Sunday Drawing

I did this drawing today. It was inspired by Notes from the Voodoo Cafe.

Last night at Fiber Art Fusion

Last night, I went to my monthly Fiber Art Fusion meeting. We had a drawing workshop taught by one of our talented members, Mary Akers. Click on her name, and you can see her beautiful portrait work.

First of all, I don't draw. I really don't. I love making stuff with fabric, but I don't draw. So, I was a little nervous going into last night. Mary put us all at ease, and within no time, we were all drawing and sharing our drawings. It was a ton of fun, and I will try to take pictures for you all soon.

I really had a lot of fun, and am going to go purchase some charcoals soon. We used vine charcoal, and it was much less dense than I thought it would be. I am not sure what I was expecting, maybe to be drawing with some Matchlight or something. I even got my fingers dirty, which is not something I enjoy.

It did bring back memories of middle school art class, though. For three years I drew, painted, sculpted, did rubbings of, and other stuff I cannot remember of a dried out sunflower. If you went to my middle school, you, too will remember the sunflower in the art room.

Last night we drew peppers, fruit, wine bottles, pitchers, and bread. Well, those were our choices. I didn't draw all of those things. Peppers are a lot of fun to draw. They have lots of highlights and dips and curves.

I had a great time. Mary was an awesome teacher. I cannot wait until part II of this workshop.

Stuff and Nonsense

I am listening to Earth, Wind & Fire on my iPod. I love my iPod, but I have to be conscious about not using it to block out other people. I am very shy. I tend to need to escape from people, and an iPod is a great way to do that. I started using it at the grocery store for a while because I got tired of defending where I worked when people asked. No one asks you questions in line when you are wearing earbuds.

Yesterday, Alex and I attended the Lego Robotics Super Qualifier in Warner Robins, Georgia. I took my iPod and calculus books, planning to find a corner to hide in to plan next week. I was going to watch Alex's rounds, but I was planning to hide otherwise. Instead, I ended up talking to a couple of other moms. I had a great time. I spent all day talking to two women I had never met before. Both were very interesting people, and they were interested in me, too. I am glad I didn't hide behind my calculus books and iPod.

Alex had a great time at the event. They did not do well enough to move on to the next round. However, this is the furthest any team from his school has gone. And they made vast improvements to their bot during the day. And the boys did ALL of the work without adult intervention. Alex was just excited to be there. And he was a leader to the younger kids. He was impressive, if I do say so myself. I love my kids' schools, and the teacher in charge of this is just one more reason. He was wonderful. I hope he is still there when my little people get to middle school.

Have a great week.

Wii Fit

I have been Wii fitting for five days now. It is a lot of fun, and it is a good workout. It keeps track of my weight (dropping), my BMI (also dropping), and my workout time (increasing). I have been skiing, ski-jumping, boxing, running, hula hooping, doing some yoga, some strength exercises, and playing a game where I have to navigate in a bubble down a river. (I haven't been able to complete that one, or the tight rope, yet.) And, it is really easy to hook up. Lots of fun. I hope I can keep it up when I go back to work tomorrow.

It's almost 2009

This year has gone by quickly. Sam turned 2, Amy turned 4, Ed started 2nd grade (thank goodness, because 1st grade almost killed all desire he had for school), and Alex became a teenager. I started my second year of teaching, and, starting next week, I'll be teaching AP Calculus all day long. Dave started a new job, and it is keeping him busy.

My goals for next year...

1. Learn to knit
2. Make more fiber post cards
3. Read more with the kids
4. Do Wii Fit 5 times a week
5. Read every day
6. Make 3 at least lap-size quilts

Why do I think this will be the year to learn to knit? I thought that last year and the year before, too. I don't know why. But I have to keep trying...

Fiber post cards are fun to make. I can explore lots of things while doing these. I should send them to people though...

I really need to encourage Ed to read more. And Amy and Sam love to be read to. Alex likes for me to read the same books he does. That is a lot of reading... Maybe Alex can read what our AP Lit classes read because I try to keep up with them.

Wii Fit is a lot of fun. I did it today for a half an hour. It is brutally honest, but it is god for me.

Read every day. Just to calm my mind.

And I miss quilting.

And one more thing... I spent 4 weeks at the beach this year. I want to go for five next year...

Some Fiber Fun This Weekend

I just finished this piece. I used a lot of beads from Margaret. It was a lot of fun to do. Just a little bit of whimsy. The piece is 5x7 inches.

I don't do things like this...

A friend and I are going to the Billy Joel and Elton John concert in March. She got us tickets this morning. I am so excited! I don't do things like this. But I always want to. So now, I am going. And I will not spend the next three months stressing out about where we are going to park. Really, I don't mind driving anywhere, I just don't like to park. I am SO EXCITED!!!!

And I have learned a lot about friendship this week. I am not going to elaborate, but I am happy that I have friends on whom I can depend. And, I think a couple of people learned that they can depend on me, too.

I just finished reading...

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. I was born in 1970. In history class, we never quite made it to the Vietnam War. I have never seen Platoon. I have watched M*A*S*H, though. (I know it is about the Korean War.) This book was one of those I wish I could have stopped reading, but I knew I had to read it. I had to finish it. I started it because the 10th grade lit classes were reading it. I like to keep up with what my students are reading. I finished it because I had to. It was an important book for me because it linked me to my brother-in-law, who will be going back to war in the upcoming year. It seems like we just got him back...

Happy Thanksgiving

I am preparing a gluten-free Thanksgiving meal today. We are having chicken instead of turkey because I like chicken better. I am better at cooking chicken. So that is what we are having. We are also having corn bread dressing. I made the cornbread with garbanzo bean flour instead of wheat flour. It tastes just fine. There will be green beans and a green salad, along with some kind of potato dish. We haven't decided on that, yet. We are having a fourless chocolate torte for dessert. It is from a Williams Sonoma cookbook.

I am thankful for...

• Steady jobs for both Dave and myself
• Healthy, happy children
• The gluten-free section at Whole Foods
• Good food
• Good friends

I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving.

I just finished reading...

I just finished reading an interesting book called Persepolis. It was written by Marjane Satrapi. Ms. Satrapi is the same age as me. She grew up in Iran, and this book is a story of her life. In a way, it is the history of my life, but from a different perspective. The same news events, different views. Here is the trailer from the movie, which I have not seen.

Baby It's Cold Outside

It was 19 degrees Fahrenheit this morning. That is cold to me. That is all.

Exhaustion has set in

That it has been a rough week is an understatement. I am very tired. But, we get an entire week off for Thanksgiving. I am ready for it. I plan to be creative. I plan to relax. I plan to play with the kids. On the other hand, Dave plans to paint, repair the garage door, and... I really wanted to go out of town for at least a few days. The littles and I might head to Savannah to see my sister. Or we may just stay here.

She's Four!

Here she is in a new dress from Mimaugh. Note that the baby doll also has on a new dress from Mimaugh. The doll dress is one of a pair (you know, Bitty Baby has a twin) and both are hand smocked, just like Amy's dress. Don't you just love grandmothers?

I found gluten free doughnuts for her breakfast. She had french fries and fruit for lunch. She picked the local Mexican restaurant for dinner. It is easy to do gluten free at Mexican restaurants. There she had her first restaurant Sprite. Until now, she has had to drink juice in a sippy cup from home. Now she is a big girl and has transitioned to getting a Sprite every once in a while. Then we came back to the house for gluten free chocolate cake. She was excited for everyone to have gluten free cake. (Every once in a while she says, "Mom, do you remember when I was a gluten girl?")

This Week...

Dinners:
Sunday: Georgia Shrimp with gluten free past, gluten free home made bread (a first), salad
Monday: Hamburgers on the grill (local beef), salad
Tuesday: Free Range Chicken in the crock pot, fruit and cheese
Wednesday: Fast food due to tennis
Thursday: Chili (although not Margret's complicated one)
Friday: Chicken salad, gluten free bread
Saturday: Probably Los Arcos

On the calendar:
Sunday: Championship winning team soccer party
Monday: LEGO Robotics work session
Tuesday: Fiber Art Fusion
Wednesday: Tennis
Thursday: NOTHING
Friday: Soccer game
Saturday: Hair cut

A documentary I cannot wait to see...

A high school acquaintance of mine is producing a documentary about the campaign of President-elect Barak Obama. I am glad we have HBO, and not just for Bill Maher, although he is reason enough.

I VOTED!

I voted. There was no line. I got there at 3:10 and was done at 3:20. I love voting!

A House Full of Kids

Tomorrow, I have to work, but the older kids don't have school. Amy has school, and Sam will go to his sitter's. However, my husband just said something about having a house full of kids tomorrow. I don't think having the older two constitutes a house full of kids. He assured me that normal people think that two kids is plenty.

Ed is excited about going with his dad to vote. I will vote on my way home. Have I mentioned how much I love voting? And I heard a couple of rumors...Krispy Kreme will give a free doughnut to people who vote. And Starbucks will give free coffee to people who vote.

Baby Quilt Pictures And a Hodge Podge of Other Stugg

Here is the baby quilt. I tried to channel Debra Spincic when I was working on it. I love her fabric combinations, and I was trying to go outside of my box a little on this one. I was planning on a piano keys border for the last border, but I ran out of time. It was going to be pink and ivory. I wish I had found the time to do that. The mother-to-be was thrilled with the quilt, though.

Thanks for all the nice emails about Amy. I think she was less hurt than I was. I am a little overprotective of her because she does have fragile health. I know it is not right to do this, but I worry every day that she will show symptoms of juvenile diabetes. The celiac diagnosis has made my worry more intense. I know I can do nothing to change the future. If she is going to have diabetes, she is going to have it, and there is nothing I can do.

On a totally different note, I went out with some friends from work last night. We went to a tapas bar in the western part of the county. Whenever I get that far west, I feel like I am in Alabama. (No really, it isn't that bad over there.) There was a live band playing eighties covers. I had a couple of martinis. One was a pineapple upside down martini. The other was key lime pie. My friend had a manderin one that was really good, too. I have become a martini fan. The food was pretty good. The dancing was pretty bad. I had a really nice time. I need to get out more often. One thing that bothered me, though, was the waiter kept rubbing my back when he was taking our order. Maybe that is ok? I don't know. I am just not that touchy-feely, I guess.

And one more thing, I found a gluten free bread machine mix a Kroger today. It was really good. We had it with gluten free pasta for dinner. I used to make the Publix Apron meal most weeks. Most of them have gluten, so I have stopped that. I am feeling a little more in control of things right now, so maybe I will start searching out some new gluten free recipes.

Lastly, does anyone else remember watching "Hodge Podge Lodge" on PBS when they were little?

I don't have the strength to be a mom to a little girl

Amy and I went to a birthday party today. The other little girls decided to be mean to my child. One of them spit in her face. And the other moms just stood there. No one said anything. Anything. I could not believe it. So we left. And I had to make someone else move their car so we could leave. I am so hurt for my child. Is this a typical little girl thing? I hope not.

I made a quilt this weekend

And at some point, I will upload the pictures. It is a baby quilt. I just thought I would pop in and say hello.