RIP Michael Jackson

Have you seen my Childhood?
I'm searching for the world that I come from
'Cause I've been looking around
In the lost and found of my heart...
They view it as such strange eccentricities...
'Cause I keep kidding around
Like a child, but pardon me....

People say I'm not okay
'Cause I love such elementary things....
It's been my fate to compensate,
for the Childhood
I've never known....

Have you seen my Childhood?
I'm searching for that wonder in my youth
Like pirates in adverturous dreams,
Of conquest and kings on the throne...

Before you judge me, try hard to love me
Look within your heart then ask,
Have you seen my Childhood?....

People say I'm strange that way
'Cause I love such elementary things,
It's been my fate to compensate,
for the Childhood I've never known....

Have you seen my Childhood?
I'm searching for that wonder in my youth
Like fantastical stories to share
The dreams I would dare, watch me fly....

Before you judge me, try hard to love me.
The painful youth I've had

Have you seen my Childhood.....

This is my favorite Michael Jackson song, and I think one of his most autobiographical, although its hard to choose a favorite song of his. Growing up in the '70s, so many of Michael's hits mark various milestones in my life. It is unfortunate that such an amazing talent was driven to such reclusive and bizarre behavior. I hope he has found peace and perspective....

Still here!

Yes, its true - I am alive and well and have been enjoying the fact that June's evenings are wonderfully long and the perfect time to sit on my swing, watch the birds and enjoy my flowers. I am really enjoying having my son home for the summer, not that I see him much! I have managed to make a few pieces of jewelry, and I've been sketching an idea I have using silhouettes of dancers. I am really enjoying this season of "So You Think You Can Dance". Take a look at some new pieces and leave comments, good or bad, with your thoughts!

A cut, a weed and an island necklace

My husband and his brother have been outside all day with chainsaws and a 50' boom lift - their faces lit up like little boys with new toys! Wheee - the lift looks like fun!

While they are hard at work outside, I've been hard at work inside - cleaning my studio, which has become quite a mess! I've weeded through hundreds of magazines and I can actually see the bookcase again! I'm also getting ready to list some new pieces on Etsy (http://www.whenlifehandsulemons.etsy.com/), including some of the shells I found in Sanibel that I've made into pendants!

So You Think You Can Dance

Well, I've decided that in my next life, if of course there is one, I will NOT have fibromyalgia and I will be a dancer on the show "So You Think You Can Dance"! I love that show, and this season I am amazed at the talent - however will they eliminate any of them to come up with a winner? Geez, I wish I could move like that!

Some of you have been asking how Angela is doing, my niece pregnant with triplets. Well, she is doing wonderfully - she is on complete bedrest but the babies are doing well, just over 2 pounds each now and while she is only at 26 weeks, she is a big as a full term single baby, so she is getting pretty uncomfortable! We visited her last weekend and Austin (age 4) met us at the door anxious to show us the babies' room. When Noel asked him "what are you going to do with 3 sisters?", he answered matter-of-factly "take care of them!" Spoken like a good big brother! Here is the babies' room - she still is going to put up vinyl lettering above the cribs with the girls' names, and the boys tackling Uncle Noel, who knows how to make a child laugh like no other!



I'll leave with a picture of the hummingbird outside my living room window, and plan to post jewelry pics on Friday.....



P.S. You can click on any pictures in the blog to see them full screen!

June Already

I know, I know, I haven't blogged in a while. No sooner did I get home from Florida did we have the garage sale, (Noel goofing around on Friday "workin' the garage sale!" the sign says "Do not disturb, leave money on table!)
and then the following Monday I had the bladder prodedure for the interstitial cystitis. The surgery and general anethesia took its toll and I'm having a slower than anticipated recovery. Now that I'm home, grief struck hard and I find myself missing my mom more than less as time goes by. My dad is doing ok, lonely, and being "the absent minded professor", the other day he took a big swig of windshield washer, thinking it was orange juice! Of course he's fine, but it makes me worry that he is living alone. I can't get him to go out anywhere other than to exercise, but I go over there weekly and the other day made him some spaghetti and a meatloaf he could stick in the fridge. He still rambles about history and politics, but knowing I will someday miss him too, I don't mind it as much anymore!

We got the gardens planted, the garage cleaned, the washer and dryer hooked back up and I got in the studio the other day. I've made a dozen or so ankle bracelets, and took some new pieces up the the Mac Worthington Gallery in Columbus. While there we ate at "The Happy Greek" and ate hands down the best gyro ever!! If you ever noticed the beads that Randy Jackson wore on American Idol this recent season, they are called African Christmas beads. The are very colorful and summery, so I used some to make ankle bracelets. They are really cute - of course I am wearing one now! - and I will have them at market Saturday and on the etsy site (http://www.whenlifehandsulemons.etsy.com/) next week.



Also "in my news" is that I had dinner with some old high school friends! We had fun catching up - one was my old "disco" partner that later went on to "Dance Fever"! He lives in Florida now, and Dona works for the city and folk dances; Karen is an engineer / baptist minister! Boy, memory lane sure is long when you are this old!

Dona, Karen, Rick and Me