Just a little friendly Solitaire...

Back in December, we won a palm pilot in our Bible Study's gift exchange. We were quite shocked and excited about our organizing potential now. But really, all we use the palm pilot is for playing Solitaire. It was Andrew who started getting addicted. But, then I played and I got a higher score than him. So, he had to beat me. He finally beat me with a score of 5457! So, I had to beat him. I played one game and I obliterated his score with 6156. This is pretty much the beginning of our rivalry. It took him a month and a half, but he finally beat me. Unfortunately, I tied his score that night.

Here are our highest scores below if you would like to join the competition on your own handheld. (We might be a little obsessed, but we keep a copy of it on our refrigerator just so we know.)

5457 Andrew
6156 Naomi
6474 Andrew
6474 Naomi

More Fish Pictures

Well, we recently told you about the loss of our Yellow Watchman Goby, Fifty Percent. Well, we decided to try yet again. This time we got a bigger one. We went through several names like Moby (as in Moby Dick), Hoby (from Baywatch) and Coby (Bryant). But, nothing fit quite like Toby. So, this is Toby 2. As soon as we put him in the tank Spot (our Domino Damsel) started picking on him. He would ram him with his face and then shake his tale at Toby2. Toby 2 got pretty scared and jumped into the back of the tank several times. We thought he wasn't going to make it. So, Andrew bought a tank divider and put it in. It didn't really fit. So, there was a big space at the top and the bottom that Spot could get through. But, apparently he isn't that smart and he started leaving Toby2 alone. Toby also found a great place to hide. He is now friends with Pepe' our cleaner shrimp. They hang out in the same hole. Pepe' hangs upside down on the top and Toby 2 hangs out on the bottom. They make quite a team...

until our Emerald Crab, Emmitt, comes to town. We don't see him very often and when we do, it is usually just one of his claws that we see. But, this day, he took over Pepe' and Toby2's cave. He is pretty big. He has 2 big claws and then all those hairy legs that you see.

He is gone now and things are back to normal for Pepe' and Toby2. I guess Emmitt just came for a little house cleaning.

A Long Day in the Lunchroom

You may be wondering why I am so happy and Andrew is so sad in this picture.


Well, it is because "A Long Day in the Lunchroom" is finally gone! If you haven't seen this art piece or even heard of it, then you are missing out. This is Andrew's giant artwork that he made several years ago The board black board is from the dumpster and he painted it black. The white things are styrofoam cups that he designed for his piece. Now, as much as I want to be a supportive wife, I have disliked this "thing" from the beginning. First of all, it is gigantic. It is has been in our guest bedroom, taking up room, for about 2 years now. Second of all, it is a bit modern for my taste. And it doesn't really match our decor. Third, I had to move it everytime I wanted to vacuum because it was blocking the plug. Fourth, it isn't biodegradable. And that is very important to me :) JK Anyways, Andrew tried to sell it on Ebay, but needless to say, no one wanted to pay the $1000 he was asking for it.

But, if you really liked it, don't worry. It hasn't gone too far. Andrew convinced his mom to create an art gallery in their attic. And of course she needed "A Long Day in the Lunchroom" as the token piece. What a sweet mother.

Pottery

Andrew has been sick since Saturday with food poisoning or some kind of not-fun stomach illness. So, I took the day off today so I could be a good wife and take care of him and take him to the doctor. He has been sleeping for most of the day, so I have had a chance to work on my report card comments which are due on Friday. I told myself that if I can get through half of them, then I could reward myself with some blogging time. So, here I am, halfway through 26 report card comments. Then, I started thinking about what I wanted to blog about and I made of list of 5 different things. So, stay tuned. Maybe when I finish 6 more comments, I will post another blog.

Anyways, here are my latest pottery creations. I realized that I have a lot of bowls. And they are mostly the same size. But, I guess you have to start somewhere. It takes several weeks to make a bowl.
Week 1: You make the bowl on the wheel. Then wait for it to dry a little.
Week 2: You trim the bottom of the bowl down so it looks nice. Then you wait for it to dry a little more. Hopefully it can get fired in the kiln during this week.
Week 3: You get to glaze it. Then you have to fire it again.
Week 4: It is finally ready to go home.





This is where I learned to put a "foot" onto a bowl.

My first mug. I had a hard time with the handle. It isn't very pretty.

Here are all of my creations so far.

Earth and Fire

"Earth and Fire", that is what we are going to call our business when we buy an old barn and set up a pottery and glassblowing studio inside. Let us know if you would like to invest in our new company. Maybe we will give discounts to our early investors.

This is the first bowl I made in my pottery class. Hopefully I will have a lot more to bring home on Tuesday after my class. So, I will post them for your viewing enjoyment.


Here are some of Andrew's latest creations.

He decided to make a fish bowl. Who would have guessed?!? It is holds a little more than 1 gallon of water.

And of course, no fish bowl would be complete without a fish.

Andrew also decided to start making me jewelry. They are very colorful, but a little massive.

I am modeling the middle one for you. Notice that it is the smallest one.

Happy Birthday Kim!

Happy birthday, Kim! You are soooooo far away :( I hope you have a wonderful day!

Kim and I in college


Disco, Kim and Andrew on 4th of July 2003


Our wedding


Oak Mountain Park in Alabama 2006


Georgia Aquarium 2006

Art of Fire

Andrew took Flat Hannah to do some glass blowing on Sunday.

Do you like his nifty glasses? They protect his eyes from the glowing ora in the "glory hole" as they call it. This is where they put the glass to heat it back up so they can keep working with it. It is very very hot in there.


He is using a tool to cool the outside of the glass before he blows it into a bowl.




Here he is blowing the glass. Maybe we can get a better picture next time so you can see the glass on the end of the blowing iron. Sorry about that. He isn't just pretending. I promise. Can't you see the sweat on his face?

Even Flat Hannah gets a chance.

A Bike Ride

Yesterday was a beautful day. So, we decided to take our bikes into D.C. and take a ride. We took Flat Hannah with us. You can look at her pictures below.

Before we got on our bikes, we walked over the bridge to the Roosevelt Island (since bikes are not allowed). We took some pictures there. It is a pretty fun island with different trails to walk through. But, we just went to the memorial. This is a picture of Roosevelt's hand. Andrew took it. I thought it was pretty cool.


This is the Vietnam War Memorial. Once again, Andrew took this picture. I thought it was pretty neat with the Washington Monument reflection in the wall. It is amazing how many people died in that war. It is pretty overwhelming to look at all the names.




They have been working on the Washington Monument for several years now. They are finally done. There are nice sidewalk all around and the flags are back up. It's nice to see our flags flying high.









Hangin' out with FDR.




This is at the Tidal basin across from the Jeffesrson Memorial. This is a very busy area while the Cherry Blossoms are blooming, which is later into Spring. But, it was very calm yesterday.

Flat Hannah Visits Washington, D.C

Flat Hannah already got to see the Star in Roanoke. Now, she got to take a tour of Washington. There were so many things to see.

Teddy Roosevelt on Theodore Roosevelt Island


Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial


Flat Hannah got to meet Flat Sarah from Kansas City.


She even got a ride with a policeman. (He didn't really seem too happy about it when Andrew asked for this picture.)



The Washington Monument

The White House

The Jefferson Memorial

Thomas Jefferson in his own memorial

Franklin Roosevelt

and his dog.

George Mason

I know this picture might be a little disturbing, but this is "The Awakening" on Haines Point. It is a giant sculpture/statue of a man waking up out of the ground.