My business is on haitus. My shops are still open as I always think I'll get back to it. Today is my day off from 'working' and I don't want to do anything.

It seems like Ullja, who was banned from etsy and the self representing jewelry artists for scamming is trying to come back. She has also gotten in trouble for an unliscened bakery. An email:

Ulljas has sent you a message on We Love Etsy

long time no see...i was in Italy for the past 3 years getting lessons in advanced glass sculpturing...i am back in Texas and will reopen my licensed brick and mortar bakery in Waco....soon, online cookie sales will be back too...come check out my new website and make sure to sign my mailing list there to get updates on all
www.ulljasglassnsugar.com

Have a blessed weekend,
Ullja

I would avoid her, as she has gotten in trouble in the past. The cookies were good, but her heart is bad.

I bet this project must have kept the neighbor's kids occupied for at least 30 minutes. Happy 4th!

Quote journals are amazing. Some people draw pictures on the pages and decoupage the covers with vintage ads, but I just have some index cards held together with rings. Some may say, why not buy a quote book? It's more expensive and you get boring quotes like "Too blessed to be depressed" or something instead of awesome quotes like "Never again the foamy times" or "There's no time limit on dancing like Michael Jackson".

You can also make little kids do this as an art project. Just have them fold lined paper and give them some markers and crayons and have them go. I bet it would keep them busy for at least half an hour. Quote journals are for everyone from teens that are writing their first in joke journal to senior citizens collecting dirty jokes to share with their friends.

I find that if I start with a quote I remember and change it a little- I call this remixing- I will end up with a quote that is very personally meaningful for me. So try it.

On Sunday, I saw Wicked at the Orpheum. According to my parents, who are so old that they had to go into the side door and sit in the balacony of the Orpheum when it was a movie theater[note: they are black], the Orpheum looks now as it did back then. With a chandelier, wallpaper so opulent I thought it was carpet and a huge seating area with a balcony, a mezzanine, and tons of seats on the bottom, it's an amazing sight. Uniformed ushers guide you to your seat.

The play was very nicely staged. There was a large moving dragon on the top of the stage, athletic dancing monkeys, and costuming that both brought the Wizard of Oz to mind and was original as well.

The story was quite different from the book, but it was understandable. The world of Oz in the book is gigantic, with many different religions, peoples, and beliefs. Having everything connect back to Elphaba and Glinda wouldn't make sense becuse the world is so big. However, the musical has a smaller scale. There's a love triangle, the scarecrow,lion and tin man now all have something to do with Elphaba's[and sometimes Glinda's] actions, and even the Wizard is tied in at the end. There was a popular girl/nerdy girl high school dynamic added as well.

The music was amazing, as well. All in all, worth the ticket price.

The song that I have in my head for this time of year is "It's too hot, too hot, too hot for me. Gotta run for shelter, gotta run for shade". 6 people have died from the heat lately in Memphis. Two weeks ago, I saw a utility man laying prone in a neighbor's yard. I slowed down and asked the workers if they were OK. One man said yes, his partner was just over heated. I think it was only 92 degrees that day.

Today we came to the end of our pear preserves. My mother washed out the jar, and said she was going to return it, because she doesn't want her friend's mother to go to the expense of buying another jar, and also, because we might get some new pear preserves.

I really respect people who are keeping the remnants of the old barter agricultural economy going. I hope it doesn't fade in our generation, even though I have no useful domestic skills, and work days are getting longer, leaving less time for canning, gardening, and chicken raising

Today is Father's Day. My mom offered to fix my dad's plate. She usually doesn't fix my dad's plate. She used to, as dad's mother used to call the 'girls' to fix the men's plates at family gatherings, but she stopped after my brother started wanting her to fix his plate. So today she asked if he wanted her to fix his plate, since she had made breakfast. He fixed his own plate. GO DAD!