Got some new pics added...

YAY! I got some new and improved pics taken of some of my other pieces of jewelery tonight. These pieces have been on my Etsy site for quite some time now, but the pictures were not all that good. I am hoping that these are an improvement over the old pics - and also hope that the improved pics will possibly get these beautiful items to sell.

I also got the picture taken of my new bracelet and earrings tonight. I am well pleased with this one. My partner, Ansel and I had a debate on the color of this bracelet as he says it is purple and I say it is blue. So the name of this is now "Debateable", and we will just say that it is a bluish/purply color...lol. The seed beads in this do have a purple finish to them - which makes for a lovely set.

Let me know what you think!

Life Goes On...

Well, I've not been around much to do any updating over the long holiday weekend. I had to work all weekend, so I have really not done much of anything except work. I did get a bracelet made up at some point over the weekend, but have not taken any pictures yet. May have to get some pictures taken later on of this as well as some other pieces I have ready to go. I also need to retake some pics of some pieces that are listed on my Etsy site as they are terribly blurry. Wish me luck as the digital camera and I don't always get along. (This usually involves some name-calling on my part, followed by empty promises "If you will just take this one picture and not be blurry, I promise I will never call you names again...". It usually ends with tears and a great deal of frustration on my part...lol.)

Dad goes for a consultation to the Cleveland Clinic on Friday. This is where my frustration at not having a car comes into full swing. Dad lives an hour away from me and Cleveland is about a 2 hour drive. I cannot go with him to this appointment and I feel that I absolutely need to be there. This situation is so frustrating for me. Columbus is a hard enough town to get around in without a car - took me 2 1/2 hours to get within a 2-3 mile radius of my apt Fri night - on the bus line. Sad thing is that I only work about 5-6 miles from my house. They have started him on a med to try to slow the kidney failure as BUN levels sky-rocketed over the weekend - Friday level was 61 - today a 99. I believe normal levels for this are 10-20.

All righty then - off to attempt some pictures...lol. Perhaps if I have good luck, I will have some pictures to post to my blog later on today.

Devastating evening...

I know that this is brand new blog and many of you do not know me all that well. Let me assure you that normally, I am a really upbeat person who can almost find the positive in any situation.

Yesterday, I wrote about my Dad and his multiple myleoma. Tonight he called to tell me that they are starting him tomorrow on chemo as his kidneys are failing rapidly at this point and they are trying to avoid putting him on dialysis. (If the chemo does not work quickly, he will most likely be on dialysis within the month.) They are looking at sending him back to Cleveland Clinic to look into a double bone marrow transplant once the chemo is finished. After that, they will see if he is eligible for a kidney transplant. (At this time, he is not eligible for a kidney transplant because the cancer would just kill the good kidney.)

I am trying to keep a positive spin on this, but I am really struggling right now. In fact, I would say that I am pretty devastated right now. I adore my Dad - and not just because he is my Dad. I adore him because he truly what it means to be a good person. I have absolutely NOTHING bad to say about him and I am a little lost right now.

Just let me rant a bit: This is SO not fair! He was just married in March and for the first time since my Mom died over 8 years ago, he is happy again. It just doesn't seem right. I am just so angry at the injustice of the whole situation.

Ok - I'll stop for now - anybody out there feel like posting to this message? I could use some encouragement at this point. Or a good laugh. Or even a stiff drink....lol.

Julie

Tomato Recipe

Well - with the summer growing season right around the corner, I know there will be a lot of people out there with lots of fresh, yummy tomatoes. I have a recipe that I would like to share with all of you - it was my Grandmother's recipe and it is delicious!

My Favorite Tomatoes

Mix together the following:

5T oil
2T vinegar
3t sugar
1T snipped fresh dill
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour the above mixtuer over 2 large fully ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced and 1 small onion that has been peeled, sliced and seperated into rings.

Refrigerate until served.

(I recommend chilling at least 2 hours.)

Hope you enjoy - this is quick and easy recipe to take to a Memorial Day gathering - plus it involves no cooking!

Julie

Crummy Couple of Days...

So as I said in my first post, I will be posting here about my personal life as well as business and the last 2 days have not been all that great. I guess I will need to provide a little background for those of you who do not know my story.

Four years ago, my Dad was diagnosed with chronic renal failure. At the time, it was attributed to high blood pressure which never made a whole lot of sense to me as his blood pressure was caught and treated pretty quickly. He did everything right - watched his diet, exercised - and still the kidneys were failing more quickly than they would have liked and still the docs were not sure why. So right before Christmas last year (2005), we made a trip to Cleveland Clinic where my Dad was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called multiple myleoma. How I understand this cancer is that it is actually a bone marrow cancer that maifests itself by attacking the organs - namely the kidneys and in rare cases, the liver. All of sudden, his kidney finction loss makes sense to me.

To this point we have been really lucky as he has not had to have any treatment and he feels pretty good. In March he was married (to my WONDERFUL stepmom, Coleen) and right around that time had some bad bloodwork come back - his kidney function had taken a rather large dip. After more testing the docs have determined that it is time to start chemo and as soon as possible as the cancer has progressed further along than they realized. I got this news yesterday and although I have had tome to get used to this whole idea, I guess I am still not ready for this. But if it keeps him off of dialysis, then I hope it will be worth it. (My Mom died from renal failure 8 years ago now - so I know all too well just how hard dialysis can be. I know that many people do fine with dialysis, but my Mom was incredibly sick during her last year and a half and so the idea of watching my Dad go through kidney failure is almost more than I can bear.)

I just did a lot of crying yesterday. I didn't sleep much last night or the night before - big surprise there.

I have to call off of work today as I have no money for bus fare and it is a 5 mile walk to work - one way - I don't think I can handle walking too and from work plus actually working an 8 hour shift. This is a real bummer to me as I really like my job and I really need all the money that I can get right now.

Hmmm - maybe I can put the extra time to good use today and get some more jewelery designed and posted - that would indeed be a good thing on both counts. Guess I will have to see if I can find the money later on in the day to go buy batteries for my camera....lol.

I do have one more piece that I can list today. I have added it above - what do you all think? I hae decided that I love blue and brown together and this piece is a testament to that.

OK - that's all that my rambling brain can think to write for now. Hope everyone has a great day!

Julie

Well, we all have to start somewhere...

Ahhh - so here it is - my very first entry in my very first blog. This is sooo exciting and just a little bit intimidating. But I have been playing around with the idea of a blog for quite sometime and have finally decided to take the plunge.

This is going to be primarily a business blog - although don't be surprised if personal comments end up here as well. I do believe in mixing business and pleasure so writing in my blog about everyday happenings as well as business only makes sense to me.

I have 2 exciting things to actually write about today in regards to my business:

First: I actually had an online sale last night - the first one I have had in about 8 months! (I was offline for over 6 of those months.) I sold the set shown above which is one of my favorite pieces that I have created to this point. I am soooo happy about this. I am trying so hard to get the word out about my jewelery. For any of you thinking of going into business online, let me just tell you that for the huge potential audience that you have with the internet - it is soooo hard to get the word out. I mean you can always pay advertising fees - but then the question is where do you advertise to get the most potential business for your website and is it actually affordable? I have found both of these issues to be a problem.

My second bit of news is that one of my friends listed a picture of one of my bracelets on her website. My piece is the second one down - a simple chain work piece, but it is one of my favorite bracelets I have made as it is so much fun! I am in the process of making another one of these bracelets and hope to have it completed soon. For those of you out there who do chain work - she is just getting her web site going and she has some lovely things - including top quality jump rings in sterling silver which is great for chain mail works. Take a look around her site: http://www.wired-works.com/ Her name is Beth - tell her that I sent you if you decide to place an order!

Anyways - that's about all for now. Thanks for stopping by to take a look and read about what has been going on with me!

Julie