Good days and bad days... the last couple of days were bad. David’s chair in the family room is an old, creaky, squeaky office chair I bought at a flea market 15-20 years ago for $5. When I wanted to replace it, he refused because it was comfortable, even though he had to use duct tape and towels on the armrests. I had to have Christian move it into the bedroom because the cats were up and down on it, making it creak and squeak. I was listening to a tape about losing a loved one, cautioning not to make any major changes for at least 18 months, since that’s how long the average grieving period is. 18 months?!?

As much as I hate winter, it was pretty outside today. I wish I had felt like going out and taking photos. Instead I just sat in my studio and took photos from there.

and here’s a stupid pet photo of Squeak, nice and comfy in the chair,

Well, that was a fun night. Lukas was sick last night, dry heaves sick (he blamed it on the tomatoes and green chilies I put in his omelet for supper). Then an hour later he said he was having a partial seizure. That went on for about an hour. He put it very well, “I’d rather just have one and get it over with.“ I finally got to bed at a quarter to 4 this morning.

Well, at least the sun is shining.

2 weeks since I held his hand until it started getting cold, the same hand that he stroked my hair with when we laid in bed watching TV. I miss him more than I thought I ever could.

Last night I read the comments to my blog and 2 pages of the thread on LE. It’s heartwarming to see the posts from so many people, but it was painful too, because I know some of the posters have lost loved ones too. I ended up playing solitaire for 4 hours last night. What a colossal waste of time.

I have started to read the comments and getting them posted to my blog, and I just want to thank you all for the kind words, even though they make me cry again. God bless you all and keep you safe.

Two weeks. A lifetime... A year ago last week my mother died. Another lifetime away.

I tried to find happy memories of David, but there are so many sad and angry ones buried in my mind, I decided that wasn’t the way to go. I’m just going to remember the feelings of contentment and love. In the new system, after David is resurrected, I’ll have my friend back.

I’m going to re-open my shops, and get back on LE. My mornings are pretty much the same, read the news and email, make beads and listen to Watchtower and Awake magazines, get Lukas up, get him settled for the day, and then make a snack and go lay down and read and nap. It’s the afternoons and evenings that get to me. I can’t do anything. The house sounds empty without David’s TV going, and him sitting in the family room belching. Never thought I would miss that. I get dishes washed, clean, do chores with Christian, and then vegetate at the computer. I can’t find the mental energy to do anything. There are lots of things I should do, cards to answer, emails and PMs to answer, and I’ve got several hundred beads that should be cleaned and photo’d. But instead I try to find something on the internet to divert me. That has to stop before it becomes a habit.

I’ve also decided I’m going to go out west this summer with Lukas and my nephews. I need the mountains. I started reading Zane Grey when I was a child. I fell in love with his West, from the Arizona deserts to the Montana mountains. The first time I went to Arizona, I slept outside on a cot, and I still remember the awe I felt with the stillness of the desert and the twinkling stars, and thought, ‘this is what Zane Grey wrote about.’ That man was truly a wordsmith and a poet. There is something about the West that pulls me and satisfies me, and right now I need that goal of going out there. I need something to think about and work towards.

Have you ever watched a dog go to sleep? They lay down and 5 minutes later, they’re dead to the world.

I go to bed and my mind races from one thing to another, things I should have said or done, things I need to do tomorrow, or should do... with a dog on each side of me in the bed, snoring blissfully.

I miss David. As bad as things have gotten over the past few years, I always knew that if something happened, he would be there for support. All marriages have ups and downs. Anyone going into one thinking it’s going to be ‘happily ever after’ is extremely naive. No matter how much you love each other, life intrudes and throws obstacles in your way. But there is a bond, you’re a pair supporting each other. That support is gone now. I have my boys, family, friends, and most of all, I have my God for support. But it’s not the same. There’s a hole in my life, one that I haven’t had for 30 years.

OK, I give up on doing beads today. The first one had scum and bubbles from CIM clear. I don’t know why I even try using that stuff. Then social security called while I was making the next one (you don’t exactly tell the government to hang on while you finish torching), so that one is ruined. So I’m throwing my hands up in the air, and I’m going to go get Lukas up and give him a shower. While I was cleaning last night I came across a book, Jo-Ann’s Your Guide to Creativity. Maybe I’ll browse through that and get some inspiration.

It’s strange how we all cope with death, even animals. K.C. (Kitty Cat. What can I say? We were running low on imagination when we named her.) has been a family room cat. That was where she spent all of her time, along with David. Not that he ever petted or talked to her (other than swearing at her when she threw up on his DVD player). That’s just where she spent her days.

The day after David died, some friends from the Kingdom Hall came over, and I was surprised to see her walk through the living room with them there. K.C. has always been a very shy cat. Later in the evening, some more friends from the Hall were over, and she walked through the living room again, and Patti actually petted her. I was surprised! Since then she’s been showing up all over the place. Now she sleeps in the living room, and this morning she came to visit me in the bathroom and we discussed the state of affairs in the world today. She was quite vocal about the weather being so dreary.

I just would never have thought of her bonding to David. He was not an animal person, although he would talk to them occasionally and enjoyed teasing Pip with a stuffed snake (she hates it and when anyone shows it to her, she attacks it).

As I mentioned, it’s quite dreary and dark here today. I’m struggling to get the energy to do something besides sit and stare at the computer. I’ve been making beads this past week, but just simple earring pairs that are just mindless to-do work. I need to find something that will pull me out of this. Hopefully the boys will make it up this weekend. I miss them.

Official cause of death, multisystem organ failure caused by sepsis syndrome.

After the resurrection, I’m going to box his ears for not saying anything about not feeling good.

One week. 7 days. So much change in so few days. It hits me most at night when I’m trying to get to sleep. Good memories, bad ones, what-if’s, maybe’s, what I need to do.

Christian picked up David’s ashes from the funeral home yesterday. In case I haven’t mentioned it, David had a very quirky sense of humor. He told his sister, Kelly, that when he died, he wanted his ashes spread on Medicine Lake down in the cities. That’s where they grew up, and he would go fishing there. He told her that it was so toxic that he would probably come back. So part of his ashes are going to Kelly, who has said she’s going to put some of them in the back yard with Connie, their sister who died a couple of years ago. The other part of his ashes are going into a container, and this summer, money permitting, I’m going to go out west with Lukas and my nephews. David was afraid of heights, which I didn’t know when we went on our honeymoon. We went out to Yellowstone on motorcycles, and I took him over Beartooth Pass. I love the mountains, but it was the worst place I could have taken him. It took 15 years to get him to go back out west again, and then we went through the Big Horns in Wyoming, and the brakes overheated on the way down. He absolutely refused to go after that. So when I drive through the mountains in my RV, his ashes are going to be on the dash, and I can say he went to the mountains with me and wasn’t afraid of my driving.

My sister told me that even though there wouldn’t be a viewing, to take some of his favorite clothes along with to the funeral home when we went there to make arrangements last week. I was going through the closet to find a T-shirt, and came across one, and thought he would have loved to give someone one last laugh. The T-shirt read, ‘I’m really excited to be here.’

See, his sense of humor rubbed off on me. That’s the part I missed so much of these last few years.

But life goes on. I’m finding little freedoms. Living with an alcoholic is being in a prison, no matter how nice the person seems to be to others. Enough said.

Lukas is doing OK. He misses David, but he has so many friends at the Kingdom Hall who care for him. I do too. Christian is the one I worry about. He’s too much like me, at heart a hermit. Once spring gets closer, I’ll be able to start getting back to meetings, and I’ll be able to get him to go to the Thursday night meetings. He needs people, no matter how much he thinks he doesn’t.

It’s snowing here. But I’ve got amaryllis bulbs flowering, paperwhites, hyacinths, and my orchid is still blooming. And my birds are busy on the feeders.

One week, 7 days. This time last week I was coming to the realization that I was being faced with a decision that I had always thought would be easy, pulling the plug. The doctor gave me just the faintest hope, and I couldn’t do it. Not yet.

My nephews couldn’t make it up Saturday. I miss them and the kids. Some very dear friends came over and spent the morning, though. Cindy helped clean off the kitchen table, which is where David always sat to watch TV, and Peggy cleaned out his coffee pot, and the guys visited with Lukas.

I am so proud of Christian. Yesterday he didn’t even wake me up from my nap when Lukas went to the bathroom and needed to be wiped. I am so glad I have my boys. I used to tease Christian that when he became a teenager that he was going to turn into a monster, but he never did. And Lukas... once when I had to take off from work to run him down to St. Paul for a doctor’s appointment, he thanked me for taking off from work. A 14 yr. old thanking mom for something like that. I almost cried. How can you not do anything for a son like that?

I am truly blessed.

5 days. Tonight it will be a week since we called the ambulance.

I’m starting to become un-numbed (is that a word?). Is that normal after less than a week?

One thing that surprises me is how I so fell to pieces, and how much grief I’ve felt this past week, considering how things have been between us the last couple of years. I think my sister had it right when she said it was realizing the might-be’s, the chances of changing things are gone now. That and saying goodbye to the might-have-been’s.

It’s no consolation, but I’m following family tradition. My mother was widowed in her 30s and both of my grandmothers and my sister in their 40s. At least I made it to my 50s.

I’ve mentioned David had a wicked sense of humor? When we first started dating, he loved to shock me. Once he took me to a topless bar (without telling me what kind of bar it was), and another time he took me to a bar in St. Paul where they had a dance talent contest. It wasn’t until we’d been there for a while that he told me the dancers were transvestites. I still can’t figure out how they could wear such revealing clothes (tight low-cut dresses, envision Tina Turner) and look so like women. For goodness sakes, this was before sex changes and hormones.

Yup, that was my hubby.

4 days. The anger and guilt are passing.

Elaine went home yesterday, but my nephews, her boys, are coming up today. That will liven the house up a bit. And I won’t have to shush the little ones up if they get a little noisy. I’m glad they’re coming up, I need the distraction. I am so thankful that I have Lukas and Christian at home with me. I don’t think I could take this in an empty house. OK, it’s not an empty house, I have a cat meowing to go out and a ferret scratching my leg begging for a treat.

It’s -8° here, and I have birds galore. Both feeders are covered with birds and I had 4 woodpeckers on my suet feeder. By Thursday it’s supposed to be above freezing. I want this winter gone.

3 days.

Anger and guilt and grief.

Anger at David for not being able to overcome his alcohol use, and anger at myself for at times despising him for that weakness.

Guilt at all of those wasted emotions and wasted time being angry at him, for not being able to somehow be what he needed, for walling myself off from him these last few years. Maybe if I hadn’t done that he would have said something about not feeling good, maybe I would have caught it. All I can do now is pray to Jehovah for forgiveness and try my best to live more in tune with Bible teachings.

Grief at picking up his fuzzy vest and putting it back down because I don’t know what to do with it. His billfold is still on the kitchen table, and his coffeepot on the kitchen counter, half full of coffee. I suppose I should empty it out before mold starts growing in it, but not today. I can’t. Time will ease this sorrow, but it will never go away. How can it? I’ve lost my love and my friend.

2 days. It’s incredible how much change 2 days can bring.

My first memory of David was at a card party. I had seen him before at the airport (we were both independent taxi-cab owner-operators), but had never talked to him. There was something about him, dark curly hair, mustache, low voice, that just struck me, and I thought ‘I would like to get to know him better.’ Did I pursue him? You bet I did. I was in love with him (love or lust, what’s the difference when you’re in your 20s). In the next weeks and months, we got to know each other and went on dates, and had a very brief fling, but he decided he was still in love with his former girlfriend, so he broke it off, and we moved on. I was rear-ended one day sitting in the cab line and that kind of did my full-time driving days in because of whiplash injuries. I leased a cab part-time, which made for some pretty lean days. So when David, who had quit driving to take a job as a cab-starter (when people came out of the airport looking for a cab, his job was to ask them their destination and he would direct them to the proper cab) asked if I wanted a job as an assistant starter, I jumped at the offer.

Over the next couple of years, we got to be friends, and then best friends, and then started going on dates again, and ended up living together and then getting married. I can honestly say I married my best friend. He was kind, generous and so funny then.

9 years ago, the company he worked for was bought by a big company. They installed a computer dispatching system, waited a week to make sure it was working, and laid off all of the senior dispatchers. No severance pay, no 2 week notice, nothing. David was devastated. Personal demons (he is the 3rd sibling out of 7 to die of alcohol abuse) and the bottle took that funny, caring, wickedly-witted man away from me, and 2 days ago death took what was left of him.

When they took him off of the ventilator, his heart so very gradually started to slow down. We all just stared at that monitor. I would close my eyes and pray over and over for strength to endure this, and open my eyes to look at the monitor. It went down into the 40s and then the 30s, and then the 20s. So very, very, very gradually. I couldn’t understand why we can take a dog or a cat to a vet when we know that death is imminent and have them given a shot to hurry their passing, but we can’t do that with people. More crying and praying over and over for endurance. Then his heart went to 19, then it started to go up, and up into the 40s and 50s. There was that little surge of hope, that maybe they were wrong. Into the 60s... and then to 0.

I have so much guilt to contend with. His daughter was up yesterday and I sent his computer home with her. I put pots of tulips in its place. I cleaned off the shelf where he had his cigarettes and telephone, feeling guilty that I was somehow wiping him out of my life. There’s a bag of tacos in the refrigerator that he bought last week. For some reason, I can’t throw them away.

I miss him so much. I miss the man that he used to be.

When Lukas was born, it was a horribly horrendous time (he was 4-6 weeks overdue). The local hospital and doctor botched up so bad that the nurses at NICU in St. Paul, which is where Lukas was taken after he was born, would tick off on their fingers what should have been done and hadn’t been. One of them told me I had to do something about them (that wasn’t the first time they had screwed up, which I didn’t know at the time). Lukas spent a month in intensive care down there. He has epilepsy and cerebral palsy. He’s gone through 7 operations to keep him out of a wheelchair. The only way that I could cope with all of it was by burying memories. I decided I needed to do that once when Lukas was a baby, and I was going over and over in my mind some of the things of when he was in the hospital. I was driving and crying and wanted so bad to go 100 mph and drive my car into a tree. So living just in the moment is a form of self-preservation for me. That’s one of the reasons I blog and keep a diary. So all of these things in my life are somewhere besides a deep hole in my mind.

Last night I decided I need to do some mental digging. All I have of David are recent things, of anger and bitterness. I need to dig and find those happy memories, and I’m going to write them down here. It’s a coping mechanism for me.

Don’t anyone pity me. I know, as much as I know that the sun is coming up tomorrow, that the next thing that David knows will be the resurrection. Right now he is a memory in God’s mind. (Quick history lesson: The common belief of a soul that separates from the body after death is not a Bible teaching [Google nephesh]. That is Greek philosophy that crept into Hebrew doctrine when the Greeks expanded their empire into the middle east. It didn’t become a Christian doctrine until a couple of hundred years after Christ died). After Armageddon, death is done away with. That’s when the resurrection begins, as Paul wrote in Acts 24:15, of the righteous and the unrighteous, and not in heaven, as Christian church doctrine teach, but on earth, as the Bible teaches (2 Peter 3:13, Psalms 37:29, Isaiah 65:17-25 are just a few out of the many scriptures that tell about this). At that point David will wake up in a re-created body, young and healthy and happy, and he won’t have to watch Lukas ever suffer through another seizure or operation, because Lukas will be in the same condition, healthy and whole. He will be able to find things to do that will bring him happiness without destroying his body and mind.

2 days. Today I watched my husband die and made arrangements for cremation. How could life change so much in 2 days?

David is gone. The nurse called at 4 this morning and told me he was getting worse. So this morning I went down to North Memorial and asked to have him taken off of life support. Kelly, his sister and Jim, her husband, and Dusty, one of their boys, Sean and Teresa, his children from his first marriage, and my sister, Elaine, were there. Once they took him off of the ventilator, his heart just beat slower and slower, and then it raced, and then it quit.

This man I’ve known for over 30 years, I’ve loved him with all my heart, and at times I’ve despised him just a little bit. He struggled with alcohol, and he lost his fight with it, as did 2 of his sisters. The doctor thinks he had an infection, and his body was too run down to fight it, and he didn’t go to the doctor or say anything about not feeling good. So by the time he got some medical help, it was too late. His organs were already shutting down.

From the beginning, David was my closest friend, but over the years the alcohol was too much competition, and when he started saying hurtful things to me over the past couple of years, I withdrew to protect myself from the pain. Maybe if I hadn’t done that, he would have been more communicative. As my sister says, though, hindsight is always 20-20. All I know is that he’s gone, and I hurt so much, and I don’t know what to do. I’m full of regret and guilt and grief.

My husband, David, is in the hospital on full life support. Something happened yesterday evening, and we had to call 911 because he couldn’t stand. They took him to Monticello, and had to administer CPR because his heart stopped. They stabilized him and then took him to North Memorial in the cities. His kidneys have shut down and he’s on dialysis. He’s not breathing on his own, so he’s on a ventilator. They don’t know what happened, and why this is happening. All they can do is keep his body alive and hope something ‘optimal’ happens.

I talked to the ICU doctor this morning, and he said that the kidneys could come back on their own, and it could take days or weeks, and even if they do, there’s no way of knowing how badly his brain has been affected.

I have people telling me I need to have him taken off of the machines, that he would not want this. I agree, but I’m having a very difficult time making this decision. I know very well he wouldn’t want to be hooked up to machines to live, and I know very well that he wouldn’t want to be in a condition where he would have to be taken care of by others. I know this is the right thing to do.

But I am having a VERY hard time saying it. There’s the guilt, maybe I should have just made an appointment after he fell down 3 weeks ago instead of just urging him to go to the doctor. The guilt of just wanting to let him go. He’s spent most of his adult life trying to find happiness with a bottle. He’s been miserable the last few years, and he turned into a crabby old man who seemed to blame me for everything bad that’s happened to him. Maybe it’s true. Maybe if I hadn’t been so angry at him for choosing the bottle over us, maybe it would have been better. And the guilt of thinking about the hospital bills, about nursing home bills. The doctor said it could take days and even weeks of being hooked up the dialysis machine before finding out if the kidneys recover. The fear of having him mentally and physically disabled and having to take care of him, on top of Lukas. Lukas is our 23 year old handicapped son, and he lives at home with us. Am I letting all of these feelings push me into making the wrong decision?

And then there’s the finality of that decision. It’s saying goodbye to the person I fell in love with 30 years ago, even if he hasn’t been that person for years. It’s not having him here. It’s saying goodbye to 30 years of life with him, and the hope that he would overcome the alcoholism, and go back to that caring person who could make me laugh.

How do I make that decision? How do I not make that decision?

OK, I have officially given up on redoing my website. Freeway Pro is not a program that is easy for me to learn. So it’s back to generic webpages, but at least they’ll be webpages that work.

Lots of hoarfrost today. If the sun had come out, I would have gone out and taken photos, but without the sun it was just another cold dreary winter day.

So to lighten it up, here’s more stupid pet photos. Tiger making good use of the exercise bike again,
And here’s Squeak and Peaches playing. It really gets funny when Peaches, the cat, starts chasing Squeak, the dog.

Funny story: Peaches is a good size cat now, about 3-4 times as big as Fang, the ferret. The other morning Fang was feeling pretty wild, and Peaches was in the studio sauntering along, so Fang came up between her hind legs. So what does Peaches do (besides switching her tail)? Instead of running and getting out of the studio, she lays down! Well, of course, Fang can’t pass that up, so right away she’s on Peaches getting a grip on the back of Peaches’ neck, which just paralyzes her. So I had to pry Fang off of Peaches so she could make a get-away.

And here’s a photo of the wild turkeys that were in the yard,

OK, as I said, it’s back to the drawing board. I think between Expression Media and Freeway Pro, I might have a work around for my photo albums. Here’s my pen and ink and ACEOs galleries.

An update on the lawsuit for defamation against Ullja, her lawyer filed a motion with the court to be taken off of the case and another firm substituted, and they withdrew the motion to change venue. The deposition is supposed to be sometime next month. That will certainly be interesting.

Framesets and rollovers and target images... I’m pulling my hair out!!!!

I give up. I’m trying to make a photo album for my pen and ink drawings, and my ACEOs. And then I want to make photo albums of family photos. My mother was wonderful at taking photos throughout our lives, so there are literally thousands of photos. iWeb is extremely limited is flexibility, so I thought I’d try Freeway Pro again. For a commercial program it is very, very sparse on directions. Their manual is extremely weak, and after a week of reading and playing with it, I’ve finally figured out how to do rollovers and target images, to realize that this just isn’t going to work. There are too many steps to make a photo album. So I have two alternatives, Expression Media (which was a wonderful program until Microsoft purchased it) and Photoshop, to make photo albums. Expression Media easily makes photo albums, but the thumbnails are horribly bitmapped. Photoshop makes photo albums, but again, it’s extremely limited in ability to personalize the appearance.

Back to the drawing board...

Sigh, accidentally threw away the file I needed for my website when I installed a new system on my computer, so now I’m trying to redo my website. I figured since I had to do it anyway, I’d jump to the next level and try to do a little bit more personalization than iWeb allows.

I’ve been learning about framesets and rollovers and lots of other information that is just bogging down my mind. :(

BRRR!!! January in Minnesota, -21.5°.

Good riddance to 2009. It was a year of pain, emotional and physical. Enough said.

Welcome, 2010. Here’s hoping it ends with more fun than it started. Get up, let the dogs out, beat the kittens away from the front door because they like to chase my birds, start the fire in the wood stove (-2 out there, it’s nippy), break up a fight between Frankie and Baby (cats), hear some yowling coming from my studio, go in there to find Peaches has wormed her way into the ferret cage (door is wired shut with a 2“ opening to keep the cats out of there) and Fang (the ferret) has her helpless by grabbing the nape of her neck. Amazing how a ferret 1/6 the size can disable a cat. So I have to get the door unwired (how the heck did she get it there?!?) and pry Fang off of her. So while I’m there, I might as well clean the cage, then both the litter boxes. Then I finally get to sit down with a cup of coffee. Might as well add a dash of buttershots to it. :)

A good start for the new year, more stupid pet and bead photos. This one is of S.C. (Scaredy Cat) watching my embroidery machine move by itself. She is just fascinated with this machine. Last night I had to chase her away from it because she was trying to bat the needle as it was moving.

Some of my favorite beads:

Here’s wishing a peaceful and loving upcoming year to all.

Yup, it’s winter. It was -6° this morning. Just a little crisp. At least the sun was shining.

The latest on the lawsuit against Ullja for defamation: her lawyer filed a motion to have the deposition quashed, but the court denied it and ordered her to present herself for the deposition. I just read a copy of the discovery questionnaire, and I’m shaking my head (again) in disbelief. How can she deny so many things that can so very easily be proved. One glaring example is denying she sold beads claiming she had made them herself. That was all hashed over last year with Etsy. They were reluctant to do anything, but they were presented with too much proof to ignore it. So that’s all evidence sitting there just waiting to be presented at court. I just don’t understand her reasoning.

On January 11th, the court will hear her motion for change of venue.

Enough of the icky stuff of life, now it’s the fun part of my blog, Stupid Pet Photos!
This is my most favorite pet, Fang the ferret. She is SUCH a character! Here she is diving into a dishpan of snow.

Another togetherness photo, Frankie curled up to Chester:

And while I do hate the snow, I have to admit it makes nice photos,

Just thoughts for the day:

Watching the news about the health care bill being passed. They said the Republicans are saying that it’s unconstitutional to require everyone to have health insurance. Ah, excuse me, but doesn’t our government require us to have car insurance? I know Minnesota requires it. Is that unconstitutional? I don’t hear anyone in Congress complaining about that. And considering that I just used our car insurance to get a jump for our van, and that it’s the first time in years that I’ve put in a claim, I KNOW that we have claims for our health insurance (what little they pay for, ha ha), a lot more than that.

Another thought, driving at night with prism glasses is just as bad as driving at night without them. My left eye is going wonkers, so the eye doctor gave me a pair of prism glasses to help me see to drive, which they do. But after getting stuck down in the cities because the van wouldn’t start and then having to drive home in the dark, I discovered that those little prisms in the glass act just like prisms, they make oncoming headlights show up as flashing rainbows.

And the final thought for now, I CANNOT have my new embroidery machine and the cat litter box on the same end of the room. When the kittens hear the embroidery machine going, they like to come and watch it move by itself, and it seems like all that action stimulates their bowels. You get my drift?

Oh, the final, final thought: I HATE WINTER!!!! 12-18“ of snow today.

Well, I think it’s finally sunk into Wacko that she can’t go around calling 224 people frauds without suffering some kind of consequences. The lawsuit is in progress, with the usual jockeying between the lawyers. Her lawyer requested a change of venue, the AGLF lawyer requested a deposition, her lawyer requested the deposition be ‘quashed,’ and so on. The court denied the motion to quash and ordered her to present herself within 20 days for deposition, and the court will decide on the 11th of Jan. about the change of venue. She hasn’t posted any new names for over a week now.

The AGLF calendar is done and is being mailed out now. It’s things like this that will beat the nastiness of the Wacko. The artisan community came together and supported each other, financially and emotionally. What did all of this gain her? Some momentary pleasure of revenge against what in her mind were injustices? Compared to destroying any online reputation and chance of selling, dragging her and her mother’s names through the mud, wasting huge amounts of time researching people and filing false reports against them, and finally being sued by dozens of people and having to waste more time and money on lawyers and courts. What a colossal waste!

Enough of that!! Time for more stupid (and cute) pet photos.
This is Pickle sleeping in the recliner. I love the way she has her paws crossed.
Another togetherness photo:
And here’s the stupid pet photos. It all started out with Tiger jumping into a box that was on top of another box in the foyer. It fell over, which scared him, so he took off running, which got the little dogs all excited so they had to chase him. Then I heard a crash in the kitchen and the next thing I see is Peaches running into the living room tangled up in the plant stand. Don’t ask me how the heck she did it! After taking photos, Christian held her while I pushed her shoulder blades in and back through the wire leg of the plant stand. As my sister says, live entertainment.

OK, my sister has been nagging me to get busy and post something, she’s bored with opening up my blog and seeing the same old, same old. So here’s more silly pet photos:
This is Pickle. She is fascinated with watching the fire through the vent of the wood stove. (This stove is an heirloom. My mother’s family used it to heat their house when she was a child.)
This is Tiger, showing an excellent use of the exercise bike:
And here is Peaches, just looking silly:

One step forward, two steps back. The AGLF calendar is all finished, and Lukas’ computer died.

Yippee, the AGLF calendar is done (singing ‘Dancing in the Streets)!

http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20Jan.jpg
http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20Feb.jpg
http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20March.jpg
http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20April.jpg
http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20May.jpg
http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20June.jpg
http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20July.jpg
http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20Aug.jpg
http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20Sept.jpg
http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20Oct.jpg
http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20Nov.jpg
http://greyhaven.bizland.com/MiscStuff/Calendar/Calendar%20Dec.jpg

Next step, off to the printers.

The titles of these photos need to be ‘Togetherness.’

Lukas discovered Peaches likes to play with the feather duster:
I was looking for photos to put in the AGLF calendar and this bead just hit me.

You have GOT to be kidding!! There was just a piece on the news about a police drug sniffing dog that escaped from his kennel, got picked up by the dog catcher and was euthanized because he didn’t have tags and he WASN’T microchipped. Then they went on to say that neither the Minneapolis or St. Paul police departments microchip their dogs.

It cost $50-$75 to have a dog microchipped! How stupid and short-sighted can you be? Maybe if they had kept closer oversight on their Metro Gang Strike Force, they would have had money to do it, instead of it going into shady cops’ pockets.

Gads, has it been that long since I updated?

Well, I have an excuse. Been busy laying out a calendar that we’re setting up to sell for fundraising. The Wacko hired a lawyer and has asked for a change of venue and proof of our accusations. LOL, oh, that won’t be difficult at all. She is the one who said, ‘Google is forever.’ Must not have thought about all those cookie and bead sales from Etsy that she had the last couple of years, the ones that show her selling beads that she claimed she was making in Italy (ones she had bought from other lampworkers), and the screenshops of her cookie shop saying she was baking cookies in her bakery in Waco, Texas. Plus the screenshots of the fraud website being registered to her address. Still shaking my head in disbelief.

Oh, well, I’ve got better things to do than shake my head. Like making beads!
My favorite glass, Aurae:
A Galaxy bead with a touch of Aurae:
And be darned if I can remember what was in this one besides Olympic Rain:
OK, off to make some more.

Really trying to get the energy to do something. Started the day with a headache and earache again.

I worked on our genealogy a bit. We can trace back our family on my Mom’s side to my great-great-grandmother, Wilhelmina, who was born in 1825 in Germany. My great-grandfather on my Dad’s side was born in Germany in 1845. Amazing, when you think about these dates.

Got a cute pet photo. This is Squeak with Peaches using her as a nice warm pillow,
Finally got some more beads listed on Etsy and Artfire. I love this one. It’s on a golden amber translucent base, and it just glows.

I might try making some more like this one, with a lighter plunge. The photo doesn’t show it well, but it has metallic copper and brass layers. Really neat and shiny.
As to the latest on the Wacko ordeal, we’re all waiting to see what happens tomorrow. That’s the date she has to respond to the lawsuit by. She’s up to 207 people on her fraud blog. You would think after getting slapped with a lawsuit for defamation by 70+ people, she would quit posting, but not her. She’s posted close to 60 people since getting served. Just shaking my head in disbelief...

Friday, Nov. 13th, 1953
Our dad was killed in a farming accident. How different things would have been if that hadn’t happened. He was only 36.

If anyone is wondering why I haven’t been posting much about the Wacko, it’s because since the 26th of October, she posted 42 more people on her blog, and I just gave up trying to keep up with her. Coincidentally, that was the day she was served in regards to the lawsuit. It’s like she has a complete disregard for the law. She’s totally ignored cease and desist letters. I wonder what’s going to happen.

Got the news today, the Wacko was served on the 26th of October in regards to the lawsuit, so she has until the 16th of November to respond. If she doesn’t respond, we win a default judgement, whatever the judge decides.

I am so tired of coughing until I gag. I am not used to this anymore, not since Lukas got out of school. Then it was an annual winter rite, get sick, cough until you gag, get well, get sick, etc. etc. all winter long. I sure don’t miss those days! But my grandnephew was up weekend before last, and he was standing right over my shoulder, watching me, and sniffling, and sniffling, and sniffling. I should have just handed him the box of kleenix and chased him away.

The kittens found a nice warm spot to sit last night. Good thing the kiln had been turned off for a while.

Another nail in the Wacko’s coffin, whois.com’s domain tools, http://whois.domaintools.com/onlinefraudinvestigation.com, shows the owner of onlinefraudinvestigation.com, the Wacko’s fraud website that was closed yesterday by Yahoo because of her posting people’s private information. Goodness sake, it was registered under Ullja’s address. Can’t get any better proof that she’s the author than that.

ETA: The domain tools has changed it to show Yahoo! Security Lock on that domain name. But plenty of us got screenshots of it showing her as the owner.

Goodness, it’s going to be a bad day for the Wacko. It appears that Yahoo finally listened to all of the complaints and shut down her fraud website, onlinefraudinvestigation.com. One more step to justice.

Well, I see that it’s been announced on LE that the petition has been filed, so now I can say it too. There has been a lawsuit filed against Ullja Kuntze for defamation in calling almost 200 people tax evaders and frauds on her fraud blog and fraud website. It’s been a long 3 months, and it’s not finished yet, but hopefully, it will be soon.

Rainy and dreary and cold. And sick with a cold and trying to get the energy to do something besides surf the web.

I scanned some more photos from my Grandma's box of pictures. Unfortunately, these have no writing on them, other than the photographer's studio name and location in Germany. These would have been photos sent by relatives in Germany to her Mom and Dad, after they immigrated to the U.S. in 1880. So far the earliest letter from Germany that I have found is dated 1892. I really wish people had written on the back of the photos who they were. The only reason that we know who some of them are is because Mom sat down with Grandma and wrote down the names of the people that Grandma knew.
Here’s one of my Galaxy beads, done with Amy’s tutorial. I’m still trying to get the lovely swirls that she gets.
This is one of my favorite type of beads, done with another one of Double Helix’s silver glasses.
OK, off to the torch and try to get some beads made before getting Lukas up.

Well, the Wacko outdid herself. She posted 87 new names on her fraud website. What a ding-a-ling! She must be in trouble with Paypal, though, since she hasn’t bought from anyone for a couple of weeks now. Gosh, that’s just too bad. Saves Paypal the work of issuing all the refunds she demands.

We had a little visit from the Sheriff Sunday night about one of our cows being out. Someone in the housing development by the cul-de-sac pushed down the bottom wire of the barbed wire fence, and wired the top two up. All the cows had to do was walk right under it. And they complain about my cows being out! I suspect they did it so they could get their basketball out of my pasture, since they installed a basketball hoop on the edge of the cul-de-sac, about 10 feet up from my fence. Then yesterday I walked the fence to make sure everything else was OK. Found a swimming pool, an old tent and a couple of blankets, and a couple of trees from their side coming down on my fence. And someone is using the wildlife refuge for a dump! Jeepers, that’s why they have clean-up days, to get rid of old appliances and furniture.

I went to the eye specialist today. She said she doesn’t usually see eyes like mine until people get in their 70s. Isn’t that comforting? Because I’m so nearsighted, my eyes are deteriorating at a faster rate than otherwise. She ordered some prism glasses for me to try, since she doesn’t want to do surgery until absolutely necessary, since it will get worse with time. Who was it who said, ‘Getting old ain’t for sissies?’

10/17/09

What leads people like the Wacko or Tom Petters or Bernie Madoff to believe there’s nothing wrong with defrauding people who work hard to make a living? A sense of entitlement, that other people don’t matter, that others are there to be used? There seems to be a flaw in the character that prevents them from admitting they did anything wrong, no moral sense of right or wrong. It’s just not something that I can understand, so I have quit trying.

Update on the Wacko? She’s getting rather erratic. #100 was posted on her fraud blog, #101 & #102 on her fraud website, and #103 back on the blog, and then today she posted the names of an additional 87 people on the fraud website. What a colossal waste of time!! And a waste of my time too. The sooner the Wacko gets wacked by the legal system, the better for all concerned. Maybe they’ll put her to work in community service where she can do some good.

#100 was Lori of lorigreenberg.etsy.com
#101 was Elizabeth of mostlydetails.etsy.com
#102 was Aimee of polychromebeads.etsy.com
#103 was Sue of angelfireartglass.etsy.com

Since she didn’t post any shop names of the next 87 people, I’m not going to post them at present.

Now let’s get to the important stuff of life! Stupid pet photos! This is my studio cat, Honey. (She is from the feral mama kitty from 3 years ago.) She likes to stay in my studio because Pickle and Baby pick on her. She has found the warmest spot in my studio, the hard drives. She’s laying on one, and curled up to the other. Hmmmm, I wonder what the life expectancy of a cat-cuddled hard drive is.

Here’s two of the feral mama kitty’s kittens from this year. I decided to keep all three, since I was able to get them all fixed rather cheaply, thanks to Animal Ark Shelter. And the feral mama kitty is still alive! I waited a week after she was fixed to release her, and didn’t see her for 2 weeks. I thought that either a coyote got her, or that she was so traumatized by getting fixed she decided to get the heck out of here. But earlier this week, she showed up in the garage, wild as ever. I’ve seen her a couple of times since then. Anyway, this is Tiger and S.C. (Scaredy Cat) curled up next to the wood stove, where it was nice and warm.

They are calming down quite nicely. Tiger and Peaches come into the bathroom with me in the morning and talk to me to wake me up. :)

10/12/09

Snow again. Soft and fluffy accumulating snow. Weathermen are going on and on how unusual this is. Well, it’s Minnesota!

On to the Wacko. It’s quite funny, she has to come to my blog and copy stuff. Two days after I posted the entire list, she started doing it too. She even copied my statement about SortaFloweringDesigns. Yup, a fraud through and through.

So on to her latest targets:
#99 BLISSFULGARDENBEADS, Washington, lampworker
#98 SABRINADESIGN, Washington, lampworker and jewelry designer
#97 DANCINGLIGHTJEWELRY, Texas, lampworker and jewelry designer
#96 COLGANJEWELRYDESIGNS, Washington, lampworker and jewelry designer
#95 MELISSABEADS, Colorado, lampworker

The Wacko posted that she’s reported 789 tax evaders as of 10/9. Too bad she do something constructive with her life.

10/9/09

I really need to start posting again. The Wacko is just speeding down the road to the wreck. She was at a major jewelry show and had a hired cop at her booth. Maybe she shouldn't have picked on so many Texans...

What was funny was when one of the Texans tried serving her a cease and desist letter, her mama picked it up and threw it back at her. I wonder if that constitutes being served? Although the other C&D letters haven't made her cease her blathering on her fraud blog. Anyway, that evening after the show, the Wacko posted her on the blog. Again.

Any niggling doubts on who writes that blog is past.

Updated List:
This is an updated list of the Wacko's targets and IDs posted on her 'fraud' blog:
94 FATDADDYSWEETS - Oklahoma, a baker of the most delicious looking sweets. Oh my gosh, I was drooling just looking at the photos!
93 SORTAFLOWERINGDESIGNS - North Carolina, a husband/wife team who make lampwork beads, soaps and other skin care items
92 ARTINSOMNIABEAD - Florida, a lampworker
91 DESIGNSBYPATI WALTON - Colorado. This woman is one of the BIG names in the lampworking world. She is very creative and is always coming up with something new.
90 SWEETGUMHANDBAGS - North Carolina, a handbag maker
BEADSBYTRACI, she doesn't get a number because she was posted before. The Wacko was just mad at her for daring to talk to her at the show.
89 IFDESIGNS - Oregon, a photographer, lampworker and jewelry maker
88 FARMERDAVESGLASSWORDS - Oregon, a lampworker
87 ELIZABETH ROSE BEADS - Texas, a lampworker
86 PLAYING WITH FIREBEADS - Texas
85 PERAZABEADS - North Carolina
84 BELLEBEADJEWELRY - New York
83 PIERCESDESIGNS - North Carolina
82 JETAGESTUDIO - Arizona
81 IVERS McGRAW - Texas
80 ELZBEADS - Oregon
79 GLASSBYOLIMPIA - Texas
78 SIMPLYLAMPWORK - Oregon
77 PACIFICCOASTLAMPWORK - Oregon
76 KATINN - Nevada
75 PRECIOUSBEADS4YOU - Texas
74 BRILYNN BEADS - Oregon
73 SACREDARTBEADS - Texas
72 RAPUNSELSTOWER - Texas
71 SUNRISEBEADS - Maine
70 THATFRITGIRL - Texas
69 THEFETCHINGHOUND - Connecticut
68 LAURIEGELLER - Washington
67 ELEPHANNIE - Texas
66 SWEETPAPERIE - Texas
65 SARICABEADS - Texas
64 FIRAMARINA - Louisiana
63 ASURGARAFFAIR - Florida
62 name removed by request
61 CATHERINE HOWARD BEADS - North Carolina
60 RIVEROFGLASSSTUDIO - Florida
59 BEADAMANIAC - Florida
58 DIANE7923 - Maryland
57 BLUFFROADARTGLASS - Louisiana
56 AFTERDARKDESIGNS - Uah
55 TANNER STUDIOS - Utah
54 HELENSHARVETS - Louisiana
53 MARYLOCKWOOD - Ohio
52 BEADSBYTLC - Michigan
51 Z-BEADS - Oklahoma
50 THEGLASSTURTLE - North Carolina
49 RIVEROFGLASSSTUDIO - Florida
48 ABEADISBORN - Wisconsin
47 REDSIDEDESIGNS - Oregon
46 HILLSIDEGARDENS - Oregon
45 KOREGON - Oregon
44 ENCHANTEDDREAMSJEWELRY - Minnesota and Tennessee
43 FLAMEKISSEDGLASS - California
42 DARLEENMB - Wyoming
41 NAOSGLAS - Colorado
40 CGBEADS - Texas
39 GLENN MINCEY - Washington
38 SYDNEYSDESIGNS - Texas
37 EVOLVINGBEADS - Nevada
36 SISTERSBEADS - Wisconsin
35 ACELTICGIRL2 - Texas
34 COVERGIRLBEADS - Texas
33 MOJOGLASS - Maine
32 RUFUSANDROXY - Washington
31 MAMAPAINTER - Texas
30 DESIGNSBYKURATO - Maine
29 LUXBEADS - Texas
28 SUEBEADS - Pennsylvania
27 STONEYMARIEDESIGNS - Texas
26 JAVABEAD - Washington
25 AIR & EARTH DESIGN - Washington
24 LAFFINGGULL - Texas
23 ICARUSBEADS - Washington
22 JAMNGLASS - California
21 NORAH62 - Texas
20 LIVELAUGHLOVESOAP - Florida
19 GMDLAMPWORK - New York
18 BEADGOODIES - Pennsylvania
17 SUBEARTHAN COTTAGE - Texas
16 STEPHANIE K NATURALS - Texas
15 TIKIBEADS - Texas
14 JUST PEACHY - Texas
13 MERMAIDGLASS - Florida
12 SLCUNIQUES - Texas
11 AMRGLASSWORKS - Texas
10 TRACIDAWN78 - Texas
9 LAKESIDELAMPWORK - Nebraska
8 LADEDACREATIONS - Oklahoma
7 GINNOVATIONS - Texas
6 LENORASDESIGNS - Texas
5 BETSYBEADS - Minnesota
4 ASHTON JEWELS - North Carolina
3 DOUBLEDIPPEDSWEETS - Utah
2 CCTEXAN3 - Texas
1 GOATMOUNTAINARTS/VANILLABEANBAKERY - Virginia

List of Etsy IDs she's purchased with:
27 fireoffthis
26 laura36
25 ilovesweets
24 sweatshopmxhuh
23 lyn2097
22 gatorlover
21 ilovepaintings
20 iloveboro
19 ilovejewelery
18 Beads Fouru
17 celticbusted
16 iloveleadscentre
15 ilikebakeries
14 ilovepiercings
13 livinlaughinlovinit
12 ilovesoap4me
11 copycatbusted1
10 Texan4u
9 iaminurbackyard2
8 bumpThis
7 hellofromlovelytexas
6 toolate4u
5 fishin4gov
4 concerned
3 Dawnitis
2 lovepoboxes
1 yoohooinurbackyard

OK, that's done.

10/1/09

Whiskers is dead, and my heart is just breaking. We went out to do chores and he was lying on the garage apron, dead.
This has been just a horrid, horrid, horrid year. I keep thinking next year will be better, but it's just not happening.

10/1/09

This is an updated list of the Wacko's targets and IDs posted on her 'fraud' blog:

86 PLAYING WITH FIREBEADS - Texas
85 PERAZABEADS - North Carolina
84 BELLEBEADJEWELRY - New York
83 PIERCESDESIGNS - North Carolina
82 JETAGESTUDIO - Arizona
81 IVERS McGRAW - Texas
80 ELZBEADS - Oregon
79 GLASSBYOLIMPIA - Texas
78 SIMPLYLAMPWORK - Oregon
77 PACIFICCOASTLAMPWORK - Oregon
76 KATINN - Nevada
75 PRECIOUSBEADS4YOU - Texas
74 BRILYNN BEADS - Oregon
73 SACREDARTBEADS - Texas
72 RAPUNSELSTOWER - Texas
71 SUNRISEBEADS - Maine
70 THATFRITGIRL - Texas
69 THEFETCHINGHOUND - Connecticut
68 LAURIEGELLER - Washington
67 ELEPHANNIE - Texas
66 SWEETPAPERIE - Texas
65 SARICABEADS - Texas
64 FIRAMARINA - Louisiana
63 ASURGARAFFAIR - Florida
62 name removed by request
61 CATHERINE HOWARD BEADS - North Carolina
60 RIVEROFGLASSSTUDIO - Florida
59 BEADAMANIAC - Florida
58 DIANE7923 - Maryland
57 BLUFFROADARTGLASS - Louisiana
56 AFTERDARKDESIGNS - Uah
55 TANNER STUDIOS - Utah
54 HELENSHARVETS - Louisiana
53 MARYLOCKWOOD - Ohio
52 BEADSBYTLC - Michigan
51 Z-BEADS - Oklahoma
50 THEGLASSTURTLE - North Carolina
49 RIVEROFGLASSSTUDIO - Florida
48 ABEADISBORN - Wisconsin
47 REDSIDEDESIGNS - Oregon
46 HILLSIDEGARDENS - Oregon
45 KOREGON - Oregon
44 ENCHANTEDDREAMSJEWELRY - Minnesota and Tennessee
43 FLAMEKISSEDGLASS - California
42 DARLEENMB - Wyoming
41 NAOSGLAS - Colorado
40 CGBEADS - Texas
39 GLENN MINCEY - Washington
38 SYDNEYSDESIGNS - Texas
37 EVOLVINGBEADS - Nevada
36 SISTERSBEADS - Wisconsin
35 ACELTICGIRL2 - Texas
34 COVERGIRLBEADS - Texas
33 MOJOGLASS - Maine
32 RUFUSANDROXY - Washington
31 MAMAPAINTER - Texas
30 DESIGNSBYKURATO - Maine
29 LUXBEADS - Texas
28 SUEBEADS - Pennsylvania
27 STONEYMARIEDESIGNS - Texas
26 JAVABEAD - Washington
25 AIR & EARTH DESIGN - Washington
24 LAFFINGGULL - Texas
23 ICARUSBEADS - Washington
22 JAMNGLASS - California
21 NORAH62 - Texas
20 LIVELAUGHLOVESOAP - Florida
19 GMDLAMPWORK - New York
18 BEADGOODIES - Pennsylvania
17 SUBEARTHAN COTTAGE - Texas
16 STEPHANIE K NATURALS - Texas
15 TIKIBEADS - Texas
14 JUST PEACHY - Texas
13 MERMAIDGLASS - Florida
12 SLCUNIQUES - Texas
11 AMRGLASSWORKS - Texas
10 TRACIDAWN78 - Texas
9 LAKESIDELAMPWORK - Nebraska
8 LADEDACREATIONS - Oklahoma
7 GINNOVATIONS - Texas
6 LENORASDESIGNS - Texas
5 BETSYBEADS - Minnesota
4 ASHTON JEWELS - North Carolina
3 DOUBLEDIPPEDSWEETS - Utah
2 CCTEXAN3 - Texas
1 GOATMOUNTAINARTS/VANILLABEANBAKERY - Virginia

List of ids she's purchased with:
27 fireoffthis
26 laura36
25 ilovesweets
24 sweatshopmxhuh
23 lyn2097
22 gatorlover
21 ilovepaintings
20 iloveboro
19 ilovejewelery
18 Beads Fouru
17 celticbusted
16 iloveleadscentre
15 ilikebakeries
14 ilovepiercings
13 livinlaughinlovinit
12 ilovesoap4me
11 copycatbusted1
10 Texan4u
9 iaminurbackyard2
8 bumpThis
7 hellofromlovelytexas
6 toolate4u
5 fishin4gov
4 concerned
3 Dawnitis
2 lovepoboxes
1 yoohooinurbackyard

9/28/09

From the Star Tribune:
“All I’m trying to do is protect the individual’s right to make health care decisions,” said State Representative Tom Emmer, a Republican. “I just don’t want the government getting between my decisions with my doctors.”

I had to call Medica to see if my visit to the eye surgeon next month will be covered, and the message on their phone is that there's not final approval on a procedure until a bill has been submitted. Right there, they're saying that they can decide to pay a bill or not. OK, so in a sense, Mr. Emmer is correct. He wants to be able to have the decision to have a treatment between him and the doctor. Well, it's the same with me. If I want to go to a doctor that's not covered, I can. My health insurance won't pay for it, and may not pay for it even if it's an approved doctor and procedure.

Must be nice to be a politician and have health care that isn't regulated by the insurance company.

9/26/09

Nice fall day today, warm but not too warm, and sunshine in the afternoon. I worked on the driveway a bit with my tractor and enjoyed the weather. This time of the year is so sad, the days are getting so short, and my flowers are mostly past their glory. But I'm not going to think about what's coming. :(

Got some new glass from Double Helix today, but haven't had a chance to play with it. One of them is an experimental color, so Monday morning that's going to be the first one to hit the torch. I've been playing around making some more beads with Amy's Storm technique. The color combinations are just endless, with all of the silver glasses there are now.



Well, I'm going to go either catalog movies, scan old photos & letters, or go play Solitaire on Pogo.

9/25/09

OK, let's get caught up on the Wacko first.

She targeted Lydia again, for about the 6th time! Lydia of Ashton Jewels makes the most lovely beads.

Also targeted were Olimpia of Glass By Olimpia (who also does stained glass)
and Elzbieta of Elzbeads.

What was really hilarious is that one person who the Wacko said on her fraud blog was reported for not paying her business tax actually has a credit with the county for her business tax. She had overpayed it! Now that's some fine investigating!

9/23/09

Just a thought, I puzzled by this comment statement posted in the New York Times talking about the health care reform bill, "The Senate’s No. 2 Republican, Jon Kyl of Arizona, described the bill as “a stunning assault on liberty, mandating that everyone buy a certain type of insurance mandated by Washington.”

I know in Minnesota we're required by law to carry auto insurance. What's the difference?

9/20/09

Not much new on the Wacko's story. She targeted another lampworker from Oregon, which doesn't have a state sales tax, but that didn't stop her from reporting her to the Oregon revenue department for tax evasion. What a wacko!!! How can you evade paying a tax that doesn't exist?!?!

Her target was Nancy of Simply Lampwork. She makes lovely floral beads.

We went back down to the farm yesterday to get some more cleaning done. We started in the old farmhouse, which the raccoons have been tearing up for the last 10 years. It was pretty depressing, and disgusting when I saw the fresh raccoon poop on the box of letters that Grandma had kept. I threw away the ones that couldn't be salvaged and put the rest in a box, which I started going through last night. Most of them were Christmas cards, wedding invitations, etc. (lovely handwriting on some of them), and one was a letter to Grandma expressing condolences on my Dad's death (he was killed in a farming accident when I was a baby). That one I had to call my sister and read it to her. She was 9 when he died. But then I started hitting paydirt. Oh, I was calling my sister every 2 minutes. It's a good thing we're not long distance anymore! There were letters from 2 of grandma's brothers who moved out west in the early 1900s to Limon, Colorado. In one William talks about getting $.75 a bushel for wheat, and $1100 for 29 of the best beef he'd raised.

The real find was in a thick package (just a little background, my great-grandparents on my Dad's side, Christian and Johanette Schmidt, came here from Germany in the 1880s. My grandmother was 2 years old at the time). In the package were letters written to him from relatives still in Germany, all written in German, which of course, I can't read. There's a young man at the Kingdom Hall who can read and write German, so I gave him a couple of letters to see if he could decipher them. If he can't I'm going to call the Historical Society and see if they can recommend something. It would be so neat to know what these letters say. Look at the date on this one, 1892.
Pretty neat!

I purchased a tutorial from a very talented lampworker last night, Amy of AK Designs. She makes lovely beads with a whispy effect, and she wrote a tutorial on how to do them. So Friday night, I made a couple. Unfortunately, my propane ran out while making the second one, so that one's not finished. Here they are:

So I'm off to the torch with a new tank of propane and try to make some more.