Say What?

It's been a busy time for me the last 10 days and I'm not quite sure where to begin this post. I wanted to dive right in and mention my doctor's appointment from yesterday morning but I'll take this as I typically do and mention stuff in the order it happened. It's the Virgo in me. I drove down to Rochester Saturday afternoon to pick up Rachel for a family reunion planned for Lake Marion on Sunday afternoon. We both saved our appetites in anticipation of stopping along the way home to grab a bite to eat. Rachel suggested 5 Guys on the north end of the city. She said they have excellent burgers. That's all I needed to hear. I'm always open to a new fast-food recommendation so I was all in. Lately, I've been getting my semi-fast-food fix from a couple of places: Divannis for their club sandwich on ciabatta bread  and Noodle Factory for their Penne Rosa with grilled chicken . A double-beef burger it would be. While standing in line deciding what to or...

My poor mom. She was making her way through the checkout lane at Cub Foods a few days ago when a couple of young kids, maybe 5 to 6 years old, cut her off and caused her to fall and hit her face on the floor. Several people (including the mother of the two little ones) rushed to her aid and eventually got her to her feet then sat her down on a bench so she could assess her injuries. A fall at her age of nearly 84 can be catastrophic but she appears to be ok aside from some swelling and bruising. It could have been so much worse. Tammy urged me to encourage her to go in to be looked at considering she's on a blood thinner but she insists she's fine. We've got a family reunion next Sunday, something we seldom do and we need her there. No more falls allowed for her. Ever! I've found a nice workout routine that I'm liking a lot. Between my walks, our elliptical and my CompuTrainer, I'm able to have enough variety that I look forward to whatever workout I'm doi...

Ugh! I saw my first political lawn-sign of this election cycle on the way to work this morning—a John Kline sign. I was really hoping to at least get through August before those began popping up but no such luck. It was in my neighbor's yard so I'll be sure to counter it with an Obermueller sign when the time comes. Not that it will do much good. Once again we had our time-slot at Foci canceled due to continuing equipment problems. We took a drive up there on Thursday night to retrieve our work from the previous week. They've got another furnace nearly ready to install so hopefully we'll get back to a more normal routine. We both need that at this stage of our learning. The photo to the left is of two vases I did last week. A few years ago when Rachel was considering colleges to attend, high up on her list was Northwestern College in St Paul. It's a Christian college with a setting that appealed to all of us but I was never sure the curriculum suited her needs....

 That was June? Wow! I'm back to work after having taken last week off. We didn't go anywhere, we just hung around home. I took the opportunity to leisurely take care of some outdoor projects in between hours of doing not much at all. Our driveway before and after sealing. My John Deere before and after cleaning. You know...that sort of stuff. Once again I found myself dreaming of retirement and what it will feel like to not have to return to work, where every day is Saturday. 548 days to go. I can wait. We finally got back in the studio for glassblowing on Thursday morning after having been away for three weeks. We told ourselves we weren't going to allow those sorts of breaks to happen again but there was little we could do about it. Foci has seen their share of equipment malfunctions lately and because of that, we've had several of our slot times canceled. Friends of ours, Brenda and Marty, met us there to observe a couple of glassblowing hacks in action. I...

Tammy asked me recently what I'd like for Father's Day. Without hesitation, my thoughts turned to things glassblowing related. I mentioned that we could use some more frit (small bits of glass color). She countered with a suggestion for glassblowing tools instead. Even better! We've been using the shop's tools and while they're okay with where we're at in our skills, it's not a bad idea to begin assembling our own toolkit. She did some research and came up with some ridiculously expensive but beautiful Carlo Dona shears for cutting through hot glass. I think I'll be content for the foreseeable future with glassblowing tools for any gifts she may want to shower me with and I'm thinking that she won't mind if I return the favor. I did buy myself one gift for Father's Day. I ordered a model kit of the class of ship I served on during my time in the Navy in the mid to late '70s. This is something I've been wanting to do for some time....

I don't make the rounds of Facebook as much as I used to. I grew weary of a few people among my friends who use the site to rail on and on about the Obama administration and its failings with their associated links to Fox News and other similar sites bent on seeding the land with their propaganda. They offer no solutions, only criticism and the base of ignorance they display (at least to me) is nothing short of frustrating. As we move closer to the fall elections, it's only going to become uglier. I went through my friends list a few nights ago and hid the most blatant offenders from my feed so I no longer have to read their rantings. It was freeing. That's not to say that I've hidden all those I disagree with; only the ones who are out to obnoxiously provoke others with no intention of opening their own ears and eyes with a desire to hear what the other side is saying. I continue to get the majority of my exercise through my walks. I find it so enjoyable out there ...

Finally! We both feel like we're making some progress once again in the studio. It's been a while since we've felt that way. I only scored one successful piece this past Thursday But I was still happy. I had one rather large vase that was just a few processes from being completed but I made a rookie mistake and bumped the end of my punty rod against the bench rail on my way to the furnace and it was enough to cause the piece to fly off the punty and end up on the floor. It was a nice piece and I'd have loved to have finished it but I took away some lessons from the effort so I'm fine with that. Rachel came with us, killing time as she relaxes around our home for a week before going back and beginning work as a camp (sports enrichment) counselor at the YMCA in Rochester for the summer. The vase in the photo to the left is the one I was referring to last week in my blog. My doctor says I can come off Coumadin (blood thinner) in February—one year from my bilater...