Lacy Agate Necklace/bracelet/earrings with copper beads by Tammy Vitale

Aren’t I getting to be the bead stringer?  I’m wearing this set right this very minute.  I think the bracelet is as pretty as anything I’ve made.  The necklace is pretty but doesn’t want to lay down like I want it too and I don’t know why.  Such fun.  I also made a bracelet to go with I’m not sure what, and even though I like them big, I may take this one apart and redo it a bit smaller (see right below).

And that was the sum total of my productivity today.  I did go grocery shopping because we were out of several things, so I suppose that counts as being productive.  And I had one delivery today of a commissioned torso, that wasn’t really productivity as in making something new.  I took yesterday’s torsos off their armatures – I didn’t use a fan last night and the clay was kind of wanky, but that was ok as I got to flatten the pieces out a bit so they’ll sit better on the wall, and that actually worked just fine.  I barely got the mask off its armature – a new one and I made the mask bigger and there you go – almost didn’t come off.  Lucky for me it was still a bit wanky too so I could pull on the side a bit without having the whole thing crack in half.

Then I was going to do some Christmas shopping as that day is sneaking up quickly.  I am not used to not being finished by now, shopping mostly on line.  But this evening I was feeling a bit house happy and thought:  just go shopping!  Because the weekend is coming up and I don’t know about shopping on a weekend this close to Christmas.  Have I mentioned I don’t do well in crowds?  Well, I don’t.  And then this argument started in my head and I decided I must not really want to go shopping, so instead here I am posting and then I’m going to read a book.  That’s my executive decision.  As CEO (yep, I am the CEO of my business – as are we all who are solopreneurs.  We’re also administrative assistant, accountant, gofer and a lot of other things, but I’ll let that slide for now) I can decide to relax.  So I am.

Snow’s over and mostly melted, but what a delicious holiday treat.  Now I can truly hope for a white Christmas! (although they say we’re going to be in the 60s next Monday and Tuesday.  Geesh).

thought for the day:   Complaining as well as faultfinding and reactivity strengthen the ego’s sense of boundary and separateness on which its survival depends.  But they also strengthen the ego in another way by giving it a feeling of superiority on which it thrives.  It may not be immediately apparent how complaining, say about a traffic jam, about politicians, about the ‘greedy wealthy’ or the lazy unemployed,’ or your colleagues or ex-spouse, men or women, can give you a sense of superiority.  Her is why.  When you complain, by implication you are right and the person or situation you’re complaining about or react against is wrong.

There is nothing that strengthens the ego more than being right…For your to be right, of course, you need someone else to be wrong, and so the ego loves to make wrong in order to be right…Beyond the realm of simple and verifiable facts, the certainty that ‘I am right and you are wrong’ is a dangerous thing in personal relationships as well as in interactions between nations, tribes, religions, and so on…a mental dysfunction that perpetuates separation and conflict between human beings.  Eckhart Tolle A New Earth:  Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose