Seasonal Depression... is it real?

I tend to think so.  I hear about it more and more.  Although hype like that sometimes causes "suggestive infection", the longer this winter drags on, the more I personally feel down.  I've had several say that they didn't want to give any more talks on the TM School until they are able to break this cycle.  WOW.

Of course, this morning we awoke to the sun shining in the sky, and although its still cold outside, it is GREAT to see the sun.  There is hope for and end to this.  Reminds me of one of my favorite Beatles songs... "Here comes the ... "

I hope we can soon actually FEEL its warmth enveloping us... you know that tingly feeling you get all over when you come from the cold into a warm place.  Ahhhh.

For you guys in the northern areas... I feel for you.  Hang tough, then when it gets really hot here we'll come see yous.

Love,

MC

FINALLY!!

Well... it took 8 months and a lot of suffering.  You can just trust me when I tell you that.  Friday night, I was watching the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.  The little one on the right passed first... and since I thought there was only one stone, I couldn't believe that this could have caused me all this trouble for so long a time!  Then the feeling returned... and the big guy on the left was born... yeah I said "born". 

I don't know if I really have any enemies... well I can think of one big one, but other than that... I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.  I guess you could say I won the first medal of the Olympics... hah.
Life goes on. 


Love,
MC

Snow!!!

Yep... snow.  Here in mid-Tennessee it is a rare site.  Strange thing is... this time it stuck mainly to the road surfaces.  Very little on the grass so as to have fun playing in.  Like a few years ago, we had about 8 inches of snow.  We got out our ski gear, and skiied all the way from the top of the hill in our back yard down to the road.  Sounds great doesn't it... it wasn't that great.  Not the same kind of snow at all.  This stuff was really sticky.. oh you could go a little bit, but trying to turn in it was exhausting.  This is a photo from that event.

Nowadays we find that our favorite snow pastime is the Wii.  Last weekend we had a couple of the young guys (Trevor & Myles... 15 and 11, repectively) from our cong. over to play Wii.  Josh Nichols and I wore them out... or perhaps they did that to us, I dunno.  We played for about 5 hours, then we did what you can always do with other peoples kids... we took them home. 

Its funny how the Wii reminds you every so often that there is a real world out there somewhere.  When you switch from one game to another, this screen comes up showing the Wii-mote sitting on the table next to a window with a nice breeze blowing through it and it says, "Why not take a break?" 

Getting really excited about Reed and Kelly's wedding.  They're excited as well.  Lots of planning going on.  she was here last weekend and she is delightful.  I hope she's patient ;-).  Actually, Reed is moving back to Atlanta probably next weekend (Marietta).  It's really strange for Micki and me this time.  We kind of dealt with the "empty nest" syndrome the first time he moved out.  Trust me when I tell you that this is not a "made up" syndrome... IT IS REAL.  Not sure how this move will affect us... I suppose we'll see.

Love,

MC

"Honesty is the Best Policy..."

Its really nice getting to know Reed's fiance'.  She got in yesterday and Micki and I really enjoy having her around and getting to know her better.  She is a certified sweetheart.  Looking forward to the rest of the weekend... and beyond.

What a day so far!  Still trying to get Reed's car fixed.  Lots of intermittent problems with starting... it cranks away, but after sitting overnight, etc, it just won't turn over.  Replaced the fuel filter Wednesday and thought we had surely found the problem.  After I got it off, I poured the residual gasoline out of it and it looked like muddy water with chunks of grit in it.  Got new one on, cranked and turned right over... yahoo!  Next morning, same 'ol same 'ol.  Trying to just go through piece by piece and narrow it down.  arggghhh!

Woke up this morning to a "spewing" sound in the laundry room where the water heater is.  Water all over the garage floor... yahoo!! Water supply line had failed.  This is the 2nd of this type to do this to us in the past 6 months (one on the hot side, and this one on the cold side).  Its was one of these WATTS brand, supply hoses with the woven steel outside.  It failed right where the metal ring meets the woven steel.  Whatever you do... NEVER use one of these.  I replaced both of them with the flexible all-copper hoses.  Hopefully these will last.  whew!!

Something funny happened relating to our work this week.  A few weeks ago we picked up a couple of really nice frames from the Art Conservator we work with.  Sent out quotes to the client to restore the frames... waited... didn't hear back.  Usually after a few weeks we give them a call to be sure the quote didn't get lost in the mail.  She was this wonderful "country " lady and said that she was sorry she hadn't sent the quotes back but she wanted to have us "fix 'um up real nice".  So we asked... "So you want to go with Option 1?"  She said "Is option one the most expensive one?... yes? then I want to go with option one."  We love clients like this... I'm sure that many people they work with take advantage of them.  Its a good thing we just studied this in the God's Love book recently... "honesty is the best policy."

Love,
MC

Work, etc.

We've completed a few nice projects in the past few days... a couple of before and after are seen here.  The first one is a really nice carved wood antique Italian mirror that had sustained a bit of damage.  It had been repaired before (not by us) and the repairs did not hold.  Of course people sometimes don't realize how delicately these pieces should be handled.  We didn't do any gilding at all after restoration, just a little touch up to blend. 

This one was a major restoration project as you can see.  It is one of the pieces from the mississippi Department of Archives that was damaged when Katrina paid a visit to that part of the state.  There was so much ornamentation missing that we had to actuallt re-create some of it (mainly on corners).  After extensive repairs, we gilded with 22k gold, then toned using shellac and dark wax/rottenstone.  It turned out magnificently.

Enough about work...

This past week has been really strange.  It seems like every year around the holidays, we crave more entertainment.  Maybe its the extra time off (which is not that much when you have your own biz).  I tend to think its the short days.  It feels like you've worked a long day when you look outside and see that its pitch dark at 4 o'clock.  I find myself going to bed at 9 o'clock some nights... maybe its just being tired of the stone pain, and just giving in/giving up.  I always look forward to that coming to an end.  I think it just did.

Within those cravings for entertainment come movie rentals.  Man what a gamble that is.  This time of year you just grab anything off the shelf.  We rented this one called "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt".  It could have been great with a decent screenplay/better actors. It had Michael Douglas and Orlando Jones, and a bunch of other people who weren't any good.  I imagine Michael Douglas having to be put on suicide watch when this one finally came out of editing.  Sad.  I think it was and old story re-done... not sure.  That is just one example of a recent bad choice... oh yeah there are others.

Tell ya mama an'em we ax "how she durrin!"

Gotta get to work now... love... and bye

A Better Day

Yep... feeling better today.  I had to leave a friends house early last night because of... well you know.

Saw Sherlock Holmes yesterday... along with about a hundred thousand other people.  While I really do like seeing something I'm interested in on the BIG screen, I don't know why I let someone talk me in to going on opening day... especially when that day is Christmas Day!!  I've never seen so many people packed in to a theater before.  At least we didn't get stuck in the front row area (we were actually in the back row).  Sadly, since we usually take a few hours in the afternoon, mid-week, during non-holiday times to go to movies, I couldn't wait to get out of the place.  It really affected my enjoyment of the movie. 

The movie was okay... won't say much about it for now.  There may be those who want to see it and not have certain things spoiled.  Will say this, really liked the character development between Holmes and Dr. Watson. 

Micki and I went for a nice hike today on the trails surrounding Radnor Lake near Nashville.  Gorgeous day... sunny, about 50 degrees, lots of people (yuppies) there with their cute dogs.  They take really good care of that area. Its in a rather ritzy part of town which is no doubt one reason why it is well kept.  Oh yeah, we saw probably a dozen or so deer.  They were just a few feet away from us off the trail.  Reminded me of what we can look forward to... a world where no one tries to hurt the animals, and they have no morbid fear of man.  Very nice...

Take care for now... Eccl. 9:7

Blog title should be changed!

Yep... this blog should be changed to "The Wandering Kidney Stone"!!!

We're almost at 6 months now.  Same stone, different day.  Supposedly its close to passing... I don't know what's happening.  Everyone says "just take your pain pills and relax".  There's too much to do! You can't completely put your life, and the life of those who need you on hold.  So on we go. 

Maybe it'll pass today... maybe tomorrow, maybe next week... Arrrggghhh!