Five Finger Discount

We may have a thief on our hands. We have a back porch, and there are certain things that need to be placed there. Our neighbors also have items on their porches, so it's not like we are asking for items to be taken.

A couple months ago we were going to go to a park and play our wooden block game, Koob. We went outside to get it, and it was gone. Whithout knowing what the game was, why in the WORLD would someone want a bag of wooden blocks? And not take more valuable items??

Well, we grilled tonight and when done, Mike was going to go out and put the cover back on the grill, but then stopped himself. He never took the cover off. Where in the world did it go? I am 99.8% sure that the last time we grilled we put the cover on. And it just disappears?

What is going on?!?

My Creations

As you probably know from a previous post, I took a pottery class in November. I still haven't gotten everything back yet, but should by the end of February. (The teacher can't fire stuff until the kiln is completely full--so it takes a while sometimes for the whole process to complete.)

Anyway, I love it so much that I worked out a deal at the school I sub at to use their supplies. I want to keep practicing-and see if I can teach myself-without having to pay the fees associated with learning from a professional potter. I will probably go back to him when I am ready to learn more advanced techniques, but for now I am happy to work on my own. My first self-taught lesson was today, in fact, and went pretty well. It's different clay, so it took me a while to get used to its movements, but I saved one piece to work on later.

I have already posted some pictures on facebook, but here are some more completed works. These go in order of least favorite to favorite, so don't get discouraged when you see the first one!

Sorry, these are claimed--they're for my parents:

(Same as above, but different angle)

The studio I went to was in Alpine (pretty high up in the valley-almost up the canyon) and there were multiple times that I saw deer and elk in the middle of residential roads. It was funny because people had those Christmas decorations of lights shaped like a deer--and an actual elk is walking right by it... Anyway, one night I was going to class and drove by deer in someone's yard. I thought how crazy it would be to have one run out in front of me. So, as I pull up to the studio, others do run in front of me, right into the yard of the studio! And I have to walk down the driveway and then some stairs to get inside--all the while knowing there are several deer that could attack any moment!! It was sooo scary! (Another time, I was walking to my car, and I looked over to the same house across the street to find more deer--looking back at me! I picked up my pace and hoped they didn't have any babies they felt the need to protect!)

I hate blogger

I'm sorry, but I just spent a long time creating a post, then added pictures. I first hate how all the pictures load at the top of the post in backwards order. So I always type my post, then add the pictures. I need to remember to stop doing that; I cut and paste my text around the pictures at the top. Well, apparently that doesn't work anymore and I just cut my text without being able to paste it. All of it-gone. Ugh! Here's an abridged (less creative) version of what I lost:

I've grown out my hair for three years in hopes of showing my mom some support as she deals with chemo and losing her hair. I've been told I have nice hair and my mom always liked it, so I thought I would be able to make a wig for her out my hair some day. When I found out that no wigs are made in the US, and that online sites charge thousands of dollars, I decided she would not be the beneficiary of my donation.

But someone can--I donated my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lenghts. They make wigs for women who have lost their hair to chemo. I figure if it can't be my mom, let it be someone dealing with the same tough stuff as she is. It may help them to grow stronger and fight the cancer, or it may just help them feel better about themselves. Either way, someone could use it more than me.

And even though it feels great to have done a good deed, it feels better having a lighter head and no more tangles!