Sparky's Home!

It's my birthday today. Yep, not the easiest thing to admit, but I'm really old.

And I really had only one wish for my birthday gift. I wanted my family to be all together for it. But that's a big wish, because my daughter, Sparky, seems to be traveling most of the year.

From working in Antarctica, to visiting New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, Japan and then biking in Hawaii, she was gone about 9 months and just returned. The last time I had seen her was about last June.

Quite honestly, that's kind of hard on a Mom. So I am absolutely delighted that she's home. . Woohoo! The family is complete. Now all I want is a little cake (coconut, if I'm lucky) and ice cream and all is complete.

See you tomorrow...because the rest of today I'm celebrating!

Happy Birthday Grant

I think my daily readers know I tend to keep family and too much personal stuff away from my blog. But today is one of those exceptions to the rule.

What you see here is an old photo of a photo with too many shadows, but somehow, I couldn't let today go by without a shout out to my son, Grant.

It's his birthday. Well, to be exact, his 25th, which is a pretty auspicious year, if you ask me. I'd do the "Mom thing" about telling you how wonderful he is, but this posts on facebook and I don't want to embarrass him even more. But I can assure you, without him, I would have never tried skydiving.

So how about joining me in wishing him a Happy Birthday. And I promise, tomorrow will be back to glass, art and creativity talk- business and fun as usual.

Birthday Contemplation

It's my birthday.
So this is what it looks like to be 54.

About 360 days of the year, I'm a smiling, happy-go-lucky type of gal. But there are always a few days out of the year in which I need to be serious. Honestly, it generally doesn't last too long. But I need to stop and think about life a bit.

My birthday is one of those days.

Usually, I do my daily serious problem solving in the shower or just as I'm going to sleep. I'm a true Gemini, so thoughts roam freely and often I can't remember what I was thinking about an hour later, unless I write it down. I've tried meditating, but can't seem to master it. I don't sit still well, and my mind seems to keep moving, even when I tell it to quiet down.

But today, I take more time and contemplate life...mine, my family's and friends'. And generally I come up with a similar result. I get sad, missing family and friends who are gone and I'm happy and thankful for my wonderful family, friends and of course my art, which is a large part of who I am.

Whew! Glad that serious side is over for now. It's time to celebrate. I'm really hoping that today brings a coconut birthday cake and maybe a few phone calls. And if I'm lucky, a present or two will appear. My sweet husband hinted that he and my son might have something up their sleeves. I've got my fingers crossed.

If you'd like to help me celebrate, I'm asking my friends to consider donating to the Beads of Courage program, it's a not for profit group which is dear to my heart supporting children with life threatening illness in hospitals around the U.S. Glass beadmakers make lampwork beads for the kids who receive them for specific parts of their treatment. This very long string of beads visually tells the children's story of their journey.