Signing Off for a Bit

Dear Friends and Family,

I will probably not be posting for a while. There are other things I need to focus on right now. Like calling my family on the telephone more often, for instance. As well as carving out my place in life, not just riding on the coattails of this man I love. And believe it or not, I'm tired of talking about myself. Supremely tired. (I know, I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true!)

So, I just wanted to let you know that you need not check this place very often for a while. I need to take a month or two off. I need to deal with life.

Love you all.

P.S. I might come back to post some pictures of the things I have been making at my glass-fusing class though. Because they are pretty, and I'm proud of what I have been able to create. I'm going to be signing up as a member of the fire arts center and get to use all their equipment. Mike's got all the glass I need in stock already. We made our first collaboration piece, using his flower millefiores, and I designed and assembled the composition. It's a slide pendant, and it turned out lovely. I think I'll be selling my own glass art pieces before you know it.

I'm Finally Taking a Glass-Fusing Class

Tonight. And the next three Wednesdays after tonight. I will learn how to make jewelry using glass-fusing techniques.

I am very excited/anxious/nervous about it. I mean, what if I have zero ability to do this? But on the flip side I could be awesome. Let's just hope for somewhere in the middle.

Our New Family Tradition? (Monkey Pancake!)

Last weekend Mike surprised Joshy with a pancake custom made just for him:


Josh loved it, but doesn't like how the picture of him turned out so I won't post it.

So, we get up, I mix up the batter and Mikey makes the fantastically fun designs. I got a flower this time. Kaya hates real maple syrup but I can't bring myself to buy the Aunt Jemima High Fructose Corn Syrup version so I made my mom's version and Kaya was happy! I like when we can reach great compromises.

Then we all went for a hike in the woods and this was my favorite moment because Josh finally let us get a picture taken together:



Baby steps. Maybe someday he'll just smile. Then again, he does take after his dad in so many ways... it's actually kind of scary. That's how I know they are really related. Those kids are carbon copies of their papa. It's a good thing I like him so much!

The Choice About Wind

When Hayley and Dan came out to visit last summer it was an unbelievably windy week. At least that's how my memory recorded the circumstances. This is unfortunate, because truth be told I hate it here when it's overly windy. So, I don't think they got to experience the true beauty of Humboldt as I love it. In my experience, there are far many more "unwindy" weeks here than windy ones. I can honestly say if it were windy ALL THE TIME I would hate it here.

Yesterday the wind came in full force. The sun shone and it deceived me, repeatedly, into walking outside in an attempt to walk down the street. And every time I did that, the wind pushed me, quite literally, back into the house. I grumbled that "Mother Nature" was working against my goals and progress. I never did make it down the street ... well Mike walked with me to the post office which is quite literally at the end of the street, and I had a scarf wrapped around my neck and a hat on my head to deal with the "pain." You might have thought it was winter in Wisconsin.

Today, the wind is still here, and it's either not as intense as yesterday; or probably more realistically I have adjusted to it, resilient as we humans are.

So, I put on my windbreaker and walked down the street armed with my eBay packages. In the line at the post office, an old man who was dressed as if we were in the middle of a massive snowstorm griped to the smiling young woman behind him about how she "must be new in town to be in such a good mood when we live in such a terrible climate."

I smiled to myself because I had the good perspective today. (Of course, that man's attitude and mine YESTERDAY were basically as interchangeable as our "winter" attire, but that's not the point I'm trying to make here.)

Finished at the post office, I continued my walk down the street, determined to not let the weather deter me two days in a row. As I walked I was serenaded by the most beautiful music of wind chimes, everywhere. I decided my good neighbors have the right idea about the wind, and that we all have choices to make. Maybe I am speaking too soon and when I get to that old man's place in life I will bitch and moan about the wind too, but my current, possibly presumptuous, opinion is that he has a choice: to move away to a "better climate," or hang some wind chimes on his porch.

This slightly lame attempt at making a "lemons = make sour face or make lemonade" analogy is my personal lesson for the day, one I'm simply sharing with you. We all have choices every day. If you don't like what you are doing, either find a way to like it, or do something else. I believe life is really that simple.

Of course, perhaps this man is making sacrifices for the people he loves in his life, and I'm sure it's quite easy for me to pass quick judgment on him and others. I mean to do no such thing. I am sure he has good reason to be here, and maybe tomorrow he will have a better perspective too.

There's a good chance that tomorrow I will be sighing about the blasted wind again. But for today I'm happy to hear the wind chimes.

My next-door neighbor just had surgery yesterday and was supposed to be home by now. But they are keeping him in the hospital a bit longer so I'm out the door and on my way to go visit him there. I'm bringing him a tiny orange pumpkin, because they are on sale at the store right now, and because it seems more manageable for him to bring home with him than flowers, and should last longer as well. And, well, because orange things seem to brighten people's days I think. Isn't that why we seem to crave the sun so much?

"You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one"

... This post is brought to you in part from my MP3 player randomly playing this song. It always gets to me, every single time.

The Dream of Homeowning, Tree House Style

Some day Mike and I are going to live in a place like this:



If we have anything to say about it.

When Having an Artist for a Dad Really Pays Off (aka Puppy Pancake!)

This morning we made pancakes for breakfast. Kaya asked her dad to make her a puppy pancake. This was just too darn cute not to share:




(Kaya wishing she could eat her pancake already!)

Tonight I'm filling in at the gallery while Mike and the kids watch movies at home. Wish I were there with them!

It's fall here in Humboldt, which means rain and chilly air that calls for having warm snuggly knits on hand!

Oh, and speaking of pancakes and puppies, when pancakes are had Baby has apparently always gotten one. This three-year tradition left Baby hanging off the back of the couch drooling and licking her chops while we ate pancakes. We set one aside for her to let it cool off, and when I got up and picked up that pancake to take it outside, Baby started dancing on her hind legs like I have never seen before. Mike told me to make her at least jump through the hoop once before I gave it to her, and when I held up that old tire she jumped OVER the whole thing, as if to SHOW ME just how much she wanted that pancake. Well, she got it. And I don't think she even tasted it, it was gone so fast.

It's a Slug Party and You're Invited

I'd be lying if I said last night there were hundreds of slugs right outside our front door. It would be far more accurate to say dozens, so for the sake of honesty I'll say dozens. DOZENS OF SLUGS. Outside our door. That is still a lot of slugs. All just hanging out on the pavement, glad for the rain so that they could come out of their hiding spots and grace us with their gooey presence.

I didn't think to take a picture last night and this morning when I opened the door they were gone. I guess they had a late night and have crashed by now. Or, you know, it's damper at night, scientifically speaking.



In other slug-related news (I can honestly say I never thought I would have multiple stories at once related to slugs) Josh and I went to the zoo last Sunday (yes, it was awesome) and there is a Banana Slug Exhibit. A Banana Slug Exhibit. At the Zoo.

The question I have is how often do they have to change the exhibit since I am pretty sure slugs have a fairly short lifespan. So far nobody has cared enough to even entertain this question. In all fairness I must just like to ask the question because if I really cared I could have Googled it by now. But I haven't.

Fantastically Capricious

(I believe the maker of this refrigerator poem is Mike.)


(This lion is by the artist whose work influenced Mike's glass lion.)








(I keep my marbles in egg cartons.)


(Food Yum is the name for this picture, and with good reason. This was dinner one night made from whatever I could find in the fridge - not too shabby.)


(The girl is small, but not that small. The cards are GIANT.)


(Yes, that is a smile on her face. She unabashedly loves all attention.)


(Weird things staring at me when I go into the bathroom - gosh it's fun having little people in the house.)

Proof Positive that Exercise is More Enjoyable When Awake

My morning activities this morning confirmed my suppositions from yesterday; in other words, my body works much better after I give it time to wake up and fill it with a hot cup of muddy brew (with milk, or half-n-half if we have it). This morning I woke up at 7 AM, played on the internet for about 30 minutes, made a pot of coffee (that took about 2 minutes), washed dishes for about 30 minutes, drank a cup of coffee, drank a glass of water, did a whole bunch of push-ups (on my knees still, but I'm getting stronger and even have some muscle definition going, so in time I'll reach my goal of being able to do real push-ups) and a few yoga stretches, and then out the door I went on my walk. And it was a world of difference too, let me tell you. That big ol' hand that was pushing me backwards yesterday slunk away to bother somebody else. Somebody weaker, or sleepier.

I worked as my neighbor's office assistant again today, and he basically offered me a permanent job. It wouldn't be for a little while yet, which would be good for me because I'm doing the gallery gig right now. I told him I won't know for a while, but I do know that the owners of the gallery are trying to work toward being able to run the gallery themselves so they don't have to pay a person to sit here. Whether that is five months down the road, a month, or a year, nobody really knows yet. It remains to be seen. I'd like for things to settle down a bit so I can crack down on a whole bunch of things that need to get done for Mike's and my business. That needs to be my main priority now. But what tomorrow will bring? Only time will tell.

And yeah, being an office assistant does sound like all kinds of lame, which is probably why I keep quitting jobs where I am an office assistant. But my neighbor is not your average duck. He is incredibly eclectic and ... what's the nice word for weird people? Eccentric. And that's a good thing. (We actually make a very good team, naturally.)

Mysterious Mouse Issues and Many Musings

Yesterday my mouse mysteriously quit working, which made it totally impossible to do marble layouts for eBay. It turns out that the mouse is absolutely necessary for many many computer functions. This is an incredibly interesting and frustrating realization, especially when your only working mouse stops working.

Luckily, upon getting home I replaced the battery and it worked again. Whew.

So, now it's another day and I've already had a lovely one. I woke up sort of late for me, so I did my morning walk before I was even fully awake. It was tough. I felt like there was a giant hand pushing on my chest, trying to get me to stop walking. So, I came up with a plan of attack, and implemented it. That was incredibly wordy when all I was trying to say is that I visualized a giant hand pushing on my back to help me walk easier. It worked. But there is a lot to be said for a warmed-up, coffee-filled body. It works much better, I must say.

So, I got back home and got ready to meet my neighbor at his office, which is on the Arcata town square (here we call it "The Plaza," and it's just fantastic). I am working part time for a couple of weeks as his assistant to help him reorganize his office. Organizing things happens to be one of my fortes, plus a little extra money never hurts. We worked for a few hours and then ate a delicious picnic lunch out on one of the park benches on The Plaza. My neighbor packed the lunch as a surprise. It was so nice!

While eating our lunch we met and talked with a lady whose from Mazatlan, moved to San Francisco over 50 years ago to marry her husband who was a Mexican also but had an American parent and so was raised in San Francisco, and now today she is visiting Humboldt County. She had such great stories to tell, and a wonderful spirit. After 30 minutes of sitting and listening to her stories, and laughing along with her, I wished we could stay longer. But alas, we had more work to do. Her name was the Spanish word for "help."

Once I was done working with my neighbor I had about an hour to spare before having to be at the gallery. So I walked the half mile or so to Mike's studio, where my car was parked. Along the way I realized it was Wednesday! Yay! (That means the new North Coast Journal is out.) So I picked up a copy at the NCJ's Headquarters, which is on the same street as Mike's studio. A couple of ladies were walking toward me on a narrow sidewalk and it became apparent that we wouldn't all fit if they continued to walk side by side. They moved into single file, and I flashed them a big grin to show my appreciation. They flashed big smiles back, and it's just incredible to me how something as simple as smiling at strangers can immediately lift your spirits. So, by this point my spirits were pretty high up there.

A little further down the road is the Scrap Heap. Okay, I don't know what it is really called, but it is a lot of metal scraps, old bicycles, a boat every once in a while... this is where there is usually a group of working men hauling and organizing this metal heap. So, I'm strolling along feeling very grateful for the warmth and the sunshine, wishing I had sandals on instead of socks and shoes, and I hear, "How are you, Beautiful?" I turn to my right from where the voice came and this handsome Latino boy is smiling at me. I flash him a smile back and keep on walking.

And yeah, it felt good. I mean, who doesn't like a compliment? Especially from a cute boy? (He looked to be about 18.)

So, I got to Mike's work, and kidnapped him for a bit. They were out of oxygen anyway and waiting for the oxygen man to bring them a new tank so they can get back to working glass. In the meantime we ran home (fine, we drove) and made some more coffee, had a quick lunch, and then I dropped him back off, and up to the gallery I came.

And now, here I am, my mouse works again, and I really do have to get some work done. The sun is shining, I switched my shoes for some flip flops, and I'm wearing one of my favorite tee-shirts. And, my jeans are getting to be too big. La la. The day is good. I hope yours is too.

xoxo

Yay, Portland! (in pictures. from the month of June.)

Because I am supposed to be working and getting art ready to list on eBay, I am instead posting here. Make sense? Good.

And because I obviously love pictures and I obviously have been uber lazy in getting pictures posted from my Wisconsin trip in June, I am now going to post my Portland Oregon trip, also from June.

So, Here It is:

First, we were at the Glass Art Society (GAS) Conference, and it was a great experience. I met a lot of people that Mike already knows, and got some good inside information into this whole glass-blowing experience.

OK, pictures:

This is Phyllis, one of Mike's longtime buyers and fans. She had a vendor booth at the conference and when Mike saw her company name he rushed over to her and introduced himself. I am very glad we ran into her because we ended up spending a significant amount of time with her and she gave me a lot of good advice and tips:


When we were strolling around Portland (I can't remember exactly which section we were in, but it was a very good one), we came upon this tree. All of a sudden Mike is putting his face very close to this tree, and then he says "Touch this tree!" I thought "what's the big deal" but it turns out that the big deal is this tree is not real. This tree is made of metal. It's very hard to tell this both in pictures and in person (or is it "in tree"?):





(Doesn't my butt look very small next to the tree? OK, that's clearly pushing it. But it definitely looks smaller than the tree.)



Closeups of the tree:






Part of the conference included lots of art exhibits and private showings at galleries. This one is called "Degenerate Art":


























I took a picture of Mike looking at art:


Our room with a view:

(I can't remember exactly the name of that big ol' mountain up in the top right corner, but it is a good one.)

The conference also included a number of live glass demonstrations, and the Ladies of the Corning Museum of Glass (in Corning, NY) in particular made me want to quit all other projects and learn how to blow glass:












We donated a glass seashell to the GAS auction, and after only a few bids it got purchased outright:


Mike blowing glass at a BBQ put on by a glass store and studio space called "Bridging Boro":






A kid with flames painted on his face - very festive:




Impromptu DJ-in-a-truck:


For a few minutes Mike had a pretty good-sized audience watching him, but I didn't snap a picture in time:




Stopping for fresh air and a little walk on the way home:


So there it is: all the things I haven't said about the Portland trip and some pictures too! Hope you enjoyed them.