Yup, I do still make beads....

I decided to do some gardening in glass....
Flowers! You can never have too many flowers!

Ebay....

Ta da, after a long hiatus, I started listing some beads on ebay again... hopefully someone will find them and like them. Sometime early in the summer my friends wanted to go on bike ride on the night I normally did ebay listings... so I skipped one night. And then it happened again, and again... and the next thing you know I've taken the summer off from ebay. But now it's time to let some beads go... they are kind of weighing down the south side of my house again....

Watch Me Create!

Forget about snow, let's talk spring! Today you'll find me on Watch Me Create writing about my new spring beads!

A beady good time..

It sure is fun how this bead hobby of mine has led me to meet all sort of interesting people. I had lunch with a new bead friend the other day. Carol Ann "found" me a while back on, of all places MySpace. Normally I don't add strangers as friends on MySpace, but for "bead people" I make exception. Then awhile back she bought one of my pendants on Etsy. When I saw the delivery address, which was right near where I drive every day anyway, I suggested I could just drop it by her house after work, and save her the shipping fee. So we finally met (briefly) in real life, with a promise to get together sometime.

Sometime finally came this week when we met for lunch. What a fun lunch it was. I brought beads, Carol brought her beautiful jewelry, much of which contained lampwork beads. The fun part is that many of the beads were from people I know of or even know. She had some Kalera beads, and beautiful polymer clay pendant by Cheryl and a big pink heart made by Schermo. Really fun for me, as I've admired Kalera's beads for a long time. Same is true for Cheryl's polymer clay piece. I've seem her work on the internet, but it was really cool to see and fondle on of her pieces in real life. And the Schermo bead? I met Schermo a few years ago at a bead retreat. She's a wonderful lady. It turns out she and Carol are long, long time bead friends. It was fun to gab about mutual bead friends, and other bead artists we both admired. What a small, small world. And what a fun, fun lunch, by the time lunch was over I felt like I've knwn Carol forever. It's always fun to meet another beady friend.They are the best! Oh and I should add, she actually wore her black cape! (and I'd worn mine) I've now actually met a fellow caped crusader.

16 year old drivers...Yikes

I awoke yesterday at 6:50 to the telephone ringing. Oddly, it was my daughter, who lives with me and should have been home. It turns out that she decided to run to the grocery store to do something about our critical need for a gallon of milk. She was having some sort of issue with her car. Slightly groggy and confused I hopped in the car and headed to the store, which, fortunately, is only a couple blocks from home.

It seems that when she parked, she pulled into one of a handfull of spots that have a one of those concrete curbs at the front of the space. When she realized she arrived before the store opened she decided to leave, pulled forward and ran right over the curve. So here she is, all flustered, trying to figure out what to do about the fact thather car wheels were stradling this huge concrete block . At least she was smart enough to call for help rather than risk damaging her car. I pulled up, aimed my headlights at the side of the car to access the situation. Thankfully the car wasn't bottomed out on the curb, so I made the determination that she could probably slowly back over the curb. Which she did as I stood and waved her on. Clunk, thunk she rolled over the curb, and the front end of the car bounced on it. The car thankfully, seems OK.

I guess drivers-ed goes on and on for 16 year old. And moms-ed goes on and on for us for us mothers. We never do know what our kids will do next. Sarah's big question... "Hey, Mom, how does it feel to know your children are RETARDED???" Hmmm ... should I laugh or cry???

Day of the Dead

Today is the Day of the Dead. I figured out why the Day of the Dead comes the day after Halloween. I'm sure it's because after falling asleep wearing excessive amounts of Halloween eye makeup, you wake up with ugly, black, smeary eyes that make you look dead. At least that was the case at my house this morning, where Sarah, her friend Neeka and I all looked quite the fright when we woke up as we were all too tired and lazy after our parties to do proper makeup removal.

I went to a party hosted by one of my ex lab members... science geeks are so amusing. Nate, the Mad Hatter won the best costume prize... a nice box of pipette tips! Just what everyone wants, right? .... gotta wonder about my social circles!

My Day of the Dead was lovely. November 1st, and I walked the dog down the the gully for swim wearing shorts, a t-shirt and sandals. I regretted my choice of apparel, not because I was to cold as you might expect in November, but because I wished I'd worn a tank top instead of a t-shirt. Daisy was happy to get one more swim in before winter.

Running in the Rain

Last night I had another one of those "I wish I had my camera" moments. After dinner I decided to go for a jog. I went upstairs and put on my jogging attire, rounded up the dog and her leash, and stepped outside... into the rain. I'll swear it wasn't raining wen I went to change clothes, but sure enough the big black cloud that hung above mountains opened up. To the west the sun was bright, so it seemed like more of a sun shower than a rain storm, so I figured, what the heck, I'll take my chances with rain and run anyway.

As Daisy and I jogged through the neighborhood I glanced up at the mountains behind my house and saw the biggest rainbow I've ever seen. It started over at Parleys Canyon, made a perfect arc over the mountains and came down right at Millcreek Canyon. I have never before in my life been so sure I knew EXACTLY where the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was. The rainbow brightened and eventually you could see a faint second rainbow above the first.

As I jogged down the hill I kept turning around to watch the rainbow. When I got about a mile down the hill the moon popped up over the mountaintops. (up at my house it was still hidden by the mountains). What a spectacular site! The mountain ridge lines crossing the stormy skyline. The huge rainbow arcing above the mountaintops. The nearly full moon tucked into the corner where the rainbow transected the ridge line. Positively gorgeous!! Too bad I don't take my camera on my jogs.

Today I'm highly recommending running in the rain!!!

More on tattoos...

I had a few responses to my blog about tattoos. My friend Melissa thought that the grenade may be from the cover of a Green Day album. I'm not quite sure if it was quite the right style of grenade for that, and since I didn't take a picture, who knows? I love music and have my favorite musicians, but none mean quite enough to me to get a tattoo in homage to them.

My friend Ellen has a image of a pink ribbon tattooed on her lower leg. She's a breast cancer survivor, or as she says, thiver, so I can totally understand how she decided on her tattoo.

When the kids were little we had a family joke about having a family tattoo night where we get a tattoo. I figured the best way to suppress the desire to get a tattoo would be make it a family thing. Not that I have anything particularily against tattoos, I just figured that getting one was an adult decision, not one for kids.

Regarding my future tattoos...here's my little secret (or shall I say "too much information"? LOL). I have, on my rear end, a birthmark; a good sized "Café au lait" spot. I figure since I'm marked there already, maybe I should go ahead and get it decorated. No one see it anyway, maybe I could have some flowers or a pretty design put there, just for fun. My daughter tells me that when she was little I had a different idea for a birthmark decoration. I swear I don't remember ever saying this, but she sys I told her I was going to get a little pig tattooed there, and turn my birthmark into a picture of a pig playing in a mud puddle. What do you think? Should I go for it? LOL! ...Hmmm doubtful!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Noon on the 4th of July.... and I have been having a nice day. I decided to spend the morning with my computer at my coffee shop. I thought I get some pictures edited and and mail written with out the distractions of home. Silly me, instead of home distractions I had coffee shop distractions, but that of course was a "good thing" (insert my finest Martha Stewart voice here).

I said "my" coffee shop, but as you may guess it's not mine, it's just the one 2 miles down the hill I stop at every morning on the way to work. I've lost track of how many years I've been a customer there, but it's been long enough that the shop has gone through 2 owners and countless baristas, and it feels like home to me so I call it "my" coffee shop. I usually stop for a few moments in the morning on the way to work, and being a "regular" I've become friends with many of the other regulars. Hanging out this morning was nice because I got to visit with so many of my coffee shop friends, some I haven't bumped into in a while. Randy, Jack, Jean and Jean, Jeremiah, Oliver, Dan, that nice couple from the neighborhood who's names I always forget, Lance the owner....who have I left out?... so much for working without distraction!!!!!!!!! What a pleasant way to spend the morning. It's really nice to have a day where I can just slow down, enjoy myself, sip coffee, work on my computer. It's too bad I can't do this more often... so do I want another cup of coffee now?

How I'm spending my summer vacation...

What summer vacation? As a working person, summer's not much different than winter, or spring or fall. But the day's are longer, giving us more time to recreate outdoors, so I'm trying to take advantage. The "new" thing I've been doing more of this summer is mountain biking. I've had a mountain bike for 10 or 15 years, but admit that it has rarely hit the dirt, with a few exceptions I've mostly putzed around the streets with it. Last year a girlfriend of mine took up mountain biking in a pretty serious way, and she's often looking for someone to bike with (or babysit while she bikes). So I have been actually getting out on the trails this year, and really enjoying it. We haven't been going terribly far, as her 10 year old daughter tends to pace our travels, but we've been on some hills and rocky trails. Last night a group of us, my friend, her daughter and two former students from the lab, went out and had a great time. The uphills, especially when rocky, are hard for me, but it sure is a good work out. And I did do about as well as my 26 year old friends (that or they were just being nice to the old lady!) so I was pleased. And I'm actually starting to get the hang of the rocky down hill sections; they are not nearly as terrifying as they were the first few times I went out. Now I'm starting to wonder why I didn't go out mountain biking more in the past. Perhaps having enthusiastic friends to go with makes the difference. We're going to try to have regular weekly rides for the rest of summer. Who knows, maybe it will even help loose the extra weight that makes the uphills hard. Now if I can only start getting myself to start biking to work....

Concert Friends....

A couple of my morning coffee shop barista's are playing in a band and they invited me to attend their show last night at Kilby Court. The guys are young, around my sons age (friends of his too),so I'm happy to support their musical endevours. As an extra added treat, the other band playing was the band of a good friend of mines son (one of those kids I knew when he was bump in his moms belly!) that I've been wanting to see in concert for a long time.

Kilby is a pretty funky venue, several small buildings suround a court yard with a fire pit, the "concert hall" is essentially a ratty old four car garage; cinderblock walls, exposed beams,a few vines trailing into the eves from the ouside. There is a small raised stage in the corner surrounded by corrugated fiberglass panels decorated with Christmas lights. It's an all ages (non-drinking) venue, thus most of the clientel are teenagers. I'm sure "old farts" like me stick out like a sore thumb, but that's Ok,I don't care because I'm young at heart!

I have to admit I had a great time with the teens. When I first walked up my friends son, Ben, rushed right up to talk, and was thrilled that I came to his show. The girl behind the ticket window took one look at me and said, "You're Matt Morrison's mom aren't you? You used to come teach science in elementary school". I of course didn't recognize her and had to ask her name; kids do change a lot in the 12 years! I was thrilled she was actually a kid I remembered... but now she was a red headed adult instead of a little blonde 1st grader. I can honestly say I was a tad flattered that she remembered me from so long ago.

My barista friends came and chatted and seemed genuinely happy we came to support them. Then between bands yet another young man came up to chat. I didn't recognize him with his very short hair, but he was the son of yet another friend, (another I knew as a belly bump!). I felt like such a dork when I realized who it was, and we had a nice talk. It's so nice to see that all the boys I watched grow up have turned into such fine young adults.

I wasn't the lone "old fart" for long, a whole bunch of other (old like me!) coffee shop regulars came to support their favorite barista's. So it ended up being a nice social night for me. I was really glad I went.

I was especially glad to finally hear Ben's band; "The Periodic Table of Funk". I had always heard they were good, and I wasn't disapointed. They were quite excellent and extremely professional!!!! Funky, jazzy, original, jam band music. Sadly, here in Utah, they can't play in real clubs until they're 21, so they'll have to wait another year, meanhile I guess they get to keep playing the teeny bopper venues like Kilby. But they're definitely ready for the big time! I think those boys are going places!

The smells of spring...

Last night I was really tired so after dinner I veged out in front of the TV. Eventually I fell asleep on the couch. About 1 AM I woke up; I'm not sure if the smell woke me, or if I just happened to wake up, but the house reeked of Eu d' skunk. In my grogginess I saw that Oreo, my cat, was with me on the couch, but Daisy, who is most always sleeping on the floor next to the couch, was no where to be found. I panicked. Did I leave her outside in the back yard and fall asleep? I checked the front yard and the backyard- no Daisy. "Crap" I thought... she's off playing with the skunk... one of my worst fears is that the dog will get skunked when I let her out at night. It's happened before, and believe me, I never want it to happen again! I was now finally awake and I checked the house one more time, and this time I found Daisy, upstairs, laying next to Sarah's bed. I must have missed her amongst the all the crap on Sarah's floor the first time I looked. Thank Goodness!!!! She was not the one out playing with skunks!

I was pretty amazed at how much skunk smell permeated my home through all the closed windows. There was still skunk smell lingering in the air out on the street after work today. The neighbors dog didn't get sprayed either, so I'm confused why the smell was so strong. All I know is I'm so thankful that I didn't need to be outside at 1 AM with the hose and baking soda and peroxide.... this time.

A Perfect Weekend..

There is not much better that a perfect spring weekend here in Utah. It was fairly chilly all week, with rain and snow here in the valley, and something like 35 inches of new snow in the mountains. Then *poof* along came the weekend, sunny with temperature in the 60's and 70's.
It was so nice on Saturday my girlfriend and I took our road bikes out for the first ride of the season. Our typical loop is about a 12 mile ride heading down through Holladay to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, then up along Wasatch Boulevard back to out neighborhood. It's a nice ride, especially through the scenic part of Holladay, and the ride along Wasatch, the high, road along the mountain side that has a wonderful view or the mountains. I fared pretty well for my first ride; I managed to pedal all the way up the one "big" hill, although I sure needed to stop and catch my breath at the top. I can see some training is in order! I was afraid I was going to be sore on Sunday, but as it turned out the only sore spot was my rear end. I definitely had a good case of bikers butt. Even with my padded bike shorts and plenty of "natural" padding, my butt bones were sore from sitting on that road bike seat. It sure felt great to get out for a ride.

And if a stellar bike day wasn't good enough, on Sunday we headed up to Brighton for an afternoon of skiing. Spring skiing! Warm weather, sunshine and crazy spring snow. Spring snow can be a little weird; soft and silky on the hills, icy in the shade, thick and slow in in the flat spots. Definitely an exercise in staying loose and constantly readjusting ones balance.

Now I have a great case of happy legs, a sore butt, and a wee bit of sunburn on my nose. What a marvelous way to spend a weekend.

Internet advertising...

I recently opened up a google email account (gmail) so I could have a less cluttered place to chat with some friends. To the right of the mail message there is aways a list of sponsored website links. (The hazard of free email accounts!) It didn't take me to long to realize that the weird thing about gmail is that it appears to "read" your mail, then target advertises those web sites to you based on key words it finds in your text. The other day I was conversing about my daughter and her need to get her drivers license... then I noticed one of the "sponsored links" was to a site called AreYouaSlackerMom.com! How in the world did they know??? My daughter thought I was slacker for not taking her on enough driving practice. Of course I had to click the link to "Are You a Slacker Mom?", where I found an online quiz. After taking the quick quiz then clicking past a barrage of potential advertisers wanting to give me their info, I found the answer... I'm NOT a slacker mom... it turns out I'm a Smarty Pants Mom!!! I wonder if my kids would agree?

Signs of spring...

March in Utah is always a funny weather month. Warm spring can come early, or it can be cold and wintery or it can alternate between the two. We had a pretty cold snowy winter, the snowiest winter in about six years. March rolled around and it suddenly warmed up, in the space of week most of the snow had melted, and everybody started showing signs of spring fever. The number one symptom: Flip flops. People here are pretty quick to break out the flip flops and Tevas, and once the sandals appear, nobody wants to give them up again. This was really evident Saturday night. One of my friends had a really big St. Patrick's Day party. I few hours before the party a big storm blew in, and at party time in was pretty snowy. It was interesting to see how many people showed up to the party in sandals; it was wasn't just an oddball or two, were quite a few folks sporting sandals, (no socks) and parkas. I suppose after a few beers you don't notice the snow on your toes when you walk to the car. Sandals in the snow the official sign of spring I think.

Still snowing...

What a nice snowy week this has been. I have done the snow shovel workout everyday, although today I didn't really have to, as we only got a half inch in tonights "big" storm. Yesterday, after clearing my and my next door neighbors driveways I decided I shoveled enough, so I skipped my deck, which left me some shoveling to do today.

My son had a treat on Monday - he had his first ever "snow day"! Monday's storm hit Durango, Colorado especially hard, and Ft. Lewis College actually cancelled classes. Durango even got a mention on NPR Wednesday morning. Apparently they had so much snow that were warning people that even sledding hills could be avalanche prone. Of course that prompted me to call Matt and remind him to be cautious. I was relieved to hear that they do avalanche control on the single rope tow ski hill adjacent to campus where he and his friends have been building jumps and playing around after class. Matt says there is just a ton of snow everywhere. I'm anxiously awaiting the pictures he said he'd email me.

My excitement for the week came the other day as I returned home from work. As I pulled into the driveway a deer ran across my driveway and pranced through my front yard. Not just any deer, but a nice sized buck. I have occasionally seen deer in my yard, but never a buck. The buck headed to my neighbors back yard where apparently it has been hanging out this week. I think the deer siting solved a mystery for me. Numerous times in the last few weeks Daisy has wandered up my backyard hill and into the brambles behind my neighbors house. This is something she never does, she is not a roamer at all, so I was rather perplexed by her recent behavior. I'm guessing she's been following deer scent. I guess every now and then she liked to pretend she's a real canine, instead of pampered pooch.

The winds are blowing...

Geez, I think we are having a bonified blizzard today. The weather folks have been talking about this storm for about 3 days, billing it as a Monday morning commuter special. As of Sunday night the snow was supposed to hit at 8am, at 2 am the Winter Storm Warnings banner was running across the bottom of the TV, this morning they were saying 9am, but 9am came and left with out incident.
It was very windy, as evidenced by all the overturned trash cans in my neighboorhood, but the wind blew the inversion away and it was sunny, so it was actually pretty out for the first time in a while. (The air pollution here is lousy, especially in the the winter.) I was guessing this is was just another "overhyped because there's nothing else newsworthy worth talking about" storm. Then at 10:30 one of the guys in the lab tells me to look out the window. (It's funny how you can get so engrossed in your work that you don't even look out the window) Wind whipped snow was swirling everywhere, the tree weres swaying, and the sidewalks already coated with snow.

Even though people tend to use the term loosely, not every snowstorm is actually a blizzard. I think of a blizzard as a windy snowstorm, but until today I never sought an actual definition. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center a blizzard is a:

Violent winter storm, lasting at least 3 hours, which combines below freezing temperatures and very strong wind laden with blowing snow that reduces visibility to less than 1 km.

Weather.com says the wind needs to be 35 mph and visibility less than 1/4 mile.

Interesting; I never knew a storm had to have a minimal duration to be a blizzard.

We have plenty of big snowstorms here, but they rarely use the word blizzard. I guess now I know why.

I 'm pretty sure that today we have the winds, visibility is sure poor, and I guess we will have to see if lasts for three hours or not. We're up to 2 so far, and it looks like chances are good that it will snow for another hour. Now I'm going to have to pay attention to the news to see if indeed this is an actual blizzard! (Yeah, yeah, I know.... nerd alert!)

Am I a bad mom?... or a cool one?

My daughter and I don't always agree about what plays on the car stereo. I'm an NPR junky, she claims their monotone voices give her a headache. Since her whining gives me a headache, we usually end up playing the music of her choice when we're together in the car. Recently she introduced me to some new music I really like; Grieves, an (***gasp***) up and coming indie rap artist. I have very varied tastes in music, but I must admit that for the most part, rap hasn't done much for me, so nobody is more suprised than me how much I love his album "Irreversible". It was probably the best $10 I've let Sarah spend on I-tunes. I jokingly say that I must like him because he sings "folk rap", rap with interesting, meaningful lyrics. Great beats too! So now I have officially received some "cool points" for liking some young hip music.

Grieves played a concert here in Salt Lake last night. The concert was at this funky place called Kilby court, an all ages venue that is in essence a large, (about 4 car) cinderblock and plywood garage that is hidden away in a alley in an industrialized section of town. The concert building, ticket/drink kiosk, and another small building surround a courtyard where, in the winter at least, they build a nice fire in a fire pit. It's really like listing to a bunch of friends jam in their garage. Much to Sarah's chagrin, I decided I wanted to go to this concert too. She wasn't too thrilled at having mom go to a concert with her; she said it made her feel "awkward". But since she knows I like the music so well, she "let" me come along. I promised not to talk to her and her friends, not to make any silly scenes, no wild dancing, and that I would leave when the 2nd act, Mac Lethal (who I'm not as nuts about)played, so she could have some non-mom time. So I was the old lady standing along the back wall, trying not to call too much attention to myself. I was probably the only one over 40, perhaps the only person over 30, at the concert. I think that except for the moment when one of Sarah's friends said loudly, in front of several other people, "Sarah is that your mom back there?!", she survived the bad mom embarrassment well.

I enjoyed the concert, and feel compelled to pimp Grieves a little. You can find him on Myspace music, where he has 5 songs from his "Irreversible" album available to download. Give him a listen, and let me know if you like him. If this old lady can like some young hip music, perhaps you will too! Here's a link ...be brave, try out some new music!

Cookies

It's holiday baking season and a forum thread today got my thinking about cookies. Favorite cookies. The rum ball cookies I mentioned a while back are among my favorites, so I think I'll share the recipe.


Rum Balls

12 oz package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/4 Rum
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups Vanilla wafer crumbs (one box of smashed cookies)
2 cups finally chopped walnuts
Confectioners sugar

Melt chocolate. Stir in corn syrup, bourbon, sugar, vanilla wafer crumbs ans walnuts. Using a heaping teaspoon of mixture for each piece, form into balls. Roll in confectioners sugar. Cover and refrigerate several hours. Makes about 72 ball.

This recipe came out of one of my favorite cookbooks: "What's Cooking in Our Kitchens" complied by Elda Elementary PTO.... back in 1981. My mom in law, who worked there, gave me the book, and I have gleaned a number of favorite recipes from it over the years. I like those fundraiser cookbooks... people always submit their family favorites, and they are usually recipes that can be easily prepared my culinary mortals such as myself. This particular recipe was actually for Bourbon Balls but at the holidays I prefer rum, although they are great with either liquor. I bet they'd be tasty with some orange liquor or Kahlua. Maybe I should try something different this year.

Can the sun rise to the west?

Today's another day where I wished I had my camera with me in the morning.(and that I wasn't in such a rush!) As we drove out of my neighborhood my daughter commented that "Utah is the only place where it looks like the sun rises in the west". I hadn't really noticed that before, but she was right. We can't really see much of a sunrise because the mountains to the east are way too tall, but today as the sun started peaking over the mountain tops it illuminated the clouds on the west side of the valley so they were all lovely shades of pinks and peaches. It looked like the sun was rising in the west. I'm going to have to try to get a picture of that phenomena!