Clayton Hill Studio

Posted on April 12, 2011 by claytonhill

Weekend Update … summer nights

Holy Shnikeys … with the warm weather we had Sunday, the ER was hopping like a summer night! Multiple broken bones requiring reductions, an electrocution, appendicitis, respiratory failure, centurians (is that what 100 year old’s are called?) with urosepsis, pediatric pneumonias, testicular torsions … the list was endless, along with the typical GI flu and weekend intoxicants! I came home and crashed hard for 13 hours … I need to get in better shape before the summer really hits!

Now it’s 2am and I’m awake for the day. We’ll be going to the airport again later this morning to get (Neo) pups to their new homes. Then it’s off to appointments and errands. I hope to get in the studio by the end of this week …

I’ll leave with a quick pic of Yoda Kei … he’s 3.5 months old now and as sassy as ever …

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Posted on April 8, 2011 by claytonhill

Blah … but …

Feeling a little blah today … I’m sure our gray overcast sky has something to do with it – along with the cooler-than-I’d-like temperatures. Plus it’s Friday, which means work tomorrow. Where did the week go? We’ve been busy with Neo puppies getting to their new homes this week. Had a couple fly out, which meant 530am wake up call to head to the airport. So my sleep schedule has been a mess all week.

Anyway – it’s Friday… and I finally have the production kiln kickin’! First time since before our trip. And – I’ve decided I am going to move forward with a studio-dedicated web site. It’ll be a bit of work, designing and coding – so don’t look for it any time too soon, but … I’m excited.

I also got a shipment of dichroic glass in this week. New ‘bling’ glass to play with pendants and badge reels.

So – things are looking up. I know Winter will soon let go of her ‘death-grip’ on the weather, and Spring will finally come ….

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Posted on April 5, 2011 by claytonhill

Weekend wrap-up … grumble, grumble

So … I have nothing overly nice to say about the weekend – so I won’t. At one point, a co-worker asked me about the ‘kinder-gentler’ me. Without skipping a beat, I let her know I’d left her in Jamaica, and really needed to go back and get her!

I’ve just completed my CAP diary (ok – officially called ‘CAP binder’) … What’s that, you ask? Not really sure. It’s 10 pages of crap: tooting my own horn, describing how great I am – using as many college-bound adjectives and adverbs as I can that demonstrate I do my job … CAP stands for clinical advancement program. Apparently, some Einstein-researcher claims that hospitals that utilize this process are more likely to be Magnet hospitals (desired places to work). Yeah, ok, sure … I keep telling myself the next one I do will start out with something like this: “Dear Diary, I am such an amazing nurse – it’s a wonder they don’t try to clone me …” The really silly part – you’re ‘allowed’ to put a picture of yourself on the front of the book. Here’s the photo I want to use … taken some 16 or so years ago, when those Vogue/Vanity ‘fun’ photo-shoots were happening:

Doesn’t that just scream, “I’m taking this very seriously!” ??? Smile Anyway … it’s done for another 6 months … so it’s time to quit grumbling. But, before I move off the Nurse topic for the week, I am working on some nurse-specific badge reels in the studio. I think they’ll be cute when I get them done.

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Posted on April 2, 2011 by claytonhill

Pups … they make me smile

More silly pictures from our Neo crew:

Time to get ready for work …

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Posted on April 1, 2011 by claytonhill

Back to reality ….

We’re home from vacation … gorgeous weather, hot sun, fun times, and great spirits have me feeling relaxed, sun-kissed (or is it jaundice???) and happy. All went well with our gang while we were away, my folks had a good time, the kids seemed to have behaved. (I have a pantry full of King Dons and Twinkies to get rid of – but it’s all good. I’ll make dentist appointments for the kids!)

We got to know our bartenders fairly well, as we usually do … so we were invited to watch a soccer match. I’ve never been to a soccer game before, let alone one that has a donkey for a mascot … I thought it was cute, and so I’d share … Unfortunately, we were bad luck for the bartenders, as they lost the game – go figure.

Our bartenders:

The soccer game; Keshon and the donkey mascot:

What a great time! Now it’s back to reality – bills to pay, business to do, laundry to catch up on, and work tomorrow. Hope to have some studio time next week …

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Posted on March 21, 2011 by claytonhill

Weekend wrap up … Giant Moon!

Jeez Louise … if I thought last Sunday was ‘twilight zone’ … the giant moon had us beat hands-down with bizarre this weekend … From panic attacks to traumatic brain injuries to ‘I was just there, but didn’t get my scripts filled, and guess what – the pain is back’ … one strange case to the next all night long. Most of them male patients, who all claim to have a ‘strong pain tolerance’ and tough-guy aura (read: NOT) … I know I’m excited about my up-coming vacation, but I swear these were the LONGEST 12 hour shifts of my life …

But alas … it is OVER for the next 2 weeks! The to-do list is long for the next 19 hours, but then I’M ON VACATION!!

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Posted on March 16, 2011 by claytonhill

Contentment

Ahh … peace and quiet. The fam is all out of the house for a few hours, my chores are done – for the moment … how wonderful! We had a beautiful day, weather-wise … teaser Michigan weather, which means an ice storm should be on it’s way soon. But still, a beautiful day today! And, I’ve had studio time … Working on badge reels and blanks.

Had a coffin slump too, so I have some new bowls to show:

Yoda Kei’s litter mates are starting to move on to their new homes. It’s sad, and I will miss them, but at the same time, often they would play pretty rough with him. He seems content to be in his bed or on my lap with the occasional burst of play time. He has a pathetic bark, wimpy and higher pitched. It makes me giggle when I hear it. DH thinks it’s sad too, “Hey lady, call off your mad dog!” he says … He’s a whopping 1.75 pounds now, so he should make 3.5 pounds as an adult.

The Neo pups are doing great, gaining daily! Moving from soaked kibble to dry and playing. They’re curious and inquisitive, a fun stage to see. And after 10 minutes or so of romping they crash for a much needed nap.

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Posted on March 14, 2011 by claytonhill

(Weekend Wrap Up) I’m old …

What a change from Saturday to Sunday … Saturday’s main event was a life saving enema … Sunday was ‘Armageddon in the ER’ meets ‘Twilight Zone’ – real life saving going on in multiple rooms at the same time combined with all our standard nuttiness! Arrggghh – There isn’t enough Calgon to take me far enough away! And apparently, it wasn’t just our hospital, as we were trying to find available inpatient rooms at surrounding hospitals once we were full. No rooms to be had!!

It’s almost all a blur of images, but the shift started with TPA (clot busting medicine) on a vented, unresponsive patient; insulin drips; acute respiratory distress; chest pains; pneumonias; [of course] the flu … I breathed a sigh of relief when I got to my first priority 4 ‘rash’ … oh, please don’t leave yet! But no … more patients waiting their turn. Lots of service recovery due to long waits – which is difficult to do sincerely for the sixth time when you still haven’t peed, let alone eaten or sat down. An intoxicated assault with multiple facial fractures – who’s only focus is getting something to eat … “Your face is broken, you can’t eat!” I finally say in a desperate attempt to get through the alcohol fog. No luck, as 60 seconds later he asks for a sandwich … Listening to a conversation between patient and doctor: “Why hasn’t anyone told me I have emphysema?” REALLY – you’ve smoked for 50+ years … why wouldn’t you think you’d get emphysema? There’s a warning label and everything, right on the package! And ending the shift with a bizarre patient with an equally bizarre family … mental status change vs. playing possum … the verdict still isn’t in.

After a night like that … I just feel tired and old …

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Posted on March 10, 2011 by claytonhill

Kicking around ideas …

Because – ideas are free … Smile I’m thinking about starting my own site, with domain name and yearly webhosting costs … and of course, new business cards – but not until I decide on whether or not I’ll proceed with my own site/address …

But, I was playing with a banner (for another site … if you’re curious) in the wee hours of this morning (yeah – insomnia!) … and I really like it – so here it is. I would modify this a bit for a business card, but – you get the idea …

And … the new Delphi catalog came today … ohhh, I could spend money there! But I’m not, I’m just drooling on the pages [for now] … Smile

While my kiln is cooling, I’m converting and downloading books for our trip – which is finally coming up! I sooo can’t wait to go someplace warm, as I watch it snow while typing this!

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Posted on March 9, 2011 by claytonhill

Good news …

The tax man says the kilns can keep kickin’ … YAY!! I’ll be learning some new business concepts (COGS = cost of goods sold vs. inventory, raw materials and supplies), but I love learning … As long as I get to keep playing in glass!

It’s a good thing too, since I have another shipment coming in from NC … 75 pounds worth of glass and supplies. And with our tax money this year, we’ll be purchasing a torch to play with some hot glass ideas …

But in the meantime, my production kiln and microwave kiln have been busy with blanks and playing with some cabs and other bowl ideas (square – kinda) … I should be firing up the coffin this week! Smile