Cruise over . . . earthquake on . . .

Holly and her sister finally returned from their cruise on Monday – a day longer than they expected, but Holly’s sister had to go to the hospital in San Juan due to falling and injuring her head.  Not the way they expected to end their trip, but they’re all home now.  ■  McHenry county had an earthquake last night around 10:00 pm.  We didn’t feel anything, but our dogs knew about it.  Abby got off the bed and ran around to Holly’s side and jumped up trying to get as close to her as she could.  Apparently the epicenter was just east of McHenry.  It was a small quake – about 2.4 magnitude.  There are over a million small quakes annually on our planet.  Nothing to worry about.  But, do “listen” to your pets.  They know!  ■  No work tomorrow, but I do have to go to the dentist for the other cap that fell of.  Bummer.  ■

Landed in Atlanta . . .

Holly’s flight has landed in Atlanta.  One more leg of travel to go – Atlanta to Chicago. 

Yup, one more night.

They’re staying the night in San Juan and both will fly home tomorrow.  ■  Now I’ve got to get the house clean!

A little more time in San Juan . . .

It sounds like Holly and her sister are going to spend one more night in Puerto Rico.  The last I heard from Holly they were checking into a hotel.  More news as it arrives . . .

Crusing & Bruising . . .

I’ve been getting texts from Holly in a San Juan ER.  Apparently her sister fell on the ship and the ship doctor thought she should get x-rays.  They’re getting the stitches now, but Holly may not make her flight.  I’m waiting for an update.

Can’t get rid of my headache . .

I can’t seem to get rid of this headache.  Maybe some sleep will do the trick.

Tired and another cap gone . . .

I’m tired.  Of course it’s late afternoon and I’ve worked at the guitar store, but I feel like a need for a nap.  And I’ve had a headache for the last two days.  That just contributes to the aching head.  ■  Lost another old cap last night.  I hope that’s the last one I’ll lose ‘cause they’re rather expensive.  I called the dentist this morning, but they don’t work today.  I’ll call ‘em first thing Monday morning.  ■  Time to feed the dogs.  More later.

Busy tomorrow . . .

I’ll be busy tomorrow.  Trip to the bank; trip to the dentist; work at Dr. Wood’s . . . and still figuring out how to finish the pen & ink of an old pickup truck.  ■  The picture you see is one of Abby on her very first day with us.  She wasn’t quite sure of her new situation.  “Why am I here?  Is this a permanent home, or am I just here for awhile?  Will these people love me?  They won’t beat me, will they?”  So many questions and all of the answers were good.  She landed in a great home.  Now she sleeps with me with her muzzle on my shoulder.  Yeah, I think she loves it here.  She and Zoe are snuggled in on our bed as I write.  ■  No more dizzy spells so far.  I’m not one to panic, and I sure don’t want to spend time in the hospital again.  I’d at least like to make it through January.  I’ll keep and eye on it though.  ■  Holly and her sister spent today in Barbados and are now heading for St. Lucia.  I imagine they’re having fun.  ■  Time for me to get to bed.  ‘Night.  ■

“So many guitars . . . so little time . . .

. . . and so little money.”  Commonly called “GAS” it’s an illness we guitar players have. GAS stands for “Guitar/gear Acquisition Syndrome.”  I’m down 1 guitar from 23, but my eye is straying to another beauty.  We’ll see.  ■   Holly’s cruising as you can probably tell from her posts on my blog.  She and her sister are in the sunny climes of the Caribbean – now slowing steaming from St. Thomas to Barbados.  I always enjoyed my time at sea when I was in the Navy.  Love the rolling from the waves, but you don’t get that on a cruise – those ships have stabilizers.  ■   I’ve been having some dizzy spells today.  Three of them before I went to work; 2 at work; and 1 since I got home.  A year ago I had a super dizzy spell and it was a small stroke.  I think I’ll give the doc a call tomorrow.  ■  About time for me and the dogs to get to bed.  ‘Night.  ■

In St. Thomas

Ready for the day!

First day a d sail-away!

On the deck as soon as we boarded

More Rick

And one of these guys must be Rick

CasaBlanca - at Rick's (really!)

Having a drink with new friends from Indianapolis

Waiting at the gate

Not an exciting photo but very exciting
that the weather is cooperating. Cherie's on the way to her airport, too. San Juan, here we come!

The start of the weekend . . . . . .

I just finished this drawing.  It’s of the four offices that our Cary Grove Chamber of Commerce has inhabited over the years.  It was drawn for a chamber event being held tonight.  Good thing I finished it!  ■  It’s been snowing here.  Started this morning and it hasn’t let up.  I did get out in it to go to the bank.  Not all of the streets have been plowed yet, and those that have need it again.  We had tentatively planned to go out to dinner tonight, but no sense driving in this weather if you don’t have to.  ■  Tomorrow Holly flies to San Juan where she’ll meet her sister and embark on a nice cruise.  ■  Dinner tonight is out of the freezer – homemade enchiladas.  Mmmm . . . I know they’ll be delicious.  ■  And I want to thank our neighbors – Jac & Steve for removing our snow.  Jac – thanks so much.  I know you found the beer I left for you. 

Some more to go . . . . .

Still some drawing to do on this, but it’s getting there. Now I have to decide on the details, shading, etc. That I’ll do on a copy of the drawing to see what looks good.  ■  It’s been snowing lightly today.  Not much to shovel, but enough to make driving a PITA. Glad I’m not out in it. ■  No work today, but that’s giving me some more time to work on the drawing. It’s pretty well complete now, but still some decisions to be made that will determine its final outcome. ■  Busy day tomorrow.  8:00 am meeting with our chamber networking group; dentist appointment at noon; and work meeting at 2:00 pm possibly followed by work.  ■

Snow–here’s a picture of it . . . .

Just a quick post.  Here’s a picture of the snowy neighborhood.  I think we only got about 4 inches, or so.  Maybe a little more, but it’s still not a lot.  The first snowfall of the season and people are remembering how to drive in it.  Heard there were a lot of cars in the ditches yesterday – too much speed and not enough control.   ■  Working on finishing a drawing and I need to run out and purchase an external hard drive for backup purposes.  ■

Snow!

Finally, snow.  It’s January 12th and I think this is our 2nd snowfall.  We were out of town for the first one, but when we got back it was all gone.  This time the forecast is for 2 to 8 inches.  That we can handle.  ■  The home to the right I drew for a customer in Wisconsin.  One of these days when I have some time I’ll see if I can’t make a map of where the houses I’ve drawn are located.  ■  I’m working on the drawing for the auto body shop.  I’ll post it when I’m done.  ■  Back to work.

Ill, but better . . . . .

Feeling ill today.  I think I had a fever, because I was shivering all day.  Spent a lot of it in bed with the dogs.  I must have broken the fever, because I’m not shivering now.  ■  Started this post late this afternoon; it’s now about 8:30 pm and I’m starting to feel poorly again.  Holly didn’t feel well today as well.  Wonder if we both got something.  ■  I’ve got a “thank you” card to draw for a auto body shop.  This is one of the quick pencil sketches that I drew in preparation for the actual drawing.  I find myself doing more pre-pen & ink pencil sketches these days.  It helps me to see what is important in the drawing and what isn’t .  ■  Got a call from Sam’s Club telling us to check the Excedrin that we purchased there to make sure it wasn’t part of the batch that’s being recalled.  It isn’t.  Thanks for the phone call goes out to Sam’s Club.  ■

Iannelli Studios, circa 1945 . . . . .

The painting in this post is of the Iannelli Studios in Park Ridge, Illinois, circa 1945.  The Kalo Foundation wants 50 note cards of these.  I’ll have to get busy and see if I can find some easy way to get them printed besides myself sitting at the printer and doing them one by one.  ■  Everyone’s gone from the holidays and we miss the hustle and bustle of the season.  No Christmas tree to take out, but we do have to take the lights off the bear and the wreathes hanging in the windows down.  The lights in the trees boarding our patio stay all year long.  Those won’t be coming down.  ■  No snow so far.  Weird.  We should have a few inches on the ground by now.  I’ll bet the snow plowing business is just having a terrible season.  ■