The experiments with my new jewelry line are going well. I’d show the first group here, except they had an unfortunate accident during the final step, and consequently, were ruined. We’re calling it a learning experience. A somewhat costly learning experience, but a learning experience nonetheless.

Practice group two is nearly finished. I doubt I’ll have time to post any pictures before I take them to Florida with me for testing, but if things go well, there will be pictures in a couple weeks. And hopefully, I’ll be ready to start production of the real thing by then.

It’s not a great picture, so it may be difficult to see. This is my sister. She is getting married in eight days. She is holding a heavy chain which is attached to her ankle with a lock. On the other end of the chain is a 16 lb. bowling ball.

Tonight, my boys and a friend of theirs were approached by a stranger. The man was a stereotypically creepy guy wearing stereotypically creepy clothes driving a stereotypically creepy car. The three boys were playing in the front yard when this man stopped his car and signaled for the boys to approach him. The boys immediately ran to the house to get me, but by the time I got outside, the car was gone.

I filed a police report, spoke with an officer who was dispatched to our subdivision, and talked to a lot of my neighbors. They all seemed a lot more upset about the whole thing than I was. I had been a little afraid I was overreacting, but then, it seems highly unlikely that a strange man would approach three children with innocent intentions. The “what ifs” didn’t hit me until later. I also wonder if some of the other parents fear that their child would not have reacted the same way my boys did.

My boys are the only children in our area who play outside with a sibling. The other five kids are either an only child or have siblings who are much older or too young to play outside without supervision. All the kids play together, but we have a built-in buddy system that, I feel, makes my children less approachable. Then again, Mr. Creepo approached a group of three tonight.

My kids may not excel at reading or writing, but I’ve always felt pretty confident they would do the right thing if approached by a stranger. I will allow myself a pat on the back for teaching them this one thing well.

An apology goes a long way, but more and more it feels like people use the Apology as permission for messing up in the first place than they do to express regret for an honest mistake. Even my boys have already learned that it’s easier to apologize for doing something wrong, than to ask permission to do wrong. I’ve started telling them that I don’t want their apologies anymore. I want their cooperation and good behavior.

Large corporations are no exception. Large corporations, like say, UPS. See where I’m going with this?

The short story is that a package is being shipped to me from New Mexico with a delivery date of Monday, April 24. It went to California on Saturday, and I’ve spoken to five different customer service reps trying to get an update on its status. THREE reps told me three different stories, none of which were the truth. The first little rep told me the package was in transit back to New Mexico. The second little rep told me the package was on the truck and would arrive on Monday as scheduled. The third little rep told me the package was at the hub and would arrive on Tuesday.

On-line tracking is now listing my package with a delivery date of Friday. The package didn’t even leave California until almost 11p.m. on Monday night. I’m not angry about the package being late. I’m angry about the CS reps lying to me. I understand why they did it though. Rather than telling the truth and dealing with an unhappy customer, they chose to tell me something to shut me up. They knew they wouldn’t have to talk to me the next time I called back.

There is no way for them to resolve it now. I’ll get a refund for shipping after my supplier makes the claim to UPS, but it doesn’t make things better. Yes, an apology goes a long way when it is sincere and given for an honest mistake. But they can’t repair the damage that is created by dishonesty.

Come to think of it, they haven’t even apologized yet.

I finished my sister’s “bachelorette” gift today, and I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. I’ll take some pictures and post them up later this week after I’ve given it to her. I don’t want the little cheater taking a peek just yet.

The project took me much longer than I expected, about five hours total. Unfortunately, that means I didn’t work on any of the five wedding projects I need to finish before I head for Florida next week. I did manage to take my dog’s poo sample to the vet for a fecal test though, so I guess that brings my daily accomplishments up to two.

I’m hoping for an official site re-launch of June 1. There. I’ve said it. Hopefully, that will give me enough time to get the new line ready, as well as give my site guru time to tie up all the loose ends with the site functionality. I’m a little nervous about the launch, especially since the new design hasn’t been fully tested yet and I’m hopeful that it will soon replace my current stuff. Yeah, no pressure there.

It’s all very exciting and nervewracking at the same time. I’m trying not to put all my eggs in one basket, but I want THIS to be the thing for which I’ve been searching, and the focus of my business. Yes, I know. Eggs in a basket. I told Rob my plans for the June 1 launch, and my goals to make this thing successful, at least in my eyes. My top priority is to find My Art. I want it to be something that I not only enjoy doing, but something of which I am very proud to call mine. It’s too early to say whether or not this new thing is it.

It’s probably a bit early to even mention my intentions publicly (if you want to call this little corner of the blogging world public.) Forcing myself to have a date for the re-launch is scary, but necessary, I think. Of course, there’s always the possibility that I’ll end up hating my new technique by mid-week, and I’ll come back here and delete this entry and pretend I never wrote it.

If anyone feels like sending out good creative vibes this week, I’ll have my antenna up.

Girls Night Out was fun. And, unlike the bachelor party, this one did not end with anyone going home and explaining a black eye to their significant other. We spent the evening at one place that had a club, a bar, a restaurant, cosmic bowling, and an arcade all under one roof. After a bit of cosmic bowling and girlish shenanigans, we moved downstairs to the arcade, where I quickly parked myself in front of my favorite game, Derby Owner’s Club. For those familiar with it, I don’t need to explain the appeal. For those not familiar with it, you really have to play it to understand. (Let’s just say, I got four other Dragon’s Gate players hooked on at last year’s D*Con.) After seven hours of eating, drinking, and playing, we called it a night.

Next week is the bridesmaid brunch. This wedding is like the party that never ends. Countdown to the wedding: 13 days. Countdown to the FINAL PARTY: 48 days.

Tonight is Girl’s Night Out, aka Tracy’s Bachelorette Party. Being the sucky sister I am, I completely forgot until this afternoon when my sister called me to ask if I could drive out early to work on wedding stuff. Not only do I not have a gift, but I also may show up late since I forgot to tell Rob he needs to be home in time for me to drive out there. Like I said, I’m a sucky sister.

I’ve also been pigging out like a… pig these past few days. That hasn’t helped me fit comfortably into the pants I wanted to wear tonight, nor will it help much with my bridesmaid dress I’m guessing. The Florida trip is only 10 days away, and it doesn’t look like I get to be skinny for the trip. Oh well.

I’ve been very lazy this week. In my defense, I blame a lot of my lack of productivity this week on the recurring headaches I’ve been experiencing for the past 2-3 weeks. They’re not bad headaches, but the regularity of them is wearing on me.

It’s about time for me to go get pretty for the party and try not to let my headache be a killjoy. TTFN.

During the exploration for My Art, I’ve revisited some of the types of art I enjoyed making in the past. The trip down Memory Lane led me to my first meaningful encounters with found objects and collage. Several years ago, I took a class in three-dimensional art. I previously had little appreciation for non-representation art, but by the end of the class, I had found extreme joy in creating non-representational sculpture in a medium I like to call “collage in the round.” It was in this class that I learned I had a preference for the process over the product, though it wasn’t until much later that I learned to verbalize that preference.

Some years later, in a metals/jewerly making class, I was reacquainted with found object art. Much like the other class, I was initially unenthusiastic about the project. Once I started brainstorming ideas, however, I again found extreme joy in the process of this type of art. But I could never reconcile the happiness I found with the impracticality of the medium. Who wants to wear jewelry made of plastic drinking straws?

Armed with the knowledge that I’ve loved collage for a very long time, I’ve taken another look at my current art and realized that a lot of what I do is influenced by collage and found object art. I don’t think in terms of collage when I create. I think in terms of layers. But really, layering is collage. And it’s collage type projects that always excite and inspire me the most.

I have a new idea for collage that I’ll be working on over the next few weeks. This may or may not be the thing for which I’m searching, but at the very least, it’s worth investigating further.

Sometimes I’m so concerned about offending someone or hurting someone else’s feelings that I end up inconveniencing myself. Though I guess being inconvenienced is a lesser concern than offending someone, right? What I’m talking about is my inability to tell someone how I really feel, particularly those door-to-door people.

Today’s example–Jehovah’s witnesses. They’re always very nice, and not very pushy. They just like sharing their beliefs and leaving those little booklets, and sometimes those little booklets have an interesting article or two inside. But, I’m not comfortable with religion being shared door to door like that. They think it’s their duty to bring religion to me, but I feel it’s my right to seek religion on my own. Is it too late to tell them I’m no longer interested in receiving their visits?

I’ve tried to politely refuse service with other door-to-door salespeople. When a simple “no thank you” doesn’t work, I usually make up excuses. Or rather, lies.

“We don’t have carpeting.”

“I need my husband to help with that decision.”

And my favorite…
shrugging helplessly while holding a telephone to my ear

I don’t like lying, but I don’t like being inconvenienced either. Maybe I should just tell them that. “No, thank you. It’s too much of an inconvenience.” Though my own reaction to that is that I’m pretty darn lazy to complain about the inconvenience of answering the front door. Or maybe I should just get one of those little red signs that reads: No Solicitors. Do you think Jehovah’s witnesses consider themselves solicitors?

Why am I (and many other people) afraid that admitting how I feel is automatically rude or hurtful to someone else? I should be able to tell someone when I dislike their use of pet names. I don’t like being called “cutie” or “sweetie” or “hon” by people that don’t have my permission. Why does that make me the bad guy?

If I’m not interested in your vacuum cleaner demonstration, your frozen foods, your lawn service, your coupon books, or your religious pamphlets, why does that mean I’m unfriendly?

Being a friendly chicken is easier than being an honest bitch.