Tangible Tidbits 2012 #27: Realigning Those Great Expectations

Hi, everyone! Well, the Big News around here is that my sister is having another GIRL! :D I had a feeling that's what was going to happen. I actually had two premonitions about it, if you can call them that. A few days before we found out, I had a dream that there was a little girl that looked like my sister as a toddler running around on our front lawn under a sprinkler. Then, the morning of her appointment, the phrase "It's a girl" popped into my head for no apparent reason. The funny thing is, my sister, her hubby, and the two girls ALL came to the conclusion independently it was going to be a boy! :-O My brother-in-law even had a dream about it, and he never remembers his dreams. :-/ Anyway, I got a VERY a excited phone call from my nieces at the office – not to mention a number of voice-mails on my house and cell phones – so they could share the news. B-) They already went shopping for baby clothes! :))

So, I went to that house party on Saturday. I only knew two or three people there besides the host, but it was a lot of fun! I mainly hung out with people who went to my high school, but graduated a year ahead of me. I didn't know too many people older than me back then, but I did recognize a couple of last names from their younger siblings in my class and a few faces. :-? I didn't really have high expectations for the outing, so I was pleasantly surprised.

That brings me to my epiphany for the week. ;) Lately I've noticed in television shows and movies that peoples' expectations are what usually lead to problems in their lives. I caught part of an episode of "Sex and the City" – I've never watched it regularly, but enough to know who everyone is and their personalities – and saw Charlotte "go off" on Harry after she’d spent all day making a special Jewish dinner for him. He was more interested in the baseball game on the TV behind her. :P She completely lost her cool, and basically demanded for him to propose already. He looked at her like she was "The Exorcist" – there was a definite resemblance! – and walked out, stating ironically that he couldn't believe he'd bought her a ring. If she hadn't built up her own expectations in her mind, she wouldn't have flipped out on him…and she would have gotten what she wanted sooner rather than later. :(

In a real-world example, I decided to watch the entire "Star Wars" saga this past week, as it was airing nightly on Spike TV. I hadn't seen the three prequel films since they were originally in theaters, so I wanted to see them again to refresh my memory. I didn't really like them much the first time around, but I think that had a lot to do with my expectations based on how much I loved the original trilogy. Seeing them again with virtually no expectations at all, I enjoyed them more than I had the first time. Naturally, they are still not as good as the original films IMHO. I think a lot of that has to do with the story being mostly about Anakin's downfall, and we already know how it turns out. I completely understand why George Lucas made the films in the order he did...all of the shock value would have been eradicated from episodes 4-6 if he'd gone in order. It was a smart move in terms of storytelling. Unfortunately, IMO it also caused an emotional disconnect to the characters because I have a hard time thinking of Darth Vader as being the dark side of Anakin, even now knowing the back story. :-O

Nothing too exciting to report on the business front, so I will leave that until next week. I’ve gone on long enough for one post. ;)

Take care and have a great week! B-)

Tangible Tidbits 2012 #21: Too Hot To Handle!

Hey, everyone! It's been crazy hot here in New Jersey for the past few days. The high today was 87 degrees Fahrenheit, and it's still around 84 degrees at 10:30 pm! Man, if this is the weather in May, what can we expect in July and August? :-S

Like most of the people living in the U.S., I went to a Memorial Day BBQ this weekend. My high school friends got together on Saturday...and ALL of us living in the area were in one place at one time...and with all of their kids, too! B-) It was a lot of fun. We celebrated the recent marriage of one of our friends...a second marriage for him and they had a civil ceremony in NYC not long ago. We also celebrated a soon-to-be new addition to the family....that would be MY family. My sister is expecting child #3 in November! :x I've known for a few weeks...and they told the girls on Mother's Day. My older niece is excited...she's been asking ME to get married and have a baby for the past three years. I told her that was her mother's department. :)) My younger niece is less excited, as she wanted to be the baby in the family FOREVER. She told me the other day that she's excited, "except for the diapers and room change." Each girl has her own room, but that will have to be reassessed sooner or later. :( She also told me I can't pay any attention to the new baby! #-o =)) I told her I didn't think that would be possible. ;) Mom and I also went to watch the girls in their Memorial Day Parade this morning...they march with the Brownies and Girl Scouts. :-bd

I was playing around a bit this weekend with some strung beaded necklaces for a coworker, although she's on vacation this coming week. I also ordered some supplies for earrings for her, made a new ring, adapted a crystal ring into a pendant -- it wasn't working as a ring, unfortunately -- and made another Chan Luu-style bracelet with braided black leather and multicolored eyeball beads. :-O I ordered them because a friend had asked me about an Evil Eye bracelet that Kelly Ripa wears, which I had never heard about nor seen. I ordered some supplies to see if I can make something similar myself, but the friend wanted crystals embedded in it, and I wasn't sure I could pull that off. I will eventually make the piece I had envisioned, since I have the materials...whether or not it'll be close enough to Kelly's Evil Eye bracelet remains to be seen. :-?

By the way, I did enter the second piece I mentioned last week in the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads' Seed Bead Jewelry Making Contest earlier today. I wanted to get it in before the May 31 deadline. ;)

I really have to start cleaning up product photos and uploading them to Facebook. I've fallen pretty far behind on that, although I believe I do have photos of everything I've made so far. I also have to update my product binder. A coworker borrowed it for a family friend, but I had to remind her that I hadn't updated it since late last year, in part because my printer wasn't working correctly. :( I'm beginning to think I should break it up into smaller binders by category...rings, bracelets, etc. I dropped the big binder on my foot last week...it's REALLY heavy! :((

The new Focal Piece of the Month is up here if you're interested.

And on that note, I will bid you all a Good Night! Take care and have a great week! B-)