seasonally sore:{sunburnt}

every morning without fail a strong cup of coffee with a foamy splash of soy, quietly wakes me up and makes the rest of my day, seriously possible. i often wonder if in order to quit my tobacco addiction, i might also have to give up on my morning cup of joe and soy. as it is now, i'm on the brink of setting a quit now date but i'm scared to death of failing, this seemingly unsurmountable obstacle.

turning over a new leaf: another unsurmountable obstacle i have learned to face and overcome more recently has been the purchase of shorts. two pair of shorts, as in a sporty pair of pale blue grey and irishy green, to bike or run in. i was growing sick of my personal embarrassment, the dreaded milky white skin tone of my legs. ever so pissed off by wearing jeans though i decided to magically disappear the white with a miraculous application of a self tanning product. i can't remember the last time i wore a pair of shorts in public, it's mean skirt style for several years now has finally taken it's toll. i am thrilled beyond belief at this new part of me i can feel comfortable exposing to the world. ahh! r.e.l.i.e.f.

on saturday i spent a portion of my day poolside and sun soaking. my office manager opened her home and pool to us office girls, a pre-beach pool party. it was so-so nice to be outside in the sun, but i certainately fooled myself into thinking that i wasn't getting burnt, self tanning has it's flaws, i fell into denial. heck last year i was going to the tanning bed and i never once felt or got burnt. i do believe, though not scientifically, that a base burn is necessary. after all the sandy gulf sunburn so far away from home isn't all that pleasant. and it's four days of beach in three weeks that i am preparing my milky white for.
gosh but saturday evening as i zombied into the pharmacy i thought i was going to passout. fortunately i made and happily felt warmed and frozen in my sunburnt state.

sunday was a workday again and afterward a family time at the parentals, as it poured buckets of rain upon our part of the little earth. sunday night i actually took a bike ride, more casual, to check out parts of the passage at night. it was a rather less productive weekend but one of growing peace. i have a pile of things to accomplish. procrastination has me by the ankles, or should i say by the throat. i've got a list and slowly but surely i'll be marking things off, and updating. packages, swaps, artwork, clothesline, laundry, bathroom cleaning, and vaccuming, asian slaw for the fourth, and so much more. hope you all are keeping up and blessings are indeed flowing throw this summer season. peaceandlove.

mighty jungle:oh boy(s)

all i could think about this morning was of my three little nephews {caleb not pictured as of yet, in order to protect him and my family in the adoption process}. they are the very best, most incredible little boys, i could possibly imagine. best of all, and from what i hear, when they're put in their boppies on the couch, they're mesmerized by of all things:one growth!

it must be the contrast, would you say?

i was also thinking about having a friday night like tonight off. mulling over the what to do's or what not to do's. it is simple, after work, i'll try and take a twenty six minute nap.

walk? bike? eat-blueberries? i'd like to buy some shorts. this is the first summer i can remember that i actually feel like i might be able to wear shorts. i have been wearing skirts in the summer, you know. and this summer i wish i could find some shorts for short people like myself, some khaki or brown or grey shorts, oh grey would be nice and not too long, not to short shorts. i don't need to show anything off, at least not yet, possibly never. but something i could run in or something i could casually walk in, nothing tappered, i don't think A-line would work either. oh i'm in a quandry, what to do?

i wonder what sam and liam and caleb will want to be when they grow up. or for instance what will josiah k. be? he has grown to have such a vivid imagination, i can't imagine what he'll be like when he's twenty or even thirty. yippers! anyway, i'm a little off, i mean it is friday and i'm distracted. what can i say.

moo&wip

this morning i took a few quick photos, though really not that good, of the new mini moo assortment that i received in the mail yesterday. they're great and i can't seem to stop thinking about them. it is rather ridiculous i suppose, to get so excited about them. they're just like little treasures, yet so functional and really helpful when it comes right down to it.

i think too, that i have finally found the guts to show my newest work in progress. i still have a fair amount of time to put into getting it completed but once i began painting, everything seemed to start falling into place. yeah yeah yeah. it is a terrible photo but it is just a hint of things. you're not supposed to look that cloesly and plus knowing myself as i do it may all change drastically by the end. haven't you seen it all before? the painting underneath was a seascape with shoreline, seagulls and seaweed grass all there. it isn't exactly what i had in mind when i thought about recycling a thrifted painting but i will be leaving the birds alone and the sky color and texture should remain about the same.
i thought about how much i loved drawing my tinier space bubble type trees and eyeball flowers that it would be worth trying them out on a large scale. so far i think it's is working. we shall see though.

just thought i'd catch up with you. take care and have a great day. outta here.

simmer.sizzle.succulent

yesterday morning our computers took a nose dive, so at eleven am, i fled the scene. today i have got more than my share of catching up to do, but i like it this way instead of being crazy insane bored out of my mind. i always hit up my email first thing in the morning and one of the happiest things i received was a cute little email from my sister in law:laurie. maybe i'm a little twisted but i thought this was a great compliment for me and for the fantastic online shops:
"hey, I am having to force myself to not look at your blog for a little while. Part of the reason ( a main reason) I look at your blog is for the great links to websites carrying "merchandise" I love. You have the greatest links. Well, on your last blog entry you put links to sites having 50% off sales and there I went. Yet again I BOUGHT stuff from 16 sparrows (just 2 packs of notecards this time). But- really I love your links- I always love what they have to offer. I was about to buy 2 totebags from another one of your links- I still might (forget the name). That 50% off stuff gets me. I am having to not look. Aaron says it is fine, but I know that I need to invest in diapers instead. I can not wait to get the stationary though. Hee Hee. But- seriously- thanks for all the links through your blog- I usually love them all, I like to browse if nothing else. I have to save up for the clothesline show now- I am seriously so excited about that."
i know of a whole lot of blogs that feature online shops and artists everyday, but i also know how long it can take to go through all of those blogs inorder to find the shops that are selling their sales @ 50% off. i love blogs like: poppy or decor8 or my mosdef fav is print&pattern. these girls work hard, searching, researching and posting new artists, new art, new shops, new design. it's incredible what they do-everyday.

on another note(s): i have been wanting to get some of my old school "scrap"book collages up and about. my black book, as i used to call it was my forum, my place and my beginning. i'd say around 1997 i started collecting paper, found items and pieces of life and compiling them into this collage-writing format. it became my foundation, much like a sketchbook would if you were in school. i experimented with color, shape, style and form. it was a refuge and comfort to me. each collage my personal assignment. it is amazing to me now, that these images conjured up, and manifested themselves into what i see in my art now. ten years have gone by and just now i am reminded of the trees, fish, and doodles i used to draw. i am wondering now, how come it took me so long to come into my creative own. the concept has always been there, i suppose it has been about being refined in all of it.

i remember inspiration from ralph steadman especially. these dark contour like drawings made into every aspect of my thoughts. i also remember playing with squares and circles. these simple shapes continue to play such a role in what i make even now. so bizzare. i felt so rebellious then and but didn't feel challenged until someone close to me told me that i needed to stop working in my black book and i needed to start making art in the real sense of the word, share it with other people and stop playing around. boy, i'd say those words have stuck with me. my friend wasn't trying to be mean, they just wanted me to grow more. so have i grown? i think so.

check out more of my black book pages here.

my father:on making sense

it's not that i forgot about father's day, frankly i'm still thinking about my father and it's wednesday already. we gathered as a family, all of us, on saturday evening to eat and fellowship with one another. some may object, but my brothers thought that dad would like a new grill. afterall they said "his family is growing." i know most families get together often enough and have a good time with one another, but i think when my family gathers it is sort of extraordinary. it feels different because it's my family, the day was about my dad of course and aside from having good and healthy things to eat, we thanked our father for being there for all of us.

in the moments after father's day cards were exchanged there were a few tears. the day represented a mountain of fighting, praying, and hoping on my brothers behalf on account of the fact that they have had to fight to get their children and my father has had to fight to get suzanne and emily. our family has grown and will continue on, because of the fathers in my family. i am not assuming too much by thinking, expressing how i don't think many fathers fight for their children's lives anymore. i know for my dad and my brothers the battle hasn't always been ideal, the sacrifice has no words. but they've done it with no complaint, no regrets. we will never regret one another, nor will we regret the birth of sam, liam and caleb. we will never regret adopting emily and suzanne into our family, because my dad has been the fighting example to all of us. emily wrote these things out in her handmade cards to dad and my brothers. coming from her, my word, it was like soaking up the wounds, throwing burdens off and being free from destruction. i suppose if you were looking in from the outside our family might not make a whole lot of sense, but through my dad's eyes, there's refuge, comfort, peace and hope.
thank you dad:if you're reading you should make a comment as to how the day made you feel, i mean, your arms are so big, not so literally but they've held us all, and for so long. did you feel the roots of our familytree growing deeper by the minute in those moments? did you feel like your family was a team, working together at the sport of our lives? it meant a whole lot to us to beable to celebrate your life with you. i know that.

and the fireworks are from riverbend that finished up this past weekend. i have to be honest i avoided the whole thing like it was the plague. although they did some really cool things this year, like build a habitat house and on sunday morning i saw all of the riverbend runners and walkers, kinda interesting. i didn't know they hosted a run/walk-what about a bike ride?
i think that's everything for today. i am super excited about finishing up the week here, i'm looking forward to having the weekend off. woohoo!!!