Pretty Pretty Bang Bang

I must admit that I have a new obsession. I’m completely addicted to the series “House.” About a month ago, my friend Shelly was raving about it and telling me I had to watch it. I wasn’t convinced, but added it to my TiVo lineup and figured I’d watch it when I needed some mindless TV. Fast forward to now where you’ll catch Steve and I watching an episode almost every night (Shelly loaned us the Season 1 and Season 2 DVDs). It’s so great! Hugh Laurie, as Dr. House, is caustic, obnoxious, rude and brilliant. I’ve since learned that several people I know are also fans. If you’ve never seen it, catch the reruns this summer when you have a moment inside. I guarantee it’s worth a viewing!

After a week of flip-flopping about going to Arrowmont, a decision has been made. I’m going. Just got off the phone with Cynthia at Arrowmont and have my place reserved and paid for. Now all I have to do is meet all my crazy deadlines and pack. This should be interesting. Stay tuned for updates on the stress-o-meter!

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been trying to decide whether or not to attend class at [Arrowmont](http://www.arrowmont.org/) this summer. I went last spring and loved it. When I found out my beloved professor Sarah would be teaching a two-week workshop with granulation guru Doug Harling, I began planning to attend. However, things have changed over the past 8-10 months. First, it’s really expensive to be there for two weeks (over $2,000); second, it’s right after the [SNAG](http://www.snagmetalsmith.org/) conference in Memphis and I would go directly from SNAG to Arrowmont; third, I have a TON of things that must be done before the end of the month and I’d have to finish them before leaving next week.

So, here are some pros:

* Two weeks of nothing but metal. Time to really work without interruptions.
* A chance to work with Doug again on granulation.
* Time away from home.
* Celebrating my birthday in Gatlinburg with some good friends.
* Two weeks of enameling and granulation will expand my knowledge of the medium and take me further into it.

Here are some cons:

* It’s freakin’ expensive!
* Leaving from SNAG means packing and lugging all my tools and crap to the conference.
* I already know how to enamel and granulate – do I really need this?
* Celebrating my birthday without Steve.
* I have two really important deadlines that must be met before the 30th. Possibility I can’t get them done in time.

Anyone have any brilliant thoughts on this? All opinions are welcome.

Most of you who visit this site on a regular basis are familiar with my very lazy cats. I just couldn’t resist posting this picture of Tidbit today. What a goober!

Dresses are the hottest style this summer and I admit I’m wanting one myself. However, my figure is made for separates as I’ve discovered while shopping for a dress. Except for a tailored shift (which I find a little formal) I have yet to try on a dress that doesn’t make me look like a watermelon. Blame it on my genes, but I have no waist so little nipped-in styles are terrible on me. Shirt dresses make me look like a blob so they’re out too. I’d like to find a vintage shift in some weird, psychedelic pattern but all the ones I’ve found are much too small. I’ll keep trying, but in the meantime I’ve dragged out all my skirts and am enjoying them with my t-shirts. What are you shopping for this summer?

Lately I’ve been obsessed with making pinwheel earrings. Not just any pinwheels, but ones that actually work. I’ve been making copper samples and finally figured out the formula yesterday. So here’s a picture of my pinwheel earrings that I just made. They really spin! They are about 1/2″ in diameter and hang about 1 1/2″. So cute!

Happy birthday, Steve! Hope you have a good one despite the fact you have to drive to Arkansas. Remember, you’re not old, you’re 37.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with numbers. Mainly numbers that pertain to my weight or clothing size. I rejoined Weight Watchers about a month ago since I felt like I was sliding off the program and wanted to get back on track. Since then, my entire mental/emotional state has hinged on what I weigh, what clothing size I wear and how much I’ve gained/lost during a seven day period. Things have gotten so bad that I’m now constantly comparing myself to others and feeling very down on myself. So here’s how the numbers stack up as of today:

22 – The number of points I’m allowed to eat in a day according to Weight Watchers.

18 – The clothing size I wore when I was at my heaviest.

10 – The number of pounds I’d like to lose and the size clothing I’m currently wearing. Unless it’s a dress or white pants, then I automatically go up to a 12 and alter the parts that are too big.

5’8″ – My height.

8 – The clothing size I’d like to wear.

6 – The size I wore at my smallest (which lasted about 5 minutes).

4 – The number of times I eat a day. This includes my afternoon snack.

2.8 – The number of pounds I lost two weeks ago.

1 – The number of pounds I gained last week. Shit.

0 – The size my sister wears.

Infinite – The number of times per day I think about my weight.

I really think this whole mind set is very unhealthy and I’m not sure how to go about changing it. Last week I commented to the woman at WW that I was really discouraged about my inability to lose. I’d been logging my eating faithfully, working out 5x per week and drinking all my water. She said, “Well, these things take time.” Gee, thanks. Then she asked me where I would be without WW. Perhaps less obsessed? I don’t know. It’s a great program and it really does work, but I’m getting really tired of the numbers game. Good thing I’m not an accountant!

Cyberfriend [Staci](http://www.verypink.com/index.htm) has tagged me and challenged me to list seven random things about myself. So I thought I’d play. Here goes…

* I own 16 (yes, sixteen) pairs of [Birkenstocks](http://www.baumhouse.com/) alone. Of course, this is merely a drop in my shoe bucket, but still, a large amount of one brand of shoe. My favorite style is the Gizeh; I own 8 pair of those in various patterns and colors.

* Despite currently being a jewelry artist, I only took one art class in college. It was Drawing 101 and I’m terrible at drawing.

* If I didn’t make jewelry, I think I’d like to learn woodworking or glassblowing. Guess I have a thing for working with dangerous tools!

* I keep my toes properly pedicured even through the winter.

* After wearing nail polish on my fingernails continuously since 6th grade, I quit last fall and haven’t painted them since.

* At last count, I had over 80 bottles of nail polish. All were [OPI](http://www.opi.com/).

* I have a fascination with abandoned buildings. I always want to explore them.

I’m tagging [Anne](http://keckeley.wordpress.com/), [Cindy](http://herethereandback.blogspot.com/), [Steve](http://www.houseofwarwick.com/), [Zarah](http://www.beautyschooldropout.net/), [Greg](http://gregoryholman.blogspot.com/), Suzanne, and [Miriam](http://alexandmiriam.blogspot.com/). Hope they all decide to play!

Despite my whining earlier in the week, things did get better. First, I did my weekly weigh-in at Weight Watchers and finally lost some significant poundage – 2.8 to be exact. I found out that I wasn’t eating enough points during the day so my body was getting cranky and refusing to lose any weight. I recalculated my points allowance and discovered I needed two extra ones a day. That’s quite a bit. So that made me feel better. I also received my final grade for my metals class. Drumroll please…yep, I got an A. Anyone who thinks I receive perfect grades because I’m friends with the professor is really wrong. Being friends with Sarah actually means I need to work harder because she knows what I’m capable of. Truth is, I worked my butt off to get that grade.

So the week ends on a high note. It’s cooler here which means we can turn off the air and open the windows, it’s Friday (which everyone loves) and school’s out. Now it’s time for me to start working on my show pieces for October. Believe it or not, it’ll be here before I know it!