The big 35

Today was my birthday. I am now 35... Woo-hoo! Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to me...

For some reason this one just doesn't hit me like 33 did. I don't know... The year that Jesus died... My first baby... Being so sick... My baby being sick... Moving to Fairbanks again... dark, cold, nasty winter... my Dad dying... 33 was a hard year.

Today, Beth & I got to do the first Christmas bazaar of the season here. We've been doing one or two bazaars every year for the last three years. We both work with beads, and have sold some stuff. Beth in particular does well at the bazaars. She makes these incredible pins- butterflies, bees, dragonflies, spiders. They're beautiful and unique. I think I've finally found something unique that I really enjoy- wirework and beads... It seemed like I had pretty much the same stuff as the other beaders in town who were trying to sell, so you just had to find something that was your color or that matched an outfit or tickled your fancy. Now I have something unique that actually sold well today... And nobody else had anything like it. (Grr! One of the beaders from last year had copied Beth's dragonflies! We were enraged! I guess imitation is the highest form of flattery, but really, come on, she should have taken the IDEA and created something else with it, not just straight copied what Beth does... ) We're hoping to do at least one more of the local bazaars this year. We'll see. We'd really like to have a website that sells our beadwork, but since neither one of us does html, and neither one of us is interested in learning html.... The start up cost of paying somebody is SO expensive. Maybe one day...

Jake gave me a digitial camera for my birthday! He'd been saving for a while, plus used his employee discount on a double discount day at Fred Meyer's... This means I'll finally be able to post some pictures of my beautiful babies, and my Jake! And my paintings, and beadwork, and the snow... Ha, ha! a new toy to make art with! So, I'm gonna play around a bit tomorrow. Expect to see pictures here soon! (Gracious... What a great deal of exclamation points are in this last paragraph... I admit I had chocolate after dinner... a big no-no for an insomniac. Plus, I'm a little wired from a good day... And possibly strung out on lack of sleep and too much caffeine.)

Plus, I have a digital camera!!! I've wanted one since... well, for a long time. I love my 35 mm. I love taking pictures with it.. (Side note: Did you know some companies are going to phase out making 35 mm film in 2007!! Jake read that in a magazine..) Anyway, I admit you can do more with pictures you've got on your computer. I got spoiled working for the church in Seattle. They had their own camera and I used it to create the church newsletter, which I LOVED writing and editing. Obviously, I write too much. In fact, I'm writing too much now! Okay, I'm going to bed now. I'm going to get up from the computer and go lay down. Good night! Happy Birthday to me... Happy Birthday to me.