“College works for many, many students — just ask your physician! But the truth is that students are not one size-fits-all. College is not the predetermined path from cradle to career that we think it is. We coddle and coerce, we tutor and talk, we insist on the square peg fitting snugly in the round hole.”
February 4, 2012
Shop Class
January 25, 2012
Figs in Spaaace!
MAKE | Toronto Teens Send Lego Minifig to Space
And totally unrelated: Sticky Rice in Spaaace!
January 17, 2012
Replicator!
So the saving for the 3d printer continues. I’m sure glad I’m waiting. MakerIndustries just announced their Makerbot Replicator as the next advancement in low cost 3d printing tech.
Pros: much bigger print area (about the size of a loaf of bread), dual extruders so you can print with two colors, comes fully assembled, better resolution.
Cons: comes fully assembled (I kind of wanted to assemble the thing myself), still uses clunky GCode and Replicator G, higher priced ($2,000 as opposed to the $1200 I was shooting for), ABS plastic spools are still expensive (around $65 for a 1kg spool).
So there’s still a ways for the technology to go. I’d like to see it get faster and have the materials get a little cheaper. Actually, recyclable materials would be the way to go. Print something out, then when you were finished with it simply feed it to the (printed out?) recycler and get a nice spool of ABS plastic to start the process over. As far as the cost of the machine I’m okay with the price increase as long as consumables come down in price. Initial outlay isn’t much compared to feeding the thing over time (the “razors/razor blade” or “printer/ink cartridge” approach).
I don’t want to get on a treadmill where I’m constantly waiting for the next revision before I commit, but I feel like the Replicator is aaalmost there. Maybe by this time next year I’ll feel good about buying.
So I’m considering putting off the purchase another year so that I can keep saving. I have about $950 saved and am adding to it at $50 or so per month. At this rate I’ll be up to $2,000 in two more years. Maker Industries might introduce a more expensive one in that time, in which case the goalposts move again, or the next rev (and some competition!) might make them cheaper. But what I don’t want to do is buy something that’s still in the hobby category and isn’t as useful as I’d like.
I’ve been building props the past few weekends and still have two weekends to go. It’d sure be nice to be able to print out a prop (from SketchUp?) and lay it down on a full scale stage model. That’s the long-term plan.
December 14, 2011
Quoth
“In almost all the varied walks of life, amateurs have more freedom to experiment and innovate. The fraction of the population who are amateurs is a good measure of the freedom of a society.”
Freeman Dyson, In Praise of Amateurs
December 12, 2011
December 3, 2011
In a Hole in the Ground there Lived a Tolkien Fan
h/t Giles for the link
December 1, 2011
Maker-Bot
3d printers just keep getting better and better.
Normally you can see the successive print layers that the extruder head lays down (an artifact of the “top-down” technique that current 3d printers use). Much work has gone into making the layering as accurate and smooth as possible. I think they’ve done a rather nice job of it:
That’s a closeup of a 3d printed shot glass with a human hair in the foreground. Not a bad finish on the “glass”, no?
Just passed the $800 mark on the MakerBot ING account. Christmas marks the halfway point (wow, time flies when you’re saving for tech). Next Christmas is the ETA for Timberline Custom Woodworking (my sole prop WW business) to buy that MakerBot. Fifty dollars at a time and you can buy anything. 
November 30, 2011
Light Up My Life
So in an effort to cut our annual electricity bill from 12000kWh to 10000kWh next year, I have successfully installed two LED outdoor security lights, an LED front-of-house candelabra style light fixture, and FOUR interior 40 watt LED bulbs (2 of on sale for $10 and 2 high performance $30(!) bulbs). Payback on all this will be about 15 months, at which time it’s all gravy. The old backyard security lights (100watt bulbs) ran about 15 hours per day at 50% dim. So:
100 watts (2 bulbs at 50%)
15 hours/day
365 days
547,500watt hours/year
547.5kWh/year
at .14 cents/kWh, the backyard lights cost us $76.65/year. Add in the front lights and we’re talking a little over $120/year to run. The new lights cost about $250 so that’s 2 years to pay them back. Still looking for a good LED replacement to go over the front door (preferably dimmable somehow).
We also got front and back storm doors, which will hopefully help in reducing drafts and air leakage. I also fixed a great big (1″ x 3″) hole in our front door frame a few months ago and it’s been a big help- mostly because now we don’t get overrun by rolly-poly bugs every few weeks.
I wish they made candelabra LED bulbs in a real-world 60 watts. I tried the “40 watt equivalent” type yesterday and they were dim and ghastly, so back they went. My office lights are a pair of 40 watt candelabra style that run about 15 hours per day. Total annual cost there is $60 in electricity (438kWh). If I replaced them with 10 watt LED’s I could cut that down to $15 (109kWh).
We’re just trying to grab some of the low-hanging energy fruit around here in an effort to lower the bills. We’ve even looked at a grid-tied solar panel system, but the roof isn’t the best for it (too many pipes jutting from our south-facing surface). The water heater needs to be replaced in the next year or so, so paying for a solar water heater might work, but our current heater is gas and the replacement will be so efficient that even if we added a solar heat backup system, the amortization time would be a couple of decades. If it was an electric heater we’d do it, but gas is still really cheap.
The thing I’d really like to do is replace our super cheap windows with good dual-pane argon filled ones, and then build supplementary interior thermal insulation panels to further increase insulation. But, wow, are new windows expensive. A full-house retrofit would cost about $15,000 and we’re not going to be here nearly long enough to justify that. Even so, standard walls have an insulation value (R-value) of 19. Our super cheap builder-grade windows have an R-value of…. one. Yes, one. So even adding a single layer of thermal insulation via a built-up interior window insert could save us 30% on our heating and cooling bills (according to online claims I’ve seen). That works out to hundreds of dollars per year for something that’s very cheap to build. The cheapest way is a wooden frame with plastic heat-shrink stretched across it. With my woodworking skills I think I could do much better than that- I’m thinking plexiglass laminate inserts with a second layer of plastic stretch material on the inside. This would create a double layer of insulating dead air space. I figure I could do it for about $50 per window. $600 for the whole house with a 2-3 year payback period.
The other obvious thing is to add insulation in the attic, which is probably in the cards sometime. I just wish we could super-insulate the walls, but that ship has sailed.
I would dearly love to take a few years and plan out a completely off-grid, super-insulated and self-sufficient house on paper and then build the thing myself. The thought of being free of all utilities– electric, water, gas, etc— is pretty appealing.
So that’s where we sit now in our energy conservation quest. 12000kWh last year, goal of 10,000kWh next year. A roughly 17% reduction in electrical use and an annual savings of almost $300. I’ll report back in a year and run the numbers to see what happens.
November 29, 2011
November 2, 2011
MAKE | Zen and the Art of Making
Excellent essay about beginners and experts that’s well-worth the reading.
MAKE | Zen and the Art of Making: “”
“Once you get enough experts together, that’s when the in-fighting usually starts. Even The Beatles fought with each other about who was the best. Experts start to see the tiniest differences between each other and (usually) fork their efforts. It might be over-phrasing or titles of efforts, what licenses they use or don’t use, who is more pure than someone else. Beginners don’t know enough to care about these things yet — it’s the freedom beginners enjoy, even if it’s just for a short while. Beginners tend to see what they have in common with each other; experts can only see the differences. Many experts don’t want to share their knowledge, and beginners don’t have anything to share yet other than encouragement and enthusiasm for other beginners. Experts like to defeat each other, often publicly; beginners conquer themselves and their own challenges, and the experience cannot be taken away by anyone. Beginners don’t have strong opinions — they can’t effectively bother each other yet.”
This is one of the reasons that I rarely share any of my work online (except here where only 30 people read regularly). I don’t have the time, patience, or inclination (or the thick skin) to publish my woodworking exploits on a woodworking site only to have sixteen people tell me where I did it wrong or where they would do it better. My attitude is always yeah… so why didn’t you? Like I said: I’ve got no time for that. I’d rather use my limited hours building stuff than defending against people I don’t know or who’s opinions I don’t care about.
“I think the new discoveries and joys of learning are the crux of this beginner thing I’ve been thinking about. Sure, when you’ve mastered something it’s valuable, but then part of your journey is over — you’ve arrived, and the trick is to find something you’ll always have a sense of wonder about. I think this is why scientists and artists, who are usually experts, love what they do: there is always something new ahead. It’s possible to be an expert but still retain the mind of a beginner. It’s hard, but the best experts can do it. In making things, in art, in science, in engineering, you can always be a beginner about something you’re doing — the fields are too vast to know it all.”
October 25, 2011
Is there anything it can’t do?
Hermit crabs running short on shells? 3D printing to the rescue!
Coming soon to a shop near me.
October 19, 2011
October 18, 2011
October 17, 2011
The Good Old Baylor Prop Build
A few weeks ago I got a call from Baylor University. They heard that I build props for the Sing and Pigskin and wanted to know if I could build them a new Baylor Logo prop to replace their aging 30-year-old big Baylor seal. They had the design all worked up from the marketing department and wanted to know if it was something that I would be interested in. Hey hey! Yes, I would! Is it something you can get to us in three and a half weeks? uh… (gulp)… yes. So I set out to build the new Baylor corporate logo prop over a whirlwind fifty hours. I had a lot of fun, it was a lot of work using some new techniques, and I’m tremendously proud of the results. Read on if your’e interested.
Step one was to get the official Baylor logo in digital format. The “BAYLOR” logo (aka “wordmark”) and symbol (“logo”) are both custom-designed by Baylor’s marketing department so I couldn’t just print out any old font. It had to be the exact “BAYLOR” that nobody else owns. The spacing between the letters is also critical as it’s part of the overall registered trademark. Once I had this file I took it to Kinkos and paid $65 for them to print it out on their large format printer. It’s pretty cool that you can get just about anything printed out in any size. Good to know for future projects.
Here’s a pic of the symbol and wordmark before I cut them up. I had to measure the spaces between the letters to reproduce them exactly once the thing was built. The overall length of the whole thing is about 23 feet!
The next step was to carefully cut out the letters and logo with an X-acto blade. I cut them just slightly proud of the design since I would then be fixing them to pieces of MDF with spray adhesive and then carefully sanding the MDF to the exact outlines of the pattern. These MDF pieces became my templates for making all of the letters and parts of the Symbol:
Yeah, my 42 year old eyes can’t focus that closely any more with my glasses on. I suppose there are bifocals in my future.
Detail work!
Here’s the symbol once I attached it to my MDF template and carefully cut to the line. For the symbol I ended up having to remove the archway and side supports so I could sand the edges of the building. Later when I attached the building layer to the background I had to sand and fill the cut with body filler. It’s an invisible join, even up close.
A little bit of mineral spirits and the paper template comes right off.
Next I cut out the paper silhouette, stuck it to some 3/4″ plywood, and used my scroll saw to remove the outline. I did the same thing with the numbers (you can see the holes I created there). I’ll eventually make a stack of the background layer, building layer, silhouette layer, and numbers. A nice 3D look.
I made the template for the letters in exactly the same way. Cut out the paper template 1/32″ oversize, attached it to a slab of MDF, cut and sanded the MDF to final shape, then removed the paper with mineral spirits. I did this will all six letters until I had a perfect example of each. Why? (I mean Y?)
Pirates!
What the “L”?
Oh!
And there was much rejoicing “LAAA!”
In the picture above you can see the almost completed “L”. I didn’t get a picture of this next part of the process, but what I did was take the perfect MDF letter templates and use them as a pattern to make the 12 layers that comprised each letter. With 12 layers of 3/4″ thick plywood I was able to construct a 9″ thick letter. Basically I would lay the MDF letter onto a piece of plywood and trace it out, trying to fit as many of each 30″ tall letter as possible onto a 4×8 sheet. I ended up using almost 30 sheets of plywood for the whole job (that’s a grand in plywood, btw). The I would rough cut out each plywood letter, screw the template onto the rough letter, and then use a pattern maker’s bit to follow the template and thus cut an exact copy of each letter. Any imperfections in the pattern got translated to subsequent layers so I had to be really particular with the master pattern letters. Some errors still crept in but I corrected those later. Here’s a pattern bit so you can get an idea how it works (I didn’t get pics):
All told I had to cut out 72 different letters. It looked like an explosion on Sesame Street (minus the muppet body parts).
I then glued the layers together to make each chunky, 9″ thick letter. Then I had to sand each letter to get rid of any imperfections. If there was even a slight error in my template this error would be transmitted through the stack and you’d see a groove or dip all the way along one edge. My next step was to coat the outside of each letter with a layer of super sandable Bondo. It’s called Rage Gold and is used by the aftermarket auto body guys to make cool shapes in their cars, construct custom dashboards and radio inserts, etc. I used about 1.5 gallons of the stuff. I’d scoop some out, mix it with the hardener, then quickly (it begins hardening within about 90 seconds) spread it on the plywood edges of the letters. I spread it on thick to cover imperfections and to try and fill in the rough edges of the plywood. Once it dried I went back over it and sanded away probably 95%, leaving a glassy smooth surface. My entire shop was covered with blue-green-pink dust from the stuff. It’s nasty (but I wore my breathing ventilator).
The next step was to give each letter a coat of primer in prep for the base coat of paint. I didn’t want to use a brush or roller since the fast dry times caused by the 112 degree summer heat would mean horrible brush marks, so I purchased a paint sprayer from Lowes. Brilliant decision as it made the final finish so much better. Unfortunately, I only had room on my paint table for one letter at a time- and I gave each letter three coats of primer! I ended up sitting in my garage all day long with my laptop literally watching paint dry. Every 30 minutes I’d get up and give a letter another coat of primer until all the letters were done. A sweaty, hot, boring day.
Paint station (my neighbors love me)
Spraying the R
What I actually did most of the day
Finished letters
Unfinished letters:
Incidentally, the symbol that’s hiding behind the O in the above picture started out as a solid 9″ hunk of plywood, but it weighed well over 100lbs! So I had to cut each layer into a hollow donut then cap the front and back with solid pieces to make it manageable. It still weighs about 40lbs. The neighbor’s kids came over and we signed the inside before closing it up (hi neighbors!).
Next I gave each letter a coat of Official Baylor Green (helpfully supplied by Home Depot and Glidden- they have the contract for official college colors, thank goodness). I had to build a makeshift paint spray booth in my shop out of leftover plywood (cut into strips) and plastic from HD. You can see in the pic that I had some overspray onto my shop floor. Whoops. Time to ask the neighbor if I can borrow his pressure washer. It took me four days to paint the letters starting around 7am every day (one coat every four hours) and ending right around sunset. Three coats per letter:
Finished letters. Time was very short (remember that three week deadline?) so I didn’t paint the backs of the letters. No big deal as they won’t be seen from the back anyway. The flash catches the plywood layers here but in person it’s much more subtle.
Next I taped off the symbol and gave it a spray of green (the building will be painted yellow later). The nooks and crannies of the building (Pat Neff if you’re a BU grad) were particularly difficult to tape around:
After the green dried (and one day from deadline) I hand painted the details of the yellow building where it met the green background using a magnifying glass and a lot of patience. I wish I’d waited until it was painted to attach the yellow building to the background but for various reasons this was the best way to do it. Still, it was a pain in the backside, taking several hours to do a single coat, then going back over and correcting mistakes with green paint after the yellow dried. I gave the yellow layer three coats as well.
The yellow layer is done!
My eyes hurt.
Finally (and literally the morning I drove it up to Waco) I applied the silhouette and numbers, then filled in the micro nail holes with putty and a touch of paint.
Finished!
Here it is in front of the house, all set up:
Yes, I got weird looks from drivers, but that’s half the fun!
An hour later I had loaded it up in my (well padded) Tacoma bed and trucked it up to Waco for delivery. Here it is in the Ferrell Center waiting for its public unveiling… which I never saw because I was told the wrong time! Oh well.
But someone was kind enough to send a few pics of it on the stage. Hopefully I’ll see it all set up in person someday.
So that’s the story of how it took me 50 hours to construct Baylor University’s official new corporate logo prop. I’m extremely proud of it and feel honored to have gotten the job. Hope you enjoyed this little how-to in case you want your very own giant collegiate logo. Just don’t do THECOLLEGEOFWILLIAMANDMARY. It’d take forever.
October 15, 2011
Building Style of the Future
“So if you were building something with hand tools, you might make a design with lots of filigrees and fluting and carvings, but odds are good that you’d use simple geometry that conforms to your stock. But, if you were going to use a 3D printer anyway…
Doesn’t cost anything to punch a bunch of holes in something. Not even that much design time. In fact, as I’ve said numerous times before, the more holes you punch in something, the cheaper the material and machine time costs. So increasingly, you get these really intricate designs, because the complexity doesn’t cost anything.
The Awesome is Free.”
via (with cool picture)
October 13, 2011
The Future of 3D Printing
October 5, 2011
October 3, 2011
September 10, 2011
Life, the Universe, and My Birthday
With apologies to Douglas Adams, today I am 42.
Which means today this blog is eight.
Now that I’m 42, I’m supposed to know the Answer (you know the one). I guess since I’m writing this on the actual eve of my birthday (three hours from now, to be exact) then at midnight Texas time I will suddenly ascend into all knowledge and know the answers to Life, the Universe, and, well, Everything. Get back to me tomorrow and if I don’t answer it’s because I don’t have time for you puny mortals. Or I’m just eating cake. Hmmm… cake… maybe that’s the Answer.
One year ago I was the tender age of 41, trying to find my way in the world, but now that I’ve achieved the rarified heights of forty-two, things will doubtless come into focus. Until that happens, though, here’s an accounting of the notable events of the past twelvemonth.
Said goodbye to a high school friend: a very good high school friend of mine- Kim Masterson- died suddenly this past year. She had been struggling with cancer for a while and we thought she finally had it beat when it apparently staged a comeback and took her life, leaving her three great kids motherless and her friends shocked. I’ll miss Kim. We hadn’t seen each other since our Baylor days but I still feel like we could have struck up a conversation without missing a beat.
Completed my 20th Year of Sing: and wrote all 20 acts in the show. Years ago when I was first starting out I used to occasionally wonder what it would be like to write the whole show. I had that very privilege in my 20th year. It was a distinctly great feeling knowing that everything from the opening Sing Anthem to the final notes had passed through my brain and fingers at some point. All 5000 pages and 15,000+ measures. I feel like I’ve made enough mistakes over the two decades that I’ve finally achieved Malcolm Gladwell’s mystical 10,000 hours. I feel like I finally have some actual expertise to offer the folks who work with me. Not just the technical aspects of writing music, but the more subtle part of shepherding a creative idea from inception to performance. I may still not always know the words to explain the “X-factor” of what makes an audience say “ahh!” (we don’t have the words in any human language), but I feel like I can more reliably stumble my way into it. It’s a good feeling. It was appropriate that on my 20th anniversary performance in the pit I met Sara Sinclair- old pit band pianist from way, way back in the 70s. It’s good to be a part of such a tradition.
Thanks to friend and Sing Chair alum Lisa Sorenson for the cake!
Focussed on electronics: this year in my personal classroom my topic-du-annum was devoted to finally learning the basics of electricity and electronics. I’ve tried it several times before but I always managed to confuse myself with the basics and end up frustrated and stymied. This time, with the help of several really good books and the two accompanying Make:Electronics packs I was able to dig my way through Electronics 101. I may not be able to hotwire a car or build a taser gun, but I understand V=I/R and basic electronic components. I can put calculate and install LEDs as well as read simple block diagrams (and build a circuit from them!). The area is so big that I’ll probably make it a two year study (I’m only halfway through the Electronics packs anyway). Victory!
Wrote music for Word and Lifeway: I was able to arrange hymns for Lifeway Music’s new hymnal (where my name is now included!) as well as do music and continue mastering for Word Music. Even though I don’t live in Nashville it’s nice to feel plugged in with some of the bigger music companies up there.
Wrote even more music for a University: which I can’t give details on yet because it hasn’t been released, but trust me, this one is a monster. 30 totally original songs. The client just told me that it’ll probably be in limited national release. Exciting stuff!
Wrote even MORE more music for another University: I’m also currently working on a 17 minute fully orchestrated original piece for a different national college’s recruitment video. It’s been fun to be told “just write something cinematic and heroic sounding” and then be cut loose to do my best. It’s some of the best writing I’ve ever done and I’m really really proud of it. I’ll post a link when I can.
Built props: In conjunction with Sing this past year I was hired by several groups to again build props (with their inexperienced but willing assistance) in my shop. We built a giant boxcar, a 10′x 12′ train engine, a set of nesting boxes, various hand props, a full sized giraffe head, a tiki hut, popcorn maker, giant kitchen appliances, various office furniture, trees, signs, and all sorts of other craziness. It’s not just the chance to put in serious shop time that I love, but the opportunity that I get to grow closer to the Sing Chairs that I help. We always have a ton of fun getting sore and sawdusty while building things that thousands of people will see on the stage. And I love the befuddled looks from the drivers that pass by when they see a huge ferris wheel or giant toaster in my yard. Priceless.
Built MORE props: I’m currently working on a 19 foot long by three foot high permanent logo for a client. They have decided to replace their 30 year old former logo with this new redesign and wanted an actual 3d object to put on stage. Made out of almost $1000 in plywood, fiberglass, and paint, this thing is designed to last another three decades. I’m proud of the fact that my building skills have enabled me to tackle these bigger opportunities and I’m having a lot of fun seeing it slowly come together. The only downside is that it’s summer in Texas. 107 degrees is not a good time to be in the shop!
Saw a mentor pass away: A terribly sad though not altogether unexpected milestone was reached a few weeks ago when longtime musical mentor and friend (to many) Robert H. Young passed away. Dr. Young was my director when I was in Chamber Singers at Baylor and he was a sort of Collegiate surrogate father for Erin. We will miss him terribly but will always have his wonderful music and future Chamber Singers concerts to remember him by. Every Christmas we’ll listen to “Who is He in Yonder Stall” and remember this wonderful, kind, talented, and Godly man.
Replanted the yard. Due to a massive invasion of grubs as well as neighbors who feel like the definition of yard care is to mow their six foot tall weeds once per year (no, I’m not kidding), we finally bit the bullet and completely replanted our yard. I got ten cubic yards of dirt (that’s a very full dumptruck load) and spread it out on our front yard until it was 6-8″ deep (HUGE THANK YOU TO NEIGHBOR JAMES AND HIS SON RYAN FOR THE HELP!). After that I tilled it into the old soil and then laid down almost three pallets of zoysia pallisades grass. After several months of watering in the Texas heat (another thanks to James for taking care of it while we were gone) we have what I am sure is the most beautiful grass I will ever possess. It’s dark green, healthy, verdant, and even smells like it should. It’s thick and fun to walk on. I don’t know how it’ll do long term as the years go by but we’re just loving it now.
Shared in an Award: this year I got to see the movie that I did location and post production sound for, Paradise Recovered, win not one but two Grand Prize Awards at major film festivals. It’s been great to see all the hard work by this small and committed group pay off. We’re collecting all kinds of Laurel Leaves! Go Team Paradise!
Got tennis elbow: about eight months ago I started to notice a pain in my right elbow. It grew over the weeks until I could basically do nothing with my right arm that required any sort of bending of the elbow or flexing the muscles just anterior of my elbow bone. Trust me- when you type, play piano, and do woodworking for a living that’s a pretty severe handicap. It hurt to hold my car keys sometimes. Crazy! After several months of ibuprofen and ice packs it’s almost healed now, but I’ll never laugh at tennis elbow again. What a (literal) pain.
Read my own Eulogy: Not really, but close. Unfortunately most of us never say the things to people we care about while they’re still with us. Fortunately, my good friend Barry isn’t like most people. When I mentioned that it was my 20th Sing anniversary he penned a very public and very touching post about it. Upon reading it through suddenly misty eyes I realized that it about sums up everything for which I would like to be remembered. I consider it a rare blessing that I got to read it, Barry. Gratitude.
Traveled. A lot. Well, for us anyway. We started off the year with an early March trip to visit Erin’s cousin in Anchorage, Alaska. It’s been on our wish list for a few years to go to the 49th state and see the beauty of the mountains. Since we both enjoy the cold and snow, getting to go in March was a real bonus. Due to the fact that we were flying Buddy Passes we ended up staying an extra four days waiting for a flight out (and eventually had to buy one way tickets!), but even so, we had a wonderful two weeks and can’t wait to go back. The one thing we didn’t get to do while there? See the Northern Lights. Every night we’d go outside hoping for a glimpse of this elusive phenomenon, only to be disappointed. However, the delayed return wasn’t all for naught. On the flight out at 10pm the pilot got on the intercom and said to look out the left side of the plane. The Northern Lights! We were on the right side but fortunately the only two empty seats on the plane were just across the aisle. So Erin and I trucked it over there and got to witness twenty minutes of otherworldly midnight beauty. It was something to see. Alaska was cold, beautiful, far away, cold, snowy, and COLD. I love the cold.
Our next trip was unexpected (for Erin at least). Thanks to my good friend Sean’s brilliant thinking (well, fortuitous internet surfing), I surprised Uber-Harry-Potter-Fan Erin with a trip to Harry Potter World in Orlando for her 40th birthday. It was among my most favorite gifts that I’ve ever given anyone- especially since I had to keep it a secret for almost two months! Three days before her birthday I made Harry Potter’s favorite dessert (treacle tart) and surprised her with it, then gave her a card that was actually a portkey (and if you don’t know what a portkey is you haven’t read the books… shame on you!). The very next day we were off on a plane to Florida for three days at Universal Orlando. What a blast to do as a trip, and what a fun thing to surprise someone with!
A few months later we got to spend time with friends Matt and Jenna in D.C. (after a failed Buddy Pass attempt to get to Ireland) and spent a week traveling around Philadelphia, Amish country, and Gettysburg. Then we came home and, two weeks later, got to spend a whole month house-sitting for friends in Colorado Springs. *Whew!* Neither one of us has ever travelled for fun quite so much in one year. We just had a confluence of opportunities and events that made it possible this year and we feel grateful. We’re jet-setters!
So there are some highlights from Year Forty One, spent living in gratitude one of the most wonderful lives ever. I wonder what the next year will bring?