Another Weekend Down

Friday night was a productive night on the torch.  I made more eggs and moved another two names off the wait list.  That feels good.  

I also made these eggs with a gorgeous greenish aqua.  Love the color.  Love the veining within the color and around the speckles.  Did not love how it behaved in the flame (it refused to behave for me).  Loved even less what happened around the holes.  Do you see those cracks and chips?  That's not supposed to happen.  So we have come to an amicable and joint decision to part ways and not look for each other again...the eggs and the rods.

I made new beads which made me happy.  I love how the teal-ish blue is metallic in places, devitrified in others and a rusty copper red in others.  Very cool!

On Saturday morning, the kids cleaned out the minivan and I vacuumed it before it got loaded up with coolers and backpacks filled with dry clothes for once we got off the Ocoee white water rafting trip.  Here is the gang before we headed North to pick up my friend Tabitha.  All the wives were gathered round taking pics, blowing kisses and yelling "Thanks for taking my husband and giving me a day of peace and quiet!"   And all the wives (plus my husband) seemed to all be relieved they could keep their feet on the ground and were not being forced into going on this trip.  Let me just tell you they missed out!

Here we are on the Upper Ocoee, which was used as part of the 1996 Olympics course for a few events.  There were Class III and IV rapids with many of them back-to-back.

On the Middle Ocoee section, we had three opportunities to 'ride the bull' and sit on the front of the raft.  Shannon took the first ride and you can tell by his expression in all the pics that he was hanging on TIGHT!  As for the rest of us, well, you might be able to guess it was all fun and games for us by our big smiles. :D  I am hidden behind Shannon's left shoulder, but I can bet you that I had just as big of a smile on my face as the others.

Before the trip I had purchased two disposable, waterproof cameras.  I used one and Tabitha had the other.  Tabitha held onto hers without a problem.  But on the one time I got flipped out of the boat, the camera slipped out of my shorts pocket and was not found.  Sniff.  I can't wait to get the other camera developed and put on a CD.  I am now working on pulling all the photos together to put into books for everyone who went on our 1st Annual White Water Rafting Trip!  It was such a fun day filled with laughter and good friends.  Can't wait to do it again!

When I got home around 10pm Saturday night, I found Chloe was running a 102.5 fever.  I slept with her and was informed throughout the night her throat hurt.  The fever stayed through Sunday with only a mention or two of the throat.  We kept her loaded up on Tylenol, Motrin, juice and tomato soup (I think she had close to 7 bowls!) and a bowl of Dippin Dots that Todd brought home from an afternoon shoe shopping trip.  Crossing fingers this isn't strep and doesn't spread.  Todd had a sore throat on Sunday and went to bed shortly after putting the kids down at 8pm.  We'll see if the sore throat stays and warrants a trip to the pediatrician's office.  The kids and I both have dentist appointments in the afternoon, but I think Chloe's may need to be rescheduled.

I made three new necklaces last night.  One was a custom order, another is a long overdue birthday present for an old friend and another will be going into the shop tonight.  I will share pics and thoughts after I get them uploaded.  Excited that I finally made some new jewelry and looking forward to getting back to creating new pieces on a weekly basis!

I hope you had a great weekend!  Did you follow through on your plans?  Did they get scrapped for afternoon naps and a good book?  Did you stay so busy that the two days flew faster than should be permissable for a weekend?