Create & Decorate Magazine

I have a polymer clay project in the August issue of Create & Decorate magazine. It is a butterfly and caterpillar and can be found on page 61.

On a scarier note, we received an email from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul warning Americans to stay away from the beef protests this weekend. They are saying that 1 million Koreans are going to protest the resuming of U.S. beef imports. This has been going on for a few months now but it is getting a lot more violent. Here is the email:

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul is transmitting the following information through the Embassy's warden system as a public service to all U.S. citizens in the Republic of Korea. Please disseminate this message to U.S. citizens in your organizations or to other Americans you know.The U.S. Embassy urges American citizens throughout the Republic of Korea to exercise caution during demonstrations and vigils protesting the resumption of American beef imports and the policies of the Korean Government. The protests, which began eight weeks ago, have become more violent in recent days. Korean authorities stated on June 29 that they would crack down further on violent protesters. They have begun using water cannon and fire extinguishers to stop the advance of demonstrators and have stated that they reserve the right to use tear gas. Up to this point the demonstrations have not been overtly anti-American in nature, but American citizens are nevertheless strongly urged to avoid the areas of the protests and to exercise extreme caution if within the vicinity of demonstrators. The center of protests in Seoul has thus far been Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall, with demonstrators frequently attempting to move north along Sejongno toward the Blue House, the Presidential residence. American citizens should stay current with media coverage of local events and be aware of their surroundings at all times. The U.S. Embassy in Seoul will continue to keep the American citizen community informed of any changes in the overall security situation via this email system and the Embassy websites at http://seoul.usembassy.gov and www.asktheconsul.org. The Embassy encourages all U.S. citizens to register their presence in Korea with the American Citizens Services office at the U.S. Embassy or via the Internet at http://travel.state.gov/travel/abroad_registration.html or http://www.asktheconsul.org/.

We weren't planning on going into Seoul this weekend and will definitely being laying low. American beef sales just resumed this week and the first store to advertise selling U.S. beef sold out in 5 hours. It was also 30% cheaper than Korean beef.

This whole beef about the beef reminds of the problems Oprah had years ago with Texas beef producers. I'm learning that no matter what country you are in, DON'T MESS WITH THE BEEF!

Tonight is dinner out with a co-worker of Curt's (hubby) and his family. They have two kids who will also be going along. Dessert is at our house and I'm cracking open that box of brownies I paid way too much for.