Yikes! I think I've forgotten how to do this

I can't believe it's been nearly two months since I posted. It wasn't intentional, trust me ... and it's not as though I was on an exciting, round-the-world trip or anything. I wish. No, it was just life ... regular, everyday life.

For starters, I had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. I turned 45. Birthdays are not a big deal for me one way or the other ... I don't love them, but I don't hate them. I do usually find myself taking stock, though, and this one hit me a little harder than most. No particular reason, really ... just the awareness of another year gone by and mortality ticking a little louder in my ear.

The day itself was very nice. Ryan's been home between semesters for almost two weeks, and we spent most of my birthday together. We drove down to Princeton, which is a fun little town, had lunch and bumbled around. He introduced me to the Princeton Record Exchange, one of his favorite places on the planet. He's heavily into vinyl these days, and since John and I just brought home a turntable that my parents were getting rid of, Ryan was keen to take me shopping for some old LPs. Quite a trip down Memory Lane indeed ...

I walked out with eight LPs for the whopping sum of $16, and two of those were even double albums (Neil Young's Live Rust and Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Vol. I & II). Some of the best finds were in the dollar bins, which I didn't discover right away because they were in crates on the floor instead of at eye level. That's where I found Carly Simon's Greatest Hits, a few other old Billy Joel albums, Jackson Browne's Running on Empty ( ... with The Loadout and Stay, which takes me way back), and Steve Winwood's Arc of a Diver ... all for a dollar each. The store was playing Electric Light Orchestra's Greatest Hits while we shopped, and for three straight days afterwards, I couldn't get 'Mr. Blue Sky' out of my head. And now that I just thought about it, it's right back in my head again. Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why, you had to hide away for so long ... so long ...

Yeah, I'm definitely going back there.

Unfortunately, back at home we discovered that one of the speakers had a bad woofer, and after replacing that, we discovered that the stylus was in really bad shape ( ... I always just called it the needle ...). So, as soon as I can pick up a new one of those, I'll be rocking ... and we'll only have spent $95 to fix the equipment so I can listen to all my dollar LPs.

And then there's my new baby ... a Creative Zen V mp3 player ... a birthday gift from John. There are simply no words to convey how much I love this little beauty. If I were Pee Wee Herman, I would marry it. It was something I wanted, but didn't realize I NEEDED until I had it. It is absolutely sublime, and oh so tiny and adorable! I've already copied over most of my CD collection, and now download all the crafty-type podcasts that I like to listen to while I work. I can also store photos on it, and it even has a voice recorder ... handy in case I have a brilliant idea and don't have a pen handy. Yeah, I'm figurin' mostly grocery lists, but still.

There were lots of other nice birthday goodies to take some of the sting out of turning 45, too ... a gift certificate to a local spa, yummy candles and lotions, a gift card to Barnes & Noble, money to shop for new shoes, and this sweet little Post-It pad and cover, handmade with love (and cool papers, stamps and beads) by Stefani. It arrived in the mail one day and was a total surprise! It is truly a tiny piece of perfection, I tell you, down to the precious little crystals. I know I can just flip the cover over and use one of the post-its for notes, but instead I just look at it and sigh with delight and forget I even had to make a note in the first place. Thank you Stefani!

So, it was a good birthday, I'm over the shock of it now, and it was nice having Ryan around for nearly two weeks. He went back today to move into a new apartment and start his last semester. Boy he's getting old, that kid. :-)

In other news, John and I have been in home improvement hell the past couple of months. A neighbor was upgrading to stainless steel appliances and was getting rid of his, so I bought them ... a stove, dishwasher and microwave. They were much newer than ours and in wonderful shape, so I figured it was a good way to spiff up the kitchen while saving a little money.

Clearly I've been watching way too many episodes of 'Designed to Sell,' 'Property Ladder,' and the like, though, because I thought they would be easy to install. Hah! Each one was an adventure unto itself. I won't bore you with the details, because we would be here for hours. I will say, though, that the day we discovered they had put the mounting screws for the old microwave right through the drain pipe that handles all upstairs sinks, toilets and shower ... and therefore now had two holes in said pipe, through which water came gushing out into the kitchen if we ran any water upstairs ... was not one of the happiest days of our lives. We've worn ruts in the road that leads to Home Depot.

The good news is, the 'new' appliances are all in now as of yesterday ... praise the Lord ... and John the handyman.

Finally, I've been taking a bit of a breather since the last corporate 'trunk shows' I did in early August. It's a big vacation month, so I figured I wouldn't do any more of those until after Labor Day. I imagined having all kinds of time to do all kinds of things ... from building inventory for the fall ... to updating the website ... to painting ... to day trips to the beach. I even have the three-page to-do list to prove it.

I think I've crossed off three items so far, and none of them have involved beads, websites, paint, or sand. Just lots of running around ... birthday dinners, catching up with friends I haven't seen in a long time, spending time with Ryan, taking Mom shopping at Fabric Row in Philly ... stuff like that. I have taken myself to a cafe the past couple of Friday afternoons, though, and that's been totally good for my soul ... like an artist's date of sorts. I get a cup of chai, find a comfy chaise, think, and journal away. Even though I still write 'morning pages' nearly every day, there is something really refreshing about getting out of my studio and re-focusing on the big picture. A lot of it has been about taking stock and planning the direction of the business for the next year, which I'll save for another post.

So, I'm basically down to my last week 'off' ... what I'm calling my 'studio week' -- a week to finally create some cool new things with all the nice materials I've been picking up -- before getting back out there again for a busy fall/holiday season.

So if you'll excuse me, it's time to crank up my little Creative Zen now and create!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

p.s., for those who are wondering what ever happened with the IRS after my last post ... about three weeks ago, I got a letter from them saying that my original return was correct after all (imagine that) and that I really didn't owe them any money. In fact, I had overpayed by $28. So, just an exercise in driving Maria crazy, I guess ... but, as I've said before, it's worth every penny to have an accountant when you run a business, and David is worth his weight in gold. If not for him saying he thought they were wrong on this one, I would have paid it and been $128 lighter in the wallet. Hey, don't laugh ... just think how many old LPs that could buy at Princeton Record Exchange ... Mr. Blue Sky, here I come.