A busy week

I'm back after taking a few days off, not just from blogging but from hanging out online in general.
On Thursday I had a class at BABE with Lisa Niven Kelly. We worked on a stamped bracelet, using bezel wire, texturing hammers and design stamps. Lots of fun, as always and I'll post a picture as soon as I'm done.
The BABE website listed the class times as 1-5 pm, so I arrived just after noon, wanting to be sure I'd be on time and not get stuck in traffic. Something that can very easily happen around here. Wouldn't you know the class didn't start until 2 and lasted until 6? Somebody messed up. BUT, as luck would have it, I ran into my (until then online) friend Arline in the hallway (looking for the ring I'd left in the bathroom), recognized her from her picture on her blog and ended up having lunch with her. A very enjoyable lunch. We had been corresponding online for about a year, discussing beads and life in general and this time we got to do the same in person. I also got to admire one of her art pieces on her website in person.
Friday was "pick up the little dog from the vet" day and we spent quite a bit of time talking with the vet about Jerry's recent problems. I think I've mentioned before that I've been cleaning up much too much dog sick in the mornings lately. The vet thinks it may well be "billious vomiting syndrome" and I am to keep him on a fairly strict feeding schedule (strict times more than anything else) so that he has something in his stomach at night. Hopefully, that'll take care of it. If it doesn't improve things, we will have to try a hypoallergenic diet because that is the second possibility - food allergies. If that still doesn't put a stop to his vomiting, he may well have inflammatory bowel disease and that, too, is treatable.
In addition, he has allergies - that explains why he's forever licking his feet. Again, trial and error here - use a special shampoo and hope that will take care of it. Not sure if the groomer will work with me on that, it's more than a little inconvenient to leave the shampoo to soak in for 10 minutes. We'll see.
Other than that, he needs more exercise and less food because he's getting a little too chubby. Oops! I've been slacking off on the walks.
Friday evening was dinner with the bosses night, a nice dinner, good company, good conversation and I am now the proud owner of two very heavy glass candlesticks (Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick was the first thing that came to my mind - and that's where it stayed until now.).
This morning was shopping at BABE. Found oodles of beautiful clasps at Jess Imports. They also very kindly exchanged a clasp I bought earlier this year that didn't want to stay closed. I bought a few kits here and there - beadwork and chain maille - and picked up my lower-case letter stamp set from Beaducation. Lisa Niven Kelly designed every single one of these letters herself and is having the stamp sets made for her company. I noticed that the first 50 sets sold out on her website the first evening. I'd reserved mine during class.
So, I'm back, but a little tired and it'll take me a few days to get back to normal.
It's been exactly 18 months today since we lost Henry and on the way to Oakland this morning, we talked about him quite a bit. We're still trying to figure out the why's and what's but we also shared some good and funny memories. I miss his unexpected sense of humor and his dry and quick wit - among so many other things.