I met Amber when I was working at the nation’s largest video game retailer. She, Amy, and I were all expecting at the same time. Three months apart each, Amber had Breanna, then Amy had Bel, and I had Thor. And ping, ping, ping, we came back to work. Then, Amy left, I left, and Amber left, and we’ve all been doing various things since then. One of the things Amber has been doing, is making jewelry with Breanna. Creative and amazing on her own, when you add Breanna to the mix, you get a duo of fantastic artists, making one-of-a-kind jewelry. I love it!
The beautiful Breanna and her red crab resin pendant.
I asked Amber to write up the story behind GreyGyrl, the name of their Etsy store, so I could share it with you all. I think you’ll love the jewelry! It ranges from sweet-enough-to-eat, to truly sentimental.
Great advice. Great jewelry.
GreyGyrl – Star Makers is a mother daughter team Amber & Breanna Barnes (age 34 and 7) creating and
designing jewelry pieces.
The idea behind it was to find something fun to do as a hobby that both mommy and daughter enjoyed.
More times than they will actually admit, involved trips to Michaels & Hobby Lobby for weekend art
projects. It was actually Breanna (age 7) who asked the question maybe we can try to make stuff people
wanna buy. Then we can have more money for even more art stuff.
Stuff people might want to buy. I love this one–I think it looks like tattoo art.
So then Amber (age 34) began surfing the world of Google and researched some ideas. Starting
with Resin seemed the most fun. Both mommy and daughter looked at the various charms, shells, and
ideas and began designing. Once a few of the pendants were made with only a dozen or so causalities,
next step was to set up an Etsy Store. Breanna named the store and up went the listings of handmade
pieces for sale. The first few sales however did come from Grandma but the mother daughter duo was
not picky! Now random strangers are finding the little shop and more and more items are being added
all the time!
Some of Amber’s metal stamping work.
Also the types of pendants include Custom and ready-made metal stamped pendants, the latest favorite
etsy style scrabble tiles turned charms, resin and more. It’s a great hobby and a way to make a few extra
bucks while being home with the kids, but the best part is hearing how much someone loves the piece
designed by Breanna (age 7).
I know you know someone who would love to have this one!
It’s hard to believe how quickly 7 years has passed. Thor turns 7 tomorrow, and I don’t know where the time has gone.
I love hearing how people were born. Birth stories are like the start of legends. You have to have the story of Achilles’ birth to understand his heel. You need to know how Malcolm was born to understand MacBeth’s fall. And certainly, your own birth gets the story of your life off to its start.
Thor was born on a gorgeous, hot, clear August Thursday. The sky was as blue as a Texas sky can get, peppered with fluffy, white clouds. I remember that, because it was all I could see out the slits in the window blinds. My room window faced the front of the hospital, so if we had opened the blinds, his birth could have been performance art.
In between the discomfort of my drug-numbed contractions (I had been induced) and my mother’s insistence upon sitting right up in my face. with her elbows on my IV line, I was pretty happy. My baby was on his way. Millions of women had done this before me. I had a great doctor and was being cared for by wonderful nurses. One way or the other, that kid was coming out, and my job was to get him out the old fashioned way.
The climax of Thor’s birth story happened around 3:40 in the afternoon. With his approach imminent, one of the nurses said she could feel the fontenelles in his head. I said, “I think a great name for a band would be Big Giant Head and the Fontenelles.” And I started to giggle. Because that is funny, y’all. And then I started to laugh because the nurses laughed. And then one nursed stopped laughing and yelped. She told me, “Stop laughing! You’re pushing him out!”
See, the doctor hadn’t made it into the room yet.
Well, that was funny to me, too, and I laughed more.
In my memory, there was some ruckus, then the doctor came in, just had time to get into place and I laughed some more, and out he popped with everyone in the place happy, smiling, and most everyone laughing. What a great way to be born!
I do tell this story every year. I probably always will.
This kid has kept me laughing every day since he was born. He is a wonder to me. He is smart, and sincere, and he is compassionate, and he genuinely cares about other people. He makes friends easily. He has a fantastic sense of humor, a keen sense of timing, and really builds amazing Lego starships. He loves to read and learn. He loves to play. He loves to come sit in my lap and let me hug him. I like everything about him.
I used 3 chicken breasts (on the bone with rib meat) and made 4 different meals. To cook the meat, I warmed EVOO in a stewer over medium heat with 2 Tbs of garlic paste, and 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary. When that was warm, I browned the breasts, skin side down, then added water to cover. To that, I added 2 Knorr chicken flavor cubes, sea salt and a variety of herbs that smelled nice. I brought that to a boil, then simmered for 45 minutes
I shredded the meat of all 3 breasts, added about 1/4 of it back to the broth with a cup of carrots, a cup of cauliflower and 1 1/2 cups of lentils to make soup (cooked for another 20 minutes before adding the chicken back in.) With the next 1/4, I made shredded chicken tacos with fresh, homemade salsa, and used the final 1/2 for a plain chicken meal for Thor, and shredded chicken sandwiches for dinner.
To make the salsa, coarsely chop 2 large tomatoes, and finely chop 1 banana pepper, 1 small jalapeno, 1 small onion, 3 cloves of garlic, and juice 2 limes. Put the peppers, onion and garlic in a strainer and pour 2 cups of boiling water over them and let drain well. This softens them and brings out some flavor. Mix everything together with salt and chili powder to taste, then refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
For shredded chicken sandwiches, mound the cold, shredded chicken on foil and sprinkle with cheddar cheese, then broil until cheese is bubbly. Serve on hamburger buns with horseradish sauce. Tasty!
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B and I went to see Total Recall last week. While the 3-Breasted Hooker made it back into the film, the bomb-mask (my favorite thing from the original, other than Arnold’s accent) did not.
I didn’t have high hopes for the film, so I wasn’t disappointed when it wasn’t great. I was surprised at what was the whole trouble, though. First, Collin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale were very good in their roles. Farrell was believable as an Everyman who might be a revolutionary. Beckinsale was the perfect sociopath. Both are very easy on the eyes, and stood out against the perfectly dystopian backdrop. Their chemistry was right on target. They reminded me a bit of Pitt and Jolie as Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
The first quarter of the film was promising, though I did lean over to ask B why everyone spoke in an American accent if the only places left on earth were the UK and Australia, and why everyone other than the main characters were Asian. That was a startling defect. How can the whole of the world be Asian, but the only people important to the plot be white, pretty people?
But I could suspend my disbelief. The action was good, the gadgets were cool, and I could get behind Rekal as a possibly safe, possibly sinister place. Then, something horrible happened. Jessica Biel.
Biel has gorgeous hair, beautiful skin, and has an amazing figure. She cannot act. Period. Every scene she was in was diminished by her presence. I wish I could be nicer about that, but it’s sad and true. She brought absolutely nothing to the role other than pretty hair, and really just served the purpose of making me think, “Dang…I never realized Kate Beckinsale could act.” Listen, Beckinsale playing dead was better than Biel playing anything.
Brian Cranston was woefully miscast, as was his wig. Bill Nighy was wasted in his role. He should have had Cranston’s part.
Overall, I had a fine time. It wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen (The Messenger), and it wasn’t the best movie I’ve ever seen (you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.) It was all right. The bad did outweigh the good, so I only give it 2.75 out of 5 stars.
The Outside Lane 