hope and happenstance

  So, today I...

woke up at 6, hit the gym at 6:30-ish, came home and cleansed myself, ate breakfast and chugged a cup of coffee, met my banker (for the first time, I have a banker!), ran home, threw my jewelry in my car, made a mad dash for the city to meet with a potential client, got my jewelry in said clients shoppe, treated myself to a celebratory diet coke and veggie sandwich at my new favorite spot in the city, relaxed for a moment in the car in the parking lot of my "desk job," put in my 5 hours there, started my new jewelry class, and finally at 10 p.m. came home to a nice dinner prepared by my beau and a glass of wine... now I am blogging about it because I know someone out there cares!

  I needed today, I needed today like soup needs a spoon. Christmas sales/events were so busy that I didn't get to enjoy any of it... well I enjoyed it but now when I look back it is all a big blur... even my own Christmas celebrations with my family are blurry. After Christmas sales I took a two week break from Bella Vita. Which was more like torture because all I could think about was all the "stuff" I wasn't getting done because I was on "vacation." What have I become? I guess this is what happens when you come from a family of entrepreneurs and when you have been blessed with hands that are meant to create. I think I was put here on this earth to create beautiful pieces of art that decorate the human body and today that was proven to me.

  First, I met with my banker and he made crunching numbers fun and exciting and left me wanting another lesson in basic finance. Then I met with a shoppe owner that was interested in setting up a wholesale account with Bella Vita and we did just that. It was so amazing to me to go to a meeting with two organized women that do what they say they are going to do. I don't think store owners realize the power they have over artists. I have had two disheartening experiences at local shoppes lately and it just left me wondering "why?" My Mom tells me I need to get over it and not take things so personally... if I could only remember that every time I get turned down... or every time a server screws up my order (a whole different story, I'd love to tell you about it sometime)... I'd probably be rich or something like that.

  Then, later this evening, I started my Metalsmithing class and remembered how much I love what I do and can't wait to learn new skills.

I was a little worried about how I'd be holding up at class tonight. I am an early bird and am usually in bed by 10 p.m. I preferred the day class but realized I needed a refresher before I jumped in with all the "old school" jewelry makers at this Arts Center. I show up for class to find out my teacher has taken a job in Chicago and will be moving soon... long story short, I get the best of two instructors and instructor 1 that got a new job decided to toast the class with a glass of red wine! How perfect is that? How perfect is that for me? Jewelry and red wine, I'm set. 

  So, I found myself sitting around a work table with 9 other women sipping a glass of wine sawing sheets of metal.

I know these events probably don't make a lot of sense to you, but to me they are stepping stones to my happiness in this new place where I live.  I am not that far from home but I am that far from my circle of "people" in my familiar land. First and foremost I miss my family, my Mom and Dad and my sweet little Grandmother that collects all of those groovy antique buttons. Then I miss my friends, my girls nights with JeanAnne and Bekah, and my morning walks with Maureen and Arlo, and my dinner parties with the Little Rock Girls! Then I miss my bead/jewelry family that I am so familiar with in Little Rock. Especially the bead store that restored my passion for jewelry design and the driving force behind that business, Mrs. Ellie Roy.

  Today gave me hope that I will establish some familiar routines in this foreign land called Oklahoma... but will hopefully be back home in Arkansas in a few short years. Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoyed. If you can relate or have advice, by all means share it!