Tangible Tidbits 2012 #26: Setbacks S*ck!

Hi, everyone! Well, I didn't get enough votes for the Mission: Small Business grant...I ended up with 90, which isn't even half-way. :( The outgoing President of BSNJ even offered to let me "solicit" votes from the members at Thursday's meeting, which I thought was very kewl of her. :-bd Many of the members were more than willing to help me, but a lot of them are not on Facebook. I really think that's short-sighted of Chase and LivingSocial, although it does effectively eliminate people from the running. :P Maybe next year?!

Speaking of Thursday's BSNJ meeting, I did not win the necklace category for the Bead Challenge. :( Nor did I win any of the prizes in the raffle held that evening. C'est la vie! That was our last meeting for this year. We will resume in September with the new Board, of which I am still a part. :D

I've posted a poll on our Facebook page -- my first attempt -- to help me decide in which category to enter my Bead Challenge piece for the Beaded Impressions Beading Contest. The categories are not very straight-forward, and I want to make sure I enter the appropriate one. Thanks in advance for the help! ;)

Ever a glutton for punishment, I've also started the application to submit two necklaces for consideration in the 2013 Showcase 500 Necklaces book published by Lark Crafts. I have until August 1 to complete the application. I've already added the Marsha Neal & Kabela key piece I made a few weeks ago, now entitled "Pretty in Purple" because the file name had to be 48 characters or less. :-? I started to submit my beaded Swan necklace, but I was having trouble finding the color names for all of the seed beads, so I may have to go with something else. Another option is the bronze & sterling silver wax cast piece on copper beading wire and chain, but pieces have to be no older than 2010. I have to look back, but I think I made that in the Fall of 2009. :-/

The auto-responder I use to send out the email version of this message, Mad Mimi, changed its format last week. I'm not very comfortable with it, so if the messages come through a bit "off" for the next few weeks, that's why. 8-|

On the personal side of life, work is crazy. We have three issues that have recently switched to Direct Registration System (DRS), which means they are now eligible to send shares electronically to the Depository Trust Company (DTC) in New York City. Since one of my daily responsibilities is to balance our records with DTC's records, this is pretty much a nightmare for me. The Out-of-Balance (O-O-B) report is usually around 15 pages. This morning, it was 73 pages! I worked until nearly 5:00 p.m. last Friday -- and employes left at 4:00 p.m. for summer Friday hours -- spending all day on the report and not doing any other work. This morning, I had a very large pile of work in my basket from Friday, plus today's work. Luckily, I've come up with a shortcut that will help me get through the O-O-B report more quickly (and painlessly?), so I won't get so far behind for at least the next month or so. :P

A high school friend is having a house-warming party on Saturday. I will be venturing out of my comfort zone a bit because I won't know many people there. I was actually surprised when I saw on the Facebook Event page who was attending. There were a number of familiar names from school, but I didn't know he kept in touch with these people. Most of them, I barely knew! #-o

I hope everyone in the U.S. enjoys their Independence Day on Wednesday! Our office is closed and closing early tomorrow. WHOO HOO! :O)

Take care and have a great week! B-)