Whirlwind Week and a Winner x 2!

“Life is a whirlwind of many opportunities.
Choose to embrace all of them in deepest gratitude.
Learn to forgive yourself and honour the heart that beats within you, as well as the head that rests on your shoulders.
Learn how to believe in people again and not be judging or cynical to various beliefs.
We are all of one light on this one Earth, and loving humanity makes all the difference.”
~Michelle Cruz-Rosado

Last week was a demanding one. Some personal issues, some family commitments, some business dealings. And of course it was busy as ever! Baseball games, softball uniform distribution, art gallery board meeting, end of the year concert...the typical schedule of the busy American family!

Victory Medals

I spent the morning at my daughter's school on Thursday teaching a beginning class in metal stamping. We made a variation of my Victory Medal necklaces, but in round circles, in gold, silver and copper. I wanted the girls to choose 2 words that described them, something they aspired to, or an uplifting phrase, and the smallest circle (in gold) could be their initial or a motif like a heart or star. They did a great job in less than ideal conditions (a basement room with 7 to one table, no lighting, and a rowdy bunch of boys playing a flight simulator video game in the attached computer lab!). The theory behind my Victory Medal necklaces is that you become the words that you associate with yourself. We have a tendency to degrade ourselves, to say that we are fat, or not as creative, or not smart. What happens is that those negative words get attached to us, and others will unconsciously mirror those words back to us. My feeling is that we need to wear our positive power mantras to live them and believe them, and then those words will be mirrored back to us. Of course, I was so busy teaching that I didn't have the time to take any pictures, but it was a good day.

I also got to test drive my first car on Thursday! Can I get a woot?! Bessie, my 1999 Chevy Venture van, is leaving pieces of herself all over Portage County. So the hunt that began online in January is finally at the stage where I am narrowing it down. It really was the first time I had ever test driven a car before. When we got the van, we knew it had to be Chevy (due to a special deal through my husband's workplace) and we needed a van, so it was just narrowing down which model to get. This time I am starting from scratch. I know a general idea of what I want (larger SUV), now I just need to drive a few models to make the choice! Of course, I didn't get a chance to drive it, but I sat in the creme de la creme. It literally looked and felt like sinking into my favorite sea salt caramel truffle! Yum! Now to find out if I can find one that is in my price range ;-) and of course test drive it and a few more of its competitors, just to be sure. It comes down to needing a good amount of cargo space, a smooth ride and a spacious interior, low miles and the best mpg possible. I am on the hunt! And I have been saving every penny from my jewelry business to devote to the purchase of this new vehicle, so I really get the final say!

That is Ruby Redneck ready to ref!

On Saturday night I was the guest vocalist to sing the National Anthem to kick off the Mid-State Sisters of Skate roller derby opening bout. I knew nothing of roller derby before Saturday, and although I am not sure that I know everything, I will say that it was fun and quite entertaining, if not a little nerve-wracking to watch! I finally figured out the trick to singing the National Anthem...to start ensure you can hit that high note at the end, start the song on the same exact note as "O'er the Land of the Free." It worked! I guess I did a good job as I will be back in September for a repeat performance.

Sunday took Tiny Dancer and I down to Milwaukee for the world premiere weekend of the Milwaukee Ballet's performance of Michael Pink's Mirror Mirror. This original ballet inspired by the story of Snow White was conceived by director Michael Pink, with an original score by Phillip Sweeney, and costumes patterned after Alexander McQueen's couture fashions.

Absolutely fantastic! Tiny Dancer even got one of the signed practice pointe shoes worn by the artist (Susan Gartell) who played the evil stepmother. It was a dark and thrilling ride, that was at times quite seductive and sexy (see the tattoo-inspired catsuit above). The dancers had such grace and power looking effortless with each movement, lift, twirl and leap. It was truly remarkable and I am so glad that we got to see it with her dance studio!

I mentioned in my Bead Soup post that I would select a winner of a specially chosen bead soup from me to keep the bead love going. I also mentioned that I would post that winner on my blog on Friday, May 16th. Oops! Sorry about that! My excuse is it was a jam-packed week that left me breathless with little time for anything else! (And of course, the rest of this month looks to be the same!)

I had over 100 comments so I decided that I should give away TWO complete bead soups! And the winners are:

Kumi Fisher Designs

&

Blue Finch

Please send me your addresses and I will package up something special just for you!

And if I haven't made it to your Soup yet, never fear... it will take me some time as I can only get to about 10 per day if that. But I will get there!