Friday's missive

This is a new piece. I call it "no evil". Man cub posed (not too willingly) and I put it together. I like the graininess. I am experimenting with ways to create age and texture on new works. It is fun and relieves stress.


The weather has been wonderful. The wind energizes me. It feels clean.

I had no responses to my music trivia. Maybe another clue: this same songwriter also penned "After Midnight" popularized twice by Eric Clapton. Give up? It's J.J. Cale. Listen to his original versions, his raspy voice gives a different slant to the songs.

Well, I am weary after a week of intensity. Here's to sleeping later in the am.

payoff

You know how you keep trudging along, hoping that eventually all your efforts will come to fruition? Telling yourself, "self, someday, this will mean something. someday the reward will come." Not just a paycheck, but a big "ahhhhhhh" followed by a huge shit-eating grin.
Today is the day!
Man-cub got the scholarship he interviewed for on Monday!!!!
All those nights spent nagging him to study his spelling, memorize his multiplication tables and do his homework, finally mean something!
Am I proud? Heck yeah. To see his handsome face on top of that strong frame, with the knowledge that I gave birth to him, whew, I am very proud. He wrote a great essay, cleaned up real nice (even bathed) and interviewed well. The Dean of Admissions called personally tonight to let him know. Wow! I guess I'll have to let him sleep in the house tonight!
Yep, even though being back in the office was an exercise in futility, to cap a day off with news like this is pretty awesome.

A trivia question: Who wrote Call Me The Breeze, popularized by Lynyrd Skynyrd? It happens to be a favorite for driving with the window down on sunny day.

Road Trip

The boy and I left out Sunday to go to a scholarship interview at Chowan University in Murfreesboro, NC. How to you get to Murfreesboro? Drive east to Durham, follow I-85 north and turn right just before you reach Virginia. Then drive 2 more hours. A long way out, but the flat fertile farm land is beautiful.
He looked great in his khakis, navy blazer, white BB shirt (Brooks Brothers), and black tassel loafers. He was poised, relaxed and confident. Heck, they should pay me just to let him attend classes there! He has already received an academic grant, and this scholarship could really help out with the college finances. I want him to go to the school he wants, but I do not want him to graduate with $100K in debt. The nagging his father and I have done over homework the past 12 years could really pay off for him now.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. My son is a great, intelligent, witty person. He is just fun to be around. I will miss him, but I know he will come back to me occasionally! I have always told him that it is not my job to take care of him, but to teach him to take care of himself! And it is very important for him to leave home and become his own person.

I worked from home today. I felt like I was getting away with something! I got a ton of reading done (configuration manuals for ERP software makes for invigorating reading!), and was able to generate weaving requests and track several projects. Altogether a productive day. And to top it off, when my husband got home, we rode our bikes for an hour!! The 2-wheelers sure outnumbered the walkers today. March 11 will bring an early Daylight Savings Time, so I am looking forward to riding when I get home in the evenings. Well, back to the salt-mine tomorrow.

Week from Hades

I am a Southern Lady Under Tremendous Stress. The past 3 weeks have been the worst I have experienced in long while and I do not care to relive them at all. We have been going through "restructuring" in my corporate gig. This time Senior Directors and VP's are falling out. It is unnerving to say the least. We have the most new development going on and need to stay focused and on task. Meanwhile these mass emails are harbingers of fear. No one can stay focused, everyone is worried that they will be let go next. I could work 24/7 for the next 3 months and just barely stay current! I am exhausted, bone-weary, burnt-out. I am supposed be to be innovative and creative, and able to solve problems. This week I have been so overwhelmed that I can not even put a sentence together. I have several major projects in development right now, at the same time there is a "no-overtime" edict in place so my samples can only be woven during the 40 hour week. There is a tremendous volume going through and a lot of this is just not going to meet the deadline. Oh well.
Well, tomorrow the boy and I make a trek across the state so he can interview for a scholarship on Monday. Wish him luck! This university has already given him an academic grant, but more would help.
I am trying to blow off some of this steam and do some art. When I am drawing, painting and gluing, I loose track of time and the Zen takes over and I feel great.
I am thinking of the people and things in my universe that are positive: Mom and Dad, Al, Jacob, Murray and Sophie, my digital camera, Oreos, hamburger steak, crossword puzzles.

Happy VD

As this Hallmark Holiday is upon us, I am sharing the love. This image is a new piece I created last night. I am very pleased with how it turned out!
My loves:
My husband, son, and 2 hounds. My parents and mother-in-law. My brother and his cute wife. My digital camera. Stamp pads, cutting my own stencils, learning new techniques. Red poppies. Kreik beer.
Pirates, seashells, dolphins, pelicans.
Orange furniture. All genres of art and music.
Words, learning new words and the origins of words.
Giggles, guffaws, belly laughs.
Sunshine.