Olympics

I have always LOVED the olympics. I don't know what it is exactly. Perhaps it's the concept of the whole world getting together; perhaps it's being able to witness so many dreams coming to fruition after so many years of hard work; perhaps it's the patriotism from cheering for the US competitors you've never even heard of; perhaps just the spirit of competition; or perhaps it's all the cheesy over-dramatic comentary.

Whatever it is, there is no doubt, I LOVE the olympics -- so much so that I've had two rather sleepless weeks. No matter what I did, I didn't seem capable of going to bed when Michael Phelps was about to swim, or Shawn Johnson was trying yet again to win that elusive gold, or Misty May-Tranor and Kerri Walsh were beating yet another opponent, or.. well.. if there was olympic coverage of any type on.

Yep.. I admit it.. I'm an Olympics addict...

So in honor of all of those who have competed and won or lost in the last two weeks (and all of those around me who have had to deal with my sleepy crankiness), I thought I'd post some pics of my favorite memories of the past two weeks.

Cruisin' with Uncle Chad

We were babysitting little Steven and Nathaniel this evening and decided to go for a little walk. As we were just cruising around the neighborhood with the boys in the stroller, we happened upon the leftover of a garage sale -- what looked to be a fairly functional child bike trailer with a sign on it that said "Free.. just haul it away". We tested it out.. and aside from some terribly flat tires and a missing bolt it looked like it just might work.

So.. we picked it up.. rolled it back to the house while still pushing the double stroller and feeling just a little silly. Once home, we put some air in the tires, replaced the bolt (that, of course we just had lying about), loaded up the kids (who were pretty confused at this point) and pretty soon we were cruising around in style :-)

We took a nice jaunt around the neighborhood (of course, passing in front of the house we picked it up from -- just so they knew it had found a good home.. or perhaps just to show off how cool we were). The boys seemed to like it and it helped give Uncle Chad a pretty good workout -- especially with the ever present Antelope Valley headwind! We even got a few comments from kids in the neighborhood that wanted a ride... Too bad everyone can't have an uncle as cool as Uncle Chad!!

Light Box Anyone?

OK.. so apparently there's a whole lot of photography 'stuff' that I don't know (shocking.. I know..). I was having trouble taking pics of my new groovy bead accomplishments to share with all of you, so I started doing a google search to see if I could find anyone who could share their wisdom with me. Turns out that photographing jewelry, electronics, random figurines, etc. has become a hot topic out there with the advent of ebay. So, I read all I could find and discovered that apparently I needed a 'light box'. Never heard of 'em.

For those of you out there wondering what I'm even talking about, a light box is a hollow box covered with material that you put a spotlight through. The material diffuses the light to evenly light a subject so you can photograph it without excessive shadows, etc. Who knew?? (Apparently not me..) I continued my internet search and discovered that you can buy light boxes, which pretty much look like laundry baskets turned on their side. Not wanting to spend any cash, especially for a glorified laundry basket, I continued looking and found several options for building your own. So, tonight I cut some holes in a shoebox, taped tissue paper across them and stuck my halogen light into it. Here are my first experimental results with my new contraption:




Amazing what a little tissue paper can do, eh? Oh yah.. and the beads are pretty cool too ;-)

Same Old Stuff..

I haven't posted in a while, and I'm starting to feel guilty. Somehow, in my head, I've convinced myself that all of you are checking my blog daily and are always disappointed when you don't see something new here. So, although I have no terribly exciting news to share, I felt the need to at least post a note to let you know that we are all here and alive. We've actually had a fairly calm couple of weeks.

Work, for me, has been slightly crazy. I've been put on 'special assignment' to take factories that are still operating in the stone ages and update them, make them 'visual' and create flow through them. No problem, right? Anyway.. we spent the last two weeks trying to fix up our first factory for a tour from Ft. Worth big wigs last Tuesday. We made it.. barely.. as we were sliding desks and stations into place at noon that day (tour was at 1:30), but the Big Wigs were duly impressed. First milestone down, but it's only the beginning. I've been given a team of three full time people to help me get it all done, but it's still overwhelming at times.

We had a visit from family this week. Unfortunately, it wasn't really for any happy reason. Uncle Bob passed away last weekend and was buried here. So Mom, Dad, Keri, the boys, Mikey and Dawson came and spent the night and then we all went down and met up with Frances, Linda and Diane in Gardena for the graveside memorial. It was a simple service, but it was very nice and I'm glad we were able to be there. It was a quick trip for them, but it was nice to see everyone.

Other than that, we've just been trying to get stuff around the house and I've been practicing my glass bead making skills. I seem to be getting better, perhaps I'll post some pics if I get some cool beads this week.

Viva Las Vegas!

We were offered an incredibly cheap trip to Vegas a few months back, and, of course, jumped at it (when have you ever known me to actually turn down a trip, much less a cheap one??). We decided on this weekend (I know, I know, it's a million degrees in Vegas right now.. but you gotta believe me.. there were extenuating circumstances), and have just returned from a two day whirlwind of lights, eye candy and general craziness.

Vegas is definitely a unique place. I haven't been since I was about twelve (I think.. if not younger), and it has changed quite a bit since then. We had a grand ol' time exploring and traveling the "virtual" world. We explored the shops along the Grand Canal and ate gelato in San Marcos Square in Venice; wandered the streets of Greenwich Village, ate pizza in a sidewalk cafe in Soho and then wandered down to take a look at the Statue of Liberty; meandered through a tropical paradise, complete with waterfalls, and saw a large Pirate Ship (although we were never there at the right time to actually see the pirates..); ate pastries in a small shop on a street in Paris; tried (twice!) to see the wonders of the sea, but never really quite made it; wandered through the Roman Forum and heard Ceaser address his people; and topped off the whole trip with a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower to check out the view (complete with dancing water at the Belaggio below) and tickets to a Cirque de Soleil show that was mesmerizing and random all at the same time. Yep.. Vegas is quite the place.

Sure.. it was hot, semi-smoke filled and over-the-top gaudy.. but if you look past all of that, it's still a fun place just to wander and take in the sights. Not to mention the people watching..

Here are some pics from the top of the Eiffel Tower:

Beads, Beads, Beads

For any of you who know me well, you know that I seem to pick up hobbies right and left.. mostly because everything fascinates me and I love to learn new things. This week has definitely been proof that that's still a true statement.

I've been fascinated by lampworked beads for a while now. For anyone saying to themselves right now 'what in the world is a lampworked bead?' -- It is a glass bead formed by melting glass around a mandrel. There are some terribly cool pics here:

http://www.blackberrybeads.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=gallery

and a pretty good YouTube Video on how to actually make a simple bead here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-9erKOHcLQ

As an anniversary gift last year, Chad gave me a one-on-one lampworking class with a local bead maker. I really really liked it, and I seemed to be catching on quickly. That was a four hour class and I believe I made something like 10-15 beads, five of which turned out well enough to make into a bracelet. Ever since the class I've been wanting to get my own torch and try more stuff. I finally broke down about a month ago and bought the 'basic' kit but it wasn't until last Saturday that we finally got it set up in the garage (ah.. the beauties of cleaning out your garage once in a while). I've been out there every evening ever since. I'm definitely not great at it, but it's been a whole lot of fun trying out new stuff and seeing how it all comes out in the end. I can't quit my day job YET, but I'm well on my way! ;-)


I thought I'd share a few of my creations with all of you:

A Beautiful Weekend at Home

I was looking at my calendar over the weekend and realized that we hadn't been home, without visitors, since May 10th -- and that was only because that was the weekend we were preparing for vacation. Our life seems completely insane sometimes, but this last weekend we were actually home. We built a shed, we cleaned out the garage, we ran errands and did a fare share of just hanging out. I know, I know.. just sounds terribly exciting, no? But, for us, it was definitely a rare occaision. Now.. if only it could happen more than once every other month..