For the Record...

I do thank God that I still have a house for the planes to be shot down over.

Please give to the Red Cross! http://www.redcross.org

Good to Know the Feds Have Their Shit Together on This One

You know, just in case one of the shot down planes crashes onto my house I know who to go after to replace my house. As if there wasn't enough stress living in the nation's capital I have to worry about them shooting a plane down over my freakin house.

http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?sid=522772&nid=116

T.G.I.F.

Even though it was a short work week for me it has been a long week. Our weekend will be a bit on the busy side. We are taking the boys to their first Nationals game tonight. I didn't tell the four-year-old yet, he'll be too excited to get through the day. Since we got the team, he has been SO excited about baseball. I'm really looking forward to taking him to the game. Go Nats!

Tomorrow we will motor up to Philly for our niece's 3rd birthday. She is just the cutest little thing and she LOVES Dora the Explorer. My four-year-old helped me birthday shop for her last night. It is always important to get input from another Dora expert. My sister-in-law has a pool party scheduled for Sunday.

This weekend pretty much kicks off our fall schedule of trips to various parts of PA. The hubby's class reunion is next weekend also in PA. Then we have Penn State season tickets with my brother, so that adds three more trips to PA. There will be a canoe race for the hubby in October, as well as another trip to Philly to attend a huge bead show. Things should settle down the end of November after my reunion, which is over the Thanksgiving weekend and again PA. Good thing my new car should be in the week of Labor Day. It will have a flip-down DVD to keep the boys occupied while we are on the road. Looks like we'll be keeping Exxon in business.

Blue Dog Art Revealed-Part 3

This is the "Blue Dog". He is an Australian Cattledog, which are sometimes called "Blue Heelers". His coat looks "blue" sometimes depending on the lighting. He is the smartest dog I have ever had. Doesn't he look like he just has so much to say?

Blue Dog Art Revealed-Part 2

I have titled this fused glass pendant "Waterfall". The glass fusing, stringing and wirework are all my doing.

I went to open studio last night and fused four more pendants. I can't wait to see how they come out of the kiln. Normally I would have to wait until next Tuesday night to pick up my firings, but I might sneak over there at lunch on Thursday and pick them up early.

I got some $$ for my birthday. Should I buy glass to fuse or beads? Decisions, decisions...

The Crap That I Deal With on a Daily Basis

So the vacation is SO far gone...

I work in a very small office---ten people. There are only five of us here in the office this week. One is my boss, one keeps pretty much to herself, the other two are driving me nuts. I'll refer to the two as "the brain trust". The first half of the brain trust, "F.I", has minimal functioning brain cells and can't make a decision for herself. I have dealt with her WAY more than necessary today. The other half of the "brain trust" I'll call her "P.A." is in some kind of war with our boss and I keep getting caught in the middle of it. For some reason unknown to me, P.A. isn't speaking to the boss. He tells me one thing, she wants another. He signs my paycheck, she is not pleased with me. Today the boss decided to discontinue using the Pur water filter on the faucet in the kitchen. "The Brain Trust" is freaking out and are again not happy with me because I don't usually drink the water so I don't care that he yanked the filter. Whatever. Petty crap that I don't have time to waste thinking about. Oh the best part... F.I. sits in the "cube" next to me...she types with her fingernails and reads under her breath as she types and reads her e-mail. Will someone please just stick a pencil in my eye?

Welcome Back to Reality

OK, so I'm new to this blogging thing. Can someone please tell me if it is normal to come up with a blog title while driving to work in the morning?

We returned from our mini-vacation yesterday. My husband and I had a great time in NY and wined and dined quite a bit. The CMOG was great and the gift shop was incredible. We stayed in the sweetest B&B and the folks that run it were as cute as could be. Wineries that I recommend from the trip are Wagner and Fulkerson.

I returned to work today, with half the office still on vacation. It is beyond quiet here. I'm of course slammed with e-mail and work. I still have a serious block for the design and layout of my current magazine issue. The articles are pretty dry this issue and I've got nothing for the article spreads and much less for a cover design. Artistic block is a bitch.

Time to take a walk and find a snack.

Music to Check Out

I packed the boys up last Thursday evening and went to see an outdoor show by Shane Hines at Pentagon Row. Aside from the ridiculous heat and humidity here in DC, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the show. A local boy with a great voice just trying to get by playing his music.

The highlight for my four-year-old was the free chocolate milk provided by sponsor 3-A-Day Dairy. Oh, and he got to see his favorite deejay.

Blue Dog Art Revealed-Part 1

Above is a fused glass pendant. It is made by layering glass and firing it up to 1600° in a "beehive" kiln.

Reflection on Turning Another Year Older

Today is my birthday. I am officially 38 today. I think that once you turn 30 that life begins and that what ever number represents your age no longer really matters. My second date with my now husband was on my 30th birthday. I have been happily married to him for six years now and we have two beautiful sons. Life is good and it all started eight years ago.

I have a high school reunion in November. (Thanksgiving and the PA Turnpike is NEVER a good thing.) 20 years since the class of 1985. How did that happen? 20 years? The time flies. I would not want to repeat those years, but I can look back fondly on them. I went to my 10 and 15 year reunions and they were fun. Some people are the same, many are seen in a different light. Friends that I was close to then...some are far removed now. Friends that I was not close to then are now closer. It is an interesting dynamic.

Tomorrow we leave for vacation. I'm looking forward to having the down time. Just need to get through the work day. Too much to do, not enough time. We are going to stop at the Corning Museum of Glass on the way into New York on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the museum has to offer.

Hopefully, I will soon have time to post some photos. Then the Blue Dog Art will be revealed a little bit.

BRIDEZILLA

I have friend who is getting married in September. I was invited to her bridal shower, but did not attend because I did not have anyone to babysit my kids. The following is an e-mail from her:

"Yeah, yeah. I come to all of your showers but you can't come to mine. I see how you are. No love for me. I will remember that. Got your rsvp for the wedding. Only 7 more weeks!!"

I think I'm offended. Her bachelorette is coming up. She's a puker. I'm even less motivated to go to that than the wedding now.

T.G.I.F.

It has been a long week. Work is insane, but I'm not motivated.

Tuesday is my birthday and Wednesday we leave for vacation, which I am really looking forward to this year. Last year's vacation to Western North Carolina was a nightmare. 6 adults and 5 kids under the age of five in the middle of nowhere. The odds were not good from the start, especially with two newborns and a one-year-old who had just started to walk in a very small un-child proof house. Oh, and on the way home from the nightmare, I walked into the open tailgate on my car. The tailgate doesn't raise completely when we have the "Rocket Box" on the top of the car. I whacked my head so hard it knocked me to the ground and I ended up in the emergency room and had to have two staples put in my head. This year, my husband suggested dropping the kids at his parents in PA and going on to New York, just the two of us. We are headed to a B&B in the Finger Lakes. It will be the first time in a while that it has just been the two of us together, so I'm looking forward to spending some time with him.

I still need to find some time to set this blog up better and to get some photos on it. I've been thinking about what I would actually have to say on this blog. I guess just a stream of consciousness is OK. Some of the other blogs that I read are very well written, funny and quite interesting and I guess I'm a bit intimidated by that. I guess I just need to get over it.

Well here I am Again

I still have no idea what I am doing. I can't even figure out how to post a photo to my profile, but I'm working on that. I also can't seem to get the blog link to show up in my profile, so I'm sure that no one can even get here anyway.

This week I am doing the mommy thing on my own. The kiddos have been good so far, aside from a marker incident yesterday. Thank goodness for Crayola Washable Markers.

The other major incident of yesterday was the failure of our TiVo remote. I almost had a heart attack. Two phone calls to the TiVo people and it is sort of working again in a "the batteries seem to be going dead" sort of way. So it is band-aided and I have to call DirecTV for a replacement for the now only malfunctioning remote. Don't get me started on the TV that mysteriously quit working while we had a babysitter two weeks ago that will cost over $200. to fix. To think I thought the babysitter was undercharging us for our night out.