Jewelry:  Ruby Zoisite beads and SS focal with garnet (N-153), round ruby zoisite earrings (E-211) , by Tammy Vitale $125 and $24 respectively

Today’s title incorporates the always suggested "interest factor" of numbers and curiosity.  Just so you know, these critturs were my "playmates" as I planted tomato and basil seeds in containers day before yesterday.  We have black widows and I usually am wary around overturned buckets but didn’t think anything of the containers that were upright and had soil in them….guess I better rethink that because there she was crawling across my (thank goodness!) gloved hand.  Totally freaked me out!  The deer ticks are really bad this year as are the dog ticks…the dogs get their once a month dose of protection but that doesn’t stop the ticks from traveling in on their fur and snuggling up to the unprotected humans.  So summer has started along with paying attention to anything that tickles anywhere on your body – it could be a moving tick…better a moving one than one that has settled in (they itch then and that’s how I find them).

Speaking of dogs, some of you regulars may be wondering about Gracie the pug whose eye popped out while we were away in February.  Thanks to the quick work of Dhyana she appears   to be as well as can be expected, which means she actually has some sight in that eye, which the vet has pronounced healthy (if a bit cocked outwards, but pugs have odd eyes anyways).  Here is Gracie (on the left) with Sueno in their chair, and Gracie relaxed on the back of our settee.  As you can see as far as she’s concerned all is right with the world!

I have started on the mortoring on my pond wall and was hoping to finish it up today, measure and start making tiles, but it looks like rain (soft and nice) may settle in for the day so I’m not sure that’s happening.  If not, it will have to wait til Monday at the earlies because ArtOMatic opens tomorrow and I work 5 – 10 volunteer shifts Fri and Sat evenings, going in early to browse and take pictures to come back here and share with you.  We have had 3 weeks or so to get  in – can you believe some people were just loading end at 9:58 (according to some posters on the AOM board) last night when the building was supposed to be closed down at 10?  And then yelling at other volunteers who were telling them they had to go?  What is it about some people that makes them do things like that?!  Here are some pictures taken by an AOMer earlier on some of this year’s artists.

Attended a business women’s round table last night sponsored by the Small Business Development folks.  I had no idea what it would be about but turned out to be just everyone going around the table and sharing where they were with their business venture and vision for the future…so it was about sharing.  And yesterday that worked well for me.  It made me remember that we need to living in the moment and use that moment to move one step closer to our dream (requiring that we have a defined dream).  Then I came home and read some Christine Kane’s blog on "Creating vs Getting" and an offshoot,  "Bake Sales or Blogging" which is always good for the soul.  I haven’t mentioned her in a while here (I went to her Asheville retreat early last year and brought home good stuff that I’ve carried around inside me ever since).  Go read, and do get lost clicking out to her referenced posts.  She’s good to spend an hour or two with to come away feeling pretty darn good about the world!

thought for the day:  Are you waiting for something wonderful to happen?  Forget waiting.  commitment to the life you desire changes absolutely everything.  Lack of commitment changes absolutely everything, too….I have always struggled with commitment.  It seems like a guillotine to me, a bit final.  Now me, I like choice.  I like walking in the meadows and gazing at all the wildflowers and options.  I hate decision.  Oh, and sweet mother of prairie dogs, I hate being wrong…  When I was deciding what career directio to move in, I was terrified of making a mistake.  I didn’t want to waste my time, so of course I wated my time by obstinately not doing anything.  I didn’t want to go forward in the wrong direction.  But the problem was – I wasn’t going forward in any direction.  After a while, options turn into dead fish.  They start smelling up the room… finally a friend of mine said to me "Why not commit fully for now?  You don’t have to commit to forever. Just commit fully for now." …Commitment is a living thing.  I believe we can only commit fully to the moment in front of us.  But I had stopped doing that, believing that if I couldn’t stay with something forever, then I shouldn’t even go into it.  I had no way of getting vital information and experience.  Nowadays, when I’m coaching someone who is afraid to trust their instincts, I’ll ask them to practice trusting for a day, a wekk, or 3 months, and then to evaluate their experience.   Most often, someone wants to evaluate their experience before or while they’re engaged in the activity.  But it doesn’t work like that.  first you experiment.  Then you look over your data.  Tama Kieves Trusting the Journey Times (e-newsletter) April 2008