So Far Behind I'm Ahead

Coffee in Denver (the skyline mug, that is), "The Rest of the Dream" by John Hiatt on iTunes. I was listening to it in the studio as I was finishing the last of today's cut list and continued it here. Somehow, in the weird way that time works, I am now so far behind that I am actually ahead! I didn't get my fuse load in yesterday--the polishing of the photos and the article for Glass Patterns took ALL DAY. I didn't have the heart (or the energy) to work last night to get the kiln load in so I pushed my whole schedule back a day. Now I have *no* free days between now and when I lave for the mountains of South Carolina with Jessie. I still consider it a good trade.

This morning started--as all the mornings this and next week do--with taking Jessie to Zoo Camp at the Atlanta Zoo. Any morning is a good morning when you get to hear Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way" not once but twice on two different radio stations on the drive. As soon as I got home I headed into the studio to do the cutting so the scrap would be ready for Sophie to turn into morceaux when she starts work at 10:00. Two days in a row with the same routine and I'm liking it. Too bad Sophie goes home next week.

Now it's 9:34 and I have already done all the cutting scheduled for today. After I finish this post I am going to make a frit inventory sheet for my 5 lb jars of frit and have Sophie fill it out. I put some thought into the design of this form and instead of writing numbers of jars left, I am going to color in blocks as I use up a jar so I can see at a lightning glance exactly how much I have left.

The concept of needing to track *5 lb* jars almost boggles my mind. When I started working with frit I bought 1 lb jars and I had one of each size (fine, medium and coarse) for some of the colors. Then I worked up to one of each size for each cathedral (transparent) color, then one of almost every color in every size. By that time I was also buying 5 lb jars--in all three sizes--of the colors I used the most so I could refill the 1 lb jars and work from them. Now I am at the point where I am buying and keeping on hand multiple 5 lb jars of some colors and sizes. Next up, 40 lb buckets--though that's a pretty big step up. If Bullseye had 20 or 25 lb buckets I would buy them all day long for some colors, but 40 lbs is a lot and takes up one big footprint (I scatter my 5 lb jars around the studio and studio annex there are so many of them).

Then I'll get my fuse load in and that should take me up to noon. That's all I had officially scheduled for the *day* so I am going to take advantage of the extra time to get my artist info cards designed and ready to take to the printer. Then if there's more time left before I have to get the J from Zoo Camp I might work on my booth redesign for the BMAC. Yep. Have to redesign (yet again) as I have a 10 X 20 corner for the first time (and after I just bought carpet for a 10 X 15... *sigh*). My show rep called and offered me first shot at the five extra feet and I said sure why not! Bigger *is* better in this case.

Now off to see what else I can think of to add to Sophie's plate besides inventory. An intern is a Good Thing (and my assistant/apprentice Carol is back tomorrow too! It'll be a full day in the studio).