There are, however, a few things that I have not loved about the past couple of summers. One, I hate mosquitos. Unfortunately, mosquitos love me. Apparently I have very sweet blood, and it seems as though mosquitos can track me from miles and miles away. Strangely enough, they also love my dog, Maggie. They don't seem to bother my other dog, Otto. However, Maggie and I find ourselves covered in bites each year when the weather starts to warm. Not fun.
Two, the past couple of years, the warm weather has carried to my door some rather unfortunate bugs...and by bugs, I don't mean the kind with wings, I mean the infectious, causes-you-to-be-bedridden kind.
Last summer was a bust...officially. It started off well enough. The sun came out, the birds started to sing, I started to do my usual summer shows. And then, out of the blue and without warning, it hit...MONO!! Yes, it is rare for someone my age (thirtyish) to come down with mono. Lucky for me, I tend to grab hold of all rare illnesses and infirmities. Let's just chalk it up to my oh-so-funny immune system and it's quirky sense of humor. It loves those good rare germs that all others seem to pass up. I can picture it now...I'm walking into the grocery store...I'm going for a cart...I pull one from the cart line-up...and lo and behold, some delightful prior customer has coughed, blown their nose, sneezed and grabbed hold of that cart. And just like that, my immune system thinks that mono sounds pretty rare and exciting...you know, something new to share with fellow immune systems in the neighborhood. Yeah, real funny.
I remember when it hit. I was at a show and I thought I might be coming down with the flu or something. I was really groggy and just not feeling so hot. I was so sleepy that Rit took over my booth for me and I fell asleep in the car. TWO HOURS LATER, Rit came to rouse me. It was all downhill from there. I have never been so sick in my entire life. I thought I might die. It took me months to recover. And by the time I started to feel even remotely like myself again, summer was long gone. I had slept through summer. No popsicles. No flipflops. No playing in the late evening sunshine. No gardening. Nothing. No summer. I was devastated. I happen to also love autumn, but it wasn't quite the same. I felt cheated. My internal season clock was off. I missed the sun.
Fast forward to this summer. Obviously, I counted down the days with eager anticipation. I couldn't wait to feel the warm summer sun on my face. That old immune system...what a joker! Summer hadn't even officially begun yet when a particularly tempting pack of germs sauntered by. And there it was. I was in the thick of it when I finally succumbed to peer pressure and dragged myself to the doctor. What I thought was an eternally lingering cold turned out to be a nice, ripe bronchial infection. How delightful. So, I've spent the past couple of weeks moaning, coughing, eating popsicles, sucking on cough drops, and glued to my Advil Cold & Sinus(R) and Chloroseptic(R). I struggled to chug down some Nyquil each night and kept sore throat lozenges in my pillowcase. I know, I know, never a dull moment in my corner of the world. My sister-in-law Emily blames my immune system's lack of integrity on not being of "good Wisconsin stock." Could be, could be. We don't have such vicious cold spells or humidity in Utah. Nevertheless, I am on the mend, and I vow to resume my usual routine this week.
On a different note, the Art vs. Craft show yesterday was AWESOME! For those of you who weren't able to make it, you truly missed out. There were some odd things and some really cool things. The indie craft movement is weird, wild stuff. So much creativity under one roof. Some of the best booths are those run by my favorite indie crafters. Check out their sites: http://www.brightlights-littlecity.com/ and http://www.etchouse.com/EKRA/. There are many more. I'll post their links on my site. Thanks to Kim and Faythe (www.paperboatboutique.com) for organizing such a fabulous show...again! Here are some photos of my booth from the show:
I would just like to point out my recent most favorite thing I've made. She's resting in the watering can in front of the table. That's right, it's a Garden Cheerleader garden stick complete with pom poms. Just stick her in your garden and she'll cheer your plants on to bloom-filled victory. I LOVE HER! I'm happy to say that she went to a good home yesterday. I'll miss her, but alas, the squad must go on.
I love these new rings I've added to my product line. They are super fun to make and to wear!
Tribal faces galore
A very smiley Rit, a great helper yesterday, watching over a myriad of pendants.
Anyway, great show, good time. I hope to see you all at the next Art vs. Craft show in November. I'll keep you posted on the details.
p.s. For those of you who received a bazillion emails from me on Friday, I apologize. Apparently, the newsletter software I was using got the best of me. I just couldn't get it to work quite right. I left the details about the show out of the first email accidently. My later attempts to rectify the situation went seriously awry. Again, sorry! Better luck next time!
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