"Take three breaths."


That's the advice I received today from my friend T.C. after he read my blog. Yes, he's right. I need to chill. My first step in this direction was to talk to a friend who is very centered and who advised me to do some throat chakra exercises. That has helped some. Then a few minutes ago I schedule an appointment at the massage therapy school for tonight. So the baby and I will go in for a one-hour massage then go home and watch our favorite TV show "Lost"--breaking only to check on the last few minutes of "American Idol" to see who's been voted off the island. Luckily, the vote-off show is not one you need to watch all the way through. It's actually quite on the cruel side. As to who I think should win, any of the three deserve it. I like them all. I'm partial to Elliot and Taylor, though. But Katharine is very good. The cool thing is that not one of them is really pop idol material. Pop is not any one of their strong suits. Taylor is soul, Elliott is R&B, and Katharine is an old-fashioned torch singer. They are not Britney/Justin wannabes, and that is cool by me.

Baby update:
Today we are officially 19 weeks along. I have still only felt the baby move once, and that was a few weeks ago. I figure the baby will move when the baby's ready for me to feel it. The nursery is painted and looks wonderful. Bill and I also picked out butter yellow curtains and have those hanging up. The cats think the room is being redone for them, especially Nola. While we were painting (Mom, Dad, my aunt Connie and cousin Sheri--THANK YOU!), Nola stayed in the room almost the whole time. She also got paint on her paw and ran around like a maniac. A little bit later I found the place under the window (where she had been lounging) where the paw print was. She is such a mega dork. India, our middle cat, also thinks the room is for her. She likes to lounge on the floor like queen of the world. Shakespeare, our oldest and my long-time girl, owns the entire house, so it's no big deal to her.

Bill and I have also decided on baby names for a girl and a boy. That is a major relief for me. Takes some stress off. Because what if the ultrasound on June 8 showed us the baby is a boy? And all we had was our girl name picked out! And even if the boy name changes later on, at least I'll know what to call the baby for the time being. It is a relief.

I'm back in the jewelry business. I took the weekend off due to nursery stuff. Tracey and I also didn't go to the Farmer's Market because of the rain and how cold it was on Saturday. I'm going myself this weekend, as Trace and John are heading to Phoenix on Thursday. It's supposed to be nice and 70s Saturday, so it will be lovely. Let me see if I can get the link to work this time to Tracey's website. I had it wrong in a previous post.

AndTheBeadGoesOnJewelry.com

Now you far away friends can see what I'm working on all the time! I make the silver plated stretch bracelets in adult, teen and youth (or as I call them "cutie") sizes. They are the best bracelets! And they're only $5! The cuties are only $3. If you go to Tracey's site, you can click on the pics and see bigger, more clear photos. The one I have on here is pretty dark.

So this is my part-time job. I love it! I enjoy it and make a pretty good little cut. Plus I get to work with a good friend and make pretty things. It's low stress, too. Very important. And I can sit on my couch and make them in my pajamas if I want to! Of course, keeping Shakespeare out of the beads and stuff is a little difficult sometimes. She does love pretty things.

Epitaphs Magazine update:
I am ordering a limited printing of issues #1 and #2 this week. Copies will be sold at the Association for Gravestone Studies annual conference next month in Pennsylvania. I will have a small number on hand as well. For issue #1, this will take care of the long-time back orders we've had and leave me with a small handful of extras. But when they sell out, they sell out. I'm not printing anymore. This will be the case with issue #2 as well.

Issue #3 will be out in late June. I'm editing it right now. The articles are great, and we got a number of really good photos sent in. Thanks to everyone who took part!

Well, my co-worker is ready to go (he's a late-stayer) and I left my office keys at home. So I'm out of here. Off to my massage!

Minda

TheCemeteryClub.com