Reveal

As promised - here are two of the three new projects for Nomadic Notions classes.

The first is Piazza Perline. I'll be teaching it twice next quarter, but I expect they will both fill quite quickly, so if you're desperate to get in, make sure you're at the store or calling in on July 15th.


The second is Butterfly Kisses - I'll also be offering this class twice over the quarter. It's a single meeting class, and the necklace will be finished or close to it by the end of the meeting. It can be made with a center focal bead or without - this version, obviously, is pure ruffles. I'm finishing up a second version featuring one of Pam Way's lampwork focal beads and will post that photo tomorrow. Pam's having a trunk show of her lampwork at Nomadic Notions on July 12 & 13. I'm going to be in Tacoma that weekend, so this was my sneaky way of getting my hands on one of her beads! But lucky for me, I have a nice backstock of Pam beads from the last four years. Pam was my very first seed bead teacher in January 2002.

I'm finishing up the third sample in the morning. I'd planned on doing it tonight, but my allergies are messing with me tonight and I'm feeling a little more like collapsing for a good night's sleep than usual. I think I'll take advantage of it!

A little more tease

I have two of the three new projects for Nomadic Notions (and eventually other places too) finished, but I'm seriously too tired tonight to get the photos taken and posted. I promise I'll get it done Saturday. Maybe at 11:59pm, but eventually I'll get it done!

The trick is that the house is being invaded early Saturday by my brother and Munchkin Alexis. He's going to do some manly chores around the house while Mom and I get a fix of our baby girl. Which means the day is probably pretty much wiped out. It takes both of us to keep an eye on her - mainly because we have the added fun of the dogs too. Winston and Alexis LOVE each other, but we try to keep their open mouth kisses to a minimum.

So in lieu of photos, I give you names instead...a necklace which will be known as Butterfly Kisses, and a bracelet named Piazza Perline (Italian for Beads Square.) And the third one is still being named. Right now it has a very naughty name that I can't use in public places because it's resisting my efforts to finish!

Where has the week gone?

I can't believe it's already Friday. I'm pretty sure some mischievous elf put a spell on me and made me fast forward through Wednesday and Thursday this week. I surely can barely remember them!

I've made good and significant progress on the new designs though. I'm close (oh so close!) to a point where I can share them with you. Probably Sunday. And I'm trudging along on kit restocking so I can ship the goodies to Tacoma for the Puget Sound Bead Festival. I can't wait to see the Pacific Northwest - I've never been to that area of the country and I know it's SO gorgeous.

I've got some sad Bead World news to report. Many of you know the bead artist and Bead Quilt organizer, Jeanette Shanigan. I was shocked to find out this morning that she has lost both her husband to a heart attack, and her son to unknown causes, in separate incidents within a day of each other. I can't even imagine the blow. If you'd like to send a sympathy card, her mailing address is:
Jeanette Shanigan
Box 876595
Wasilla, AK 99687

Designing ain't for sissies

I spent a very frustrating day today, trying to pull designing brilliance out of my head and hands. I think it's safe to say I found a whole bunch of ways NOT to do what I was attempting to create! And while no one likes frustration, you've got to put up with some to get to the good stuff. And late tonight, I finally got to the good stuff. Sigh of relief!!

Now, on the flip side of THAT, a new frustration! I can't turn my brain off again, now that's its in design mode. I was just laying in bed, trying to sleep, and instead of dozing off, I'm analyzing complex thread paths. After the third time I turned the light on to sketch a possible bit or piece, I gave up and got up (AGAIN - what is this? The fourth time in the last week?) and I'm going to lull myself into a trance with my favorite time waster: Solitaire.

I can't wait to show what I'm working on to you guys, but I'm still tweaking, so it will have to be kept under the covers for a little while longer. Some are pieces to teach at Nomadic Notions next quarter, and others are for submissions to the 2009 shows for teaching gigs.

I get to go bead with the gals at the store on Tuesday. I'm going to work on an Ogalala necklace featuring one of Dolly Ahles' amazing lampwork masterpieces. I've owed her this necklace for SO long for her display and she's the most gracious and patient woman ever. A little redhead dynamo with a wicked sense of humor...

There are a lot of up days and down days in this life of mine. Good days where your class goes well, and the new design is awesome, and you got a lot done. Bad days where the package of beads you desperately need doesn't arrive in the mail, you can't make a good color choice to save your life, or someone stomps on you. (Or the dog eats...fill in the blank...)

And then there are the days that come out of no where and the events of the day leave you stunned with the generosity and goodness of the people around you. And I had one of those days today. It came out of the blue - an offer of help with nothing asked in return that is so overwhelming to me I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes, thinking of it again. What's so amazing to me is that this isn't the first time someone has stepped up and offered out of the blue to help me and my career in very significant ways just because they wanted to. How lucky am I that these are the kind of people who surround me?

I try to be a good person as I walk through the world. I try to make the right choices and to treat people with kindness and respect. I fail over and over again. Then I step back, take a look at myself, and then start all over. Some days, obviously, I must get it right.

So let me just take a moment tonight and say thank you - with every bit of meaning those words can muster - to all the people who have taken the time to lift me up and help move me forward and who bless me every day by being my friends. My heart is full and overflowing of appreciation. I wish I could let you inside to see exactly how much. It's at least a couple of kilos of seed beads worth.

One free dog

Slightly used, adorable, and known to chew anything within reach. Yes, it's true. Winston strikes again. He got his little doggie canines on Mom's glasses. Within minutes, POOF! They were history. Don't get me wrong - they didn't get swallowed by the Great Gut of Winnie, but they are destroyed both frame and lenses.

Mom's got her old pair to tide her over until she can replace them, but it's an older prescription, of course, so her vision isn't that great with them. The jury is still out if the optical place can make an exact duplicate of her glasses (they're checking on the existence of the frames) but she and I are going down there Sunday to pick out a new frame if not. This can't wait long. Her lenses have to be sent out to be created, so it's probably a week before she gets them from the order date. AGH! We try to be SO careful, but the minute you drop your guard, he's there.

I was perusing the variety of blogs I read daily, and I've noticed a trend in the last few weeks. Can we be seeing some blogger burnout? Several of them have made decisions to take a few days off a week from blogging, or are trying to refocus what they talk about on the blog back to their original plan. Worry not about me - I'm a late adopter to this whole blogging phenomenon and it's still fun to share the ups and downs with you guys. Anyone who knows me knows that I'll make a story out of any old thing. "I had a hangnail today, and let me tell you, it was a doozy!" And I already occasionally skip a day here or there as my schedule requires, but I try to not leave more than a day between posts because I know as a reader, I'm disappointed when my favorite bloggers haven't posted for a long while. It's part of my routine, darn it!

Important planning

Let's see - it's 3:30am, and I should be asleep right about now! But I couldn't turn off all the tossing and turning in my brain, so I got up to put all those thoughts down on paper. It turned out to be a useful and much needed overall planning session so I'm glad I got up. I've learned through bitter experience that if I try to ignore all the pieces and parts of projects and schedules and cash flow projections floating around in my head that sleeping will be useless. The only thing to do is write it all down. Only then my brain finally relaxes when it realizes it doesn't have to remember those things for me.

I got some loose ends tied up Friday that have been nagging at me for a while now. I tracked down suppliers for two different items I'm desperate to have in kits. Wa-hoo! I finally got the new printer we bought in Milwaukee installed here at home. Minor cleaning up. (Mother will laugh - it was very minor given the state of things.) I made real progress on finishing a sample. Got some hotel reservations made for upcoming shows. Worked on updating some instructions for an upcoming class.

But the funny part is that none of those things was actually on my mental list of what I thought I was going to do Friday. Now I have Lists, though. Lovely lists to keep me on track. Prioritized, due dates, detailed. If I could keep them current, how wonderful would that be?? A girl's gotta dream!

Slight recovery

Feeling better again today, but not 100%. Argh. Stoopid cold. But I did get Things accomplished today with more accomplishment on the horizon. It's all about putting one foot in front of the other, even on days when it seems impossible. I'm getting better at forcing work out of those "I don't wanna" times, which is a necessity when you're self-employed. Getting pep talks from friends and family helps sometimes. Pep talk = nice way to say kick in the butt.

So a Gigunda supply order went in today that will cause seismic shock to my bank account when it goes through. That gives me about a week before the goods arrive on my doorstep to work on other things like prepping baggies, printing out instructions, and teaching on Thurs, Sat, and Sun. I have some writing to do, some samples to finish. And I still haven't gotten back to painting that durned wall in my bedroom let alone put together the bookcase. I predict Friday will be painting day and Saturday will be bookcase day.

I also plan on putting Mom to work updating the website with the new kits that debuted in Stafford and Milwaukee.

We got some way cool buttons in today that Mom and I have plans for. She made an awesome freeform peyote cuff a while back that used triangles and seed beads in a wavy pattern with this curly kind of button and a beautiful button hole clasp. Unfortunately, the bracelet got lost somewhere in Houston last November when we were there for the Houston International Quilt Show. I hope it at least found a welcome home on someone's wrist. But we've been in mourning for the bracelet ever since. Especially because finding that exact button again has been like dreaming the impossible dream! I try to keep documention of where I purchase things because when I want to use them in a kit, I have to be able to find them again. Sometimes things slip through the cracks, though, and the place we bought the button was one of those times. Mom and I spent days and days and weeks and months searching button sites on the internet and had almost given up....but then...could it be?...after all this time?? YES! We found it! The ultimate happy dance ensued and the dogs bellowed thanks to the moon and all is right with the world.

They had another button that I fell in love with, so those two buttons will be the basis of the two colorways of the kits. I know there's a lot of folks out there that love the look of freeform, but find actually creating freeform very stressful (I'm raising my hand right now.) We plan on doing the hard work FOR you. Okay, I plan on MOM doing the hard work for you. (I love delegation!) We'll have a row by row word chart for you to follow if you choose, so your bracelet will be identical to what the sample looks like, but will have that freeform look about it. And you can always go off on your own freeform way too if you prefer.

I'll also finally be setting up a few classes here in my home - info coming about that within a week. I figure that will FORCE me to get the classroom fully set up and functioning!

Slight relapse

I can't seem to shake this cold all the way off. I was almost 100% better, but then I had a massage yesterday and that seems to have caused a relapse. I got zero done today, and feel crummy. So forgive the blah post tonight.

I've got to get up and at 'em again tomorrow. No time for creeping crud.

Show and Tell

My return trip to Lowe's for a different paint color seems to have been successful. I don't actually have the paint on the wall yet because I needed to switch gears and get some Tapestry Beads business done this afternoon and evening, but seeing the paint next to the color I'd been using yesterday looks good. It's the same sort of shade, but softer. I'll tackle that tomorrow morning. I have morning light coming into my bedroom so the extra sun will help me see any spots I might miss.

Wanna see a couple of the things I purchased at Bead & Button? First, and foremost, there were seed beads, of course. I stocked up on charlottes of various sizes at Osiris, got some of the Size 15 Delicas from my buddy, Terri Ann, at Foxden Designs, and picked out new color schemes for a few of our kits from Betcey and Mark at Beyond Beadery.

Mom & I love our booth neighbor, Dolly Ahles, to pieces, and her work is totally gorgeous. We splurged on one of her watercolor beads, although it was hard to choose.

I've admired Kelly Russell's PMC work with vintage buttons for years, and this was the show I decided I couldn't pass up owning my own piece any longer. It's an Antique Satsuma button of wisteria and PMC with patina. I plan on seed beading around the outside edge of it. One of the things I appreciate about her work is that she takes the time to make the back look pretty too. Finishing details are important.



And I seem to be on a PMC roll, because I also bought some of Christi Anderson's floral PMC pieces to use as components in jewelry I probably won't make for about three years. But I'll enjoy the bits on my table until I get around to it! How cute are they? I'm pondering how to incorporate them in a seed bead kit because they're so awesome.



I'm coughing up a storm tonight - still recovering from the cold I got as a free gift with purchase in Milwaukee from someone. It's that darned tickle in the throat thing where you can't stop. I'll probably have to take cough syrup to sleep. I feel totally fine except for the cough. Annoying.

Covered in paint

I'm not the neatest painter in the world and if anyone had any doubts about that, you'd just have to look at my arms and hands right now. Totally speckled and dotted with white primer paint on every uncovered surface. I made sure to keep my newly pedicured toes free of paint, though since they're so adorable with little flowers on them. I couldn't resist!

The entire wall got primed - the bottom half had to be second coated because of the dark green that used to be on it - but when I started applying the lavender paint I'd purchased months and months ago, I felt like there was too much of a red undertone going on, so I stopped. I'll make a trip to Lowe's Monday morning to pick out a similar soft lavender, but with more of a blue undertone. I like my bedroom to be a cool, soft place with only things that really make me happy. Mom's getting jealous because the bedroom color she inherited in the new house is really, um, bright. Like a bright orangy yellow. Did I mention it's bright?? I think I see painting in her future soon too.

So many things yet to do. I promised ya'll photos of the goodies I purchased in Milwaukee. I have some packages to mail Monday. Samples to finish - that's my favorite part - I haven't had a lot of time recently to sit and bead so it will be like a treat to park on the sofa with some good movies. And I need to get my supply orders made in the next day or two. I've got shows scheduled every three or so weeks between now and the end of August, so I need to get out ahead of it and try to be prepared for all of them. Try. Critical word there.

A special note to my friends and family in the Midwest, dealing with all the flooding catastrophes - you're in my heart and I'm thinking of you at this tough time. Stay strong.

Ikea: Friend or Foe?

Really, I should know better than to let myself go to Ikea alone. Mom is my voice of reason when the buying frenzy comes over me. I want to buy whole rooms at Ikea and make them mine. I want my house to look as adorable and organized as those rooms. It's marketing genius. And it's the Devil Incarnate, too.

I came home with this lovely bookshelf/storage unit for my bedroom. Now the trick is that it weighs 138lbs. Says so right on the package. The package that's still in my car's trunk because Mom & I can't lift it, so we're going to have to tear open the box and load it in the house piece by piece. And then assemble it. But since it weighs so much, I figure I should paint the wall in my bedroom where it's going to live so I don't have to move it again when I get around to painting. But that means I've actually got to haul out the brushes and tape and all the other painting paraphernalia that goes along with it. Just thinking about it all makes me want to sit on the sofa and bead.

I also bought this cool curtain panel system that allows you to layer panels, or use your own fabrics to make panels. I'll take a photo when I get the whole thing up and working.

And then I'm also planning on buying this dresser, but it only comes in yellow and red and white, so I'm buying the yellow and then will paint it. Originally I was thinking I'd paint it dark brown like the bookcase. But maybe I'll be more playful and paint it deep purple instead. But I've been saved for now because they're currently out of stock of it. I think I've got my hands full enough this weekend already, don't you??

My walls will be a pale lavender like this:

Zombie Awakes

Is it wrong to sleep 22 out of the last 24 hours?? I don't think so! I think I earned it! And yes, Winston and Maggie have shared the bed with me most of those hours. Ahhh....

I had one last "on the road" insult to deal with before I got here - food poisoning! Yup, that Chinese food I was so happy with the other night decided to try to kill me and I spent a really unpleasant night in Norman, OK. At least I was in a hotel and not trying to drive when it hit, and it also lasted only overnight. I was initially worried that I would have to stay an extra day there. Lucky for me, the Chinese food didn't taste that good (now I know why!) and I only ate a few bites.

I have more stories to share and beady loot to show you, but I need some sustenance right now. I didn't want anyone to be worried if I got home, however. I know you guys! The emails would have started tonight, checking on me!

Look for the goodies tomorrow....

375 miles to waggy tails

I had to stop for the night in Norman, Oklahoma. So near, but yet, so far from home. The travel home has been interesting. I've seen more bad car accidents than I care to - one for which I was parked on the highway for over 45 min. while they used the Jaws of Life to remove the top of the truck to get the guy out, and helicopter him away. It's hard to be upset at a delay like that because you know your time troubles are nothing compared to the way that man's day just turned out.

It was off and on raining the whole time which made the roads slick, of course. That probably accounted for most if not all of the accidents. I took the hint and made sure to be extra special careful while driving, slowing down, and deciding to pack it in for the day when we lost daylight. I'd like to be around next year at Bead & Button for the festivities once again, after all!

And today I woke to a most glorious and amazing thing: sunlight. And there was sun all day. ALL DAY! Oh, happy, joy, joy!

I'm originally from Wisconsin, so it pains me to hear and see all the flooding and tornado and storm damage in that part of the world. I feel it quite personally. I was certainly seeing a lot of overflowing rivers and streams and even ditches on the way home. I hope they'll get a break soon.

Tonight, I'm a happy girl because I found a Souper Salad restaurant that was still open nearby my hotel, and then there was a bookstore next to them...so I've got a healthy, cool salad to eat and all the latest bead magazines to keep me company for an hour or two until I fall asleep. Tomorrow I'll be sure and pop out of bed with pep in my step since I know it's mere hours before my reunion with the fur babies.

There's always a bit of post Bead & Button show blues, and I'm starting to feel it tonight. But the minute I get home, it will be back to work on all the projects and kits and samples for the next show down the road (Puget Sound Bead Festival, July 11-13) and once I'm back in the groove, I'll feel fine. And I'll already start looking forward to what I have in store for you guys in 2009! Anne made a suggestion for a class I should think about teaching, and I thought it was brilliant. I've got half the class written in my head already. Now if I can get it down on paper before it becomes vapor...

The Party Ends

Awwww....I have such mixed feelings about the end of Bead & Button each year. It's an extravaganza of delights - things to see and fondle and oogle - friends to hug and chatter on endless with - laughter and frolic. But it's always the most exhausting of shows. There are precious few hours to devote to restoring yourself after the day. And I definitely need the down time now. Can't we just take a break for a few days and then do more of the show???

Mom and I enjoyed our crazy expensive, but well worth it, meal at the Capital Grille last night. Filet Mignon, Parmesan encrusted Truffle French Fries that have to be tried to be believed. We even both had blissful Coconut Creme Pie for dessert. We were smart (er, lucky) enough to have taken the dessert back to the hotel to eat because as we walked the three blocks back to the hotel, the skies opened up yet again with another crazy deluge. We dodged frogs and fish on the sidewalks as we ran to safety. Okay, I might be making the frogs and fish part up. Probably my hallucination.

Now my route home is planned - the bags are packed and only need one last trip to the car to somehow neatly tuck everything in and then I'm off. Mom flies out later this afternoon. I usually have a plan for what hotel I'm staying at so I know exactly how far I have to drive, but I decided to wing it on the way home this time. My energy level is very low between the cold I have and the post show wearies. It looks like I might be driving into more (MORE!) weather along the way. I'm not really sure how far I can expect to go today, so I'll just drive until I get tired and then search for a nearby place to lay my head.

I have to tell you - this year's Bead & Button was such a good experience for me in many ways. My sales were way up - people have figured out how our kits are reliably makable and trust our quality and instructions. It almost got embarrassing to hear all the customers raving about our instructions! My classes were a delight - new friends, every one of them. And for the first time, I feel really comfortable about my place in this world. I know exactly what I excel at and I know that my customers love and appreciate our designs. I no longer feel intimidated by the showy art pieces I see here. I can enjoy and delight in them, but I also know they're things I wouldn't wear often and get to enjoy the way I get to wear and enjoy our designs, and that's the beauty of our work as opposed to theirs. There is a place in this beady world for us all, and I've found mine. It's a really pretty view from here, too. Lots of smiling faces looking back at us, waving their beautiful Tapestry Beads jewelry in triumph.

I'll try to post again from the road....safe travels, one and all!

Have you missed me? Every day I've thought, I need to update the blog. And then I collapsed into bed before I was able to get on the computer to do it. This is like the ultimate beady endurance test! One more day on the Marketplace floor, and then we pack everything up tonight into the car. Mom and I will treat ourselves to an amazing steak dinner, an early bedtime, and Monday we even have the morning to go exploring in Milwaukee before Mom goes to the airport and I'm back on the road.

The whole trip has been spectacular - better even than I had anticipated. Seeing all my friends has been such a treat! Meeting new friends has been even more of one. My classes were a special treat as everyone had such a good time. We laughed and laughed and beaded.... The only downside to this year has been the crazy weather! Wisconsin has been getting hit hard by rain and tornadoes, and twice now the Midwest Center has told everyone that they shouldn't leave the building because there were tornado warnings in the area. It even caused extended shopping hours last night because it wasn't clear before the show was supposed to be over at 6pm. I also heard that many folks who had flown in were delayed quite a bit or even rerouted to Springfield, IL, two hours away and then the airline bussed them to Milwaukee. It's very unusual for this kind of weather to hit Bead & Button - we're often treated to 75 degree sunny days. A nice change from my 100 degrees back at home. Oh well, when there are beads involved, it matters not! Through rain, sleet, dead of night....

The booth has been so very busy that I haven't had time to make my usual five trips a day to the Beyond Beadery booth - I miss them! I actually do a lot of my color choosing for kits when I'm at shows with Beyond Beadery or Jane's Fiber and Beads nearby because then I have a complete library of beads right there for me to choose from. Luckily I'm through teaching classes now, and Sunday is traditionally a slower day at the show so I'm planning on it being seed bead shopping day.

Dang, am I tired

I've been in Milwaukee less than 24 hours, and it's already kicking my butt!

First, the drive from Tulsa to Joliet Tuesday was long but uneventful, right up to that last 150 miles. Then it was kind of like driving through the apocalypse. Rain, hail, thunder, lightning like I can't ever remember seeing before. One blast hit so close to my car that it made me scream out loud. There was apparently a tornado in the area also. Winds 45-70mph. I managed to pull over in a rest stop for the worst of it, but then drove through varying intensity cells for another 100 miles. I'd never been so happy to see a hotel in my life.

Today I was up and at 'em, and drove the last 2 hours into Milwaukee where I met up with Mom & Kathryn. We got the car unloaded, spent some beading time in the Gathering Place, and then a quick nap before it was time for Mom & I to get ready for the mass hysteria that is Meet The Teachers. For three hours each year at Bead & Button, it's a free for all - and to add to the drama, it's from 8pm to 11pm. Zzzzz!! Mom told me that I had to get up from my nap because there were ladies out there that wanted to throw money at me. But it was true! We sold and sold and sold, and now we're already out of some of our patterns and kits. And the expo hall doesn't even open until 4pm Thursday for the preview.

Being true pragmatists, Mom and I have already devised a plan. There's an Office Max two blocks from here, and we're getting up Thursday morning to go buy a new printer to print more patterns. Our printer at home was sounding sick anyway - I think the paper feed thingie is going out. And since I drove, there's no reason I can't just pack it up in the car and take it home with us. Problem solved.

And to solve that tired problem?? Night night!

2am in Tulsa

Just finished today's 494 mile drive and checked into a hotel in Tulsa. I'm so ready for bed, but still a bit wound up, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to update the blog.

I'll be driving more miles tomorrow, and the day will be longer, so I may flop into bed before I can get the computer out of the case and plugged in. We'll see. Some days I can drive 14 hours and still be raring to go. Other days, I'm ready for a roadside nap after just 2 hours of driving. I listen to my sleepiness level and respond appropriately. I don't plan on letting myself fall asleep while driving and taking myself or anyone else out. I'd be so mad for dying that way, especially when I still have so many bead projects in my head waiting to be born.

Today's route was up through Dallas, to the edge of Oklahoma City, then hanging a right into Tulsa. I'd forgotten that this is a pretty drab drive, visually. Lots of nuthin'. I much prefer to drive along the Gulf Coast and then up through Memphis. The scenery is better. Now, it didn't matter that much tonight since I did most of the trip in the dark, but I think I'll go home the preferred way next week. If I can stand being away from home and the fur children an extra day, I may make good on my annual failed promise to stop either in Chicago or New Orleans or somewhere to have a vacation day on the way back. But so far I've always been desperate to get home after being gone so long. I'm really good at changing my mind over and over again. It's annoying, even to me.

I'm also dying to get my hands on some good, ol' Wisconsin cheese curds. Nummm.....

Weekend report

I'm finally surfacing, after collapsing into an almost 12 hour sleep last night. The plan on Friday was for Mom & I to leave for Houston by 6pm - right after she got home from work. But I had one last kit that I wanted to take the time to put together and begged Mom to let me. She did, as as a result we didn't leave until 8pm. Which got us into the hotel at 11pm. Which made us very tired when we had to rise early on Saturday to go set up the booth!

The crowds at the Stafford show Saturday were great, and we saw a lot of our usual customers there! A bunch of them reported that they're reading the blog daily - hi, guys! It's always nice to do a show where Mom's there with me, too. Don't tell her I said so, but she's kinda fun to have along. We went and had dinner after the show - it was a bit early for dinner, but Mom and I have learned that if we go back to the hotel first, we'll never end up leaving again to go out. I conked out at 8:30pm (party animal!) and Mom stayed up working on this cool freeform peyote necklace. I can't wait to show it to you when she's finished!

So I'm off to get ready for today's show, then we'll pack up and poof! Like that we're back on the road home. I get to spend one night in my own bed with my own puppies and Monday, after restocking and repacking some things, I'm off for my road trip. Woo-hoo!