She's Got our Back

I can't help but feel that a little fairy magic might be just what our world needs.

"She's Got our Back"

For every purchase a print of a print of this painting I'll donate $5 to the ACLU...
because they also have our back. 

The original painting is available for purchase here.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.  

Click here to purchase my paintings. 

This painting was inspired by the work of Tamara LaPorte.

The Quiet Door

Several years ago Dave and I got a new microwave. It was pretty. It was just the right size. It cooked food just fine. And we hated it.

For some reason this microwave was not designed with teenagers in mind. Yes, teenagers. You see, teenagers tend to want to eat at all times of the night on the weekends and of course this involves microwaving. Well, our microwave was impossible to close quietly. No matter what you did, there was always a very loud "CLUNK!" when it closed. And this woke us up. Every. Time.

So when this loud closing microwave expired in the middle of the night this weekend, in a very stinky/smoky way I might add, my only requirement for our next microwave was that it close quietly.


And the very next day Dave came home with a brand spankin' new microwave. It is pretty. It cooks food just fine. It closes quietly. And we love it.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

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Driven by Distraction

We seem to constantly be nagging our little guy. 


Us:  "Do your homework!"

Little guy:  "As soon as this episode is over."


Us:  "Clean your room!"

Little guy:  "After I get back from playing basketball."


Us:  "It's your turn to empty the dishwasher."

Little guy:  "I'm about to take a shower."


So today when I was driving him home from football practice and he commenced picking his toenails and pretending to flick them at me...I yelled because, well, obvious!


Me:  "Don't do that in my car!  Do it when we get home and use a toenail clipper instead of ripping them off!"

Little guy:  "Hey," he said as he continued picking at his toenails.  "At least I'm not putting off doing it."


The kid had a point...but I still told him I wasn't going to make him food for a week if he kept doing it.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

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What Sleep Brings

So the little guy has been attending a summer fitness camp thing.  I would have thought that he'd be raring to go in the mornings...you know, wake up easily, jump out of bed, gleefully get ready, happily eat a hearty breakfast, and give me a hug, kiss, and "I love you" when I dropped him off (after all, I'm getting up super early for his summer thing, too.).  But, no.  We grog our way through all those steps and I merely receive a grunt when I tell him "I love you!" at drop off.

But today we were rewarded with a little whimsy, a bit of humor as the fairies and elves had obviously been up to mischief whilst we slept.

The kid got up (after multiple requests).

The kid got dressed (under duress).

The kid ate one fourth of a bagel (with minimal resistance).

And as we walked out the door and he was shoving his phone in his shorts, "Hey, there's a teeny, tiny sock in my pocket!" And he tossed my sock on the table.


...and I just smiled figuring I'd keep the fairies and elves that live in our house my own little secret.

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Boo Boo Fixing Super Powers

I'm convinced that our roles as parents are set really early in our children's lives.


If they wanted to be tossed high into the air...talk to dad.

If they wanted a snack...talk to mom.

If they wanted to build something with power tools (not counting my awesome sewing machine)...talk to dad.

If they had a boo boo...talk to mom.


And while I've pretty much managed to shake the whole "talk to mom" if they're hungry, I still haven't shaken the boo boos.  Not that I want to, mind you.


Last night I had to be away from home overnight and at about 1:00 AM I ended up engaging in a long texting conversationwith my little guy who was having some undesirable symptoms.  Mind you, his dad was there in the house sleeping, less than thirty feet away.  I was all the way across town.  But contact me, he did.

And even though I'm pretty darn exhausted today after having taken the kid to the doctor and then to the pharmacy, I'm happy that I've maintained my boo boo fixing super powers.


Upon arriving at home...

Little guy:  "Mom, I'm hungry."

Yup, still working on shaking that one...but not working terribly hard.

This is part of my Hallway Project.

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Who dunnit?

My big guy is outa here for about three weeks.  I look at this as an amazing opportunity for my little guy to shine.  Bet you're thinking I'm talking about how he'll have the chance to get all the adult time, energy, and love.  Well, he'll get that, too, of course.  But what I'm talking about is this.


He'll have the chance to prove the following, leaving us no choice but to solely blame his brother:

- he always flushes after using the toilet.

- he consistently turns lights off when he leaves rooms.

- he never leaves dishes strewn about the living room.


Let the absolutely, positively, loving mom data collection begin.

This is part of my Hallway Project.

Click here to check out my gallery.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

An Early Morning Scare

Sometimes when you think you're not alone, but it turns out you are, that ends up being a good thing.

Case in point:  This morning I got in my car.  I closed my door and saw something out of the corner of my eye.  I turned my head, saw nothing, turned my head...AND THERE IT WAS AGAIN!  My heartbeat accelerated.  I started to perspire just a tad.  I even reached over to lock all of the car doors.  But being me, I accidentally opened my window instead, which nearly gave me a heart attack. 

I got the window back up, managed to lock all the doors, held my breath, and turned my head.  I saw nothing, then turned my head back...and then I figured it out. 

Yes, I was scared of my own reflection. 

My little guy often manages to hit my driver's side mirror as he walks his bike to the back yard through the carport. 


And then slightly sweaty and much relieved me headed off to work.

This is part of my Hallway Project.

Click here to check out my gallery.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Animaters

So this happened at my house.


We were talking about some animated cartoon or whatnot and the amazing work of animators, and all of a sudden my husband hops up, runs out in the yard to his garden, runs back in, and...

"I like animaters on my sandwich!!" as he proudly held up two lovely ripe 'maters (as we call 'em).

Insert collective groan here.

This is part of my Hallway Project.

Click here to check out my gallery.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Hammer Time

So it turns out that if the guys are out hammering in the back yard it's absolutely, positively not received well when I break out into song with "Hammer Time".

Furthermore, it's absolutely, positively, without a doubt not received well when I break out into dance to go along with it.

And now I'm consumed by the urge to get some bloomy pants.

This painting has been donated to the Carver Museum as part of a benefit for them.

It will be auctioned off to benefit the museum.

 Click here to check out my gallery.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

My Inner Slob Lives Here

I'm a slob.  I absolutely, positively cannot get through the day without getting some sort of muck (food, paint, beverage, mud, etc.) on what I'm wearing.  So when I decided to have spaghetti for dinner tonight, I changed out my black and white striped shirt I'd worn to work for a little T-shirt I'd picked up at a thrift shop.  As I was walking back to the kitchen it occurred to me that I was now wearing a white shirt, albeit a cheap one. 

So I sat down to eat, grabbed one of our cloth napkins, i.e. a bandanna, tucked it into the neck of my shirt, and proceeded to down my delicious spaghetti.  And I must say that basically wearing a baby bib was absolutely fabulous.  I think it might just be my new thing.

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I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Letting them Just be Normal

Somehow I've managed to have three celebrity encounters in the past few weeks.  All of them involved me saying "Hi," and then having this "gosh they look familiar" feeling, and then figuring it out.  All of which happened in a matter of seconds.

I could have talked with them more had I wanted to.  I could've begged for a selfie with them.  I could've taken a stealth photo of them on the sneak.  I could've called someone and said, "Hey, you'll never guess who's here!!!" And I could've even said, "Hey, I got to be on your show a few episodes back!"  (Tis true.)

But I didn't.  They were out just being normal.  Out with their kid.  Out with their dog.  Out with a pal.  Out happening to be enjoying the very same little life experience that I was enjoying. 

I hope they get to just be normal...a lot.

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Home Sweet Home

In spite of the fact that we have a fabulous clothesline that I love and adore, we end up using our dryer a lot.  Seriously, it's a surprising amount of laundry I do and it often builds up into mounds of clothing and towels...luckily mostly clean.

Well, this morning I got a wild hair and decided that our dryer, that serves us so well with nary a complaint, deserved a bit of T.L.C.  So, I YouTubed a bunch of "care and feeding of your dryer" type videos and found one that suggested a delinting.  Off went the kickplate.  Off went some whatchamacallit cover thing.  And then I found out where all the dryer lint that manages to escape the lint catcher goes to live out its life in bliss.  There was the hugest ball of tough, cohesive lint I'd ever seen!  I picked that sucker up, briefly considered dissecting as if it were a huge owl pellet, and then gingerly carried it to the trash...after I picked out the $1.73 that was in it.

SCORE!!

Hey, I wouldn't be me without a little picking!

Home Sweet (and safer) Home

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Warrior Princess

If you know me, you likely know I'm fart phobic (click here for proof)...particularly when it comes to yoga.  Seriously, it's on my "won't do" list.  But last night I conquered my fears.  I downward dogged, I child posed, I warriored, I saluted the sun...and I got through it with nary an issue.  Oh, and did I mention that they also had us in partners, actually touching strangers?!?!  Well, I got through that, too, without hyperventilating and passing out or anything.

Seriously feeling like that warrior I posed as.  Can't wait to do it again!

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