Last night my credit card was shut off when I went to pay for a purchase I made at the live auction. I knew I was headed for trouble yesterday. So I called them at midnight and straightened it out. So much for that. The auction was fun. Lots of things went for more than their value, which is good when you're having a fundraiser. I did my part, let's just put it that way.

Today there are more demos and then tonight is the trading party. I'm looking forward to getting home, but also don't want the fun to end. I guess I can look forward to next year.

At the Louisville Slugger Factory & Museum.

The bead bazaar

My credit card is smoking hot right now.

The Gathering begins

The first presenter started at 8:00 this morning. We've been having a really good time. Amy has been finding us some really good restaurants that serve local food. Last night we went to the Mayan Cafe.

I shopped until I dropped yesterday. I bought 22 lbs of glass. I'm glad Amy's parents have a truck so I can ship it home with them.

My corsage

I just finished my class piece. Forgive the crappy picture. It's way cooler in person. This is a pin.

First day of class

I finally arrived on Louisville at 2:00 am. I had about 4 hours of sleep last night.

Today's the first day of class. We are making some very cool components for our pieces. SaraSally's work is so fun and colorful.

This is my first blog post from 26,000 feet in the air. It's pretty cool that the plane has Wifi. We finally took off, 5 hours late. I think I'll be arriving in Louisville around 2:00 am.

Stuck in the Manchester airport

I am stuck in the Manchester airport due to the weather in Baltimore. Luckily my connection is also delayed, but I worry about my luggage arriving in Louisville with me.

Today I leave for Louisville. I'm going to miss Robert, the dogs and my pond. My head cold is now full-blown, but I still feel OK enough to go. I've been looking forward to this week since last year.

On a more serious note, little Jake, who had been doing very well, suddenly took a turn for the worse and had to have another emergency surgery yesterday. Any thoughts and prayers his way are appreciated I'm sure.

I'm totally back to normal today. No stuffiness, no scratchy throat. Yay!

The heat is going to suck the life out of me, though. It's unreal. I feel bad for the dogs, especially Java, because it's hard for her to get cool with her short nose anyway and combine it with these temperatures and the humidity and we are left with only really quick trips outside to do our business and then right back in. Bobby loves the heat - he lies right down on the grass in the sun. I have to pretend it's nummy-num time to get him to come in. He's crazy.

I think I have a really mild head cold. So mild that I don't really feel bad, just off. I still have the funny throat - I'd call it scratchy now - and I woke up stuffed. Hopefully I get back to normal soon.

I think I might be getting sick. Sunday I had a killer headache and today my throat feels funny. This is not good, because I'm going away next week to Louisville for my bead convention. I will be very upset if I'm sick for this trip. The good news is that my throat doesn't feel sore, just weird. Maybe it's just ickyness from living in the a/c 24/7 lately. Ugh.

When I win the lottery I'm going to set up a foundation to help people who need life-saving treatments and surgeries for their pets. It has to be the worst feeling in the world, knowing that there is something that will save your sick pet but you cannot afford it. I am very lucky that I've been able to give Java all the surgeries she needed to make her well and take away her pain and I know it. I wish everyone were as fortunate. While rescues and shelters also need help with funds, there are charities that help them. As far as I know there are no charitable resources for private pet care. Anyway I know this is a pipe dream, because I hardly ever play the lottery.

I'm not trying to get my readers to chip in for Jake, but it's rather an example of what I'm saying. This little dog was adopted by my friends after his aged owner couldn't care for him any more. He has been a wonderful addition to their lives. He somehow ate part of a tennis ball and it became stuck in his gut. They brought him to the emergency vet on Sunday but no surgeon was available. While undergoing surgery yesterday, his intestines ruptured in two places, necessitating an additional surgery at another facility with a more skilled surgeon. So now his surgery is going to cost mega-bucks and they just don't have it. To rub salt in the wound, the second hospital wanted 75% of the cost up front. Here's more information: Jake Info. I hope he makes it. The next 48 hours are crucial and we're pulling for him.

I am going to torture Robert and make him eat with the bugs outside on our new patio table. It'll be a nice place to have coffee in the morning or to spend an evening if the bugs aren't too bad. I'd like to use it tonight but it's so hot I think we'd melt.

We have lived here for 10 years and when we moved in there was this spiky plant in the front yard. Over the years it has gotten bigger but has never bloomed. I've since learned that this is a yucca plant, and this year it's blooming. It grew this tall spiky thing and it is just now starting to open.

The flowers are large bell-shaped white blooms. Kind of pretty when you look closer.

I have noticed other peoples' yuccas blooming lately. Are they all on some 10-year cycle or did I just have to wait until my plant got big enough or old enough? It's a cool plant.

The pink lily has opened every day for the last four days, so my theory that it would only last one day was wrong. The beautiful thing is that it is getting deeper in color every day. It's so pretty.

The yellow one opened yesterday for the first time, even though it emerged on the same day as the pink one, but this is the second flower for this particular plant.

Happy Independence Day!

The pink water lily bloomed today. This morning it was just a green pod-like thing sticking up out of the water. We came home from the gym and it looked like this:

In just a few minutes - under an hour anyway - it was fully open and showing its gorgeousness. I hope it opens again tomorrow but I have a feeling it might be a one day thing.