Bear with me please...

Where did April go?  It is May 3rd and I am amazed that it has been over 3 weeks since I last posted on my blog.  I was hoping to post on a new project I was working on that eventually got scrapped.  It's now on a shelf waiting to be picked up again when I have the courage to face all the "wasted" hours I poured into the idea.  I know I said scrapped...but I have found that usually the things I think are failures end up becoming favorites.  I just need a little time to regroup.

In the meantime I have started a new job.  As the overtime at the fire department has dried up and summer is approaching - meaning no college classes to teach - and the fact that we shall have two children in college this fall, I have taken on a job to take stress off of my husband.  Granted, it is only part time, but the schedule is highly flexible and the coworkers are friendly!  I was delighted tonight after my 2nd day on the job that I feel comfortable.  The training is challenging, the memorization requires a lot of homework, and the procedures are detailed, but it is fun!  I love meeting and working with the many women that come through our doors each day.  Figured it out yet?  It's Curves!

Anyway, until I get the training out of the way, I will not be posting as frequently as I have in the past.  Please be patient.  I still plan on committing time to my artwork, it's just that with a high school graduation and party around the corner, a garden to plant, and a job to work, my posts will be a bit fewer and farther between.   I hope to submit the occasional Illustration Friday as well...Thanks for hanging in there.

Garden Journal

I generally keep a garden journal that I start each spring and continue through the seasons. It always seems to evolve, however, into a wildlife sighting pad, diet and exercise register, and prayer journal as well! It doesn't matter, I use it frequently to document successes in the garden, and the dates different birds return home for the spring. I can't seem to throw these little buggers out when they are full! Some of my favorite Bible verses and bird sketches are within the bent and well worn pages. In a way, they are like scrapbooks that were quietly finished and sit unnoticed in a drawer. Here is one of my favorites from 2006...                                                                                                                          

Priorities

Today is day number two of mid 50 degrees.  Everyone knows that this is heaven in Michigan in March for all who live here.  So far no problem, right?  Wrong!

I sit here looking longingly out the window as the warm sun beckons while piles of data, copies of tax forms, college financial aid reports, and fafsa notifications taunt me.  Why can't it ever be raining when I am at deadline?

Ok, maybe I am being a bit dramatic (it runs in the family).  My taxes are finished.  The FAFSA report has been completed for both Lauren and Shelby.  I even completed the required PROFILE Report that U of M requires for students applying for financial aid.  Here is my real rant: How is it that U of M requires an additional financial report that takes 2 days to research, find and retrieve all necessary documentation including the last TWO years of tax returns, AND charges me $25.00 to do all this?!  Why isn't the government FAFSA Report good enough for them?  Oh yeah, that's right, they're U of M...

Ranting is now finished.   As am I!  The only thing left to do is to sign all the copies of the tax returns; Lauren's and ours and get them over to the college either by snail mail or by foot; meaning Lauren of course!

Now I can go see the surprises spring always brings...

Finally Framed

These are a few Prints of a Santa Fe artist I met a couple of summers ago.  Her name is Barbara Bowles. I love her work, but couldn't afford her huge photos printed onto watercolor paper.  So I made do with several greeting cards and framed them in float frames.  I hung them in the bath as I have few areas of wall left in most of the rest of the house!  Besides, I love art in the bathroom!

In the beginning...

I signed up to be included in a weekly creative posting called "Illustration Friday". They post a new subject idea each week which is meant as a jumping off point for the creative juices. I actually signed up several weeks ago, but with canning and the Texas road trip and whatever else seems to crowd out my creative efforts...here I am.

So today is the day. I actually became very excited when I saw that the subject posting was "Proverb". Since you need a blog or website to link to, this blog became a necessity. Today will be my jumping off point. Wish me luck...better yet, Divine inspiration! :)