The Gentle Waves - Swansong For You (playlist)

Fun Give away!

This is a fun give away at Cart before the Horse. If you share, you get more chances. I personally liked C. and F. Good luck!

wednesday and still humid

Lately, I've been doing lots of little art projects and just not photographing them. I think my mind has been a bit overwhelmed it and it's just enough to make it and move on to then next project. Maybe it's allergies and getting over a cold feeling mixed with mild depression. I have been having dreams again...nothing earth shattering...usually I can't breath (stuffed up nose, hint, hint) or giant trees growing and this green light coming from inside...and when I see the cross section there are light green fairies creating streams of light and in the ground is a man/person curled up giving this greenish glow. It's a bit freaky and beautiful in the dream. my attempts at drawing it out always fail but I want to get that feeling. It makes me think of the story I heard as a child of Native Indians burying fish to give the corn strength as it grew. My general feeling about the dream is one of awe, curiosity and this feeling and wanting to do something. Maybe it means I need to garden and plant something in honor of my dad? I don't know but it makes me feel like something needs to be done.

I've had total lack of energy of late. I've been doing pilates and moving around more but after this and taking care of the kids/home I just don't want to do anything else. In other words, go any where, go to church or out to relatives homes, etc. I feel like people try and nudge and push and it just makes me want to dig in my heels. I can hear my dad's voice saying, stubborn as a mule. It sounds good to me.

What I want to do is fall in love with an art project and obsess about it for a few weeks. I don't want anyone to bother me or me to be bothered with very much but working on the art.

I guess I have been doing this, in my own way. Between child/family stuff I've got my art stacked up and combing through pieces and touching up and finishing here  and there.

I've been helping the kids with their school projects and this has helped me mentally get out of my funk. I pulled out my paper mache stuff and we did some and I had a good time. I figured out some things as well about drying the pieces (I can put them in the oven at the lowest setting and they will dry). I don't know why these things take me a long time to click. Again, it's like I had some sort of amnesia because so much was in the way (responsibilities). I'm glad to cut back and refocus.

I've been re-reading one of my favorite authors, Sue Bender. She understands about listening to your self and what fits your emotional state.

Maybe I'll think about sharing some art later on. But for now, I'm fine with puttering along. Maybe it's all the storms and sad news...whatever it is, I've got to take time to process it all.

Friday and Sunny~

Gorgeous day today. I should take a few pics or upload a few, actually. I was trying to photo with my tablet and it's not the same as a regular camera. I thought it would be just as good, but nope. Or I need a tripod for it. Geesh, my hands are shaky.

Anyway, things are finally calming down. My mom is in pain from her hip but seems to be muscle related. Trying to get her to agree to go to the drs. At least to get physical therapy. We shall see.

We had a cold snap, then a heat/muggy wave and now it is just wonderful weather. I am praying my allergies keep at bay and I'm feeling good for a bit. I'm tired of having headaches.

Also, I've been researching how to work with kids and not lose my temper...which I seem to be queen of. I need to keep in mind that they are kids and I am the adult here. It's hard to do when your buttons are pushed...but again, I don't need to let them be pushed. It's hard but worth it.

I found an excellent site from my preschoolers school about charts for kids from 2 to 18. It's really helpful and gives the kids goals to aim for. I KNOW we can do this. I think we can! I'm calling the "little train that could" mentality and we shall over come. :)

Some good things, I'm getting ideas for redoing some of my rooms and making them more accessible and friendly. I've got to clear out my studio, again and get that functioning. The good thing is summer is coming up and we can just relax a little and enjoy each other.

One thing I really want to learn is welding. I think this would be an excellent skill and fun to do. Obviously, got to have all the headgear/protections in place. I've wanted to learn this for yrs.

Thinking of planting and getting things going outside. I heard the easiest thing to grow is lettuce and is very healthy for you. So, this might be our first thing to try. Jon bought some seeds and we shall see what turns up.

I'm a little embarrassed. I found a missing book I thought my hubby donated. It's been missing for a year and I thought for sure it was in the car (I had brought it there to read or so I thought) and got mixed in the books we donated. Well, I found it. I moved some furniture and voila! There it was under some dusty books behind a table. Now, I have to say sorry to Jon. Oh, well...lol  The good thing is the book is FOUND! Yes!

Harrisburg and Washington trip 2013

Harrisburg and Washington trip 2013, a set on Flickr.

My kids went a traveling and here are their results. A few pics from Harrisburg (forgot cam in bus) and a lot from Washington. :)

Workouts and so on

Since I found out my main problem isn't something serious (diabetes, thyroid, major depression), I've decided to try and get healthier. Nothing major, just adding 10-30 min a day of productive exercise. I've been using sparkpeople.com for this. They have an excellent reputation, are free and really does encourage me with their 10 min routines. I tried the pilates for the first time and boy, I was sore for the first few days. But now, I LOVE IT! Even though it is still hard for me to do stuff on there, I really enjoy it and feel about 70% better emotionally as well as physically. I want to get the DVD for more routines. I'm working on strengthening my core and I feel like it's doing just that. Today, I tried out the Bollywood 14 min exercise. I used a chair for the more difficult parts (deep lunges, squats to the floor). On the whole, I really enjoyed it. I hope my feet won't protest later on (barefoot workout). We shall see.

I found out there is a walking program on spark people and that interests me. It starts off with 15 min walking: 5 min warm up, 5 min brisk walk, 5 min cool down. I can totally do that. That's the first week and from there you increase (see the link). So, I'll give that a try.

In other news, I'm working on my art every day. I realized I was putting that off because of childcare, house duties, etc. If I sit for just 5-10 min, I've mentally connected to my work and don't feel distressed I'm not doing anything. Plus, it's a good feeling over all to get things accomplished. I had planned to submit 2 things pieces this month for a deadline. One was for the ACEO of the month an ebay group I joined a while back. I missed that not realizing it was for May 1. The other one is due May 6th, I think. I'm going to try and see what I can do and hopefully submit it to Cloth Paper Scissors. At least I'm thinking about submitting! :)

I have been updating my website/on-line shops as well. I'm trying to use Etsy more frequently but haven't really sold too much on there. Ebay seems like a better deal but you do have to list every week...which can be tedious. Even if Etsy costs a little, the listings last for a few months.

We're thinking of doing an Art Yard Sale this Saturday. Hopefully, the weather will be good and we can do this. I'll probably do the Farmer's market again. The good thing about having places to sell your work, is you encourages you to make new things. :)

Some new work on Etsy

100_5502, a photo by Emilyannamarie on Flickr.

Updated my Etsy Shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/edgegallery?ref=si_shop

Take a look!

That always seemed to be the most critical test that a child was confronted with - loss of parents, loss of direction, loss of love. Can you live without a mother and a father?
Maurice Sendak