this year I resolve to...

Here's a 2008 goals list I created in response to a message-board query earlier this week. I think most of these goals are reasonable & reachable.

• Run 15 miles a week by April.
• Travel extensively/live in at least one Latin-American country.
• Figure out how to run my business better/decide if I want to try something else.
• Open an etsy store to sell my handmade wares.
• Finish at least one craft project a week.
• Start a quilt.
  
• Finish remodeling my house.

I'm looking forward to reviewing this list in December and seeing how many of these I actually accomplish. Since I'm publishing this for the world to see, I'm hoping to be guilted into doing at least half of these!

freaky friday

That is how my Friday began. With a beautiful sunrise as I headed from Orlando at 6 a.m. to Fort Lauderdale for a jet job. It was only a three-hour drive with minimal traffic for a morning commute. Yay! The job, which was supposed to take two days, only took nine hours to finish with five of us working. Super! So instead of grabbing a hotel room for the night I decided to head on to Clearwater at 6 p.m., only a few hours away. No sweat, right?

Well, it took me an hour of bumper-to-bumper traffic to get ON the turnpike headed out of South Florida. I should have taken that as a sign of things to come. I glanced at the map, but once you get on I-75 heading west there really is no other way to go so I figured I was okay. At about mile marker 50, I realized I hadn't seen an exit since I paid a toll at the beginning of Alligator Alley, the lonely road that cuts through the Florida Everglades. It was then that I realized I would need gas relatively soon. At mile marker 90, I started to get panic-y. Did I mention that it had started to rain? And it was dark? And that I should have replaced my windshield wipers a while ago? I started to have visions of calling for a tow truck while stranded on the side of the road by myself ... in the rain ... in the dark. Would I even get cell reception way out here? Maybe that's why there were so many call boxes on the side of the road. Gulp.

I called Tim (phew, the phone still worked!), who after being told of my predicament decided to ratchet up my panicked state by telling me I was in the middle of the Everglades and did I really expect to find a gas station in the middle of a swamp (thanks, honey!) He asked why I didn't notice the big sign at the beginning of 75 that mentioned that there were no gas stations for about 100 miles. I swear I never saw any signs -- and I promise I look for things like that! And anyway, there should be way more than ONE sign, right? I mean it's only seven miles to get over Tampa's Howard Franklin Bridge and there must be four signs reminding you to check your gas levels before crossing. For something considerably longer you'd think they'd remind you at the toll booth or something. Anyway, after looking up my mile-marker placement online, Tim told me that mile marker 101 was the first Naples exit. I calmed down considerably after that, knowing that my car could get that far. I was so thankful for that exit -- I don't think I've ever been so glad to pay $3.11 per gallon of gas.

The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful, if not just plain long and boring. Even the three bridges I crossed that gave me spectacular views of the Bay area couldn't shake the grumpy out of me. I was so happy to coast into Clearwater at 11:30 (but even happier to get into a hot shower to rinse off that lo-ong day.) By the time all was said and done, I drove 470 miles in 17.5 hours with only a nine-hour work break in between. It's taken almost all weekend to recover. Check out that route!

my first jet!

Finally, after a couple months of frustration and lots of hard work, I got my first real jet job Friday! We fixed two side cockpit windows on a seven-year-old Astra. The picture shows the windows I worked on. I'm so happy with the way it turned out -- and I can finally stop stressing about money for a little while. Now, I just need to make this happen on a regular basis. Ah, the joys (more like stresses) of owning your own business!

fabric & paper

While I was busy with the jet convention I promised to share more projects I'd recently finished. It's a little late, but here you go:

I made two new freezer-paper stencil shirts before I headed to Clearwater this weekend. I love the outline of the plane, which I'll admit I created from an image I found on the web. It's given me ideas for more intricate shirt designs. As for the F? Well, I am a Florida Gator girl.






This is a graphic design project I created for Gainesville Area NOW's 25th Anniversary banquet. I'm a big fan of repetition and geometry, can you tell? This was a great project for me, especially since it forced me to learn more about InDesign. I made response cards, tickets, and posters to go with the invites. The program will also follow the same simple design. We're celebrating 25 years of NOW feminist activism in Gainesville on October 19th. If you'd like to come, send me an email.



These are thank-you cards I use in my business. They are found images of airplanes sewn onto cardstock using red thread and a sewing machine. I get rave reviews for these since most of my customers aren't super artsy and don't expect repairfolk to sew. They're a great way for people to remember me and my service.





One of these days I'll share my Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree card collection. For the past seven or so years, my homemade holiday card has been based on the tree (I'm a little obsessed.) I'm currently working on this year's edition. I'm also working on a large installation for one of the huge walls in my living room. I found some great 1'x1' canvases for 50 cents each at my favorite thrift store in the world, a Goodwill in St. Pete. I bought nine of them and plan to use them to create one large image. I'm about 89% sure what it will look like and really excited to try out some new painting techniques with this project. I should finish it this month since Tim's going into seclusion for a few weeks to work on the comps for his dissertation, leaving me free to paint, paint, paint. Wish both of us luck!

j-e-t-s

I got back late last night from the NBAA convention in Atlanta. It was an overwhelming experience -- two convention halls full of nothing but airplanes and everything having to do with them. I had a chance to speak to a lot of people about jet windows and passed out a ton of business cards. I even got to check out some of my competition -- not one of them displayed a perfectly repaired window! Great for me. While I won't normally write too much about my business, it was an energizing and highly motivational trip. I'm glad I went.







What do sheep have to do with jet airplanes? I'm not sure, but it made me laugh when I was very, very tired. How those women running around everywhere in 3-inch heels lasted three full days of convention floor walking I'll never know.