Journeying back...

Can't say as I'm all the way back to normal (whatz dat?), but my evil twin seems to be leaving the building lately. I actually opened up this post template and began typing like I used to do. I can't tell ya how long it has seemed like it has been since I've felt like doing that.

I finally broke down and wrote some brutally honest letters to a microscopically small handful of same-aged friends, and got it all out. That helped so so much. If we've emailed, then you know who you are and I am so not worthy...thank you to the moon. I just needed to talk it out with others my own age.

If I haven't written you back, please know I will. You're probably younger. Some of my feelings involve the younger generations and since well jeez a good many of you who read me ARE in those generations I didn't want to say anything that would personally hurt anyone's feelings. There's no snubbing or anger here. I love you all too dearly. Just needed my space in a real bad way for awhile.

You may or may not know about me that I am a fervent disciple of the Generational History theory, and 2008 has frankly blown my mind with how militant the Democrat Party has become and how they've copied both Karl Rove's and Bill Clinton's original strategies. It's happening faster than it should, too, and I don't mean to alarm, but that's exactly what happened with the Civil War crisis. I can only say, read the book. It will change your life and all the fuzzy things will turn crystal clear.

For purposes of what I'm trying to explain without producing a 23-page discertation, according to the GenHist Theory:
Silent Gen: 1925-1942 (birth years)
Boomer Gen: 1943-1960
GenX Gen: 1961-1980
Millenial Gen: 1981-??? (too early to tell yet, but probably 1998)
Homeland Gen (my nickname): probably 1998-around 2016

I'll be honest, I still have some real issues. The political primaries and the way the generations have been pitted against each other and all the respect that has been missing elder gens like we had to do when we were younger, it still causes me troubled thoughts. It's so in-your-face all of a sudden (or in MY face, anyway).

But if it were just the political expression, there would be no problem. I could handle it. What happened for me was, it was as if I awoke and everything's been shaded that way. I should qualify that. Everything in my online world almost. Nothing in my In Real Life world (except the TV). So could it be any weirder?

Being honest again, part of it is that Gen X is trying to wrestle the power away from Boomers and I don't think they are ready yet, okay? Then again, what year was the oldest Boomer at 47? Hm, 1943 + 47 = 1990. So, okay, my bad. It's just, if Bill and Dubya was all the shot we got, that sucks. Seriously.

Anyway, it's been really tough for me to accept. And then, when I look to the places art-related I hang online, it's like I'd pay money to have somewhere that wasn't so damn competetive. Everybody has a design team and everyone is workin the merchandise, on their blogs, the message boards. Look, this essay says it much better than I can. That's pretty much how I feel about it, too. I just want an environment where we are all doing this insane silly hobby cuz we enjoy it and it records our memories. I don't want to know the ScrapDiva personally, or get her advice on what to think every day. I just wanna lift a cool technique or use of product, dammit. LOL Yup, I'm all about the sharing of ideas. I don't want to crush on any famousness. This is why I'm allergic to Oprah. Why I bitch and moan sometimes instead of portraying all sweetness and light. I already read too many Stepford bloggers.

So anyway, that's out. And it leads me to explain why I was fidgeting with the blog comments. Sometimes even that gets competitive, like shades of it. I'm just wanting to give it a rest for awhile. Time's too short, at least for me. But, turning them completely off was not my only option, as a friend pointed out to me. (Duh, Aimes). I've now turned them back on, but they will get sent to my email where I can read them and respond. I'm gonna try that and see if it makes me feel happy about it.

So, okay. I'm sick of talking about it now, LOL. Probably put off posting in part cuz I dreaded that. Anyway, I don't want to jinx it but I actually created some art last night. It's still in progress, but dang, my Muse was feared lost forever. So I am feeling very relieved I found her again.

I do have some shots of my progress on my craft room. I'm just gonna throw these up in bunches, random shots, to save time, but you'll get the idea. Here's my befores of this particular corner:




Now, you might be thinking, what's the problem? Looks pretty neat. Well, it is, but it's not accessible. Too much piling on of stuff. Need to access my stuff better.



Then this lovely section. That was supposed to be just for my two big paper cutters, believe it or not. Now, it's a pile for the die cuts I haven't opened yet or haven't found a good storage option for. Enough! Driving me nuts.





Ah, my totally out of control ribbon section. It was all wrapped around 8x11" chipboard sheets, but I spent most of this year switching it to hangers. It enjoyed a home in Missy's closet until she came home for the summer. So, I had to get another shelf, but I definitely can access them more this way. Now, if I can just use some of it! LOL

Well, okay, I am going to try to get back into this. Wednesdays has always worked best for me, so I'll try to continue weekly. Thanks for checking in.

Okay, so...

...I guess I'm back, sheesh. I must confess, I took a little staycay away from the blog, the computer, the TV. I got outa the blog habit and into some health-oriented habits. I've been rockin' them lately and really kind of hesitaant to go back to devoting all the time I do to this writing and posting and reading.

Then, I got emails wondering if I was okay, (and thanks for thinking of me!). Turns out the blog entry I thought I'd posted almost 3 weeks ago to say I was taking a little time away is still sitting there saved but not posted. My bad! So, guess I should get back into blogging. Some stuff's gonna be different this time, though. I've closed blog comments. If you feel a genuine desire to comment or talk to me, please email me! I'll go into why I've done this later. It's all part of a bigger philosophy change on my part toward a lot of things.

First things first, though: thanks so much to Shirley for the blog candy she sent me! Such a gorgeous little notebook!

I love it, Shirley...thanks again!

So, anyway, to the (first - hehe) million dollar question: yes, I mourned Hillary's concession for a little under a week, but I got a heads up on it just a tad ahead of most (having volunteered on the campaign and still working the research with some of my old crew). So the first stage of my mourning ended right about the time she actually conceded. There was a little anger before and after, but then, finally, a calming whatever. I now can truthfully say I am open to both Obama and McCain, but there's no Kool-Aid drinking in my house. It's all about the issues with me now, and voting for either one is going to take some nose-holding. I pretty much think of them as McBama: Let the pandering to the center begin! Ya know?

And so now a second wave of just real sadness has hit me and it's still there behind the edges, in the shadows, under the bed, so to speak. I'm not sure that all of it is the campaign. I think some of it is the gloomy situations we as a nation and people are in, or at least many of us. The gas prices, natural disasters, the economy, the suckie states of medical care even with insurance, and hey, it's hotter than sizzle on a steak down here. There are solutions but I cannot see a clear choice as to who is going to choose the right answers and then get it bull-dozed into law. Oh, yeah, and I am finding that I can't enjoy any of the cable news channels now that I know how much some of them were in the tank and not objective and independent. I have absolutely no idea really what's happened in the world for the last 10 days or so, and for me, that is weird. I've enjoyed some good movies and a couple of those stupid Bravo reality shows.

Then, there is all the email I'm getting to join like 100 groups in the rapidly growing Nobama movement. People are pissed off, but I just want to get over being sad for the time being, LOL.

One decision I did make was that I got myself a life coach about 10 days ago. Okay, like, I wasn't looking for one, she kinda fell into my lap. We are bartering services with each other, cuz ain't no way I'm paying what she charges (and she probably thinks the same thing about me, lol). I set up her DH's payroll system for his company as my part of the barter.

Anyway, her name is Jenn and she has truly changed my life for the better. She hooked me up with an easy-to-follow nutrition-based diet and a physical therapy routine. It's all totally geared to what I will actually reach for and actually do.

The diet is calorie-based, and with my hatred of counting those buggers, this was a big challenge. She asked me a ton of questions about how I eat, what I reach for and why and when. She also recruited Hubs to help out by cooking more low-calorie fare when he gets to going in the kitchen on his days off. Basically, we decided I needed something similar to NutriSystem, but grocery store bought. I chose healthy foods that are easy to reach for and eat them over and over. So far it works pretty good most days.

I choose among Lean Cuisines, Slimfast Choc shakes, Nature Valley health bars, fresh fruits, salad greens, cereal, skim milk, and saltine crackers. None of these require me to cook them or spend a lot of time prepping them to eat. I just record what I eat and the calories, and most days I'm having trouble reaching my minimum target intake!

As for the physical therapy (which is also plain old exercise), I learned how to do tons of isometric routines in the pool, and it's very effective. I'm in there a minimum of 4 days a week and alternate that with my yoga tape and my exercise ball tape. I just added swimming laps full out today...just a few to start and build up gradually. I got Reggie some cute little Air Kong pool fetch toys that float and are made of rugged tennis ball material so that I can get him away from me when I'm swimming (he loves to zig and zag right in front of me, the little show-off, plus he accidentally scratches me sometimes as he's kicking, not fun). Reggie loves his toys and is worn out swimming and fetching by the time I'm finished.

My 411 Lately...

WomenCount PAC was created to ensure that the 51 percent of American citizens who are women have their values and votes counted in the political process.
Our "Not So Fast" ad first ran in USA Today on Friday, May 16th. Since then, response to our effort from both the media and voters has been overwhelming. For more information, contact us at womencountpac@gmail.com.
CONTRIBUTE TO WOMENCOUNT

Also, had a pleasant Mother's Day:

Missy had our fave photo of us sepia'ed and framed for my office.

Hubs got us chocolates.

And, my Muse has had me in a very anal retentive organizing mood lately. Into the minutia of cataloguing and indexing diecuts, which could last months but headway must be made before I literally go nuts over not knowing what I have that I can use to play with.

Here's a view of some of the index sheets I have completed. These are fun to look at, I think, but then I have a little bit of a diecut fetish:

Made a drawer into a basket with my antique kitchen cabinet handles:

And the Kids send Peace and Love to Blogland:

The whole blogging thing

is not my cuppa tea lately. Here's a bit of what I've been doing when I can remember to snap a photo.
















Struggling lately to post here once a week. I'm "nicer" and less myself on this blog than in real life where I'm pithier and more critical. Sometimes, when I'm not ready or able to turn those aspects of me down, I just don't attempt a post. I've never admitted that before, but lately it irritates me to censor myself and there you have it.

Anyway, I'm going to try to keep up the weekly posting up for now. Our "baby" comes home for the summer today. Hubs is leaving in a little while to go help her move out of the dorm. Since she is being mean and wants her bedroom back, ah! the nerve of her, winkwink, I've been having to spend a lot of time clearing out that room and finding places for a crapload of my art supplies and home decorating goodies. I've been really lazy and just using it as a storage room.

If I asked for your address, please don't give up on me. I have somethings in the works, it's just that the works keep getting interrupted. I've been timidly trying out...playing...with ink and stamping, and in between it all, continuing to cling cushion the world, I mean, my red rubber stamp collection. It just feels like I'm cushioning the world. I have commited to this, though, and will finish if it kills me, which it could I suppose. Yay for my courageous daring, winkwink.

Anyway, here's what can happen when you cover an entire piece of cardstock with off-stamping. (Since I was using Ancient Page, a permanent solvent ink like Stazon, which requires you to stamp off as much ink as possible before stamping on the cleaner pad and then onto very damp paper towels.) That cardstock in the above photo became the backgrounds for these ATC's:

The little inchie stamps are a very old Leave Memories set called Kiss-Off Cubes, and I'll tellya right now: they are addicting. The raven, nest and text are Collage Stuff stamps. And I forget where I got that brick background stamp.

The next time I do this technique, I am stamping off on paper that's been prepped with some gesso and some base color, and I could also paint some of the stamped images with my alcohol inks (I'm really wanting to play with those and I ordered a set of waterbrushes just for this). Then, there's also versamark-stamping and painting with Perfect Pearls, chalk, pastels, glitter.

Anyway, before I get too much into those daydreams, time to get back to dusting, vacuuming and clearing out Missy's room. I might be finished by the time she arrives. Wish me luck and have a good week!

Happy Hump Day!

Dang, I knew enough to feel guilty for not posting some blog entries, but it's been a whole week? I've no excuse other than I've been in deep deed.

It seems that every spring is like this: all of a sudden, I'm awash in chores with deadlines. After April 15th, I always want to chill out for a month or so, but nooooo. No one else waits around for that. winkwink

I can proudly boast that I've succeeded in biotch-slapping Hubs to hire out the humongo pool cleaning (after over a year of bog-like conditions). Finally, YAY!

May I present the most gorgeous blue water I've seen in a while, lol:








I had to sneak the photo because I didn't want Pool Guy to know he was being snapped. Kinda awkward. lol I have to say he worked hard. It was a tough job, and I have no idea if $325 for 3 afternoons of work was worth it more to him or to us, but it's paid and the pool's clean.

Of course, in 7 short days, it'll need the regular maintenance of brushing and chemicals to keep it from slowly going downhill again, which we can count on Pool Guy to take care of for $40 a week. That's $160 a month. And let's not forget the 12 hours of pump electricity each day for aeration. I guess I now know why our electric bill seemed lower, lol.

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose. Whoever first said that must have owned a pool, but I digress. I'm usually the first to goad Hubs into doing the DIY thing, but this time I'm voting for Pool Guy to do the weekly work. Hubs came right out and asked if we could hire him. LOL Yeah, like maybe he hates doing the pool? Ya think? My thinking on it is that Hubs wasn't that great at it, and it needs to be done correctly or that investment gets more costly.

So, anyway, that's now the plan for the summer (which is like 6 mos. down here, if not longer). It's amazing to me looking at it in retrospect how it could take so dang long to do just that much, but I've been working hard in my thorny-sided role.

First, starting last week, I had to spend almost 3 days in virtual verbal war as I told Hubs he needed to find someone, then I told him again, and again, because he went into his usual little weirdo rebellion fits, until he realized his way wasn't happening. It only took 2 screaming matches to get to that point.

By Sunday, Pool Guy had made two appearances and Hubs returned to work on days. I only took it easy just a little bit because I dived back into creating, and haven't really looked up until tonight, when I became duly red-faced for realizing how long I'd gone without blogging.

While all this was going on, I have been having a midlife art crisis, for lack of a better description. I've been getting more and more into stamping, paints, background techniques, gessos, glazes, and glitter. A bigger canvas than an ATC affords. And the awesome ways so many out there are combining ephemera with the liquids to create mixed media art.

It's like Scrap booking, but it's not. It's, to me, the closest you can get to feeling what a real artist might feel, short of drawing or painting everything on the piece. You are more free, less constrained by the photos, which in art collage are people you don't know but are attempting to create a personal relationship which. And it can be anything you want it to be, what fantasy! I mean, you can't control the lives of the real people in your scrapbook layouts, but you totally can in your collage.

I don't know. On one hand, it's so much work, learning the ropes and getting informed. But on the other hand, it's fascinating. I even got out the old Artist's Way and read some, need to read some every day. I will admit to being reminded by the author Julia Cameron's ex being interviewed on TCM the other night. Who is her ex, you might ask?

Martin Scorsese, that's who, the film director and obsessed American Express photo development customer. She even refers to them in one chapter, so he's in the book's index. And he was describing in this interview about a tough mental time he went through, about the same time they broke up. Hmmm.... Oh, to be a fly on the wall concerning that one! I really enjoyed seeing him in that interview. I find him quite refreshing and a very positive and religious man. (Cameron's book is laced with religious metaphor and inspiration). Double hmmm.....

I seriously sometimes think I was really meant to be Mary Hart on Entertainment Tonight, except that somewhere something went horribly wrong for me, LOL.

Anyway, if I actually do go through any material changes, you heard it here first. Lately I have been so lazy that if God himself told me I'd win a million bucks if I'd just be a tad more industrious, I'd honestly have trouble finding motivation.

Relaxing and letting time roll along in a parallel universe is just so nice.

Well, speaking of rolling along, I was shocked in a great way to discover I won a RAK from Shirley! Congrats to her for her 1,000th post and I guess that'd be me! LOL See, it pays to reply to practically every entry you're behind in reading, LOL.

Anyway, I know Shirley's RAK will have something neat in it, so even though it may take a while to get here, it'll be sweet!

And, I've been tagged! That, for next time....

HAPPY NUT N HUMPY DAY! Do The Hokey-Pokey, ya'll!

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Thanks for all the sweet comments from my blog readers!

Haven't *said* that in a while and need to *say* it more often,

even though I think it all the time.

I love them.

Ya'll keep my little engine a-going, Toot Toot!

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Congrats to my girl!
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And a little birthday card to share, for an old girlfriend of mine who's turning 57 today (no names, please!):

I abuse my near-age friends nowadays, because they are the only ones I can use my new old-fart stamps on! Here I used a mix of stamps by Urban Lily, Gina K and I Brake for Stamps :

Here's a close-up of the lady I colored in with pencils, markers, gel pens and Stickles:

And now, the punch line:

Cracks me up every time, LOLOLOL.
Edited to Add: I did have this linked to a challenge, but I can't post my link to it, so I guess I am not entered in it, and so I'm sure not gonna advertise their challenge, ya know? Fix the link, guys! {pout}

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Happy Earth Day!

In fact, the next few days contain Earth Day celebrations globally, so perhaps it's Earth week, LOL. And when I Googled for info, I saw a couple of celebrations that were on Saturday, the 18th, but that might have been for the sake of weekday workers who wanted to plants trees or some other day-long venture.

Those of you who've been reading my blog for a year or more know I like to make something to honor this day that incorporates the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle theme. This year I wanted to add bestowing an award to someone special who is environmentally aware and pushes for it on their blog more than anyone else I know.

The choice for me was easy. I immediately thought of my friend Vicki Cook, who never fails to commemorate days of action on her blog, whether it be to celebrate the beauty of trees, to plant flowers, install a bird feeder, or coax new birdie visitors with a nesting house.

Vicki, I salute you for being a 2008 Earth Angel and all around Nature Girl Extraordinaire! Here's your award, for displaying on your blog sidebar (I hope!):


Ok, so on to my Earth Day creation. I wanted to make Vicki a piece of hanging art-iness, and I wanted to include my ATC "Patchwork Earth" that I'd made weeks ago, because I'd originally made it with Earth Day in mind. Although I'd been excited about making this ATC from little slivers of scrap paper to look like a quilt, I wasn't 100% happy with it when I finished it. It was missing something.

So, I laid it aside and forgot about it for a while, hoping and knowing deep down that I'd come up with something to make it more acceptable to my tastes. Picking it back up recently, I decided to do the back with a map of the world stamped image (one of those background stamps from a previous post that I mounted cling cushion on and created storage in the VHS tape cases). I then let it sit some more and thought about adding some rhinestones and jewels and maybe some little stamped cut-out birdies to finish that side.

Turning to the front of the CD, I decided to go over the red gel pen with black, blue and green, thereby toning the red down some. That helped. And, I coated the entire top with my favorite Diamond Glaze, which always makes things look better. I also filled in the bottlecap earth with some Glaze, and then I applied some Crystal Stickles to the inside perimeter. Now, I was getting happy with this little card.

Next, how to hang it? Well, I killed two birds with one stone by using an old CD -- I was able to recycle, plus I'd be able to get out my alcohol inks and paint like I'd been wanting to. That done, I went looking for other elements I could add that were sitting around waiting to be re-used. I had some skinny green satin ribbon that I'd looked at for a few months on my creating desk, so I grabbed it and curling-ironed it straight, then stitched it through holes I'd punched with my Cropadile. Then, I found some beads that were the perfect colors and started stringing two tails on the bottom. (And I might add a couple of "arms" on the side.
I think those beads are so pretty, like porcelain or that turquoise kitchen ware from California in the 1940's (with the drink pitchers that look like a tire-shape with a spout and a handle?) Uh, yeah, obviously, I don't collect dishware, right? ROFL!

Anyway, I'm terribly later than I wanted to be with this post, because nothing went anywhere near a timetable today. So, I'll close with a cool thingy you can make to funnel rain water from your gutter to a rain barrel. And, it hangs, too!You can then re-use the water for feeding and watering plants and birds. You'll find instructions here, courtesy of Lowes.

Climbing over the Hump

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I'm alive, a little groggy still, but here and engaged in thought. Making plans, exploring possibles. Anyway, I couldn't resist recognizing HumpDay with these Oldfarts. Just makes me smile today.
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But first things first. Today is the one-year anniversary of the Va. Tech campus shootings. Please join me in a quiet moment of reflection in memory of all who were affected.
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Today is also Pope Benedict XVI's first day of his American tour. I am not Roman Catholic. In fact, I am Episcopalian, which is the American version of the Church of England, which is Anglican or Anglo-Catholic, due to King Henry the Eighth's need for divorce back in the 16th century. So, I do not obey Benedict, but I do have a curious interest in him because he is German. And since there are lots of Catholics in America, like Hubster's family, so I welcome him to America.
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Hubs had to go to the emergency room at the local hospital last night. He had a vertigo attack, which he gets every so often. Since he was at work, they required him to go there, complete with an ambulance. Luckily, by the time he was able to get a phone call to me, his doctor was called in and showed up pronto because he was already there seeing someone else, and he quickly judged it nothing more than an attack, admonished Hubs to not quit his meds and released him. I say luckily because I was sound asleep and might have slept through the call to go up there. One of his coworkers had gone with Hubs and stayed, so he provided transport back to work and Hubs drove home. I really don't mean to make light of this, but we've been through this so many times over his vertigo, and it's his own damn fault and rather expensive too. (Work only pays for the ambulance, and our e-room copay is $75 plus always a straggler bill a week or two later for that much more, or more! And this time I'm sure his doctor will file a claim, too, for 5 minutes and a script.)

So, the reason I brought this up was that Hubs woke me up when he got home to fill me in. I couldn't get back to sleep right away, so I spent an hour listing out the art projects, pieces, creations I want/have promised to make for others, and that list sort of shocked me as to how long it is. So, that's hopefully going to be the focus of my spare time the next few weeks.

One. More. Day.

Take the Quiz

Your Mind is Purple
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Of all the mind types, yours is the most idealistic.
You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense.
Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries.
You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

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Geez, that quiz was kinda...revealing...and dead on. What are the oddz? LOL I saw it on Sarah's blog and of course had to take it. Be strong, Aimes, only one quiz a day!

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Well, I had to pull an all-niter, but I'm closing in on my deadline. WooHoo! I'd have to say I'm not much into wanting to create anything right now though. More like I want to pretend to be a bump on a log...hibernating. Bump on a log. SLEEP. Yup, I stayed up all nite working. Could not relax enough. Tried. Failed. Way too much java and stress.

Oh, and all those goodies I bought for Hubs yesterday? Yup, I helped eat them. I probably gained 2 pounds back in 24 hours, but it was fun. Note to file: grazing as a diet strategy only works when you graze on good, healthy food. Otherwise? Worse than worse.

Well, back to work. Gonna bust outa here and crash in a bit. Ahhhh......then I can really "spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life...WITHOUT BOUNDARIES".

Bbbbwwwaaaaaa! winkwink

Happy Birthday, Hubs!

The Birthday "Boy", 56 years young.

The Cake: A favorite of his from the neighborhood bakery.


And, his favorite brekkie: bakery kolaches and donuts.

I awoke at the crack of dawn to go get all of this (takes bow). That included a store-bought Hallmark card, which he secretly prefers to a handmade one, so I rarely make his card.

Hubs will spend his day getting his gift checks cashed, buying some liquor and cigar treats, going to get his complimentary birthday car wash, and then picking out some really nice steaks and fixing us a steak, baked potato and salad dinner tonight. We will go out to dinner later in the week.

The weather today is picture-perfect, sunny with a chilly wind. Everything looks so green and springy. I'll have to go out and take some more photos this week.
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101-Year old Marathon Runner
I just had to celebrate this dude. Click on the link, it's a really short article, only like 5 paragraphs. He totally cracks me up and I can only wish I could live so long or do what he does at my current age. Sheesh! He's still working! God love him...
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Well, speaking of old grinds, back to it for me. Just 2 more days, I cannot wait!

Fit to be Friday

Can I just say it?

I'm going nuts right now.

Several things have aligned in my life this year to cause me to have to learn to acknowledge, adapt, adjust, accept. Yeah, when I have more time, I'll elaborate...

But right now, it's being exxacerbated greatly by having to meet a tax deadline without my usual enthusiasm or concentration. So, I've understandably turned to trying to pop some pills in search of energy, stabilization, calm.

Much to my surprise, I'm seeing some improvement!

In addition to my daily Centrum and Vitamin C (not pictured), what's in the picture above is my current stash of miracle helpers.

I give 10 stars to Cinnamon and Green Tea. I've been a bad bad diet girl since my hip began hurting badly, and on April 1 I learned what a Fool I'd been...I'd managed to gain 10 pounds back, which would be no-big-deal had I been at a decent weight, but when you've miles to go before you sleep on your weight loss, gaining 10 back is basically shameful.

So, I immediately began trying to get back on track gradually (it is tax season, after all), and while I won't be able to get my exercising turned back on until next week, I have been cutting out all fast food and sweets, and I've been eating at least 3 fruits a day and eating smaller more frequent meals.

As of April 10th, Ive lost 5 of those pounds. So, I'm halfway back to zero, and I'm thankful it was just 10 pounds and not more.

I'd been advised to try the Cinnamon recently, and I can feel a lift within 30 minutes. And when I dip back down again, a cup of green tea helps get me peppy again. I've been eating a half a grapefruit and a Lean Cuisine every 3 hours or so, too. (Hubs bought this gigantic bag of the g-fruit on sale, and the g-fruit is in addition to the other 3 daily fruit servings). I read the stories about the water myth, but I'm still drinking as much as I can, because I cannot deny that when I slack off I start gaining weight. (So maybe it's an appetite suppressor, it works, I'm not picky).

Anyway, I'm able to handle the stress much better, but I've learned one thing this spring: no more tax work. I've already told 3 clients this is the final year. It's scary, but I'm so wanting to celebrate, so I know it's the right thing to do.

I cannot ever in my life remember feeling so enthusiastic about getting to play and make art! Just a few more days....

Now, if I can just get thru Tuesday with enough energy, enthusiasm and concentration. Where are those pills...?

Learning to Love the Weeds

I Love Buttercups...
Patches of Blue...

I Love Old Clover....

And Clover Brand New!


Yep, it be Spring here on the Third Coast. Our night time low temps creep slowly upward, even though so far we've been enjoying cool winds in the day time.

And it's official: the Skeeters have landed. Thankfully they are still in that morning hangover phase: you know they are there, but they act a bit stoned.

So have the humongo tree roaches that can fly. (HATE those...)

In addition to take stolen moments away from my tax returns to enjoy the good and bad of Nature, I had a bit of a traumatic experience last week.

I walked into our detached garage, like I do 2 dozen times a day or so, and almost did not notice the little teeny brown field mouse sitting frozen with his back to me on the cement floor where it meets the garage door. And when I did notice, I was frozen, too.

I have a bad phobia about them little nasty things. I know that people actually keep them as pets, and since we live on the edge of a field / horse pasture those little "cute" ones are the ones we deal with. And, they are not that smart. But you'll never see me owning one as a pet. They totally freak me out.

So, there we are, frozen, both of us. Finally, my brain gets a thought to step forward: push the button and raise the garage door, like he'll just run right out and leave us alone forever. I know, stupid, like he's someone waiting for an elevator.

Just after I raised my arm and pressed the button, I thought uh-oh, what if he turns around and runs back into the dark recesses of our garage? So, I grabbed a little hand shovel that was hanging nearby.

So, I was ready. But still, mouse time stood still. He finally stirred and sure enough, wheeled himself around. So, what did I do? I batted him with the shovel like I was up at bat, out on the driveway. As I contemplated "what now", I watched him land on his side, right in the drip line of the roof overhead. It was raining, and so water was dripping and dabbling all over him, his face, his fur.

What did he do? Without moving anything else, he opened his mouth and started drinking.

It was then I realized he must have eaten some poison that Hubs has set out in the garage. We've had a few mice in prior years that have ingested it and make it into the pool where they drank themselves to a quick bye-bye. That's always fun scooping them out.

Back to my story...Now, Hubs would have beat the mouse flat with the shovel, or worse, just stepped on him. But I was wearing my pink fur thongs and nothing short of my life being imminently threatened would convince me to bloody-and-guts-up up those babies.

No way. No eff-ing way, okay? So, I fell back on my tried-and-true method for trapping snakes that has proven successful for me.

I ran into the house and grabbed a small wide-mouthed pickle jar from the pantry (I'm a packrat in the kitchen too), filled it a third of the way with water, then stopped in the laundry room and poured it full another third of Clorox bleach. Then I grabbed the tongs that hang there for pulling out clothes from the back of the dryer.

I carried my equipment out to the garage, where the mouse was still there writhing out on the driveway and shuddering in the still-dripping drip line. I placed my jar down on the cement and then picked the mouse up by the tail with my tongs and lowered him into his vat of death, dropped the tongs and screwed that lid on tight.

I wiped the tongs down with alcohol and put them in the dishwasher to run on the Scald setting (what I call the Sterilize setting) all by their lonesome (to avoid having to suppress gagging at the thought that my plate or glass mixed liquids with those tongs), and I'm proud of myself that I did not just throw the tongs away.

When Hubs got home from work a few hours later, I was all proud of myself for being so brave and resourceful, so I told him the story. He rolled his eyes and asked, what do I do with the jar now?

I'm like, dude, don't worry, I'll take care of it. Geez, how sissified can men be sometimes?

The jar stayed there on the garage floor until trash day, when I wrapped it up in bubble wrap, taped it securely, and then placed it in the trash. Problem solved, and no blood stains or guts to clean up.

I guess I could argue that I've built a "better mousetrap" - gives new meaning to "in a pickle". Personally, I can't think of a better way to recycle, can you?

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Seems like there's always a test or quiz in Blogland.

For instance, here's the True Color test I found at Colleen's blog. I took it and here's the verdict. You decide, is it me?

What's Aimeslee's True Color?

Her Result: Brown

You're brown, a credible, stable color that's reminiscent of fine wood, rich leather, and wistful melancholy. Most likely, you're a logical, practical person ruled more by your head than your heart. With your inquisitive mind and insatiable curiosity, you're probably a great problem solver. And you always gather all of the facts before coming to a timely, informed decision. Easily intrigued, you're constantly finding new ways to challenge your mind, whether it's by reading the newspaper, playing a trivia game, or composing a piece of music. Brown is an impartial, neutral color, which means you tend to see the difference between fact and opinion easily and are open to many points of view. Trustworthy and steady, you really are a brown at heart.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=colorogt&c=50652

Then, I {stupidly} took the typing test over at Kim's blog. Like, did I forget I had arthritis in my hands, or something? I was reminded when I got my score: a big 44 words a minute. Dang. Let's just say that score was much higher when I was 25, and I didn't even do secretarial work.
44 words

Speedtest