From my cell phone!

Happy mothers day!

John, Mom and me. Happy Mother’s day!

From my cell phone!

Knight Park, Collingswood

And people say New Jersey isn’t pretty.

Since this is public, I may as well comment on it…

Gannett offers voluntary buyouts to select N.J. employees

Gannett’s New Jersey newspapers offer buyouts

They’re offering buyouts to employees 55 and over who have been with the company for 15 or more years. Obviously, I’m not eligible, but it’s scary and sad nonetheless because now I keep thinking, “What happens if they don’t get enough buyouts?”

Eight years ago, I thought working for a newspaper was the most secure job ever.

I LIKE what I do. I LOVE working for the local paper that I delivered as a kid. And I’m happy as HELL that I work on the online side of things because I feel slightly safer.

So anyway…to my eligible coworkers - take the buyouts! Please!

I’m still working the bead thing. I still find it a lot of fun and a nice way to relax. This past weekend I created a cha cha bracelet from a bunch of pink beads that I picked up. It’s an easy monotonous project. Put some beads on a headpin, create a wrapped loop and attach the dangly to a link on a chain. I bought my chain from Michaels - silver plate. This bracelet is for me so I cheaped out on the materials.) Each link gets at least one dangly, as such…

When it’s done, you have a fun jingly bracelet with a lot of movement. Ollie watched me make the whole thing, so I’m naming this one “Ollie’s epic bracelet.”

This weekend before I got sick(er) Mom showed me a pendant and bead set she bought. They’re white with brown matrix. (Matrix is the term for a color swirled through a gemstone. Think of the black lines you see in some turquoise jewelry. Or fudge ripple ice cream. Or the frosting atop a toaster strudel. Forgive me, I’m very hungry.) We stopped in JoAnn fabric and I picked up some brown stone chips to go with. She’s swamped at work, so I did the necklace for her. I put the pendant on a headpin with two bead caps. The clasp is magnetic.

Presenting: “Mom’s Commission”

I had enough beads left over to make earrings, too!

And that’s all. I still need to fix my two “epic fail” bracelets from before. I tried to do a Tree of Life pendant but it ended up looking like a beady steel wool pad. I’d LOVE to do an illusion necklace next.

Mmm…toaster strudel. You know…I think I’ll have a nice cup of fat-free yogurt instead! (rolls eyes, sighs pitifully and slinks away to her miserable, sad, junk-food-free kitchen.)