The Conclusion I Have Come To

As of late, things in my life have been a bit chaotic. I have decided that, while I enjoy being a 'productive' part of society (ie. normal job outside the home, go to work every day, come home every day, cook, clean, etc.) I *need* to do something creative every day in order to feel like I have truly accomplished something. However, I find that I often run out of the time and/or energy to do those creative things that I love. Which then throws me 'out of balance' so to speak. I wish that there was some way to do what I LOVE to do, and still be able to survive in the real world. Has anyone figured out how to accomplish this? Or, are we all just slaves to the never ending wheel that appears to move society as a whole? Because I, for one, would like to know that secret (if you are), so that I can do the things I love more often and feel complete.

Life As I Know It

So much of my life is confusing right now. It seems as though I do not know my up from my down and my right from my left. I have lost my entire sense of direction, and feel like I have lost my 'self' as well. If life came with an instruction manual, I believe it would be so much easier.

Talk About a LONG Time

It truely has been a seriously long time since my last post. Perhaps I will make a comeback. LOL Life if moving rather quickly, and I have a lot of catching up to do.

Do you......?

Do you just sit and stare off into Space, thinking about nothing?
Do you stay up all night reading a book 'cuz you can't wait to see what happens next?
Do you look at yourself in the mirror and wonder where the time has gone ('cuz yesterday you just KNOW that you weren't that 'older' person staring back at you)?
Do you think to yourself 'If I do this, will it work'?
Do you buy expensive clothes that you can't *really* afford, but when you wear them, walk around pretending like you can?
Do you wear red shoes 'cuz they make you smile?
Do you sit and watch people as they go about their daily business, assigning life stories to their outer appearances as they pass you by?
Do you dance around your bedroom when no one is watching 'cuz it makes you feel good?
Do you eat things you don't like, read things you have no interest in, go places you have no wish to go, solely because you love another human being so much that the sacrifice of doing so is not too great of one to make if it makes them happy?
Do you play the 'What If' game?
Do you categorize your life?
Do you aspire to greatness?
Do you regret your past?
Do you fear your future?
Do you dream?
Do you love?

If you stand on the edge of a precipice and never have the nerve to jump, would you say that you are failing yourself more because of all the experiences that you miss out on? Or, are you failing the wings that will catch you when you have faith in yourself more because you never allow them to do their job?
Have faith, jump.

Wait for It....

In the Grand Scheme of Things, I have come to the harsh realization that I am just not a 'Wait for It' kinda girl. I like to accomplish the things that I want to accomplish 'Right Freakin' Now', and there are no other options as far as I'm concerned.
However, neither one of my girl children have been blessed with this philosophy. In fact, quite the opposite has occurred in their genetic make up. They operate on the 'Wait and See What Happens' principle. (This is often followed up with the 'I Forgot' excuse when shit just doesn't get done.)
Somehow, in a house where ass-loads of shit has to be accomplished in a very specific time frame, I am the only one that manages to get anything completed (and even then it's a stretch 'cuz I have to compensate for everything that they DON'T do.)
Hmmmm......what to do? What to do?

OMG!!! 2 posts in 2 days!!! That's, like, a record or something, right?

Or perhaps that is just my wishful thinking. LOL
Anyway, today was a 'Tired' day. It's not that I didn't get any sleep last night, 'cuz I did. It was just a gray, rainy/snowy kind of day that makes you want to curl up on the couch under a warm fuzzy blankie with a good book and nap on and off in between stories. That is the kind of day it was.
Sadly, there was little to no book reading going on for me. I had ass-loads of laundry that was screaming my name from the basement ~ demanding that I focus all of my attention solely on it. It sucked.
On a bonus note, I did get to spend my day with the girl children (Due to the fact that the oldest one's asshole father forgot that they were supposed to pick her up today. Thanks for making it so that I had to cover for you AGAIN doucheweasel!) And we had an alright time. :D They did manage to watch The NeverEnding Story this afternoon. Which, even though it's totally 80's and super CHEESE-y, is one of my favorite movies.
Anyway, I know it's late, but it's back to the laundry for me. Well, for a little while at least.

Dun Da Dun -- ((If you say it with FLAIR, it makes total sense.))

Today, all of my laundry has managed to make it into my basement. And, yes, that is something to celebrate. :D

On a side note, inspiration has struck. Now all I need is the time to follow it before it's gone again. Well, the time and the energy. We shall see.

Surely I am not the ONLY lazy blogger out there?

I know that I am not. LOL
I feel terrible 'cuz I ALWAYS intended to post something (anything at this point) and NEVER manage to get it done.

Anyway, for your viewing enjoyment, please stare at this WONDERFUL picture of my youngest daughter making a goofy face at the camera (this was taken a LOOOONG time ago and I am saving it for future embarrassment purposes. :) )

Isn't she lovely?

((SIGH)) Will the 'Funk' never end?

Sometimes I think to myself that things are going so well and I am feeling fantastic. And then life kicks me in the ass and down I go again.
Between the flu for 2 weeks and various other things, the past month has been so very non-productive for me (and I was so excited and ready for it to be packed with activity.) Now the girls are back to school and everything is back to normal. I just can't seem to get my ass in gear and get the motivation to do what needs to be done.
Just when I thought the 'funk' had left, it rears it's ugly head and looks like it might be here to stay once again.

Busy days are here again.

It seems as though my days are filling up rather nicely lately. I have Christmas gifts that I am working on, and 'Stuff' that HAS to be done.
Yesterday, I decided that I wanted to bake some tasty chocolate cupcakes from scratch (NO box mixes for me!!) So I hauled my ass to the store in the FREEZING cold wind to pick up the few things that I needed, and whipped up a batch of GINORMOUS cupcakes. Seriously, these damn things could EASILY feed 2 people a piece. I like homemade cake (much less sweet than a box mix) and I love to make homemade ganache (semisweet chocolate/peppermint ganache to be exact.) They are soooooooo tasty!
I have 2 skirts to make before Wednesday night's Christmas program - one for each girl. Along with 5 pairs of pajamas for Christmas gifts. AND......various charms and pieces of artwork that I intend for gifts as well. Candies and cookies and presents.....OH MY!!

Busy, busy, busy!

Another VERY GOOD day for the books!

Today the youngest girl child went off to have an adventure with her Nana and Papa that will keep her busy overnight and most of tomorrow as well. So the oldest girl child and I decided that since she had to stay at home (She's very loosely grounded for the time being.) we would go to dinner and have a 'Grown Up Girl's Night Out'.

Our evening began with a trip to one of her favorite restaurants, New China, for sushi and lemonade. After dinner, we decided to drive across town to one of the fabric stores so that I could check out their selection of bottom weight twill for the girls' skirts that I need to get started on for their Christmas program at school. (The selection was SAD to say the least, although I did manage to pick up several more buttons to make into charms for their bracelets and a metal craft jewelry book that I cannot wait to try to make some of the stuff in.) A quick trip to one of the craft stores in town revealed the fact that I am going to have to seriously consider looking online to buy jewelry making supplies if I want quality stuff (Aluminum filled copper wire is just not going to cut it for these projects, I need the good shit.) Then to WallyWorld for some tracing plastic for the pajama patterns I need to get started on this weekend, and a quick-ish trip to the bookstore for some fun reading materials. We decided to cap off the night with a trip to Starbucks for some Peppermint Hot Chocolate, and made our way back home.

It was such a long and busy night, but it was so much fun. I love spending time with my girls, and I am so glad that they love spending time with me. :D

Today was a VERY GOOD day!

The youngest girl child and I decided this morning that we were going to go out to lunch together (Something we used to do quite often, but for the past several months we just haven't been.)  I let her choose, and she picked her absolute favorite restaurant ever ~ Fuji's Japanese Steakhouse
She LOVES it there (and I do too.)  They have tasty, tasty food, and even tastier sushi.  :D 

We decided that, to add to our 'Girlie Day', we would do a little holiday shopping 'cuz there are some things that I need in order to get started making some of the gifts I have planned for Christmas this year.  We stopped off at one of MY favorite yarn stores so that I could browse their selection of vintage buttons ~ www.simplyfibers.com  I can't buy yarn there 'cuz they mostly stock wool/wool blends, and I am allergic to anything that began it's life close to/as part of a sheep.  (I am kind of interested in some of the spin it yourself fibers that they have ~ particularly the camel hair ~ but, alas, I cannot spin my own yarn.)  I managed to find some pretty sweet buttons to make charms for the girls' ever growing charm bracelets for Christmas (and a couple for myself as well. :D)

After that we decided to hit one of the used bookstores in the area to see what we gems we could discover there.  The littlest one found a book of children's poetry and short stories from 1966 that she fell in love with, most likely for the large rooster that dominates the front cover.  She enjoyed it so much, and it was only a dollar, so we brought it home to stay.  :D

Then we took a trip to our favorite thrift store in search of more good deals that we could bring home and turn into GREAT stuff.  Sadly, the only things that I found that I fell in love with were a child's board book (to make an altered book out of  :D) and a salad service set that included 1 large serving bowl and 8 smaller bowls. (It was AWESOME!  All of the bowls were shaped to look like they were made out of lettuce leaves, and it was VERY vintage and AMAZING!  Sadly, it was all priced individually.  So, between the large bowl and all the individual bowls, it was WAY too expensive for me to want to buy it at a thrift store ~ $25 bucks for all the pieces.  I have limits.  LOL)  I may go back in a few days to see if they lower the price on the pieces.  If they do, I am snatching them up so fast their heads will spin. (Get it?  Lettuce?  Heads?  I'm a dork.  I know.)  Then I will post pics so that the rest of the World can drool over my find.

After a trip to our favorite Starbucks, we headed for home.  We seriously enjoyed our outing.  It was something that we hadn't done in a very long time.  It was really nice to spend the day together ~ just the 2 of us.

All in all.  Today was a VERY GOOD day!

Testing. Testing. 1 - 2 - 3 (Is this thing even on anymore?)

((knocks the dust off of art supplies and other various studio items))

Okay, so I know what you are thinking to yourselves.  'OMG!!!  She is ALIVE!!!'

Yes.  Yes.  It is true.  I am, in fact, alive and kicking.  Some random acts of personal bullshit and some life issues, caused a rip in the fabric of space/time.  It will be alright.  I promise.

Anyway, I am going to see if I can get back on the horse, so to speak, and get some shit done.  It's too late in the year for me to completely catch up with the ATC 365 project (which makes me very sad 'cuz I had started a fairly decent collection of my own works.)  But I am creating stuff again, just to get back into the swing of things.  Hopefully, it will last.

Day 32 ~ ATC 365 ~ 32 down, 333 to go :D

Ahhh...what would a week be w/out a card created in my absolute favorite style ever?

Sad, that's what.

Anyway, here's more cussing and more black paint.  2 of my favorite things to create with.  :D

Ahhhhh.....BLISS!   ;)

Day 31 ~ ATC 365 ~ 31 down, 334 to go :D

Another cupcake!  'Cuz I was literally jonesin' to make one.  I LOVE cupcakes!  They are just so damn cute.  This one was made during my massive 'Use of Thick Ass Acrylic' fest.  It took FOREVER to dry, but the texture of this thing is just AMAZING.

It's tactile and it's beautiful.  :D

Day 30 ~ ATC 365 ~ 30 down, 335 to go :D

OMG, has it actually been 30 days!?!?!?!  I can't believe that it has been this long.  This is the last of my practice backgrounds.  And I have learned that, while I like the technique for other things, the whole 'face' thing just isn't something I'm good at.  Not in the realistic sense anyway.

Somehow, I am pretty sure that I am okay with that.

Day 29 ~ ATC 365 ~ 29 down, 336 to go :D

I had a couple of these watercolor 'blob' technique backgrounds left from my 'practice disaster' laying around.  So I decided that I would go ahead and use them for project cards since they weren't doing anything else. 

This guy appears to have taken one too many bong hits for the day.  ROFLMAO  Obviously, this is soooooo not my forte.

Day 28 ~ ATC 365 ~ 28 down, 337 to go :D

I had an 'acrylic' kinda day  :D  I just wanted to mix thick paints together and play.  So I did.  This is the last heart for the themed week.

I love the red, black, and white of this one.  They are such simple colors that just 'pop' when you use them together (which I do all the time  :D)

Day 27 ~ ATC 365 ~ 27 down, 338 to go :D

This card was one that I actually had to remake after I royally screwed up the first one and filed it in the 'Round' file (also known as the trash bin  LOL)  The idea came to me while I was actually watching something on television, which is an activity that I don't do all that often, during a commercial break.  How odd is that?

The first version was much more 'delicate'ly done, but I jacked it up.  And this is what the remake came out as.  I like it, but I wish I hadn't F'd up the first one.

Day 26 ~ ATC 365 ~ 26 down, 339 to go :D

Another heart for the theme.  This didn't exactly turn out quite the way I had envisioned that it would.  Meh (shrugs) some things just don't.  I have come to terms with this.  And, as the phenominally unshakeable Scarlett O'Hara would say, tomorrow is another day.

Ummmm.....yeah.....so......whatever.  ROFLMBO