Thank You SO Much! and This and That - OMG I'm So BUSY Right Now!

It's going to be a hell of a week, and it starts out with a BANG. Fully expecting to be eliminated from LJ Idol this week, I actually survived and am one of the Final Six. A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who was kind enough to vote for my New York City fortune teller and her Elvish client. I had a lot of fun writing that tale. But now, we have a new topic, and only ... well, if I stretch it, it's five days, but I'm saying it's closer to three days because I usually can't write on Sundays (it's a day spent with DH and football), and I have Black Friday and Small Business Saturday coming up NEXT WEEK. OY! Just kill me now, please! LOL

I can't thank those of you who voted for my story enough! I'm 
absolutely thrilled to be moved into the Final Six. The people 
who are no longer with us are SO talented! I'm flabbergasted 
to still be in the running. 

I have a plethora of things on my platter for today, however, and although I hold out hope that I can work on LJ Idol today, it's unlikely. There are too many things ahead of writing in my line of tasks for the day.  I'll be twirling the subject around in my head for most of the day, but grocery shopping, paying bills, housecleaning, etc are taking a higher priority than sitting at the keyboard today. 

Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA is this HUGE 
spot of green in the City. In some ways it reminds me 
of Central Park in NYC. I wonder how they compare 
in size? I could look it up, but I'll leave that for another
 time. 

I did have a good "run" this morning, though. I got 45 minutes on the treadmill at a good, fast walk. I walked through 30 minutes in British Columbia (such a beautiful location -- lots of variety to look at), and then switched to 15 minutes at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA. I'm rather astounded by how large that park is. I'll have to look at it on a map. I've been to SF several times, but have never been there. Maybe if I ever return to California I'll try and drop by. For that matter, I haven't done most of the tourist things in SF - no Fisherman's Wharf, no Chinatown (except that I stayed in a Chinatown hotel during my first group of workshops in SF), and no Golden Gate Bridge or Alcatraz, except as viewed from the top of various buildings in the downtown area. It's a beautiful city, I wouldn't mind returning there again some day, but my jewelry school has closed, so I don't have a genuine reason to return any more. 

For several years I traveled to San Francisco annually to 
attend classes at Revere Jewelry Academy. I always had 
a total blast honing my skills, and it was always fun to 
have a chance to chat with Alan Revere as well as other 
members and teachers on his staff. He closed his physical 
location more than a decade ago and has moved to on-line 
only, which I don't find as satisfying. There's something about 
having a teacher right there behind you for questions that 
arise that you simply don't get with on-line classes. 

I want to grab my breakfast and start the day, so despite this being a rather boring post, I'm stopping here and starting my day. "Fools Errand" is the next prompt, and I'll be contemplating that while doing my standard grocery shopping/errands/housework. Happy Friday to all, I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Spring? What a Dream...

It snowed yesterday and it's snowing today. It's the end of April, and even though it's not sticking on the ground, it's the entire idea of snow in April that's completely repugnant. Therefore, I've been in a bit of a funk the past few days and have been really terrible about answering comments on my blog. Mea culpa. Please accept my apologies. I'll be unfunked (is that even a word?) when we get sunshine again. Of course, at this rate, that may not happen until June.

Sleet is between rain and hail. Our winds have been driving
our rain in a horizontal direction instead of allowing it to fall
vertically, and it's mostly been sleet or a mix of rain & snow.
Still, it's better than the tornadoes that the Southern US
are having from this storm. 

On the other hand, even though we are getting horrid wind and horizontal rain/snow mix, we're not getting the tornadoes and massive storms that the southern part of the nation is getting. I'm very grateful about that. We'll have plenty of bad weather ahead of us this year, tornado season is just beginning. But tornadoes in the snow are just totally WRONG!

Tornadoes can be among the most beautiful of nature's
destructive side. Along with volcanoes, I love
looking at pictures of them. This particular
pic is quite lovely. It is photoshopped? Maybe.
But I really don't care. It's lovely. 

I'll complain about my weather, but I really shouldn't. There are so many people in the nation right now who have far more reason to complain than I do. There are tornadoes throughout the south, devastating rains in Florida, and destruction following this storm across large swaths of land. The storm is stalled and that's why the problems have been happening across the southern part of the country for an extended period of time.

Can we afford to feed the Stormtroopers? We'll only know
after I've finished the budget, but right now I don't know
for sure. Working out budgets was always the part of
my jobs that I hated the most. It's no different, even though
this is a household budget instead of a business
operational budget. 

I have my day off today. I'll get some beta work done, try to finalize last week's drabble and work on this week's assignment, and maybe even get a few fics put into my archives, but I'm not sure I'm up to working on my budget and spreadsheet work. I spent most of the last two Wednesdays working on those and it's such a slog! I hate dealing with this kind of mess. Finances! ICK!

Sawing sheet metal is a basic skill for every jeweler. I'm not as good
at this as I would like to be, so it's probably time to begin practicing
again. These four examples are part of Alan Revere's class on
sawing and piercing. I loved my time at the Revere Jewelry Academy. 

I want to spend some time thinking through the jewelry idea I had earlier in the week. I'd dearly love to be able to pull out my chemicals and get some work done on etching and enamel again, so I will try to spend a bit of time with this if I can squeeze it in.

Minnesota Wild vs the Colorado Avalanche.
GO WILD for the Wild. 

Today is Game Seven of the series between the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche. I've been less than happy with the officiating we've had in the Colorado arena, but that's where this final game will be held, so good or bad, we're stuck with it. DH will be up watching and he'll be tired tomorrow. Normally he takes Thursday off, but he has to work for Chickie who needs to be absent while she gets a medical test. So he'll be yawning tomorrow, but hopefully (fingers crossed) he'll be happy because Minnesota will have won and progressed to the next stage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. As for me? Well, I'm a Colorado Gal, so either team winning works fine for me, although I must admit that I would probably prefer Minnesota to be the victor.

It's going to be a late game for us, but DH will be up watching. I'll
hear about it on the news Thursday morning. I need my sleep. 

I'll sign off here and get some pics to plug into my ramblings. Have a totally fabulous Wednesday and enjoy your day.

Back Home Again

I returned home yesterday in the early afternoon, exhausted. I did unpack and went out for drinks and some show-and-tell with DH later in the day, then came home and fell asleep around 7:30 pm. My main computer is still with the computer doctor, so I feel as if my right arm has been cut off. I can't save photographs, can't download the many MCWC photos in my camera, and can't do a lot of updating without my main system. Apparently my computer had a graphics card fry. My computer doctor ordered a new card (actually, two cards since my system runs two cards in tandem). I just have a feeling that I'll be really hurting for the money to pay for all of this when I consider all that I purchased at MCWC.

But what about Metal Clay World? I had an absolutely FABULOUS time meeting and interacting with many creative and artistic people. The venue was incredible, the food was amazing, and I got hugs from so many people (including Alan Revere) that I will be on a high for weeks. I can't wait to get some clay opened and get some work done.

So....according to agreement....Tonya - start posting on your blog. Start today! It's never too early to get a good habit going :-)

Blog Carnival

Some metal clay enthusiasts that I know belong to a web carnival where they all post on the same subject once a month. This month was an interesting topic - "What Technique Would You Like to Learn?". It started me thinking.

I am a workshop addict. I take classes as much as possible, as much as I can afford to. I learn something from everyone that I meet, but there are people who actually enrich my life. People with whom I can sit at a table and talk for hours. Most of those people are various teachers that I have met while taking their classes. People like Michael David Sturlin, Trish McAleer, Celie Fago and others. I've tried to learn as much as possible by attending classes at Bead & Button Show and Revere Jewelry Academy.

What would I like to still learn? I want a comprehensive course in stone setting. Either at Revere Jewelry Academy or at Brad Simon's New Approach School for Jewelers. I want to learn welding and how to form vessels. And most of all I want to continue playing with my artistic side - it's a lot more fun than my business side :-))

Only five kids last night for Halloween tricks or treats. All college age, but cute, none-the-less. More candy for DH and me :-))