Wakey, Wakey!

Apparently there's a right way and a wrong way to wake up my kid when there's something he and I need to do over the weekend.

Here's what I do (AKA "The Wrong Way"):  I walk in, tap his shoulder, tell him it's time to wake up, pull the covers down a bit.

Here's what he does:  Ignore, ignore, pull the covers back up, zzzzzzz.


Later that day I am told what I should do to wake him up:

"Do something repetitive and loud until I get up and make sure you're a distance away so that when I thrash around kicking and hitting to make the noise stop I don't hurt you."


Well, now, that was a very helpful suggestion.

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Officially "Vintage"

Spent a lovely day celebrating birthdays with my mom today.  We ate good grub and then we went shopping at a vintage store.  I went through rack after rack finding tons of amazing things that were way too high maintenance for little old me (i.e. required dry cleaning and/or ironing), but happily, I did find a few must-haves.  At one point we were chatting it up with one of the owners and she mentioned that they're getting stuff from the 80s and earlier because they are a "vintage" store, after all.

Um...80s, eh?  So the clothes I wore in high school are now considered "vintage"?  What?  And then I looked at my mom and thought, "No, clothes from when she was in high school are 'vintage'.  That's how it's always been."  But I kept my pursed "vintage" mouth shut and figured that, hey, I've got some stuff in my closet that's officially worth something.

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Not Going There Again

Took my boys shopping today because they needed shorts.  And me, well, I needed nothing.  But I looked anyway just in case I needed to be impulsive or anything like that.  And, by golly, I found the cutest T-shirt.  It wasn't with other shirts that looked like it, so somebody must've just set it there as an unwanted.  But I dug it.

I strolled around while I waited for my guys and I stumbled upon a pile of shirts just like the one I had on.  And, oh yay, it was on sale.  I held it close as I was already in love, my eyes tracked upward, and there was a mannequin wearing the very shirt I was holding.  A pregnant mannequin.

Oh...

And I delicately set the shirt down on the pile and walked away.  Nope, not going there again.

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Celebrating and a Give Away!

Today I'm celebrating!  One thousand days ago I started an adventure...an adventure in fun, love, and creativity.  At first it was just for fun and stress release, and over the thousand days it's truly become my absolute bliss.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has followed and supported me during this adventure of mine.  I'm excited to start the next thousand paintings tomorrow.

P.S.  And to celebrate, I'm having a 50% off sale through April 21st (my birthday!) on all my paintings.  Unfortunately there's no way to do a discount on the site, so message me the one(s) you want and I'll happily adjust the price.  Click here to go to my shop.

P.P.S.  And I want to give away one of my pieces.  Leave a comment on this blog post telling me how you find your creative bliss and I'll randomly pick a winner on Friday.  Be sure to leave your email address so I can get a hold of you. 

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She Dreams

I've shaken up my routine lately.  Dave got us gym memberships and I've been doing that for a while now...which meant I blew off all the dog walking I was doing. 

(Insert image in your mind of my dogs pouting.)

Well, last night I returned to the land of dog walking.

(Insert image in your mind of my dogs smiling.)

And instead of having my ear buds in with NPR shows playing, I heard birds and wind and the pitter patter of my dogs' feet.  Instead of being in my own little world, I made eye contact with others and said, "Hello."  Instead of absorbing thoughts of other authors' stories, I was able to be lost in the creation of my own.

Blissful sigh...she dreams.

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The Forgiveness of Curls

I get a little twitchy about my hair every six months or so.  Boredom, disgust, disappointment, you name it.  But I'm too cheap and admittedly lazy to actually make an appointment and take care of it.  This time I decided to take matters in to my own hands.  Literally.  On pure impulse I grabbed a chunk of hair and "did it just like the professionals"... -ish.  Then I grabbed another chunk, and another, and another, until I'd made it all the way around.  And, by golly, it worked!  Mind you, I have very wavy hair and it is, by nature, forgiving of haircut mistakes, but it worked!

And every time I go into the hallway bathroom at our house I swear the shears on the shelf wink and beckon me to use them again.  And sometimes I do!

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Got the Moves

It turns out that going around singing "Moves Like Jagger" is not correlated with actually having moves like Jagger.

According to my kid, that is.

But you know how positive affirmations work, right?  If you keep saying it, and saying it, and saying it, the odds of it being "so" seriously increases. 

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A Perfect Storm

This morning.


Me:  "Get up, kiddo.  You need to clean your room, do that homework you've been putting off all week, check your email, take a shower, and put your dirty laundry in this basket."

Little guy:  "Wow, mom.  That was a perfect storm of nag."


Ya...makes me feel all powerful and stuff.  Not that it's at all effective, of course.

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Fall Asleep Anywhere, Anytime, in Any Position

I have many memories of my maternal grandfather, and one of them is that he could sleep anywhere.  Anytime.  In any position.

Literally.

I very clearly remember him standing in a room, leaning against the wall while someone played music on the piano, and he was snoring.  Softly, but snoring nonetheless.

Well, yesterday I released my inner grandpa.  We were at a rocket launch waiting, waiting, waiting for the clouds to clear so we could launch.  It was crazy windy and a bit cold, so my little guy, one of his teammates, and I got in my dad's minivan.  They sat in the bench seat to watch a movie and I sat in one of those canvas chairs folks bring to soccer games and such.  (My dad's van is fairly emptied out to allow room for his wheelchair.)

Anyway, there I sat, eyes getting heavy, and before I knew it, I was seriously asleep.  I didn't know until I jolted awake.


Me:  "Did I snore?"

Little guy:  "No, mom.  You kind of slurped."


Hmmmmmmm...I don't remember my grandpa ever sleep slurping.

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When the Cat's got my Mouse

Some days I'm just clicking along, rockin' it on my computer.  And some days are like this.


"Clickety, click, click!"

"Clickety, click!"

"Click, click, click!"

And then I'm moving stuff.  I'm swiping stuff.  And ------------------------------------- nothin'.


My mind goes straight to panic.  My computer's broken!  Liquid must have somehow ended up in my keyboard!  Waaaaaaaaaaah!


Then I see my sweet, big ol' cat's paw.  It's just barely touching my track pad.  And "barely" is enough to render my swiping useless.

By the way he smirked at me I'm thinking he knew exactly what he was doing.

And since I gave him big snuggles for doing it, I'm absolutely positive this scene will be repeated again and again.

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Adorkable

You know when you're being goofy because it's pretty much the only way you know how to be?  Well, my husband came up with a new term for that...and he used it on me.

"Adorkable"

Yup, a perfect "adorable" and "dork" combo plate.

Good to know at forty-six that I'm still darn adorkable.

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Who's That Girl?

There are so many artists out there that can draw people and draw them well.  They can even draw specific people.  Me?  So not one of my super powers.  But I still like to draw people (in general), regardless of my skill level.

Anyway, I'm a bit of a kid with my art work and I often take it to my husband and show him.  "Lookie, lookie what I drew!!"

He's always super awesome and generous with his compliments.  And he was with this one, too.  Only he was quite sure it was a portrait of someone we know.

So, help me, my friends.  Solve this mystery.  Who's that girl?

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Avalanche...Liquid Style

You know how when you're drinking out of a cup and it's filled with a bunch of small ice cubes and you tip...tip...tip it till the last bit of water starts running toward your mouth and then suddenly ALL of the ice smacks you in the face?

Well, when you're a hot tea addict like I am, something kind of sort of like that happens.  At least to me it does.  You know how when the bottom third of your tea has cooled because you've been busy doing other stuff and you go back to it because you want to drink the last of it and the teabag is still in there because you're milking it for all it's worth and you tip the mug back and the tea starts going toward your mouth and then the teabag flops right by your mouth and then all the tea floods around it and it sloshes around the sides of the teabag and spills over your cheeks and down your shirt soaking it and your bra?

No?  I do.  Me neither.

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It was TERRIFYING!

I had a terrifying experience recently...TERRIFYING, I'm telling you.

Here's what happened.  I was being a super nice mom, you know, like I am almost always, and I was letting my little guy (he's only fifteen) drive my car in a big ol' virtually empty parking lot for practice.  OK, so yes, that is terrifying, but only mildly so.  What was terrifying is this.  Just a few moments after pulling into the parking lot and switching seats with my kid, I looked around and it was obvious, so very obvious, that the five or so cars moving about in said parking lot were also being driven by beginner drivers.  Yikes!!!  We were not alone!

The other cars weaved about, they stopped abruptly, they parked in spots in a most crooked manner, and I went on and on and on about staying away from them...far, far away.

If I may brag just a bit, my kid did not weave, he stopped abruptly only once, and he parked perfectly.

...and while he was completely comfortable, as is his style, I was a nervous ninny.

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