I had arranged for some help today, but Mike is feeling down and out, so I decided I was going to not do much of anything either. The kilns were cooling, Ro was at The Creative Oasis and I fought with myself over not doing anything. It was tough to relax and ultimately I failed and felt slightly cranky all day. Ro came home and we decided to go to the Tavern tonight for her Birthday Dinner. The Tavern is an old, well established restaurant in the heart of downtown State College. I always love to go there, the food is always very good and today was no exception. It was a strange dining experience. The server was training someone and it seemed to slow her down. I felt like everything we needed took just a few minutes too long. Like when you realize that under normal circumstances the food would be there, the drink would be filled, the check would be there, etc.We had a very chatty father/daughter beside us on one side. She was celebrating her 23rd birthday and Dad had driven many miles to take her out. Their conversation seemed louder and more persistent than our own, so we did a lot of listening, which made the slower service much more tolerable.Things were just not right. and the wait between dessert and the check and the check arriving and the check leaving convinced me that for the first time in a long time my tip scale had slid down to 15% from 20%+ Food was good, but the service was so slow. Very unusual for The Tavern.
When we returned home we both passed out in the living room. When I awoke I felt refreshed enough to go down to the studio and make a few more pieces for the Raku firing this weekend. I also made a big widemouthed covered jar just for fun and it was :) It was nice. I really enjoyed making the big bottle and the plate on the far left is going to get a handle in the middle so I can fire the medallions we put on the pots in the Raku kiln. The colors will be fun and they will work out well as magnets or pins.
