~ Painting for a Friend ~

My friend wanted a painting of a sand crab for Christmas ...  so I did my best.  I hope she enjoys it. 

~ Snowmen on Parade ~

How often do we get snow in Alabama, much less on Christmas day!  It was great.  I kept seeing all of these cool snowmen, so today I went out looking for the snowmen still standing ... here is what I found ... enjoy!

These were about on their last snow ball ... 

No fear of falling when you are already laying down!

I am sure I missed some awesome snowmen, but I thought these were pretty cool!

~ Merry Christmas ~

Why is it that Christmas can bring on such melancholy feelings. One minute, I am happy and excited about the season, the family gatherings, the beautiful gift of the Christ child and all that changed with His birth; the expectation of the small children in my life of Christmas morning and presents and all that goes with it; and then all of that can fall away in a heartbeat and I can be filled with sadness over the most diverse things, my children who love to celebrate this time of year, but don’t seem to carry the true reason in their hearts or lives, nor are they sharing it with their own children; the resumes we have received in response to an ad for a part time runner – people with college degrees are applying for this job, people who have retired but now need to supplement their income, so many people who are so over qualified for this position, out of work, needing money, wanting a job, and I wish we could employ all of them, one day that could be me – I can’t help but think. My mother’s finances without my father; the children in my life who really only recognize Christmas as a time to gather in all of the loot they can think of to ask for. Shopping – need I say more. And then there is my fish that is wobbling around in it’s tank as if its on it last fin; and I know its silly to get upset about a silly betta fish, but I just want to cry because I don’t know what to do for him.

I think I may need antidepressants. Well, no I really don't.

And then I read this ... an excerpt of something someone who passed away last week after suffering from pancreatic cancer ".... Life happens and the devil is always there to take advantage of a situation. He is there to whisper desperation and hopelessness into your life any way he can.
Realizing this I slowly stopped wallowing in self-pity and started to see the truth as I know it. God is good! He can take the most horrible, hopeless situation and make it better. He offers strength and guidance to all who seek it and as you can imagine, I did." I didn't know this person, but she touched me through her story.

Perspective. I needed this. God is good. What a gift He gave us.


Merry Christmas y’all. My wish for anyone reading this is that you can hang on to the “happy” in this time of the year. Celebrate with your family and friends and always always remember the real reason we actually celebrate this time of year. That is what I am aiming for. Sometimes, it’s too easy to forget that, or not necessarily "forget", but to lose focus, you know what I mean?

~ A visit with a friend ~

I went to Houston last weekend and had a wonderful visit with one of my oldest and best friends.  We had a great time; but can you believe it, I, who usually am a camera bug, only took a couple of shots of her beautiful dogs and none of us!

This is Sophie, a gorgeous Wheaten ... 

And this is Jasmine, an Airdale - gorgeous!

Had to take two of Sophie!  She was sooo sweet!

~ Working late - life on the square after hours ... ~

I had to work late tonight, stuff that needed to be done before I go out of town.  Going to visit my friend in Houston - yay!!!  Total girls weekend.

Anyway, back to working late - I work downtown and I have to drive around the courthouse square to get to I565 to take me home; it was about 8:30 PM;  and as I was coming up on  a red traffic light on the east side of the square, I looked over and there was a young man, standing in the back of a pickup truck with his pants down around his ankles and his hands on his "you know what" and that is all I will put in print about what he was doing.  There was a crowd gathered around him all laughing and taking photos of him with their cell phones. This lasted the whole time I was stuck at the light and was still going on as I drove away.

I was stunned by what I saw, but more than that I was so overcome with sadness that I began to cry; for the young man, for the crowd encouraging him and well just for the world and what has become of us. 

I had an older co-worker who once said, that if society gets much worse, God may have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah - you know, the cities He destroyed because of the sins of their inhabitants ...   it was said in jest, but her saying always comes back to me when I see or witness something so harsh.

By the way, this is the most current photo I could find on the web of the ruins of Sodom and Gommorah


you know it was destroyed by fire and brimstone, from the heavens, sent down by God ... 

Genesis 19:24-25 (New International Version, ©2010)

²⁴ Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. ²⁵ Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.

I worry for our children and their children ...  it was just a distressing thing to witness.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chron. 7:14

Oh that we would.

~ Thanksgiving Day ~

It was a great day to share with family.  The only ones missing were my kids and my oldest niece and her family, who lives out of state.

So glad the rain held off until evening!

~ Thankful ~

So, its that time of year ... as I read recently ... that your family ties you to a chair, forces you to recite reasons to be thankful and then stuffs cooked Turkey and dressing down you until you go into a 6 hour coma ...

Well, to be honest, we do actually do this, or did in the past. Dad would have us stand in a circle, holding hands, getting ready to bless the food before we gorge ourselves into oblivion, and tell what we are thankful for or say a prayer of thankfulness. I didn't mind, I actually enjoyed it, I do have alot to be thankful for; even in bad times, there is so much to be thankful for. Salvation, great husband, awesome parents, sister and brothers, plus more family, friends, and so much more.

My problem was trying to decide which thankful thing do I recite aloud, because after all, there is some awesome food waiting for us in the kitchen! And we were all really thankful for that too!

I hope you all have a wonderfully thankful and happy thanksgiving holiday.

~ Crap Day ~

I had a crap day yesterday. Problems with a co-worker. I needed to vent and I needed a second opinion. I called 3 friends to lay all of my negativity on them and get feed back. All 3 friends were not available to talk. So I stewed, then went home - talked it all out with my husband. And I felt better. And I was able to come to work today and be civil and even friendly.

Really, I think I just wanted someone to affirm my feelings and get aggravated with me. Which my husband did a fairly good job of and gave me some totally man advice " just blow it off ".

Which I have.

So, if any of my 3 friends that I called yesterday and could not talk, read this ... no worries - my husband did a great job and really that is what he signed on for, right?

~ Office Birthday Lunch ~

My boss' wife, sweet Kelli, upper right corner, planned an office lunch for my birthday at Cotton Row, with champagne and all the works, great fun!

~ Graduation Photos ~

I am so not a professional, but I sure do love playing with my camera. My brother's stepdaughter, well, my niece, Jessica, let me take her "casual" graduation photos. It was a fun day. Here are a few of my favs ....








And afterwards, I lost my keys, thought I had locked them in my trunk with my camera bag, had a great lunch with my sis and just when I was getting in her car to go home - some 2 1/2 hours later, I found my keys under her seat! YAY!

~ Lunch ~

Went to lunch at Sonic Friday. Sitting there reading my book and munching my lunch, Frito Chili Pie, what else .... when a movement caught my eye... I looked up just in time to see a homeless man, well, at least he had all of the looks of a homeless man, he could have been otherwise, but I digress .... I looked up just in time to see him lean up against the building and relieve himself. Ugh! I tried to feel sorry for him, but the door the a public bathroom was just around the corner. Ugh again.

~ Thinking about Painting a Cow ~

I am thinking about painting a cow .... well to be more specific, painting a portrait or a cow - that sounds weird, preparing a painting of a cow ??? ... anyway - so I went around my neighborhood and took photos of my neighbors cows ... I love the top middle one ... hmmm what do you think? I kind of like the tag in the ear cow on the bottom too ....





Then I came across this ... actually I pass this everyday ... have always loved it, now I know why, this would make a very cool painting, or screensaver, or in one of those funky calendars about cows or old cars ...





Then, I saw this little beauty, isn't it adorable! I'm just not sure I could paint it. I'll have to see if I can sketch it first. The photo looks pretty good without transforming it into a painting though ... why stress my mind when I can just look at the photo instead.



And then, here is Mr. Crab, actually I have decided to name him the "Blue Collar Crab" because of how hard working he was when he was digging his hole, he is my first next project, for a friend for Christmas, I did a preliminary sketch this weekend, then painted it with water colors, I hated it. I hope it looks better with acrylics or maybe oils ....



I am looking forward to dipping my paintbrush into some colorful paints and brushing it onto a fresh clean canvas and see what happens ...

Wish I had my own art room, but I will settle for my corner of the kitchen ... for now .. maybe forever.

~ Has it been one year already ~

Memories of Dad

... absent from the body and present with the Lord

They say times flies when you are having fun, but truly time flies regardless of your enjoyment level. It doesn't seem like 12 months ago that I got a call from a nurse at Vanderbilt Medical Center to tell me that my father had passed away; at the end of the phone call - my mind had not processed that he had actually passed away. It had processed that I needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible and that Dad was not doing well. I hung up, and in a tizzy of nerves and stress, I grabbed my purse and ran out of my office, calling my husband, my sister and my brother telling them that Dad was in trouble and we needed to get up there now. I was crying and upset, and then, at least 15 minutes later, as if the words from the nurse had been chasing me from my office, they slammed into my brain and I had to pull over, call the hospital back and have the nurse tell me again what she told me before and she confirmed that yes, my father had passed away and that a nurse was with my mom now. I didn't know I could cry as loud and long as I did.

One year ago today I lost my father, he was awesome. I remember his imperfections too, but they were all a part of what made him awesome. He was someone we (his family) all turned to for advice, for help, for his wisdom, which sometimes we took and sometimes we didn't, for his companionship, his love. "They say" you never know how much you will miss someone until they are gone - how true are those words! How often you called them, how much you took them for granted or how much you took what they did for granted. Their companionship, their laughter, their sense of humor, how much he did for mother - in and around the house and more, how much he meant to all of us. We just miss him - we loved him. I thank God for His Love and the knowledge and comfort that we all have to know that Dad is enjoying his "divine retirement" and that someday we will see him again.

~ Kind of Random ~

Sometimes when reading, you come across something that just makes you pause, think about and read it again and then maybe again.

The below excerpt is from an article in a magazine that came to our office by accident, and it gave me that moment … it may not ever make it any easier having a loved one or friend go through a hard illness, of even if I may someday have to go through a hard illness myself, but it is something, I hope I will remember always.

“…. Divine retirement. That’s how my father-in-law, Howard Martin, referred to dying. “It’s just a transition from here … to There,” he’d say. He made that transition May 11th after 4 ½ years of cancer slowing taking him away. As caregivers, Bill and I had our share of anger with God. Why would this wonderful Christian man have to suffer? Howard would say it was the closest a human could ever get to understanding what Jesus went through on Earth. …” “A Revelation on Old Hickory Lake by Christy Martin” emphasis added


The bold/italicized parts are what stuck with me.

We are doing a Beth Moore study on Revelations at Church now; and she talked a good little bit about John, the beloved disciple; and how he was the last of the disciples alive at the time and how he … (I think this is how she worded it …) had not had the opportunity to honor and glorify God through his death like so many of the other disciples had, i.e., beheaded, hung, hung upside down, etc., in other words, killed because of their beliefs and love of our Lord.

There. I will just end it here. Because these things … above … have been good for me to hear and ponder on this week. I hope they are good for you too.

After re-reading the above, it sounds like I have had death on my mind, but I haven't. I have had life on my mind.

That’s all I got.

~ Beach Photos ~

Five days at the beach - it was nice = the weather was awesome and we had a very relaxing time.

This was where I hung out most of the time .....





This is our only couple photo from the beach ... I haven't quite got the hang of self photos ...






I watched this little crab dig a hole, he was a little worker bee! Isn't he cute! Well, since it was working so hard, it is probably a female!





See his work! double click ...







This little seagull kept posing ... so I snapped away ... I have way too many photos of this darn bird!




This one put on a show of his hunting skills ... kind of gross, but I couldn't stop myself from taking these photos .... double click again ...
























And these I just liked ... double click again ...



































And what are beach photos without the sunset photos??? double click again ...
























That's all. Well, actually there were a whole lot more, but that's all I will share, don't won't to bore you all too much!


Well, just two more ....

From the bottom step of the deck .... nice.


From the deck ...





It really was a very pretty five days at the beach!

~ An excerpt from my beach read ~

I don't know why but I always enjoy reading something just a little bit smutty while I am at the beach .... ~.~ I loved my beach read this time - I thought this was an interesting comparison ... what do y'all think? '-'

"A man who makes soup for you has to be fantastic in the sack. ..."

" ... Think about it. Soup takes time. It takes patience. It takes attention to detail. A man who makes soup knows how the take his sweet time with things. He uses the right ingredients, and he whisks in the seasonings with the the right flick of the wrist. Then, and only then, he turns up the heat to finish things off. Bring matters to a simmer. And you know about good soup right, the longer it takes, the better is taste."

Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews

Does your man make you soup? G makes two kinds, vegetable beef and white chili, both homemade with lots of chopping and sauteing involved ... both are awesome. Just saying.

~ Evening Meals ~

I've learned ... the evening meal with my mom is an "event". I have gotten so used to doing everything on the run or in front of the TV and never sitting back and just enjoying the "evening meal" without all the extra background noise - it seems odd but refreshing to sit down to a meal with my mother and husband when she is here; or mother and sister when I am there and just have a meal and visit, sometimes we are at that table for almost two hours.

I haven't gotten to the point that I want to have this "event" every night, but sharing it with my Mom when we are together is nice.

~ Sometimes Dreams are Cruel ~

I am on a float in river, tied off to a boat. People fishing from the boat and a young boy hooked a giant size otter and reeled it in; as it was being reeled in past me, I looked into it’s bright blue eyes and told it how sorry I was that it had been hooked and how sorry I was they were not going to let it loose; the otter looked back at me with sad eyes and said that was okay, it just hoped they went ahead and finished him off if they were just going to let him die anyway.

*Flash forward a storm is coming up on the water causing huge waves, the boat takes off with me still on the raft and we are being tossed everywhere with waves as tall as buildings crashing all around us. I think they have forgotten I am on a raft tied to the boat, so I just hang on as well as I can.

*Flash forward and the boat turns into a car and I am in the backseat, we are crashing off a wave onto an interstate highway filled with 18 wheeler trucks, we are having to swerve in and out before our car finally levels out.

I wake up I am in the back seat of my parents car and I think I am dreaming, I look around and rub my arms realize I am not dreaming - this is real. I ask Mom where we are going, she never answers and then I look over and Dad is driving and staring straight ahead, it takes me a second, but then I remember, wait, Dad is gone, died last year, I start calling Dad? Dad? Daddy?!? DADDY DADDY !!!! he never turns toward me and then his faces starts to distort and not look like him anymore.

Then I am sobbing, hard body shaking tears and Gary is rubbing my arm, asking me whats wrong and telling me its okay, its okay, I am still crying and I realize its 5:38 AM August 28, 2010, I am in my own bed, my Dad has been gone for 9 months and 20 days and I feel like I have just found out he died.

~ LANDSCAPE 2 ART CLASS ~

So, I have been taking a landscape class at the art musuem, its been fun, I like the teacher, we have one class left and then I am taking a break from classes. I am going to try it without teaching for a while and see how I do ....

We'll see!

2nd painting started 4th night ....




























Almost finished 5th night .....



























I have one class left; its been fun, but I am ready for it to be over.

~ LANDSCAPE 1 ART CLASS ~

1ST CLASS


























2ND CLASS













































3RD CLASS - FINAL
LANDSCAPE FROM BIG SPRING PARK

~ a senior moment ~

Double-click on image to read better. :)

~ Isaac, Stephanie and Allison ~

Allison...



and family ....







It was fun.

~ A day ~

Here is the scenerio: Work had been crazy; stressed to the max, sat at my desk in the privacy of my office and squalled like a crazy woman for 10 minutes today from the pressure; note: crying really does relieve some stress; managed to leave on time for the first time in about 2 weeks; plus, I have been away from home for 4 days; husband and 3 dogs alone in house for 4 days - yes its going to be messy; out of dog food; out of human food; stopped at grocery store on way home from work - husband said left over pizza in fridge so don't have to cook ... then when you are about 8 minutes away from home, husband calls and says ... oh Zach (20 year old stepson) and his new girlfriend are coming for dinner, but we should have plenty of left over pizza .... uh yeah right, I am going to serve left over pizza to company; so back to grocery store, rush home, try to clean messy house, put a decent dinner on; oh and the bathroom ... well, I just won't go there, but yes, had to clean it too, they show up early; dinner is late, but pretty good, and I am beat! Clothes are still in suit case unpacked, still lots to do, but I have decided to hang up my wonder woman outfit for the day and go to bed.

Can any of you identify?

~ House/teen sitting ~

Staying at my employer's home again, watching his teenagers and his home ... basically all I do with the teens are keep tabs on who they are with and where they are - they are good kids - and they are pretty self-reliant - which is good.

Last night I set their burglar alarm off at around 11:30 PM and most likely woke the neighborhood up! Argh! Also, earlier in the day I went upstairs to their "playroom" to figure out what the loud noises were and it looked like a blizzard had hit - they decided it would be a great time to tear out the stuffing of a huge bean bag chair and take turns jumping into the pile - there is white fluff everywhere. All I could see of one of them was the top of their head sticking up through the fluff.

They have assured me they were cleaning it up themselves ....

~ 2nd night class ~

My cell phone take crappy photos, or maybe its the photographer ... anyway here is my second night class results ... still not finished but is looking a little better.




Maybe I will bring my real camera next time.

~ A short and random Photo Blog ~

I love this woman. I love her so much. Even if she does read too much when she comes to visit me. I still just absolutely adoringly love this wonderful awesome woman. My mother by the way.





This is a face only a mother could love, and that's me, I'm her mother. Sweet baby Maggie! Isn't she adorable!






And, I did a little painting for a friend ... not really happy with it, but it was fun.



And this is the 1st phase of my landscape painting class at the museum ... green blobs ... supposed to be a section of Big Spring Park as seen from the doorway of the musuem classroom .... we'll see ....

~ wedding of a friend ~

So, I helped a friend with her wedding this past weekend, did a little decorating, a little photographing, and just a little friend time ...













It was a sweet wedding, for a sweet couple, a sweet beginning ... ahhh love ... isn't it grand!