"Such Joy"

These last two words from the opera, "La Traviata" are perfect for describing my day so far. This morning I was at Great Hang Ups nearly as the doors opened to see my friends, of course, but to also touch base again with Kevin, the glass artist. He has made several of the pieces in my home, including one "custom" lamp which my great-nephews enjoyed turning on and off by touch, as well as the lovely piece Dee gave me as a gift which sits in my river room. Originally plans were for Kevin to hold a "trunk sale" at Hang Ups in early December for which I usually serve as hostess, but, for some reason or another, it never came to be.

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Jen and family were already at the shop when I got there because I had to stop at McDonald's to get a soda on the way over. We went inside to find Dee only, as Julia had not gotten in yet. Once she did arrive, the kids enjoyed playing with the dogs and admired the art work. Kevin and Alex, his wife and a restoration artist, were due momentarily but Dee was going to the gas station across the street to get a coffee for Julia. I offered to go instead as I needed gas, too. But, just as I was about to go, the door opened and here came my friend, Pete, my former counselor, the one who "fired" me! (He was the man who initially called me an enigma, hence my personalized license plate.) What a grand and joyous surprise! The last time I'd seen him was riding down Wells Road and they came past me with Pete waving wildly, just like I do! Dee told me not to go to the gas station, to stay and talk with Pete and help him make his decision about the framing. By the way, the other "Pete" who counseled me at this same time declared that I was NOT an enigma---instead, he said that I was a "what you see is what you get" person. I'll let the two Petes battle that one out.

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Pete asked me which shows I'd be going to and I explained that I have had to limit my show ticket purchases due to my alimony interruption, but I still have opera tickets purchased "before", which Linda and I will use in February. He told the story about wanting to buy tickets for Valentine's Day for his wife because she wanted to see Billy Joel/Elton John. He tried his hand at using on-line Ticketmaster for his purchase, and ended up paying twice what he thought they were going to be! With no way out without losing 25% of his purchase, so he is stuck, and will be a really big hit come Valentine's Day!

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So, anyway, we had a great reconnect and he even took along the address to my blogsite. I wrote it out on his receipt and then he asked me exactly "how" he would access it, not being all that comfortable on the computer (see Ticketmaster notes above.....). I am so proud of Pete because he found the blog and even left me a comment on one of my recent postings, way ahead of the game! Bravo! In case my readers don't go back to read his comment, he told me that reading my site was going to have him smiling all day. Mission accomplished!!!

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Another fun thing happened when another customer came in to pick up a framing piece plus showed off a couple incomplete works he has been working on for many years. It turned out he is a firefighter by trade, but a poet and painter for fun. Not only that, he races cars and motorcycles, a man confident in his manhood, comfortable with fighting fires and writing poetry. Some say driving race cars is poetry so it works! But, the most blessed thing was when he went to his car to bring in a large piece he had written, mounted, and decorated with sleeve patches from his Unit. The lengthy poem was lovely, well done, and gave me goosebumps as it told of their service to the community and dedication to each other, no matter what. I told Julia I was leaving her shop richer than when I came in-----and after this morning, it is true!!!!!