I made it to Seattle last night 3 hours late but safe and sound. Today Noreen and I shopped for a while then headed over to mom’s. Two of my nephews, Jake and Aaron, are spending the day with her. So I got to enjoy time with them as we’ll.
Aaron came down to Austin for a visit about a year ago. He is lobbying heavily with his mom and dad to come down again soon. This is a picture he drew that he showed me exactly 3 seconds after I walked through the door today. 
I finally made it out. I took the monorail up the Strip to see the fountains out in front of the Bellagio. Then I walked back to the MGM Grand.
It was well worth the trip, even with a sore back. I hit Walgreen’s on the way back and picked up some heat pads. Hopefully that will help.
Painting with a twist – holiday edition.
Julie took her last final of Fall semester today – and is headed home for the holidays tomorrow. Tonight we went to Painting with a Twist to create a work of art. This is my version. Not bad. A little festive. Probably worth hanging on the wall for a week or two (?)
Portion of glass artwork in SeaTac Concourse D.
I’m at SeaTac, ready to board my flight back to Austin. I need to come up here more often.
The D Concourse has some very large glass artwork in the windows. Here’s a couple of peeks. Both of these are by an artist named Dick Weiss.
I’ll be home in a jif!
Glass art #2.
Another of Noreen’s creations.
My mom has been on my mind lately, so earlier this month I decided to make a trip to spend some time with her before the Christmas bustle. I can work from her house there and spend the evenings with her.
So today, after work, I hopped on a plane. It is pouring rain here, and is expected to do the same all week. I wish i could bring some of this water home with me…
I’ll also have a chance to see my sisters and brother while i’m here. An added bonus. Noreen gave me this beautiful leaded glass piece that she designed and made just for me. Celtic knot… love it! She does beautiful work. I can’t wait to pick out a place to hang it at home.
Glassybabies.
Rachel is back home. Julie is studying. Monte is at the lake. And I’m getting ready for a Sunday afternoon full of work-work.
We went to brunch at Güero’s this morning, then I dropped Julie back at her apartment, before taking Rachel to the airport. This is a shot of some of Julie’s many glassybaby pieces. These blue ones are pretty. I also like the taupe/beige/cream colored ones. But I guess I’m feeling blue today.
We had a nice weekend. But we all have a busy week ahead.
Tomorrow is Rachel’s first day as a surgical resident (u go girl!). Julie has a test. And I have a full slate of meetings and presentations.
Here’s to the next girls’ weekend.
And, Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there! My dad is gone – for several years now. But he would be very proud of his progeny, especially the two very talented, determined and self-reliant granddaughters that I got to spent the weekend with.
American Treasure – Edward Hopper.
In the interest of spending less time running errands on the weekends, I have really embraced on-line shopping. And not just for presents and big purchases but consumables – I’ve recently bought shampoo, sunscreen, batteries, light bulbs, hangers, replacement parts, adhesives, air filters…you name it. It’s GREAT!
I signed up for Amazon Prime about 6 months ago. It offers free 2-day shipping, and sometimes discounted prices, for many items. It’s a god-send. And only $79 a year. You also get free online video streaming (which is handy with a kindle fire), and free e-books. Check it out.
Amazon does sell postage stamps, but when I ran out this week, I just ordered from usps.com. I usually buy a couple hundred Forever stamps at a time, and they show up in my mailbox in a day or two.
The picture above is of a sheet of Forever stamps that I ordered on Thursday that arrived today. They are of a painting by Edward Hopper called The Long Leg, part of the American Treasures series of stamps. Pretty, gaff-rigged sailboats. I couldn’t resist. I have admired several Edward Hopper paintings and drawings (especially The Cat Boat) over the years, but I don’t know much about him otherwise. So I googled him and in the process of doing so, found a most awesome website for viewing art called wikipaintings.org. What an amazing resource. They have several hundred artists and many thousands of art work browsable and viewable online. A must-have in your bookmark list.
The result of my 2nd Painting With a Twist class.
Yesterday I joined a bunch of friends at Painting With a Twist – my 2nd time. It’s a BYOB painting studio where everyone in the class follows along with the instructor and paints the same picture. I have had my eye on this red landscape for a while. I knew exactly where I wanted to put it… the blank wall in our (not so) recently remodeled master bathroom.
So, today I hung it up. It’s smaller than what the space calls for. But, I like it!
Tonight a friend of ours was having an art show in a gallery near our house. Check out her work here.
