Out of Sorts

 

Yesterday I had a really good day in spite of the fact that my car sounds like it is on it's last leg. I went the by-pass to work because it is much quicker and my husband suggested it so I would not have to make traffic stops like I would going through town. Going this route did help. Some of the knocking stopped. I had forgotten that my new artist friend Tina had told me Saturday that a water tower had fallen and no traffic was allowed on the parkway. Yesterday I thought maybe there was a wreck ahead. I tried to call a local radio station, but got no answer. I called Don who was home after taking our son to school. I wasn't even at the 1st exist yet. I wasn't even going over 10 miles an hour. After I talked with Don, the radio announced there was debris being picked up from the fallen tower which had traffic backed up. DUH! The only highlight about my stagnant commute was I saw a truck that was called "Hump & Dump" trucking! I tried to take a picture of it but, none turned out with direct sunlight on the dirty windshield. I finally found a spot to turn around. I was almost an hour late for work! But not worries.

I had an extra piece of leftover purplish paper, three small pieces of pumpkin orange paper. At first I arranged them and they reminded me of a face of sorts - more like out of sorts. My art was imitating my life again since I have been feeling out of sorts due to being sick. It got good to me so I cut out pink semi-circles for cheeks, but the third one looked like it could be a mouth. So I drew some red lips. Everything was askew. I added some goldenrod colored paper for color contrast and punched some dots of that color and used the left over white dots from the puncher. I didn't really like the white dots as much. This was another one of those days when I had not done anything artistic in a day; not since Saturday when I took all the pictures at the Springfest if you don't count sending them out via email on Sunday. This piece of art just all came into place in a matter of seconds. I love it when that happens. I figured my day could only get better.

Leah at Create Everyday http://creativeeveryday.com/ had some tips to inspire. One of them was painting with a stick which Rhett and I will try next! She had a nature quote I sent out as an email.

Nature often holds up a mirror so we can see more clearly the ongoing processes of growth, renewal, and transformation in our lives.
~Mary Ann Brussat~

Then the word "Randomness" kept coming to mind. So I added word pieces. I thought of "Randomness" as another title other than "Out of Sorts".

I don't know the name of my personal muse, but whoever she is, or him, I thank her and the good Lord for all the inspirations that rains on me. This lead me to look up the nine muses of ancient Greece on the internet, but saw none of them were artists like me except for when I wrote poetry years ago. They inspired poetry, music, dancing, comedy, etc. So let me be your muse and tell you to be artistic. Live your dreams like I am living mine. It is never too late.

I received an email entitled How Well DO You Know Me. I sent out the blank form to others. My friend Kim got most of it right except for my birthday month. She thought it was April. I think she got confused because that is our anniversary month and she kept my book for my wedding! When I saw her answer to one I burst out laughing. The question was:

If you and I were stranded on a deserted island, what is one thing you would bring?

She said of me, "Art utensils"! She knows me too well. If I did not have any art tools with me, you know I would find something to make art with, call it jungle art and sell it once I returned home. Then I thought I should suggest this to the tv heads that be about a show called "Art Island". You can't get off of it until you create a piece of art! LOL Would you be able to get off the island?

Then I began gluing the pieces down on the purple paper. It is not quite the same as the first one. I think it is better. What was really weird was when I saw I had an acutal truck shape in the bottom left hand corner quite by accident. I did not do it intentionally. So I added black tires to it. How cool is that? I added a lot of words to it. They may be hard to read, but said mostly what I had said here. I was quite happy about my art.

Today I found another wonderful quote...

Life is not a problem to be solved but a gift to be enjoyed.
-Proverb-

It seems my medicine wears off around 4:30 am. for that is when I wake up now. The words for my art bio sheet for the approaching art show came to me. Since I was up coughing anyway, I figured I might as well write a rough draft in my art journal. I touched it up a bit later and sent it out as an email to all my friends and family, but I forgot to add the attachment! LOL My DIL was the first to let me know of my forgetfulness. So I resent it. I only had one error which my friend Anne found. I will correct it later. Next all I have to do is create some business cards.

Hope you were not feeling Out of sorts. If you would like to participate in O is for... ABC Wednesday, please go to the following...
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Rhett's Mohawk

 

What can make you feel better when you've been sick with bronchitis for what seems like forever? A Springfest! Saturday, I took Rhett to one downtown because I'd seen some artwork in passing displayed there. He had a blast. He got to play Guitar Hero at the 107Q van and won a free cd of an unknown band called THE CAB, but they sound ok. My little Guitar Hero. They will post his picture on their website so he will be a star on the radio, so to speak. I let him get his hair done in a mohawk for $5. The lady sprayed the spikes orange, his fave color. All the kids he passed told him, "Cool mohawk, Dude." He'd never received so much attention. When he did a dunking booth throw, he was just called "Mohawk". Even a former assistant city manger told him how cool it was. What I didn't tell him was I sent all his teachers this mohawk picture!

Some of the artists from my artist guild displayed their art at this event. I saw some new exciting art from fellow Georgians. I got their business cards that had their websites on them which I may put on there later. One lady did goth art. She had a female vampire doll and a bat key holder which I thought was really cool, but then I like odd things like that. Sorry, Dragonstar, no dragons. If I had the money, I probably would have bought them but I am saving up for all I need for my upcoming art show. I hope to display my artwork at this event next year. I've already gotten the contact person's phone number. Baby steps.

You should have seen Don's expression when Rhett got out of the car. I told Rhett if we went by his grandparents to show them, Grandma would say "Let me wash it out!" so we did not go by there. Of course we washed it out Saturday night before church the next day. But I was THE coolest mom for an a day.

One of the video places had The Hulk statue I have posted pics of before. I took one of Rhett with his mohawk below it and wanted him to take one of me, but he couldn't see with the sun. I guess I am just not meant to have a close-up of me taken with The Hulk! I keep trying, Abby!

I know this is not really an odd shot but it is odd for a very reserved Rhett and his semi-conservative mom/conservative dad, but it was all in fun. Now he'll want me to fix it like this for Halloween and I think I can do it.

If you would like to participate in Odd Shot Monday, please go to Katney's place at:
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After Sunday's Storm

 

This week I am so very thankful that the E-2 tornado that hit near our home did not our house. It was within walking distance of our house, mere blocks away which was too close for my comfort although I had a calm and peace about me that we were going to be alright. This has happened to me a few times in my life. So much destruction such as in this photo. This was one of the many mobile homes for sale that it demolished. I felt like a reporter going around snapping pictures of the devestation from my car this week. Originally journalism was what I wanted to pursue in high school. This rekindled that desire.

I feel so sorry for all the folks that huge trees fell on their homes and cars yet thankful they did not fall on our's.

I am thankful my touch of bronchitis is better. I really felt so much better this week. We have been short handed at work, but we managed and I enjoyed the peace and quiet while it has lasted. Please pray for my office tomorrow because Illy is supposed to return and I am expecting another kind of storm. I am sure it won't be pretty.

I am thankful for my new artist friend Tina who agreed to split the cost of the upcoming art show fee thus saving us both money. Her husband is on disability and mine is unemployed. Thankfully she doesn't have a problem with both of us displaying photography as I feared she would. Mine is different from her's so there should be no competition. I hope we are going to be good friends and can support each other in the future. I don't know why I was so stand-offish before. I proabably appeared stuck up to her. We may become an art team at all the local art shows. I may have to live off anithistamines and inhalers but what the heck.

I have been matting photos, making a sign "RAV ART" for it and going through old art and photos. I was lucky enough to find matts at the $ store so I am thankful for that small blessing. I have a really, really good feeling about this art show. I am not just putting my big toe in the water. I feel my leg going in up to my knee. Please keep me in your prayers that I will sell some art and make some money. I am so thankful for my husband who will help me build something to hang my art on although he is disappointed we can't go to Indiana that weekend because of this art show, but this is very important to me. I am so excited about it! Oh, and pray it doesn't rain the day of the show! LOL I am sure this will be all I will be talking ang blogging about til the show then afterwards.

I did sort of let a friend's choice of words make me angry yesterday and I vented to other friends via email. When I invited he and his wife to the art show in an email, he said his wife didn't like country crafts. I let him know this is not a country craft show! This is an art show where artists will be displaying their fine artwork. There is nothing country about my artwork except for maybe the sign I am making. I am not a country artist. I was proud of myself for standing up for my art. Some of my friends are just as proud of me for defending it.

If you would like to participate in Thankful Thursday, please go to the following...
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Nanna, Napkin & Nuggets

 

I was not sure what I was going to do for my N is post today. My first thought was my son-in-law, Nathan who was sweet to have Elisa call us Monday morning to see if we were okay after an E-2 tornado hit near our house Sunday night! Nathan works for the local power company and was working in the area near us. Thankfully our house was spared, but the bowling alley was hit hard. I took a bunch of photographs of the destruction yesterday, but have not uploaded pictures yet.

As I sat at my desk at work, I pulled down the dictionary and was looking through the N words. I saw the word nachos, thinking that if I had them for lunch, I could have snapped a photo of them and used that here. Then I saw I had some leftover nuggets from earlier still sitting on my desk growing colder. I also had a small nanna. Then I realized I had napkins as well. So I placed them all neatly on the table in the break room to snap their picture which turned out better than my first attempt beside my black printer. I also realized they are not in order or my title, but who cares? Oh well... Funny how it all just falls into place in a matter of moments like it was meant to be...

If you would like to participate in N is for... ABC Wednesday, please go to the following...
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Rhett's Odd Shot

 

Sorry I have been away from my blog for over a week, but I have been really sick with "a touch of bronchitis". I still have that nagging cough, but I guess I will live. I have been working on stuff to put in an art show next month. Yesterday I began making my sign for RAV ART and Rhett gave me an idea for it.

Today's Odd Shot is compliments of my son Rhett. He has been using my camera a lot lately. If he sees something he likes, he will ask if he can take a picture of it. Or when he tells me about what he's seen, I'll tell him to get the camera and take one.

I am not going to make you guess what this is so I will tell you... These are some sort of new toys he plays with now. I think they are Bakagons or something like that. They are like his Yugi-oh cards... I am like Shultz on "Hogan's Heroes, "I know nothing" about them. He has several of these in different colors, but I liked the face on this one. Because he was attempting to take them one-handed, a lot of them are blurry and need to be deleted off the memory card. I think it is great he is thinking in terms of Odd Shots much like his mom. Like mother, like son.

If you would like to participate in Odd Shot Monday, please go to Katney's place at"
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Love in the Palm of My Hand

 

I was thinking about what to do for my L post on the way to work this morning and the first thing that came to mine was the word Love. I tend to think stream of conciously where one thought leads to another. I went back to high school when I remembered my first love asked me in geometry class if I would have an affair with him. At first I didn't know what to say then I said "Yes!" It made me smile with the memory. I didn't have an affair with him, but we dated and I thought he was the guy of my dreams. He was for a time. He went off to the University of Georgia, married a beauty queen became a preacher and a father. I had other loves since then. Two great ones. I am on my third and final love for it is the lasting kind. In fact tomorrow will be our 15th anniversary! I have a terrible cough so I don't feel like celebrating. We will probably go out to eat. Maybe Olive Garden since I have a coupon. We aren't making a big deal out of this milestone event in our lives. I haven't even checked to see what you are supposed to give someone on a 15th annivesary. Horrors! Not that it really matters. Some times I am traditional or I was moreso when we first go married. Except I like to give gifts I want to give not because some book tells me so.

I wanted to use the word Love and thought I'd have to print it out in a fancy font then take a photo of it, but luckily I found this one. Now I can literally say I have Love in the palm of my hand! LOL

May you find love today if you haven't already. If you would like to participate in L is for... ABC Wednesday, please go to the following...

Art Show in Eufaula

Saturday was the Eufaula Pilgrimage Tour in Eufaula. There was also an art show but I couldn't afford to pay the $75 entry fee for it. Later I found out two really good friends were willing to give me donations. LOL Mom was going to give it all to me, but it was too late. Still that made me feel good.

I'd asked Don to go to this as a pre-anniversary thing since our anniversary is next Thurs. 15 years. Can ya believe it? This was something I really, really wanted to do just the three of us. I felt bad about not going to a bridal shower at church, but really felt like we needed to do this instead. I realized my art was imitating my life. When I was busy taking care of my parents as well as Aunt Pearl, I began this doodle on my doodle pad at work where I had red peppermint swirls and shapes that looked like a big top at the circus. I guess I felt like my life was a 3-ring circus. This past week I doodle swirls instead.

I know I don't have to explain myself to anyone. I just thought it would be good for us to get away for a little while. Do something for us for a change. It was beautiful weather for it. I had said if the Lord didn't want me to go, it would probably rain. If it rained, we'd stay home & I'd go to the shower. I guess He wanted me to go.

Traffic was pretty heavy as you entered Eufula proper. There was a sign pointing to the art show. We parked and starting walking to all the tents that were set up. I got lots of new ideas. There was a lot of photography. I learned some things that I will have to try on Picasa after I upload the pics I took today. I learned that I should never say I am not good enough for something like this. I KNOW I was a better artist than some of these people. There were some that were awesome, but I was not the least bit threatend by them. I saw a new way to crop photos of flowers where the matt is really large revealing only one flower. I saw some crimped matts which I had never seen before.

The president of the guild had mostly water colors, but only had one I thought was really good. His sister had organized this and she had a tent w/ 3 other ladies. She takes excellent photographs. She won something at our art show. Her's was the one of the priest with the sheep if those of you who attened the show can remember that photo. That piece was in this show. I saw several other pieces that did not sell at our show in this one show.

Some of the prices here were more reasonable, but we didn't buy anything. There were a couple of pieces I could afford, but I walked away from them. Don saw one he wanted to get for Jason & Kristina's diner like kitchen. It is not something I could try to duplicate although it had only 3 colors in it. One lady had small pieces of art that she made into magnets for $5 which I could have afforded to buy but did not. Then I thought, "I want my art on my fridge not someone else's!" I have mine there already. Maybe some day it will be on your's...

There was a father/son artist tent. The father was from Eufaula (I think) & the son was from Peachtree City. I asked if they were related. The son said he was the Dad! LOL Every one was friendly and talkative even if you didn't buy anything.

Rhett got bored & was starting to get on my last nerve, but Don did a whole lot better than him. He asked a lot of questions especially of a man who did awesome hunting scenes that have been in hunting magazines. I EVEN recognized one. So they talked about hunting.

When I told you about the Guild's show in Sept., I told you a lady had joined the same time I did and had a really dirrerent piece in it. I guess I feel like I am in competition with her for some reason. I don't know why.

When we 1st drove up, I thought I saw this lady & her husband. I did not know if she had set up a tent or was just observing like us. I saw her husband later and figured she must have entered the show as an artist. When we got to her tent, only he was there. She had photographs this time - no paintings. Some were of the things she brought to the meeting where the photography person from Columbus University who teaches was the speaker. I believe she uses Photo Shop whereas I use Picasa. Potato. Patatoe.

At that last meeting, I almost started to ask her if we could have split a place in this show, but did not for some reason. Maybe because I was feeling that competition thing. So I now know I need to get off my high horse and I did today. Although she was not there, her husband was sure she would go for this idea. He is all about saving money. He told us there is an Art in the Park show coming up & we could split the fee which would save us about $20 (I think). We would have to get our own tent. He made the set up that held her photographs which means Don would have to make me some also and since he is not working... LOL The only thing her husband said was if she wanted to do photography then I could do painting, but we both couldn't do photography. I had been leaning towards photography since I have so many good ones. Evidently she has already rec'd info on this upcoming show which makes me wonder if she is one of the other artist's protege. This woman has displayed art in the park before. But I got a good ideas today about how to do a show. Now I just have to go thru stuff & start thinking about what I want in the show.

Already planning... I plan to display my originals, but they will not be for sale unless I get an offer of a million 6! LOL I will have photographs of the orginals for sale. This may not make sense to you, but say the "Voyle's Road Map" I made for my brother-n-law & sis-n-laws Christmas gift, I display the orignal, but sell a 8x10 copy of it which I placed on the Walmart machine. It is still a photograph of my work. Anyway I can see it... Maybe I'd better read the rules 1st though. LOL

So I am excited about this now! Thinking, thinking, thinking....

I told Don this man supports his wife's art completely. Hint. Hint. Which he laughed when I said that. He told me he supports me. He'd support me even more if I could make money off of it. Then he said he needed to start doing abstracts! I said it would be my luck his would sell mine wouldn't & then I'd be pissed off! I told him I'd let him sell his art beside mine. Then he said, he might let me sell mine beside him! We could even let put some of Rhett's stuff in it!

A lot of these Eufaula artist teach young children. I heard them talking about it.

Yesterday, I volunteered to do a craft project during next year's Employee Appreciation week in May. Of course they have to review what I want to do which was my tape art I have sent you emails aboutor blogged, making a road map with stamps and card stock paper. All that would not take long to make and move on to the next event. Of course Don would say I shouldn't do it if I don't get paid for it, but I KNOW I can do this. The Gov't center would buy the supplies which wouldn't be much & could be purchased w/ a discount from the office supply co we use; certainly not as much as the supplies that were used for the other craft classes I participated in past years.

I picked up lots of artist business cards with Rhett's help today so I may be sending you to other links. I am about to upload my pics so prepare to be bombarded a day early if I ever finish this book/email/blog post!

Please keep me in your prayers that this upcoming art show will work well for me. You can come to it in the park! Pray it doesn't rain on May 17th & I make lots of money so I can take Don out of his birthday the next day and Rhett the following day! LOL

We stopped at Walmart over there in Eufaula where Rhett & I got "Twilight" t-shirts! So it was another really good day today especially for me. Hope your's was as good. If not, hopefully your tomorrow will be as good.

Another Odd Tree Face

 

Well, it seems I am the Queen of finding trees with odd faces on them for my Odd Shots. This past Saturday we went to the Eufaula Pilgrimage Tour in Eufaula, Alabama to see an art show not tour the homes. The art show was free whereas the tour was not. A lot of people from my artist guild had a tent set up with their artwork proudly displayed. We were walking along the sidewalk on either side of the art show when I spotted this odd fellow. In my opinion, it looked like he'd been struck with an axe several times or an ugly stick to get this look which formed his eye brows. It also looks like he had a multitude of mouths. LOL A many mouthed tree! At least he didn't mouth off at us as we passed! We had a great time which I will post more about in my next post....

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Sky Watch Friday 4/3/09

 

It has been rainy here and flooding many parts of the south. Although we needed it, I am tired of rain and my frizzy hair! Everything is so pretty and green. The pollen has been washed away. There was a bit of a break in the rainfall earlier this week. I snapped this photo of the clouds from the parking lot of where I work. This road leads up to a landfill. I have never been there, but I liked the clouds and thought this was a pretty view. I also took a picture of the raindrops on the only window which is in our breakroom at the prison. I am saving it for another rainy day! LOL

Rhett and I took the photogram class last night and I think he had more fun than I did. He certainly made more photos. In case you don't know what photograms are... you are given a piece of photographic paper in a dark room with the safety red light on. You place your objects on the paper. I had a baggie of trinkets and jewelry I used. The art studio provided fresh flowers, large alphabet letters, shells, etc. Once you have everything placed where you want it, you push the button on the equipment to expose it for 10 seconds then you take your paper to the chemical baths as if you developing film. I have not smelled that smell in about 30 years. Rhett got to see the images appear as if by magic before his very eyes. He made one of tools for his father's birthday next month. We even did a mother/son one where we put our respective initials on the paper then placed our hand underneath our initial. We learned a lot from the class and look forward to more of them in the future.

We got a $2 discount off the fee of the class and Rhett found one of his bowls he decorated for the soup bowl day that fed the less homeless and less fortunate. It is a beautiful lapis blue color. I still had the photos of our bowls on my memory card. When I showed them to our teacher after the class, she said the people were fighting over the bowls that had words on them. My Cup of Hope went 1st. It was nice to know mine were being fought over! Now Rhett can eat soup out of his new bowl, and best of all it is microwavable and dishwasher safe.

Our photograms are on 11x14 paper so now I have to figure out a way to take of picture of them with my digital camera this weekend.

photogram class $20 less work discount - $18
bowl my son decorated himself for a worthy cause - $5
making art with my son - piceless

If you would like to participate in Sky Watch Friday, please go to the following...
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The Challenge

 

I felt I pretty much said all I was thankful for this week in an earlier post I did on Monday. (Please see previous posts.) Yesterday I came up with an artistic challenge which I sent out as an email to my email buds and artistic friends. Last night I though about challenges as a subject for today and it would not go away. Luckily I recalled all my thoughts from yesterday.

We all faces challenges every day. Some days it is a challenge just to get up every morning when we'd rather remain in bed, but we have responsibilities waiting and people depending on us. So we pray that the good Lord will allow us to go on another day so we may serve His purpose in our daily lives. His will not our's.

It is a challenge to get your child up and off to school. Some days are more challenging than others. We pray not to lose our patience, not to yell, become angry and say hurtful things we will regret later. Words we cannot take back. On those challenging days we sometimes fail. We are not perfect. So we pray for a better day tomorrow.

Then it is sometimes a challenge just to get to work in one piece with all the crazy drivers out there that got their driver's licenses from Kmart! We pray along our way for a safe journey. We add a prayer of Thanksgiving when we park the car. Some days it is a challenge to work with certain people. I am speaking from personal experience here. You know this if you have read my Illy stories. So I pray to get through another work day in order to support my family. Thankfully that situation has not been bad since "The Pinch".

There are the daily challenges of paying bills. Sometimes robbing Peter to pay Paul. And just when you think you have smooth sailing and may even see the light of day, an obsticle stirs the waters and puts a damper on your day in the form of an unexpected bill. It is an unwelcomed guest. Or maybe there has been an accident in your life or like my husband, who had a battery of tests run recently with no job on the horizon. You pray the Lord will provide and go on with your life and it's daily challenges.

There are the challenges of being a working mom then coming home to cook supper for your family. Just deciding what to cook can be a challenge in itself. It is great when your child is small and not so picky as a tween can be. I am not my mother. I won't cook him a separate meal because he does't want what I have cooked. I have become a mean mom. If you won't eat what I fix, then I am sorry. I am not a diner with a vast menu you get to select from. By the time dinner is done, I am tired and there is always something left undone. I'm like Scarlett O'Hara... I will think of that tomorrow, praying there will be one.

We all have our challenges. Some more than others. It makes me thankful we don't have some of the health challenges that some people have such as a child with cancer. My best friend Genie has a motto: "One day at a time." That is the way we take life with it's many challenges. One challenge at a time. I hope and pray that the challenges will be fewer and our blessings increase. May we never take our blessings for granted.

Here is my artistic challenge....

Today's challenge... should you decide to accept this mission... is to look around you. Be aware of your surroundings even if you just see a colored paper clip or maybe something out of the ordinary. Just got a magazine? Look through it. Look for designs. If it is a "Good Houskeeping" maybe there is something in it you really like. Maybe you like the way drapes hang in the magazine or a piece of artwork within the magazine. A woman's full length skirt can make a neat flowing pattern especially if it has a design in it. Cut them out. Cut out scraps of things or collect objects for one week. There may be a small object lying around. Put all your finds in a small envelope of plastic bag. Or bigger if you are feeling inspired which I hope you wil be. See what you have collected at the end of the week. If you think you don't have enough to even fill the smallest size index card (3x5)to make a collage, then gather things for another week or however much time you need. There is not rush. There is no time limit. You may even have a ribbon stashed away somewhere. You can also use your receipts from lunch to mark a time frame. Maybe you had a really good lunch with a friend and want to remember it or scrapbook it. Perhaps other good things happened to you on that day. You could tear off a page from your calendar with a personal note in your handwriting. Don't be afraid; Don't be afraid of color; of things overlapping. Do it your way. You can do this. When you do make something, let me see how it turned out. I will make artists out of you yet. LOL Just remember to have fun - that is what art is all about. I can't wait to see what you come up with. The neat part is it will be about you, what you have done, what you have seen in your life for a week or so and no one can take that away from you. It is your art and you have created it. Once you do this, you cannot say you are not an artist.

Today I am so excited about the photography class I am taking this evening. I gathered up a baggie nearly full of trinkets, filgree earrings, ribbons, a heart shaped gem clip, etc. I even cut out a heart shape and punched holes in the heart. The studio should provide some other things as well. I can hardly wait!

I am really proud and thankful how some of my recent photos have turned out on Picasa. I have amazed myself once again. I came up with a new design today and photographed it. I guess I am on another creative roll for which I am so very thankful. I noticed how each day blends something from a previous day.

I have a huge doodle pad at work. I have a design going that I have added to daily. I think that is what we do with our lives... add some of ourselves daily. Today I connected some of it together. When I first started it, I had what I call peppermint swirls that look like a big top at a fair or circus. Then I thought I must have been feeling like I was in a 3-ring circus having to do things for my parents and sometimes my aunt. Then still do what must be done for my family. My art was literally imitating my life. I just didn't realize it at first. Am I coming to a realization each week? So if you should decide to take my artistic challenge, you too might see where your art imitates your life.

Another thing I discovered today.... One of my motivational calendars had this quote:

"Open a dictionary at random, close your eyes, and point to a word. Read the definition. Then use the word in conversation or correspondence before the day ends."
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.-

I did this. My word was:

contagion - n. 1. The communication of disease by contact, direct or indirect, or figuratively, of mental states by suggestion or association. 2. Pestilental influence; pestilence; plaque. 3. The medium of transmission of disease; contagium. Syn. infection. etc...

I seriously doubt I will be using this word in a conversation today unless I worked in the medical field which I do not. LOL So I have used it in this form of correspondence. I am thankful I don't HAVE to use this word. I hope it never becomes one of my challenges.

I am thankful for the t-shirt I bought Rhett at Kohl's yesterday for $1.40! I am thankful for the wedding frame I got on sale with a 20 percent discount for a lovely couple at church who are getting married in May. There are still two other gifts I want to get them. I am thankful my Daddy's hand has healed and he doesn't have to bandage it anymore. I am thankful for my husband who went to put a dead bolt on my aunt's door today. He had to buy tools to do it. I am thankful for the rain even if I complain about it. Such as why it couldn't wait 5 more minutes until I got inside work this morning. Everything is so pretty and green.

If you would like to participate in Thankful Thursday please go to the following...
http://womentakingastand.blogspot.com/
hosted by Laurie who had an excellent post about hope. If I had read it first, I might have done somehing hopeful as well although I do feel my post is hopeful. Stop by and read her post.

K is... for Keys

 

I had not really thought much about my K is for... post for ABC Wednesday. Last go round I did a post about keys and had a pretty skeleton key tied with a lavendar ribbon. It was a good post if I say so myself; one of my best. I received a great comment from David at Authorblog about it. If you would like to read it, here is the link for it...
http://quoththerav3.blogspot.com/2008/10/k-is-for-key-to-happiness.html

The only thing I could think of was my keys I use daily so I snapped a quick pic of them up against a turquoise inter-office envelope as the background. Even my keys tell a story about me... The Rabbit key chain was a gift from an old love back in 1986, not because I drove a Rabbit! Back when we were dating, my initials were RAB so he called me "rabbit". He gave me the key chain for Christmas as a joke. It is one of the few keepsakes I openly kept. It is so much apart of my everyday life and my keys that I had forgotten it was there until I took this picture today. Of course it brought back the memory, but it was a good one from when I first learned to love with my whole heart. Also it shows I hold onto things. I am a collector of keys thus the large Skeleton key on my key ring. Like any proud mom, I have a photo of my son on my key ring. Then there are all the things I signed up for like Borders books, Publix groceries, etc that give you these little plastic thingies to put on your key ring. I always forget to use the Publix one! Eventually they will fall off like my Winn Dixie one did but I just tell them my phone number in order to get the savings! I am all about saving money wherever and whenever possible these day. That would be one of my many strong>keys to life. What are your keys to life?

If you would like to participate in K is for... for ABC Wednesday, please go to the following...
http://mrsnesbittsplace.blogspot.com/