PROUD MOMENT FOR THIS COUSIN

Forgive another post with a non-stitchy topic, but I wanted to share a proud moment with y'all.

When we were kids, growing up in Lima, Ohio, Chrissy and I spent a lot of time with our two cousins, Brian and David. David is the oldest and lives in Columbus, and Brian (who is my age) lives in Phoenix. They are more like brothers to us than they are cousins, and now that we're all grown-ass people, I beam with pride at the fact that they are such fabulous men. My mom loved these two so much...sometimes I think that she would have given her stitching arm to trade us for them, but her little sis, Aunt JoAnn wouldn't have it.

Anywhoose, Brian is an artist specializing in metal sculpture, and I've just received an email from David announcing one of his pieces:

Attached are a couple of pictures of the "Halo" sculpture crafted by Brian Stevenson's company "Hammercraft". Brian worked for the artist - created and welded this piece just outside of the Phoenix Convention Center - weighing in at over 5,000 pounds. It was impressive to see.

Thursday morning, construction crews lifted a 32-foot wide public-art piece called Halo above the Monroe Street entrance to the Phoenix Convention Center's North Building.The $75,000 bronze-colored wreath is intended to look like stylized agave leaves, said Kim Cridler, a former Valley resident who designed the artwork with her husband, William Bennie.The North Building, which is bounded by Washington, Monroe, Third and Fifth streets, will open in January. The North Building is the final phase of the $600 million expansion of the Phoenix Convention Center, said Lexie VanHaren, a spokeswoman for the convention center.The expansion project includes $3.2 million in public art, which was paid for through the city's Percent for Art Program, she said.

Pretty cool, huh? And here's a really weird factoid....in the 1940's, my dad's family owned a restaurant in Phoenix, and I think it was almost on the exact site as this entrance! (Considering how proud Dad was of his nephew, I'd say this is a wonderful coincidence, wouldn't you?)

So thank you for allowing me to brag! I promise that I will post some stitchy pics and progress in my next post. Stewey is outside with the camera at the moment trying to capture the sun sparkling on the snow. (I'll let you know how he does. Apparently the lack of thumbs is causing quite a dilemma.)