January 14, 2002: Catching up on my journal.

I've fallen WAY behind in my journaling (as you can see). So, I'm going to try and catch up. Here's what's been going on since my last journal entry...

We found out around New Year's that my dad has some kind of heart failure. They thought it was congestive heart failure. More on this in another journal entry.

Aside from that, the holidays were really nice. As a gift for both myself and my mom, I now have access to a REALLY good Nikon CoolPix 995 camera -- the same one I talked about in an old journal entry. This will be a huge help for taking photos of my artwork and for my journal!

My nearly-ruptured eardrum healed, and I'd say my hearing is basically normal now. It still clicks when I swallow, but, who cares. That's not a big deal, and for all I know it might've been that since last time, and I just never noticed before. I'm more concerned about what will happen the next time I fly.

The show in Los Angeles is still going on. Three pieces have sold so far, and rumor has it there's another collector looking for a custom commission. They actually asked me to send them more work, but I can't without making more from scratch. The show really cleaned me out, and I was low on supplies when I talked to them about it.

So, I ordered more supplies, which arrived the other day. I needed them, and there were a few new things I wanted so I can take my silversmithing class. I made a ring.

Even with these new supplies, I still don't expect to make anything new in time for the end of the show... But, at least I can finish some of the other custom commissions that I've received recently. The art business is booming, and I can't keep up with it. They sell faster than I can make them! That's a good thing, but it makes me so self-conscious when I can't deliver quickly. Good thing my collectors are understanding. I just don't want to take advantage of that good faith by taking forever to finish things.

I found a guy who can gold plate blades for me. Muaahahahah...

I still haven't scanned in any photos from my L.A. trip, and the phone messages from the rollercoasters are expired off of my voice mail. *sigh* Kind of disappointing but, that's how things have been lately. I still might scan some of the photos in. If I do, I'll post them here.

Also, my day job has been an absolute madhouse lately. I've NEVER had such complex, constant work ever before in my entire life. At least not for days on end! However, the government website I've been working on re-deploying is now out there, and live. Take a look... if you dare. http://era.nih.gov

So basically that's what it's been like, completely busy, completely stressful. Journaling helps with the stress though, just knowing somebody maybe knows what's going on in my life.

On that note, I'm going to write a few more subsequent entries with details on some of the topics above.