7 posts tagged “mom”
Monday night we had dinner with a few people from Craig's amateur radio club, very good people. I was at ease with them instantly and really enjoyed getting to know them. ...I enjoyed it enough that I'm considering getting myself a basic, technician class license and joining the club too, just so I can keep meeting with them without feeling like the odd man out. So that's something to add to my already spilling-over plate in the near future. *rolls eyes* Can you say "masochist"?
Tuesday I had my mom over for lunch and a movie. I had "The Secret Life of Bees" out from Netflix and wanted to watch it with someone who was truly interested. (Craig said he'd watch it with me, but it was totally for me and not because he wanted to see the movie - still, points for him for offering!) That was one of my favorite books within recent years, and I was excited to see how the movie was done. I enjoyed it quite a lot. They stayed pretty true to the story, but they left out some of my favorite elements and scenes, the ones that took it from just a feel-good, self-discovery type story into something touched by magic. Very enjoyable all the same but, as usual, the book was better.
Wednesday was art class. We did water color under pen & ink. Well, they did. I spent the whole class just putting down the watercolor. I still have to put some ink over it. I always forget how much I love watercolor until I've got a paint-laden brush in my my hand. I think I have to dedicate some space in my room upstairs specifically to watercolor, so I never have to do more than get a fresh jar of water before sitting down to paint.
We got some sad news though: our teacher's position is being eliminated. Not only is she a great teacher, but she's my kind of people. I'm hoping she and her fiance' have a little room in their social circle for us. We're the same age, we share a lot of the same hobbies, from knitting to scroll-saw and lathe work to hot glass even, they don't want to be parents either, they like to travel, her fiance' is a technology geek, ... I just love talking to her, and I'm hoping we can keep in touch.
Thursday was our monthly "writer's group" meeting, where we get together and talk about anything but writing. heh. Always *LOTS* of laughter there. Good times!
So now it's Friday and this introvert is worn out from the week full of people and socializing. I'm not as cranky and exhausted as I expected to be though, which I attribute partially to spring-time energy but mostly to the excitement of reconnecting with a bunch of old friends on Facebook. It was the weirdest thing, but when we were rearranging furniture recently, I had to move all my memorabilia and old photos, and after quickly flipping through some photos, I got to thinking about some of my old classmates and high school friends and wondering what they were up to. Well almost everyone I'd thought about has popped up on Facebook this week, even my BFF from grade school who moved far away and I never expected to hear from again! I've missed all of my old friends, but life has a way of taking you in different directions and you sometimes just lose touch. Things get busy, you meet new people, next thing you know it's been years and you don't know how to get a hold of anyone or (in my case anyhow) just feel awkward about it. I've been working on my social skills this year, reminding myself to check in with people and trying to reserve more energy for get-togethers, and now I'm so happy to have some old friends back in my life, I'll definitely be working to stay in touch with them all!
And speaking of Facebook, I find the uproar over the new layout kind of amusing. Yeah, I think they made some bone-headed decisions, but things change, and not always for the better - that's just life. *shrug* And, it's a free service anyhow! ...I don't know... I 've gotten used to it already and don't even remember how it worked/looked before.
So, tonight is the two-hour final episode of BSG. Bittersweet. *sigh* Like many others, I've long been worried that it'll end with some damn cliff-hanger that won't be resolved until the movie. I probably ought to remove all throwable objects heavier than a pillow from arm's reach, just in case. But yeah, that's what we'll be doing tonight. Craig says after it's over, we're pulling out the DVDs and starting over from the beginning. It's all happened before, and it'll all happen again. ;)
The weekend activities started Friday evening and just didn't stop until Sunday night. Now, I'm the kind of person who feels she has a busy weekend if there is even one event planned, so this was crazy chaos for me, but it was 98% fabulous, and that's pretty amazing.
Friday night was the opening of the student art exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art, where Craig and I took our drawing class. Of course it started snowing just as we we're starting our drive into town, but it stayed light and just seemed to add charm to the evening. We met up with my Dad for dinner at Manos and shared a bottle of wine and all sorts of delicious Greek foods, finishing the meal with a lovely sludgy sweet Greek coffee, then we headed to the museum.
There were some absolutely lovely student works on display, especially from the metal-working, glass and advanced classes. Our "Beginner Drawing" section of the exhibit was very ...uh, we'll say "charming" by comparison. :) It was still a hoot to see our stuff hanging on the walls with the professional looking labels next to each piece, ...never mind the staples in lieu of matting and frames. :D Here we each are, posing with three of our lessons, and then my silly garlic drawing that everyone seemed to love, but which I think looks more silly every time I look at it, ...but then it is what it is. :) I'll admit it's really decent for a beginning drawing class, but I'm cheating because I'm not a beginner.
We spent a while walking around the museum with my Dad. There's so much to see there! I absolutely *ADORE* the Toledo Museum of Art. It's rated as one of the top ten museums in the nation, and I'm quite proud of the place, plus I grew up in that neighborhood and spent *MANY* hours there, so it's very much like home to me. There's no admission charge and it was within walking distance of my house, so I just went whenever I wanted. It's totally ruined me for other museums.
Friday we checked out the student exhibit, took my Dad to see the new Glass Pavillion (he hadn't been yet) and finally, checked out the local artists exhibit -which was hella impressive! That's barely a dent in the whole collection and they had all sorts of fun stuff going on for their late Friday evening hours, but we were tired and ready to head home at that point.
Saturday morning I woke up to the alarm clock at 7:30am in order to get ready for the holiday ornament workshop I'd signed up for, and immediately upon sitting up in bed thought, "This was obviously a huge mistake!" I am NOT(!!!) a morning person, but I'd been tempted by the mention of art glitter, and I'm a total sucker for glitter, obviously. So, I grumbled and slipped out of bed, shuffled into the shower, got dressed and drove myself to my Mom's to pick her up. I'd orginally signed up Craig to take the workshop with me, but he had suggested I take my mom, not because he was anti-glitter (don't dare question his commitment to Sparkle Motion!), but because he knows my mom and knew she would absolutely love this workshop. I wish I could take credit for thinking that thought first. :)
The ornament plans looked extremely basic, a couple pieces of balsa fitted and glued together, gessoed, painted with a basecoat, then covered in glue and glitter. It felt a bit like kindergarten at first, but I'd totally be lying if I tried to say it wasn't terrific fun! The two and a half hour workshop blew by and I didn't have time to add all the details I wanted. ...And now I want to glitter EVERYTHING! I'm extremely envious of Tracey's glitter collection and intend to start expanding my own.
It was a very good experience for my mom too. She's always been so very creative, but she's been blocked for ...well, for almost as many years as she's been a mom, so 35 or so years. My drawing instructor (who also held the ornament workshop) is such a wonderful and encouraging person, and she spent some time talking to my mom about creativity and how to get it flowing again. I was so glad Craig suggested I take Mom with me.
It also struck me as kind of funny that my silly drawing lessons were hanging up in the hallway, and without even trying to, I'd taken both of my parents to see them. "MOM! DAD! LOOK AT WHAT I CAN DO!!!" :D
Ok. That's just under half of my super-fun, SUPER-busy weekend, but I have so much stuff to do today. I'll be back to write up the rest of it later. ...I know, you're all on the edges of your seats. *L*
For my birthday this year, my mom enrolled me in her Cupcake of the Month Club. It's a very exclusive club; I'm the only member.
September is Espresso Cupcakes. These are the best cupcakes I've ever had!
*joy*
We got news yesterday morning that my Aunt Jadine passed away Friday night. She and my uncle have lived in Denver my whole life, so I didn't know her as well as I would've liked to, but I knew her well enough to know that she was an awesome human being, and my heart breaks for my uncle and cousins and for my mom and everyone else who was close to her.
We got that news from my mom Saturday morning, and I asked if she wanted to cancel our plans to spend the day with her, if she wanted some quiet time instead, but she said she was still looking forward to our visit and that she needed the distraction. So we went out to breakfast, did some quick shopping at the farmers' market, and headed out to Mom's where we spent the day chatting and swimming and eating grilled meats and birthday cupcakes. Craig and I both got too much sun and feel a little sun-sick still this morning, but it still managed to be a nice day despite the sad start.
This morning I opened my eyes to see Craig standing next to me holding the box of glass I ordered. Yes, I got mail on a Sunday for my birthday! Usually the mailman brings packages around first and then walks the route delivering the lighter-weight envelopes. He came and went yesterday and never brought my glass order, so I figured I wouldn't have a chance of seeing it again until Tuesday, but Craig got up this morning and found it tucked between our front door and storm door. That was a nice way to start the day.
So far Craig baked a dutch baby for me for breakfast, and he gave me my presents. He made me a purpleheart "executive" yo-yo in it's own special homemade box - sooo cute! He also got me a really swank Delta Panthers hoodie to wear to the football games! It's black and the hood has a green plaid lining - I love it! And he got me my own weather station!!! I'm a HUGE weather geek and I can't wait to have it all set up! :D He still spoils me. One of these years he'll likely get sick of me, but I'm glad it hasn't happened yet. ;) *love*
Today will probably be a quiet day for this birthday hermit. I need to take some time to label all my new glass rods, and I definitely want to work at my torch a little. We'll probably run into town for a short bit as Craig needs to stop at WoodCraft and I want to shop around for a table/tool-stand for my kiln. We might pop over to the fair this evening too, to see the fireworks. Ok, so maybe tomorrow will be a good day for hermitting.
Craig took me out for breakfast today. The plan after that was to do some shopping for project supplies, then pick up my mom and check out a local fine arts show.
The art show was fun but HOT! (I hate summer.) I chatted up every flameworker there, and there were quite a few. I talked to them all about their studio setup and equipment. They were *all* extremely friendly and happy to talk shop with me. There were also a bunch of glass-blowers, but I know nothing of glass blowing so I didn't pester them. Still, glass work in all it's various forms seems to be the in thing right now. Craig talked with all the woodworkers, the turners at least. My mom just had a great time wandering around looking at all the pretties. :)
After the art fair, we made a quick stop for a few groceries and then headed back to Mom's for an early dinner and a few hours in the pool. Ah, the pool! I love my mom's pool. Soooo nice. Ant stress or tension you're harboring just dissolves when you're floating in a pool. I didn't want to get out, but my mom had baked brownies for us.
And it never seems to fail. Whenever I'm feeling most ready to just be rid of everything I own, someone will give me some stuff. My brother gave me two of my dad's paintings today. *SQUEE!!!* They aren't very good examples of his work, but they hung in the house I grew up in for as long as I can remember. I was never sure what happened to them, but Marc had them apparently, and he passed them on to me. I am so completely sentimentally attached to these paintings, I can't even tell you. I'm *thrilled* to have them and I can't wait to hang them. I just hope my dad won't see them and try to steal them back. MINE!
I'm pooped out, and tomorrow there's work to be done again. Bed time now. Only a four day week though! Craig has Friday off, as well as next Monday and Tuesday! That's right. My Big Birthday Weekend is going to be a 5-day celebration!!! I have to cram a lot of work into the next four days and work hard in preparation for playing hard, because I am going to enjoy every single minute of next weekend. Good times.
OH! Real quick, Mom told me an Oona (my 3 yr old niece) story tonight. I guess her dad took her to the mall to buy her first bike helmet. She got to pick it out herself. She was so excited and proud of her helmet. Adrian put it on her to check the fit, and Oona did NOT want to take it off! The cashier had to scan her head to ring up the sale. *snort* :) She wore it through the mall, back to the car and all the way home. :) That's *my* chinstrap girl! She's so much like her Aunt Meanie! :D
I'm feeling very quiet and withdrawn lately, but not in a bad way. I just feel like I need quiet more than I usually do. Quiet is refreshing, like spring water and mountain air.
Sunday was my step-grandma's surprise 80th birthday party. My mom planned and hosted, and everything from family drama to the weather has been stressing her out for months. It went off beautifully though. No drama, the weather was perfect, and Grandma O. was completely surprised and delighted. It brought a tear to many an eye. My mom married into a good family, that's for sure.
This is what I was helping Mom with last week. Grandma O. is a HUGE Buckeye fan! My mom has wanted to paint some new glass panes for Grandma O.'s front door for a while now, but with her crafting insecurities, she wanted my help getting them done. It was my first time painting glass too, but I think they turned out nicely, and Grandma O. and the rest of the family loved them. I can't wait to see how they look installed.
My step-grandmother's 80th birthday is coming up, and I know she doesn't want gifts (or at least that's what she always says), but I still asked my mom if she knew of anything nice I could do for her. Well Mom had a craft project in mind that she'd wanted to do for Grandma O. for a couple years now, but mom is severely lacking in craft-confidence, so she asked if I'd help her with it and it could be a gift from both of us then. We decided she'd come over here yesterday right after lunch, we'd craft, and then she'd stay for dinner.
Yesterday I ran my errands early in the morning, cleaned up after the bunnies, grabbed a shower, ate some lunch, and spent my time tidying up until Mom came by. The crafting went well, but it took all day. We crafted up until dinner time, then again after dinner until 10pm.
I love my mom dearly, but it was an absolutely exhausting day. She is so filled with self-doubt and requires so much encouraging, after several hours of listening to things like "I wish I had your vision" and "I don't know where you got all that creativity from because it wasn't from me", I started getting a little snippy. I mean, they're almost nice compliments, but she's putting herself down in the same breath, and I don't like to hear anyone I love beat themselves up like that. I've always tried to encourage her to trust herself, but it's a really exhausting forever on-going pep talk that never seems to take for long. It's also draining to work on someone else's creative vision because it doesn't provide me with any kind of satisfaction. And it was extra draining trying to keep the project true to her vision because every teeny-tiny decision was presented to me with a doubt-filled "What do you think?" argh. I had honestly thought she'd show up with it all drawn out the way she wanted it and I would just assist in the execution. I wasn't prepared to have to help with so much of the decision-making. By the end of the night, I was mentally and emotionally worn the hell out,
But sleep wouldn't come. I turned off the light around 11pm, finally got my brain to shut up around midnight, and then slept in little 10-15 minute fits until 3am when my brain started up full-throttle again. At 4am I gave up and got out of bed. I was perfectly and completely awake until about 6:30am, right about the time I had wanted to start my day. I saw my husband off to work and crashed. I don't remember laying down on the couch, but suddenly I was horizontal under a blanket and it was 10:30am.
Haven't done much else so far today but a little proof-reading and some bunny grooming, but I think the fog is finally starting to lift a little though. I do NOT function without a decent amount of sleep. I have to finish up that craft project today, and I don't know what else I'll fill the day with, but it'll be low-key for sure. I'll probably finishing putting out the autumn decorations. Maybe even FINALLY play with my torch. We'll see. For now, I needs another mug of joe and to finish up Grandma O's bday present.
