In My Bedroom

We're running a live stream of the prints we're doing on the time lapse printer.   What this means is that there is a phone pointing at the printer while it prints.   For hours and hours.   And while it isn't a big issue to have people popping in to see how your print is coming along at varying points in the day since the prints is enclosed in a shrouded box to control lighting, what is an odd thing is that they can hear you. 

And that is good.   And bad.   Because if you're walking by the room in question, say talking about how you heard Aunt Elsie's hemorrhoids were acting up again and she can't make it to the after Christmas tea and crumpets party, well, now everyone listening knows all about poor Aunt Elsie's rather unfortunate condition.   

Or any other thing you might not want anyone in the world who feels like dropping in to hear about.   Thankfully, the room has doors and is in a corner of the house, so it's simple enough to shut the door and keep Aunt Elsie's private life private.   It is an odd thing though, knowing people can hear you and not knowing who's in the room next door. 

But there are advantages too.  I can walk in and start talking about what's printing, who the filament manufacturer is and answer questions people might have about what's going on.   And then I can just walk off whenever I feel like I want to leave.   It's a sight easier than responding to individual texts or messages and it is a way to connect with people in a right now kind of way that is in short bits of time that you alone control. 

We were already printing in the room and walking in there to check on things from time to time.   The prints were already being shared online.   This is a way to watch remotely as things happen.   I remember the first time we got to watch my niece swim at a large meet by connecting to the event online.   The scale and production level is different, but I remember feeling like I was a part of something I wouldn't have otherwise been able to be.     This is different but in a very tiny way it's a bit the same.

The Big Boy Update:  My son (and we) forgot his medication today.  He did not have a good day.   I read him his teacher's email.   He figured out he needed his medcation but didn't know what to say or do about it.  Next time, we'll find out before the day is over and nothing can be done about it. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter asked if she could please go to the Chiropractor today.   She said she'd been waiting for days while I was out of town and that her back and neck had been bothering her.   we went this morning and she felt better afterwards.   I'm glad she's willing to ask for help.   I always want to help her. 

My Word I Was Tired

I got home and my husband fell asleep diagonally on the bed with his clothes on after his parents left and started snoring.  I fell asleep on top of the covers with my clothes on and when I woke later, he was up and gone.  I fell back asleep again until it was almost dark.  It would appear we were very tired from the trip and the overnight flight, even though we slept. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son was happy to see us and slowly, ever so slowly so as to savor the experience, opened his cards and presents from people for his birthday.   I missed him. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter had a partially bad day.   She ran into a wall after her brother ate some of her Advent Calendar chocolate that was precious to her.  She cried on the bed and brought her stuffed animals out that help her with strong emotions.   I am worried about her.   She is having some tough times.   Then, later, when she's feeling okay, things seem all fine.   The question I have is when she feels bad, and is saying everything is always bad and there is no happy, if that is just the moment talking, or if it really is bad all the time.   Because when I ask her later, she is fine.   That is unless I bring back up the time from earlier and then she loses it all over again.   It's like she is barely holding on to happy, to normal.   I just don't know.   I really don't know if she's okay or if she's dealing with normal childhood things or if the blindness is far more of a burden on her than any of us realize. 

Way Home And Way Behind

So much has happened in the last four days and I want to write about it, but I just have been dead on my feet when I got to the computer at the end of the night.   I want to write some of it down because it's memorable and I think important in the evolution of the Filament Stories brand.   But it's going to have to wait. 

It's going to have to wait because I'm in the plane about to take an overnight flight home.   We missed my son's birthday, which I was sad about, but he is with Nana and Papa and I know he is being taken care of very well along with his sister and our dog.   

The gate is closing.  Time to wrap this up.

The Big Boy Update:  Today my son turned eleven.   Yet again I find it hard to believe eleven years ago I delivered a little boy and became a mother.   

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter was at a visually impaired holiday gathering today.  There was a talent show but she didn't want to be part of it.   But when I sat down in the airport and looked at the twenty-eight text messages, there was one that included a video of her in the talent show singing Silent Night.   It was so beautiful.   Better than I've heard her before.   She was on key and tempo as she sat quietly and sang while sitting at the fireplace.   I wanted to cry it was so hauntingly beautiful.  

Long Day, Back Soon

I'm writing this on Saturday for Friday.   We worked in Portland for some of the morning and then drove to Seattle to continue working with the 3D Printing Nerd.   We went out for dinner and then to his pub and by the time we checked in to the hotel after midnight I was too tired to write something.  

Today, we woke up late and have been going non-stop since then.   We're now in the car heading back to Portland and then the airport.   I miss the children and home, but I'm so glad we made the trip.  

The Big Boy Update:  Today is my son's eleventh birthday.   We called him but he was shy at the time and didn't want to talk.   We'll see him in the morning.   I miss him.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter went to a VI event and did singing there and then did caroling with her choir in the evening.   She loves singing.  

Do We Know What We're Doing?

We worked a long hard day today.   After work, we all met for dinner and then we went back to the very quaint Dragonfly House named Airbnb.  We had to pack up and be back at the factory at seven in the morning.   

I woke up on Friday morning and realized I forgot to post here last night.  We got to the site, got some more video with one of the owners while the extrusion lines were off, which was nice because the noise level when they're running isn't great for capturing people talking, even with lavalier mics and noise dampening. 

We're off to Seattle now on Friday morning to the 3D Printing Nerd, Joel Telling's, studio with Alex from Protopasta to do two days of filming there.   It's long days but it's still so much fun.

The Big Boy Tiny Girl In Nana's Bed Phone Call:  Last night we called the children to find them in Nana and Papa's bed because there was a sound that scared them.   They were so cute.  I miss them.

Protopasta

We are at Protopasta World Headquarters, having traveled from the east coast this morning.   It's their world headquarters, but it is also their only office/warehouse/plant.   I just like calling it that.   Tomorrow we have lunch with one content creator and dinner with another.  Or perhaps the dinner is on Friday.   We're so fortunate to have met such nice people.   And the fact that they're my favorite filament company in the world, well, it's just an amazing thing that this has happened to us. 

Alex said today that he was appreciative of us just taking the social media and running with it.  He and his staff don't have the time to do the social media side of things, but maybe more accurately is that they don't want to do that side.   And that, it turns out, is something we're good at (creating videos and seeing content opportunities.)

I can already tell the trip is going to be over far too quickly.   Hopefully, it won't be the last time we visit them though.  

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Who Goes To Therapy Decision:  My daughter really needs to go see Dhruti this week.   And possibly every week for some time with the things she was telling me the other night.   She's just having a hard time being blind.   I thought if she and her brother talked about it, he would suggest she take the week, which is exactly what he did.   It was very sweet of him, even though technically it was his week.

Almost Off

I am usually one who prepares for a trip well in advance.  I get as much ready ahead of time so I don't have to rush at the end.   This trip, however, has been the entire opposite.  Every day I've been working on whittling down my list.   But then the list would just grow back.  

The time is nigh and I need to be asleep, well, now.   I'll be back tomorrow very tired as well, I'm guessing from taking the first morning flight to the west coast and then working all day followed by a dinner.  But it's also bound to be fun.

The Big Boy Update:  My son sought me out to get a hug before he left with Nana and Papa today.   He was very quiet about it.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  I gave my daughter a stuffed animal that has the insides come out to reveal the inverse of the animal.  I told her that if she had bad feelings inside her, she could pull its insides out and it would be a way to feel all the sadness or anger or anything other that's bad feelings calm down and go away.   She was practicing and taking it very seriously.   These kinds of mental imaging things do help her in a very real way to cope with emotions.