A BIG project!

As we were coming home at Christmas time from a visit in North
Carolina, I started thinking about personal projects that I wanted
to start for 2009. I had my eye on getting published and I wanted
to work on perfecting my doll making abilities. And of course the
artist in me has been neglected for years, not to mention that
move into a new studio and the boxes that are still stacked up
waiting for the day when order will return.
Yet when my sweet husband asked me to take on this project, I
looked into his baby blues and my mind said "no" but my lips said "yes."
The mission is to take this house on Nichol Avenue in Anderson
Indiana and turn it into a decent rental.
The first day on the job site I noticed that I would have to clean
up the mess left by the last worker. Next, I noticed that all
three bedrooms had wallpaper on them.... many layers of wallpaper.
The blue room had 3 layers of wallpaper and two coats of paint.
The butterfly room only had 2 layers of wallpaper while the
rough room had 2 layers of wallpaper topped off with a coat of paint
then another layer of wallpaper finished off with another coat of paint.
In spots the wallpaper pulled away from the walls and in other spots
the wallpaper was home to colonies of mold or mildew. So I knew
that the wallpaper had to go.
I went out to Menards and bought a power steamer and I have to
admit that it is weird to say this but I think I'm in love. The power
steamer rocks. The wallpaper just melted under the influence
of the power steamer!
I will be giving you updates as this project goes along but I just
wanted to take this time to give a shout out to the power steamer. I am
thinking that this tool may be useful in some of my future art projects.
I consider this project one of my first yes I can events. Why? Because
I keep thinking "this is too much for me." And then I find that I tell
myself "I am capable of doing everything that needs to be done to
bring this house back to livable condition - except the electrical."
Stay tuned.

SEA JOURNEY

It started as a sea journey. My husband Philip and I set sail from the port of Miami aboard the Carnival Liberty, along with roughly 2500 fellow passengers around 5 PM - just before sunset. We headed out onto a smooth as glass sea - destination - Cosumel, Mexico. The sunset was every shade of red, pink and yellow. Glorious!
Years ago, the port at Cosumel had been rebuilt after a devastating storm. It was interesting to have seen the old port on a trip there several years back. Then, passengers were ferried from the big ship over to the shore. I remember this because as we were heading for shore back then I was fascinated as I watched a pack of dogs romping in the surf and suddenly one of the dogs held a smaller dog under the water for the longest time and just when I thought it was gonna drown. The bigger dog let the small dog up.
The Liberty docked at Cosumel and another, larger cruise ship docked there too. We walked out of the canyon of cruise ships to explore the town of Cosumel. Phil headed straight for a scooter rental place (mentioning to me that the cruise director had warned against renting scooters) and rented a scooter. I was nervous. I kept picturing the headlines "American Woman Dies in Freak Scooter Accident - Body Still Missing!" Yet we strapped on the helmets and headed out to explore. We rode through the town of Cosumel with it's speed bumps designed to slow down a tank. Yes, they were tall bumps and we slowed down so much that we almost tipped over the scooter several times.
When we got to the end of town and things started looking seedy, we headed back toward the scooter rental shop. We left the scooter there while we went back aboard ship for lunch.
After lunch we came back for further scooter adventure. Phil wanted to find a good place to snorkle so we headed toward the beach. I was hanging on tight as he sped down the highway to nowhere. My helmet felt like it wanted dearly to take flight so I was hanging onto the helmet too. We must have been a sight as a truck load of Mexican men passed us, pointing and laughing.
After miles and miles of driving we spotted a beach. The surf was churning like wash water, foamy and blue. We had come so far to find a beach and had limited time before the scooter was due back so Phil decided to stop here and snorkle. He got the OK from the shop owner next to the beach and so Phil plunged into the foamy, turquoise sea. I sat down on the sand to get some sun and watch my husband be tossed about in the water. Then the shop owner started gathering people together along the shore edge. He came over and motioned for me to join them. So I did. Then something wonderful happened! The shop owner came out of his building carrying a huge tray and in that tray were about 50 to 100 baby sea turtles. He took them to the water's edge and set them out in the sand. Soon they made their way into the water and floated away like fallen leaves into the big, blue sea.
Then Philip and I headed back to the scooter shop to return the scooter. We made our way back down the canyon of cruise ships and back to our room exhausted by the heat and excitement of the days adventure. We enjoyed a refreshing lemonade drink and laughed and talked about the wild ride we had just been on. I was glad that the headlines had not come true but knew that tomorrow was another day and I was travelling with a wild man!
After leaving Cosumel, we headed east toward the Grand Cayman Islands. We had a day at sea before getting to Cayman so we did the usual stuff that passengers do...eat, eat, eat. A passenger could find some kind of food being prepared at any hour on the ship. Also there are art auctions, variety shows, spas, sports, gambling, etc.
When we got to Grand Cayman, Phil and I walked around for a while then got on a local bus which was basically a club van which only charged $2.50 per person to go anywhere in the town. We rode down to the beach where Phil again tried to snorkle. I sat in the shade watching him. One observation - I could actually hear my skin sizzling in the sun. I got such a burn on Grand Cayman. Yet, it is a beautiful place and as we waited at the bus stop to catch a bus back to the ship, I noticed an iguana which had come out of the jungle to graze on the foliage near the bus stop. He had such a beautiful, emerald/dark lime color and would take a bite then look about as if keeping an eye out for what? I don't know.
The ship left Grand Cayman around 3 PM and then we were on our way to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I wanted to mention the dining rooms on the ship. They were beautiful. Ours had these spoon shaped structures that canopyed the dining tables and in the walls where shadow boxes which held samples of antique flatware. I mention the dining room because we did not eat lunch while we were on Grand Cayman so as soon as we got back on the ship we had a snack and 30 minutes later went to the captain's cocktail party which was followed by dinner in the fine dining room. Overload!
On Thursday morning, our ship docked in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was a bit overcast and I was hesitant about going ashore - we've been to Jamaica before. Phil said that he was going so I knew I had to go else I might never see him again. We started down the long "gang plank" of a dock. Most passengers were getting hooked up with their tour for the day but Phil and I decided that we would just walk through the streets and explore....maybe go to a local park. From the git go we were hit on by the local folks to let them help us help them. "We can take you there..., we can take you there..., we can take you there...." We were being swarmed by everybody within a three block range to do business with us, plus braid my hair. At one point two of the potential business men seemed ready to get into a fight over us and then a police officer/military guy showed up with a billy club. I got the impression that we were not going to get off the island without a cracked head. I could just see the headlines now "American Woman - Has Run In With Jamaican Police - Head Still Missing." I told Phil I wanted to go back to the ship. We'd had our island adventure and it wasn't even 10 AM. And as we headed back to the ship, a tropical storm set in and the rest of the day was called due to rain.
From Jamaica we headed back to Florida. On Friday night we went on the top deck to see if we could see the launch of the space shuttle. I thought I saw the launch plume clouds. There was a full moon on Wednesday or Thursday of that week. Some folks on the ship were wearing Obama tshirts and at times it looked like giant Obama heads coming my way. Our dining mates were a couple from Florida and the guy loved guns and proceeded to explain why everyone needs one. I was the butt of a stand up comic's routine whose jokes were totally raunchy...yes he called me up on stage. Saturday we ate breakfast for our last meal aboard ship then made our way, our official papers in hand, through the lines of people, drug dogs and various groups gathering to gather their luggage. And the adventures just kept coming.....

Fruit Cake

Nothing says Christmas, friendship and love like a fresh made fruit cake. My dear friend Julie made me a full out fruit cake just because I was willing to sample the fruit cake she made for her mother and father in law. I had such an easy time of it... just show up and sample the cake. A month later boom.... I got cake too. It is wonderful! Kudoos and thanks go out to Julie - good friend extraordinare!

Also, a new year has begun and I am plotting and planning. I promised a report on mine and Phil's cruise. And that is forth coming.

Forth coming is an update on my move from the big space to the small space. I have plans there too.

And of course, I am ready to do new things on this blog, like links and flicker photos and anything else that might be cool to do. My goal is to be blogging twice a week....we'll see.

Good new year to all who follow this blog and thanks for your support.

Sleigh Ride!

Hello and we're back. I have plenty to tell about our 2 week trip but let me tell you first about the drive to work this morning. It was snowing. I dropped my husband's chain saw blade off to be sharpened and a guy was outside the shop calling for a tow truck because at 8:30 AM he had already slid off the road and crashed his pull behind trailer into his NEW pickup truck. He lived to cell about it so I gave my condolence and travelled on to Anderson to my shop.
I was driving along highway 9 and I put a holiday tape in the tape player of my car. It's all instrumental music. So as I floated along amidst snowflakes and slick roads, a song came on the tape that sounded like music with horses clip clopping in the background. Just as I heard the clip clop, a cloud of snow blew off a car in front of me and I swear for a minute I pictured myself in a horse driven sleigh travelling into Anderson. I had to laugh. Snow flying everywhere and me bundled up in blankets behind the reins.
I thought of Florida too; nice weather almost everyday (except for the horrendous storms that blow through) and how a lot of folks go there to get away from cold weather. Imagine never seeing another snowstorm, no more tingling cold skin and deep cold breaths, icicles, frost (OMG! FROST! - God's icing!)

Yes We Can

In case you missed it, America elected her first African-American president...Barack Obama! As I watched his speech on election night, I noticed his use of the expression "Yes we can!" OK, I know that was his campaign slogan, but as I watched him standing there, the camera so close in on his face, I began to think about that phrase, "Yes we can." And as I thought of that phrase, I thought of the numerous times in my own life that I have stepped to my own self made doors marked "You can't" and I haven't. And what does it take for this guy to get that "yes I can" philosophy inside his head? Because he has had to get that inside his head. And what will it take for me to get it inside my head? Of course the "You can't" doors have to go.
And what if a nation, from coast to coast, started to get rid of the "you can't" doors?

My husband and I are leaving tomorrow for a two week vacation. During that time, I want to do some mental house keeping or maybe even remodelling. I'm taking out the "you can't" doors and installing some arches... that's a little better entry into the land of possibilities. Is this a great country or what?

In Loving Tribute

On October 14, 2008 my aunt Margaret Stevens passed away
from a massive stroke at the age of 84. She was my mother's twin sister. They were not identical in appearance or in nature. Yet, since my mother's death on August 14, 1989 I could not help but see Mama in my aunt Margaret's face.
I didn't go to the funeral since my family is almost 600 miles from here. I tried to talk to friends and family members about my feelings toward Margaret. It didn't help very much.
I had my children come over for dinner on Sunday in honor of our aunt. I told them that it felt wrong to have someone so significant depart my life and the week just go on as usual. I felt that we should be together as a family at a time like this. I wanted to just close my eyes right then and let all that was in me flow out about this sweet lady. However, my husband decided that this was a point where we should review for him just who was who in my family. (By the way, we've been married for 34 years.) So I stopped to bring him up to speed on the fact that Margaret lived with Valorie (her sister - my mother's sister - my other aunt). The mood was broken.
Laying in bed on Sunday night, thinking about the week and my frustration with being unable to put to words just what was going on inside my head, it occured to me that perhaps writing about this sweet lady might help me the most.
My aunt Margaret was quiet and most would think she was meek. Though my Mom told the story of how young, meek Margaret, walking home from school was teased by a fellow classmate. I cannot remember if the bully was teasing Margaret or my Mom but out of the blue, Margaret had had enough and suddenly flew into a flogging fit on the bully. According to Mom, it was amazing!
I never saw this part of aunt Margaret. What I did see was a kind and sweet soul. She always made mention of my hair or what I was wearing as if it were wonderful. Couldn't have a better hair cut or my choice of clothing was the best. Aunt Margaret made me feel like a rock star! I was cool in her eyes.
We lived within walking distance of my grandparents house. Whenever one of us kids (there were 9 of us) got sick, aunt Margaret or my grandmother would take a bread pan, place 4 or 5 teacups inside the pan, fill each cup with a couple of tablespoons of food from their dinner. Then they'd wrap a biscuit or chunk of cornbread in a piece of tinfoil and place that inside the pan too. Finally, they'd cover the entire sampler with a dish towel to keep things warm and bring it over to the sick child. You always felt like you were gonna live when you saw that sampler. It was hope in a bread pan!
Aunt Margaret never married and lived with my grandparents until they passed away. She was a maiden aunt. Anyway, she and my grandmother always had a wonderful Christmas Eve party at their house every year until I was in my late 20's. And they would have a gift under the tree for everyone in attendance. We're talking 5 generations of greats and grands!
My aunt Margaret collected tiny, glass shoes for a number of years. Several years ago she gave me one of the few remaining shoes stating that she wanted me to have a memento of her collection.
Aunt Margaret loved to decorate her house and would change things out constantly. She and my Mom worked in tandum to keeps furniture, lamps, pictures, what-nots, etc. moving from one house to the other. You never knew where the chair you were sitting on today would be next week.
Sometimes, Aunt Margaret dabbled in art. I remember sitting in her living room with two of my sisters and getting the giggles over a plaque that Margaret had made that...well...let's just say she could have been a star in the outsider art movement.
My aunt Margaret worked hard to help her family. In some ways, losing her was like losing Mom all over again. I'll miss her. Ultimately, there are really no words to speak or write that adequately reveal the loss I feel.

Fall Holding Pattern

I'm in a funk. There is no better word to describe it. I don't know if it's the unknown of the election season, the unknown of the economy or just the unknown in general. I'm watching more news than I usually do, even to the point of checking and rechecking the news on the internet. And for those who know me, this isn't me. There's a lot to be said for ignorant bliss.... my usual state.
I was talking to a friend the other day about entrophy... "a measure of the randomness, disorder, or chaos in a system." It's always with us. It's in every system that you can think of be it your heart, your car, the universe or the eye of a needle. Just when you think you have everything perfected entrophy shows up with a rust spot, a blood clot or a mass of dead, fake lady bugs accumulating in the corners of the window screen.
Entrophy is what makes being in a funk so scary. I can sit here and ponder the world in general but that won't stop the bucket of tomatoes sitting in my kitchen from rotting. And I can take action on the tomatoes and something else loses ground.
I believe that being in a funk is necessary sometimes. It gives us humans some rebooting time. A little time to regain our position and get started on new projects or new paths. I'm even contemplating taking a physics class. I feel like my brain needs a stretching. Of course entrophy will be at work on that too. It's such a vicious cycle.