A Beautiful Day!

I'm glad that I had my metal apprenticeship appointment to get me up and out of the apartment yesterday. I was on my way bright and early, listening to Crosby, Stills and Nash...and well that's when the somber mood lifted. The scenery was beautiful, the sky was blue, and the clouds billowing...soon I was happy again.

The class went well. I learned to hammer brass in concentic rings to make a bowl, I learned to use the chop saw to cut some thick metal, I used the acetyline torch...and learned this simple rule: On is: Acetyline first, oxygen last...Off is: oxygen first, acetlyne last. I'll have to drill that into my head until it sets there forever. With the torch, I heated up an iron rod and hammered it into a point. Next I hammered out all of the edges to make it round rather than square. This one I had to do over and over. I wasn't quite getting it. Soon I would lose the heat and have to heat it again. "Strike while the iron is hot!" But, it was much more difficutl than it appears, so Hugh would shape the iron back into a square again...and I would start over until I got it right. In the end, mine was not as good as Hugh's but with practice it will get there...I'm sure.

I did enjoy my fist burned hand but enjoy is not the right word to describe it! I grabbed a piece of metal not realizing it would still be hot. Fortunately my reflexes are fast, I dropped it immediately to the ground and plunged my hand in the bucket of water. I tried to shake it off, I was embarrassed and didn't want Hugh to feel bad...but as he talked about the next part of the lesson...man my hand was throbbing! I was sure it would be all blisterd. But...amazingly today I can barely see where it was burned. Once again, God is looking out for me.

After my lesson I showered at Monica's and she fixed me this awesome salad with fresh tomatos. It's always great to have time to spend with my darling friend Monica. She is one of the dearest people I know...and believe me, I know a lot of dear, dear people. I'm blessed.

Next I ran by Priscilla's and picked up my file box and a few other things she was keeping for me. Then had dinner with Kyle, Jessica and Chloe. I left there and headed to Carla's. Didi, Carla and I went to see our old High School friend Terry at the hospital. He is battling a rare form of leukemia. It's another of life's puzzling mysteries. He is a gentle, sweet, kind, God-fearing man...who has a life-threatening disease. I won't even bother to try to figure it out. We spent some time there visiting; it was the first time I had stepped foot in a hospital since Kenny died and the equipment was all too familiar.

I spent the night last night at Carla's. I was too tired to drive back to Virginia. Sorry Jazz! He will be mad at me when I get home.

Now I'm headed to church with Carla and Didi. Didi's daughter's boyfriend is giving the sermon today. He is studying to be a minister and I can't wait to meet him. I've heard so much about him.

Later I'll have lunch with Priscilla and finally drive back to my apartment. I still have laundry and bills to do. I also just got a message from my boss and have some more things he wants me to pull together for tomorrow's morning's meeting. Boy...I'm busy!!