Crystal Jewelry Inspiration from the CREATE YOUR STYLE Ambassadors

Most of you don't know this but I started out in 1998 as a beader.  Yes that's right.  I started out by roaming all the thrift stores and flea markets I could find to buy vintage jewelry, cutting it up and re-purposing it.  I opened a little boutique to sell jewelry and other crafty things that my mother and I created, but we soon found that it was my unique beads and findings that were drawing the customers in.  Eventually my cute little boutique morphed into a wholesale bead store specializing in Swarovski Crystals, Beadalon supplies, imported Bali and Thai silver and semi precious gem stones.  We were selling a lot of Swarovski Crystal, so much so that a couple of the head honchos from Rhode Island and Austria came to check out this little store that roared in crystal sales.  Long story short....this is when it all began!  I met Kim Paquette.  We collaborated on a massive beginner beading seminar at the Charlotte Merchandise Mart teaching 48 to 50 students a session over a 3 day period.  It was a blast. Following this event, Kim asked me to come out to Tucson to teach beginning beading at their first annual Tucson Event.  This was the beginning of my National teaching career.  While I was there I met the infamous Impatient Beader herself, Margot Potter and the beautiful and talented Anna Draegar.  Margot was the editor of Simply Bead at the time and asked me to submit to her magazine. This was a dream come true for me.  From that moment on doors began to open for me on a much larger designer scale than ever before.  Using my back ground in teaching and my love of designing I was off and running in a whole new direction.  I had finally found my niche.  If not for the Swarovski Company and it's fabulous staff, mine and my husbands life's would be much different.  We are living our dream, I am the luckiest person alive, I get to do my favorite thing to help support my family!  Being a part of this beautiful book, Crystal Jewelry Inspiration, with the all of the other talented Ambassadors is the crowning event for me.

Stubborn Enamel

Ever torch firing your enamel and it seems like it is taking for evvverrrr! Well there are a couple of reasons, but one I discovered this weekend working with some students in Charlotte. I had my first torch enameling class on Saturday and we were enameling 2" pieces. No problem, the enamel was flowing within seconds! Sunday I'm teaching another torch enameling class with 2" pieces and the enamel is taking forever to flow! What the h@#? Why such a dramatic difference? It wasn't due to the usual influences, bigger piece or not enough heat, those were constant, what could it be? What was the difference? On Saturday we used "transparent" enamel and on Sunday we used "opaque" enamel! That had to be it, so I went to my neighboring artist whom specializes on ceramic glazes etc. and asked his advise. He called an associate that used to work for the company that sold Thompsons Enamel their glass, and he said I was right on! The opaque enamel flows or fuses at a higher temperature than the transparent. The particles that make up the opaque-ness float in the glass like sand floating in the ocean while the particles that make the transparent colors dissolve or saturate in the glass like the salt in the ocean. Therefore, they fuse at different rates, this also accounts for the ability to blend transparent colors and not the opaque colors.
So long story short, if you don't have a large enough torch to get your enamels to flow, maybe by using transparent colors you may be more successful. Just sayin'

Towel Tales

I am a very fortunate woman! My husband Norm does the laundry! How did I manage this you may ask!? Reverse the male psychology of "acting dumb and making stupid mistakes!". Genius! When your relationship first starts, turn all of his underwear and socks pink a couple of times, he'll take over the laundry duty! See, I don't mind pink underwear! Well anyway, the down side to this is the nagging I get about stains on my clothes. I have a bad habit of wiping my hands on my backside in the studio. Eventually enough pickle on you shirt tails and your shirt is full of holes and stains. I have the solution now, I pin a hand towel to one of my belt loops or the front of my apron with a big antique diaper pin. When I instinctively go to my backside with my wet hands, they brush against the towel and I remember to use it instead of my shirt tails. So whom has who trained? On the Eco friendly side of this towel tail, I use far less paper towels now too!

Oh Phewy!

I woke up this morning with such great expectations! I have made quite a few sketches of what I was positive would be the next years new projects, well I was greatly mistaken! Out of four that I tried to do, only one came out remotely like it was supposed to and that turned out to be pretty lame. Now don't get me wrong, they were all great in theory, they just didn't work off of paper. I have one that I've not given up on, but I've modified the original idea so much it's barely the same thing. I'll try to work on it some more tomorrow.
Today's tip comes from, "do as I say not as I do." I have been known to tell my students not to tape their pieces to their templates before using the rolling mill. There's a good reason, and I was reacquainted with that reason today when I taped my pieces to a particular spot on the template that I wanted to make sure got imprinted. I spent the next 35 minutes peeling tape off of both the sterling silver that I was texturing and the brass template. I was fortunate in the fact that it didn't adhere to the rollers of the rolling mill too. So....once again, I do not personally recommend that you tape your pieces to your texture plates or anvils for that matter, when texturing unless you enjoy picking mashed and mangled, very sticky tape off your piece when you're through texturing. If so, keep a good supply of GooGone handy. But even that didn't help me get the tape out of the deep impressions made by the texture plate. On a happy note, the texture came out very deep and exactly where I wanted it. This is the project that turned out ok. It makes a pair of earrings that is inexpensive, easy and looks great, but would not be a very good class, it's really done much too quickly for a class. This will have to be a magazine submission. Very simple and low tech.

Brass patina

As we all know, liver of sulfur does not do too much for brass. There are a few other ways to get that antiqued look to brass that liver of sulfur gives copper and silver. If you want to purchase a commercial product I would suggest Silver Black, apply it to your brass with a Q-tip and you have a great looking patina. If you don't want to purchase yet another chemical, use Apple Vinegar! Yep, the stuff from the grocery store! It's cheap and very effective. All you have to do is fume your brass in a container with the vinegar. Don't submerge your piece, just seal it in the same container. One student of mine came up with a great way of doing this. She purchased a plastic pencil box, the kind with a lid that is about an inch above the rim of the base. I've found these at the dollar tree. You pour your apple vinegar in the bottom portion of the pencil box and then stretch a section of panty hose leg over it. Place your brass to be patinated on the "panty hose hammock" and close the lid. The shape of the pencil box allows for space between the vinegar, panty hose/brass and the top of the lid. Your brass piece never touches the liquid, but it gets the full effect of the fumes. Now here is the one major draw back with this process, the longer you leave it the darker the patina. It's not instantaneous like silver black. Letting your piece fume over night gives you the best results. Give it a go and let me know how it works for you. Enjoy!

I've discovered two handy tools in our studio. They are not new, but I've never used them in the way that I am using them now.
The first is quite simple and I need to knock myself in the forehead like the old v8 commercials for not thinking of it sooner, duh! Okay, here it is, drum roll, 2" masking tape! Yep, you heard me, 2" masking tape. Just cover your piece of metal with the wide masking tape, draw the design you need to saw out on it and saw away!!! It doesn't move while your sawing but is easy to remove when you're through. I use a pencil, so it doesn't smear and I can erase, love it!
The second is this little 3" grinder that Norm got for me at, you guessed it Harbor Freight. It is a small bench top grinder with an attached flex shaft. On the left hand wheel there is a semi soft "fiber" wheel. I am now using this instead of my sanding sponges to take the sharp edged off of my metal! It's amazing, just run the edges on it and Presto they are rounded, no more sharp edges! And so fast!! Humongous bonus, it is under $30.00! This is my most favorite tool of 2012! Okay, it's my first most favorite tool of 2012, I'm sure there will be many more to come, at least I hope so! Happy New Year!

Update in the life of the St.Jeans through random ramblings.

Well, it is once again fall. I can't believe yet another year is spinning down to a close. So much happened this year it should have been spread out over at least two years, but no, we St. Jeans cram as much in as we can. Let's see, book 2 is with the publishers and being edited and they are doing the magic that they do. The title is Metal Magic- Etch, Enamel, Pierce and Set Stunning Jewelry. It is going to be debuted at the Bead and Button 2012 show. We are on our way to the last two National shows of the year, Beadfest Arlington and Wire Masters Laguna Beach. We are driving so that we can haul all of the tools, so we are dissecting the U.S. out and back in a 3 week jaunt. Chase is not with us this year, we found an awesome private school for him to attend at our new home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He loves it and is blooming! Unfortunately that means he has to stay with his grandparents while we are on the road, or that I have to do them without Norm. Norm has really stepped up and become the best Mr. Mom on Earth. This spring and next fall I will probably be enlisting an intern or assistant. We just can't stand both of us being away from Chase for too long. So if you like to travel all over the US let me know, there's no pay, but I'm a lot of fun! Ha Don't everyone apply at once. On a happy note, our daughter decided to marry her long time boyfriend...they've been dating on and off since they were in about the 7th grade. They got back together about 3 years ago and decided to make it permanent. Their wedding was on the same day that my book was due, so it was like I gave birth and gave away my oldest all on the same day! The wedding was perfect due to Nora's fabulous new Mother-in-law whom is also named Kim. My family keeps it simple for me, I have a very difficult time remembering names so my mom and my mother in law are both named Patricia, my son and my son in law are both named Chase, and my daughters mother (me) and her mother in law are both named Kim. How's that for accommodating!? We've moved permanently to our beach cabin....well....ok...trailer! All right I've said it, I now live in a trailer, but it is on THE BEACH! It's cute and we're lovin' it. No more mortgage or hassle. It does take longer to get EVERY WHERE. We have to drive 2 hours just to get to the interstate. But it is worth it. We have a studio in Little River, which is just another section of Myrtle Beach. It's known for it's shrimp and crabs. Of coarse Norm won't eat either one! We haven't had time to unpack the boxes and set it up yet, but it's going to be great once we do. We are in a strip with two pottery studios and a little cafe'. They even have a raku pit and have a big firing party every quarter, of course I've missed two already, but I get to one eventually. When my daughter was little she used to say, "I hate ebentually?" I think I'll go take my A. D. D. medication now and let you be! Bye.

Busy, busy, busy...so where do I begin. Okay, we're moving to Myrtle Beach. We are down sizing yet again, and moving into our little beach get-a-way full time. We travel so much that we are hardly ever home, so we decided to just move to our vacation spot! Makes since don't you think, cause when we're not on the road that's where we want to be. Gotta be out of the apartment by July 31, gotta be out of the studio by August 31. In the mean time, I'm schedules to film 2 episodes of Beads, Baubles and Jewels in Cleveland on Tuesday, go to my 30th high school class reunion in the middle of July, write instructions for a Bead and Button project for Octobers issue, work on my project proposals for Beadfest Santa Fe, Beadfest Wire, and Bead and Button 2012, and I also found out today that I may have a late September deadline for book #2 in which I haven't even started yet. In the mean time I'm keeping up with my 2011 teaching schedule which includes 5 more weeks of William Holland, Beadfest Bead, CREATE in Chicago, Beadfest Houston and Wire Masters in Laguna, Beach. Some where in there I have to set up the new studio! Can I do it? Yes I can!

My Week filming with Beaducation

The week before last, Beaducation flew me and my husband, Norm out to San Carlos, Californian to film classes for their on line store. We had a good flight leaving cold weather in Charlotte, North Carolina, despite having a 2 hour snow/ice delay in Detroit, Michigan. But I had the best Udon soup I've ever had while waiting for our flight, so I didn't complain. The flights were pleasant, we flew Delta. We were met at the airport by the wonderful and charming Kate Richbourg. She whisked us off to the Beaducation office to drop off my tools and go over the schedule for the next day. It's 8:00ish her time, but 11:00ish our time, so I'm like a zombie. Then we go to a cute new pub for dinner. It's now 12:00ish in my mind. Great food though!

The next day I was picked up by Kate leaving Norm with a peck on the cheek and on his own to occupy his day. We were in a great location for him to walk around and explore and the weather was gorgeous. All the Beaducation staff were great! Especially Rocko! The French Bull dog! Filming went well, I was a little nervous and giggled through the front shots, which they say they will black mail me with in a blooper series. But when the day was over, I felt good, everyone made me fell special. I was treated like a star! All three days or filming were a blast. I was made to feel very comfortable, it was very laid back, I truly enjoyed myself.

Let's talk about the food...the first night was good, but the food just got better as the week went on. We had Thai, Mexican, English Pub, Sushi, and Mediterranean. Needless to say it was very difficult to stay on my New Years Diet, but I wasn't too bad. I came home only 3lbs heavier than I went, and I had it back off in one week. Norm and I had a great time, and I would love to be invited back some time, next time we'll take Chase, so he and Norm can ride the train into San Fransisco!

Snow Days

When snow days come about, we all revert back to our childhoods when we used to patiently wait for the announcement that school was canceled. We plan all the things we are going to do on our unexpected day off. Catch up on unread books, tackle the unorganized closet, get caught up on just about everything you've procrastinated on for the last year! And before you know it the day is over and you've done nothing but cruise facebook and read jokes people have been e-mailing you for the last month. Now I need another snow day to do the things I was supposed to do before this was proclaimed a snow day!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. Not that 2010 was all that bad, but I feel we're going into 2011 a little bit better off than 2010. Several doors closed in 2010 and I thought it was drastic. But by those doors closing, they allowed several new ones to open. It's often frightening to step through those new doors, but I'm optimistic, and I have the best partner in the world. Norm, he boosts me when I'm down and levels me out when I'm biting off more than I can chew. I often tell people that I'm the helium balloon and he's the guy on the ground holding the string, he has to pull me back down every now and then. I'm going to say goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011, and jump in with both feet and take off running. Come run with me!

2011 Begins Now!

Okay, it's not officially the new year yet, but I'm snowed in. Our son is in Christmas toy overdose, Norm just spent the last 9 hours putting a StarWars Lego tank thingy together (which I hope survives the playfest Chase has planned for it, he really likes to "destroy" things like on the movies), which by the way we got sucked into a two day StarWars movie marathon which is thankfully finally over. I've gotten semi caugt up on all of my e-mails. As of January 1st, Expressive Impressions will no longer exsist! We are turning the page in that part of our lives, no more beads! We are selling off our remaining inventory at a great discount, if you're interested contact Norm. We are working on getting the new website up by the first of the year, but I don't know if we'll get that done or not. If you are interested in getting on our monthly newsletter let us know. Our 2011 calander is really full again this year. There are a lot of exciting new things happening for us. My book comes out in February, the pre sales are going great! Amazon and Barnes & Noble are pre selling it as well as Kalmbach Publishing and us. They will be featuring it in the Bead and Button Booth in Tucson as well. I am flying out to San Francisco to film 4 on line instructional videos for Beaducation that will be on sale through their website. I am teaching again this year for the Create Your Style with Swarovski Elements Tucson Event, and I am very excited! I will be in a couple new shows this year, The Adorn Me! show in Houston, the Beadfest Wiremasters, the Great Lakes Bead Society and possibly CREATE! by interweave a mixed media show! Well keep watching for me, I keep popping up everywhere! I'm living my dream! Give me a holler at kim@kimstjean.com! or become my friend on face book! Kimberly Phipps St. Jean

Okay, it's finally here!

Well I've been talking about it for almost 2 years, and it is really and truly here. I've gotten a signed contract, and an advance check in the mail. It is finally time to really start working on "the book." I got a brand new computer today, it has nothing on it. It's like getting a brand new spiral notebook with all the bright empty lined pages staring back at you. I've got the first load of tools at the "beach bungalo"as Nora dubbed it. I've invited my good friend Karen down for Thanksgiving weekend and New Years Eve weekend to help me come up with some of the 30+ projects that I am going to need. Norm and I have one more weekend show together in Atlanta week after next, then I am working completely on "the book" and Chases school work until March. I would like to have a few other friends down between now and then as well to kick projects around with me too. My deadline is April 15, 2010but my goal is to have it pretty much wrapped up by the first of March. Starting in March I have two big national shows to attend. I am teaching at the first annual Adorn Me show in Houston, Texas and at the Beadfest Santa Fe Show in New Mexico. In April my William Holland Lapidary Schoold schedule starts back up. As usual, I will probably not be very loyal with keeping up with the blogging, but I'll try. Ta!

Heading Home-for one day anyway!

Well, I guess you've guessed it, since I'm updating my blog, that means we're in the car heading somewhere. Actually, we're heading home. We're only home long enough to unload, reload, teach a couple classes and then we're off again. I'm going back up to William Holland to teach an intermediate cold connections workshop, which is actually more of a mixed media workshop because I include a little soldering for bezels, pin back, earwires etc. We had a very fast few days at the beach. We didn't actually make it on the beach, but our place is just 2 streets up from the beach, so we saw it plenty. Norm bummed his knee up some how, so he was on crutches. We just sat in the golf cart and watched the beach. It's just the being here and away from everything else that's relaxing. I'm not much of a sunbather anymore. I get skin cancer too easily, and I'm not going to play that game again. I'll live much longer pale. Hopefully! But I do love to walk on the beach in the early evening and at night.
I'm hearing back from quite a few of my Philly students. I really enjoy hearing from them. The ones that are writing seem to be very happy with their newly aquired skills. That's the most I can ask for!

Beadfest Philly

Well, we are on our way home from Philly. The Beadfest Philly show was great! I still can't believe it when people come up to me and say, "You're Kim St.Jean, I love your jewelry!" It still seems like a dream! I was actually interviewed on Beads and Baubles this weekend! It will be aired this spring. I'm so psyched, I'm ready to start submitting and working on new designs and articles.
We went to dinner with one of our good friends, Kim Paquette, of Create Your Style with Swarovski. She pursued a differnt line of jewelry for a while, but now she's back and we are thrilled, and to make it even better, she's now our sales representative. We talked at length about the Create Your Style with Swarovski's Ambassadorship, and I am excited to be doing more with my ambassadorship. I challanged a fellow ambassador, Fernando DeSilva, by gifting him with a couple of fold formed metal pieces. I asked him to design something fabulous with it. I have metal on the brain right now, so I'm kind of in a crystal slump. I'm hoping that Fernando will be able to get my creative juices flowing again by showing me how to incorporate my metal into something glitsy and glamorous using Swarovski Crystallized Components.
I wanted to say "Thank You to all of my outstanding students, and all of our great customers. I traded watch parts with Linda at Susan Lenart Kazmers booth for her new resine "Ice" and I can't wait to give it a try. I bought the new Upper and Lower case script and Upper and Lower case Typewriter font letter stamps, and a new annadized(sp)aluminum stamping block that doesn't dent and is light and QUIET! I will have these for sale in my classes as well as the letter stamps. I also got 29 different brass texture stamps for the rolling mill which I am also going to begin selling in my classes.
In short, a really fun show!

r

I went to bed and it was March, I wake up and it's August!

Well, I was reminded again by someone that I haven't made a blog entry since March. I really can't believe it has been that long. I had all good intentions of keeping up with it better this year, and here it is August and I haven't made an entry in 5 months "ish." Is "ish" a word in Websters Dictionary yet? I really think it should be. Is there a suggestion box for Websters Dictionary? We're speeding through 2009 at ludicrous speed. I am working everyday on 2010 show proposals, and I got one the other day for 2011, yeah...freakin' 2011! I'm still waiting for 2009, and it's whizzing past me. What ever happenend to the lazy hazy days of summer when we were kids. And speaking of being kids in summer...were there this many mosquitoes when we were kids? I don't think so. Do you remember riding your bike behind the DDT truck as it sprayed the neighborhood for mosquitoes? Now, those were the good ol'days! DDT, no bike helmets, drinking water from a garden hose...oh, where was I. O.k. back to work, I'll probably write agian in 5 months or so!!

Another One Bites The Dust

Well...it's 11:00pm, and we're back in the big red van heading home. Atlanta was a good show, a little down from past Atlanta shows, but lets use the new excuse for everything here lately..it's the economy. This has become a very handy excuse for just about everything. In the same building as the show we were in, there was the Atlanta Arts and Crafts Show, a bridal show, a car show, and a pharmacuticals(sp) show. So there is no shortage of shows, just a shortage of show attendees. Actually, that's not correct either, the number of attendees was about the same as usual, they just spent less money. I don't know if it truly is because of the economy, or if it is due to the hype about the economy.

Thomas Mann was exhibiting in the Arts and Crafts show. I really wanted to go and see his work and meet him, but I was busy with classes, and that shows hours were the same as ours, so I was never able to get there. As we were packing up, another vendor asked if I met Thomas Mann when he came in our show. I didn't even know he had come in. He stood in front of my booth and talked with our show promoter, and I didn't even know he was there. I am so bummed out. He was right there, he may have seen my jewelry, and I didn't even know he was there. Oh well.

Chase is asleep, Charla is asleep, I'm hoping that Norm is not asleep, and we're plugging along. We'll get home tonight around 1:00am. I have 9 students coming in tomorrow at 11:00am to start a two day cold connections work shop with me, so I am looking forward to getting home and sleeping fast so I'll be up to meeting and succeeding all of their expectations!

On the road again

Well, we're back in the "Big Red Van" again. This time we're headed to Atlanta, Georgia. We are doing a Down The Street Bead Show." I'm really looking forward to it because Barbara McGuire is also an instructor there, and we have a lot to catch up on since we last saw each other. Barbara has got several irons in the fire, and I'm a part of some of them, so watch out, here we come. We are going to be doing a workshop in Beaufort, South Carolina over the weekend of March 27-29. I've not been in Beaufort since my college days. I took Marine Science there in 1990. Wow...put away the way back machine. Anyway, we are doing a poly clay/metal combination workshop. That's going to be fun! Barbara also has another project she's working on, but I've got to talk with her some more before I can relay that info to you.

It was a very fast trip home. We barely got our laundry done, paid bills, and made some much needed supply orders, before we were off again. I did get to make a few pieces of jewelry yesterday before we packed up. I will be displaying some of my finished work this weekend as well as teaching four classes. These drives are good for me, becuase thanks to a wireless broadband card, I can now work even as we're driving down the road. Oh...lucky me! There was a day when I could lean back with my earphones on and listen to a good book as we drove, but not anymore, no, no wasting any time here. Now if I could just figure out how to work while I'm sleeping I'd have it made. Just think 9 hours a day totally wasted! I do have to admit, I design in my sleep, but all to often, I forget the design details before I wake up. I keep a sketch book by the bed, but that doesn't alway work. However, when I was using Ambien to sleep, my designs where even better, but the long term price is much to high to pay. Now I just fall asleep out of pure exhaustion.

Those of you who are waiting to hear about "the book" will be glad to hear that I have at least turned it in, and the publishers are discussing it, so keep you fingers crossed.

Well we're hitting Atlanta traffic, and I'm not too thrilled about having an airbag shove a computer up my nose, so ta for now.

Melbourne, Florida

Melbourne Florida is a charming little town. We have been here three days. We try to make it a habit when we are in new places to try non-chain food establishments. So far, Melbourne has offered us some real treats. Norm and Charla arrived several hours ahead of Chase and I on Monday, so they found a great little pizza parlor called "Sweet Tomatoes." Not to be confused with the big salad/soup bar chain. It was just a little restaurant with good home made pizza. Chase and I arrived in time to have a slice too. Tuesday we went to a restuarant called the Harbour Diner which boasts in having the best burger in town. Well the claim was true! I consider myself a conosuer in burgers, this was hands down one of the best burgers I have ever had, and it was definately the biggest burger I have ever had. It was 12oz, yes, that is 3/4lbs of beef! It was cooked evenly all the way through too. I like a medium steak, but I like a well done burger. I was skeptical when I saw others coming out of the kitchen and saw how big they were, I feared it would be uncooked in the center, but much to my amazement, it was cooked completely. It was awesome. I ate the whole thing...there went the diet...but it was worth it!
Last night we met up with some friends that we haven't seen in 8 years. They have had three children since we last saw them and we have had Chase since they moved from Charlotte. It was great linking back up with Kevin and Vicki. It was as though we hadn't been away for more than a month or two, we fell right back into comfortable banter. No awkward moments of unfamiliarity that you sometime have when hooking back up with old friends. Far too often you lose what ever it was that made you friends in the first place, and find you really have nothing in common any longer. I really enjoyed our visit, and was thrilled to meet their new family members.
Today was my cold connections class with the Melbourne Gem and Mineral Club. They have a very active club with over 100 memebers. Our class was from 9-5 and we had 18 students in attendance. This was a great group of people. Some large groups that I teach are easier than others. This was an easy group, and very friendly. Everything went smoothly, and we all shared tools like good boys and girls. Everyone left with very good finished or close to finished projects. Each was unique and appealing. I look forward to working with this group again someday.
Tomorrow we are heading out for Tampa. We have a 3 day show there with The Down The Street Bead Show. I'm hoping to get to hit some thrift stores and hardware stores on the way. I'll let you know if I find anything good.
Happy Trails!
Kim

Driving

Well, Chase (our 5 year old son)and I went to get the oil changed on my van yesterday, because I can't remember when I had it done last, so that we could head down to Melbourne, Florida to meet up with Norm. The oil guy said my 1998 van looked great...except...don't you love it....he wouldn't drive it all the way to Florida because the blah blah blah(at this point my eyes glazed over, and my ears quit working)belt was dry rotted and was bound to break at any moment. Right! He showed me the offending belt, told me what it would cost to fix, not a part of the coupon deal of course. I said no thank you, got on I-77 and headed South to Florida. I have road side assistance, if it breaks I'll just call them. Right!?!
Anyway, 9 hours later we're in Melbourne. Thank goodness for DVD players and books on CD. Thank goodness for the fact that one of us was willing to wear earphones. I don't know which cartoons(he was in the earphones) kept Chase busy in between potty breaks, and naps, but Thank you! He was a trooper. He usually is however! He's a great little traveler. I listened to the "The Shack" on CD. Not my ususal genre', but very interesting. I would recommend it. Some points where very enlightening. There were a couple times it brought me to tears, and a couple times I simply said,"hmmm." I was inspired by the way some questions that I myself have asked about "God" were answered by the characters in this tail. I found this book very refreshing, I could see where some might not care for it, and others would relate to it as I do. If you get a chance, read it. When that book was finished, I started Amy Tans; Saving Fish From Drowning. I'm not very far into it, but anything by Amy Tan is good. She has such a way of writing. It's a story narrated by a ghost. Just my sort of thing! I'll let you know how it is when I drive from here back home!