Pictures

Just a few pretty pictures to prove that I'm still alive and kickin'!

One of the annual Springtime events I look forward to the most is the Easter dinner at my sister's house. The whole family comes and the food and conversation and all the little ones running around everywhere ensure that a wonderful time is in store.

Melissa's house looks awesome and the dinner table was straight out of Southern Living. Beautiful and seemingly effortless.









Notice how the MEN all hit the table first. It cracks me up the way there is very little conversation on the first go 'round---very serious faces. There's food to be had, after all. Priorities, you know. The second go 'round and they're all jolly and conversational. I love it!!!





Tiny E is TRYING to be patient while all of the big people are filling their plates. That expression is just TOO cute.





The trampoline played a big part in this year's festivities. All the little ones (and a few of us big ones, too!) had a go at it.





Everett's hair went wild with static electricity from the trampoline. The whole crowd got a huge laugh out of this. Walker sputtered through his doubled over laughter "He needs a haircut!" It was SOOOO hilarious!!




Walker showing off his mad trampoline skills as the fam looks on from the deck





Austin displaying his amazing athletic abilities on the trampoline. Seriously, I've never seen a kid in better shape than he is!




This is Jackson's fort. Pretty dog-gone cool!





Savannah and Austin on the roof of the shed--one of the kids' favorite places to hang out.



We all missed Race and wished he was there. It was the only thing that made the holiday imperfect. Thankfully, he's back safe again now. :0)

Thanks to Melissa for her hard work and hospitality. What a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday.

Our Lord is risen!!!

Mom's Birthday

We celebrated Mom's birthday this week by partaking of a family meal at her favorite little French restaurant. This has become a b-day tradition for Mom and I think I can confidently say, a very welcome one for the whole family!!

It is such a blessing when the whole family can all get together to celebrate special occasions---especially one that means so much to us all.

The food was, of course, exquisite from apertiff to entree to dessert. Absolutely scrumptious! The conversation was lively and funny and warm. And the kids---where do I even begin? They are THE most well-behaved, well-mannered and well-adjusted group of young'uns I've ever seen. One and all, they are funny and happy and just an absolute pleasure to be around. I give ALL credit to the parents (and by proxy, to the grandparents) for the undeniable and amazing results of their chid-raising efforts.

Uncle Race sat beside Walker and kept him quite entertained and happy throughout the evening. The sugar buzz from a couple of rounds of Shirley Temples kept him lively, too!!



A good snap of Jackson.


Mom opened her gifts as dessert was served. As you can see, Everett was happy to lend a helping hand. How cute is he, BTW!!!



Quentin was excited to give Mam-maw a homemade card featuring hand drawn portraits of herself and Pap-paw.


The whole dad-gummed crew. I can't believe how grown-up Savannah and Austin look. It really seems like just yesterday that they were Q&W's age. :0)



Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!!!!!

HELP!!! Decor Decisions

Possibly the most difficult thing I've dealt with in trying to get the studio finished has been trying to decide on the interior design. I drove my self half-batty attempting to find the PERFECT paint color. Well, the walls are now painted (and I'm okay with it--not thrilled, but it works) and the next phase of maddening decisions is upon me. Which images to hang on the walls?! And how should they be presented?? Framed? On canvas? behind glass? as gallery wraps?? AAHHHHH!!!!!

Here are a just few images I'm leaning towards. I would appreciate any constructive criticisms from readers. Should I put it on the wall? No? Yes? Be honest, now. I have an enormous library of pictures from which to choose so it's not like I don't have other choices. I could really use some input, folks!!

Thanks SO much for visiting!!! :0)

A New Studio

I can't believe how much time has passed since I last posted. So much has changed.

I am in the process of opening up a studio/gallery on Main St in the downtown area. It's a HUGE step for me. The process has had me scared, stymied and elated at different intervals. Sometimes all at once! :0)

I've argued with city officials, built walls, re-covered furniture, painted (and RE-painted a couple of times), made a trip to IKEA, ordered waaaay more wall hangings than I can pay for, called in every favor from friends I can muster up (electricians, framers, etc.). But it's allllll good.

Downtown is the "happening" area and I'm getting in on the ground floor. It's not a big space that I'm leasing, but it's big enough for my business. I am SO excited about the possibilities!

I'd like to have a Grand Opening event where I invite all of my clients, friends, etc. but, my funds are so limited (and so is the square footage) that I'm just not THERE yet. I don't want to do it halfway. It needs to be seriously UPSCALE. So, we'll see.

I keep going back and forth about getting a temporary part-time job on the side to support all my new expenses. Are the pros (cash flow) worth the cons (spending productive business hours outside the businesss)? Hard to say. And I'll admit it's difficult to think of working for The Man again after so many years of self employment. Argh.

Other changes: I have a "boyfriend". Man, I hate using that term. I mean, how old am I? What do you call it now? "Significant Other?" I don't know. Anyway. I've been dating this really swell guy for over a year now. He's a great fella. He's gone a long way towards restoring my faith in male-kind. I really dig him. I'll call him "G".

I still thoroughly enjoy Mr. Darcy (motorcycle). Every fair day finds me tooling around the mountains in his company.

That's all I'm going to share for now. I'll be posting more regularly now to keep track of the happenings at my studio.

Thanks for visiting!!!

Guts

Grit. Iron. Moxey. Cahonies. What does that mean to you?

When I was growing up, I thought it meant being brave in the face of physical danger. To prove my bravery to myself and my compadres, I would climb the highest tree, or jump from a higher limb than anyone else. I would drive the fastest on the ATV or hold my breath the longest underwater.

But deep down, I was scared. Not of physical pain but of emotional trauma. I was scared of people, of social situations. I could do a backflip off of the diving board without blinking (and it WAS scary every time I made myself do it), but I would hide in the woods rather than face a room full of strangers.

This weekend, I witnessed a different kind of courage. The kind that I did NOT have, growing up.

Savannah stayed with me Sat and Sun night. I was scheduled to drop her off at her audition on Sunday afternoon. This was to be her first REAL audition....I'm talking singing with piano accompaniment and an unrehearsed script reading in front of strangers. Scary stuff. Stuff I wouldn't have dreamed of doing at her age. At ANY age.

We spent Saturday evening picking raspberries and walking the dogs. Later, we watched "The Village" and ate fried raspberry pies with ice cream. It was a fun girls night in. Throughout the evening, I would ask Savannah questions about the audition. Was she nervous? Did she need help practicing her song? Each time, she would calmly reply that she was looking forward to it and ready to go. Alrighty, then. I tried not to let on how nervous that I was for her! I tossed and turned all that night, having nightmares about not getting her to the theatre on time, or forgetting her sheet music, etc. She slept like a lamb and was cheerfully ready-to-roll the next morning.

After a breakfast of raspberry pancakes, we headed off to the audition.

We sat there and watched as kids came filing in, singly and in groups. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. These kids were like Broadway professionals. Try to imagine sitting there and watching as the crowd of mostly 12-14 yr olds gathered. With each new arrival there were rounds of hugs and compliments showered upon one another, lots of lip gloss and eye shadow and dramatic accessories; high heels, artsy outfits and lively discussion of previous performances, dance classes and shared accquaintances. Meanwhile there I sat with Savannah, dressed in her simple t-shirt, khaki shorts and comfortable sneakers, hair demurely pulled back in a headband, filling out her paperwork and reading over her lines quiet as a mouse. We got a few curious glances, but were mostly ignored in the bustle. Savannah was not oblivious to what was going on around her; I could see that. She took it all in. But in the face of this daunting crowd, she was as stalwart as a general on the battlefield.


At this point, two courses of action were in my head. The first and strongest impulse was to gather her up and RUN away back to my house in the mountains, never to return to the theatre---or the outside world for that matter---thereby saving her from any emotional trauma. EVER. The second was to immediatley begin giving her advice on how to handle these wolves, er, I mean kids. What to say, how to get "in" with them. Which ones to AVOID being friendly with, etc.

In the end, I just sat there. This was her battle and she was obviously willing to fight it. She was nervous, yes. But she was ready. She was NOT there for the other kids and she was not going to be intimidated by them. She was there to peform. She was there to learn. She was there because she loves it. So we just sat there. Guts, man. Pure. Guts.

I didn't get to see her audition, as it was behind closed doors. When she came out, she seemed a bit preoccupied but still cool as a cucumber. She simply said it went "Okay". Tough nut to crack, that one.

After costume measurements were taken, the group was herded into the auditorium and given a crash course on one of the meticuloulsy choreographed dance routines. I was able to watch a little of it. This was not elementary stuff they were learning. It was not easy. When she came out, she admitted that it was hard but smiled, all the same, and said that it had been fun!

That evening, over chocolate fondue and "King Kong", I kept trying to get her to open up a little further about the audition, gently plying her for more info. She didn't have much to say, other than that she was definitley looking forward to the next day. And when the next day came, she was sure enough ready to roll. And sure enough ready for me to drop her off...and LEAVE. She thanked me sincerely, gave me a hug and basically, very sweetly-----dismissed me. I drove away praying hard for her.

The courage to face new tasks, new social situations. Puttng yourself in uncomfortable, potentially embarassing circumstances in order to learn and grow. Now THAT's the kind of guts that gets you somewhere in life!

She found out Monday that she has been chosen for a speaking part in the play. She's gotten to know a few of the kids and is having a wonderful time of it.

It occured to me later that by the time all was said and done, Savannah would get to know the kids in this class and make some friends, too. She would meet new people and learn and have fun. She always does, in every class/activity she's ever been involved with. Her opinion of the other kids was not automatically jaded by their appearance or experience or idle chatter, as mine was. So I kept my opinions about the other kids to myself. I did, very non-chalantly of course, share with her the little bit of "insider" info that I gathered by covertly watching the other kids fill out there bio sheets. Names, ages, experience, etc. I let this information slip out casually in hopes that it will come back to her if she should need it. Hey, it's always good to know who you're hyena's, um, I mean FRIENDS really are, right? *wink-wink* ;0)

I just finished reading Melissa's post on the same subject (great minds think alike, ROFL!!!) and Savannah was SO right on her judgement of Mr. Thirty-something (who's actually 18--don't ask me how I know that). Not only is she gutsy, she's perceptive, too! The girl's gonna go far!

Summer Fun with the Kids

I picked up Austin, Savannah and Jackson Wednesday evening to spend the night and part of Thursday with me. We had a great time together! We did a little shopping, then came home and sat around a campfire and related our scariest dreams to each other.

Poor S was up sick half of the night, but was bright-eyed and bushy tailed the next morning. I fixed us all Mexican omelets and then we gathered up the dogs and headed out to pick wild black rasberries.



S and J and Elvis headed down the road to the rasberry patches



Austin goofin' around



The whole berry-pickin' crew!


We ended up with quite the haul of sweet, juicy rasberries. I'm going to make ...well...something out of them. Probably cobbler or fried pies. We'll see. Either way, how can you lose? :0)



After berry-picking, we armed ourselves with bug repellent and piled into the car--dogs and all---and headed out to a creek in the National Forest.


Hilda and Jackson both quite at home in their natural element!!



Savannah and Austin taking a dip


Pretty things we saw



Savannah took this picture. I think I see an assistant in the making!! Great angle and composition, too!



Austin sharpening a stick and having a go at spear fishing


Hilda being her usual "helpful" self


Skipping stones


Savannah on the trail with Hilda



Hilda's big adventure on the log---she lost some serious cool points, there! :0)


Jackson catches a water snake



Elvis participating in his favorite water-related frolic: destroying big sticks. The Big E is 13 years old now and STILL a force to be reckoned with. Who needs ADT??? This is the same dog that happily curled up beside Jackson on the futon the night before, gentle as a lamb. Good dog!! :0)



We arrived back at my house wet, tired and happy. I can't wait until we can go out and do it again!! I just heard about a HUGE swimming hole in a nearby river. I think that might be our next adventure together.

They all have busy summer schedules (and so do I!), so it's harder to get together and do these things. But it's SO worth the effort to get to spend time with them. Thanks for all the fun, guys!! Looking forward to next time! :0)