happy times

we picked up nathan from the airport last night at around 10:30 p.m. and it was fun to see how much he and chris look alike. of course, i had met nate once before when i was in minnesota, but it was only for an afternoon, plus it was 3 months ago. he will be here for 5 days this time and he and his dad have already gone bicycling around the neighborhood exploring and doing a little shopping.

chris is really enjoying the silversmithing class he's taking, and in addition to the one ring he has completed, is working on 2 more--and has plans for a pair of earrings for me, made with 2 rhodolite garnets we picked out together at the tucson gem & mineral show last weekend. we went with my son, who wanted our help in picking out a special valentine's gift for his girlfriend. he got a beautiful white gold and diamond necklace for her....i don't think he's ready to give her a ring yet (which is fine), but she is a wonderful young woman and i'm glad he spent the time and money to find her something really unique. wish i could have seen her face when he gave it to her!

i feel like i'm having a breather for the first time in weeks. school is over in one more week, and the students are fried, the faculty is frazzled, and even the administators look a little worn out--we'll all be happy when it's graduation day! then there's a week break, after which the next 6-month class starts....i'll be working far fewer hours (phew) in the first session, and think it's time to start figuring out how to boost my private clientele. teaching takes too much out of me; it does not come naturally to me and i find i take everything far too seriously.

i gave a jin shin jyutsu treatment to an old friend yesterday. she was quite impressed with it's effect, and i think she might be a good source of referrals to me. i have a hard time charging for this work, which is something she understands as she used to practice reiki herself. it got to a point for her where she was unable to charge at all for her work, and simply had a 'cookie jar' by her door to accept donations. that sounds good to me. i am still so new at the practice, it would be similar to an apprenticeship or something, to work on others without charging a set fee.

meanwhile one of my massage clients who dropped out over christmas is back, yay!

oh and chris won't be going to kentucky until the end of the month. that is wonderful news as it means his attorney will have time to prepare something. chris and i went to the hairdresser yesterday and got our hairs cut--he looks fabulous with shorter, more styled hair! plus we went and got him a new pair of dark brown khakis and a nice button-down collar shirt for his court appearance. we live in a culture that judges by appearance, so might as well join in for such a serious occasion. i am feeling guardedly optimistic at this point.

well sports fans that's it for now. hope you are having a good week!

ciao :)