I HATE When This Happens!

I buy a magazine, read it, enjoy it and then put in on the ‘pass along’ pile.

The next time I’m at the store I see the magazine, it looks interesting, I thumb through it but don’t recognize it so I buy it.

I get it home and start to read…..NOW it becomes familiar!

I go to the ‘pass it along’ pile and sure enough, there it is!

Once again I’ve spent $14.99 for the same magazine!

Ugh!

Becoming

She's still working on what she wants to become.......

The New Workbench

This is the first draft, so to speak.

I’m not sure I like where I’ve put everything.

I need to work on a few projects to see if it’s okay, but this is what it looks like for now.

(Ignore the god-awful wallpaper!  Someday, maybe, when we have the time/$$$ we will renovate the kitchen. LOL)

It’s a small-ish space in the kitchen (sort of) between the main bathroom (to the left) and the studio (on the right.)

The string with the  clothespins is my 'drying rack". Not pretty, but effective. I clip my painted papers together with binder clips and hang them out of the way on the walls. Again, not pretty, but it works.

This sign I made hangs above the 'studio' (aka Son2's old bedroom) just in case you can't tell what it is from all the crap inside! LOL

Hot Date with Husband

Husband really knows how to treat a lady when it comes to date night!

He took me to the coolest place.

HERE

I’m not kidding. It was one of the best places I’ve been in ages!

They have the coolest stuff, plus they were having a HUGE sale!

I couldn’t believe the prices!

I was like a kid in a candy store!

He bought me this 

as an early birthday present.

I’m in heaven!!!!!!

A new workbench, with DRAWERS! 

It’s solid finished oak (not particle board!)

And at a height where I can stand and not have to crouch over! 

My back is just as thrilled as I am!

I do a lot of my art in little snatched moments; standing at a table, painting, gluing, putzing. This is going to be bliss!

I’m doing the snoopy happy dance! LOL

Self Imposed Conundrum

I put off taking a shower in the morning for as long as possible (sometimes until right before dinner! LOL)

Being retired I have that luxury.

I’ve thought about this and I think I’ve finally figured out why.       
Because I’m lazy.
Because I can.
Because I hate drying my hair!
I think the hair is really the crux of the problem. 

I hate drying my hair because:

It takes FOREVER TO DRY.

While I’m drying my hair I’m 'glowing' (my mother taught me this is the polite way a lady says sweating like a horse!)

This kind of defeats the purpose of showering in the first place because when I’m done I need another shower!

The solution to this quandary is that I cut my hair in frustration.

Short!

Husband doesn’t like me with short hair.

I love you darlin’ but I’m the one in puddles here so short wins!

That Clinches It!

Well, it appears that 2013 is destined to be ‘my’ year.

That is if you’re superstitions, which apparently I am!

They say if you step in s**t something good is coming your way.

This morning as I went about my daily routine, I stepped into it alright!

Not only did I step into it, but not knowing I had done so I tracked it all over the house!

I guess I’m in for a REALLY good year!

If you don’t count cleaning the cat s**t out of the carpeting, that is!

Step Away From the Stuffie!

I heard a quote on the movie channel the other day.

It was from director Nicholas Ray. He said, “It’s not all in the script. If it were, why make the movie?”

And I TOTALLY get it!       

I feel the same way about my stuffies.

It’s not all in the sketch/pattern/idea.

If it were why bother making it?

But sometimes I get thoroughly stuck when making one of my little friends.

Like today.

I was having a hard time and nothing was going right, and in my head I heard Husband say, “Step away from the children.”

I thought that sage advice could be applied to this situation.

So I am stepping away from the stuffie.

For now.

Until she is ready to tell me what she wants.

Jekyll & Hyde

Have I mentioned Son2 was a bit of a smart aleck when he was little? (I have NO idea where he gets it from!)

Well, keep that in mind as this story unfolds.

When Son2 was about six years old we heard about a fun new restaurant in the city called Jekyll & Hyde.

It’s an ‘interactive’ themed restaurant based on the story Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

The one we went to (now defunct) was in a building with three or four floors and each floor was a different ‘theme’.

One floor was the laboratory, another the library….etc.

We were seated in the library at a table against the wall, and on the wall above us was a mounted Rhino head. (I guess Dr. Jekyll was also a big game hunter.)

Well, Son2 was complaining about one thing and another and ALL OF A SUDDEN THE RHINO STARTED REPRIMANDING HIM!

Not just vague comments but specific responses to what Son2 was saying! AND telling him he was being rude and disrespectful!

The look on Son2’s face was PRICELESS!

AND it actually shut him up!

(Something we were never able to do!)

He sat quietly through the whole meal but never took his eyes off the Rhino as she continued to talk to him.

I found out later that they have cameras and microphones placed strategically around the restaurant and that the waiters and waitresses are actors. They listen and improvise as they serve the patrons.

I think I left the biggest tip in my life that night! (And I also thanked the Rhino for her help.)

We used that Rhino for months after to keep Son2 in line. (Sort of like when you say Santa is watching as a threat, we used the Rhino! LOL)

Later, when he was old enough to know how it worked Son2 still didn’t think it was funny, but it’s one of my fondest family memories!

Dipe! Dipe!

As a first time parent I had many doubts and insecurities when it came to Son1 and I guess that somehow kids feel this.

When it came to potty training I was just as stressed and unsure as he was.

(After all, my father always said all his problems stemmed from his traumatic potty training experience!)

It was a struggle to get Son1 to use the potty for #2.

He loved peeing in the potty! (I think it’s a boy thing, any excuse to play with it! LOL)

But pooping was a whole ‘nother thing!

He’d wear his training pants all day long, but in the evening when he couldn’t hold it any longer he’d cry for a ‘Dipe! Dipe!’ (Diaper) and after we’d put one on him he’d run behind the chair in the living room to do his business.

What makes this so funny is that the chair only came up to about his shoulder, but he must have thought he was invisible to us.

 He would hold on to the back of the chair and make the most ‘interesting’ faces!

Then come out from behind the chair and ask us to change his diaper!

My mother used to say, “Don’t worry about it. They all go to college potty trained and able to feed themselves!”

There was a period of time I thought, just maybe, Son1 would be the exception to that rule!

Note: Posted with Son1's approval. 

Sometimes It Takes A Long Time!

From conception to birth, gestation lasted…..seventeen months!

Meet FishLips!

Whew!

I made FishLips as a gift. 

He had to be kid friendly (meaning no toxic markers, paint, fixative spray, artisit's pastels.....a.k.a. my usual tools!) 

Now THAT was a challenge! 

AND I am still not satisfied with his eyes, but I have to admit after a day or two away from working on him he is beginning to grow on me! 

He was loosely based on this sketch: