Thursday, September 18, 2008

Boro Class!

I took a class this last weekend with a very popular borosilicate glass artist. I often looked at his pieces and wondered how he did some of the things he did.... and now I have alot of insight on how to make amazing sculptural pieces and to achieve colors beyond my imagination. I am so excited to get torching!
We moved recently so my ventilation system is not completely set up yet. The combustion of oxygen and propane in the flame of this big tough torch has some pretty dangerous fumes and heavy metals, so they have to be pulled from torching area through a pretty complicated ventilation system... or at least it has been complicated to design it and pick up the components so far. I am anxiously awaiting the completion...
The class was from 9 to 5 both Saturday and Sunday and I came away with some pretty impressive pieces. I even won two of the pieces the teacher made in class! I am not too far off... I know how to pop out one colorful and round bead after another, but off mandrel techniques are a little harder to grasp because you have to be able to predict what the glass is going to do next. Very exciting! I will post pics of my class pieces soon.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Ok... Now What!

It is here... my first week as a self employed mother of three! I am trying to figure out a routine so that I can stay disciplined and get the most out of all the hours in the day. We live one house from a park and my 10 year old daughter's school, so my plan is to get up and get her up and moving, myself and the babies ready, help her get all her things together and then we are off to the park for a bit before the school bell rings. Then, we are back about a half hour before school gets out to play some more. This has worked great so far!

Stevie wants to be outside ALL DAY. I love his energy. It is exhausting :). We went to the park twice yesterday and played in the backyard for a couple of hours. We have been picking up those big plastic houses and other outdoor play equipment at garage sales lately so we have quite a playground back there. He is very cute. His immagination is getting big and he pretends alot lately. Fun to watch!

Lily is about to walk... I can't believe those chubby legs are going to walk side by side soon. She just gets cuter every day. She smiles from ear to ear and scrunches her nose. I will post some pics.

Monday, September 1, 2008

The Last Week

It is here... my last week of work. When I started working for the local municipality, I was sure I would retire from there. Since then, I have had two babies and my daycare expenses have grown to almost what I make. Plus, I had no idea my beloved jewelry making hobby would blossom into this fabulous business that is most often starving for my attention and a budding glass sculpture/blowing business as well. Steve and I decided it was time for me to stay home with our three kids and we would struggle but it would be worth it.

This week, I will close the door on my solid, reliable, benefit paying and retirement providing job and be a starving artist! I can't wait!

My little Stevie got really sick last Sunday as we were coming home from our weekend in Monterey. His fever came on through the night and was existent on Monday but was through the roof by Monday night. He wouldn't eat and he kept going over 103 degrees. I know moms typically overreact to fevers and I did my best to treat it at home with Motrin. The fever was relentless and his appetite was absent. His eyes hurt and they were bloodshot. We had glimpses of a healthy boy for a few hours at a time when the Motrin was working. I ended up staying home all week with him. On Wednesday we noticed he had these large swollen knots under his jaw line. It was one of the scariest moments of my life when I felt those things. We rushed him to emergency as fast as we could. He was blazin' hot and we had no idea what was going on. It turns out it was his lymph nodes that were swollen. One was 2cm by 4cm. Doc said he had a virus that his fever was trying to burn out and in the process his lymph nodes got a bacterial infection. His fever was minimal yesterday and he was back to normal today, except he still doesn't have much of an appetite. Hopefully we will have our old Stevie back tomorrow!