No good deed goes unpunished :-)

I did the more enjoyable part of my grocery shopping this morning - Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. More enjoyable because it's much less crowded than anywhere else and there's interesting things to be found. Whole Foods had a bread I really, really like. Unfortunately, I tend to overeat on it and not feel so good afterwards. So, I thought, I'd share with a friend who loves good bread, too.

She lives out in the country, about 15 minutes away along rather bumpy roads, something I forgot when I planned to take little Jerry along (because I felt bad about leaving him in his crate yet again - he is still a little too young to be trusted on his own). I also forgot that he has a problem with motion sickness - after all, he hasn't been sick in months.

So, I cut the bread in half, called her to let her know I was coming, put the dog in his crate into the car and set off. About 12 minutes into the trip there were unmistakable sounds of being sick coming from the backseat. Oh no! Since there was nothing I could do, I delivered the bread, turned right around and drove back. He was sick a few more times along the way.

By the time we pulled into the garage, the crate bottom was very wet, the dog had obviously stepped into it, left footprints on the garage floor and, obviously, couldn't be let loose in the house. So, I bundled him up under my arm and carried him everywhere to get towels, doggie shampoo etc.

Forty-five minutes later, the little dog was clean but damp, there were wet towels in the laundry room, but garage floor, crate and kitchen sink had been scrubbed and everything was back to normal again. Although, I don't think Jerry thinks of me as his best friend right now.

I think I'll rethink taking the dog on errands in the future. Yes, I have motion sickness medicine for him but it needs to be given 2 hours after a meal and I then have to wait another 2 hours before going anywhere. Doesn't exactly lend itself to anything spontaneous :-(

I'm having fun!

Last Sunday, I took a class called "Metal Manipulation" from Kriss Silva. Among other things, I learned to use bezel wire as a decorative element and how to make rivets using wire. My riveted pieces look a little too wonky to show the general public but I'm quite proud of my bezel-embellished bead. I plan on making more.

This morning I decided to finally use what I learned in a class last year and make spiral rings. Lisa Claxton taught that class and I enjoyed it a lot but never got around to making more than the 2 rings we made in class. Finally, I dug out my instructions, wire, torch and all the tools I needed and spent the whole morning hammering, torching, shaping, oxidizing and polishing. I obviously had too much fun, I almost missed lunch. The rings are tumbling as I type - fine silver is too soft to wear without some form of hardening. I know they won't scan but if I can figure out how to take a good picture, I just might post them here, too.

Update on the baby fish

We released the baby fish - black skirt tetras - from the baby net a couple of days ago. There are about 16 - 18 of them left (they don't exactly stay still for counting), originally there were 30 or so. It took me 3 sessions for a total of 2 hours to scoop as many as I could out of the aquarium into the baby net. A little more than half surviving isn't bad. And they have grown quite a bit, they are now more than 1/2 inch across which should be too big for the adult fish to try and eat them. They used to be little dark blobs with big googly eyes and it took a few weeks before we could tell that they were tetras.

Chain Maille Earrings

Here are some of the earrings I finished lately - there are a few more to come. They still need dangly things on the bottom - and I'm resisting pretty hard because I'm not a "dangly things on the bottom" person, but they look a bit unfinished without.

The first pair is "Butterfly" and I wonder whether they need danglies. Next is "Half Butterfly", third is "Pheasible" - a really fast and easy weave. Those are the ones I wear almost constantly which is probably why the wires are crooked. The last one in the top row is another "Half Butterfly."

The first pair in the second row is "European 4-in-1 Rosettes" and they really only look good lying down. Once I put them on, they tend to curl in on themselves, very frustrating. Next is "Double Vision" - quick and easy. Third is "Grape Cluster," another 4-in-1 variation. The last ones are "Shaggy Loops" and I wonder if they need more danglies. I almost think every dangling ring needs it's own crystal. Easy enough to fix.

New Chain Maille

Here are some of the things I've finished lately.

The first is "Beez to Butterflies" which I've been working on for ages. I showed it in the beginning stages quite a while ago when I started it and couldn't work it without using lots of paperclips. Finally done!

The next is "Bike Chain" something else I've shown earlier. It got messed up a bit when I tumbled it - turned dark for some reason. I haven't been able to figure out exactly what caused it. I've tumbled it a couple more times since and it looks much better - not as good as it did originally, but I can live with this. I also changed clasps on it three times and have finally found one I really like.

The last one is "Foxtail" or "Full Persian" - a relatively quick weave - once one can see where the rings are supposed to go. I used another box clasp. Those are fast becoming my favorites which isn't such a good thing - they are kind of pricey.

I also finished several "Orbital Chain" projects but they don't lend themselves to scanning - it requires tension on both ends for the weave to show properly.

The earrings I finished last week will go up next, soon, I hope.

Remembering Henry

There was the little boy with the impish smile and the sunny disposition who would entertain people while waiting in line at the post office and who would hang out with women in hot tubs and introduce us to "Sally. She's 40 and nice."
There was the Henry who gave his sister a black eye with his rattle. Ouch!
The little boy, who at 2-1/2, insisted on walking all over Chaco Canyon because he was a "big" boy and big boys don't sit in a stroller and who fell asleep on the drive back out on the 20 mile long washboard road.
The Henry with the broken bone in his foot (the one and only break) he got from jumping off the sofa on to a little Fisher Price toy. We watched lots of videos and read many more books for 3 days until he was allowed to put weight onto that foot and learned to use the walking cast as a weapon.
The Henry who loved karate, who at age 6 won his first place sparring trophy, a trophy taller than he was. Who wrote an essay that was part of the preparation for the junior black belt test that showed just how excited he was about the whole thing. The interest disappeared towards the end, possibly due to the leg injury that prevented him from training properly for the full black belt.
The Henry who told me in 3rd grade he'd never leave me even when I explained to him that leaving was part of growing up ............... but who, in 5th grade, would hide behind the shelves in the library whenever I worked there.
The Henry who loved dogs even though the year we adopted Maggie all his Tshirts had holes along the hem and who learned to climb trees just to get away from her and who wanted to be a vet for many years until computers became his great passion.
The Henry who loved computers and computer games and was quite fearless with them, the way kids are when they grow up with them. Who taught himself C++ one summer, rebuilt a better computer (with a little help) and was going to study computer engineering at UC San Diego.
Who was the designated PowerPoint presentation preparer whenever there was a group project to be done at school.
The Henry who didn't like car rides as a baby but loved to drive once he passed his driving test on the 3rd try. And how come somebody who was so good with computers wasn't that good with cars? There was the incident with the car alarm in the school parking lot :-)
There was the Henry who grumbled about having to visit and interview a woman in the Veterans Home in Yountville throughout junior year but then decided during summer vacation to visit her one more time just to say good-bye.
The Henry who hammed it up big-time during the Christmas play (by falling over, popping back up to wave hello to the crowd and then laying back down).
There was the Henry who developed an appreciation for the Daily Show, the Colbert Report and conservative talk radio. The latter amused him greatly.
The Henry who took trig at the JC so he could skip a year of math in high school and take calculus during senior year.
Who could do a full lotus without even trying hard but insisted that yoga wasn't for young people. Who lifted weights during his last semester and was becoming nicely ripped - even if he couldn't see it. Who, at 6'1", was towering over everybody else in the family.
The Henry with the dry sense of humor and the unexpected wit who was such fun to talk to ............ but who also had already learned the fine art of the grunt.
The Henry who loved to read Goosebumps and Harry Potter in grade school, loved video games and could happily spend hours in front of the computer, who loved hanging with friends who would hook together several TVs and video game consoles and destroy bad guys all night.
The Henry who was the only person I know who could eat triple decker hamburgers with cheese and bacon and not gain a single ounce. Who loved Pringles and could eat a whole cannister - again without gaining a single ounce.
Who would have serious theological discussions with his CRE teachers but turned into an atheist once he started Catholic school.
The Henry who fell asleep during meditation in world religion class.
Who wouldn't eat vegetables but willingly tried psylocybin.
Who graduated with highest honors - except he wasn't around anymore to accept his diploma.

The Henry who has been gone for a whole year and whom I miss so badly. Sure, he was a teenager and teenagers don't really talk to their parents. But there was always the promise of more conversations, interesting and fun conversations in the future. We'll never have those. We'll never have the pleasure of seeing Henry grow up completely. We'll never know if he would have stayed with computers, invented something terrific or decided to change careers some day. There'll never be grandchildren. There won't be anybody drinking milk straight out of the bottle anymore, driving off with a big roar, listening to his music with headphones. We'll never find out whether he'd develop grown-up tastes in food.
But there'll always be the big question, "Why?" What made him decide to try drugs? Was it rebellion, peer pressure, curiosity? Was he looking for something he couldn't find any other way? And what was that?
Somebody just told me that May 8 isn't the 1-year anniversary of his death, but the first birthday of his new life. I'll try to look at it this way but it is pretty difficult to do.

I have a food allergy .................

.......... and I have no idea what exactly I am allergic to - just yet :-(

I broke out in a very interesting but unattractive and itchy rash right after lunch today. I immediately called my doctor, was told to take some Benadryl (which I happened to have) and to come into the office this afternoon. She quizzed me in great detail about what I had eaten, whether I had ever eaten any of those things before and then sent me off to the lab for some blood work to be tested for MSG, chocolate and peanut allergies. I very much doubt I'm allergic to the last two. I eat peanuts all the time and have never had a problem. Chocolate I usually stay away from (fibrocystic condition) because it makes me hurt but I've never broken out in a rash from it before. But MSG is a possibility. Yes, I had Chinese food (and, no, it doesn't say "No MSG" on the menu). BUT, I have that often and have eaten at the same place quite a few times and have never had a problem. Although, the soup I had both last night and for lunch today was a slightly different variation of the soups I've had before. So, I am not allowed to eat the remaining leftover Chinese food for dinner (and I have no idea what to have instead) and have to wait for the results of the lab test. That'll be a while because my doctor is going on vacation. Should the results be negative, I'll have to see an allergy specialist for more tests.
Until then, I'm almost afraid to eat anything :-(