Quotations... Art Inspiration

There's a little Salvadoran restaurant that I frequent, and have become quite friendly with one of the waitresses. She's a gal from Venezuela, a recent immigrant, who, when we first met, spoke little or no English. She was working hard at learning, and since we'd become regulars at the restaurant we would chat and she could to practice her English.

We had a little start one day, when we went for dinner and found the restaurant shuttered and empty. We wondered how we would find our friend again. Lucky for us it turned out that the restaurant had not really closed, but had, quite suddenly, moved to a new location a few miles down the street.

When we finally caught up with our waitress friend again, we told her that we had been sad when had thought the restaurant had closed and we'd not get to see her anymore, so with the idea that someday we would meet for coffee or desserts we exchanged numbers. Unfortunately, I work days and she works most every night, so despite our good intentions, we never managed to make that happen, but we we've continued our friendship at the restaurant.

One night as we finished dining, she came over to the table, three deserts in hand, sat down at the table across from us and told us that since we never are able to coordinate schedules to have our coffee and dessert date, we would just do it now. She went on to say that her father had a saying... "The special moment is now" and explained that he thought it was silly how people are always saving things, like that nice bottle of wine, or the pretty new dress, or the special dinnerware, or whatever, for an off in the future special occasion, when the reality is that life is short and we should enjoy it now. So that night, even though she was working, she declared that "the special moment is now" and we all had a nice dessert together.

As a person who has always been guilty of saving things for the special occasion, I thought that really was an excellent sentiment, one that I really needed to take to heart. I decided that I would put that quote on few coffee mugs as a reminder, and make one for my waitress friend as a thank you for sharing her father's words of wisdom with us.

I threw some mugs and sprigged on little placard on which I stamped "The special moment is now", and a few weeks later, after they had gone through all the drying, glazing and firing steps brought them to my friend at the restaurant. She was thrilled with the surprise, and quite touched that I had remembered her fathers quote. She even cried a little. I always enjoy it when I can make a piece and share it with the perfect person and make them smile! I also enjoy getting new art inspiration. I can see a series of quote mugs in my future!

What a wonderful world...

I'm so lucky to live in a place with so many great outdoor activities right in my own back yard, so I can do cool things like go for great hikes after work and cooler that I have several groups of friends who like to hike so there is always something going on. This week I hiked on Wednesday and Thursday...

Wednesday's hike was up Neffs Canyon with my pottery studio hiking group; AKA "Hiking Buddies". We try to hike or mountain bike most every Wed and every weekend when the weather is good... It was a great (steep!) hike up to the wilderness area, we stopped at a lovely waterfall where we could get a nice view back towards the valley.

This weeks excitement was when one of the guys stepped on snake... he screamed and jumped, but the other guy with us reached right down and picked it up... it was an adorable little Rubber Boa.

Last nights hike was with a different group of friends... members of the UFA- the "Up For Anything"... last night "Anything" was a sunset dinner hike to the "Living Room", a spot high above the university were people have built a "room" full of chairs and tables made of stones. A perfect place to enjoy some wine and cheese and watch the sunset!

Shotski Time!

Here's a little camping fun and games..

When you are camping with a bunch of skiers that is.

The "Shotski".

This is a special custom shotski. 2 skis attached together with wing nuts in Snowbird colors. Attached to the skis are 8 beautiful handthrown ceramic shotglasses, made by my friend Susan. Susan orchestrated the perfect shot ski... everyone is lined up my height, so nobody gets a shot shower. (Being a short gal between 2 tall men is dangerous.) Everyone pours the beverage of their choice, on command the shotski is raised in salute, then tipped. Yummy and warm in the tummy.

Funny, I'm not much of a shot drinker, I'd usually much rather sip and savor my favorite beverages... but who can resist the Shotski?

And so it begins....

Yesterday, the first of my children got married. OK, not one of my biological kids, but my son Matt's good friend Kory, one of my "kids" for sure. I feel blessed, that as my kids were growing up, we were one of the "hang out" houses. I always joked about running the "Morrison Home for Wayward Children" as we always seemed to have a full house. I even hung a Beware of the Children sign on my door. Kory was one of those boys that was always here, watching skateboard videos, doing rails and jumps out on the street, staying for dinner and now he is the first of the gang to get married. It's hard to believe my little skateboarder dude kids are all growing up.

Andrea, his new bride, is a sweet girl, who seems to have a lot of personal style. They were married in the mormon temple so we could not attend the ceremony, but they had a reception at the ward house that evening. They picked a "vintage theme" and had the room decorated with antique treasures collected from family and friends. The guest book was an old book we were invited to write in, antique trunks contained photos of the wedding couple, it was all rather sweet. And yeah I admit it, I cried.


The gang! It was not long ago the were all in front of the house skateboarding!





My baby Matt, I'm glad the wedding gave him an excuse to come home for a weekend. Don't you love his smile?

Random...

Some random photos, observations and weirdness from my trip to Wisconsin.

Beer, look at all this beer! Good beer! And wine and liquor! In a grocery store!...Hey, I'm from Utah, where the only booze you can buy at the grocery is 3.2 beer, so I was really excited and awestruck to see this amazing selection at the grocery. And yes, being the tourist I am, much to the embarrassment of my friends, I took pictures! (That's right, you can't take me anywhere!)



More interesting shopping... a few finds from the local consignment store. Someone please tell me what what these things are, why they exist and who would want them. A caped dog with an industrial looking artificial leg, wearing dog food on it's collar... why?? A giant mouse lamp? Why? again. It would be interesting to know the provenance of these items... I'm sure there are stories to be told. I think Tom, he resident english major/comic book writer of our group should write a story about the super hero dog...


And look... more interesting things followed us around. This blimp kept flying over Heather's house, welcoming us to Wisconsin... How often do you see a blimp!


And what party would be complete without junk food and booze? Somehow we bought a lot of chips... which seemed to follow us everywhere, from the dining room, to the beach, out to the back yard. Overindulgence for sure...they were eventually banished to this lonely spot on a chair. And just like in the old days, we had a few drinks. Our hostess with the mostess put her best bar forward, she broke out the leftover Mount Gay rum from out last reunion. And the bar came complete with binoculars... and floor cleaner... hmmmm... how did that happen? But it gives me an idea... perhaps drunk cleaning makes house work more fun..

My last bit of amusement... from the hotel where we stayed. A pancake machine! How cool is that? I didn't even know such things existed!!!

Flashback....

Flashback to the early '80s...Oxford, Ohio, the Miami University Botany Department. Graduate school. Classes to take, classes to teach, research to do, oral exams to pass, theses to write and defend. There's nothing like struggling through a graduate degree to make you bond with your fellow classmates. And bond we did. Those were some of the best years of my life. All these years later we are still friends and despite being spread across the nation we manage to gather now and then for a reunion. This time in Milwaukee, where Heather, our resident over-achiever with a PhD directs the electron microscopy lab at the university. The crew... Heather, me from Utah, Dean from California, Riley form Tennessee, Lola from Maine, Kathy from upstate New York. Along with my school friends came a few wonderful spouses, Heather's husband Tom and Riley's wife Sue. I am so happy that my friends all married well, and that despite their spouses not being "one of us" (I think Sue used those words), they have all really become "one of us".

Upon descending at Heather's we discussed when were last all together. We think it was 2003, entirely too long ago. But you know, we the minute we got together it was as if we had all been all together yesterday! Let the fun begin.

Heather lives just a few blocks from Lake Michigan... We stopped at a consignment store as we strolled over the lake. Riley found a great Native American family that he wanted to adopt.




And Dean found a great new potential addition to his wardrobe...


And at the lake, why not crash a wedding party?


We also had an afternoon at the beach... there was talk of swimming, but the water was COLD, and the bath house closed, so we just had a beach party instead. Chips!! Yum!







After the beach we went and grabbed lunch... talking and eating... some of the things we do best! Isn't this how we got through grad school? Eating, drinking and talking... Friday night pizza parties, dinner parties, crazy theme parties. It is a wonder we all graduated!

And the universe must have been watching us. As we ate lunch, what showed up in the parking lot? The Joy Farm bus!!! We were all for a ride to the "Joy Farm"!!!

Heather, our entertainment director, all decked out in the beachware she provided for us all.