it was hard, and it was below freezing and snowing a little the whole time, but he loved it. They're doing a 50k in April that he's looking at as a way to build up to the 50 mile run Mark wants to do with him in Arkansas this winter!

Porbably there will be a better update later, but for now I'm going to go work on making some jewelry, watch a movie with Jeremy ("The Phantom"-- SO much awesome!) and have a little dinner!

Dear Parents

I'm so tired this year of listening to parents either swear up and down their child couldn't be evil or swear up and down their child is evil.

Public Service Announcement: Children are sociopaths. They grow out of it. Be a decent parent and admit that they might just not like you; it's part of parenthood. Eventually, they grow out of it, or grow in to different phases. This is also normal. Also, none of this behaviour is particular to any type of child-- "Oh, but my child has one/two/eight siblings!" Guess what-- they're still a little sociopath.

I may not BE a parent, but I have godkids and I care for over 100 children every day of the week and have studied child development.

They KNOW lying is bad, but they're gonna try until it doesn't work anymore.

They KNOW they're sucking up, but they're gonna try until it doesn't work anymore.

And if the people you surround yourself with are decent people, it will stop working. I have kids suck up to me every damn day, but when they do something mean or wrong, I call them to the mat for it. Now, instead of attempting to ingratiate they're just nice and respectful.

/minirant

Seriously.

I know this sounds mean, but good grief I see this every day. I am a child care PROFESSIONAL. I also guarantee you that if you look around, you'll find children are behaving 75% of the time-- any combination of church, school, home, and outside care (after school, Sunday school, babysitters, etc.) as long as you leave one of those out. Most often, they misbehave at home.

/butreallyimdone

Do eet!

Wow, so this weekend was packed full! I took loads of pictures (see below) and put a ton of stuff up on Etsy, had an extremely delicious breakfast in bed for my birthday AND a very relaxing bubble bath thanks to Jeremy, and just relaxed. I know, I know, relaxing isn't usually part of a packed full weekend, but it was pretty great for me! 

We've both gotten in to take care of the worst teeth in our mouths and both have gone well-- they were the most likely to be either root canals in my case or extractions in Jeremy's case. I'm very pleased that they went well-- as much bad luck as we've had with our teeth falling apart, it's nice to have luck treating them! 

We're planning our year out, hoping that this is the year we get "fit"-- get all of our dental work taken care of, get in shape, I have some weight to lose, and Jeremy wants to run a 50 miler with a friend from his running group in the fall. This summer, we'll take most of a week to go up to Indiana and see Josh and Sarah again, and visit Grandma and Earl (and give me a chance to ride the horses 'til I can't walk straight!) and over Easter we'll head up to Mississippi to see Marc and Jan. In November, the F1 race will be in Austin so that's four days right there, and then, in September...

WE'LL FINALLY GET A HONEYMOON!!!!

My friend Elyse is getting married and MAN I'm excited! She lives in England at the moment and is marrying a great guy aaaaaaaand, they are getting married at a huge church and then putting everyone on double decker buses to take us over to THE TOWER BRIDGE!!! for the reception! We can't really afford it, but it's a once in a lifetime opportunity so we're going to make it happen! 

This year is about getting healthy and seeing people. All of our travel recently has been family based, and we love our family but we haven't seen most of our friends since the wedding! Over two years! I'm dying to see Lauren and Joey again, I miss them SO much, and Brent, too! I don't know that we'll make it up to NY to see Joe this year, but it's definitely up at the top of my list since it looks like he'll be in Niagara Falls for a little bit and I've always wanted to visit! Plus, it would be an easy way to dip in to Canada for a day trip! 

Octopus' Garden Earrings

Anna Earrings

Busy Bee Earrings

Cloud 9 Earrings

Cora Earrings

Helen bracelet

Jade Bracelet

Molly Bracelet

Chocolate Rose Bracelet

Carolina Necklace

Helen Necklace

Jenn Necklace

Octopus' Garden Necklace

Busy Bee Ring

We're still alive...

But to give you an idea of how crazy things have been, I'm STILL finding un-sent Christmas cards! Woe!

O Tannenbaum

Clearly, I'm behind... but our Christmas tree is still up because I love it so much! I haven't had a Christmas tree since probably freshman or sophomore year of college, and the last two Christmases have been spent with the Clark side of the family, so this is our first Christmas TREE together which means a lot to me. All of my ornaments are gifts, very few were bought by me, and that's what makes our tree so wonderful. Though the Clarks and the Sizemores may never claim to be from the same common ground, we both love giving ornaments as gifts and I have, in fact, already bought the kids' (Julian, Violet, Ana, China, and Mitike) ornaments for NEXT year! So, I hope you'll enjoy, at least a little bit, these shots of our tree: