From time to time events occur over which we have little or no control. After what happened in 2008 I never would have guessed what 2009 year would have in store for me.

Since this past June I have felt like I have been bounced around like a Ping-Pong ball. This is because of the health of my mother and my mother-in-law who live nearly 350 miles apart and a younger brother who lives in a city located in between them. The physical and emotionally drain caused by this has been enormous.

My mother now resides in the special care unit of a nursing home where she has been on hospice since August. My mother-in-law has recovered from a second successful surgery in as many months and has been able to return home. My younger brother has been in and out of a VA hospital since August due to complications from chemotherapy. His next treatment will be this Thursday.

In the midst of all of this among other things my PC died. Although I still have not been able to get everything to work on my replacement PC because of a conflict with the newer 64 bit system, I am for the most part up and running again.

These things all occurred before Kathi and I started the move from our home of more than 32 years to our new home.

Our closing on November 30^th was one week later than had been originally scheduled. That as you may have guessed made shambles of the plans previously made as not only did everything have to be rescheduled, we were confronted with numerous changes in the weather. If our experience is to be considered the norm, I would not recommend trying to do something like that between Thanksgiving Day and New Years Day.

All of this has caused numerous delays in my ability to complete orders. The good news is that because of a lot of hard work coupled with a little luck I have been able to get my new shop to a point where I will be able to work again within a few days.

Please accept my sincere apology and assurance that I will be working diligently on getting caught up during the next several weeks.

Once everything is ready and I am able to be back in the shop you can be confident that I will deliver the quality finished product that you expect. I will not chance compromising quality of my work by rushing.

Thanks you for your patience and understanding.

Tom

While taking breaks in order to give my foot and knee a rest I have started adding Personalized Hourglasses to my Hourglass store.

I expect to be able to add them a few at a time so many it will take several days for me to finish because there are so many.

The prices shown include the hourglass, typesetting of personalized messages and custom laser engraving on both end-caps. As you can see from the example the detail from images to laser engraved finished product can be rather remarkable.

I will work with you and will laser engrave the hourglass of your choice in house allowing me to have total control over the quality of the finished product.

Not that it is wrong; we tend to take everyday activities for granted.

Few of us can remember when we learned to walk, but if something happens to prevent us from walking most will likely remember vividly the event and time.

I do.

At 2:00 in the afternoon on August 27th of 2004 while attending IWF2004 in Atlanta my left arch collapsed. I was not able to walk.

This was particularly scary for a number of reasons. I was over 800 miles from home. My car was parked 4 flights of stairs and 3 blocks away. I had to get back to my hotel, to the airport and then home. How I accomplished that I do not have a clue and today it really doesn’t matter.

Three surgeries and several braces later I am walking again. Although I am a bit slow, my balance has improved and I am getting around pretty well.

Although I am done with PT as I have reached the insurance limit, my PT Julie gave me a home exercise program that I do continuing to build strength. I will need to do this on a regular basis in order for balance and strength to continue to improve.

I am in the shop daily now, but will continue to find it necessary to take rest periods to control swelling in my foot and minimize fatigue.

Thanks to everyone for your support.

I am a bit behind on keeping this up to date as I have been pre-occupied with learning to walk again.

Because I wore a brace on my left foot for more than 4 years in addition to the surgeries that I had last October things need a bit of help. There is light at the end of the tunnel. I have been able to walk wearing hiking boots, although a little wobbly, for 3 weeks now.

01/01 -  This will be a laid back day.

Kathi and I will visit her mother at some point, but have no plans other than to take it easy for the rest of the day.

I will be back in the shop Friday morning.

01/02 – I am back in the shop.

My foot is rested after taking New Years Day off. One week from today I will be seeing my orthopedic doctor again. I will learn how much longer I will need the AIRCAST and when I will be starting PT – Physical Therapy.

01/09 – Because of all of the new snow and the traffic that goes with it I will be leaving for my 9:00 appointment with my doctor at about 7:30 hoping for the best.

I made it on time with about five minutes to spare.

After having my foot x-rayed I got a new insert for my AIRCAST as I will be wearing it for at least four more weeks. My doctor is pleased that everything looks good and my foot is healing well, but told me that she does not want to rush things just be on the safe side.

While I would like to get rid of the AIRCAST, I would rather not have to go through the surgery again on my left foot so I will exercise patience as needed.

Dr. Ptaszek gave me  a prescription for PT – Physical Therapy – and I will be starting next week.

I arrived back home just before noon.

01/10 – The snow that started early yesterday morning finally stopped at about 4:00 this afternoon. I do not know what the official word is but we have nearly 12 new inches of the white stuff.

There was no way that Kathi was going to be able to move it all by herself so with her help I was able to get my still swollen left foot in my NEOS by putting my shoe in first and then slipping my foot in.

Two hours later we were done.

I then switched back to my AIRCAST and am walking aided by my crutches.

01/15 - It is now 8 below zero and I am about to leave for PT (Physical Therapy).

That is a little scary as all that I can put on my foot is a compression stocking and my toes stick out from the front of the AIRCAST. I am really not interested in the possibility of frost bite. I have a blanket in the car just in case.

01/16 – Yesterday’s temperature almost seems like a heat wave as it is 17 below now with a wind chill of more that 30 below. The threat of frost bite continues to be a serious threat each time that I must venture outside.

PT went well yesterday.

I will be doing exercises on a daily basis meant to loosen up my ankle and foot muscles. The last time that I walked without out crutches and /or a cast was the morning before my surgery on October 23rd. That was twelve weeks ago yesterday.

This is a long awaited moment.

As my mobility improves I will be able to get a lot more done on a daily basis.

01/21 – I will be off to PT again today for an 11:00 appointment and more treatment to help me get rid of the AIRCAST and back into shoes again. 

The sun is shinning and it looks as though the road is dry so the mid-day adventure should only take about two and a half hours or so.

Thanks for making 2008 a sucess….. good health and prosperity throughout 2009!

Today is Monday December 22, 2008.

The past several months have been especially challenging. Take a few minutes to read my Time Line 2008 entries for more information when time permits.

It is not possible for me to produce or process any more new orders in time for Christmas 2008  delivery. Please accept my thanks to all who have made this a good year for me.

Your understanding and patience are greatly appreciated.

Thank you and ” Merry Christmas”,

Tom

Today is MONDAY DECEMBER the 22nd.

Remember that my hourglasses do not arrive in a container from an off-shore supplier. I make them one at a time in my Des Plaines, IL production studio shop.

For orders placed after Wednesday December 17th it will be necessary to upgrade to FedEx Express Service for an additional charge in order to guarantee delivery in time for Christmas.

If your order is time sensitive please let me know by replying to the email confirmation that you will receive shortly after placing your order. I will do everything possible to meet your delivery requirements.

Don’t be disappointed – PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW!

I am in the process of shipping most orders received prior to December 1st and hope to finish by this coming  Saturday December 20th.

In the event that your order is time sensitive please click this link to  Contact me for help or for answers to any questions that you may have. I will be happy to ship to an alternate address to insure delivery when needed.

In order to have enough production time for personalized laser engraving to allow for Christmas delivery please be sure to submit all materials no later that Friday December 12th.

After that date delivery may still be possible using FedEx Express for additional charges.