Beware Rant Ahead!

I have to say I am sincerely pissed off. I am pretty hard to piss off (although I would bet my husband might disagree lol). So, I work for a car insurance company. For the most part I like my job, I have a great boss and I like my co worker too. Everyone pretty much gets along and its all good. I have always felt that our company did a good job on handling claims and were fair and equitable. My daughter had a car accident on the 14th of May. She was at an intersection with a 2 way stop. She had the stop sign. Both her and her girlfriend looked (because she is a new driver and both of them are very cautious) before proceeding through the intersection. She got halfway through it when the other person hit her. Now, my daughter got the ticket as there were no witnesses. However, the person who hit her was driving with a suspended license (and yes, she got a ticket too). My body shop guy told me (although he wouldn't verify with my company) that she had to have been doing 35 to 40 miles per hour when she hit my daughter. So how do you get up to 35 miles and hour when you have a stop sign a block away? Why are you driving a car to begin with? And she never even hit the brakes, the only skid marks are my daughters. Can you do $4000 worth of damage to a car and total your own doing 25 mph? So any way my insurance company is going to be paying for her damages as well as mine. And my daughter will be penalized for something that wasn't her fault. And the person who broke the law will be rewarded. I am so disappointed in my insurance company. If you are wondering why your insurance rates are so high, this is one of the reasons.

Beaded Necklace

So I have taught myself how to bead crochet (can I tell you what a pain it is to start the darn thing with those teensy tiny seed beads lol) and was fooling around with different ways to use the resulting efforts. I settled on this design, incorporating metal work, wire wrapping and one of my handmade lampwork beads. I designed the clasp to be the focal piece in the front so its easy to use but still makes a statement. This is available in my Artfire shop.

Bead of the Week May 26th 2010

Handmade Lampwork Artisan Glass Organic Focal Bead Twin Rivers

I love organic beads. This one has a base of sky blue with a darker transparent blue and silvered ivory running through it.

Jewelry Item of the Week

I love these earrings. The transparent red and clear glass flowed in a way that reminded me of the flame used to create them. And while I am a silver girl most of the time, these just said gold. The lampwork beads are made by me in my home studio. These are currently on sale in the 20% off section in my studio on Artfire.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Well my garden is finally growing lol. Bit of a late start here this year, lots of rain, kind of cool. I finally got my topsy turvy tomato going (I have been dying to try this since its something my dogs can't trample lol). I also put the seeds in the seedling flats, the wildflowers are coming up already, the veggies, not yet. My daughter and son bought me roses for Mothers Day this year and I got those planted. Here are some pictures of the the roses and also of my irises which are doing very well this year. I am really hoping that the peppers, green beans and watermelon do well. I planted basil also and would like to add a couple more herbs to the collection. I would have liked to put in some cat nip for my cats but unfortunately there are a LOT of cats in our neighborhood and I have no desire to entice them all into my front yard lol.

New Beads

Well, my life is at its typically insane pace +10 the next couple of weeks lol. Lots of family stuff going on and I have to work extra since there are lots of vacations going on in the office. Schools out in a couple of weeks (thank goodness!), my daughter has her dance recital two days after school is out so we have lots of rehearsals (which would be no big deal but the car is in the shop until June 4th, due to an accident s0 she can't drive herself, rental car companies frown on 16 year olds driving their vehicles) and we have a holiday weekend in there. Just totally crazy all the way around. I have lots of new beads to list but haven't had time to take the pictures. Some new jewelry designs also, which incorporate beading, metal etching and lampwork. But you will have to wait just a bit to see those til I have time for pictures lol.

Any way, here are a couple of beads that I just recently listed. Simply click on the picture.

Also don't forget about the new sale section in my jewelry shop! 20% off or more on selected pieces. The discount has already been applied.

Added A Section to My Jewelry Shop

I have added a sale section to my jewelry shop on Artfire. Everything in this section is 20% off and the discount has already been applied. Easy peasy lol. I need to clear out some of my inventory, I am moving in a somewhat different direction with my work. The more I make jewelry the more I feel that I am moving toward a style that is more mine than previously. Being able to use my own lampwork beads, cabochons and metal work makes my new work very much more *mine*. And of course my skills are expanding and my work is getting better. I am going to be phasing out the plated items and moving more toward the sterling silver and gold plated. However I will still be doing pieces in copper as I am very drawn to the warmth of it and the wonderful patinas that can be achieved with fire and LOS. I also may keep using the brass as it does have a lovely color on its own and turns a wonderful pinky gold in the fire. My work is beginning to develop some depth and be a bit more complicated in the making. Any way, if you are looking for a good price on some nice jewelry come visit my sale section. I will be adding items to the sale section over the next several weeks.
Keep an eye out on my shop for new pieces also!

Update on Weight Loss

As promised I am updating my progress (more to keep me motivated than anything but I appreciate your coming along on this journey with me) on my success with this food plan. I have to say, I am having trouble some days eating often enough! And I am sooo not hungry which is great.
To give you an idea of a normal lunch (keep in mind, this is NOT purchased food but home cooked by me) I am having a piece of sweet italian turkey sausage (doesn't have to be turkey it can be pork sausage, but turkey is healthier and leaner. Again, not required) a sweet potato, and mixed veggies. One of my favorite snacks is Skinny Cow peanut butter and chocolate ice cream sandwich. Which, by the way is perfectly okay on this plan since they are less than 200 calories. Anyway here are the results

I started on 03/24/2010

Weight 197.4
% of body fat 49.32
fat weight 97.12
lean body mass 99.5

I am currently in a size 16.


05/03/2010
Weight 189.8
fat weight 79.39
% of body fat 41.83
lean body mass 110.41


7.6 pounds lost overall
% if body fat went down 9%
lost 17.73 pounds of fat!!!!!
gained 10.91 pounds of lean muscle

size 16 is getting looser and I can now fit into
some 14's.