Sick As A Dog
That would be me – sick as a dog. I thought I’d been clever enough to get by this season without getting sick by drinking tons of those EmergenC drink packets. The kids had it over Thanksgiving and then Joe had it a few weeks ago and Ha! I had nothing! I was well, well, well! And then sometime around 2pm on Friday I felt the cold, hard fingers of a fierce cold in the works. Today I’d just like to chop my nose and ears off.
Because I want to go back to bed and moan with intermittent sneezing, I’m keeping this short. 1) there are two rings for sale in the store. They are all that is left of this batch. 2) all the tshirts have been mailed. If you don’t get yours this week, then use the tracking number I sent you or let me know. I love mine. I hope you love yours, too.
Adios, Amigos!
Snow and Trip Recap
Here is what it looked like when we went to go get Joe from the airport on Friday night.
Here is what it looked like the next morning.
We drove home all day Sunday. I was a little worried about the weather but as we approached Southern Utah, I relaxed and the snow disappeared. I don’t like driving in the snow. I don’t like anyone else driving me in the snow. I tend to get white-knuckled and spend a lot of time perched on the edge of the seat, eyes opened slightly too wide and asking inane questions like, ‘You doing alright? Are we almost there? Was that a skid? Are those people going to hit us? Are you doing alright?’ I’m surprised Heather didn’t slap me a little or send me to the back seat to sit with Chuck the night she drove me to go pick up Joe from the airport. Instead she just kept smiling, patting my arm and telling me that everything was going to be fine.
One of the highlights of the trip was getting to play with Leta. It’s not often I get invited into the world of a 3.5 year old and I soaked it up. Too bad I was so easily replaced. Right after Joe got there, he was invited to play circus and be the official Ariel DVD watcher with her. Oh, the fickle heart. I was crushed for a minute but watching Joe play with Leta was almost as fun as playing with her myself.
At one point, Leta grabbed her tape recorder and a tape to show off her dancing. Imagine my surprise when the tape turned out to be ‘Show A Little Love‘ by Janene Brady, featuring songs like Maybe You Laughed and The Words You Speak. I don’t know how to adequately describe these songs but, imagine if you will, the 9 year old version of myself wearing white roller skates with green wheels skating to this tape in the boom box as loud as it would go in the front yard with ALL MY HEART and feeling deep down in my toes how important it was to never tell a lie because you DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU WILL END UP except it will BE IN H E DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS. Some of these songs inspired crying spells where I was filled with so much emotion I couldn’t speak. Because some kids laughed at some other kids. WAAAAAAAAAAAH.
Anyway, I watched Leta do some excellent dancing and I sang along to all the songs which I discovered I still know by heart. Maybe next time she’ll let me dance with her.
Another trip highlight was the coffee. Jon and Heather have the best coffee machine in the whole world. It comes with its own attachments that foam the milk, shovel the drive and create world peace. I can tell you what’s high on my Christmas list.
But the best parts of the entire trip were the conversations. They were many and varied and long and sometimes deep and it was very satisfying to get to talk and talk and talk and listen and listen and listen. I miss that. We need some friends that live closer than Northern Utah.
Rings Part 2
Here are the finished rings. The large one is my favorite and I’m going to keep it. That stone was particularly difficult and Robin had to help me (mostly do the whole thing) finish it. So instead of feeling bad that I couldn’t hack it on that one, I’m going to look at it like a gift from her and just appreciate it.
Now that I’ve done this, I have a whole new appreciation for the craftsmanship that it takes and I’ll never balk at spending 80$ for a nicely crafted ring again.
Rings Part 1
Today my friend taught me how to pick out a stone, create the bezel to fit the stone and solder the bezel to the base. Tomorrow I learn how to finish the rest like trimming and soldering on the finger band. Man, this is much harder than I realized and all my rings are going to sell for a kazillion dollars. Just kidding.
The Drive
I drove to Salt Lake City, Utah today. It took about 12 hours. There wasn’t much snow and what there was of it was next to the road or up on the mountains and not where I was driving so we got along just fine.
As we left Vegas and the smog lifted, I remembered why I like Utah sometimes even though we weren’t there yet. The drive is beautiful starting somewhere around the Virgin River in Nevada and then up through Snow Canyon and farther north into the Utah Valley. Drop dead gorgeous.
I don’t have any photos of the fields of dry, yellow grass along the side of the road mixed with the white snow next to the green dotted hills leading up to the bracing blue sky sporting all shapes and sizes of pink-tinted clouds. And I don’t have a photo of the sky as it turned to dusk that looked like it was on fire for miles and miles, all fierce reds and oranges. You’ll just have to take my word for it – it was beautious.
Tonight I’m so tired that I can barely keep my eyes open and my muscles ache. But it’s all good, baby. It’s all good.
Two Three Links
1) My interview with an undercover cop is in the inaugural print issue of Fray. Yay for Fray!
2) Flawed But Authentic is doing great. Go by and check it out. Also, Real Mental is fabulous. Look it over as well.
3) Have you seen Kitty Wigs?? OHmyFREAKINgosh they are super cute.
The Tshirts – A Saga
First I had to make a new version of the image because I had done it wrong. Then I sent it in and waited for a phone call. Then I called and was promised a call back. Then I waited a day and then called again and then really got to talk to someone. Then I was told there was still something wrong with the file so I got to do it AGAIN and boy that was fun. And then I sent it and called and verified it was there and then that part was good and over. Then he sent me an email with the new invoice. And I waited and waited. And waited and it didn’t come. And then it popped in my email the next morning showing that he did actually send it when he said he did, judging by the date/time stamp. Something was up with my email holding it hostage for a few hours. Why, email, WHY? But then I printed out the invoice and took it to the drugstore where they told me that they didn’t do faxes anymore. Why not, I asked? And the young woman rolled her eyes at me and said, ‘because.’ So that cleared that right up. And then I drove all the way over to Kinkos and faxed it there. And then I called to verify that he got it but I got the machine and left a message. And now it’s the weekend so I won’t find out until Monday. BUT if he did, then we’re only talking about a matter of days/weeks until those Tshirts are in your hands. BUT if he didn’t, then we’re talking another trip to Kinkos, which I can handle tootsweet, baby.
