In Texas

We are in Amarillo, Texas tonight. This will be a quick entry as I am SO SO tired!

I have seem to develop an allergy that only affects me when we cross the mountains to Denver. My eyes get so red...goopy and just hurt. When we came over for Micahel's work a few weeks ago - the same thing happened but I thought it was with the little cold I had that time. But obviously not as my eyes look horrible! They actually are feeling better tonight though so that is good.

I am going to end it here but I do want to keep a note for myself to write about the spiders.

Fashion Fix

I watched Tim Gunn's Guide to Style tonight - first episode I have had on the recorder forever. I haven't recorded any of the other and now am sorry I didn't. I cried. I am sucker for a touching story. Michael said that today about something totally different but it was right....extreme house makeover...makes me cry too. (Just went to look up when Project Runway season 4 starts - November 14th)

Reading List for 2007 - so far

These are the books I can remember that I have read this year. Last year my depression was so bad that I just couldn't concentrate enough to read - so I made it a goal to complete 25 books this year. And I made it over my goal and just enjoying reading again. The books with links are to entries that I made about the book.

1. Collage Discovery by Claudine Hellmuth (this link goes to my art journal)
2. Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Walters
3. Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton
4. The Crimson Petal and The White by Michel Faber
5. Artists' Journals & Sketchbooks by Lynne Perrella
6. Creative Utopia: 12 Ways to Realize Total Creativity by Theo Stephan Williams
8. Kink by Kathe Koja
9. Suicide Blonde by Darcey Steinke
10. Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coehlo - I really enjoyed the story. This is the first time I really have read one of his books and not felt I learned something after. This was just enjoying the story unfold
16. He, She, It by Marge Percy - EXCELLENT book! If you like anything set in the future - this book was very interesting. If you like history also you will like this book as it does go through Jewish history of 1600 Prague.
11. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
12. Collage Discovery Workshop: Beyond The Unexpected by Claudine Hellmuth
13. My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due
14. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
15. Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton - I have been a fan of her books for quite a while but the last one I read number 3 on my list was really not interesting at all. Although I like sex, her book was sex from start to finish and no plot ever coming to the surface. So to recapture the reason I really liked the books I decided to start back at the beginning of the series and go through them again. I missed one book as I loaned that someone several years ago and they never returned it.
16. Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton
17. Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K. Hamilton
18. Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton
19. Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton
20. Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton
21. Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton
22. Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton
23. Cerulean Sins by Laurell K. Hamilton
24. Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton
25. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kid
26. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kid - yes again
27. URGENT 2nd CLASS by Nick Bantock
28. Griffin & Sabine by Nick Bantock
29. Sabine's Notebook by Nick Bantock
30. The Golden Mean by Nick Bantock
31. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
32. Bitten by Kelly Armstrong
33. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova --- really good book about Vlad. I really liked reading the letters. I really liked the fear created at the beginning.
34. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
35. The Living Blood by Tananarive Due -- the sequel to number 19. It really didn't grab me like the first book - at first. But about mid-way through then it became a page turner for me.
36. Lucky by Alice Sebold - it is her own story of when she was raped - I am not sure how I feel about it yet
37. Book Arts by Mary Kaye Seckler
38. The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton - yay! So much better then the last book (number 3 on my list)
39. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - going to start tonight

Ironing Fool

I am an ironing fool tonight. I hate ironing. Ironing used to be one of my chores when I was growing up. I think maybe it burnt me out. Or at least I can blame it on that right?

We leave tomorrow or possibly Friday morning for our trip. Won't be back until the 10th probably.

Siren Song Yarns

A friend of mine is a knitter and started dyeing yarn over a year ago. She is now selling her yarn on Etsy. Beautiful colors. She made me some slippers out of some of the hand dyed yarn. They are so warm and comfy!



SirenSongYarns.etsy.com

(I created the banner for her Etsy shop)

Always or Aways

On our entertainment center there is a grouping of pictures including both sets of my Grandparents - their wedding pictures and then a picture of my parents (Need to frame their wedding photos still just got a new copy as my old one was really small and faded). In front of them we have chunky silver letters that spell out "always." Yesterday morning I noticed it says "aways." I said to Michael, "what did you do with the L?" He said, "Why do you think I did anything?" I said, "Because it is so you" (not to mention I don't think the cats know how to spell but that is whole another thing that I thought I shouldn't point out in the moment). He said that he thought of changing it every so often to see if I noticed. He changed it on Saturday and I just noticed this morning.

At least it only took me a few days....several weeks ago he was getting into bed and looked into the hall and said, "hey you changed the picture in the hall." I said, "yes a month ago."

A Quick Break

I am taking a little break to have an apple. I have one of those things that you put on the apple and then push down and it sliced the apple into nice wedges. I love that thing! I have been working on art in between chores today. But I can't begin to explain how good it felt to have my hands covered in glue, paint and then fanning through paper and various ephemera. I just popped in Narnia the DVD player and will get back to more art after I post this entry.

I am washing clothes and starting to make lists of what we need to bring on our trip but having problems as we will probably be in 2 to 3 climates. There has been snow in the mountains. And it is probably starting to feel like fall in Denver - though not quite yet here but close. And then Louisiana will probably be warmer then it is here. We have a ton of equipment to bring with us so I need to pack very efficiently so bring ton of clothes is not an option.

I made kind of an Italian stew on Thursday....combined great northern beans, browned ground Italian sausage, diced tomatoes, basil, garlic, onions, green & yellow peppers, chicken stock and cooked in the crock for 6/7 hours about 30 minutes before serving I added some cooked elbow noodles. The sausages I use come from Sam's and they have so much flavor that they flavored it a lot. Topped with some grated Parmesan cheese. And served with homemade French bread. It turned out pretty good. Michael said it is a keeper.

Laughing

We are done with West Wing we are watching Angel. Tonight we started an episode that made me get mad and yell at the tv saying that Joss is a mean mean man for not letting us be happy. It's the last episode with Doyle. Michael said you need to do a grr and so I did. And he started laughing so hard. It was one of those laughs I thought he might start crying he was laughing so hard. It was nice to make him laugh like that and just fun to laugh with him like that...one of those simple pleasures laughing with the person you love.

Friday Gratitude

Doing the letter O for my Friday Gratitude...

~ O ~

open-mind - I am thankful for having an open-mind and for those around me who are open-minded. I am glad there are so many people willing to consider ideas and opinions that are new or different to their own.
open - I guess is the same as above but I think being open means a slightly different things. I think of being open to things coming into my life, open to with feelings and thoughts, people, things so that you can fully experience all that life brings. I am thankful for being open.
opal - Mysterious, complex, delicate, and sparkly and I am thankful they are my birthstone.
October - which brings us to October not only the month of my birth but also my favorite month of the year. And I would like to think it is not because it is just my birthday but I really love what October seems to bring to the year...the autumn weather at it's peak. The smell, the cool air, the fall harvest so the foods...just so many wonderful things that come about in October.
oil pastels - as an artist I like using oil pastels at times. I just pulled them out recently as I hadn't used them in a long time. And I loved the smell and the feel of them in my hand and the feel of them as they pressed and marked the surface below them.
Oreo Cookies - Oh Oreo cookies and a big glass of milk sound splendid! I love taking them apart and liking the white creamy center and then munching on the crunchy cookie after. Or seeing how long they will last before breaking into bits when dunked in a glass of milk. And then eating all the mushy cookies out of the bottom of the glass! Yummy Oreos!
Olive Oil - I love to cook with olive oil. And thankful for all the wonderful things I cook with it.
Oven - I love to bake and cook so I am very thankful for the oven that cooks so many yummy meals and treats!
Ornaments - I have written about my set of Christmas tree ornaments. I love Christmas and decorating the tree with Michael. We hang each ornament and talk about the memories associated with them. Each representing a wonderful memory. With fall on its way means Christmas is coming too.
Opportunities - Thankful for all the opportunities that I have daily in my life...be it my relationship with Michael, my art, or just little simple everyday things....such enjoying dinner with Michael. I am thankful for all opportunities in my life.
Ordinary - I am thankful for the ordinary things in life...they are simple and everyday but make up so much of the journey and so in that way are extraordinary.
Orange - I do like th color orange and am grateful for the inspiration it gives me and comes through in various ways in my life.
organic - the Ideal Bite to live a greener life. I do like organic. It isn't always possible as it does cost more but I thankful for those that make organic products.
okay - I am thankful for being okay. I think okay is sometimes overlooked. We want everyday to be great - wishing we had that new relationship energy everyday but we forget that hey today was okay. It wasn't horrible - but I am here I made it...I had some good things in it. And I lived my life today.
ocean - I am thankful for the ocean I have only seen it once but it was an amazing experience and I am thankful for memory.
old things - I am thankful for old things, old looking things...I use lots of old letters, photos, hardware, postcards, books in my art so I like old things
online - I am thankful for being able to be online - blogging, chatting with friends, emailing, shopping, playing...so many things to do!

Watching Oprah

I don't watch regular network TV very often as our satellite doesn't carry it (yet - that is changing) and when watching it through the rabbit ears on the tv it just doesn't come in clear. A blog I read announced that Oprah was doing intersex as the topic of her show today.

It was an okay show...I mean it probably helped bring it out in the open to educate the public. And maybe it is just because I haven't watched Oprah in years, but her questions came across as shocked and slightly judgemental to me at time yet on the other hand she was truely sincere and concerned that everyone treat everyone with acceptance. And I believe she feels that way but I didn't feel the accepting vibe when she was asking questions though. Such as one of the women she interviewed she asked if she wished she was a normal woman. And the tone and just using the word normal to me is implying she is a freak and not normal. Oprah could have asked her if she wished she wasn't intersex and got the same answer she was after and been more accepting. She also said things like under her breath almost...you know when little kids say a naughty word or even say sex or penis and then snicker...that is how it came across to me....like she was embarassed. I would have had more respect if she just would have been straight forward and asked what do your partners say when you tell them or are you gay without the shocked and embarassed attitude. She has been a host for how long - you would think she would have heard it all by now to know how to phrase questions in a more accepting and sensitive way. Again I think Oprah really is very accepting and sincere in that acceptance, I just think she could have been more sensitive in her questions.

Next Friday she is doing transgender as the topic. We will be on the road so I will miss it.

The book that inspired her to do the topic of intersex was Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. The book I want to read after her talking about it a bit and also talking to the author. He won a Pultizer Prize for Middlesex. I think I am going to add it to my library list.

San Diego Mayor

...saying he is supporting gay marriage....he is very choked up and emotional. It gave me tears.

http://cbs5.com/video/?id=26888@kpix.dayport.com

A Day...

We have lots of work to do but today we took to just run errands and take care of a few things we have been meaning to do for a bit.

Our Day...
Grocery Store - Our day started off with the going to the grocery store - It was a pretty big trip as we hadn't gone in 2 weeks. I am actually going to go brown some ground turkey after this post - to put in the freezer to use when needing a quick meal.

Library - after dropping off & putting all the groceries away we went out again...to the library to pick up 2 books they had on hold for me - the new Laurell K. Hamilton and then Outlander.

Dollar Tree - We don't have one here so it is a little trek to Delta. Picked up quite a few things - it is never just a "Dollar" Tree.

Snack - Then had a snack at a park before heading back to Grand Junction

Michael's - stopped at home to unloading our goods from Dollar Tree and then I grabbed the Michael's 50% off coupon. I got a book on book binding with the coupon. And then I used some of the money I earned when teaching the class I did a month ago. I got a cute little pumpkin basket and then other supplies like brushes, paper and ribbon. Though I just noticed that basket I got didn't ring up onsale there was a 40% sign right above it. So that is annoying. (I saw some really cute flip flops with pink skull and cross bones on them that I wanted to get for a friend who has lots of t-shirts and such with pink skull and cross bones on them.

Dinner - We stopped and got a big sub at the grocery store for dinner. And I am grateful for that as my head was pounding pretty bad by that time - smelled to many candles at Michael's. Ate dinner and watched TV with Michael a bit before we are going to do some work this evening.

After looking at all the Halloween decorations at Michael's I am really excited to decorate for Halloween. I bought several Halloween things on sale after Halloween last year at Kohl's so I am anxious to dig them out and put them up. (probably take pictures after I get some things up)

Tomorrow I will really have to get a move on it with the scanning project. Once I get that done I hope to do some art. I also have to start packing for our trip. We leave end of next week.

A Blog Entry - *woots*!

Okay..

Don't get too excited now. I know I haven't been very good at updating on here as Darby has been much more productive in the blogging department around here for quite some time. The summer is slowly escaping our grasp and yet - we've been so incredibly busy around here lately that we're putting in extremely long days and they have all blurred together.

I've been spending much of the last month in Denver working on a real intense project over there. The project ended - and while the outcome was unfortunate, the ultimate "where does it go from here" scenario does appear that I have crafted out a pretty good niche in the area of consulting.

Which brings me to the video project we've been scrambling on the last few days. A lot of filming to produce a small 6-7 minute short demonstrating what can be done about mitigation video work. The project is a free one - as mainly to showcase what is possible in the area of combining the visual element with court cases. I was asked by the Indiana Public Defender to produce this video and I wrapped it up after a mad-dash of filming and editing. All told - it took much LONGER to film the various pieces than it did to edit the video. Which tells me that my editing skills are getting faster, or that I'm filming more so that I can create a more diverse video project. In all - I think the video is good, but not a perfect representation of what I can do. It's hard to construct something from nothing - but always remember that there's a good fiction writer in all of us.

Thankfully that brings me back to today (Saturday - yes, even though this will be posted in a few minutes before 2:00am.) We've been needing a day to ourselves, so we're going to load up the Mariner and head down to Delta to play around down there for the day. My girl is already busting her buttons at the prospect of going to Dollar Tree as it's been several weeks (if not months) since we went down there.

The nights are finally getting cooler - which means fall is right around the corner. In many ways it seems like it's getting here much faster this year - but considering how we were doing last year - I'm just grateful that we have our health this time around.

Actually the entry comes almost out of guilt after giving a class on BLOGGING and then needing to confess that I'm the world's WORST blogger because I simply can't seem to wrap the fingers on the keyboard long enough to hammer out an entry.

So not only do you get an entry to read, you'll also (metaphorically) hear Darby's squeal of delight coming from the next room as she applauds the fact that I've posted my first post on here in a really long time.....

Until later....
-Michael

Friday Gratitude

5 Good Things in my Life...
1. Pizza!
2. Organic Salad mix from Sam's
3. Sun-dried tomatoes
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
5. The week is over

Up at 6AM?

Monday was crazy busy and I suspect today will be too. We ran a ton of errands yesterday morning and when we got home I made a brochure for a class Michael taught last night. After we got home though Michael and I both felt like we had been hit with a truck. I ended up being bundled up in my fleece robe and wool socks drinking down some airborne - just in case.

At 2am I woke up with a really bad tension headache/migraine. I thought it was just because I was so tired when went to bed last night but by 3am I realized it wasn't going away so got up made some toast and took some meds. But now at 6am I am awake. The meds have caffeine in them and normally caffeine doesn't affect me but in this it does at times.

It is 9/11 today and I really don't feel it like I have in years past. I am thoughtful but I am not feeling the intense sadness I usually feel but maybe I am too tired and my headache is all I can handle at the moment.

Picked up some library books in our running around yesterday morning. I found a series but of course it isn't the first one and I am really the type of girl that likes to start at the beginning. But they didn't have the first one....wondering if anyone read them though to tell me if reading one out of order would really screw me up. The book is The Bitten by L.A. Banks (link to the website about the books). Vampire book again. I saw on my way to check out in the new books section - that there is a new(er) book in the series. I picked it up and looks like it has quite a few books in the series so might be fun to read them. I liked what I read on the back of the book so I guess I will see. I also got 2 book that I had reserved so I will start with those and might not even get to the LA Banks book before they are due. Uggh just did a search on the library's website and they have the 4th book which is the one I have (The Bitten) and then they have the 6th (The Damned) and then The Wicked which is the 2nd to last in the series (so far). And that is it. They don't have the whole series. So maybe I will need to read this one and see how if I like it enough to add them to my wish list of books. The same has happened with the Kelley Armstrong books too. They had the first book but no others in our library system.

Today we have to go out and film. And then run a few more errands. I really need to kick some ass on the scanning project.

Sunday I made this Mexican Chicken Stew in the crockpot...it made me all excited for cooking fall/winter dishes in it. I love the crockpot. The dish I made on Sunday...I sliced chicken into about 1 inch strips, coated them with a little taco seasoning and flour threw them into the crock, added half a bag of stir-fry veggies (peppers and onions), one can of diced tomatoes with the juice, one can green diced chilis, 3/4 cup salsa, one can of beans (would have liked 2 cans one pinto one black bean but didn't have both kinds). I cooked it in the crock for 6 hours and then served it over rice - topped with cheese and sour cream. It was very tasty!

Well feeling tired again...so going back to bed for a few hours before needing to get up and film.

(cropped image from artwork by Kurt Halsey)

Normal

I think I am feeling a little distant since we got back from being out of town. And I think mostly it is just that I haven't felt well.

I really get frustrated with my migraines. I know DUH. But not only do I just get frustrated by them because of the pain....but I think also because I do some things that people assume I can do those things always or do more. And much of the time I am pushing myself to do them because I just in general feel I "bad" that I am not doing all that I normally do. So my guilt over the migraines...makes me push myself and that really isn't the thing to do either. Doing little tasks at times make my migraine spike to the point I really feel I am going crazy because the pain makes me feel so out of touch with reality.

So instead of being here complaining about them. I just hold up until I am "normal" again. I guess I am "normal" today - I think. No migraine at least! I think the flu-bug has passed too. So today I need to get some chores done....since things are a little behind. I need to do laundry for sure. While Michael watches football, I am going to get back to my scanning project and I have 2 movies to watch (well really more then 2 but - 2 netflix that I want to watch first).

I have to say I am going through recipes this morning and I must be hungry as EVERYTHING looks so good. I want to make and eat everything! I think I want to make something similar to these for us to have the freezer. I have frozen just regular burritos and enchiladas before but these look good too (except for the corn - I can't eat that much corn).

Catching Up...

Still feeling pretty icky and add to it a migraine for today. yay me! (yes heavy sarcasm) Good thing my lungs don't feel as heavy. I have been taking airborne several times a day. And I think it has stopped it from going to full blown flu/cold. But I am still not feeling great. Everything seems to make me tired quickly. I unloaded the dishwasher this morning but didn't have the energy to load it so will do that in a bit.

I finished The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I liked it. I might even be compelled to read it again but there were a few things that bothered me about it. I like how it started....I liked it coming from the girl's point of view and I liked the fear that it instilled in the beginning. But that fear faded and didn't hold through the book to me. And the girl's view was kind of lost after her and her father's trip to Oxford. I still was interested in seeing where the story went. It didn't lose me as a reader. I still wanted to turn that next page to see what was going to happen. I just wished it would have been more consistent in weaving her in to the story.

I just went to the library's website and requested The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton (there is a waiting list on that one), Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Luckyby Alice Sebold and The Living Blood by Tananarive Due.

I really didn't think I would pick up another of Laurell K. Hamilton's after the last book but I have read that she has come back to the plots her fans really enjoy. (crossing my fingers that is true.) Outlander, I have never read but it has been suggested to me a few times over the years and recently by a good friend. I tried to find it last time I was at the library - it showed in but wasn't on the shelf. So I am crossing my fingers they find it for me. Lucky is by the same author of The Lovely Bones which I really liked. But this is the author's personal story and again I couldn't find that on the shelf even though it said it was in last time. The Living Blood is the sequel to My Soul to Keep which I really enjoy. I read that in about 24 hours because I couldn't put it down. And how it ended I was really glad to find a sequel because I wanted to know more. That is at another branch so they will send it to library.

Michael just got another video project that needs get started this weekend. So looks like this weekend will be getting busy so we can get the shots we need to so he can edit next week. And I need to get back to the scanning project. We have several websites in the process of being designed. We leave for Louisiana the end of the month and the scanning project is for another video that will need to be done by the time we leave for Louisiana. I will write about our Louisiana trip more later. I have never been to Louisiana and so kind of looking forward to going someplace I have never been....an adventure!

Friday Gratitude

5 Good Things in my Life...
1. Books Books Book
2. Glad we are home
3. Water...very thirsty!
4. Airborne
5. Chapstick

Back from Denver...

We have been out of town. Michael still had business in Denver but wasn't going to be the full week so I went with him this time. Of course we arrive and I almost immediatly get sick. I felt stuffy and achy Monday night. And then Tuesday I woke up with goopy, red eyes and wheezing, aching and stuffy. It just got worse as the day went on. I ended up sleeping most of Tuesday. Yesterday was an odd day because Michael's schedule didn't quite go right so I hung out in the building he was working. They had a cafeteria so I sat next to the window that had a gorgeous view of the mountains. I sat there drinking a diet coke, reading, writing out some mail love and just people watching for about 6 hours. I was still feeling really sick or I would have went to the mall or something but with fever going on and off at times, wheezing and blowing my nose - I thought best just to stay put and read.

We got on the road to head home about 5pm. We stopped and had pizza at Beau Jo's. I had never had it before but we have talked about going there many time but it just never worked out. Well last night we did go and it was really good pizza! On our way home we hit bad storms. I am not thrilled with thunder and lightning in the first place but to have it going off around us in the car plus really hard rain made me a little tense. We finally got home at 10pm and it was still storming here so we just unloaded and then went to bed shortly after.

I am still feeling pretty bad. My eyes at least aren't so red. But my lungs feel really heavy. Glad we are home. Today we are doing a few things but nothing much so I can rest still.