Rachel!
Tammy signed us up for AARP memberships a couple years ago. With our membership, we get their monthly magazine which occasionally has an interesting piece that catches my eye. 
I noticed this month's issue sitting on our coffee table earlier in the week with a yellow post-it note marking an article titled Rekindling the Flame, It's true: Sex can get better after the kids move out. The bulk of my reading this week has been on my Kindle so I hadn't taken the time to peruse it but I figured Tammy must've bookmarked it for me to see. Hmmm—I kept meaning to ask her about it.
Mom had to go back to Southdale Fairview for another procedure on her pacemaker/defibrillator Tuesday afternoon. The 3rd lead that attaches to the defibrillator portion of her pacemaker had once again come undone and needed to be reattached. While I sat and waited I occupied my time by reading Dear John (I know, a total chick-flick-book) on my Kindle. What should have been a 45-minute operation lasted nearly 3 hours and was ultimately unsuccessful. Doctor Eskos spoke with me post-op and told me she can get by without the defibrillator but eventually there's going to come a time when her heart will need it and it won't be there for her. I could sense his frustration. He took his time detailing for me on the whiteboard in a private waiting room all the varying attempts he and his team had made. He said the only other option for her is one that's much more invasive which would require them to collapse one of her lungs and thread the lead over the exterior of the heart rather than through a vein as they've been attempting. Dr. Eskos said she could expect a 20% increase in her heart's efficiency with the procedure but at this point, she's too weak to be considered for it. Mom is disappointed. She was saying repeatedly before the surgery, "the third time's a charm". Still, she's taking this all in stride and recovering nicely once again.
Tammy and I had a full day on Thursday. We finally got ourselves back to Foci for glassblowing and instruction with Steve. Heavy emphasis on instruction.
It had been late last August when we were last at the bench and it showed. Steve was very patient as he walked us through a few pieces before turning us loose to flail away on our own. There are so many things to consider when working with the glass but this much I know for certain: you always need to be thinking 3 steps ahead of what you're currently doing. If I learned nothing else on Thursday I at least learned this.
It felt right to be there and I know without any doubt that this is something I absolutely want to master. Tammy feels the same. We scheduled ourselves for some blocks of hours in the studio over the next two weeks. We're both committed to finally making this more of a priority.
We hurried home from Foci to let the pups out then cleaned up for an evening at Chanhassen Dinner Theater to see Jesus Christ Superstar. What a great show! I commented more than once how it would've been even better to have Rachel with us as I have no doubt she would've enjoyed it too. Don't go there expecting a terrific meal—it's okay, nothing more. The show made up for what the meal lacked. Tammy had been there once before but it was my first time. We'll most definitely be going back.
When Charlie first came to live with us two years ago we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
Within the first five minutes of being with us, he'd found Toby and Allie's (mostly Toby's) stash of toys (the 2-minute mark of this video). It hasn't been an easy transition for Toby but he's grown to accept his obnoxious little half-brother; not nearly as quickly as Allie did but he's managing. Toby's playing with Charlie is limited to a match of tug-of-war over one of their toys but it's a start. I had to laugh on Friday morning. Tammy was cleaning her office as she got ready to begin her day of work as a telephone triage nurse. She collected all the toys Charlie had brought in there over the previous day; she counted 9 in all. He's a busy guy.
I spent Saturday working on panel 6 of 6 and made considerable progress. I can't think of many more relaxing endeavors I have than spending time down in the shop working on a project. There's a very peaceful component to doing the art that I crave. I hope to have this final piece for our entertainment center completed in the next couple of weeks.
But as much as I enjoy working with glass there are several other projects I'd like to work on including some non-stained glass stuff such as model car building. It's been years since I've built a model car but the closer I get to completing this two-year project, the more I find myself dreaming of other distractions to fill my time. Those are welcome thoughts.
I snuck (my spellcheck doesn't like that word but I do) away early Saturday morning with Toby to do some errands (it's part of our routine—he loves the one-on-one time with me—or is it the treat he knows he'll get at the Starbucks drive-up window?). I came home from Target with errands completed and walked into the kitchen with two bags of groceries. Tammy was making herself a cup of coffee and commented to me about the article I'd bookmarked in the AARP magazine. "I didn't do that...I thought you did" I told her. Grins worked their across both of our faces as we came to the realization who had. Rachel!
I noticed this month's issue sitting on our coffee table earlier in the week with a yellow post-it note marking an article titled Rekindling the Flame, It's true: Sex can get better after the kids move out. The bulk of my reading this week has been on my Kindle so I hadn't taken the time to peruse it but I figured Tammy must've bookmarked it for me to see. Hmmm—I kept meaning to ask her about it.Mom had to go back to Southdale Fairview for another procedure on her pacemaker/defibrillator Tuesday afternoon. The 3rd lead that attaches to the defibrillator portion of her pacemaker had once again come undone and needed to be reattached. While I sat and waited I occupied my time by reading Dear John (I know, a total chick-flick-book) on my Kindle. What should have been a 45-minute operation lasted nearly 3 hours and was ultimately unsuccessful. Doctor Eskos spoke with me post-op and told me she can get by without the defibrillator but eventually there's going to come a time when her heart will need it and it won't be there for her. I could sense his frustration. He took his time detailing for me on the whiteboard in a private waiting room all the varying attempts he and his team had made. He said the only other option for her is one that's much more invasive which would require them to collapse one of her lungs and thread the lead over the exterior of the heart rather than through a vein as they've been attempting. Dr. Eskos said she could expect a 20% increase in her heart's efficiency with the procedure but at this point, she's too weak to be considered for it. Mom is disappointed. She was saying repeatedly before the surgery, "the third time's a charm". Still, she's taking this all in stride and recovering nicely once again.
Tammy and I had a full day on Thursday. We finally got ourselves back to Foci for glassblowing and instruction with Steve. Heavy emphasis on instruction.
It had been late last August when we were last at the bench and it showed. Steve was very patient as he walked us through a few pieces before turning us loose to flail away on our own. There are so many things to consider when working with the glass but this much I know for certain: you always need to be thinking 3 steps ahead of what you're currently doing. If I learned nothing else on Thursday I at least learned this.It felt right to be there and I know without any doubt that this is something I absolutely want to master. Tammy feels the same. We scheduled ourselves for some blocks of hours in the studio over the next two weeks. We're both committed to finally making this more of a priority.
We hurried home from Foci to let the pups out then cleaned up for an evening at Chanhassen Dinner Theater to see Jesus Christ Superstar. What a great show! I commented more than once how it would've been even better to have Rachel with us as I have no doubt she would've enjoyed it too. Don't go there expecting a terrific meal—it's okay, nothing more. The show made up for what the meal lacked. Tammy had been there once before but it was my first time. We'll most definitely be going back.
When Charlie first came to live with us two years ago we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
Within the first five minutes of being with us, he'd found Toby and Allie's (mostly Toby's) stash of toys (the 2-minute mark of this video). It hasn't been an easy transition for Toby but he's grown to accept his obnoxious little half-brother; not nearly as quickly as Allie did but he's managing. Toby's playing with Charlie is limited to a match of tug-of-war over one of their toys but it's a start. I had to laugh on Friday morning. Tammy was cleaning her office as she got ready to begin her day of work as a telephone triage nurse. She collected all the toys Charlie had brought in there over the previous day; she counted 9 in all. He's a busy guy.I spent Saturday working on panel 6 of 6 and made considerable progress. I can't think of many more relaxing endeavors I have than spending time down in the shop working on a project. There's a very peaceful component to doing the art that I crave. I hope to have this final piece for our entertainment center completed in the next couple of weeks.
But as much as I enjoy working with glass there are several other projects I'd like to work on including some non-stained glass stuff such as model car building. It's been years since I've built a model car but the closer I get to completing this two-year project, the more I find myself dreaming of other distractions to fill my time. Those are welcome thoughts.
I snuck (my spellcheck doesn't like that word but I do) away early Saturday morning with Toby to do some errands (it's part of our routine—he loves the one-on-one time with me—or is it the treat he knows he'll get at the Starbucks drive-up window?). I came home from Target with errands completed and walked into the kitchen with two bags of groceries. Tammy was making herself a cup of coffee and commented to me about the article I'd bookmarked in the AARP magazine. "I didn't do that...I thought you did" I told her. Grins worked their across both of our faces as we came to the realization who had. Rachel!
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