Catherine Haedrich was introduced to the fun world of beading by a knitter-cross-pollinator friend who offered a lesson on flat and circular peyote in her home. She initially tried to pass on taking up another new hobby, claiming, “I have yarn beyond life expectancy”. She credits her early experiences with more advanced beaders for giving her insight into what was possible for the future. Her motto for why she beads is, “Woman cannot live on spreadsheets alone”. She is haunted by the fact she worked in Czech Republic three years but was not yet a Beader, a fact she has tried to make up for over the years with many visits to Jablonec Nad Nisou. While her husband is supportive of her hobby he recently returned from a business trip and asked, “Did you miss me?” When she hesitated (he had only been gone two days), he mumbled in defeat, “If only I were a bead”. Indeed, if only we all were beads!