Friday, June 19, 2009

Vacation Hangover

**Been back to the grind at work for almost a week now. That vacation time went by waaaaay to quickly. Didn't help that the first three or four days found me down in a funk that I couldn't shake. Luckily, the Goaltender was around to give me a kick in the ass and get me moving again. Beyond that, I think I enjoyed my time off. Wasn't very productive, but my time off never seems to be.There are still piles of paperwork that need to be tended to, and I still have zero motivation to do so.

**The wrestling around with the insurance company continues. The bumper/taillight part they're gonna cover. The control arm and axle seal that the mechanic says was damaged they're most likely not. Even with two different certified mechanics saying the damage was caused in the accident. And all of this back and forth with who's gonna pay for what has got Pinklady all convinced that we should get a new car, especially since most dealers are so desperate to sell. The question would then become, do we sell the 01 car that has 64K on it, or the 04 that has 70K on it? Doesn't help matters that I actually saw a Ranger on the lot at Brad Manning that I actually liked.

**The monarchs have arrived! Holy crap, I can't believe how many there are! Apparently the monarch butterflies have discovered my butterfly weed. This is the first year that I can remember seeing the easily recognizable black, white, and yellow monarch caterpillars. And, a day or two after seeing those, I now have 4 chrysalis(es?) attached to my house at various locations. Guess it was a good thing that I decided to expand my plantings of that particular flower this year. Now all I have to do is get my hands on some of the yellow cultivar that's out there.

**Less than a month to go on the dragon project. The back, wings, feet, legs, and belly have all been rough sanded and are more or less in their final form. The upper chest has been pared down to the correct depth, and the horns are shaped, but not hollowed out. The ares for the nostrils and eyes are set, and I at least have a decent idea of how I'm going to do those features. I may have also settled on a simple clear poly coat as a finish, but I may change my mind about that in the next five minutes or so. Up next would be getting a hold of Cromag to coordinate delivery, but that would require me to have a finalized July schedule, which I do not. That being said, it's back to carving, shaping, and sanding. And contemplating whether or not I should accept a commission from Freckles.

**It was really good to see Kittyluv! So now I know that it takes the Muppets to get her up this way.

**The hair has gotten reasonably long. It is also a little grayer and a little thinner than I remember it being. I have also discovered that I really don't have the desire to spend any prolonged amount of time futzing with it. So, next Saturday, most of it will be going away. Don't know if I'll take it all the way back to skin level (getting mosquito bites on your scalp sucks!), but it will be quite a bit shorter in a week's time.

**With any luck, by the time I get home from work on Saturday, I should be in possession of a slightly used, but free, drafting table. And then I can set about remodeling and rearranging my studio space, yet again. May as well find some more stuff to pile out in the garage, since that seems to have become this season's dumping area.

**After taking a peek in the in-laws basement, I find I don't have as many aquarium related items stored there as I thought I did. At least now I have a partial inventory so that when I go to get rid of all this stuff, I know what's there. Now all I have to do is see what I have at home, do a bit of perk-up work, and get an ad out there to see if anyone wants all this stuff. I'm thinking I'll start with a flyer at work, and if that doesn't generate any interest, I'll put an ad in the local paper and see what happens. Got to get some space cleared off so I can go get that tiki bar I've got my eyes on.

**Once again, I find myself motivated to try and get a game night going. Wonder how long the urge will last this time...

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