Next week

Although I'm doing my best to live in the now, sometimes you have to look ahead. Forewarned is forearmed, right? Which is why I mention that it has recently come to my attention that next week Mercury goes retrograde AND judging from the number of zits I've sprouted and the number of times I've flown off the handle, I'll be going on the rag. Stay tuned.

Day

It was a great day here. A day that started around 4:30 a.m., only because there is a conspiracy (within the household and on more paranoid days I think it extends beyond) to make sure I don't sleep in. This morning it was dog number 2 that got me up. I lay in bed, wondering if I would go back to sleep for that last half hour until the alarm and deal with the consequences, or get up and do what a good dog owner should do and just say to heck with that last half hour. Unfortunately that half hour was from 4:30 to 5:00. Ah well, I 'll try to make it up by going to bed really early tonight. So taking advantage of that extra half hour I got to write a message to my Ozzie friend, Brenda, and catch up with some other friends who remain blogless. One-sided conversations they were, but what else do you do at 4:30 a.m.? Later in the day I got some photos of our latest weather phenomenon. Here are a few shots of my neighbor's pile, with an object or two (Riley) for the perspective of the size. Not the biggest pile on the block, but it was -25 with the windchill today and I didn't want to venture too far on foot. Ever try to take pictures with mittens on? 'Nough said.

And it was a good day in my studio too. I got a head start on Paulette's art journal class and got started with another weekly project (more to come). I have almost finished up with that fish, changing the course quite a bit, so inspired by all I have been seeing this week. With a little luck I'll finish him up this weekend and post a final by next week. I also spent quite a bit of time with my new camera too. After a kind of crappy earlier part of the week, today finished it off quite nicely, kind of like tucking the Ace card in your hand with your elbow.

Haiku Friday

Maybe I'll get some photos of this later today.

Shovels, hats, wet mitts
Snowmaggedon survivor
Cry me a snow bank

January Calendar Page

At last! The quotes are on. I managed to take a picture where the flash didn't completely obliterate the photo. Actually, it's a photo I'm pleased with. Very wintery indeed. Now all I need to do is get the calendar up on the wall. The quotes are kind of small here, the top one says, "We cannot always do great things in life, but we can do small things with great love". The second one, to balance the first is, "I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savour a bad mood".

And because the day wouldn't be complete without a shot of Riley...

It was a dark and stormy post

Well, I had a walking nervous break down today. It all started off OK. More or less. The snow storm started early, hammered away all day. It was more or less when I got to my car parked at the train station. I had parked on the street, near the end of some one's driveway. Their snow cleaning service blew all the snow from their driveway onto my car, in front of my car and all down the side, jamming the wheels with pretty hard packed snow. Thank heavens I don't drive a girlie car (no offense to those who do), I just find in this climate, between the snow and ice storms and the potholes, I need something a little more, er, aggressive. And it was thanks to that, that I managed to pull out (not without a lot of effort). Back at the ranch my driveway was partly clear, but it's the back deck that made me cry. I shovelled it twice since I got home at 5:00 and with the wind it's just as bad as it was before shovelling. I need the back doors to open and for the stairs to be accessible because in this weather I can't walk the dogs, thus they must go somewhere and that is out the back. Also, to rub salt in the wound, I have to go to work tomorrow (after being quite sure I had already put in my time this week). I cried again. Riley was up to shenanigans, for which I had no patience. It was also near impossible to snap a photo of him today, he kept making faces and acting out. Finally I managed this one, but at the moment, in the mood I'm in, it really wasn't worth the effort. I am headed upstairs for a bath so I can get into bed early, get up two and a half hours before the sun rises and do today all over again tommorrow. Oh yeah, after all this snow stops falling, sometime tomorrow they promise, we are headed into a deep freeze for an unforseeable amount of time. I gotta get outta here.

What a difference

What a difference two weeks makes. It has been about that since our shortest day of the year and tonight when I came out of the subway and up on the commuter train station platform there was still some daylight. Kind of like a twilight. So very encouraging. Except for our current weather forecast. So I might have to go underground for a couple of days. We are expecting our latest snowfall to start tonight, shortly after midnight and continue until sometime Thursday. Basically 36 to 48 hours of snow. Snowmageddon. I expect to spend every waking moment shovelling. Except of course for the getting towork and home (and the hours spent there), getting my son to school and home, getting the dogs to do their respective duties, and the occasional meal for sustenance. I'm afraid my creative contributions will be figuring out new and inventive places and ways for where to put the white stuff. Things are going on hold for a couple of days. But...I did manage to create some food art for Riley's supper today and, of course, my Day 6 shot of Riley.

So far

It turned out to be quite a creative day here in snowsville. I spent a good few hours with my son making a space city out of cups, boxes and odds and ends. At one point "our" studio looked like this:






Then when he went over to that friend's house (which apparently smelled tolerable today) I got to play with my own paints. I sketched a few quite dreadful sketches, ooh baby, am I ever rusty. Rustier than I realized. But it felt good to just do something, even if they turned out awful. It was almost funny. Then I picked away at my fish again. Yikes! I'm surprsied there's any paper left, but I found some collage elements and once they are on I'll be posting another picture then I'm going to put the damned thing away for awhile because it really has been too long I've been picking away at that. I played alot with my new camera too, learning so much, so quickly. It is an amazing piece of technology. So here's it for today, my truly horrible sketches!



And lest I forget, Day 5, Riley. I was chasing him around with my camera and he was posing like a fashion model. I begged him not to pose, "just look natural," I said and he gave me this look:

CED

It was a day different from what I had planned but what the heck. Riley was supposed to go to a friend's house to play this afternoon so after lunch I put him on the toboggan and walked him over. The mom had been cooking vegetables that morning - broccoli and maybe cabbage, I'm not sure but Riley stepped in the house and started to gag. He then ran outside and refused to go in. I made him try a couple of times and each time he started gagging. Truly embarrassing. What does one say to another one when your child won't go inside because their house smells?! I was horrified. So instead I brought his friend back to our house, pulling two five year olds on the toboggan (uphill). The mom called me later in the afternoon to say that she had taken her recycling out and when she went back in she, too, could smell the smell that had my son gagging. She was apologetic (can you imagine?!) because she had wanted to give me an afternoon off from childcare. I'm still embarrassed though. Kids just say what they are thinking and it's not always easy to field their comments. On the other hand, just yesterday Riley was saying something about "Whistle-toe" and I was having the darnedest time figuring out what he meant. Then it dawned on me he meant "Mistletoe" and I went into hysterics laughing. I laughed all day whenever I thought of it, so hard sometimes I was crying. His innocence and insistence of the "whistle-toe".

With all that fracas, I'm grateful we can put off to tomorrow what we would have had to do today. Since tomorrow is a ped day at my son's school our frantic weekly routine will only start tomorrow night instead of tonight. I did get some time to "create" too. I finished my calendar from Karen's class. I'm just down to the quotes now, I should be able to post the January page soon. Putting that together also meant that I got a stack of photos off the corner of my desk where I left them as impetus to get it done. Certainly get it done so I could start enjoying it. It will go up in my studio in the next few days. And my son created a bread man from his lunch, here's his chewed off sculpture/art as well as my Day 4, Daily Riley photo.

Loosey-Goosey

I'm not sure much creating went on in my house today. I'm glad this definition is so loosey-goosey. And it being so loosey-goosey it has made me think about interpreting some of the day's events differently- more positively, if you know what I mean. I worked and worked and then worked some more, finishing up only now after 9:00 p.m. Gratefully iMan was entertaining the lil'un and cooking up a storm for me for sustenance to keep going. I did get my Daily Riley shot so here's my CED contribution for today. He's holding the advent calendar I made last year. It's pretty simple but I'm proud of it. It's a Christmas tree shape cut out of stiff felt with 25 little magnets glue-gunned on it and 25 corresponding little decorations (also with magnets glue-gunned on them). One decoration per day leading up to and including Christmas. An honorable mention must go here to my sister, Hundela, who, without her eagerness and encouragement of our mutual creative geniuses, this would not have been possible because those lovely little decorations came from Michael's craft store which unfortunately chooses to not carry on business in Montreal. She willingly trotted off to her Michael's and picked out the trimmings for our tree. The magnets allow it to sit on our fridge, until yesterday that is when we did the "out with the old and in with the new" exercises.

Day 3, Daily Riley

Something else I like

Andrea over at The Fishbowl posted this about her shopping embargo. It's just an idea I wanted to float, to get people thinking. Basically she opts to not buy anything non-essential for the months of January and February. Already I employ many of her suggestions, I know I will be paying down my credit cards since I bought a considerable amount of Christmas presents online this year. And with the exception of my son's birthday in February, which will require a few "non-essential" items, it doesn't sound too hard. Come next week our routines will be back in full swing and I will be hard pressed to find time to pleasure shop. So the first half of January will be a breeze. I'm guessing the crunch will come some time in February, especially for us cabin-fever-ites.

Haiku Friday

I almost don't know it's Friday. These holidays have been wonderful, now if I could only figure out what day it is! Yesterday I saw a haiku somewhere - I can't remember where, I'm sure it was someone at CED - there was a posted photo of a deer and a quip about, well how they are rather hazardous on the roads. It inspired me to look under my nose for today and see what I could haiku about. The first thing under my nose was also inspired by nature but... heh...heh...I might lose one of the members of my audience of three if I post it. I'll try to pull something else up from the bowels...oops, I meant depths of my imagination. I've already exhausted the subject of snow even though the subject of snow hasn't finished with my geographical location yet. Let's see...

It's time to move on
We took the Christmas tree down
So much space now - wow

OK, so it's not Shakespeare or Goethe. Thank heavens I have something else to brag about for my CED. Here's a photo of the supper creation for my son. He often asks me to make a picture out of his plate. Granted, it's not the healthiest supper, usually he at least has whole wheat pasta, but it counts as far as creative goes.




And now for my Day 2, Daily Riley:

Hellloooo 2009

Yikes! It's here! A new year, new challenges, some of the same old dreams and desires. I actually did quite well with my Creative Every Day personal assignments. I only had about an hour and a half to myself, that being more than I get some days. I managed to finish off my favorite photos album for 2008 from Karen's class, doing up my December page. That's here:




One of the things I want to do this year is sketch more. Every day if possible. It's been so long since I did draw. I've painted and collaged and fiddled with mixed media but my drawing skills are very rusty. I know it's only practice that will get me more where I want to be with my art so here's my sketch for today, an old paintbrush from my brush jar and an update on that fish I started before Christmas. The paper is holding up amazingly well. Quite pleased with it although the texture itself has taken some getting used to and I kind of miss the original orange background, I've been trying to get some of it back but unsuccessfully so far.











One of my friend Karen's creative projects last year was to take a photo of her young son every day, knowing how much they change in a year she wanted to chronicle this. She is also a very talented photographer, scrapper and writer and is full of wonderful ideas and I wanted to pinch that idea from her. It will probably bore all three of you to tears seeing his mug up so much, so sorry about that but like I've said before, it's my party....

Riley Day 1:

He was drinking this strange purple carrot juice we bought recently. He looks kind of like Salvador Dali - when I told him that he loved the idea, we had been at the Dali museum in Florida last year and he was quite taken by the art, not to mention his moustache!

Toodle-oo 2008

You've been quite the year, 2008. I stretched, I learned, I obsessed. I built up my art studio after a very long absence from the creative life and have started to work creatively again. I spent quality time with my son and saw him off to kindergarten. I had the summer off, something I wanted to do for a long time and it didn't even matter that it rained a lot. I got my hands dirty, in so many ways. I made some new friends and let go of one or two old ones. I had laser eye surgery and said good-bye to decades of glasses (and hello to reading glasses, but that's OK). I had some cancerous tissue cut out and have the scar to prove it. I let go of a few bad attitudes. I kept up with my exercise regimen and added yoga to my life. I adopted a neti pot and learned to love it. I've nurtured myself and been hard on myself. I've slept in, taken quiet time and done a pretty good job almost single-handedly raising my son to where he is now, a kind, generous, empathetic, funny boy of almost six. I've started the practice of getting up at 5:00 a.m. to have one precious hour to myself. I've given myself permission to take the last two weeks off of that early morning alarm. I started a blog and have been astounded at how it's added to my creative life. I've met so many wonderful people through the internet and luckily not received any nasty or derogatory comments (probably because only about 3 people read my blog, including family members). After taking ten months off of work, I found a job in these crazy and uncertain economic times, one that lets me work flexible part-time hours, so important to me and my lifestyle. I've made lots of people, as well as myself, laugh.

There is so much good that has come from this year. And one of the most important lessons was taught to me about regret, right at the end. I feel like I squeezed the most out of this year. I think I'm ready for 2009. One toe in the water, the rest of the foot on the shore, balancing. Thanks to everyone who contributed to making this year so wonderful, you will never all know who you are or how much you touched my life.

This has nothing to do with art, unless it's the art of whining

After a certain amount of navel gazing I think I realize why I've been so bummed out this last week. The famous saying of only regretting the things you haven't done and not the things you have rings true here.

Back in October or November, iMan announced that we (our son and myself) could accompany him to New Zealand for a three week stay in January where he would be working for a stretch. His employer would pay our airfare and hotel. This is a place I have always wanted to travel to but considering the cost and the time, it just never was a true opportunity for me. I was excited and of course a little nervous about leaving my life behind for that long. Then just as suddenly as the trip came up it was cancelled. Not for him, but for me and our son. I was disappointed but took it in stride, not going meant not leaving a job I had only started a few months ago. A job I am grateful to have found in these economic times. But nevertheless a job and not a career. Then shortly before Christmas the opportunity was back and I had to decide quickly as plane and hotel reservations had to be made. It was my last day at work before the holiday break and when I flew the idea by my boss he was, needless to say, not thrilled. Not only is he embarking on a new working partnership himself in the new year which means a lot of PR but it also leaves him in the lurch work-wise since I was giving him virtually no warning. I wasn't surprised but I was hoping he would say how he understood that I couldn't turn down this marvelous opportunity. Well, he didn't exact say that either. So having to make a quick decision, I turned down the trip.

Just yesterday I took my son and a new friend of his and that friend's mom skating. She's a wonderful woman (hi Sally!) I only recently met despite living a block away from each other and having sons the same age. She's also a New Zealander and she mentioned in the car that it is quite likely she and her small family will be moving back there come October. I was floored partly because a new friend I've made might be leaving my life but she's moving exactly where I want to be! I don't begrudge her anything, for goodness sake it's her homeland and where her family is. All the same I felt, well gypped.

I spent a turbulent afternoon and evening letting all the feelings come and overwhelm me and trying to figure out how I churned myself up into the proper little mess that I was. I was actually jealous. I felt trapped here in a city and a climate that doesn't make me happy. And I realized that I had made the wrong choice about my trip. I should have chosen to take the trip, taken my chances with leaving the job and my boss in a pickle. Which is where the regret comes in. It is said that people only regret the things they didn't do, never the things they did. I made my decision based on fear. Apparently I read somewhere that the largest fear women have is becoming a bag lady. On the other side of the gender spectrum, I'm sure the largest or one of the largest fears men have is being homeless. And it was this base and basic fear that guided my decision.

I think I learned a lesson in all this. I am still enormously sad about not going. And I hope that next time I have such a decision to make, even if it's under the gun like this last one, that I'll choose so that I won't have regrets.

Winding down

Well, this year is definitely winding down. I have been in such a rotten funk lately, I'm not sure why. I have this hovering non-sensical feeling that life is passing me by. I am grateful for so much but I feel stagnant. Maybe it's the short, dark days or the ridiculous weather. I know those two things always wear on me at this time of year. It all makes me remember back when I was much (much) younger and would go around saying, "I'm so depressed". I'd like to go back in time and slap myself across the face. Tell myself to get a grip. And I'm wondering if I'll feel like that years from now when I look back on this funk, wishing I was that kind of immature to complain to someone that I "feel so depressed". Now, I don't make to wish light of depression. I know full well that it is a serious condition. There is plenty I can do in the present moment to feel better but it's the bigger picture that is nagging away at me. I came across these ten questions apparently everyone should answer before the year is up. I'm curious, and up for the challenge so I'm going to see what comes of it for me. I'll try (almost) anything once and frankly I could use some inspiration to get me off of this attitude.

Last book of the year

I managed to polish off, "October" by Richard B. Wright in about a week. An easy read but intelligent prose. It doesn't come close to his, "Clara Callan" which I thought was brilliant but it was better than the rest of him that I read after Clara Callan. You know how it is when you discover a fabulous book then run out and try to get your hands on everything else he/she has written? This book is about death, a popular subject since, as they say, no one gets out of this alive. But in all it wasn't really depressing, considering. Not much else to say without giving the premise away.

99 MeMe Things

I've never done a MeMe, let alone a list of 99. But I took this from Oreneta's blog and thought WTF. Consider yourself tagged if you want to be. Hopefully not too much information for you.

THE 99 THINGS MEME

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars. But I wasn't happy about it. It was on the beach and the tide came in, waking me up with wet feet, luckily only wet feet!
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii. *sigh*
5. Watched a meteor shower. Plenty of them, they are very popular here in August.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity. A couple of times, always around Christmas to animal shelters.
7. Been to Disneyland/world. Once in California, twice in Florida.
8. Climbed a mountain. Nothing like Everest or Kilimanjaro but I live in a very mountainous area, so plenty to climb.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo. Not on stage, I sing all the time with my son.
11. Bungee jumped. I’d have to be sedated and bound and gagged.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. So much I want to learn with art(s).
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning. Can’t prove it but….
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train. We used to travel every summer to Nova Scotia when I was a kid and we’d have a sleeper car. Then when I got older I did but sat up in coach.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked. Once, during a bus strike. I was foolish and very lucky.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. Yeah, but not in a long time – who wants to waste a good sick day when you’re sick?
24. Built a snow fort. Two days ago was my last one.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping. I’m bashful
27. Run a marathon. Longest I ran was a 20 km race.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person. Once in the winter too, that was amazing.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. I’m not sure where that would be.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied. Of course there are various degrees of satisfaction. I don’t think I’d be any more satisfied with millions. Less stressed out but not more satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke. I’ve been paid to not sing.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance. Yes, it was horrible.
47. Had your portrait painted. A caricature, as a child.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain. It’s over-rated.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business. And gratefully, got out of it quickly.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies. Girl Guide cookies (Canada you say?)
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
65. Gone sky diving. See number 11.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp. Not a camp, but the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.
67. Bounced a check. I was young and foolish.
68. Flown in a helicopter. See numbers 11 and 65.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy. My mother is very unsentimental and all my childhood toys went out the door one day.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt. I’d love to do this, when the time presents itself.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job. Once, then talked my boss into giving it back to me.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone. One tiny one in my foot that had me in a cast from toe to knee for six weeks. Then on another occasion I broke my kneecap.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person. Flew over it in an airplane but I’ve never seen it from the ground.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car. Once, when I was young and foolish. The payments nearly crushed me.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House. Yeah, and it’s not really white.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. Not even a fish. Would a mosquito count if I fed it to a spider?
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life. ??? Maybe indirectly, I’m sure we all have without knowing it. I’m sure I’ve saved my son’s life at least once a day since he was born.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous. That’s over-rated too.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one. My father then my husband within ten months of each other. A very difficult year that was.
94. Had a baby. I always wanted one. Then I thought it wasn’t going to happen, then when I was 42 and least expected it, but most wanted it.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake. No, but I used to go regularly to float in isolation tanks in water with very high salt density.
97. Been involved in a law suit. Stressful.
98. Owned a cell phone. But rarely use all my allotted monthly minutes, I’m a bit of an old-fashioned user.
99. Been stung by a bee. Once

Been there done that, got the t-shirt: 48
Wish I had: 19
No desire: 32

Up and Down

Well, I came up for air then went right back down again. I am so discombobulated - not sure what day it is. I was convinced it was Monday, then realized because Coronation Street was on in the morning it had to be Sunday. Yesterday I thought it was Sunday, Friday I thought it was Saturday until I realized I needed to post my haikus. Good grief. It's been nice sleeping in and having a quite relaxed schedule with iMan doing most of the cooking. I'm just so mixed up! Briefly, until later hopefully, here is a shot taken with my (!!!!) new Nikon D90. It's not a long lens, just a 18-55mm so I cropped it with photoshop and am quite pleased with the clarity. It's also an indoor late afternoon shot which meant using the flash, which is so very superior to the camera I was using up until December 24th. I do need to look into a zoom or maybe the 18-200 lens.

Haiku Friday

It's Haiku Friday
Thought I'd forgot, didn't you?
Happy Kwanza too


Still full with turkey
And very grateful I am
Overwhelmed with gifts


Buried 'neath paper
Be up for air tomorrow
Be peace - Be well - Be

Funky

I've been in a kind of a funk the last few days. Seems that the impending holidays brings out the best and the worst in people. My home is a simmering pot of moodiness and gunk. Stirred up with a big wooden spoon. Images of sugar plums are dancing in my head, but a certain sadness prevails. Growing up, our home was always awash in volatile emotions, more so during holidays or special days such as birthdays or mothers day, fathers day etc. and I hate to think my son is being raised in the same kind of environment that is so...well, unnecessary. I've been working in my studio quite regularly thanks to the fact that the early morning alarm has been silent and will be for another (almost) two weeks. And that has helped, has also helped me to clarify what I want to set out as things to work on in the coming year and accomplishments to be grateful for in the past one. I like the change of calendar year. I like reflecting on the opportunities that have passed through my life and how much they have contributed to where I find myself now.

Last weekend Santa told me I looked tired (gee, thanks Santa for the honesty)and I was struck by a certain crone-ness when I realized the last 5 or 6 CDs (almost typed "albums" there) were all greatest hits or best of. That kind of did me in for a few minutes. I have to wonder how I can feel so old yet so vulnerable at the same time.