IT'S FINISHED!

I was up until about 6-ish this morning putting the finishing touches on my presentation. I really like it!


The "official" presentation covers a bit of Toledo glass history and the Glass Pavilion in addition to images of my work. So that I can control the pace myself, it's very "click based". I did a special version for my mom (Hi, Mom!) that just has my work in it. It's an auto-play CD, too, so she doesn't have to do anything to make it work.


Now that I'm done with that, I only have ten gazillion more things to do in the next week: Tomorrow, the boys get their toenails trimmed, which is always an adventure. Quimby just screams like a girl and practically hyperventilates. Cosmo, on the other hand, yells "NO! OW! OW! HELP!". Like I said: Adventure, with a capital "A". LOL!


John and I are getting our hair cut on Friday. Remember my cool purple/fuchsia streak I used to have? Well I'm getting it back! Yay! And I'm hoping I can go back to my old standard "Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago" bob.


So let me ask you this: What is UP with all house slippers being "mules"... You know, they don't have heel ends to the slipper. I like a REAL, whole slipper and it's nearly impossible to find them. Consequently, most of mine are terribly old and beat up. And they smell funny no matter how many times I wash them or how much Febreeze I spray in them. I WANT NORMAL SLIPPERS!


I almost forgot that I've been asked to make something for a museum collection in Spain. Guess I better come up with something, eh? I'm thinking electroformed. Yeah... That's it! Something electroformed and on a stand.




It's my contention that the perceived value of a vessel increases dramatically when it moves from being jewelry (on a chain) to being a display piece (on a stand). Go figure.


I work really well under pressure, usually, so hopefully I'll come up with something that I'll be proud to offer.

My Butt is Numb...

...from sitting at the computer for over 12 hours so far today. And no, I wasn't playing games (though I did download Private Eye, a new game at LE (though I did answer some PMs and pop in on a couple of threads). All I've been doing is working on my upcoming presentation.

So far, I'm really pleased with it! I need it for Spain, but if there's an opportunity to show it during our Ireland Beadventure, I sure will! I had to start from scratch with raw image files. Tons of raw image files. And I kept thinking of work that I wanted to include, but couldn't find the files.

I still need to get my Top Secret Ireland project done, too. If I can just finish up the presentation tonight, I'll be able to work on the project tomorrow.

I can't stand the thought of leaving for a month without having the house as organized and tidy as possible. John's working on it, but there's a lot to do. If I start freaking out about it around Thursday (which is the night we take the trash out) I'll probably just drop whatever else I'm doing and help John with it.

I'm hoping to get some torching done this week, but there are so many other things going on: The boys (Quimby and Cosmo) are going to the vet to get their nails trimmed Tuesday, John and I need to schedule pre-flight haircuts, I am supposed to go to the VA clinic for a post-hospital visit (but I don't see how I can get an appointment in time).

There really IS no rest for the wicked!!!

I Hate Shopping

My entire wardrobe consists of two and a half pair of jeans that fit, lots of T-shirts and a metric buttload of men's Hanes over-the-calf athletic socks in white or grey.

Quite the fashion statement, don't you think?

I dislike buying clothing for several reasons:

1. Nothing EVER fits me properly
2. Nothing EVER looks good on me
3. Everything is so expensive
4. I would rather spend my money on an Ant Farm, flameworking stuff or toys for my pets

In thinking about what to pack for Europe, it's really pretty easy: Jeans and... um... T-shirts. Hopefully shirts without holes in them. Almost all my shirts have holes in them. Molten glass, cockatoo beaks and the passage of time have seen to that. LOL!

I did actually buy a pair of walking shoes for the trip. Yay me! Of course, I bought them used on eBay! They were a great deal, plus I had signed up for some PayPal promotion that credited me with $15 right after I paid for the shoes. They arrived today and they are splendid!

Today we're going shopping. Not for clothes, thank goodness, but for a converter thingie so I can plug in my notebook, cell and camera across the Great Big Sea. Oh, and we need a Spanish phrasebook. Maybe if I'm feeling frisky I'll pick up another pair of jeans while we're out.

Nah.

******************************

Home from shopping. Got some stuff:

• Spanish (Castillan) phrase book
• Another set of electrical adapters from Radio Shack
• A dozen pair of panties (Woohoo!)
• Nick & Nora Cowgirl print PJs
• Laser pointer (for my presentation, and for the dog and parrots)
• Hour Game by David Baldacci (gotta have a book when I travel)

And John and I got matching Mossimo messenger bags. I never find purses I like, but I liked this bag and showed John and he was ALL over it. LOL! I did convince him to get the black/brown one so that I could get the olive/brown one that I liked. I must admit: John is really fun to shop with.

It's pretty cool with him being kilted all the time. The clerk at Target said, "So what are you doing here? Visiting?" And he gets a lot of "You must be one of those dancers" and "Do you play the bagpipes?" Of course, there's always the smartass that points and says, "Hey! That guy's wearing a skirt!!!"

The best response to the last one? "It's called a kilt, because I kilt the last guy who called it a skirt."

I love that man o' mine!

Indecision...

Usually, I'm very decisive. I'm finding that isn't the case when it comes to planning this European trip. It's not like we'll be going to Ireland and Spain every year, and I want it to be PERFECT.

Ireland is pretty much all set: Cheryl, the owner of Beadventures, has everything all planned and taken care of. While John and I are there, we're going to visit the ruins of our ancestral castle at Castleknock. Hugh Tiril II, one of our ancestors, was the First Baron of Castlenock, Ireland, in 1173. He was with Strongbow in Ireland in 1169, at the siege of Acre in 1191 and in the third Crusade. We're both really into genealogy, so you can imagine how cool this will be for us!

Spain, on the other hand, poses some interesting dilemmas. We'll be in Madrid for two days during the Fiesta of San Isidro, the biggest festival of the year. Finding a hotel room was a challenge. My first choice hotel was booked solid, so I ended up booking at a cool 400 year old (recently renovated) place. All they had available was a high tech suite: Really spectacular, with a price tag to match. I was then contacted by the FIRST hotel, as they found a room for me. Argh. I don't know which to pick!

One "must do" thing while we're there is dinner at the world's oldest restaurant (1725).

I've booked our round-trip flights from Dublin to Madrid. Each of us can have 44 pounds of baggage total. I have NO idea what to do with the rest of our stuff. Leave it in Dublin somewhere? Shoot, I can't visit my mom for a weekend with only 44 pounds of baggage. LOL!

We shipped 160 hollow mandrels to Escuela del Vidrio today. That will certainly help.

Welcome to my blog!

I never thought *I* would have a blog.

I usually keep people posted on what's going on in my life through my "Currently Available Work" page. Little snippets of this and that... But with all the adventures we have coming up, it seemed more appropriate to have a separate place to chronicle our travels.

So there you have it!

We leave in a little over a week for a month in Ireland and Spain. I hope you'll continue to read here as I journal about everything from packing to food to shopping to cultural observations.

Welcome!