Pretty Pretty Bang Bang

Things are almost back to normal here at Chez Kirks. Steve went to work today and I got up before 9 a.m. We’re both still coughing, but feeling much, much better. I don’t remember when I’ve ever been this sick and I hope I don’t experience it again for a long, long time!

I did take some time last week to finish my latest project for school. The assignment was to take a mechanism and create a necklace or bracelet. Mine’s based on a bicycle chain. Here’s a view of it from the top:

And here’s a view from the side where you can see the clasp. It was my first box clasp and it works perfectly!

Today I find out my next assignment. I know it will include powder coating which should be fun. Stay tuned for more adventures in metalsmithing!

April Fool’s Day was two days ago, but I still feel like the butt of a cruel joke. I’m finally recovering from my illness, but now Steve has it. Yesterday we had some nice “togetherness” time being sick all day. At one point, we were lying in bed wishing someone would bring us dinner because neither of us had the energy to get up. I’m sure we could have called someone to deliver, but that would have required getting up and finding the phone. Sarah called about a half hour later to tell me she was making chicken soup for us but wasn’t bringing it over until tonight. I finally dragged myself out of bed and made some chicken and brown rice.

I’m officially sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Well, it’s April Fool’s Day and life decided to play a joke on me by giving me a nasty cold/virus. I woke up Sunday feeling that little tickle in the back of my throat so I started pumping myself full of vitamins and liquids. Yesterday, I felt bad and spent most of my time sleeping (well, I did go get my hair cut but that was an emergency). Today, I’m completely grounded. My joints ache, my head hurts, I have a fever and I’m incredibly grouchy. The worst part of this? Tonight is the visitation for Mary’s mom and I can’t be there for her. I called Mary and she understood, but it breaks my heart that I can’t be there to give her a hug and let her know I’m there for her. I know Mary understands, but it’s still a bummer.

Guess I’ll spend my day here with my laptop, my latest edition of People magazine (thanks, honey!) and my orange juice. Hope your day is better than mine.

In my line of work, it’s not unusual to be asked to create something special for someone. Usually it’s for a birthday or anniversary. Wednesday night I got a call from my best friend, Mary, asking me to create probably the most important piece of jewelry to date: earrings for her mother to be buried in. Sis, Mary’s mom, has been very ill for the past three weeks and is expected to die any day now. I was honored that Mary chose me to create the earrings, but sad at the same time. Sis is going to be buried in a lovely red silk kimono top so I chose a cherry blossom design for the earrings. I finished them today and they are beautiful. I made a pair for Mary as a reminder of her mom. I know she’ll love them. It was one of the hardest jobs I’ve done (emotionally, that is) but one I’ll treasure. Thank you Mary for choosing me for something so important.

Our friend Carrie can make a pie like nobody’s business. A couple of weeks ago, Steve and I were craving her apple pie and called her. Like the good sport she is, the next night she invited us over to share a fresh apple pie. I’m pretty much a sucker for any apple-based desserts, but pie is one of my faves. Last night, Carrie (who gave up dessert for Lent and is now back on the dessert wagon) called to say she’d made her first cherry pie and would like to share. We welcomed her to our house with open mouths and a pot of decaf.

It was heavenly! Sweet and tart, flakey and creamy. The best of all pie worlds. Today I need to figure up my Weight Watchers points to see how much my piece cost me, but I can tell you it was worth every point. Thanks for sharing, Carrie!

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Ether.

Ether who?

Ether Bunny.

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Nutter.

Nutter who?

Nutter ether bunny.

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Stella.

Stella who?

Stella nutter ether bunny.

Here’s the fun we’re experiencing in Missouri:

That’s our basement floor as of this morning. The water keeps pouring in and the sump pump is draining about every 45 seconds. My studio is flooded. My entire house smells like a basement. As you can see, the cats are devastated: 

I think I’ll take that nervous breakdown now. Can I get fries with that?

Is there really a good time to have a nervous breakdown or midlife crisis? Just wondering if anyone knew…

Lately, it seems like everything I love is being discontinued. Ok, maybe not everything but certainly my most beloved products. It all started with a little Lipglass by [MAC](http://www.maccosmetics.com/) called Taupe Notch. This lovely frosty beige-nude color was perfect on its own or over my favorite lipsticks. I went through two tubes  before discovering it had been discontinued. The hunt began! Thanks to MAC’s “Gone But Not Forgotten” program I now have three tubes in reserve. Don’t know what I’ll do when I run through them, but I hope they have another color I love equally by then.

Then I went bra shopping. Now, as I am with just about everything in my life, I am very particular about my foundation garments. And, being a, ahem, busty gal, I do like to make sure everything stays up. Bra shopping is a chore because I want the bra to look pretty, be comfortable, not create back fat (I have plenty on my own) and keep the gals supported. I recently found the perfect Wacoal bra at my fave local place, [The Lingerie Boutique](http://www.417mag.com/417-Magazine/October-2006/Under-Where/). They had one in my size. They couldn’t get any more. They were…discontinued. Off I went into the world of eBay where I found two in black, but I was still lacking another one in nude. So I returned to The Lingerie Boutique yesterday to find a substitute. I found one. I love it. It’s also discontinued. Grrr.

Today, I needed some new hair gel so I went to [Beauty First](http://www.beautyfirst.com/) so I could use my $10 off coupon. While browsing (’cause I never know what other goodies I’ll find) I discovered my favorite hair spray in the half off bin. Two cans were left and I was thinking I scored a good deal. Then, while I was checking out, the manager informed me that these were the last cans and I should buy them when I see them because the company was, you guessed it, discontinuing the hair spray.

Maybe this is God’s way of telling me I’m in a rut and need to try new things. Or perhaps it’s just that I tend to fall in love with things that are in short supply. Regardless, I’ll be enjoying my items until I get close to running out and then the hunt will begin for the perfect substitutes.

Anthony and Elizabeth are engaged! For those of you who might not know who I’m talking about, Anthony and Elizabeth are cartoon characters in [For Better or For Worse](http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/), one of my favorite comic strips. My mom and I talk about them like they are real people we know. The great thing about Lynn Johnson’s strip is that the characters age and develop just like real people. Mom and I have been following Anthony and Elizabeth’s relationship since they first started dating in High School. Mom knew they were destined to be together but Elizabeth had other suitors and I wasn’t exactly sure. In the meantime, Anthony got married, had a child and then became a single parent when his wife divorced him. Elizabeth had her share of boyfriends along the way too. My sister says Anthony carries too much baggage for Elizabeth, but I think they make a good couple.

When mom called me this morning and left an excited voice mail about “something in the paper,” I knew I needed to get home and read FBOFW to find out the status of our two lovebirds. It feels like someone in our own family is engaged. Cheers to Anthony and Elizabeth. May the live happily ever after in the funny papers.