All things considered . . .

It's been a pretty good day.  In spite of the fact that I am officially another year older.  God, that sucks, but I guess it was inevitable.  Time only rolls in one direction, and that's forward.  Probably just as well.  Still, I keep thinking about that saying . . . "youth is wasted on the young."   It seems that right now, at this point in my life, I'm surrounded by young, vibrant people.  Yes, I am very envious of their youth, but I also know that they only have about half a brain.  (and for some of them, that's a generous estimate.)  All I can do is shake my head and wonder: What was God thinkin'?  There seems to be something wrong with this system.  But then, I'm not as old as God - so what the hell do I know?

In any event, I have to say, the concept of birthday gift giving is an excellent idea. I got some good loot. I got a humongous, giant Jack in the Pulpit (that's a plant)  from my oldest son.  My husband took me out to dinner and on a mini shopping spree.  I got to pick out a lot of silly things that I wouldn't normally buy for myself. I got some new movies, a new bra - which always makes a girl feel younger, or perkier, or something, a couple of tops, and a Beta fish that we have aptly named Fluffy.  
But best of all, my family gave me a new digital camera!  It's lovely!  So be warned, I'm going to be taking all kinds of photos and posting them on my blogs.  Photos of work in progress for my 'Screams from the Basement' blog, family photos for my 'Lunatics on the Loose' blog, Photos of my art work for my 'Gallery' blog, and of course, Halloween night 2010 photos for my 'Howling Hollow Asylum' blog.  And I'm sure I'll be photographing all sorts of silly things for this blog.  Oh yes, I'm going to be a photo taking freak for a while - I'm very excited. 

(Oh, here's a photo of my new plant!)

Okay, I've got to get myself to bed now.  My birthday is officially over, and tomorrow is Father's Day - Big plans for that.

This has to be . . .

One of our wettest springs/summers in a long while.   I'm tired of being in the house, I feel like my brain is in a fog.  I'm pretty sure that Pete feels the same way, although for different reasons.  (mostly because he's a big baby!)  

However,  concerning dogs . . . I do have some good news.  It seems that both Pete and Phoenix have decided that they are just sick and tired of being  shuffled from room to room in order to avoid the inevitable doggie brawls that they have become famous for.   Over the past week or so, we have had several instances where Pete and Phoenix have (accidentally) found themselves in the same room - without incidence.  Although, they are still avoiding each other, they seemed to have called a conditional truce.   We are slowly working  on reintroducing them - during times when things are somewhat calm around the house - which of course, isn't very often.

It actually got me to thinking;  When the kids were little, I used to have afternoons set aside for "quiet time."   Usually, during the hottest part of the day, we would all come inside or just take some time out for quiet activities; reading a book, watching a movie with a little snack, and sometimes, when I was very lucky, it would turn into nap time.  I'm thinking of doing that again.  Hmmmm . . . do you think it would work with teenagers?   Probably not.  *sigh*

I have returned . . .

to the land of the living !  You probably didn't even know I was gone, huh?   Yup, I've been to Zombie ville and back in the past few weeks.   That's what happens when I run out of my meds and the stupid pharmacy says they can't give me more until the even stupider insurance company says they will approve payment. UGH ! I really hate insurance companies ! 
Things were starting to get pretty ugly around here for a week or so.  I gave my family fair warning.  I told them, "Look,  I'm out of meds until the 6th of June, so until then, just to listen to what I say, and try to overlook the tone and the attitude."  Then, I called Jenn a bitch,  and told my husband to f*ck off.
The look of fear on their faces was priceless!!  Oh, I don't know, it all seems like a bad dream now.  I spent a lot of my time napping, or in the basement, trying to stay focused on things other than people.  (I do much better with zombies and corpses when I'm not medicated.)

Actually, I managed to accomplish a lot downstairs.  My basement was a complete disaster area.  Roy had installed a new furnace and A/C over Memorial day weekend, and in the process, he moved EVERY thing and his tools and equipment were all over the place.  I gave him a couple of days to get rested up, hoping that he'd go back and straighten things out down there . . .  HA !  What the hell was I thinkin' ?!   Obviously, I just wasn't thinking clearly.  So, I got Roy's mess straightened out and decided that I might as well sort through the dozen or so so storage bins filled with my haunt props and supplies to see what I had to work with this year.  I found a few things that I can use, but most importantly, I finally got everything put where it belongs, so I won't have to go scavenging for what I need.  (When I tore down the haunt last year, I was also preparing for Heather's birthday party, and I was too rushed to do things right.)  

Now,  everything is ready for me to get to work - as soon I can dig myself out from under the mountain of laundry and dishes that have accumulated while I was "away"!
Wish me luck !

Ho - Hummm . . .

 It's Memorial Day weekend, and I have NO plans what so ever.  Surprisingly, the one time of the year when most people actually go to a cemetery, is my least favorite time to visit.   Too many people, bored kids running amok, all those bright, happy flowers everywhere . . . ugh!
The most exciting thing I have planned for this weekend is that my husband is finally getting our air conditioning hooked up.  That's going to be SO nice. It'll be so good not to feel like the Wicked Witch of the West all the time. (I'm melllting!! Melllllltiiiing!!!!!)  I'm thinking that maybe I'll try and get some art work done.  Having all this Kansas humidity filtered out of the air will be a huge help in getting projects dried.  (Have no doubt it will help with my sinuses!)  I could take a nap in the afternoon without waking up all sweaty.  I could even cut back to taking just one shower a day.You know, the more I think about it, hanging out at the house might not be so bad after all?  

Hope everyone else has a long, wonderful, relaxing weekend as well !

When last I posted . . .

I had set out to clean my house, top to bottom, inside and out. I'm sure that you've all been waiting with baited breath to find out how that worked out. Well . . . I sort of got distracted. I started with Jake's room, finished it actually. It looks (looked) really nice. I just sort of ran out of steam. Of course, there were a few other events that helped to throw me off track. Such as, Nick returning home from his state imposed "vacation." The kids getting out of school for the summer, and all the activities that go along with both of those events, plus, I had three interviews last week. I still plan to finish the rest of the house, but I may revise my plan to attacking just one room per week. Which means, I'm already behind schedule. That seems about right.

Any way, if you want to know what I've been up to lately, I'll be posting on my "Basement" blog in the next day or so. I guess I needed a break from all the cleaning and de-cluttering, so over the weekend, I got busy with my prop building. I'm hoping to get Heather to photograph my progress tomorrow.

It seems like forever . . .

since I've posted anything. Believe me, it's not because I've been busy living an exciting jet-set life style. Nope, I'm still as boring as ever - my life is totally, utterly, and painfully DULL. I'm really struggling with that lately. Right now, the biggest excitement in my life is the "Whole house-top to bottom-inside and out-Clean up." I know, it sounds too exciting, doesn't it? So far, it's taken me four days to (almost) finish the first room - Jake's room. TOTAL cleaning, repaint, etc. I still have to get up early tomorrow and steam clean his carpets, touch up the paint on his windows, and have Roy trim down the closet door so it stays closed. (That way the boogey man stays locked inside at night, you know?) Things have been progressing slowly because, well . . . Jake's room needed a lot of work. >: (

Also, I responded to five ads for optician positions over the weekend. So in the midst of starting this huge project, I've had three calls for interviews. I still have one more tomorrow afternoon; it's the one that I am most excited about. ( it's only about a mile from my house.)

I haven't had a lot of time to get much done in the way of prop work this week, but I've reached a point that when I'm not doing creative work, it's still very much a part of my thoughts. When things around here quiet down in the evenings, I make it a point to check all my favorite artist's blogs for inspiration and research new ideas. Sometimes I'll take time out during the day to do a quick sketch or doodle so that I don't forget anything. In spite of everything that I have going on right now, I consider this a good thing. I'm finding that if I make it a point to stay in touch with my creative interests, I feel more positive and somehow, more competent and capable. For a long time, I sort of neglected doing any work for myself. I kept myself busy doing projects for other people. ( friends, Church, etc.) I sort of just got stuck doing projects that were safe; using techniques and mediums that I was comfortable with. But creating props for my haunt, I have to really think about how to accomplish different effects and learn new ways to do things - things I'd normally be afraid to try. (like sculpting with clay, paper mache, fabric, and building forms from scratch.) Even if it doesn't turn out the way that I want, or planned, I learn from it and feel more confident about trying it again. so yeah, I think it's good for me and I think it's worth making time for.

Well, as I said before, I have to get up early tomorrow. It's late, so I need to get myself to bed. Another busy day . . .

A few things I DON'T like about spring . . .

Is coming home to find that one of my prey obsessed dogs has brought me a new trophy.   This morning, when Jake and I came home from the orthopedic surgeon's office; Spunky came bounding in to greet us with a dead baby oppossum hanging from his mouth.  He always looks so puzzled when he doesn't get quite the reaction that he was expecting.  Poor pup,  I'm sure that he thought he was doing a brave and fearless job of protecting his family from scary monsters.

Another, not so pleasant,  but sure sign of spring is the reason that Jake and I were visiting the orthopedic surgeon.  The skaters, my son included, are out in full force at the skate park.  Last week, Jake took a tumble and ended up at the emergency room.  They x-rayed his wrist and were unable to tell if he had an actual fracture; but because the pain and swelling were in an area of a growth plate, they decided to treat it as such.  They put him in a splint and sling, and referred us to a specialist to have it x-rayed again after a few days.  As it turns out, he does have an hairline radial fracture.  So . . . he came home sporting a new, neon green cast.  He's dealing with the arm cast much better than he did the full leg cast a few years back.  Mostly because, he'll probably only have to wear this cast for three weeks. (his spiral fractured leg required a full 9 weeks to heal.)  This evening, he insisted that I decorate his cast with some artwork - I think it turned out pretty cool.

Other than those things, life around here is filled with the usual things that this time of year brings.  The kids are impatiently waiting for school to end and for summer break to start.  In addition, Jenn is down to counting the days (and hours) until Nick comes home.  It makes me wish that I had something fun and exciting to look forward to too.