Joyeux Noël!

Merry Christmas to all of you.
Peaches

24

Sunday was my son’s birthday.

He turned 24. Wow!

It all seems to go by so quickly.

He has grown into a very nice man.
When he was little we shared snowcones.
This birthday we shared beers.

Thanks is given

A quiet moment of reflection on this day of thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving.



What a week.  I photographed 432 people this week and just finished taking pictures at a formal dance.  I am looking forward to some R and R this weekend. This picture is what I do in-between people photos.

Still Alive...

Wow…It’s been five months since my late post. What a ride it’s been.

During the month of May I was strapped up and painfully hobbling to the end of the school year. I had Achilles tendon surgery in June, which made me pretty much non-mobile and house bound for the summer. In there was a fall which gave me a large knot on the head and a dislocated shoulder…but no damage to the leg, only my pride. Add to the mix having to have the exterior oh my house washed (which makes a mess) and painted for insurance requirements, having to have the plumber over for emergence repairs and a new hot water heater, the city complaining about my over grown flower beds and weed-whacking everything down, pet trauma, a friend who went psycho on me, a scratched cornea, and oh yea…a root canal and crown...

And though I have been keeping up with you I have not wanted to write about any of that. Now it is October and I am just finishing up the first quarter of the school year. I’m still hobbling, but in a good way…on the mend and as busy as ever.

Gardening

Gosh...I love this ladies approach to gardening/life.

Spring Break(down)

OK… after eight days, today I acknowledged defeat and dragged myself to the doctor… got a Cort/B-12 shot in the hip, (burned big time)… a prescription for some antibiotics … and while I was there, and under one co-pay, did my annual blood work… three vials of blood… with that shank of a needle… nice little side trip to the pharmacy (30 bucks for 12 pills)… all accomplished with no voice… just little squeaky sounds… what a day... and not one thing on my to do list accomplished all break.. this is my spring break. What’s a workaholic to do? Aright, I’m through whining…

The purple verbena is glorious and doing just fine without me…

On the other side

I have made it to the other side of the production. What a great show it was, with a good mix of heavy, dark history and comic relief. My girls did a great job. I am so proud of them. I love watching them grow as individuals through the process of stage production. However, I am exhausted…worn out, bushed, and pooped. It takes everything…or more correctly, I give it everything, but I love every minute of it.

I worked in the garden yesterday…first time in a very long time…and it was great. I got my herb garden weeded…a four by ten foot bed…and the heather and blackberry beds. All the snow we had this year has wiped out most of my herbs, so I will have to replant. I was wonderfully sore last night…definitely out of shape in this area. I have spring break coming up soon. I will spend most of it in the garden. That will get my backside in shape fast.

This morning I am catching up with Facebook and Blogger. Let me rant a moment about Facebook. I was never into chain letters. Then these critters became e-mail forwards…but they were still chain letters. Now they have made their appearance on Facebook…as the copy and paste in your status chain letters. No matter how cute, or sweet, or laced with social pressure…they are still chain letters. I hold the line…I do not do chain letters. I do not understand how my friends get sucked into these things…they are intelligent women who should know better.

…and I know I used the “…” a lot, but I am not a blogger because I want to be a writer…I am not a writer. I blog as if I am having a conversation…in a stream of consciousness kind of way…that is totally informal. Just thought I’d clear that up…

One Year...

Today was a hard day...one year since mom's passing.
I posted about her here.
I still have not cleaned out her room...maybe this summer.

Friends are Good for You

So…I have not been posting much. It is not that I have nothing going on…it’s that I have too much going on. I have been totally drained, physically and creatively, as I am putting it all into the production. Dress rehearsal in on the 20^th, one week away, and the performances are on the 25^th and 26^th. That means costumes, props, and set all have to be finished now. Then there are tickets to sell, programs to design, promos, and a seemingly ends list of small details.

But last night Michael insisted I take the evening off, dress in my best “glad rags,” and go out for dinner and a dance concert. It was a much needed break and creatively renewing. And it was a reminder that friends are good for you.

He is off to the Gulf Wars XIX today for eight days of camping and medieval weaponry and arts.

(Gulf Wars is the annual contest between the Kingdom of Ansteorra, and the Kingdom of Trimaris. The war is hosted by the Kingdom of Gleann Abhann and the Kingdom of Meridies ; all of which are member groups of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. The SCA is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Our "Known World" consists of 19 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. The link is: http://www.gulfwars.org/index.html )

I, however, am back to it today. I am going in shortly to continue my own production battle of RADIUM GIRLS.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls)

Productivity

This week I have been working on costume plots for each character/actor in the play and pulling costumes from storage. I will have to find a few I do not have, but mostly I will start fittings next week. I am still unsure about the lighting idea I have, using an InFocus project…just haven’t had the time to play with it yet. I am feeling the crunch as there is not a lot of time between now and dress rehearsal and still lots to do.

I have also been working this week on getting three paintings, by my second year students, ready to submit to the Literary Rally Art Competition. Lots of forms to fill out and get in the mail, labels to make, and hanging hardware to install, etc., and I have to bring them to the university Student Union Information Desk today. I personally do not like competition of any kind, but it is good for the school to be recognized.

Then, while I am in the city, I will meet up with my Tri-Ya’s (three women who like to get together and have fun) for lunch and a movie.

I like being this productive!

There are days

“There are days I drop words of comfort on myself

like falling rain & remember it is enough

to be taken care of by myself."

-Storypeople

I’m stuck

OK…I have tried to deny it, but…I was seriously depressed over the holidays. This is the first Christmas without my mom. I miss her so much. She lived with me for 22 years…It’s like losing an arm.

And today I realized I’m still depressed…I can’t seem to get it together. I’m tired and sleep a lot, or escape in a book…but I am not getting anything done. My house needs a deep clean, my garden need attention, I need to finish blocking the play before the next rehearsal…but I can’t seem to do it. Intellectually I know what it is…but, emotionally …I’m stuck.

Leonard Sax

I attended an all day In-Service today on single gender vs. co-ed education.

Dr. Leonard Sax, a leading expert in the field of single-gender education, was the presenter.

It was a great workshop with loads of current research and resources.

I have long been a believer in single-gender education and it is nice to see that research is supporting it with such in-depth studies.

Dinner and a Movie

Had another date last night with “the falcon,” he is such a nice person. We had dinner then went to see It’s Complicated. What a delightful movie. I laughed so much...it is of my generation and is so funny. I highly recommend it.

Today is my last day of vacation. I plan to roast a duck, cook carrots from the garden, and putter around the house doing domestic chores. It’s a beautiful day for it.

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook today and I enjoyed watching it. It shows how much fun we can have with animals. The dog looks as if it is having a blast.

Enjoy it. Make a great day!