struggling whether to participate in another swap or not. this one has a lot more work involved. school is going to be starting and i really don't know if i will have time to complete the art by the deadline. what to do????? ordered my daughters college texts today. she finished her first college course. she did very well, as i expected (an A). she is working on a driving course the rest of the summer. i think we will take one more vacation before we start school. husband will be traveling again soon. waiting to hear from my sister about my brother-in-law. nephew heading to afghanistan in a couple of weeks. mom seems to be recovering from her stroke.

finally got my art work off. it looks pretty good. it was weird to send it off to someone i don't even know. i am a little excited and nervous about what i will get back. i am starting work on some atcs. i am also doing a hand made book for cloth, paper, scissors. i hope they like it enough to put in the mag. really, i hope i can just finish it in time. i'm a slow artist. i usually have several things working at once. my trip to grapevine was so much fun. i took some great photos that i will upload some other time. considering i didn't have my fancy camera, the photos look pretty good. i found a field near by that i want to photograph so i think i will be taking a road trip this weekend. i would like a new lens for my camera.

it's friday and it doesn't look like it's going to rain all day long. can't wait to get out and shop and swim and breath the fresh air.

going gray (or in my case, white)

since it is raining and everyone is still asleep, i thought it would be a good time to get a new picture of myself for my blog. a more recent picture with my white hair. unfortunately or fortunately (whatever your point of view) going gray early, and i mean early, runs in my family. my father had white sideburns when he was only 20 something. i had colored my hair for a very long time. every color from pink to blonde to red to well you get the picture. well, never black. i always thought black would be just frightening. anyhow, in my 30s i began to notice white roots. i had to color more frequently. finally sick of paying for root touch-ups and coloring jobs, i decided to go natural. sounds easy enough right???? wrong. i tried for about 3 weeks and then the roots began to show. it was terrible. i felt embarrassed for my husband. so i colored again. then, sometime later i came across an article by a woman who chronicled her painful change from coloring her hair to going gray and realized that i too could do this. her story was funny and sometimes downright depressing but in all of her experience i sensed growth and acceptance. so last year, on vacation no less, i decided to stop coloring. whoa, those vacation pictures are ugly. i look like a skunk! that being said, my sister-in-law, who by the way HATES me, said that i shouldn't stop coloring because i would look like an old lady. i decided not to listen to her, which was fairly easy to do. i got back home, went to my fabulous stylist and told her to strip as much old color out of my hair as she possibly could without making my hair fall out. four hours later my hair was blended (no more skunk) and shockingly, i liked it. i haven't looked back. at 43, my hair is white. i accept that this is who i am. i like me and i like my hair. i still have a little old color in the ends of my hair but by Christmas, i'm sure it will be history along with all my concerns about going gray or in my case, white.

so my husband comes home from work early. i am about to go clean the pool and he offers to help. "i'll help you." i think, so much for cleaning the pool. we'll float around and kiss and talk. then i go out and look at the pool and well, we clean the pool. YUCK. all the rain really messes the chemical balance. it was all green and cloudy. i guess the fake cleaning of the pool will have to wait.

I like to scroll through and look at different blogs. Some are so funny and some are not. I used to spend a lot of time wishing I were more creative (maybe I still spend more time on that than I should) but then I realized it is a waste of time. Like everything in life you have to run your own race. Don't compare yourself with others. Be happy with what you have and your own abilities. Then you can have contentment. I like trying new ways to make art. There are so many ideas.. I have seen some really great photography on different blogs too! Wow. The world is so BIG and I am so small. It's difficult to take it all in, no impossible. I think it's good to see what other people are up to. It's funny, because it's like we are all in our own little bubbles, worlds and yet here we are on the same planet. Sometimes miles seperate us and sometimes it's just a few steps.

Not so much rain today. Spent the day working on art, video games, cooking and movie watching. About to watch "The Departed". Just watched "Bedtime Stories". Not a bad movie. Thought it was funny, cute and a little gross (i.e. the fat man on the beach who spits out a bunch of water along with a fish). Tomorrow is Independence Day. Looking forward to fireworks, BBQ and spending time with family reflecting on our country.
Oh, my husband brought me home a present! A new bike. A cruiser to be exact. I love it! All it needs now is a basket, new grips with streamers and a bell! I gave it a test run a little while ago. Hubby says he will make the necessary adjustments to it tomorrow. Can't wait to take it out and cruise the neighborhood.

Germany Wins!!!!

So happy to see the German soccer team defeat Argentina. Weeeeeeeeeeee!!!! Go Germany!!!

Rain, rain....

The rain has been falling since yesterday. Wow, talk about a sleepy day. It was the perfect day to work on art projects, read a book, play video games, and rest. There are lots of places around the city that are flooding right now. Not sure what tomorrow looks like but hopefuly the rain will clear out for fireworks!!!

Bummer

Well, I received my art supplies in the mail today like I had anticipated, but I am soooo bummed. The items were not at all what I thought they would be. I guess it makes it more of a challenge. If anyone is reading this, pray for me.

Just got back from picking up my daughter from class. Working with my youngest on his spelling. Hopefully the mailman will have placed a package in the mailbox with my art supplies. I really want to get started today. I've been preparing some "cloth" with watercolors and baby wipes just in case. Need to clean the house a little, too. Looks like my daughter and I will be going to an art show in a few weekends. A girls getaway kind of thing. Only a few more weeks before things REALLY get busy.