Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Cabin in the Woods

I enjoyed a wonderful time at an old 1800's era cabin with Melissa and the kids last week. I was invited to spend the night with them for an early celebration of Austin's birthday. Gorgeous old cabin,cool mountain air, fall foliage, hot tub, woodstove, incredibly delicious chili (Melissa makes the BEST chili!), hot mulled apple cider with a smidge of cinnamon Schnapps (just a smidge, mind you), marathon Monopoly with Austin, metal detecting in the meadow, pancakes and bacon and coffee the next morning...

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Jackson catches a Monarch butterfly
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Metal detecting in the meadow

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Austin cuts loose with a startlingly loud and scary Uruk Hai roar
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Monday, October 17, 2005

Couple of pics

It's been an eventful week. I'll have to post about it later, as it's a rather long story. Here're a few images from an enjoyable evening I spent at Melissa's house last week. The kids had gathered tons of wood and made a wonderful campfire. We had hot dogs, marshmallows, fried apple pies and good conversation.


Jackson, master of fire!
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Ummm...so when did Austin become, like, a full-grown man? Check out those guns! GEEZ!
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Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Brief Update

Since last blogging, the following things of note have occurred:

*I wrecked my car, resulting in a nice goose egg and a sore neck. The car is back running (many thanks to my friend) and the injuries healed.

*I have started back working-out again like I mean it.

*I have made a major (positive, I think) change in my life. I'm having a tough time of it, right now. Things should start to get better in a few weeks. In the meantime, prayer would be appreciated

*On one of my runs in the National Forest I spotted the massive buck with the massive rack that I shall attempt to make my own as soon as the appropriate season arrives.

*I have been involved in the foiling of two separate attempts by the craven and dastardly group of sub-humans known as poachers to spotlight deer in "my" field. I despise cheaters.

*Two successful art lessons with Savannah have transpired and two successful home cooked meals have been enjoyed by myself and Melissa and the kids.

*Major accomplishments on the business front:
.(1)Completion of ALL the St. Lucia proofs
(2)Big lead on the astoundingly cool albums I've been searching for, so tirelessly
(3)Two more wedding consultations scheduled, using my new package prices
(4)Making some headway on improving the look and content of my website
(5)May have found another competent assistant for wedding photography--will know more after the weekend.

*Hilda's first, and last episode of "womanhood" has been survived (although it required the discharge of firearms in the wee hours of the morn' on more than one occasion to discourage her would-be suitors and protect her maidenly honor).

*It would appear that the way is clear for me to get a "Little Buddy" in the BBBS program. Just waiting for the call. :0)

* It became abundantly clear to me that the organization of my political party in this area is either non-existent or just sucks. I have tried 3 times to get in touch with ANYONE in the organization in order to volunteer my time and talents to further the conservative cause. Or just, like, get a sign for my yard. SOMETHING.
No one seems to give a rip. May have a Rant about that later.

*I'm beginning to think that my landlords are avoiding me on the whole new floor issue. It's been more than 10 days since I talked to them. Am I just being impatient and paranoid? I'm at least willing to admit that that's entirely possible.


Alright, that's all I've got. Will blog more when feeling more humorously inclined. G'night, all.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Lunch hour bloggin'

Well, I'm getting fat again.Not that I ever actually got thin, but at least I was getting back into some of my jeans. My exercise routine will have to be put back in full swing tonight. Running/fast-walking, floor exercises,etc. *sigh*. I've got to do it. I have this whole other wardrobe of clothing that I could wear if I would just buckle down and REALLY lose some lbs. Deer season is fast approaching,too, and I don't want to have a heart attack while trying to drag my enormously huge buck out of the woods. So. Back to workout Hell, I go.

I enjoyed a nice day and night at Mom and Dad's last week. I drove in on Thursday and ate lunch with M&D and Em and the boys. Then I set up my traveling studio and did some images of the boys. They were both well-behaved, but it's darn hard to get everyone looking in the same direction and smiling all at the same time. A well-timed bribe of candy smoothed the way, considerably. I got some cute shots. The neighbor-chick later brought her 2 little girls down, all decked out in their pink princess Halloween duds and I did a few shots of them, as well. It was fun.
As soon as the studio was packed away, I grabbed my gear and headed out dove hunting. I plan to share my bounty with Melissa and the kids after art lessons on Tuesday. Curried, roast dove with an apple glaze and fried green tomatoes. Mmmm. I'm looking very forward to it!

The carpet in my house is very cheap and worn and just UGLY. I've Rug Doctor'd it and spot scrubbed it and done everything else I could think of to make it more presentable, but to no avail. It looks and smells bad. The rest of the living room/consultation room/studio looks good. I've painted and decorated and done what I could do to spruce the place up. I like the results---except for the nasty carpet! The last 2 weeks I've been gathering information on laminate flooring--the type that looks and feels like wood. Prices, installation,labor,etc. I gathered my courage and made a presentation/proposal to my landlords on Saturday.
They were amenable to a change in the flooring. They will get back in touch with me with the details. It turns out that there may be good wood flooring under this nasty carpet. If that's the case, I can just rip up the carpet and sand and varnish to my heart's content. And I could do the whole house, not just the living room. That would be AWESOME! We'll see.


All of my perrenials are in the ground and all but 2 appear to be thriving. It took me 4 hours with a pick-axe, shovel and rake to get those dozen or so plants in the ground. I have no outside running water source, so I'm hauling water from the kitchen like a madwoman, trying to keep thngs alive. Surely it will rain again, someday?? If I can just get them to stay alive, it will all be SO worth it next spring/summer/fall!

It's going to be a busy week, but the completion of several projects/orders can be achieved by Friday, if I really work hard and no major problems crop up. That would free me up to work on some serious marketing plans that are waiting in the wings (is that a real expression or did I just make that up?).

I'm looking very much forward to tomorrow's art lesson with Savannah. We started lessons again last week and she did NOT disappoint. Her talent never fails to amaze me and her ability to master the different skills we're learning is a marvelous thing to see. It's also great for me to have a reason to practice and stretch my own skills and creativity as I prepare for the lessons. As an adult, I find it tedious to have to practice and mess up and erase and do-over again and again. Teaching her, has removed the tediousness for me and given me a much-needed dose of self-discipline. I have to master these skills myself, if I'm going to be properly prepared to impart them to her.When I was Savannah's age, I remember having her enthusiasm for learning new skills and experiencing the satisfaction of seeing my artwork improve. Seeing HER enthusiasm and satisfaction acts as an "upper" for me. I'm so pleased to have the opportunity.

I'm waiting to hear back from the BBBS lady about getting assingned to a "Little". I have to get one more reference and then the path should be clear for me to start spending an hour per week with a "needy" kid. I'm a smidgen apprehensive--I've never done anything quite like this before-- but, I'm really looking forward to to the opportunity.

Well, lunch is long over and I gotta get back to work.

Here are a few images I did over the weekend that I may use in an art show or on notecards. (Some of these are still "works, in progress" so please be kind).VU4R0152 2 copy 2

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