Road trippin' again...

This time I'm in Moab, Utah. It's Matt's "Parents Weekend" at college and rather than driving the 8 hours to Durango we agreed to meet in Moab for the weekend and tour Arches National Park. I had a nice treat (for a nerd!) on the drive down. I took the afternoon off so I got to drive during the time Science Friday was airing on NPR. I enjoy that show but rarely hear it because I'm at work. They did story today about the TV show Numb3rs, and how it has helped popularize math. I'm hardly a math geek, but part of me kind of wishes I was. As a science major in college I had to take math, but it didn't exactly interest me. Then in grad school we learned about mathematical modeling of plant development; that was the first time I really had appreciation for calculus. Of course by then I'd forgotten my calculus so it was difficult, but interesting. I wish I remembered all that math I was taught all those years ago, at work it would be helpful to understand the mathematical models in scientific papers, and at times I toy with going back to school, but all the things I'd like to study require that long forgotten math. I have an algebra study guide at home, maybe one of these days I will have to indulge my analytical side and relearn my mathematics. I wish it didn't seem so darn hard!

Interestingly, while sitting in the hotel hot tub talking about school, Matt told me that he actually has been enjoying his college algebra class. Maybe math really is the new cool thing!

Lets talk about the weather....

Remember those pants I wasn't planning to wear anytime soon? Well that day came much sooner than I expected. Yesterday was supposed to be cool and rainy, but I figured, heck it's still September and dressed in shorts any way. I went down to the coffee shop in the morning, and while I was sitting there a police car stopped the traffic at the intersection and bunch of bicyclists ride by. It turns out that today was the day for the annual memorial ride in honor of a cyclist who was killed riding in the canyon a few years ago. The poor cyclists! It was cold and rainy, a horrible day for a 10 mile ride. On the way back from the memorial a group of cyclist stopped at the coffee shop to warm up. They were soaking wet and looked positively frozen. I felt so bad for them I offered them all a ride home. One had already called her husband for a ride, another, who had pretty good rain gear, said he'd ride home, and the other couple gratefully accepted my offer. I didn't realize how much the temperature had dropped until we went outside to put their bikes in my car. Yikes, I really felt bad for them then. I drove them the couple of miles to their house then headed back to mine. As I drove on I-215 across the mouth of Parleys Canyon the snow started coming down.

That's right, SNOW! In September. I don't ever remember such an early snow down here in the valley the entire time I've lived here. And this morning there's actually ice on my windshield. I don't even want to see what my annual flowers look like this morning! So it pants today, for the second day. I can't remember the last time I wore long pants in September.

Watch Me Create

Today you can read about my "turkey" beads at "Watch Me Create"!! .

Google Twins

One of the Morning Edition stories on NPR today mentioned a term I'd never heard before: Google Twin, which according to the Wikipwedia is "a person who shares your name, and whose information returns results on Google when you egosurf".

So I decided to Google myself and find out who my google twins are. The first page google search ones at least. It looks like I really one of a Google sextuplet. First on my list was a singer-songwriter, then a public policy consultant, a psychology professor, a real estate agent, one of the writers of the 1995 movie "Cruel Jaws" (who's heard of it? - Not me!), and an opthalmologist. Maybe I should change identities with one of these people; being a folksinger sounds kind of glamorous, being a professor sounds so intellectual, the public policy consultant sounds pretty smart too.

I guess it's been a while since I "egosurfed" because I was surprised to find myself, a beadmaker, on the first page of a Google search. I can thank watch Me Create for new found internet ranking. I guess I'm cyber-real now LOL.

So who are your Google Twins?

Surprise!

I was in my dining room vacuuming Thursday night and through the front window I caught a glimpse of lights as a car parked in front of my house. It struck me as odd, because since Matt left for college in August there have been few cars parking in front of my house. My first thought was that perhaps one of Sarah's friends had gotten her drivers license and had come to visit. I returned to my vacuuming and a few moments later the door opened and couple of kids came in. I looked up from vacuuming and did a total double take.... there was my son Matt!!!!

After getting permission from their professors, he and his roommate decided to skip their Friday classes and come home for the weekend. He had told his sister his plans earlier in week, but they kept it a secret from me. What a wonderful surprise!!! Matt's school is an eight hour drive away, and other than Thanksgiving break they don't have any days off from classes so I did not expect to see him until Thanksgiving week. I've sure missed having him (and all his friends!) around the house, so it was great to have him here for a few days. Sarah was thrilled too! I feel really blessed that rather than having sibling rivalry, my kids are the best of friends so I let her skip school Friday so she could hang out with brother.

It sure sounds like Matt's having fun at school. Biking, swimming, climbing on the schools rock wall, playing intramural soccer, and even (thank goodness!) studying. He took his camping gear back with him so he can enjoy more of the great outdoors on the weekends. It sure makes me wish I could go to school with him!

Talk about the weather...

I wore sleeves to work yesterday. Short Sleeves. I realize that is a normal thing for most people but I hate being hot, and summers are hot here, so I spend the summer in tank tops. I realized a long time ago that July and August are my least favorite months, and this year was the hottest on record: in July and August 47 days were over 95 degrees, 17 of them over 100. Since I'm lucky enough to have a job I don't have to "dress for", I wear shorts and tank tops all summer.

Then comes September. Right about Labor Day the weather suddenly cools down. Way down. I walk outside in my shorts and tank top and realize it's COLD. I turn OFF the car's air conditioning button and turn the heater dial UP. As I walk from the parking lot to my building I notice I'm the only one in a tank top, most people are wearing jeans and a jacket. So yesterday I broke down and wore a T-shirt. Considering that many of the morning walkers and joggers I encountered while driven Sarah to school were wearing gloves, a T-shirt seemed appropriate. I hate to overdress on a cold morning, as it's usually delightfully warm by afternoon, and I hate being over heated when I drive home from work. Today I'm wearing a a sleeveless cotton turtle neck and shorts. I wonder how long it will take me to complete my fall wardrobe transition. The t-shirt is the start. It may be weeks before I break down an pull on a pair of pants. My new sport sandals can be roomie enough for socks... the snow may fly before I give up my sandals.

Am I the only one with weird, quirky wardrobe habits?

Road trip...

Go west young lady!.... That's what I did this weekend.

One of my friend's daughters missed the deadline for taking her ACT exam here in SLC, and her clever mom did some research and discovered that the test was being given this weekend in Elko, Nevada, 240 miles away. I was in the mood to get out town so I volunteered to tag along and keep her company. It was just a quick trip; we left Friday afternoon and headed back right after the test was done Saturday afternoon since her daughter had a date for the homecoming dance that night.

In general, I think that most people dread driving through desolate Nevada. I'm the odd ball. I love the open spaces and find the vistas just beautiful. Desert vegetation fascinates me. Rock formations fascinate me. It's especially nice in the fall while the weather is cool and the golden sagebrush flowers are in full bloom.
If you're not into the casino scene, there doesn't seem to be much to do in Elko. We had a nice dinner at a mexican place Friday night and soaked in the hotel hot tub. The exam started early in the morning so we retired early for the night. Saturday morning, while my friend's daughter took her exam my friend and her other daughter and I headed out to Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains and went for a short hike on the Ruby Crest Trail. What a beautiful area! It's a large glaciated valley, the formation and topology seemed different from what we have here in the Wasatch. I just love getting to hike in new places!

I have to share this road sign that was in the parking lot of of a Utah rest area we stopped at. I'd never seen that sign before. I'm bummed though, I didn't see a single snake or scorpion!

Would you?

If your friends jumped off a bridge would you jump too? I guess my son would. Yup, that's him in the picture. Actually, he went first. Apparently jumping off the Baker Bridge is one of those things kids do in Durango. I wonder how many of them send their mothers pictures of their antics? My first question was "How did you know it was deep enough?" He said they swam and dove and checked it out first. Hopefully they really did and that's not just the story you tell your nervous mother! Maybe I shouldn't have let my baby go away to school....or maybe it's best I did so I don't know what he's doing on a daily basis!

Show time!

Well, I survived my second little jewelry show yesterday. Unfortunately, it was pretty much a bust, financially at least. I did make back my booth fee, but not much more. I guess street fairs are better if you are are selling food or perhaps something inexpensive geared to kids. I did have fun talking to my friends that stopped buy, and I had a nice time talking to some strangers.

I especially enjoy the kids. A group of boys about my daughters age stopped by, and I really wowed them by explaining how lampwork beads are made. I bring my hot head torch, some colorful rods, canes, coated mandrels and beads still on mandrels to use as audio visual aids while I explained lampwork. It's fun to have kids think what you do is really cool. I also had a lovely young girl, jr high school age I think, who claims that she's know since she's small that she wants to work glass. She was really interested in the lampwork process, and was pretty excited to find out that it is something that you can do in a home studio.

The other highlight of my day was having a little helper for a while. The girlfriend, who convinced me to participate in the street fair's, little girl. She the one "modeling" a necklace in todays picture. She's a spunky little kid and I really enjoy hanging out with her.

Selling jewelry is difficult because there are so many people selling jewelry at festivals, and it's hard to be "competitive" price-wise when you actually make your own beads. I don't think my prices are at all out of line with those of other jewelry makers, and considering each piece has one or more original handmade beads my prices are probably actually reasonable. Of course not everyone grasps or appreciates the difference between handmade lampwork and store bought components. And "reasonable in the lampwork world is rarely "cheap". I'm also the first to realize that everyone is on a budget, and jewelry is a luxury item. I know that I do much more looking and admiring than I do buying when I attend a fair. Perhaps the local street fair isn't quite the right venue for my work.

I have wondered if having a tent would have improved sales. I thought my display was attractive, but perhaps that big white canopy would have imparted a feeling of professionalism and desirability to my work. Or would it have just been a waste of a few hundred dollars all for naught. It would be nice to be able to answer that question.

My display actually received quite a bit of attention. I used a pretty cross stitched floral table cloth that I thought nicely complimented my work. I had many, many people come up and admire my table cloth. Is it better to use a plain, less noticable table covering as to not take away from your beads? Or is attention getting with booth decoration a good thing? It would be interesting to know the answers to these questions... although I suspect the answer is "it all depends" on the day and the show.

It's a good learning experience.


You can catch a glimpse of my pretty tablecloth in this picture. My sister bought the table cloth while she was in St. Thomas V.I. on her honeymoon and later gave it to me. It's all beautifully handstitched... (probably by children in a third world sweat shop, but beautiful work non-the-less!)

The perils of sleeping...

Am I the only person who can mange to injure myself in my sleep? I have been miserable for two days due to a sleeping accident. I must have slept in a funny position or used the wrong pillow or something weird because I woke up Tuesday with the worst crick in my neck. Agony when ever I moved my head, worse yet when I turn my head to the left. You sure never realize how often you turn your head, especially when driving the car until you have a bad neckache. Of course I had to get the last parking space at work, one I had to parallel park my way in to ... OUCH! ... and leaving work a road was closed because of an accident so I had do do a bunch of merging in traffic... double ouch! Yesterday wasn't much better, on top of the neckache I had a killer headache. All this from SLEEPING! Maybe I should be happy I'm normally an insomniac!

Shows again

I decided to try another show. A friend of mine has been bugging me for over a year to sell my bead jewelry at the Avenues Street Fair. It's a neighbor hood fair in one of the nice old neighborhoods near the city. Last September I attended the fair with her to scope it out, I was really surprised at how big it was for a neighborhood fair; I think there were a couple hundred booths. Since I have plenty or wares left over from the last little show I did I figure I may as well give it a try. I sent my application and pictures of my work a few weeks ago and got an email back stating that I was approved to participate.

Friday I got a message to call the coordinator. I assumed she was going to give me information about my booth location, but when I called she had something else to say. She had called to tell me that weren't accepting sellers of purchased jewelry which I think I was going to do. I think by the time I called her back she realized that my jewelry clearly wasn't store bought. (I guess she looked more closely at my picture!) I assured her that I actually make my beads. From what I read on the forums competing with cheap imports is a common problem at art fairs, so it is nice to know they are trying to limit vendors to actual artisans. It will be interesting to see how this show compares with my first one.

School...

School started. It's my daughter's first week at the high school, and, unfortunately no amount of new school clothes and nice new hairdos makes up for being "Matt's little sister". Matt just graduated in May, so he still has friends at the high school so everywhere Sarah goes she hears the "Hey, your Matt's little sister aren't you?" or, perhaps more ominously, from her teachers: "Do you have an older brother?" I know my daughter, she wants to shine on her own, not in her brothers shadow. Knowing my daughter, she won't have any problem doing so.

The down side of Sarah being in high school is that I have to drive her there in the morning. I hate dealing with all the crazy drivers in the school parking lot, you'd think that you'd have to worry about all those fledgling drivers, but more often than not it's the parents who's driving makes me nuts.

And another thing that makes me nuts... high school students driving up to school in BMW convertibles. Not that I want to begrudge any other family their monetary success, but high school kids driving luxury cars just seems so wrong to me! At least Sarah is smart enough to know that she's not going to be the cute blond in a convertible come January when she gets her license!

Bye for now Matthew!

The view from campus...

I just got back from dropping Matt off at college. He's starting his freshman year at Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Durango is a small historic western town in the San Juan mountains of Colorado. The Durango Silverton Narrow guage railway, a popular Colorado tourist attraction, boards there, Purgatory Ski resort is 25 miles up the road, the mountains there are perhaps the most spectacular in the country. The school sits up on a high mesa just above town and has spectacular views!

I can see it will be much different than my college experience at Miami University, but it seems like a perfect place for my outdoorsy boy. There are mountain bike trails just out side the dormitory doors and deer roam around buildings at night. The dorm rooms, unfortunately, are pretty small, but they have a huge walk-in closet, a good thing as it will house a couple of the 4 bicycles Matt and Kory are trying to keep in their room with them. They have a high wooden ceiling where they put hooks to hang 2 of their bikes. All in all the dorms remind my more of a summer camp than a college. There is even a nice picnic pavilion outside the dorms. I think it will be a really fun place for him to go to school, that is if between mountain biking and heading into town to the skatepark he remembers to study!

I'm excited for Matt to be starting off on this great new adventure, although I know I'm going to really miss him. As a mom you always worry a little bit; you want them to fit in and succeed and be happy. Luckily, I don't think I have much too worry about, the night before he moved into the dorm he headed off to the skatepark for a while. He returned with tales of meeting a few locals, including the owner of the local skateboard shop who gave him a copy of their skate team DVD. Less than 12 hours in town and he's already made friends!... I think he's going to do just fine!

Matt and Kory moving in...

The family...

Donut Falls

Something unusual happened on Sunday. My daughter and couple of friends asked for me to take them to Donut Falls. Hiking. In the mountains. Nobody, except my dog Daisy, ever wants to go hiking with me so I was happy to accomodate them. I guess one of her friends had told her that that Donut Falls was a cool place to go so she wanted to give it a try. It is also one of those "you never do your own backyard" things for me, one of those places I should have taken my kids years ago, but hadn't.

There are three recreational canyons on the east side of Salt Lake. Millcreek Canyon is nearest my house, and dogs are allowed there so that is where I usually go hiking. Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons are home to our 4 ski resorts, so I go up there in the winter, but rarely get up there in the summer. The main reason I don't hike there much is that dogs aren't allowed in those canyons, and it makes me feel bad to go hiking and not bring my dog. This means I miss out on some beautiful local hiking, such as the hike to Donut Falls.

It only a short hike from the parking lot to the base of the falls, then a pretty good boulder scramble up to falls themselves. The creek comes down the mountain, where it flows through a donut shaped hole in the rock, where it cascades in to small cave. It really is a pretty cool little water fall and the girls has a lot of fun playing in it.... and that water was COLD!

My baby....

I am finding this incredibly hard to believe, but as of about 11:58 last nigh I am the mother of an 18 year old. I will swear I just birthed that adorable boy the other day, but here he is, 18 years old, a high school graduate, ready to head off to college next week. I guess it's it time to turn the page to a new chapter in life, for both he and I.

The picture of him is one taken in front of the Morrison Hotel In New York City. A fitting spot since his last name is Morrison and he's a big fan of Jim Morrison and the doors. He and a few buddies went to New York for an after graduation trip. Rather than seeking out all of the typical tourist activities they looked for places like the Morrison Hotel and really cool places to skateboard. It was fun to see his vacation pictures - lots of shots of skateboarding under New York City's finest bridges and viaducts with kids from the city. I glad I have a boy who know what HE likes to do and can go anywhere and be at home!

Happy Adulthood Matt!

My pond again,,,,

Can you tell that I'm totally enamored with my water lily blossoms? I was thrilled when my latest bloom occurred on the weekend when I could enjoy it. I hope the next bud does the same.

My pond building came about because I really needed to do something about the eyesore my kids outgrown sandbox had become. Truth be told I was really, really sad to get rid of it. It was really important to me to build a nice sandbox for kids when they were tots. We had lots of great sand toys and tonka trucks. We added shells and coral that we found on our beach vacations. The kids and their friends had a lot of fun in it. It's funny, I'm not only one who is a little sentimental. I had dinner at my friends house the other night. We talked about my little pond, and upon realizing that the pond replaced the sandbox my friends 17 year old daughter sighed and said "But I played in that sandbox. I had a lot of fun in that sandbox." She was sad that it was gone. Then I told her about my sandbox shrine. In homage to my beloved sandbox and my kids childhood I took a very rusty old tonka trunk filled it with sand and seashells from the sandbox and placed it the garden next to the pond. My friends daughter, and my kids too, were really pleased about that. And I'm glad I decided to replace my kids play place with something beautiful, it takes a bit of my sentimental sadness away.

Maraschino Cherries

What the heck are they anyway??? I often have a small jar in my fridge, ready for the occasional cocktail or, more likely as a treat for kids. I can't remember the last time I actually made a cherry requiring cocktail, my maraschinos are much more apt to end up in a kid's Shirley Temple. My daughter and her friends rediscovered the jar in my fridge, ate them all, then wished for more. So the other day when I was grocery shopping (I needed some club soda for my arpres-torch Mojitos!) I noticed the maraschino cherries and remembered that Sarah wanted them. Being the frugal type and thinking that they all taste the same anyway I decided to buy the big 28 ounce jar of generic brand cherries. I was sure that would be a nearly life long supply until I came home from work yesterday and found the EMPTY bottle on the kitchen counter. My daughter and her friends, in one afternoon, had eaten the entire jar of maraschino cherries. It gives me a stomach ache just thinking about it!

Back to my original question... What is a maraschino cherry anyway? According to the Wikipedia they are cherries preserved in a brine solution, soaked in sugar syrup, dyed and flavored. Red ones are flavored with almond (that's what I like about them) and green ones are flavored with peppermint (news to me as I've never eaten a green one). I found another article that explains they originally where made from a small sour black cherry; the marasca, that where preserved in a liqueur called maraschino, made from the juice, pits and leaves of the marasca. Reading this article made me realize that there is a whole science and industry involved with making maraschinos.

Now I wonder if they all really taste the same? Is there a gourmet version available? Can you actually buy one made with actual marasca cherries anymore? I may have to do a little searching. Perhaps when and if I replenish my supply I buy a couple jars and do a taste test. Probably not too soon, as seeing an entire 28 ounces consumed in afternoon sends up a red flag that says, "No more for a while" to me.

Scintillation

Today's bead style is an offshoot of the beads I designed for the Gathering's (the International Society of Glass Beadmakers annual conference) bead show. I've written about my show submission (pictures too!) on Watch Me Create!

My new babies...

I bought a water lily and four $0.26 goldfish for my pond last weekend. I have since learned two things about ponds. First, when they advise you not to put your pond pump in the lowest part of your pond they are right. I came home the other night to a half empty pond. One of the water hyacinths I had floating in my filter bucket clogged the waterfall pipe, causing the pump to overflow the filter out onto my lawn! Fortunately, the fish seemed to survive having half a pond full of ice cold tap water added.

The second thing I've learned is that waterlilies, at least the "Georgia Peach" hardy lily I bought, opens mid morning and closes late afternoon. A lousy schedule for this working person! But yesterday I got home early enough to take a couple pretty pictures. I can't decide which shot I like better, so even though they are about the same here they are!

I guess I'll have to investigate "night blooming" water lilies. Hopefully there is a hardy one out there!

Meet Bruno, Cedric and Milo

Who? Bruno, Cedric and Milo are the three beads I put up on ebay yesterday. Why? I came home from work to a house full of teenagers, so when I went to list my auctions I asked the kids what I should name my beads. Cedric got named first (hmmm - did someone read Harry Potter?), then came Bruno and Milo. I couldn't tell you how they arrived at those names, but I'll happily use any name I don't have to think of!h

I am beginning to wonder about these kids. I found two of the boys wearing my daughter clothes yesterday. One was running around the house in a big blue t-shirt that must have been his, and pair of turquoise tights of my daughters. The other boy was wearing a pair of black capri tights, and a black spaghetti strap tank top. It seemed a bit strange to me, until I realized that they had been playing down in the gully, gotten soaked in the creek, so they were wearing Sarah's things until theirs dried. Maybe I'm not running a home for wayward children after all; maybe my home's become a transvestite training center.