Category: Uncategorized

Available or married? Married…Best Friend? Cindy…Cake or Pie? carrot cake!…Drink of choice?  Coffee with flavored creamers…Essential item for every day use? Toilet Paper…Favorite color? yellow orange…Google? Yahoo!…Hometown? Chicago, IL…Indulgences? Books, pedicures,highlights, fabric, Pottery Barn stuff…January or February? January…Kids and their names? Dave,21, Scott, 19, Caroline, 17, Andrew, 13, Jeff, 11, …Life is incomplete without?  Laughter and pets…Marriage date? 8.8.84…Number of siblings? 0…Oranges or apples? Fuji Apples…Phobias and fears? falling from high up…heights…Quote for the day? “No good deed goes unpunished”  …Reason to smile?  When my kids tell me what a cool mom I am and they tell me they love me.…Season? Fall/Winter – specifically November…Tag 3 people? I’m tagging you and you and you. Yes. You..Unknown fact about me? I’m self confident, but I haven’t much self-esteem.  Confusing? …Vegetable you hate? leeks, …Worst habit? doing laundry and folding it, then letting it sit in the laundry baskets for like a week(or longer) before I knuckle under and put it all away. And my bawdy humor. …X-rays you’ve had? Teeth, chest and feet…Your fave food? Pick one?  Home made soups and stews. Zodiac sign? Aries– yes, I’m a crazy, impulsive bitch-sometimes!

• I wish I could go one day a week where I’m not thinking about my how fat I think I am, how gross I think I look in the mirror, how I hate my no-chin chin, where I can not think about what I put in my mouth, and most of all where I think about the positives of my physical body instead of focusing obsessively on what is wrong with me.
• I’m really enjoying  the book “I Am Legend”   I have begun to enjoy reading so much more and I am actually making time to devour my books.  I am also reading (in dribs and drabs) “Bold Fresh” by Bill O’Reilly and I found “When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies” at the Goodwill.  I think after the above bullet point, this book might be just what the Dr. ordered.
• I had a party on Sunday and invited some old friends, and my husband’s aunt and uncle were there as well as my children and some of their teenage friends.  It’s amazing how well all three generations of people blended and enjoyed eachother’s company.  When it came to music, it seemed like we were devoid of a generation gap.  The younger set seemed to enjoy the oldies as much as the older folks.    It was a really fun day for everyone.
• Lately, I’ve had the urge to reconnect with past friends who I’ve lost touch with.  Thanks to Facebook I can accomplish that.  I wish all my friends had blogs so I can visit and see what is going on in their lives and in their heads.  Are you all reading this?  Get a blog!
• I’m a little under the weather today, most of my kids have had this little virus, and now it’s my turn. 
• I signed up for Kelly Kilmer’s September Online Art Journaling class.  It is now the 8th of Sept. and I haven’t completed one prompt.  I’m disappointed with my self for not setting time aside to complete these.  Doing a little bit of art every day is like brain exercise for me.  Tisk tisk…Today I will make an attempt.
• I finally got my sewing area cleaned up on the loft.  I’m so happy!  I feel like the space is calling me to “come on up, and make something!”
• I have such an urge to blog, but feel disappointed in myself because I really would like to come up with something substantive to write about, but the writing is just not there.  I’m tuning in more with how I’m ‘feeling’ and writing a lot less about my opinions on things.
• I got a bit of a drastic hair cut last Friday.  I’m so happy with it.  I had 7 inches cut off my length.  I’m feeling really perky and together.  The long hair was really ‘bringing me down’.  I didn’t feel young with it, I felt like al fat old lady with long, stringy hair.  My hubby would beg to differ with me, because he loves the long hair.  He was kind and neutral about my decision.  He’s come a long way from the past where he’d actually get angry with me when I had it cut.  I got some pretty highlights and it sits just below my collar bones.  I think I will go a bit shorter in the next couple months and have it just at my shoulders.  I’ve always loved Martha Stewart’s layered cut.  It’s a little like that.  Now, if I could just cook and garden and keep house like she does.

There are days when I have this occasional urging to jump in the car and head to my favorite Goodwill.  There, I almost always without fail find wonderful books.  Yesterday was one of those days and as usual, I wasn’t disappointed!  I grabbed a copy of Jane Eyre and The Secret  Life of Bees, although I’ve already read those and they are some of my favorites (you never can have enough copies to loan out to friends), a beautiful,  almost new copy of Thoreau, a marked up copy of The Great Gatsby and a big ‘Farm Cookbook,’ and the first Harry Potter which I didn’t photograph.

In additon to my books, I snagged a sweet skirt with a Bohemian vibe that comes to a nice,  long length.  It’s just the skirt I was looking for.  I also found some really nice plus size tops.

There’s nothing like Goodwill for some great treasure hunting!

Hmmm…I wonder what I’ll read first? 

I got a thought about why it might be that this country is contemplating socialism.  I think it’s the new generation (computer geeks, video generation) and the retiring of the baby boomers, and the dying out of their parents, the folks who were the really hard workers who came from immigrant parents who were also people who came to this country and worked their butts off and wanted a piece of the pie.  That struggle for them  is over for the most part.  They made this country what it is today, and we are all reaping the benefits of that arduous challenge.  What we have now are people who are the product of that.  Over the course of their lives they have had a lot handed to them.  They (we?) had it much easier than their grandparents and great grandparents before them.  What’s really to strive for anymore?  Certainly there aren’t hordes of immigrants coming here streaming through New York with the same die hard work ethic our fathers and mothers before us had.  That entire intense movement of change seems to be over, at least on a grand scale.   Maybe it’s just that we are all tired of busting our balls (oh, wait, I haven’t busted anything!) and just want an even keel.  Could it be?  Could it be this country and the people running it are becoming complacent and just want to lay low and let the cards fall were they may?  Is it easier to distribute the money evenly so we can all benefit somewhat equally? 

 Let’s face it, the vast majority of people are not going to be ‘lottery winners of life’, rather they’re going to be regular people working every day to pay their bills, keep food on the table and a roof over their head.  Hopefully, they own that roof.   This thought came to me today while my husband and I were talking about the whole potentiality for socialism developing in this country.  At first we were both against it, but last night, Larry talked to some very educated guys who brought up some valid points regarding how it could be a positive thing.  One guy said he went to France on a business trip to work at the French office and he noticed there (and it drove him crazy) everyone was so laid back and only worked a 35 hour work week.  No more, no less.  They played a lot of Civilization (a computer game), goofed around alot and seemed overall, much happier than himself and his American colleagues.  Maybe it drove him crazy because he was envious of them.  I find it a compelling thought, to work minimally and play to the maximum, to enjoy life and get as much out of it and still sustain yourself and your lifestyle with minimal work.  Hey, it sounds really good to me.  See.  I’m just the type of person with an attitude that’s bad for this country and it’s millions of people just like me that might be the reason why capitalism could be on the wane.  Am I all wet here?  I’m not sure Socialism or something like it is good for the country because I’ve never lived it.  It sounds good, but is it?  I don’t know where I’m going with this. 

I do understand the value and greatness of capitalism.  The chance to become a Bill Gates type  of success is born with all of us IF we  put our minds to it, sweat blood working hard and try, and try, even after numerous failed attempts.  But, the real reality of it is,  most people don’t become an economic success, and almost none of  us reach the heights Mr. Gates did.  I call these abnormally successful people the ‘lottery winners of life.’  In my experience as an artist, I see the ‘lottery winners’ as women (and men, too) who’ve created a multimillion dollar business from their basements or kitchen tables.  One year I attended the Country Living Fair in Chicago and sat witness to a panel of successful women like Vera Bradly,  book authors and product designers who made it big, basically doing nothing out of the ordinary.  As I sat there watching them gloat and ‘try to share their experience’ with us, I felt like more like I was having my face rubbed in their accomplishments.   I wasn’t inspired by their success, I resented it.

Call me jealous.  Maybe I am.  But, I’ve tried to be successful, and it hasn’t worked.  My husband has programmed his fingers to the bone and is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met and he’s not economically successful running his company.  I think the reality of it is, some people get very lucky.  Surely the things these women did weren’t amazing, unique or wonderful.  They were reinventing the wheel and got tremendously lucky.   At least Bill Gates was an instrument in developing something life changing, and set the course for people to have their own computers.  Heck, if it weren’t for him, I might not be typing this blog post right now.  Probably, not, though.  Someone else would have got lucky and did the same thing he did.  Instead, he might have called his product ‘Doors’.  Again, I might be jealous, but I am really getting tired of seeing the material excesses of overpaid people.  Celebritites, CEO’s and athletes I believe are paid way too much for what they are worth.  Now you say, sure, it’s easy to say that about them, but what if I were one of those lucky celebrities or brilliant CEO’s raking in the millions for a years work?  I might be humming a different tune if the tides were turned.  Yes, I might, but I also might be very embarrased by my overpaid career.  I just might be pretty damn generous, given the chance.

I’m not intending to make this post a political statement.  I’m just saying I had this thought and it’s probably way off base, but the thought occured to me and since this is my blog-my sounding board, I thought I’d share  it.  It does make sense to me that the really industrious, tenacious people are dying off.  What is left to run this country is a majority of spoiled Americans.  Who knows?  If you really think about it, maybe Bill Gates is to blame for this American laziness and complacency.  The product of his very success could be why our kids are becoming computer potatoes and sometimes don’t venture out to be kids who play outside and use their imaginations like generations of children before them.  See-success might not be such a great thing.  Look what it’s done. Maybe a million or so of success driven people without a pot to piss in will someday bring us back to what America was like when everyone worked their butts off to make this country a better place and that will give us hope after all that it can all happen again.  But, that’s so much work!  And are people really happier busting their buts?  I wish it was an easy thing to figure out. Well, you know what they say-history repeats its self.  I guess we will see.

**I know I’m going to get it for writing this.    Comments, and bitch outs welcome.  Remember, I’m a really nice person, just be gentle with me.

Okay, I’m ready, you can throw your darts now.

I received this in an email sent to me by Mr. Erklin, my beloved high school art teacher.  Erk, a big kiss for this.

My instructions were to pass this on and good things would happen to me, so instead of forwarding it on, I thought I’d make a blog post out of it.  I think it is full of some very valuable life advise that we all can use.  It’s thought provoking, and intended to help people find joy and enlightenment.  Read on.  It might appeal to  you, too.

• Remember silence is sometimes the best answer.

• Live a good honorable life.  Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

• A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

• In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation.  Don’t bring up the past.

• Share you knowledge.  It is a way to achieve immortality.

• Be gentle with the earth.

• Once a year, go somewhere you’ve never been before.

• Remember the best relationship is one in which your love for eachother exceeds your need for eachother.

• Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

• Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

• Take into account great love and great achievements in a great risk.

• When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

• Follow the three R’s.  Respect for Self.  Respect for others and Respect for your actions.

• Spend some time alone every day.

• When you realize you made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

• Don’t let a little dispute ruin a great relationship.

• Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

• Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

• Open arms to change, but don’t give up your values.

Here’s what’s on my mind this day:

• I’m so happy to have friends.  I’m particularily happy for a renewal of friendship with a couple of old friends Larry and I had when we were kids-up until we got married.  We let the years come between us and before we knew it, 20 years had passed.  We fixed that, and now  I feel good things happening in the future.  Friends make my heart happy and make my soul sing.  I look forward to many fun times with this married couple and hope we can experience lots of things together in the future like our kids weddings, barbecues, holidays and maybe even a couples trip together.
• I’m feeling better about the prospect of my son moving out in the near future.  Actually, I think it will be a part time move, but we all know what starts out as part time, soon turns into fulltime.  But that’s okay, because I know he loves me and he will come and see us, and when he does, maybe he will focus on us and spend some quality time here.  That can be a good thing.
• I’m jonesing for the silliest thing-an old english sheepdog I saw on Petfinder.com.  I can’t stop thinking about him.  I approached Larry about the prospect of maybe adopting him and he just looked at me with this look that could kill ‘you’ve got to be kidding face’ and rolled his eyes.  “An old english sheepdog?  OMG, why?”  And you know what?  He know’s he’s going to be sharing a bed with this big old shaggy dog if I get my way, and usually, when it comes to pets, I do get my way, lol..
• This has been such a lovely summer…I’m loving it so much.  The weather has been nearly perfect here in Chicago.
• I’m excited because finally, my imagination has begun to churn again.  This kind of thing always happens when I have a magazine deadline.  It forces me to create something.  A little fire under my butt to get me going.   That’s what I definately need.  Fire under my butt.
• I’ve been eating less and I feel really good.  I heard a guy on TV say that eating less (consistantly) helps you live longer.  Apparently, it takes years off your life when your stomach is always in a state of digesting food.  I’ve been eating less and I see my stomach going down.  I haven’t walked poor Lilly in two weeks.  I know I need to start that again.  Walking combined with my eating less might just equal some weight off. 
• I’m becomming interested in ‘enlightenment’, a buddhist term.  I ordered a book on 10 easy ways to seek enlightenment.  I can’t wait to read it.  I was very inspired by the praying portion of EAT PRAY LOVE, and it piqued my interest. 
• I feel so very happy inside lately.  It’s been a rough month money wise, but I’ve come to find that there is joy to be found in non material things.  I have found family, reading, being with friends and creating things to be wonderful ways to find happiness without a cost.  Maybe the best things in life are free- well, all except for $300 sheep dogs.  Now, there’s a big, ole fuzzy bundle of joy.
• I’ve decided I hate the game Parcheesi.  I played it tonight for the first time in quite a while and now I know why I avoid it as much as possible.  It’s frustrating  and boring.  I find myself daydreaming between rolls, and I could give two poops about formulating a  strategy. YAWN.
• I absolutely, with all my heart hate wrestling.  My husband has been constantly watching this crap on TV and seriously, I want to squirt blood from my eyes from the sound of it.  I HATE IT.

I spotted these aprons in a trendy shop over on the north side of Chicago.  I was so taken by their colorful dispositions.  I’m really feeling inspired by them and I havent’ figured out if  it’s the colors, the ruffles or just the simple fact that they are totally adorable.  Anyway I see it, I feel a new doll design coming on.