Unprofessional Vendors Irk Me

Due to a general sense of being tired, and having a bunch of stuff to catch up on here at home, I didn't make it out to the Gem Mall until today. This was the last day of the show, and it was set to close at 3pm instead of the usual 6pm. So I fully expected that when I got there between 12:30 and 1, some vendors would be in the process of packing things up. After all, it's a two week long show, and I remember from the couple of years that I worked it that we were all pretty eager to leave by the end!

What I did not expect was to find that many of the vendors were mostly, if not completely packed up! This included my usual Swarovski crystal supplier, and the vendor I get my carved bone pendants from. So I completely failed to stock up on those items, as if there was anyone else selling what I wanted, they had also already packed up!

The aisles were full of boxes and packaging materials, and the tents echoed with that irritating sound of tape being pulled from the roll. Many sellers seemed much more focused on packing up than on serving customers!

So my money went to the people who actually had the integrity to stay set-up until the end. I got a few strands of Czech glass and a handful of dyed ribbons from Da Beads, Inc and shared a gripe about people closing shop early. And I got three super gorgeous tribal pendants (one for me, two for business) from a vendor whose name I forgot to get. I wouldn't have splurged on tribal goodies at all, but I had extra money in my budget thanks to not being able to buy what I was there for in the first place!

I'll be looking for new sources for Swarovski crystals and carved pendants now. Anyone who can't stay open for the duration of the show they signed up for does not deserve my patronage in the future.

Speaking of patronage, here's my token mention of my shop! Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs! Your home for fantasy jewelry and blog-based griping!

365 Days of Beading, too?

As I've been getting ready to embark on my year of belly dance practice, I'm wondering if I should set the same goal for beadwork. I didn't get nearly as much jewelry made as I wanted to this year, so spending at least half an hour a day, every day, would allow me to put more stock in my store, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs, create a few more necklaces for myself, and participate in more beading challenges. I suppose I'll have to wait and see if I get any time to bead today, and it's not looking likely.

You see, while I was gone, our furnace started acting up again (we already had to fix it once over Thanksgiving weekend). This time it appears to be a problem with the thermostat. The furnace itself seems to be working fine. So I've purchased a new, better thermostat (programmable!) and I'm just waiting for my Dad the electronics technician to come over and make sure I don't zap myself in the process of installing it.

But as if that's not enough, this morning I got up and went to wash my hands, only to be greeted by opaque orange water in my bathroom faucet! The kitchen was fine, and the orange went away, but now we have low water pressure in the bathroom sink and tub, which means no showers and probably another plumbing bill in my future. Why did I ever want to be a homeowner?

So beads would be really good therapy right about now, but first I have to fix the furnace because the beadroom is the coldest place in the house. Brrr.

Hope your New Year is off to a better start than mine!

Achoo

I had to stay home from my dance classes today, due to still being sick. It's an annoying feeling, knowing that I missed out on fun and learning due to some stupid germs, and now next week I'll have to work hard to catch up.

There's not really much else to say, I didn't do anything today. Hopefully all this rest/laziness means that I'll be better tomorrow, maybe I'll even finally go back to the gym.

Enough with the rain already!

Those of you who have read this blog for a while know that I usually really like the rain... but seriously. We had lots of rain before my mother-in-law visited, perfect weather for the week she was here, and then the rain came back. It especially likes to hit on the weekends, which makes it impossible to enjoy any outdoor events or do much-needed yardwork (because the rain is of course making lots of weeds crop up). Now my game room roof is leaking, and my Dad generously offered to come over and have a look to see if it's an easy fix... and we haven't had a dry day since Saturday when it started leaking! Thankfully it's finally supposed to stop tomorrow, and the weekend is even supposed to be nice. Finally.

But for now, I'm just going to sulk because it's too cold and muddy to go dancing in the park!

Bleh sick

I am sick again, and it is all because of Chris and his friend Rene. So phooey on them. I was enjoying being healthy, thank you very much. The unwelcome germs are being bombarded with vitamins, hydration, tea, and nasty thoughts in their general direction, so hopefully this stupid cold will not interfere with all my fun dance plans for the week.

In other news, it is also raining, so at least I didn't miss a beautiful weekend while I was being sick and cranky. And at least my plants, who are convinced that it is Spring, got another nice soaking.

Ugh, where is it?

I decided that I wanted to use motifs from a kit I purchased a while ago as part of the necklace I'm working on... But I can't find the kit instructions, or the half-completed item for a little reverse-engineering! I can't really get away with tearing the house apart looking for them, because after all, I'm supposed to be cleaning, not making a bigger mess.

Don't you hate it when mundane reality stands in the way of your inspiration?

Software... where?

I kept the box from my digital camera, and I put everything back inside. Everything except the CD with the software. AGH! What was I thinking? Until I find the disc, no pictures on the blog. Or new Etsy items. Yuck. Guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow...

Stupid ankle

Back on Tuesday, I hurt my ankle at the gym. I don't know if it was too many box jumps, or if I stretched it too far doing dead lifts, but it definitely feels like I jacked up my Achilles tendon. That tendon, by the way, is my body's main way of trying to sabotage my attempts to work out. I would have expected my lack of upper body strength to be the big hurdle, but no, it's my stupid, short Achilles tendon, which keeps me from being able to squat and which now is keeping me from doing anything more active than limping back and forth across the house.

In all fairness, my ankle would probably be fine by now if I hadn't had the brilliant idea to take my injured ankle up to Tempe and dance on it for an hour. I didn't want to miss my belly dance class, since next Thursday I'll be in Tahoe. And honestly, it was an awesome class. Something clicked and I didn't really struggle with any of the moves, and my arms never got tired, and I had fun. The four students in attendance were doing so well that Cari, our teacher, kept picking faster and faster music and changing up which moves we transitioned to and from to keep us on our toes. It was amazing. I feel like I'm really progressing in my goal to dance well enough to perform and teach, instead of stumbling my way through class. I still have a long way to go, but the forward momentum is there.

Now if this stupid ankle would just catch up with the rest of me!

Not much getting done...

I'm feeling a little rundown today, probably the stress over the stupid website thing. So I didn't get much done, not even much fun stuff. I had planned to bead a lot, and here it is almost 11:30 and I've only done a single stitch. I'll do a few more after I post this, but not too many, because I'm using black thread to stitch black felt and black Ultrasuede together (accented by dark pewter beads) and that makes my tired eyes get all squinty!

This next week is going to be crazy, as I have to continue what I've been doing for LL-BFAC, write my usual e-zine columns, and get my EBW challenge piece done (which, by the way, I haven't even started). Oh yes, and keep the house clean and care for all the pets and possibly cram a couple social visits in as well. And, of course, try to get my website back. The fun never stops!

I don't mean to sound all complainy. All in all, life is pretty good. The house is awesome, the dogs are a constant source of joy, Chris is great, the economic situation hasn't hurt us, etc etc. I just can't help but wish that I had a little more time for beading and writing, and to play with polymer clay and learn to use my sewing machine (which I've had for about 10 months now), and all the other creative endeavours I might want to try.

I might as well take advantage of the time I do have, so it's off to the beads with me!