What a marvelous weekend this past weekend was and not just because the time I got to spend with my wonderful friend. No, this weekend was a learning weekend. Sunday was a specially arranged class with Rocky Minster and Monday was a class with Tony Laier. Truly a couple of great days to sit with some knowledgeable people and see how they do what they do and pick their brains.

I didn't have the $$ for Rocky's class but I did stop and join in on the breakfast and meet Rocky. What a great guy and he has such an amazing accumulation of patterns and pictures of his career. Really inspiring to see and ask questions about.

On Monday Tony and Kay Laier were at the Tempe Tandy with Tony teaching and giving tips on laying out and tooling the new holster kits. He also gave a great EcoFlo demonstration that was very informative and dispelled a lot of distrust I have with the product. Tony's skill and and teaching style makes everyone feel at ease and he didn't leave any of the newer toolers (me) in the dust or bore the ol' hands. He truly is a national treasure and so is his wonderful wife Kay. I had a lot of fun in the class and asked as many questions as I could think of. Poor Tony! I also begged him to bring back the rams head edge tool. I hope that he bends the ear of the right guy and this tool is back on the shelf. This was a all day class and even with the lunch break it just went too fast. I can't remember when I had a more pleasant Valentine's day and President's day and I even had a old crown pop off my back molar at lunch Monday! It was a wonderful time spent with some really wonderful people.

I am so truly grateful for the friends I have made in this hobby. Without something to keep my mind and hands busy this difficult spell in my personal life would have affected me very differently. I can't say that simply tooling some leather has made it easy to watch a twenty year partnership go down the drain. But the close personal friendships that have resulted from this "hobby" has lifted me up out of a very big hole in my heart. Probably beating the snot out of something stamping has helped a little bit too. The thing is that for me leatherworking is a part of a meditation in my day. Just shutting off the rest of that noise in my life and sitting down and stitching a project, stamping a pattern, lacing an edge lets me rest and rejuvenate my mind. Thanks friends, you know who you are and a big thanks to one in particular that made sure I was suiting up and showing up, you're the best.