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Last Updated 07/31/2009 08:55:50 PM PST Here is the Link about the Italian Master's Class I took. |
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If you like it... please |
Who could cut these locks? I can't.
Life is as busy as all get out - and I haven't even approached the torch in months - but it doesn't mean I ain't fantasizing about it. Oliver turned 2 just about a month ago. His vocabulary is astounding in 3 languages and he is SOOOO smart, cute, funny adorable and willstrong. We're in the "rocki'n and rollin' 2's " - fun and exhausting! For his 2nd birthday we went to a photographer, because there are no pictures of us as a family. Here is a link to those pictures (warning, takes a while to load) Thanks for stopping by!
(Tuesday April 8th) FIVE MONTHS!!! That's how long it's been since I poked my head in here to update. Whoa....how did that happen? Where did time go? Well... it went...Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and Valentine's just swished by.... I've just been busy with toddlerhood, taking care of business and such...Nothing spectacular or noteworthy if you don't count the daily moments of magic happening as Oliver grows up. It is STILL the most amazing journey I've been on, and I'm utterly spellbound! Happiest Kid Around...he ADORES tractors, bulldozers, excavators and other heavy machinery!
By the way....I just heard him talking in his sleep (he does that a lot) on the baby monitor...he was saying..."truck" I'm not sure what he was doing on the following picture, but I constantly get adorable faces like this...they are just so darn hard to capture....but here I got one.
First time in snow...we went to Yosemite in March to show Oliver snow. He loved it... until it became cold and wet...
On the same trip, on the way home....the almond trees were blooming...what a contrast.
Charmer boy smiling in PJs...
No beads to show...sorry to say... I will eventually get back to beadmaking, but it will still be a while. I miss it, but after spending a full day with a highly energetic Oliver, making breakfast, lunch and dinner, catching up at the office (we actually finished a basement area and made an office, so now I can work at night at home) and doing general housework, maybe having a quiet cup of tea in the evening...we'll that's about all folks...there isn't much time for beads right now. One day... I still keep dreaming about it.... (Saturday November 8th) Catching up Tonight I had an urge to make beads...FINALLY...but I'm to tired right now. Got up around 5 AM with Oliver, and by 8 PM I'm beat. Maybe tomorrow. Here is yesterday's sunset. I love fall and winter sunsets, they are the best!
On Tuesday Oliver was directing traffic outside the voting place. It is kind of funny...in Swedish the word for "the cow" is "kon" and the word for "cone" is also "kon" they are pronounced identically, and since Oliver is a smart boy, and knows that cows say "MOoo" he has taken the logical step so "Mooo" every time he sees a cone!!! I don't know how to explain it to him that they are different, and that the orange ones that direct traffic don't say "Moooo".... I guess eventually he'll figure it out!
He loves swinging, and giggles like crazy.... Playgrounds in general are a hit.
For Halloween he was a Fireman, here he is with the neighbor's kids. I'm not going to bother showing you my outfit for Halloween, I went as "MOM of a toddler..." Eh... stains on my clothes from small dirty hands and feet, machine washable jacket, greasy hair, only one leg shaved and no makeup. Hm...is everyday Halloween? I seem to have the perfect outfit for it every day!
Fire inspector with a mission...
(Wednesday October 29th) Aaahhhh, I've been TAGGED!!! Both Beatrice of Fried Peas and Jenn at CaligirlArtglass tagged me for this blogger pastime. And since I've been sorely amiss in the blogosphere... I'm sure it is a conspiration to try to get me to write SOMETHING here at least.
Here are the rules:
1.
Link the tagger and display these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself - some random, some WEIRD. 3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blog. 4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. ...ok...so I've only tagged 6, but I'm crosseyed tired and I may or may not get to # 7. I did my best! SO here is the mix of random and weirdness I'm sharing: 1. Every word of this is little story true...My first car was a 1963 white Cadillac Sedan de Ville with huge fins. I had been looking for a car for a while, since I had just moved to the US from Sweden and was going to college. I had 1000.00 to spend at this car, no more. It was a Sunday morning in April and I was reading the classifieds, trying to find something I could afford. As I was browsing the classifieds I saw several ads thanking St. Jude, and not being familiar with this custom, I asked my roommate what it was all about. He explained that it was the Patron Saint of desperate cases, lost items and causes, and people who had thinks work out for them sometimes thanked St. Jude in the classifieds. I didn't think more of it. I found an ad for a VW bug that was advertised for a thousand dollars, and I called up to make an appointment to look at it. When I got there, it was a real dud. No passenger seat and really ratty....I was very disappointed and started walking down Fulton Street in San Francisco on the way to the bus stop- since I didn't have a car. I remember thinking finding a car was starting to be a "lost cause." As I was walking along saw this beautiful white car parked by the curb. I walked past it and as I turned after it (like you'd turn after a hottie on the street) I saw a "For Sale" sign in the rear window. My heart skipped a beat. It was $1200.00 and I took down the phone number. Back home I called up and made an appointment to look at it and have a friend test-drive it (I was about to get my American Driver's License later that next coming Friday.) I loved the car and asked if the guy would be willing to take $1000.00, explaining that if I had $1200.00 I would have paid that. I wasn't trying to bargain, but a thousand was all I had. He agreed, and told me that it was his first car, and he had had it all throughout college. He was pleased that it went to someone who loved it as much as he did. I found my first car on my mom's birthday, April 26th. Her name is JUDITH... The next day, we went to transfer the ownership, and when I saw the seller's full name on the pink slip it was Chris Jude!!! I named my car White Judy Beauty. 2. Oliver is talking in his sleep....My darling son just sat up in bed and said "No" ...."Mamma"....and when I went in to nurse he was saying "tack, tack, tack....gracias" ("Tack means Thank You in Swedish, and Gracias, thank you in English...") I'm not even trying to teach him Spanish...only Swedish and English.... 3. I haven't lit the torch since July. It is a sore subject. I miss it but I can't seem to find the time. 4. I once had a job where I was based in Paris for 2 years. I've never been gaga over Brad Pitt....but the first (and only) time I was lucky enough to fly the Concorde from New York to Paris I sat behind Brad Pitt. He was hiding under a black beanie the entire time. They served Omelet with Truffles and fresh raspberries for breakfast on the plane, and the flight attendants wore impeccable off white wool suits with pearls. Later than week I was in Rome and walked out from my hotel, wanting to take a walk down to the Spanish steps, because it was just about the only sight-seeing I was going to be able to do this trip. I walked past the hotel next to mine and there was a huge crowd outside. I asked what the commotion was about and they said they were waiting for Brad Pitt to exit his hotel. I didn't join the crowd of lookers but kept walking. I wanted to catch the Spanish Steps before it got too late. Halfway down the steps I slipped and fell on my butt, getting a big bruise. I guess I would have been better off if I stayed and gawked after Brad Pitt. 5. I still have 3 large Ikea bags of laundry in the living room, waiting to be folded, and payroll to sign. It's 12:43 AM. 6. I'm sporting a toothache and am waiting to get my THIRD root-canal IN THE VERY SAME TOOTH. Blah.... 7. This week I made sugar skulls from 10lbs of sugar for Dia de Los Muertos. (Mexican Halloween.) I decided I wanted to make an Altar for my Father-In-Law and Mother-In-Law, and I guess I "needed" a creative outlet, like I have nothing else to do! So there...done. I'm tagging ...ok...so I've only tagged 6, but I'm crosseyed tired and I may or may not get to # 7. I did my best!
(Saturday October 25th) A couple of pictures...
(Wednesday October 8th) No beads yet... I really need
to start sorting and stringing...soon...But meanwhile here is a
picture of Mr. Personality... trying to get the brass sea-star off
the sculpture base. Today we started construction on our house
again...finishing an existing space under our bedroom to make an
office. I think naptime as I know it will change. The banging and
hammering under our bedroom kept Oliver sleepless for most of the
afternoon until he deliriously tired fell asleep with me in the room
that was originally planned to be his - but that he's so far never
slept in (until today...)
(Saturday October 4th) A few more recent ones! Oliver has an
obsession with my car key right now. His key obsession has come and
gone off and on in his "career" a an explorer of the
world. I currently have to drive with a towel over the steering
column so he doesn't see the key in the ignition- or else he's
screaming for it the entire drive. I love that he is curious,
determined and persistent!
(Thursday October 2nd) Whew...it's been awhile! I'll start with a quick update in pictures...this is Oliver at 16 months- today actually! He IS just getting cuter and cuter if I may say so.... (and I may - since this is my place...he, he...)
So what's been going on??? Well, lots... Including a new computer, a crashed new computer, a broken camera and other technical snafu's. Other than that... my father-in-law, Manuel passed away on July 1st, and life has been crazy ever since. We all miss him bunches... it was a great loss. Then dealing with the earthly aspects of his estate is just a bit overwhelming alongside life in toddler-lane, trying to still keep up with work and such. I took on a custom bead order for 12 sets that were due mid July, and in the process I actually burned out a bit on lampworking. While I thought it was going to be a good way of getting back into swing of things of lampworking, it had the opposite effect. Developing the set, and then making the 12 sets in the midst of the loss of my father-in-law just about zapped all my bead-mojo for quite a while. (I still haven't been back at the torch since I finished those beads...) It was a great learning experience, and I don't think I'll do any custom orders anytime soon again... I did end up with a bunch of "test" beads, color tries, styles that I made during the course of developing those beads, and I might sell them here as specials if there is anyone out there ever checking in here anymore. (You can't really expect an audience if you're not putting on a show, right?) Well, I promise I will try to keep in touch a little more from now on. Thanks for stopping by! (Thursday June 12th) Not walking...running!
And teething like crazy...look
at the wet spot around his shirt, that's my little drool-boy! This
picture was shot this evening, so anymore recent pictures I can't
get for you - unless I sneak in and snap one of him sleeping right
now, and I won't do that.
I'm not sure what he's thinking about here, but it looks like it has to do with the stock-market or a business merger... geez, I hope not!
Playing peek-a-boo with my baseball cap in the car.
(Friday
June 6th) Officially Mom of a TODDLER...
(Friday
May 23rd) Allright! Back on track!!! My thoughts and prayers are with the people who are more affected by the fire in Santa Cruz Mountains. I can see (and smell) the smoke from our house. Last I heard it was about 20% contained and 3400 acres burning. Fire is a scary thing, nothing to be played with (unless you're in front of a torch melting glass!) I have sporadically made some beads (nothing to show yet.) And in a couple of more months I think I may have some specials up. Slowly things are moving forward...toward beadmaking on a regular basis. But first... a little update on Oliver... He'll be a year in a week... can you believe it? I pretty much cannot....it has gone so fast! He is walking (kind of like Frankenstein, but still it is a walk!) And he is saying MAMA and DA, and TA and KA, which of course means "Dad", "There" and "Cat" (in Swedish too), but it also means bird, "look", "what's that" ,"lamp", "I know what that is, but I don't know what to call it", "water", "sky", "sun", "tree", "Squirrel" and a lot of other things if combined in endless combinations...you get it, I'm sure...
He climbs stairs, up and down. Gets down from our (pretty high) bed
on his own, and refuses to lay down for diaper-changes. (I'm sure to
be picked for the US Olypmic team in Diapering.) He also loves
anything technical...cell-phones, cameras, calculators and other
gadgets... Lids and jars are a big hit right now. Open and close is
also a favorite activity. He took it so far that opening and closing
the baby-gate became one of his favorite pastimes- until he bent the
baby-gate backward and the hardware came out, the wood shredded to
pieces. We now have a metal-baby gate.
These pictures are actually a month old, but I'm still getting organized from the computer change. So the newest ones are still on the other computer. But I hope you enjoy them anyway. I have had a hard time photographing him recently because he is intent on grabbing he camera, and that makes it for only weird close-up shots.
(Tuesday, March 22nd) Struggling with web server stuff
(Tuesday, January 22nd) The hard work of a baby
Giving all cats equal harassment, so none feels too comfy in their spot in the sun. Cat tails need to be pulled and collars yanked. He is not yet inspecting litter boxes, but only because upper management (me) has been swiftly airlifting him to a different work location every time he approaches that area of responsibility.
(Wednesday, January 16th) The Day after New Years day he crawled
And a week and a half later, now at the ripe age of 7 and a half months, he is no longer happy with just crawling, he wants to stand (oh, and in his spare time he makes secret calls [when I'm not watching] on the phone, usually to the last dialed number =:^D) more in the....Chat Archives |
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(Tuesday
July 7th) Two years and no haircut...
Two
months later... well, that is life in mommy-land. Everything except
Oliver gets pushed down to a lower priority. But now I have a
different computer, new web-editing software, worked it out with the
web-host and a son who almost sleeps through the night. Things are
looking up!
The other day I found him INSIDE his little "excer-saucer" which he
has ignored for months. But it was quiet for a really long tiime,
and I peek out of the kitchen into the living-room, and there he is
in his little "office" as I call it. I wish I would have been able
to secretly watch him climb into it. Oh, and I forgot to mention
that he finally has some teeth. Teething isn't as bad as it was made
out to be. Yes, he is more cranky and irritable when he cuts a
tooth, but it hasn't been the nightmare I expected it to be.
