Rose quartz

This is on elastic cord but when I get a magnetic clasp I'm going to restring it on regular beading wire. The rose quartz beads are not good quality so it pains me to have them strung with the purple amethyst because those are of good quality.  I got those for $18 for a string.  And when I first started beading I really didn't get the different between base metal vs sterling silver and a couple of the spacers beads had tarnished so I think the spacers are sterling silver.  The focal bead has hearts on it so I'm thinking about using craft wire to see if I can form some head pins with a heart to make earrings.

I fiddled with a variety of beads to get a good combination with the rose quartz, then I realized sometimes it's best to stick with simplicity.

I like the feel of these on my arm even though I don't care for the beads themselves.  I think I'm liking smooth, shiny semi-precious stones.

Etsy says do not use a flash when you photograph jewelry so I photographed it in natural light on the coffee table. 

Next I'm going to try making a seed bead bracelet.

Carnelian

Mayela came over today at about 1pm and we had a nice long visit.  We ate tamales for lunch then watched Passion of The Christ, then sat down for more tamales (I had chicken soup) and she, my husband, and I, talked over dinner for an hour.  Then we did a Bible study on the Parable of the Sower aka The Parable of the Four Soils.  Then at about 9pm she left.  Tomorrow we might go shopping.

So I took my bead box out a last week, or rather I had my husband get my bead box out of the shed.  I love going through all my old beads.  It's like seeing old friends.  All the plans I had that I never followed through on...hopes, dreams, desires.  Anyhoo, I decided not to go to bed until I made something.

I used 1 mm Stretch Magic elastic cord.  I prefer elastic bracelets and I thought I was making it for myself.  This one fit rather high on my arm but it felt good.  Or I could let it go to the bottom of my wrist and it wasn't too annoying. The stones are so big that they felt smooth and weighty on my wrist instead of light and flittery.

I love the look and feel of these stones.  The findings are all leftovers.  The stones are actually several of my least favorite of the string but still gorgeous to my eyes.

Carnelian is a quartz that has a waxy luster and is usually brownish red to orange but comes in a lot of shades and colors.  Geologists classify is as a chalcedony in the quartz family.  It has the same chemical makeup as agate so what one person calls carnelian could be another person's agate.  I suspect these have been heat treated to make the hues and lines stand out.  Some carnelian is naturally very red, but heat treatment enhances the color and beauty of carnelian.  It has a hardness on the Mohs scale of 7.

As I gazed at it while the glue was drying it did occur to me that it looked like a something Mayela might like.  She came over and I showed it to her and sure enough, she liked it.  I kind of wanted it for myself, but she'll wear it more than I ever would.  It looks real purty on her arm.  She wears bracelets every day.

So my first bracelet made in a long time went to a home where it will be loved.

I made a new hair sig.  I worked on it for two hours before dinner and clicked save, but I saved a different image than the one I had open.  I didn't realize it.  So.  I closed the document I was working on and reopened it and...nada.  None of my work was on it.  I had a blank background.  [Silent scream]  I'm out of shape.  So what can you do.  I started over.  Luckily I had saved pieces of it, so it was faster putting it together the second time.  I really want a good hair down photo for the standing photo, but don't have a recent on that I really like.  I used the modified figure 8 pic for the full length photo.  My regular sig is from 2009.  Time flies!

I must have spent two hours today trying to make a good hairstyle for some new photos.  Had my husband all lined up waiting for me.  I couldn't make anything I liked.  Maybe it was because I had just washed it.  My husband asked if I had hair block.  Haha!  Yes, I must have.

H is for Hair

Of course, of course. What else could "H" be for! I've been planning ever since "G" to take a hair picture. Didn't get it done. I took other pictures, but not the hair.

Last night had a big, shall we say, discussion, with son in which I yelled like a banshee. It's not my best look. It's not my best side. Then I watched stupid tv for half an hour with my husband, stewing all the time. Turned off my computer and went to bed. That's why nothing at all got posted last night. I did think about "H" though.

Updated:

My hair laying on the bed.  Olive oil lightly applied last night.  Scalp wash today.

My hair looking forward to wearing brand new Zumba winter jacket!

G is for girls

I like pretty girls.  I like the saying that pretty is skin deep, but ugly goes to the bone.  My favorite saying is, "Hoo-rahed by a little girl," a line from the western movie True Grit.  If my husband is watching a movie I ask, "Are there any girls in it?"  Because movies with all guys are usually boring.  I do like one oldie movie that has all guys, The Treasure of Sierra Madre. My daughter-in-law and I were talking about how we always take notice of what female Fox News commentators are wearing and how their make-up and hair look and we have to comment about it before we listen to what they're saying. Haha!

Candid shots.

There was a 14-year-old girl at the lake.  The daughter of a friend of a friend.  She was quiet.  Serene.  An unusual quality for one so young.  Her profile was classic.  Big nose.  Indian.  American Indian.  I surmise she'll be an exceptional beauty when she's older.  She had gorgeous, silky black hair which she never tucked behind her ears.

She saved one of the babies from a bad water experience.  My granddaughter, the fearless three-year-old, boldly stepped toward the deep, then ran forward, and, unable to stop her momentum she went under not understanding that people cannot breathe underwater.  The older girl saw it.  Without hesitating for a moment and ran/swam through the water to the rescue.

F is for furry

I'm doing the alphabet challenge with Jules of New Zealand. I missed A through E so will start from F and advance forward from there.

F is for Furry

Firstly, F reminds me of Angel's fur.  She is the sweetest cat I ever knew.  She gets into everyone's lap.  If you sit, she will climb up to your lap.  She especially prefers our son, but if he's not here she'll get into my lap.  I'd like to let her into the house but son is allergic.  Plus, she rolls in the dirt.  I've often contemplated the question, "Why does Angel roll in the dirt?"  I googled it since Google searches are known to uncover a treasure trove of information.  The best answer I found was this one, word for word, letter by letter, begging for punctuation and proper choice of article:

"She might have a itch. Cats exhibits all kind of strange behavior that no one can explain. If we knew boy could we make money."

Is that an answer or is that an answer.   

She's a great huntress and has no tail.

F reminds me of fairground and number fifteen, our son's number this year.  

The fair barn.

Getting ready for the horse show.

Dawn breaks.  Kids work preparing animals for show and will get to enjoy the carnival tonight.

And fuzz.  One day I saw a fuzz stuck on a piece of grass.

I trimmed my hair and like it so much better.  Today I ordered some Spectrum unrefined coconut oil.  In the past I've used the refined and liked it.  My monoi oil went rancid so I had to buy something.  I hope the fragrance isn't overpowering.  I read that it dissipates quickly.  I got such a nice hair compliment today and she asked me how I grow my hair.

Church was good this morning.  

I'm opening a new night for Zumba in a couple weeks.  I'll be doing Tues/Wed/Thurs evenings.  The new Wednesday night class will be a later one - from 6:30-7:30pm.  Hope people will come.  It was requested so somebody better come!  I'm changing the Saturday class to a low impact class and will market it as Zumba for seniors.  I am looking forward to it very much.  It'll be easier for my body and still fun.  I've already found a cute Zumba Gold routine that I'm learning.  I don't know why Zumba isn't offering Gold training very much.  Seems to me a good demographic.

My new pants

Here I go to work!  In my tie dyed supplex lycra flare leg pants. 

Land of Enchantment

Today we changed our driver's licenses and registration from Texas to New Mexico.  My husband decided.  Now we can vote on local and state issues.  Yay.  Best of all, I took a good photo for my license.  I've never, never had a good driver's license photo.  I've had a lot of bad ones.

This state's motto is "Land of Enchantment."  Locals call it "The Land Of Entrapment."  Hehe.  

It's duperly windy out today.  We got Bella a fly mask to keep the flies from walking on her eyes.  She doesn't like wearing it.  She'll get used to it.

Sunday at 6:00pm is the big day.  We're buying our piggy for the fair.  He's going to be named Winston just like Winston of last year.  His pen is all ready with improvements.  We're so excited to add a pig to our family.  Well, he'll be in our family till October when we sell him.  We don't want to think about that though.  We remind ourselves of the good life he'll have before then.  Here's what they looked like on May 9th.  They'll all be bigger now.  They needed more time with their mom.  There will be 8 kids and they will draw numbers for who goes first to pick a pig.  Everyone hopes they're picking a winning pig, but last year the child who got last pick won first place!  You never know.

This little piggy was the noisiest.  The owner said we would have to be patient and wait a few minutes while he feeds her because she's the runt and requires hand feeding.  We couldn't talk till he was done because she was squealing so loudly. She gets some milk from her mom, but not enough.  She will be sold as a pet, he said.  It was awful cute.  You can tell she's smaller than the rest.

My favorite things

Summer is here and I like it hot.  We're running the air conditioner 24 hours a day.  It was 100 degrees today.

My favorite thing is to do Zumba from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, come home, eat dinner my wonderful husband prepared, change into horse clothes and go outside and groom Bella at dusk.  Then, lay on the back porch and look at the sky.  The other day a single great blue heron flew overhead.  He was so big.  Tonight I saw a satellite fly by.  Angel the cat was off gallivanting across the countryside somewhere so she didn't lay on my lap or on my tummy tonight.  I missed her.  I called but she didn't come.  She's probably off mousing somewheres.

My hair and nails are doing well.  Tonight at worship practice the ladies all thought my nails were fake.  I ask you, do I remotely look like the type to wear fake nails.  I told them Zumba made them strong.  I'm so proud of my fingernails.  What an accomplishment to have them all the same length.  Wow.  They're blue.  When I break one I'll have to cut them all off so I'm enjoying them while I can.

This is my hair today.  Meh, messy.  It has avocado oil in it from last night. I put it up and went to Zumba after this pic.

Her poor tail

Bella's tail is my life.  It's long.  It's luxurious.  It's shiny.  It's two colored, black and white.  It's down to her ankles - or maybe they're called hocks - about six inches from the ground.  I baby that tail and use only the best products on it.  Heck, my mane and tail conditioner is the same stuff the Queen of England uses in her stables.  So the advertisement says.

Now it's PARTLY CHEWED OFF!  Gone. It'll take two years to grow back to where it was! 

We've had little Ginger here for two days.  I loved her yesterday until I woke this morning hearing our son talk about how Bella's tail had been chewed and I jumped out of bed and ran outside and saw 1/4th of Bella's white tail gnawed clean off.  It was all wiggly with dried horse spit where it had been gnawed on.  Then I ran to Google and found some advice.  I put a mixture of Vaseline and hot pepper on the tips of Bella's chewed off ends and I hope Ginger will get a mouth full.  I also ordered some super stink stuff that's supposed to keep horses from chewing.

Ai yi yi.  From joy to distress in a mere two days. She's seven months old and a pretty little thing. A dun horse. Walks up to me sometimes too.

Oh Christmas Tree

Christmas is four sleeps away. My sister says it needs some decoration but now I'm kind of attached to it the way it is.  The present is to him from her and her family.  She's tends to be very organized and orderly.

BP

Went to the doctor to get Zovirax for the herpes simplex type1 that was attacking my lip. I got to walk around all week and teach class with a giant scab on my face. So nice. Good thing I saw the doc too because although it was too late to use it for the scab on my lip, as soon as the lip one went away another started on my nose. The medicine worked on that one and it didn't break out! Thank you, Lord.

My blood pressure (BP) was 112 over 60. Pretty good!

Zumba is going well. My Saturday class is still small; six people last week. But it has a good vibe and I like it just as much as the larger weekday classes. It's a wonderful thing to see people gettin' into it and knowing the routines without having to look at me 100% of the time. When I look out at class and we're all dancing in sync it's very cool! Also, last Saturday I forgot my place in a routine and I looked at class and they were all doing it correctly. I took their cue and got right back into it. I loved it! I was happy. Also notable, at the last class I had no stomach ache, no retching, no having to go to the bathroom 10 times before class. Amen to that. I get a wee bit anticipatory before we start, but that's within the realm of normal. We like the realm of normal.

I haven't put up a photo for so long. Here's a camel. He lives in New Mexico. She, I mean. We petted her and she was so sweet and gentle. Her feet sink into the ground. That's what camel's feet do.

I had a Zumba song that I introduced on November 16. I tell ya, I had the impression no one liked it. The very first day we went through it - at the end there was dead silence in the room. You coulda heard a pin drop. Okay, I says to myself, maybe it's because it's new. We'll do it a few more times, see if they warm up to it. It's a song by Ivy Queen, reggaeton genre. We did it seven times and I decided to rotate it out. First day we don't do it, two people ask why we didn't do it and said they missed it. Sheesh kabob! I told them, ifns you like a routine you gotta let me know! You gotta clap or say something to me otherwise I'm trying to figure out if peeps like it or not. Haha! Live and learn.

I'm practicing a new cooldown routine this week, then I have two salsas I'm going to learn. One is a traditional salsa and the other a hotter "salsaton"; a blend of salsa and reggaeton. I felt guilty when I put my first playlist together back in August, that I had not a single salsa routine. Whenever people think of Latin music the first thing they think of is salsa. I looked and looked and did not find any salsas that moved me. When it rains it pours. Now I will have two at once!

Long time

I haven't put up a hair photo for ages so I got one snapped today. It's just a pic, not a pose. Although technically, we hair girls all know hands on waist is totally a pose. It's a straight hem because of my trim yesterday. It was messy before.

My ends are lightened. "See through" as Heidi calls them. I never read any hair posts from Heidi anymore. It's possible that by this time next year I could be near knee length. That would be nice. I have another photo in the kitchen that shows my hair smoother and shinier but it's me bending over opening the oven. My dear husband took that one for me. I want to post the shiny hair but not the behind!

Gasp. I just checked my archive and looked at my November 2009 hair and my hair has grown. I mean, progress is evident. Wow. See? Taking photos for the record in a useful tool! Here I am thinking I've made not much progress. November 2009 I was 45". Two and 3/4 inches looks like more than it sounds to me. Welp. Time for a Snoopy Happy Dance! I gotta to watch O'Reilly on the teebee right now first.

Sunday night

I trimmed my hair myself 3/4 inch last night. Now I'm at 47 3/4 inches. It looks much nicer and the comb goes through the ends smoothly again. It's taking long to get to 50 inches. I first hit 47" in April of 2010. Trimmed in May; ends were scraggly. Trimmed again in July; ends accidentally got pulled into a fan, twice, and got scraggly again. Well, the trailer is narrow and it never occurred to me my hair would go in the fan. After two times, I was very careful! I will call 2010 the year of growing yet standing still. I want to do an oiling soon with my cap that I've only used once.

The newspaper man took a photo of my class last week. He sent it to me. I'm in the pink and black and those are my awesome students. I pray for them each week. I look forward to seeing them and hearing about their accomplishments and even aches and injuries! I wish he'd taken more photos. He came and left so fast. I'm collecting money to place an order for my class for Zumba tops next week! I hope it might give me some extra advertising when people wear them and get asked where they got them. I hope.

I only had four people in my Saturday class. That's the smallest I've ever had. But it was the first time in the new location too. I suspect with the holiday season approaching people may be busy on Saturdays. I will still go though because I need to do my whole routine three times a week for sure. Whether I have a teensy class or a large class I do my best to them happy they came and give them a great and thorough work out. The girl in the white shirt and shorts is pregnant so we will be having our first Zumba baby next year!

Paperwork and prep

Straight out of the camera.  A rarity for me because I can't control myself from highlighting this or that, messing with exposure and paintbrushing.  I smiled big.  I have some others that look like I have the crazies.  Emailed one to my husband and I walked over and said, Look at my smile, it's not too bad.  Hey, I said, you need to scroll up to look at my smile. He's such a man. Wished I'd shot the other side so my tattoo isn't sticking out right in front. I forgot about that.

I needed a photo for my flyers so I can print them and stop thinking about it. My husband traipsed through the hot desert on my behalf and scoped out a fine juniper tree with shade for me to stand under.  I was thinking a perfect venue would be a photo at the gym or the studio but I don't want to wait, plus a lot of the Zumba girls use photos from in their house or out and about doing whatever. I'm using the photo on top.  Usually I delete photos that show my turkey gobbler profile (the second pic), but that's what it be like.  Fifty one years takes its toll and I accept it. I'm alive and an imperfect jawline is small payment.

The real truth is, I wish to get it fixed someday but my husband doesn't want me to because he doesn't want me to accidentally die getting cosmetic surgery.  I don't do well under the knife and he knows it.  I do too, so shame on me for wishing. I say, better to die skiing or hiking or anything, even eaten by a bear, than plastic surgery for vanity purposes.  It wouldn't make a good headstone - The beloved Lil lies here.  Died from neck lift with platysmaplasty (that means with an incision under the chinny chin chin and behind the ears).  I'd never do anything to the eyes though.  I see people with bald looking, sunken eye sockets from having their eyes done.  Too chancy.  Eyes give such character.  I don't mind some sag in the eyes.  I should try to make peace with this whole aging thing.  Naaah.  Who am I kidding!  Can't do it.  No peace. 

I will drop off the flash drive with the printers tomorrow.  I still need to get a liability waiver.  Need to distribute the flyers in town.  Then I'll be pretty much done with all the setting up.

I'm memorizing the cool down routine today.

The meteor shower the other night was excellent. There weren't lots of them as when we were at Joshua Tree National Park a few years back, but the ones I saw were very bright and very long and quite spectacular. It was worth a rotten night of sleep. I jumped awake when a mosquito bit my index finger and it was then I finally surrendered and went inside to my comfy bed. Checked the clock and it was 4:00am. I always want to be at one with nature but I end up coming inside. Last time I slept outside a huge wind storm came up.

Quit Facebook Day

Our son told me that yesterday Leo Laporte said Facebook is evil.  I can't believe it!  He's the tech guy on the radio we like to listen to.  But the thing is, it's so me that he said it's evil!  I asked our son, did he use that very word?  Evil?  Because when I think something is evil I say it's evil.  Freaks people out though.  Yes, he did say it, said my boy.

QuitFacebookDay.com coming up May 31, 2010

Only a couple weeks ago our son opted to close down his Facebook page and quit Facebooking altogether.  He's ahead of the curve I think.  I made him use a fake name which some of our friends made fun about.  And I now see, I'm not the only one who felt this way.  I'm not alone!

I asked him, "Why did you quit?" and he said every time he turned on his computer he went to Facebook first.  He said he thought it was a waste of his time and he didn't want to do it anymore.  

When he wanted to try Facebooking I didn't say no because that would only make it more enticing.  So he started up a page and got a few friends.  But I told him straight up from the git-go.  I said if you wanna see Grama, don't you dare go look at her Facebook page and stare at the computer screen, post a sentence or two and tell her to look at your pictures.  My arms were all flailing about and I said, "You pick up the phone and you call your Grama.  You can talk about what you've done lately and ask her how she is.  It will make her happy and she'll tell everyone you called her, and you will feel good that you did it."

I'm so proud of him and his decision-making.  I never once encouraged him to close it down, but he did hear me yammering about deactivating mine and it must have made him think.  He's been calling and texting his ex-Facebookers and I find it's much more personal than Facebook.  The calls have had a positive effect on the relationships - which is important because he's 13 and he's developing his character.  I like that.

Facebook draws in high click rates because once a visitor logs in they go to more and more pages to see pictures of . . . . other people.  It's like monkeys in a mirror.  See me, me, me, see you, you, you, ooooh ooooh, eeee eeee, ah ah ah.  I know I can say that because I was doing it too for awhile.

But the real reason why I dislike Facebook is because the material I post; my photos, my wrrrds, instantly belong to Facebook.  I do not like that.  Moreover, Facebook blatantly uses its Facebookers.  They've even given out to the advertiser the names or info of Facebookers who clicked on the advertisement.   One must be vigilant to the extreme to constantly ensure you block what you don't want to see, and opt out of this, that, and the other.  But your personal data belongs to them.  It's agreed to it in the Terms of Service.

It's an addictive time waster.  And those 1000 Friends are not friends. 

I've heard there's a way to actually delete my Facebook page instead of just deactivate it.  That too, I found curious.  Any place else, I hit delete and I'm deleted.  I can go through channels to get the data back possibly, but generally delete means it's gone.  At Facebook, delete means deactivate.  Everything is still there.

I have a friend who could care less if Facebook is profiting off of him.  I say then go out and buy some shoes and hats and shirts and pants with brand names stamped on them so you can be a walking advertisement 24/7.

I'm not saying it's all debris.  Some of it could be blessing.  Let's say 5%.   It ain't much.

I have a plain picture of my hair from this morning.  I figure one is due because my current pic is six months old.

Don't look at the white legs.

Analysis:  I'm letting the ends go without taking off a couple inches so I can make more progress.  The ends are not that bad.  They're so-so/okay.  That's my new skirt from Target in San Diego.  My new favorite skirt.  Meh.  What can I add about the hair.  It's hair.

I have to work in the front office Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Memorial Day week-end is coming up, one of the busiest times in the park.  AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!  I don't know if I will be any good in the front office.  I'm really worried I can't answer all the questions.  AAAUUUUGGGHHH!

My favorite days

 I'm an auntie.  Dancer gave birth to a beautiful foal on April 16th. 

"The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world."  William Ross Wallace 1819-1881

Mother's Day and my birthday are my two favorite days. My husband cooks anything I want for dinner and everyone has to be nice to me all day. Everyone has to agree with me. No one can remind me of things left undone or on my to-do list or what I said I'd do and haven't done. Tonight we're having jambalaya. Mmmmm.

Last week I groomed Dancer and even completely brushed out her tail that almost touches the ground.  I've been afraid of her.  She bit the owner's daughter once so I've always been uneasy around her.  But I delivered her grain to her everyday for a month.  I worked up the nerve to walk into her stall and put it right in front of her then I left.  She got used to me.  When we came back from California I think she remembered me because she was calm when I approached and didn't mind me being near her baby.  The baby's real jumpy.  Jumpier than the other foals I've met at Cecilio's.  He's warming up though.  He's curious and sweet.

Last night I dreamt I cut my hair.  Myself.  It was bleached a horrible straw colored blond.  I put it in two low pony tails and cut each, chop, chop, to mid-back length, but oddly, as dreams are often odd, the mid-back-cut was just past my ears.  I swished it around in disbelief. I had a few bald patches on my head.  Walked around and no one noticed my hair was gone.  Awful dream.

Now to make Mother's Day calls!

6 going on 7

Spent some time at my sister's tonight looking through our old family photo albums.

Me at the beach in 1965. It was a very good year.

A Polaroid.  Age 15.  1974.  I just finished painting my room light blue.  Wearing my favorite hand-me-down Levis from my best friend's brother, Don Turner.

Point Loma

Pacific Ocean at Point Loma, California

Our son went to the zoo with his grama and he was excited to go.  We had the afternoon to ourselves so we took a ride to Sunset Cliffs in Point Loma.  Temperature was about 71 degrees with a soft breeze making a short hike delightful.  There were a few people on the beach too.  I always enjoy the smell of the salt air.  Tons of yellow daisies growing everywhere. It was a perfect spring day.

This is where we walked from. We walked down that big crevice and looked at the water.

Next time we want to take the stairs down. I put it on our list of things to do.  The kids would love it.

It is well

At a restaurant where I ate last week. Aztec warrior holding dead princess who loved him.

It is well with my heart.

My sister's on her way over. We're going shopping. I found a western jacket with long fringe on the sleeves that I like, but I need my sister's input before I buy it today if I buy it. I've been looking for one I like for two whole years. Husband seemed nonplussed by it and said get it if I want. Well! What is the matter with him.

Most of the western jackets I've found in-store and online are too gee-gawed out - too much embroidery, studs, big ugly buttons, or decoration of some sort all over them. I want a plain one.

I need new tweezers and checked makeupalley.com and Tweezerman is the best brand. I'm still on the hunt for a fragrance. The four I brought samples home of for my husband to smell, he disliked them all. Says I don't need perfume. He says I smell fine like I am. I told him he's so 2009. He insists I don't need a fragrance. We had words. No shots were fired though.

I have a new hairstyle that I have to get photos of.

It's been all good days all month.