Happy New Year

I wish everyone a Happy New Year. May it be filled with hope and more surprises than you can imagine!

Today, I cleaned off my desk and was able to move things around enough to pick up a painting I started a while back. I did get more done on it. If you are wondering why I haven't painted anything around this owl it's because it's going to actually be a collage element in the painting. I just started the tree that the owl will be in. He'll be sitting in the hole of the trunk. I put down a wash of color but now I'm going to add light molding paste for texture before I continue with more layers of color. Anyway, it felt good to be creating but I need a larger table! I can't wait to have my studio back although having it set up again will be a while. I have 40... yes, FORTY 12 gal. plastic bins packed with supplies and that's not all, folks! There are things that aren't in bins and then, there's book cases of stuff along with iris carts and drawers of stuff. Not to mention and huge metal rack of plastic drawers and more stuff out on my carport! And my new studio space is small compared to my last space so, I have to go through everything to see what I can part with, what will go in functional storage in the storage shed, and what will need to be inside the studio for regular use. It is a huge project for sure but I can't wait to have my own room again! I think I'll get started over the weekend.

Tomorrow, Sam is having one of his best friends over to play. He and Daniel were in class together for 3 years but he moved and is not pretty far away from us. They still talk on the phone but haven't seen each other in a few months so they are looking forward to being together tomorrow.

I am NOT staying up until midnight. No, I am not one of THOSE people. I can't wait to get in bed! It's only 7:20 and I'm watching to clock. My boys are in the middle of a movie and when it's over and I get them in bed, I'm going too! So, for all of you who stay up watching the ball drop, enjoy!

Kitty crunches

Kenzy thought he was helping me do crunches this morning and well, maybe he was. Max happened to grab the camera.

Yesterday, the wind kicked up and let me tell you, it got COLD! OK, so I know some of you buried in snow want to hit me upside the head but, for us Phoenicians, it's cold. When I went to walk this morning, it was 32 degrees and it was NOT pleasant. I thought my nose would fall off. I'm just not a cold weather kind of gal. I planned to take the boys to a cat show today where Kenzy's siblings are being shown however, Chuck needed to use my van to return a piece of equipment and I thought he was leaving at 10:00 and would be back shortly. However, that didn't happen. Instead, somehow, ever so slyly... and maybe unintentionally but regardless, I got suckered into cleaning stuff in the shed! I thought we were just moving some things around to store my salon equipment for the time being but, it turned into a 2-1/2 hour project when I finally said, "Enough!" I really don't wanto to have to take Chuck's car for reasons I won't go into. Anyway, by the time Chuck get's back with my van, there won't be much time for the cat show today. So, I guess I'll plan to take the boys to the 9:45 service tomorrow so we can get out early and head downtown for the show tomorrow. I think Chuck has a project going on tomorrow here with the construction stuff anyway.

The boys have been Wii-ing all day. They are sore from playing! LOL! They are bowling right now. Sam, who is the total slug and wants to play on the computer all day, has been getting more exercise with this game than he ever gets with anything else... besides swimming. Anyway, they are really enjoying their gift. They've also gone into the program and made Mii characters of themselves and all their friends so now, when they play baseball, all the players are their friends instead of just computer fill in people. I have a character too! ;)

Well, gotta' go make Sam something to eat.

Wii

I snuck this video of the boys boxing with their Wii. It's so funny to see my couch potato Sam moving so much! LOL! We just recently put the t.v. on the wall and still have to hide all the cording but it is nice having it up higher. Chuck has been working on the computer system for all our movies, pictures, etc... to go through the t.v. Doesn't mean much to me but seems important to him. Anyway, I captured this video this morning of the boys and just thought it was cute.

CyberFyber

Susan Lenz, a fiber artist who put together the Cyber Fyber exhibit now has all of the traded ATC's and postcards in an online exhibit for viewing! The actual exhibit opens in South Carolina at a gallery in January. If you'd like to view the galleries, they are here (ATC's) and here (fiber postcards). I created a fiber postcard for this exhibit. The postcards are exhibited by number. Mine is number 90. If you'd like more info about the exhibit, check out details here. There are some really cool pieces of fiber art in this exhibit. Susan is even sending a goodie package to the "people's choice"... the piece with the most comments! Cool, huh? Susan does some pretty amazing work herself so check out her site.

Christmas day

The boys were raring to go early this morning but we didn't actually get to mom's until almost 9:00. She had a nice spread ready and boy was it good! The boys, of course, wanted to open their gift first. Since their stockings were buried in the storage shed, I went to the dollar store and purchased a couple of cheapies for this year and stuffed them. Their main gift was a Wii, which they have wanted for months. Some family members also kicked in to help with the purchase and to them, we are grateful. Here are a few shots from the day:

After breakfast, I hit the Scrabble board and played FIVE games, back to back. My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets! I couldn't concentrate any more after that! I won 3 of the 5. I snapped a few photos myself of me with each of the boys.
Max monopolized my mom most of the day playing games or doing "find a word" puzzles while I played Scrabble with Fred. Sam played on the computer much of the day.

Max then caught me in the floor and tried smothering me in kisses. He's such a character.

Trying to kiss me a million times is something Sam wouldn't be caught dead doing. I can't even get ONE from him. But Max... well, he's like a ladies man at age 7 and it scares me silly to think of him as a teenager. Are there convents for boys?

Chuck left for the afternoon to bring the Wii home and get it all hooked up and the programs loaded, etc. So now the boys are boxing each other. I think they will enjoy this thing and have fun competing with each other.

It rained all day and let me just say, "I'M SICK OF RAIN!!!!" I need some sunshine, people. I can't handle so much rain. It seriously depresses me. However, it started to clear on our way home and the sky was beautiful with the sunset and we even got a rainbow.

When we got home, we found that "Santa" a.k.a., my neighbors Willa and Alec, had delivered gifts to the boys "fort". They now have 4 new chairs, fake plants, snacks, and a box of craft supplies so Sam, Max, Mariah, and Roman can all have lots to do while hanging out in their fort. It was the sweetest and most generous gesture. Max was jumping up and down screaming "This is the best Christmas ever!" (the fort was his brainchild) Willa played innocent while he showed her all the things. We love our neighbors and couldn't ask for better... and not because of their generous gifts but they are genuinely kind people.

So, now it is the end of the day. I'll soon be putting boys to bed and heading there myself shortly. After all the concentrated Scrabble time, my eyes are really tired. I love playing that game. I'm sure I can play online but am afraid I'd get addicted and never get anything done if I started. ;)

I hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing day as we did.

A few things

Well, here it is, Christmas eve. It's pretty quiet in the house right now. Chuck isn't home and my boys have been out riding their bikes until Max got a flat when a nail was found in his tire and promptly pulled out. ;( Now, they are decorating a small orange tree in Christmas attire. Desperation from two boys who don't have a tree this year. We have no decorations in the house at all. With the house full of overflow stuff from the renovation in progress, there not only is no place for a tree or anything else, I couldn't get to the decorations and stuff anyway. The storage shed is also stuffed with overflow with all the Christmas stuff buried. Anyway, now the boys have taken our portable DVD player out and have the neighbors, Mariah and Roman, out watching Frosty the Snowman with them in their "fort". I just took out hot chocolate so they are happy as clams.
Those of you who read my blog regularly, know that I've been going through some really hard things for the past several months. I've never had to work through so many hard things at one time ever in my life. I've been hit on every front... financially, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and of course, all those things wipe you out physically. By this past weekend, I could barely stay out of bed. It took great effort. And gosh, are my eyes ever tired of crying! By Monday, I was in such a downward spiral I couldn't see any hope. My counselor helped me talk through a lot of things ranging from grief to anger, hurt, frustration, disillusionment, disappointment.. you name it, I've been living it. I was finally able to really see the wrestling match I've been having with God in the midst of this too... and yes, anger at Him and a lot of mistrust... fear to trust. Then, there was a choice to make. I made a choice, by the time I got home, that I would trust God with my broken, wounded heart and trust him for redemption because I realized that He wasn't the one making my life so miserable. I admitted that the reality is, I have a boatload of stuff to deal with about ME... and I don't truly know how to love myself well or this person I married almost 23 years ago. Neither of us know how to do this well... and sometimes I wonder if we know how to do it at all! I have chosen to commit myself to God to learn how to love myself and my husband well... in a totally different way. What I have always thought was loving was, in fact, the complete opposite. This has been a very scary decision to make but without God's presence, I truly have no hope. Monday morning, I had gotten a daily devotional in my mailbox that I felt was speaking directly to me. It told me not to give up. That God is faithful and loving and can be trusted. Then, I read this blog post by Toben In his post, he has a link that I followed and found myself reading the story of this couple. While their circumstances are different from mine, their story gave me hope and courage to make a choice to believe God. He's been telling me over and over "You don't believe me. You don't trust me." and I just kept running. I have stopped fighting and stopped running and I am finally feeling peace. It doesn't mean circumstances have changed... they have not. Circumstances are still hard. But I feel like I can breath in them.

On a different note, I snuck my kids gifts over to my mom's house today and we'll be going over for breakfast in the morning so gifts will actually be underneath a tree! We usually have Christmas breakfast here at our house but, given the circumstances, we're going to mom's. I got the boys home and gave them both much needed haircuts. It's been quiet since they've been outside. Chuck went to look at some salon equipment since I'm hoping to be ready to start cutting hair again in 2 weeks or so.

I'm in real need to paint. I need to make some time, some way, some place, to paint after the holiday is over. I have a watercolor I started a while back and would like to finish. Maybe I can take the boys to the park and while they play, work on the piece. I just find that I crash and burn without some regular art time... which I've not had for about 3 months now. I'm dying people. DYING. I also need quiet alone time which I've also not have much of since construction started in my house either. And, topping it off as a person who feels how her house looks... if you saw what we've been living in, no matter how hard I try to clean and have some sense of order, it's like a bomb site... well, you'd know part of the reason I've been an emotional mess! However, these things are only part of the big, big picture.

I'm soooo enjoying Kenzy. He's quite a character. Here's a latest picture of him.
Well, gonna' get a few things done before the boys come in... like maybe making them something to eat! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Cold

So, while I know that many in this country have much colder weather than we do, still, 40 degrees feels cold to me when I walk in the mornings. However, I have found that I enjoy seeing the frost glistening in the morning sun. I have also discovered that my husband had purchased some exercise clothes that are similar to a two piece body glove. Thin, tightly woven fabric that fits like second skin and is very warm. These have been a great find for my walks in the morning and they just happen to fit me perfectly... and he's never worn them, to my knowledge! So, they are now mine. ;) I have also found that after walking in 40 degree temperatures for an hour, the only part left of my body that is just really cold is my face. It has caused me to wonder if "this" is what it feels like to have botox done or collagen shot into your lip... where your brain tells you that you are smiling but you can't feel if the muscles in your face are actually following suit. It's a weird feeling and one that I don't plan on creating with anything injected into my face! The cold is enough!

We went to one of our annual Christmas parties Saturday night. Yes, everyone knows I don't like going to parties by now and it took me the entire day to talk myself into it. But I went and it's always easier after I get there. This particular party is one we have been attending each year for at least 11 or 12 years. Mostly all the same people there each year too. The funny thing is that the whole party is centered around a single pot on the stove of rice. Yes, you read that correctly. Not just any rice, but a Norwegian rice pudding that is just DIVINE! The party is simply titled : Rice Night. Everyone knows about it! It's tradition. Our party host, Steve, cooks this family recipe and it takes most of the day for it to cook, carefully on the stove. I mean hours and hours making sure all the ingredients are just right and that there is no sticking in the bottom of the pan. Last year, we gifted them with a huge Le Crueset pot just for this particular treat, although I'm sure they use it for other things! Of course, there are lots of other foods to nibble on besides the Rice. Cheering always erupts when we see Rand and Michelle Mozingo walk into the house. This couple knows how to cook. Every year we, meaning everyone already at the party, swarm them to see what they made. This year was some sort of oysters, which I did not taste... not eating those things... BUT, Michelle made up this AMAZING parsely pesto that I came close to making myself sick on. I started out putting it on little slices of bread or crackers but ended up just eating it in heaps with a fork. I MUST make it soon. The ingredients were flat leaf parsley, green onion, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and anchovies (the surprise ingredient). I mean, this stuff was unbelievable. Anyway, this year, I finally made my way in the kitchen to be one of the "stirrers". Different guests often rotate through the kitchen to stir the rice for a while. I had duty right near the end with several of us doing taste tests deciding if it needed more cooking time, etc.. Once it was finished, there is someone assigned to the pot to dish it out, someone assigned to the stick of butter to add to each bowl, and another person sprinkling cinnamon on top. It is absolutely to die for and worth breaking my diet for, just for one night. Chuck told me he got the recipe and I'm like, "Uh, no. Do not give me that recipe. It will be my downfall and complete ruin. I will triple my body size if I got free rein on that stuff as often as I want! Once a year is my limit!" He offered to get me a bowl to bring home with me and I turned it down through gritted teeth and iron will.

I also had my family gathering on Saturday with my mom, brother and his family, and us, although Chuck never made it over due to work. We had a nice time together although my step-dad refused to play Scrabble with me because I'm guilty by association... my mom beat his really bad a few times this week so he wouldn't play with me because I'm her daughter and usually beat him too. So.... no Scrabble. But, he owes me and I will get a game out of him soon! I had not seen my neice and nephews in a while and I almost didn't recognize them. My nephews are 13 and my niece is 10... besides my own boys, I was the shortest one in the house! My 10-year old neice is 5'6! My nephews, at age 13, are hoovering at about 6 ft!!!! And here I am just shy of 5'3. One of my nephews is not my brother's child, biologically but the other is built so much like my grandfathers... both were tall and lanky. Why couldn't I have gotten those genes? Oh well...

Today, I fed my kids chocolate cake for breakfast. Yes, I did. Bill Cosby would be proud.
I've already done my exercises and walk this morning, had breakfast, and now it's time to jump in the shower. I think it is haircut time for my boys so guess I'll pin them down for that. Not sure what the rest of the day holds. I do have a counseling appt. at 4:00 though. Other than that, who knows. What I need desperately is art time. I mean NEED... in a bad way.