OH MY!

Yesterday I got a phone call from my friend Mr. Bill, aka The Big Guy, who asked if I was still alive!  It has been so long since I've updated my blog, he was worried something had happened to me!  In a way, yes, life is happening to me! Here's a recap of the past two months.

We'll start with my computer crash, because that took almost a month to fix.  What a pain! The Great Brown Out really messed up my computer, and my whole Outlook program got fritzed.  'Puter finally got fixed, but is very temperamental.  I see a new one in my future, which bothers me, because it seems like they work just fine for about 3 years and then that's it.  I really don't want to get a new one, because I've not heard anything great about Vista... so if I do, I may make the leap to Apple.

Bob and I went to Los Angeles for a few days, where he had depositions, and we stayed with our friend Pat. Pat has this fabulous house on the beach in Hermosa Beach. Unfortunately, the weather was just awful and I don't think I warmed up until we got home! During this time we caught up with friends and I took a couple of metal classes and got introduced to lampglass making.  I LOVED IT! It's the art of making glass objects, i.e. beads, on a mandrel over an open flame.  It is so relaxing, and well, fun! I really don't need another hobby, but bought all the stuff. (was there any doubt?)

After Los Angeles, we went to Las Vegas, where we stayed at the MGM Grand. Las Vegas always amazes me.  It's like living inside a giant Mardi Gras float! We had the Eiffel tower on one side and the Statue of Liberty across the street. We never left the hotel to eat, which is not a normal thing for us.  We had a great Mexican dinner one night, and the second night we had one of the top 5 dinners I've ever had any where in the world.  It was not even at the top ranked French Restaurant, but at it's little brother next door, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon.  The design of the restaurant was very sleek - we ate at a granite bar that surrounds the open kitchen.  It was surprisingly unobtrusive and the wait staff was really excellent.  We ordered the tasting menu and a meal off the menu.  While not cheap, it was reasonably priced and out of this world! We had a nice conversation with the sommelier, because I watched him pour two iced wines - one a red - which we had never seen before. The white was an apple wine (I could pass) and the red was a very interesting port of all things! It had all the complexities and character of a port, but was lighter and lacking in that medicinal taste making it a perfect pairing for deserts. I did taste them, I did! But just enough to wet my tongue and not enough to swallow. A very tiny bit. I do miss learning about different wines...

Bob and I arrived home and I of course signed up for some lessons in lampglass at GlassWorks an sort of living museum with artists in residence downtown. They teach glass arts, print making and bookbinding.  I also took on the gargantuan task of my home studio! It has not been touched since Katrina and I had no idea it had been so badly damaged.  It took 2 of us over a week to pull everything out of there, clean and repair it.  I hired a sweet young woman who dusted each and every item while I pulled out moldy sheet rock and scraped paint off the brick walls.  I had Katrina cough for a couple of weeks after.  I had no idea it was in such bad shape, for most of the damage was hidden by my desk and my wood storage. You can't begin to believe how much stuff got tossed. Roomboxes, bag after bag of junk and out dated supplies - big green trash bags full!  Half finished projects and kits I was honest enough to admit I'd never finish.  The studio looks fabulous now - and I really enjoy spending time there again.  I haven't started torching at home, because I could not find tanked oxygen any where, so I'm waiting on the delivery of an oxygen concentrator. (TODAY!!! YIPEE!)

The beginning of March I was supposed to travel to San Diego for another jewelry class, but Skylar ended up in the hospital with an appendicitis.  He came down that morning complaining of a pain in his side that woke him in the middle of the night.  Brief discussion, call to cardiologist friend, who agreed with Dr. Mom's diagnosis, and off to the hospital. Admission was painless (at least for me) and Skylar was in an ER room within a half hour. Four hours later and probably $10,000 worth of tests later, (CAT scan) my diagnosis was confirmed and he was scheduled for surgery.

My trip to San Diego got canceled, which was ok by me - it was my least favorite class I had signed up for - but poor Skylar spent his 29th birthday in a bathrobe vegging out in front of the TV recovering.  The upside is that he really needed a few days off of work because they have been working him pretty much 7 days a week.  I'm pretty sure that this is not what he had in mind for a vacation though. His birthday present from us was a check to cover his deductible.  Oh well, there's always next year!

Bob and I went to Florida for Spring training and caught a bunch of games. The Yankee ball park is amazing with great concessions and souvenir stores. This was all during the big brouhaha with the dirty cleats play (Yankees player slid into a Rays player and cleated him on purpose in the thigh) and Billy Crystal's up at bat.  We missed both of those... drat!  We went to a Rays' game in St. Pete and visited with our friends Pam and Mike, who moved to Orlando after Katrina.  And of course, my personal favorite, the Detroit Tigers. It was a fun and relaxing and I think we're finally enjoying the quasi empty nest thing.

I taught a scrapbooking class (Grunge!) and spent a 5 days in Pennsylvania taking more classes, which thrilled and inspired me. What really made that trip was staying a couple of nights with JC, Erin and the boys (how fast they are growing!) and an unexpected visit with someone I dated in college.

THAT was interesting! The last time I saw Bob (apparently I have a habit of dating REALLY nice guys named Bob before getting married - I was dating another Bob before I married my Bob!) was in the hospital in January of 1971 after getting my tonsils out. I was also newly engaged.  Bob is an artist (watercolors) as well as a writer and had sent me a very sweet email after stumbling onto my blog during research for a project. We met at his house in Baltimore where I met his wife, the dog, the housekeeper, the tutor and his son. It was a fun and interesting afternoon and I spent much more time there than I had planned. We caught up on each other's lives and parted with promises to do it again. I'll be back in August, but I think they will be in Europe or maybe the Carribean at that time. Oh well, it's not like I don't get up there fairly often to see the grand boys!

Taught what will probably be my last scrapbook class (Alcohol Inks) and wrote a blog entry about tools for the shop. Started selling on eBay (gad, how time consuming!). Today I'm driving to Baton Rouge to take a class  in PMC (pure metal clay - fascinating medium!). Passover is this weekend.

There, all caught up!  What's doing in YOUR life?

xoxo

Comments

[Trudie]

Whew! Really glad to see this post gf! I am soooo jealous of you with the lampwork glass stuff. So seriously in love with that stuff - a few years ago I spent an ungodly amount of money on beads to make my own jewelry. So why not more scrapbook classes?? And what is your ebay handle so I can check out your stuff??

[Ulla]

Good for people to know.