Drawing Again

I’ve been bitten by the drawing bug again lately.  I did a still life of an apple, tomato and a lime the other day.  I’d post it, but for some reason my new netbook doesn’t like my printer software.  Every time I install it, my computer detects a virus and it seems to come from the files that I loaded from the printer software disc.  Frustrating!  I got it to hook up to my other printer, but unfortunately it doesn’t have a scanner.  My only recourse is to wait until my husband is back in town.  I’ll post it later.  I liked the way it came out, except for the texture of the lime.  It had tiny indentions in it, and I was trying to get them done correctly, but what I did came out looking like tiny bumps on the surface.  I guess I shaded the wrong way and it made them pop out instead of look like little indentions.  I’m thinking I will go back and redo that part if it won’t mess it up too much to erase.  I learned something from it, and that is the reason I draw.  Every time I put something on paper, I learn about it.  I’m starting to see that.  I am wishing that spring would come soon.  I have a plan to take my sketch book to the ranching heritage center here in town.  There are some great old buildings that I would like to draw.  They also have an old train engine that might be neat.  I also think the various textures I could find and practice on would be endless.  Now if I could just figure out how to get there without boys in tow.  Maybe my husband would let me go on a Saturday or Sunday and he could take the boys to play golf or something. 

I have this artist in my google reader.  I absolutely LOVE his work.  I would buy some if I could.  Maybe in a couple years.  He does pencil drawings and they are gorgeous.  I love the detail and the tone.  Everything always pops.  Love it!

http://pencilshaver.blogspot.com/

 

Another artist that is in my google reader is this one.  He draws in graphite as well and focuses on wildlife.  Love it!

http://artofclivemeredith.blogspot.com/

Question of the Day

Who is your favorite author and what types of novels does he/she write?

Moisturizer

So, I was hoping you could give me your best suggestions on a good moisturizer to use for my hands.  Mine are cracking and I’d like to save them before they torment me too much.  I’d also like to know what brands you use on your face.  Right now I use Vaseline on both!!  Some of you are inevitably thinking, “yuck! that’s greasy!”  I admit, it is greasy.  It keeps my face from getting too “flaky” from using my benzyl peroxide for acne though.  Also it removes makeup well and doesn’t break me out.  I would like to find something less “greasy” though.

Y&R (the Young and the Restless) Rant

I normally watch the Young and the Restless.  Since I started working at my gym every morning, I inevitably miss it because I don’t get finished at work until noon.  Luckily CBS.com has full episodes online, so I have spent the last two days trying to catch up on a couple of weeks worth of episodes.  Now, while I still haven’t caught up completely, I have gotten really exasperated with two characters in particular.  Jill Abbott and Sharon Newman.  I don’t know who I dislike more??!!  Jill is so whiny and makes the stupidest decisions about the men that she chooses to be with.  Wait, that’s the same reason why I dislike Sharon Newman!!!  JEEZ, these women drive me crazy!!!

Valentine’s Day Party

I’m in charge of the Valentine’s Day Party in Bert’s class.  Not quite sure what i’m doing just yet, but I’ve been told to feed and entertain.  The teacher takes care of the bags (for valentines) and the kids bring their own valentines.  Any suggestions for inexpensive things to do with them for entertainment?  How about food suggestions?

Dehydrating and Urinating… (EWWWW!!!)

I missed blogging last night.

Saturday I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to replace my crock pot.  I managed to drop the lid and shatter the one I had for almost 8 years.  As I went into the store I was scanning the “impulse buys.”  My eyes immediately went to a food dehydrator.  I’ve been eyeing one for about 6-8 months now.  I was worn down and bought it.

I’ve been having lots of fun with my new dehydrator.  The fruit and fruit leather I have been making are YUMMY!!  We have had pineapple, apple, strawberries and bananas.  I’ve discovered that Bert actually likes dried fruit (he doesn’t like the prepackaged kind due to it’s intense sweetness).  I’ve also found me a low cal snack for late at night.  In fact, at this rate I will need to dehydrate food almost everyday to keep up with our eating habits.  Truthfully, the newness will wear off with this as it does with everything else, but I thought I would share.

In other news, Sunday morning a miracle occurred at our church.  Ernie sat on the big potty and peed!  That’s a great accomplishment for the boy who only urinates on the kiddy potty seat.  Yay, Ernie!!!  Now, if we could somehow get him to do the other on the potty, I would be OH SO PROUD!!  Time, right?  All he needs is patience and time. 

Well, that’s all for now folks! 

Have a great night!

Basketball-Game 1

Our first basketball game was today.  Bert and the other kids did really well.  We definitely need to work on being more aggressive, but they had fun.  The team we played had a couple players that really got after it.  They stole the ball from us and consistently dribbled back to the other basket. 

Our main concern isn’t that they do so much better and win a bunch of games, but we really don’t want them to start getting discouraged either.  We are going to try to practice once this week just to work on going after the ball and “stealing” it from the other team.  It is not an easy thing to expect children who have been told from day 1 that they are not supposed to take things from other people to all of a sudden get aggressive and take the ball away from each other.  To them it’s just not a very nice thing to do. 

If we can just get that down, I think it will make the games more evenly matched. 

It was a lot of fun to watch today though.  They had to learn the rules of how to play a game on the go, as we had only one 45 minute practice with the coach to work on skills.  The first practice the parents led it because our coach had a baby and he’d been waiting for the “head coach” to call him.  Turns out no one signed up as head coach, and he was it. 

I had a great time this morning.  I think Bert did too.  I look forward to next Saturday.

Harry

So, I had this bright idea to foster a dog.  I feel kind of guilty because I did it for all the wrong reasons.  Mainly I wanted someone who would bark at suspicious noises and alert me to danger.  We are not in a place to adopt a dog permanently, so I figured a foster situation would be ideal.  We would have the dog for a little while, and then give it up.

I contacted the Humane Society and they were pumped that I wanted to foster a dog.  She talked with me over the phone and decided to bring me “Harry” when things fell through with a small Chihuahua that had been abused.  She described Harry as “happy” and “friendly” and “really cute.”  She said he needed to be groomed and that they could do that after we made sure that he would stay at our house.  Harry had an undercoat and his current foster home was at a farm where he was staying outside.  If we groomed him, he would not be able to go back out there in the cold. 

His first evening went well.  He was very sweet and friendly.  His hair was getting my floor dirty, but I could deal with that.  I didn’t care for it much, but I figured it was only for a little while.  The next day I had to go to work in the morning.  He was crate trained, so he stayed in his crate all night with no problems.  The next morning, I put him outside thinking he would be great outside in the mornings since he enjoyed being out there.  When I got home, I was greeted by a wet and muddy dog who had dug up under our fence so much that he almost got out!!!

Growing up, my parents had Labradors that got out from time to time.  I had no intention of dealing with a dog who constantly got out of the yard.  I did not want to come home to a dog who had gotten out and run over by a car.  I couldn’t be responsible for that.  It was clear to me that Harry liked to have his freedom and that the farm was really the best place for him until he found a home. 

The only other option was keeping him in his crate all night and all morning until we got home, and then also anytime we left the house.  Not fair to him.

So, I called the humane society and had them pick him up.

Done deal.

I think we will not get a dog now.  At least not anytime soon.

Luckily for us, the boys had not gotten too attached.  Bert cried for about 5 minutes and then went back to his DS.  Ernie was fine with it.  He still asks about Harry, but he doesn’t get upset about him.

Tired Boys

Since my Mother in Law is here, the boys constantly want to sleep with Grandma.  So, on the weekends we allow them this special treat.  Last night, as I was laying down to go to sleep at 10:54pm, they were still wide awake and playing in their room while grandma was laying down with them.  This makes for very tired boys!  It also makes for a very tired grandma. 

I told her tonight that she’s lucky that she has the week to recover since the boys will go back to their regular sleeping schedule Sunday night.

They are having so much fun, and their grandmother says yes to everything they would like to do.  She’s a wonderful grandma.

Oxymoron in a Cup of Joe and a Pastry

Friday, Bert finished all his dinner and was promised dessert of some type.  Ernie did not quite finish his, or even really finish half of it.  I think he just was not very hungry.  They had fishsticks, chocolate bananas and string cheese (I know, wonderfully healthy meal, right?) and my mom-in-law and I had Chicken Chili I had made a month ago and froze.  It was yummy with wheat crackers.

Anyway, back to the story…

I asked Bert what he wanted for his dessert and he asked for a bag of peanut M&M’s.  I asked him if he wanted to come to the store with me, to which he said he wanted to stay and play with brother and Grandma.  So, I left to go to the store.  When I got there, coffee called to me.  Now, since the miscarriage, I have been trying to limit my overall caffeine intake.  Somedays I have none, and other days I have some.  Today, I had quite a bit (I guess I am making up for my caffeine-less week this past week).  I had 2 cups (maybe 3) of coffee this morning.  So, when I went to order my coffee, I asked for Decaf.  I had put the bag of M&M’s on the counter, and then I asked for the coffee.  My exact order was:  16 oz. mocha latte decaf, fat free, sugar free.  I figured I would be as good as I could, right?  Then, my eye wandered over to the pastries.  I saw the cream cheese roll that I love so much…mainly because it contains cream cheese.  I then added that to my order.  While I was paying I seriously thought about explaining how the peanut M&M’s are my son’s…but decided not to say anything.

Then, as I am waiting for my coffee, the barista says, “You didn’t want whipped cream did you?”  I replied, “No thanks.”  She said, “I didn’t think so.  Decaf, Fat free, sugar free, right?”  She looked at me funny, and I said “Kind of pointless to even order it, huh?  I just like the taste of it.”  She then said, “Oh, no, that’s fine!” 

So, yes…

I ordered the decaf, fat free, sugar free mocha latte and ate the 5000 calorie pastry.  It might be a sort of oxymoron, but it was damn good!

Morning Drop Off

Every morning I drop Bert off at our neighborhood elementary a little early so that I can go to work.  He can go to the cafeteria until it is time to go to class.

Every morning, I pull into the drop off circle and see two or three cars immediately in front of me, dropping off their kids.  There is always about 100-150 meters between the lead car and the busses that have not yet started moving. 

Is it too much to ask for these cars to pull up and let 5 or 6 moms and dads drop off their kids?  Why must we wait for your dawdling kids to get out of the car?  I understand it is winter people, but c’mon!  Your child will not freeze in our mild temperatures if they have to walk an extra 5 steps to get into the building.

Whenever I try to pull around and go up ahead of that lead car, I always run into the problem of the other cars trying to leave…so it causes a mess.

I’m so over this.

Family Time Out

Day 3 of both kids and I being home is starting to wear on my patience.  We had a snow day on Friday and my work was also canceled, so we’ve constantly been together for much too long.  I am counting the hours until Bert goes back to school.  Right now we are having a family “timeout.”  To me that means each person in a different room for an hour.  Ernie is taking his nap.  Bert is playing DS, toys and reading in a room, and I am typing and about to go through my new book on drawing faces.  I’m hoping to come out of my time out refreshed in about 45 more minutes.  Then I will play Wii with Bert for a bit, and maybe declutter for 15 min.  We also have arts and crafts and going to Academy to get Bert a basketball shirt on our list of things to do today.  This morning we had our grocery run.  I love grocery shopping, but I dispise going with my kids.  If it is only 1 kid, it’s not so bad.  The problem is that they are two big to be contained the entire trip, so they want to run around and give their mommy a conniption.  I’m just glad it’s done.  Anyone want to take them off my hands for next Sunday?

Oh, lastly, I am probably going to foster a dog from the humane society.  I spoke with the girl today and she says there is an abused chihuahua that might need fostering today.  I’m waiting to hear back from her.  We’ll see how that goes.

A Little Bit of Basketball in My Life

I never played basketball in high school.  Only in junior high and when I was younger, I played Little Dribblers.  I never could do the running thing up and down the court.  I could probably keep up now, but not then.  So, Saturday, when I took Bert to his 5 year old basketball league, and as we were lining up to take pictures, I never thought I would be sitting in the picture as an assistant coach.  The current coach, who refers to himself as an assistant coach (I think he signed up thinking he would be assistant, and maybe no one else signed up to be head coach) missed our first practice last week because his wife was having a baby.  Perfect excuse, if you ask me.  I wouldn’t come either. 

So anyway, when he came today he said that he had only signed up to be an assistant coach.  When we were in line setting up for the picture he started asking other parents if they wanted to be a coach too.  No one was a taker, and I figured, why not?   I like working with kids and the other coach already made it clear that this is “for fun,” not to be competitive.  So, hopefully I didn’t sign myself up for heartache, but we shall see.

This league is a Christian league known around town to be less competitive.  Hopefully that is the case. We have our first game next Saturday at 10am.

Our kids are all first time players.  We shall see how they do. 

Today we worked on dribbling and planting your feet.  They tend to travel and double dribble, but they’re 5, so they’re gonna do that.  We worked on free throws from the middle of the key, and we worked on “getting the ball” from the other team without hitting or shoving. 

Wish me luck!   I had fun today.

Control

Many of my readers will understand this feeling that I sometimes have…

When your husband is not home…

and you are all alone after the boys go to bed…

and you start to let the scary come in?

It usually happens after you decide to watch the late night Criminal Minds episodes…

and you double check the locks and triple check the locks…

and you check on the kids…

and check the locks again?

You know what I’m talking about, right?

Let me let you in on a little secret.

I’ve figured out part of the reason why I start thinking like that.

It’s all about feeling in control.

Since I’ve gotten my house more organized, it has brought me a sense of peace.  I feel more in control of my space, and it is translating to how I feel at night in my home.  The feeling of control that I have makes me feel empowered and strong.  I have been able to relax and not worry about the demons that start floundering in my mind.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not watching scary TV because that would totally undo it.  I do, however, worry less and am checking the doors twice instead of three or even four times.  I don’t let my mind go there as much, and I sleep better.

So, all my friends out there who will have husbands away on business, keep this in mind.  Take control of your house, and your feelings of being scared to be alone and helplessness may seem to lessen or go away.

“No big deal”

We had to have a little chat, my husband and I.  It went a little something like this:

Me:  “Baby, I need your support.”

Husband: (pauses Zelda on the Wii) “What is it?”

Me:  “Do you like how clean the house is?”

Husband: “yes.”

Me:  “Then you need to help me by trying to pick up after yourself a little.”

Husband: “Are those mine?” (asking me about papers I was picking up off the floor from when I organized my binder)

Me: “No, I did this a little while ago.  Just picking it up now.  I’m talking about your white trash bag of stuff you came home with from the hospital that is still sitting on the floor in the dining room, the box that should be trash left over from changing the windshield wipers that is now on the counter, and the snow you and the boys tracked all over the house earlier.”

Husband: “Okay, sorry.” (as he gets up to get rid of his trash bag—I already took care of the snow and windshield wiper box)

Me:  “I don’t mind cleaning up a little after you, but you know me…if you want me to keep this up, you got to support me.”

Husband: “okay.”

(We’ll see what happens)

——————————————————–

Just to give you an idea of how the snow tracking thing went…

We all went out to play in the snow.  I came in first, from the back door (we were in the back yard).  I took off my shoes, socks and pants, coat, hats, everything that was wet.  I put what I could in the dryer and didn’t track it around the house.  Then, husband and kids decide to come in and go out the front door to the front yard.  They go through my dining room, living room and entry tracking snow through the house.  Okay, no big deal.  I took the mop and dry mopped up the wet in the entry and dining.  Then Ernie comes back through…again.  I get him undressed and have him do it at the back door again so we can set our shoes all together.  Then Bert comes in.  I do the same with him, but not before Doc takes him shoes and all into the kitchen.   I mention the mess to Doc, who laughs it off saying it’s “No big deal.”  I then say, “yes, it is no big deal until you have to mop it up.”  Doc then proceeds to take his clothes off in the laundry room.  So now I have to dry mop the entry, dining, kitchen, and laundry room.  UGH!!!  It didn’t take me long…so it wasn’t the work.  It was the idea that doing it was not a big deal to him.  That bothered me.