Say What?

I have a love/hate relationship with the fall season. I love the cooler temps and the great riding and dog-walking days they provide but more and more (as the trees in our yard and our neighbor's yards get larger and larger) I'm hating the leaf raking that goes with it. I got a head-start on our flowers and perennials today by cutting some of them back a little sooner than usual. Our trees are all still green but they will soon change and when they do I'll be owned by them as I try and keep up with their falling leaves. Wish me luck. Tammy took a Bonsai plant class last Sunday at Como Park Conservatory. She had her interest piqued when we were at the State Fair a few weeks ago and observed a  bonsai plant exhibit . I came home from work Sunday night and she couldn't wait to tell me all that she'd learned in her class from how to water and fertilize them to what to look for when trying to achieve the desired shape and what that should be. It was much more involved ...

We finally made it back to Foci last Thursday after more than three weeks away. We did alright on the bench but we could tell that some rust had begun to settle on our limited skills. The studio has their furnace issues behind them and is open for full use again so we should be able to get back to our weekly time-slots. We're both as eager as ever to continue to push ourselves and develop as glassblowers! Tammy's mother spent two days with us this week and was able to watch us blow glass. Our concern with her in the studio with us was that she's so quick to move about so we had to be careful to keep her from getting hurt. It's typically not the 2200 degree glass that burns you but the tools that come in contact with it. An object doesn't begin to show that it's hot until it's over 1000 degrees. Pat Robertson was in the news this week for a remark he made about one spouse leaving another when Alzheimer's descends upon a marriage. I'm not much of a...

It seemed I couldn't click on a page online yesterday without being reminded of the events of 9/11. I have little to add other than to say that even the strongest military in the world is helpless against people who are determined to blend in with society until they decide to act on their rage. We can spend every last dollar we have trying to protect ourselves but it still won't be enough. 19 individuals with box-cutters slipped onto our shores unnoticed, then proceeded to kill nearly 3000 innocent people and help bring our economy to a grinding halt. What does that say about the strongest military the world has ever seen? I'll say no more. Rachel is having a blast in Rochester, or at least I assume she is. I thought I saw a recent photo of her on Facebook but I can't be sure. I haven't heard much from you, kiddo—are you out there? We haven't blown glass in over two weeks. A new furnace was installed at Foci where we blow and because of the install and com...

Last week was a difficult week for me. Having just finished nearly all of my scheduled vacation time for the year the previous week it was a little depressing knowing that another summer of fun was in the rear-view mirror. Thoughts of the long slog that lay ahead as we work our way toward and through another winter hasn't helped. Please don't let it be a winter like the one we had last year! My mind couldn't help but wonder what retirement must feel like. It's anybody's guess when that day may finally arrive for me. I think the soonest I'd consider going is 18 months from now but a more realistic guess would be at least 28 months away, at the end of 2013. 18 months gets us out from under our mortgage and a home equity loan we took out when we finished our basement . We can comfortably retire then but there's a part of me that wants to continue working to pay for some large projects around our home that are out on the horizon in addition to Rachel's col...