Heat and Sand.....

that has been the story of my life the past week.
(click on pics to enlarge)

heat
(lots of it)

and

sand

and more heat
(loads of it!!!!)

and

sun and fun

and some water thrown in. :)

and a strange lizard.....

I'm back in town, to check in at work for two days - and then its back 'downeeoshun'.

yay! :)

That's all for now folks!

So by now you've probably heard

It's not exactly ALL over the news, well, I guess it could be, but I don't really have any news 'on' so I wouldn't know.

BUT, I've heard people are talking about it, so yes, maybe you already know. But you haven't heard it from ME yet! :)

We experienced an earthquake today.

A 3.6

Here in MD.

Yes, I know that is small comparatively speaking. But it sure felt substantial!

It was amazing.

Like, 'wow'.

and totally dude (just had to throw that in there my brain was shook clear back to the 80's)

One minute I was sleeping and the next I was wide awake - shook (shooked, shaken?) awake.

Shaken, not stirred. But um, yea.

So anyway, I was awakened by this massive vibration (shut up Christy, Nancy, Lisa) - the house truly was shaking and it was coming from deep -- you could feel that it was deep in the earth, not like the house had been grabbed from above, but it was coming from underneath. Weird. And well,

I hesitate to say it, in light of the horrific tragedies elsewhere from quakes, but it was kind of cool.

Way cool actually since no one was hurt that I know of.

No structural damage anywhere.

Just lots of shaking.

and barking.

Yes, barking.

My dogs totally freaked.

I guess to them it sounded like someone was trying to beat the house down to get in - or something. They were on alert and they were alerting us.

Just letting us know how much this whole quaking concerned them. Aren't they such good little doggies?

I'm still really 'impressed' with the whole thing. If that is the right word.

The power of it.

And that was just a 3.6!! For which I am very thankful. I can only imagine the terror of a quake on a larger scale.

It really has me thinking anew about the tragedy in Haiti, quakes elsewhere, - the tsunami in SEAsia in 2004 -- and just praying for healing, restoration, peace in those regions and for all those who have been affected by such horrible events.

I consider myself very blessed to have never been in serious danger from any sort of 'natural disaster' or weather related event. We experienced a hurricane (Agnes) in the early 70's that was bad and even though I was very young, I definitely remember the flooding. Here are some photos from hurricane Agnes - downtown old Ellicott City - Main Street in MD




















(not sure exactly where this was taken, somewhere in EC)

Probably close to the Patapsco or Patuxent River.















































And we've had ice storms that have caused considerable damage.

I've never felt in fear for my life though.

Ever. (not due to weather or those sorts of things).











What about you - Have you ever experienced an earthquake or other natural disaster?


Janice

It was a freak thing and now I'm in love

thankfully the whole 'no-hotmail-no-forums-no-othercan'trememberwhat' internet experiencde was just a freak thing.

Things are back to normal today.

Well, as normal as normal is around me, or here.

Now the internet is back to normal at work, but they gave us new computers.

Mine came today.

Getting a new computer can be a love thing or a hate thing. So far I'm diggin' this one, but the monitor is FREAKISHLY large. So yea, another freak thing.

This is becoming my new mantra.

Again.

Phases, life is all about phases. ;-)

So yea, BIG computer.

22 freakishly large inches of flat top monitor.

And yes, that is a diagonal measurement of the screen alone.

The length of the screen is just about 21 inches.

I'm tellin' ya. It's huge.

I feel like I need to turn my head to read from one side to the other. It's like being at Wimbeldon.

Not that I've ever been to Wimbeldon.

But I do like tennis. I dig watching it and I enjoy hitting the ball back and forth with my son.

Although we do that in the court out in front of our house - as in street court, not tennis court. We discovered last summer that hitting it over a net on a real court really steps up the game a bit in terms of degree of difficulty.

We're just not into difficult. We enjoy stress-free. That's the way to be. :)

Actually, we will try it again - we do like a challenge. But whackin' that ball back and forth out in the street WILL remain a fun game. We love it.

Speaking of luuuuuuuuuuv. I have a new one.

I knew I was in trouble when................

Ok, not really.

I had no idea I was going to fall head over heels in love when

I began this flirtation a year or so ago.

It began as a little ember. Until last night when it turned into a burning, nooo

make that roaring, nahhhhhh

raging.

Yes. A raging fire.

i do believe that is what I have ignited.

A raging fire.

and now I'm a goner.

What is this new love?

Gold.

18k gold to be exact.

I don't think life will ever be the same again.

I started a while back buying little snippets of gold when I had a bit of 'extra' cash. A little wire here, some solder there......even a tiny piece of sheet.

I now have small bits of round wire, solder, sheet, and half round wire. Most in small gauges. Though I did manage to pick up some 18k half round that looks to be about 6 or 8 gauge.

YIKES!

How did THAT one happen?

Dunno. But last night I decided to dive in.

I am now the proud momma of a little petite 18k gold ring. No frills, no stones, just a few curves, some chassing, and a few balls.

Sweet and Petite

Feels like I've fallen

right off the face of the earth.

In a way.

I am at work, taking a quick break. . . . . reaching out to the world because I feel like I've slipped off the edge.......

today, at work, I am mostly without internet access.

I can't access hotmail, or any forums, or a whole host of sites.

Very very strange.

And maddening!

And nerve wracking.

And lonely.

Oh so lonely.

(well, in a manner of speaking)

I don't know if this is a long term thing or a freak short term thing.

I'm really hoping for a freak thing.

(now when is the last time I uttered THAT phrase I wonder???)

;-)

We've got a winner!

Thanks everyone for entering and for ALL of the comments! You sure know how to make a girl feel good! And its truly been humbling and heartwarming to have so many artists that I respect and admire and strive to be like, give me such great feedback.

I combined the comments from here and from the JAN blog – put the numbers ( 1 – 34) into a random generator, and hit “pick a number” and lo and behold…..

Number 4 which turns out to be Stacie!

Stacie – please contact me using at janiceihg at hotmail dot com and we’ll get started on designing your piece! I’m really looking forward to it!

Winner and Learning

I will be picking (at random) a winner for the custom jewelry here in ohhhhhhhh, about 2 hours maybe (so get your comment in NOW to enter!) . I'm really looking forward to working with someone on a custom piece. Its a little bit scary but a lottabit exciting! I think it will be a learning experience - and those are always good!

Speaking of learning.....

I just created a really fun treasury and I hope you will go check it out. Its all about learning! No matter what your area of expertise, learning something new can really get your creative juices flowing. Not to mention the fact that you are supporting handmade and you'll have fun learning something new!

The treasury ranges from soap making to sewing to painting to ....

well, just go check it out and see!

AND SHOP!

:) http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c2cd84e943d6d916805f2dd/learn-something-new-today