Merry Christmas to ME!

Every year there is a struggle as to what Mike should get me for Christmas. He is a very practical person and isn't into giving jewelry or fluffy gifts. I love him for this quality. However, it makes it difficult at Christmas time. The girls want to see something under the tree for me and always want to take him shopping to pick out a gift for me. It is very sweet and I appreciate the sentiment from the girls. However, I feel sometimes that they are falling into the commercialism of the holidays and that is what I most don't want to happen.

So this year I thought long and hard as to what I would want for Christmas. I wanted to receive something that you couldn't just go and buy. I wanted to learn something. I wanted to be able to walk away with the ability to make something to give to others.

One thing that I have wanted to learn for a long time is how to make glass beads (lamp working). I have always had a fascination with glass blowing, glass beads pretty much anything made of glass. I love the way the light reflects off the glass and the colors. I have probably looked off and on for about 3 years for someone local to teach me how to make glass beads, with no luck. I have found classes in Santa Fe, Taos, Tucson but nothing in El Paso. So to compromise I asked to travel to Albuquerque and would take a glass blowing class. I thought this would fill my need to learn something about glass and that is what I asked to receive for Christmas.

I was planning to go to Albuquerque on the weekend of MLK and had already called a hot shop when I searched one more time on the internet and found a blog of a woman who took a class from someone in El Paso. I was floored. This was what I wanted for Christmas. So I found contact information for the gentleman listed on this blog, called him and he told me that he teaches in 1 day a 6 hour class. It would be one on one and that by the time I left I would know how to make glass beads. I was giddy!

So.....yesterday I took my class and it was amazing, more than words can describe. I made a total of 9 beads in the 6 hours and he strung them on a piece of chord. When I picked up the girls and showed them my treasures they thought I had bought the beads and made a key chain. LOL They can't seem to get their mind around the fact that I took Italian glass rods and used a torch to make beads. It was a fabulous day! One the best Christmas presents I have ever received.

I am posting a couple of pictures for you to see my handy work. The details don't come through as well as I would like but the beads are pretty amazing. I hope you enjoy. Now I am ready to convert my garage into a glass making shop (just kidding - I still have some work on the bathrooms to finish - but once I am done it is on to making glass beads).

I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful rest of the week!

As we start 2009

Well, the holidays are packed away and we are starting to get ready for the routine of school and activities once again. However, sometimes life gives you a wake up call and interrupts your routine.

We traveled to Dallas for the holiday to see my family. As usual we boarded our dogs, Annie and Riley at our favorite doggy spa knowing they would have a great time while we were gone.

We picked them up right before New Year's and thought we were ready for a fresh start, ringing in 2009. That was not to be so....Annie came home with a limp. By Sunday her paw was swollen and she would put very little weight on it and that night Mike had to carry her upstairs when we went to bed. (For those of you who don't know Annie - she is our German Shepard/Lab mix that we have had for the last 10 1/2 years).

On Monday, I took her in to see the vet thinking that this was her arthritis acting up again. They took an x-ray and called me to say that they believed that she has osteocarcoma - cancer or a bone infection(although a bone biopsy was not done, just based on the x-ray). We are devastated. The doctor gave us a couple of options, remove the toe (which would not guarantee that she would be better or that it had not spread to somewhere else), take her to Tucson for chemo and radiation or make her as comfortable as possible and keep her at home. We are choosing to make her comfortable and keep her at home as long as we can. It is very sad for all of us.

The one thing that I keep thinking about is before Mike left for Iraq one of my fears was that Annie would get sick and die before he returned. Before he left I asked her out loud to please help me and not get sick while he was gone. I remember chuckling because she was a dog and how could she make herself not get sick. While he was away, she was great at taking care of us. Barking when she heard something late at night and I felt very safe having her around. She could be a pain in the neck but was a great dog for us while he was gone.

So she stayed healthy and now that he is back I guess time is not on our side. I am very sad to think about not having her around. The doctor couldn't give us a real idea of how much time but we are going to try and enjoy the time we have with her as much as possible for now.