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We've got a new neighbor that's moved in by our front steps-
You know you're from Quad Cities if... You know what the phone number is for "Car Dead Call Fred"! (a local commercial for a car fix-it company that plays over & over & over...) You've switched from heat to air conditioning in the same day You refer to the Mississippi River as "The River" You have to watch the paper to see which bridge would be best to get across "The River", since they are all being worked on (crossing over the river is a real nightmare!) You know that Joes, Franks, Shortys, Clints, and Nancy's are not names, but pizza places You know that Whities is an Ice Cream place, not a racial term You know that South Park is the name of a mall, not a television show You know that Daisy Dooks is off of I-280, not a character on a television show (strip club!) You know that Tuxedos is not a place you rent one from (Yet another strip club! What do these DJ's have on THEIR minds?!) You will stand in line for over an hour to buy "sculpted concrete" (Isabelle Bloom) You know that Milan is not pronounced like the one that is the fashion capital of the world (But I kinda like it when people pronounce my town incorrectly, sounds much better!) You know that "Magic Mountain" refers to a meal, not an amusement park ride (Magic mountain is a meal at a local restaurant consisting of a pile of french fries smothered in chili and cheese and onions. Heart Burn city!) You use the term "Palmer" as a familiar landmark (Palmer Chiropractic College is here.) You don't crash into a low clearance bridge driving on Brady or Harrison street (We have VERY low railroad bridges that cross these 2 major streets in Davenport - trucks get stuck under these bridges constantly - they end up looking like a can of sardines with the lid peeled back!) You know that pork is THE white meat, not THE OTHER white meat (pork capital here) You have used the phrase, "stupid Iowan" or "go back to Illinois"! You have to dial long distance to call someone within sight across the river, but dial a local number for someone twenty minutes away You know that the coming of spring mean that the Rock River WILL flood. Your house WILL be under water, and you're ok with it. You measure distance in minutes, not in miles You know what Taco Pizza is You THINK you know what four cities make up the Quad Cities. No one really knows. You know what Evel Knievel sounds like when he's mad (They didn't name him Evel for nothing! They actually called Evel's house and made a recording of his most courteous conversation!) You hear someone say, "I'm on Kimberly" and you do not think it is something sexual (Kimberly STREET is what they are referring to) You can pay $14 for a round of golf You know that the Slider run refers to getting burgers, not to running a race (These 2 wacky DJ's have been trying to get a White Castle restaurant built here for years. Every year they fly about 5 small plains to the nearest White Castle - they call it the Slider Run - and fill those planes with burgers to bring back to the QC.) You cannot see a White Castle restaurant for hours (see above!) You can name 2 dorks! (what we call the 2 DJ's who came up with this!)
******************** 8-1-02 Butterfly nets. The best toy my kids have ever had. They aren't too sturdy and develop holes over a summer of catching frogs instead of butterflies, but such a bargain for the hours of fun they have. My youngest actually uses his to catch butterflies and bugs. (Looks like he needs to catch that spider on his shirt!)
On the other hand, my oldest son.....Notice the rubber boots. Creek wading is his deal. Catching frogs with an Indian whoop of "I CAUGHT ONE!" (No, he wasn't stung in the lips by a bee, it's a bubble he was blowing when I took the picture.)
Frog:
Time for me to show off a little. I just received my marble mold from Frantz (the best place in my opinion to order your glass & supplies!) So here is my very first attempt at a marble! I just 'went for it'. And if I do say so myself, I think it turned out beautifully! (But a bigger torch is definitely in order to do these on a regular basis, anyone have a GTT Phantom to donate?! :)
***************** The Mad Scientist welcomes you! August 3, 2002 My boys have never been that interested in their mom making beads. It's just something that they have grown up around. BUT - since the "MARBLE MOLD" has arrived it's been a completely different story! I now have 2 boys who are dying to make marbles. So I have told them if they want to make marbles, they have to learn to make beads first. Here is a mad scientist that showed up in my studio today-
We'll post pictures of our creations tomorrow. And here they are!
Hunter's are on the right, Mad Scientist's on the left. I would say my youngest son is my perfectionist, while my oldest is my abstract artist. I stood behind them and held onto the rods and helped manipulate & shape for them. But the ideas are strictly theirs. They thought the best part was when we took them out of the kiln this am! Here's a few marbles I made with soft glass. Much harder to work with compared to borosilicate.
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY! Of course I couldn't leave that marble mold alone today! And I have found out that I'm pretty darn good at making round marbles. You wanna know how I know that? Because when I drop a HOT marble, it ROLLS! Right off my work table and into a crate. That's a crate of glass organized with PVC pipe. About 18 PVC pipes in that crate......So now it's a guessing game trying to figure out what tube the marble landed in! What finally gave it away was when a tube full of blue glass rods started smoking! See the burn mark-
This is the marble I lost - it doesn't look like much now, but I think it would have been a pretty one! A glowing crystal blue vortex with a trapped bubble on the front side, a beautiful soft lilac flower on the back.
********************** Office Ergonomics August 6, 2002 Now days if you happen to work for a large company, you probably hear alot about office ergonomics. That, and how your 401K has gone to hell. At least that's the big stink until workers find out how the CEO's & VP's have taken ALL of your retirement and transferred it to some bank account in Switzerland and shredded the evidence! But I digress - Office Ergonomics. Repetitive motion injuries. Costing the insurance companies millions. Raising rates. What's a big company to do? I know, let's hire some consultants! (there goes your Christmas bonus out the window) Consultants. People who go around and tell you how to sit up straight. Do hand & wrist exercises. Make you sign papers that say you're complying. Surprise inspections to note if you are 'ergonomically correct'! But there's one good point to this. You get stuff! Cool Stuff! Like new chairs and spongy-cool wrist pads and mouse pads. Foot rests with little knobbies to rub your feet on! You don't know how sweet this stuff is until you have it! I walk around the office now and see people with their shoes off getting a little knob job (Minds out of the gutter people. I'm talking about the little knobbies on the foot rests.) And the gel filled wrist & mouse pads....Everyone is pinching and rubbing their fingers all over these things! Talk about addictive and calming. Wanna kick your boss? Pinch your mouse pad! Wanna scream because the person in the next cube keeps clearing their throat? Rub your wrist pad! Wanna punch the guy on the phone that's a total idiot & you have to straighten out his mistakes - but he gets paid way more than you do? Start rubbing those feet!!!! It's almost paradise....I said ALMOST. If I may make a future suggestion to the company: Heated knobby foot rests! Vibrating chairs! (hhhmmm, I wonder if a couch and TV will fit in my 5x5 cubicle...)
******************************* Misc. talk August 11, 2002 No theme, just miscellaneous talk today. My husband decided to make a bead. He does that every so often (last time was 2 or 3 years ago! :) Pretty good bead, but I confess I am the official 'shaper' whenever anyone in the family wants to make a bead.
Here is my youngest sons latest effort. It's a mask from a computer game he likes-
The fearless frog HUNTER strikes again-
And bags a HUGE one-
Brotherly love - they each have their own desk, but like to share. Can you envision them doing this when they are teenagers?
And not to be outdone - doggie love -
******************** Nighttime August 8, 2002 Here are my sleeping angels. They would kill me if they knew I took these pictures and put them on the internet!
Here's my oldest sleeping with Dr. Claw (formally known as Lion King)
Here's my youngest sleeping with his favorite fuzzy blanket, Dog-Dog and a Nerf gun (just in case of robbers!) Here's a couple other thing that go on late at night here:
Here's our pet tree frog that lives on our security light. He's a pretty smart frog, he knows where the bugs are! He comes back every summer.
At dusk we have a couple bats that fly around the yard and eat bugs. You really can't see it, it's the little blur in the picture. Anyway, it's nice to sit in the porch swing at dusk and watch them fly around. Well it's going on midnite so I think it's about time for me to get to bed too.
***************************** Boys Rule - Girls Drool Otherwise known as 'life lived as 7 & 9 yr old boys'! * Girls don't have cooties after they marry a man. * The perfect ride at an amusement park would be called "Hirl-a-Twirl"! * Grapes & popcorn must be thrown in the air & caught in your mouth to be consumed. * Why walk when you can RUN! * Boys NEVER sit down to pee. * If you gotta puke, do it on your brothers head! * Never get married so you can do whatever you want (See? This mentality starts WAY early!) * When you go fishing with Dad, you get to cuss! Lobster anyone?
Here is a tiny crawfish Hunter caught in the creek. He's about 2 inches long. So Cool!
And a HUGE tadpole that could almost swallow that crawfish!
*********************************** **************************** Lil' Doggies on my Mind Sept. 13, 2002 Now that my boys are getting older they don't like to snuggle so much and mom doesn't get her nurturing fix. SO....what to do? Get a new little house dog to follow me everywhere and snuggle with me and lick my face! We've narrowed to down to a Yorkshire terrier or a Yorkie mix. I've been going to the local dog shelters and have also signed up to be an 'adoptive parent' of a rescued Yorkie. "Rescues" save dogs from puppy mills and abusive owners, breeders, etc. (BTW-did you know that when you buy puppies from a pet store, chances are you're getting a puppy from a puppy mill? Not a good situation.) Hunter wanted a Chihuahua! He definitely said NO to a poodle. He says they may be small at first, but they get HUGE. And they are for rich people. I don't know where he gets these ideas! My husband Ok'd a Pomeranian! If you knew my husband, you would definitely laugh at this statement. But I guess his grandmother used to have a Pomeranian.....It still makes me laugh! Anyway, I'm anxiously awaiting my new little arrival. I hope we find her soon! The Birds & the Bee's (and Frogs?) Otherwise known as 'Lizard Luv' Sept. 14, 2002 Lizard Luv - Frog Fling - Toad Tango Hunter was in the creek yesterday catching frogs and anything else interesting. He came home with 2 frogs that he said were 'loving each other'. One look and yes, he's right. They are for sure loving each other!
That male wouldn't let go for anything! This morning they were gone. Like 2 lovers stole away in the night! snort * My oldest son took a plane ride today. His boyscout troop went to the airport and they took the kids up in a small plane, 3 at a time. He thought that was SO COOL! * I grouted the new work-table today. I thought I'd be smart and mix the grout in a big ziplock baggie (good idea) and then just cut the tip off and use it like a cake decorator (bad idea). Anyway, it's done now and the work-table is the cleanest it will ever be. Tomorrow I get to start messing it up with tools, torches, kiln and glass. I can't wait! * Thanks to all that helped me out with the bead wrap dilemma! *And thanks to all who continue to vote for this site. My husband has made it his mission to get me to #1. Men are so competitive! ************************ Maximillion - Mad Max - Maxi Pad! Sept 19, 2002
Here's the newest addition to our family! MAX He's a 6 month old male Yorkshire Terrier. He came from an older lady who's daughter surprised her with Max for her birthday. She's not able to keep up with him or take care of him. I know he looks totally adorable in his picture, but his hindquarters are full of mats and the hair on his upper body is thin. Tomorrow he goes to the vet and the groomer. ISN'T HE A DOLL?! ******* Friends Sept. 25, 2002
The 3 dogs all have made friends now. Indie no longer sees Max as an appetizer! (Altho- you really can't tell that from this picture!) Today Max went to the vet to get the 3 T's taken care of. Testicles, teeth & toenails! Think he'll have a little of the wind knocked out of his sails? I doubt it! Last weekend my oldest son went camping with Boy Scouts. All night without mom or dad! I was a little strange. I guess he's growing up.
Creature Comforts
We can have the most comfortable furniture in the world and the boys will still come up with a creative way to lounge around!
Thanks for stopping by!
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