Dear, Dear, Emmett 💗

So yeah, IV iron infusions. No weird blood disease or anything serious like that, my body just decided to stop absorbing iron. Not serious but does need to be treated. 

Came home with a headache which I am starting to think is related to my aversion to drinking water. Tea in the morning, 2 big 14oz mugs, which is a total diuretic. Then maybe diet Pepsi .. but not enough to hydrate my body. I've never developed those good habits.

Waking up with a headache most days is most likely equal parts anemia, and dehydration due to my desire to only consume things that taste good. Water does not taste good. Doesn't taste bad either, it doesn't .. taste .. at all. But .. I am trying to do better.

Like I said, came home with a headache so laid down for a little while, and Emmett decided he would help make it all better. He's such a love but oh, so, awkward.

And if you think it's cute that he's making biscuits on my head - he's using his nails. Just sayin'.

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He is cute though. 💗

And about that name ....

My name is BetteJo. Think Petticoat Junction. It's not Bet - like Bette Midler pronounces her name, it is not Betty, and it is not Jo. It is BetteJo. Whether I like the name or not is a different story, but it is mine, either way.

Apparently that is very difficult for some people, and I know I have written about this before. How for 25 years I called myself BJ at work in an effort to stop people from making my name something it wasn't. Isn't. Some people call me Beej. That's fine as it combines both components of my first name. 

These days if I call myself BJ, people are way more apt to imply I call myself that after some special talent I have which is - I mean - who would do that?? Probably not a woman of let's say - a certain age. 

So BetteJo it is. 

Or not.

For the last 10 years or so apparently I have become Hispanic. Or Latino. Latina? Or Latinx. Whatever way you want to say it, people have completely changed the ethnicity of my name because of the changing population in the U.S. And it makes me laugh. Every. Single. Time.   

At a doctors office someone will poke their head out the door and look around the waiting room, completely skipping over this totally white bread woman with gray eyes and tentatively say ...           

"Buh-tay-ho?"

                                                                                                              

Yes, really.

I see how they get there, I do put the Bette and the Jo together, and if what they are looking at is all one case without a capital J in there - the J turns into an H (in their minds) and I turn a different ethnicity. 

So if you must screw up my name, and some people just can't seem to help it, please make me Hispanic. It's the only version of my name being messed up that makes me laugh. Always!!

What IS the average life cycle of a BetteJo, anyway?

NOT ME

A million years ago when the Internet was young, I put a Google alert on my name. My first name, only, then promptly forgot about it. At this point it's not clear to me how to remove it but I really don't care one way or another I guess. 

Surprise! Any alerts I have ever gotten have never been about me. That's an awkward sentence. But my inner grammar nazi is lazy as hell so it stands.

Lately though, I've gotten several email alerts letting me know that this BetteJo or that BetteJo has died. Hmmm. Who knew there were so many BetteJos? One thing is certain, most of them are quite old. Or should I say, were?

Of course they are (were)!! My name came from an old girlfriend of my fathers,(not an interesting story at all) and he was born in 1926. So not a name from this century for sure.

I'm not near death as far as I know, not seriously ill or even experiencing headaches. But is it possible that the average life cycle of the average BetteJo is coming to an end?

Do I need to be worried?

Quick post

Just a quick post tonight - wanted to post pics of 2 things I made last night. The first is a bracelet made with green aventurine and smoky quartz. Yay! Makes me happy!! Worked on connecting beads together by making loops - this bracelet was not "strung" so to speak. :)

Next is a necklace, made with pink quartz, blue glass, and smokey quartz. Made the same way as the bracelet - just different beads. Again - makes me happy!

Not ready to list these - haven't taken real photos yet or anything, but hey - this is a start towards the direction I'd like to go. Need a whole lot of practice which I plan to get. I want to feel that what I am asking people to pay money for is unique and strong and all my own.

I need to go and do some other stuff with the rest of my evening, so I will pick a nice landscape pic to close with. It's a good day!
Ah - I found a nice one. Talk about water like glass - so nice.

Need to improve!

Anything is possible. That's what this picture says.

Seems I am not happy enough with my beading. Beading. Hmmm. I don't want to just string beads on wire and try to make pretty patterns. I enjoy what I do - but I really need to do more. I feel a bit like a fraud - I need to try something more. I'm repeating myself. Well - I'm going into my bead room. Maybe I should lock the door and not come out until I have accomplished something new!! :)

I'm not unhappy - just feel something is lacking in my jewelry - I need to make it more my own. Maybe that's it. I feel a bit like anyone can do what I do. I need to develop my talent. It's funny cause one of the big discussions on Etsy has been about underpricing. I tried to get it across that I am an amateur - and I cannot price the things that I make - like someone who wire wraps their stones, makes their own earwires or clasps.

There didn't seem to be any getting it across to some people - that they should be able to charge more because they are better than some of us who have just started. I would really feel like a fraud if I charged more than I do. Even tried to tell them that it was a compliment to them that some of us don't charge as much as they do.

So much concern about driving the market down - seems to have blinded some people to who they are comparing themselves to.

Do not misunderstand, I am not hopeless. LOL! Not by any means! There is a plan in my head to continue to move forward and keep getting better until I know about the different gauges of wire and how to use them. Till I know what a tumbler is for or what a burr is!!! Progress. I must make some. :)

Mostly I think I'm saying - I know I have a long way to go. What I make appeals to some people and I am very happy about that. But I want to make pieces that I am totally internally pleased with. Something that reflects the ability I hope to develop. There, THAT'S what I mean.

I always use more words than I need to get a thought across. Always.