FishEyes and Magpies

Happy Homemaker

Alright.  It is almost done.  The house is almost clean.  Not today, and probably not tomorrow, but sometime this week I can pull off my rubber gloves and rest easy...then start doing what I really want to be doing--sewing.  Embroidering.  Drawing.  Planning.  Etcetera, etcetera.

Until then, here is a sketch I did back in '05. 

That is how little I have been doing craft-wise--I'm posting sketches from THREE YEARS AGO.

Anyhow, I have been doing a little work.  I'll post it either later or tomorrow...probably tomorrow, as I am tired.  And lazy.

Welcome to my lair...muwah ha ha!

First of all, here is a shot of me and my new necklace, which I mentioned a few posts ago:

This is my studio:

 

The room is a super mess...and yes.  That's a roll of toilet paper near my computer.  Sean was rolling it down the stairs...

Just a quick Hello!

Hello!

(I'm working on organizing my craft room so I can get down to business!  I will post a pic later!)

Is that a lemon in your lap...or are you just happy to see me?

This past Friday I did something I haven't done in a loooooong time.  I went out.  With a friend.  To drink.

This is a good thing, right?  A woman needs a break from her brood every now and again.

I had a little too much to drink, though, and made an ass of myself...a few times.

Towards the end of the night, my best friend, Michele, and I are standing at the bar talking to two guys (innocently--I'm married, remember?), and she (or I--I really can't remember) decides it's time to do a shot.  So, she buys all four of us lemon drops. 

Here is my moment to shine--to not look like the novice.  I slam my drink in one gulp, grab my lemon wedge, and bite down.  Then, I take the soggy, sugary lemon and toss it into  my glass, no, wait...it went into the guy's lap.  He was still brushing sugar off his pants ten minutes later.

What can I say?  I'm all sorts of classy.

...Saturday morning I remember why I usually stay home Friday nights with my three kids.  My head ached so bad that I smelled smoke.  I was sure the booze gave me a tumor.

Above:  Me before my night of debauchery...   

Sneak a peek

I almost forgot about some embroidery I'm working on.  It's actually a block that will belong to a larger piece.  It's all wrinkled from the move, but check it out anyway:

I've also taken some wildlife photos:

Those damn kids are still tp-ing the tree--in the middle of the day while I'm here.  It's not funny anymore.  I wish I could catch the little pricks jerks in the act.  It's almost as if it's being done by mischievous, invisible pixies.   

On the bright side, though, I don't have to buy toilet paper for a while...

Now I can be the Queen Bee

I made a purchase today.  Check it out:

I also purchased the most wonderful soap and candle a few weeks back and forgot to give kudos to the seller. 

If you click on the pictures, it will bring you to the listing for the items.  Below are the links to the stores.

BirdzNBeez

LotusSyfn

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I decided today was going to be a "clean-a-little-draw-a-lot-day."  I have ideas for new quilts and I have to get them down on paper.  Space is limited in this ol'cranium.

Since I haven't posted any crafty stuff lately, I will post my preliminary sketches once I have some.  Hopefully there will be a few to post tomorrow.

Oh. My. God...PICTURES!!

Alright.  I've been lazy and have not taken or shared any pictures lately.  I will remedy that now.

My baby gal who turns 6 months in two days:

A rose bush that has just bloomed in my back yard:

 

My TP tree (most of tp has been pulled/fallen down):

 

The front of our house (come on over!...Unless you are a buglar or psycho killer...):

Hope you enjoyed the pics!  Start expecting some bird ones become my yard is a bird haven.  I have robins, cardinals, and some brown ones I don't recognize.   

Ah, to be young...Part 2

Remember how I spoke longingly of youth yesterday?  Be careful of what you wish for.

Someone decided to decorate my yard last night.  Toilet paper.  All over the largest tree in my yard.  Written in shaving cream in my driveway:  "JRS09."  Apparently, no one told the juniors that the seniors that lived here moved.  We were toilet-papered twice already.  I think the Junior/Senior war lasts until prom.  I looked it up--it's this weekend.

So, ask and ye shall receive.   The neighborhood thinks I'm a high school senior...well, sort of...

Ah, to be young...

You know you've gotten a good work out when your butt is still twitching a half hour later...

I took a walk today...around my neighborhood.  Jealous much?

This was my second walk around the 'hood.  It's a really pleasant place for a walk.  There are lots of trees for shade, hills for added workout, and there is a creek with a bridge over it.  The creek, of course, is my favorite part. 

There are teenagers, too.  I shuffle past them as they wait for the bus.  I feel old and frumpy.  And invisible.  They glance at me before returning to their oh-so-important teen talk.  Everything is significant when you are seventeen.

This morning I passed a boy with a mohawk.  I wanted to scream, "I used to be cool!  I used to have a hairdo similar to yours!  This is your future, kid--enjoy your individuality while you can because when you are my age people frown on nose rings and liberty spikes."

Eh.  Everybody gets old. 

   

Did I tell you?

I've decided to go back to school.  I start in the fall.  I was going to major in elementary education, but I changed my mind.  Instead, I'm going back to my original major, English. 

Back, many years ago--two--I was going to a community college with the dreams of acquiring an associates in English.  After getting my associates, I planned to transfer to a university to get my teaching degree.  At this time, though, I was working part-time and raising my two boys, so most (if not all) of my classes needed to be taken online.  Unfortunately, Frederick Community College only offers a handful of classes online.  So, I changed my major to General and ended up completing 30-something hours of college.  (I think I have 36 hours under my belt.) 

Then, we moved. 

We will have been living here in beautiful Georgia for two years in October.  I decided a few weeks ago that it's time.  I should go back to school, finish my associates and then transfer to Georgia State. 

This time, I'm excited to say, the college I chose, Georgia Perimeter College, offers almost ALL of their courses ONLINE!!!!!  (Even speech, which I thought was a little odd.)

So, I decided to register.  Which I did.  But I decided to change my major again...to elementary education.  Why?  Because you don't have to be a genius to teach. 

Okay, that didn't come out right.  What I meant to say is it's really easy to get a job as a teacher because there just isn't enough people willing to work for apples.  I wouldn't have to worry about whether or not I will be "chosen."

By the way, I should mention that I do NOT intend to go back to work until all three of my children are in school. 

So, what do I really want to do?  I want to change my major back to English.  I want to write...for money.  I want to be part of a magazine, or a newspaper.  I want to edit, critique or review.  I want to be able to travel--again, this is way, way in the future--to far away places.  I want to write a best-selling novel that is translated into seven other languages and featured on Oprah, which will lead to throngs of unhappy housewives running out to their local Borders and picking up my book to forget their uninteresting lives.  I want to sign those books, and tell those women I was once in their place, and I never settled--never gave up! 

These are just dreams, though.  I'm taking baby steps.  I'm taking a few courses at a community college. 

Fortunately, though, I'm dreaming again.   

Back in High School I fantasized about becoming a famous author/artist.  I was voted "Most Creative" in Pass Christian High School's class of '96.  I was featured in "Coast" magazine for the same reason, chosen by my principal and art teacher.  I won an essay contest and got my picture in the "Sun Herald," the Mississippi Gulf Coast's newspaper.  I won first place in a poetry contest at my schools literary fair.  I placed second in a state art competition.  (I would have won first, I think, if my subject weren't so risque.  I did a block print of a dominatrix.  It was beautiful.  She sat atop a mountain of skulls and held a wipe in her hand.  I printed her in black ink against red mulberry paper.  My friend won first.  They thought her picture was of a Native American.  It was a punk rocker with a mohawk.  She didn't correct them.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is if you knew me in high school, you would've said, "that girl is going places!"  Instead of going to college, I joined the Air Force.  I forgot about my silly little dreams the first night of basic training. 

So, instead of taking the easy road and training for a guaranteed job, I'm going to work hard and try to become that adult I imagined I would be.  It'll be difficult, and most likely my inner voice will continuously assault me with criticism and doubt, but I'm going to try.  I don't want to settle. 

This does NOT mean I will stop knitting or sewing.  Just the opposite, I think.  School is exercise from the brain--the whole brain.  Everything will benefit. 

I should also mention I got the idea to go back to school because I have "mommy-brain."  Lately I've been struggling to find the right words.  I have been forgetting things.  My brain is lazy.  Most of my conversations are with an almost-five-year-old who pronounces "thing" as "sing."  We discuss Spongebob.  And Super Mario.