having fun

i am having a blast finally getting to get my hands dirty in some paint this weekend with the workshop with Pam Carriker's "Visual Journalism 101" online workshop with Creative Workshops. I've only gotten a few pages done (for the first week's assignment anyway), tomorrow starts the next assignment (I CANNOT WAIT TO FIND OUT WHAT'S NEXT IN THE PROCESS). 

i always get the workshop frenzy this time of year, and this year is no exception. i'm sure there will be others that come up, but this week i signed up for the Susan Lenart Kazmer resin workshop at the bead & button show in june, and the Judy Coates Perez whole cloth painted quilt workshop at the chicago international quilt show in april. i got the new stampin' up catalog yesterday. omg - they have some really cool new stamps... yikes! someone had better glue shut my wallet! no, serious, i am budgeting for my habit... it keeps me going AND out of trouble otherwise. 

i have been trying to make some time (not sure where to eek it out, but i'm trying) for cooking. today i'm making a pot roast. smells so yummy in the oven. marc & i are not meat people and this pot roast will last us for 3 - 4 days. i'll be making alsatian onion pie this week as well. i saw a new cooking show last weekend with chef Hubert Keller where he made all kinds of alsatian pies (from his homeland of france) and i just had to go to the store and get the ingredients. of course, i CANNOT find his recipe on the internet as apparently this was a new episode of his show, so i'm searching for a similar recipe. maybe i'll e-mail him? who knows, maybe i'll get a response. he really should update his website, don't you think? 

work is crazy busy. frenzied. good for me and those i work with, but stressful nonetheless. i started light therapy just over a week ago. you know - the light boxes you read about? anyway, i think it is helping me. i am not a morning person, never have been. i come from a long line of not morning people! i joke about this with my aunts, who are all so glad to no longer have to work so they can stay up late and sleep late! but, i also find that the light seems to have a calming effect on me. i do not feel so frazzled, short-tempered. that is most helpful dealing with so much stress at work. one crisis after another that i have to deal with. marc has been using it too, but he says he feels no different. i told him you have be a "believer"! LOL! i'm sure it effects everyone differently and some people not at all. he is a morning person, and maybe that's why. he wakes up early and goes to be early naturally. not me. 

take care - have a great day!

note: i e-mailed the Hubert Keller secrets of a chef show website and within about 15 minutes (i am not kidding about this!) i got the recipes e-mailed to me! WOW! talk about service. YUM. i will let you know how it turns out at home. 

new year - new hope

the new year has arrived and with it, new hope for better times for our country. i can barely turn on the t.v. or radio, or read the headlines of the paper as it is all gloom & doom for our country and the world. the economy and war, least we forget - global warming! i am focusing on positive energy in my own little world in as much as i can, anyway. :) today i did spring cleaning - purging of unwanted and forgotten items. i have a car load of items to take for donation now, clothing in particular. a lot of it is vintage clothing. i used to wear it - back when i was a few sizes smaller (before a thyroid issue developed). i hate to part with them, but better to send them on to someone else who will hopefully love them as much as i did. freeing up unwanted/stored negative energy from my life and home. they can be recycled into positive energy in the world. 

i took down the xmas tree & decorations today. it was a little bit early for me, i usually like to leave them up through the end of the first week of january, but we are in the midst of refinancing our home and we've been very busy tidying everything up as next week the appraiser is coming. i hadn't planned on refinancing, but with rates so low, the lowest in over 40 years - how could i not refinance? being that i'm in the mortgage business i knew right away when the rates dropped. they may drop even lower, just a bit within the next month. we will see. as it is i will save over $300 a month and i'm keeping the loan term the same as if i was not refinancing. good deal. that is why we are SO BUSY at work. just swamped with loan applications. anyway, here's a shot of one of my many shiny brite ornaments. my grandparents and parents had shiny brite ornaments - of which i inherited their collections. now i continue the collecting. one of my favorites is this space themed one. with all the work on the house this weekend, there wasn't much time for artwork :( but i will make up for that. i have signed up for an online workshop with pam carriker called visual journalism 101. i just love her artwork and am looking forward to learning more about her techniques. i am awaiting the day of 1/13 so that i can sign up for susan lenart kazmer's workshop at the bead & button show in milwaukee on exploration of resins. i am so excited about that. she has other workshops at the show, but a girl has only so much $ and time, so you have to pick what's of the most interest and i do love working with resins... :)

i hope your new year is an excellent one. take care. 

relief at last

this photo is of a beautiful fungus of some sort that marc found growing in the wood near where he works. he was quite proud that he had found it and took the camera into work to get the photo on his lunch break. within a day, some had kicked it and destroyed it (intentionally). how can someone not find beauty in this? i know marc did, and he wanted to share it with me.

i have finally found some relief in whatever this sinus thing is that i've been battling. i went to an ear nose & throat specialist today. although she thinks i probably had some viral thing going on last week, based on my symptoms the past several weeks, she believes my allergies are out of control and have royally pissed off my sinuses. she looked at them from every angle she could (don't ask, not fun) and has now put me on prednisone (steroid) for several days. she wants me off the other antihistamines as they are aggravating the condition. she gave me some nasal spray which will bring down the sinus swelling and also some cough syrup to take at night so i can sleep (and breathe) comfortably. thing is, i feel so much better since i took the prednisone & nasal spray this afternoon. it's remarkable. i think she's going to help me through this. then we will have to figure out how to best treat the allergies so they don't do this to me again. 

in the meantime, i felt well enough tonight to work on getting my supplies together for the artist workshop this weekend. i am so excited! i was worried the past couple of days (and this morning before going to the doctor) that i wouldn't feel well enough to go. i think i can do it now. this is truly the opportunity of a lifetime for me. i'd love to take other workshops at this studio as they have other wonderful artists coming there all the time... unfortunately, at this time anyway, my budget doesn't allow for it. maybe next year i can save up and do two workshops? that would be terrific. i do hope marc enjoys this trip and the b&b. i can't stand to be away from him unless it's absolutely necessary. he will be off doing the things he enjoys - driving around seeing sites and going antiquing while i'm in the workshop during the day. i will see him at breakfast, dinner and at night, of course! 

i am still waiting to hear if i'll be going to the fiserv conference in orlando in september. if i end up going, it will be without marc. we are going on vacation the week before, so i'll get to spend a week with him. i do believe i will, but it seems that every year i find out i'm definitely going just before it happens. i like to plan out things well enough in advance. i just like it that way if at all possible. anyway, enough for tonight. i need my beauty rest ;-)