Dorks!

Big Rick and I on the balcony, practicing for our Youtube video. Stay tuned.

Sorry for the absence. I've been a little busy hanging out with Big Rick, hanging out with Little Rick, cleaning my apartment, and making things. I'll update, I promise. Might be some big things in the works. I'll let you know as things develop.

SIGH

No picture, lovelies. It's almost midnight and I still have to shower, pray, and journal. I have group tomorrow, but on the plus side, tomorrow is also "Friday" for me, so it will be fine. Today was busy, I saw a lot of people at work, talked to Rick a few times during the day - he is very busy lately and we really haven't had a chance to hang out, which sucks, but it's okay. I appreciate very much that he calls me throughout the day.

I did spend the evening with my fantastic friends, Holli and Eric, and their kids. I love being around them. Plus, Holli is an amazing chef, so it never hurts to have dinner there either.

Ok, I must go. Sorry for the blandness...it's sort of been weird these past couple of weeks. I feel a little off kilter....

but it's all good! Can't complain!

Goodnight!

Sometimes, I Feel Like This.

Perhaps with a little more hair. And glasses. And some clothes and minus the curly belly button. But you get the picture. I don't want to feel like this today, I just do. Nothing is going wrong per se, and I've certainly had worse days, it's just that sometimes I get so...

...unsure.

Also, Big Rick is moving to Austin, and while I am happy for him, it also sucks.

It will pass, as all feelings of fear/unsuredness do. If you're reading this, I could really use some good prayers/karma/thoughts.

It's all good.

To make this post funnier, I will tell you that I saw a woman with her toddler this morning walking around the business district downtown, wearing a pink sequined corset. The woman, not the toddler.

I am not kidding.

An Uncanny Resemblance.

Remember this guy? It's Don Music from Sesame Street...he'd sit at the piano, trying to write songs, and when he couldn't find a word that rhymed, he would say, "OH, I'LL NEVER GET IT, NEVER!!!" and then he would bang his head on the piano keys?

Such is my relationship with art.

I love it. I love color and texture and I love playing with it and arranging it and moving it around...but when it comes to permanently adhering something, I get nervous. I get critical. I'm almost positive there is another life lesson here (see my entry about my crappy day at the driving range), but I don't want to think about it.

For some reason, I had a lot of difficulty falling asleep last night, and when the alarm woke me up at 7:00 this morning, I turned it off, and didn't wake up until 8. Oops. Work was totally annoying today, it was ridiculously hot outside, they are doing construction across the street, thereby kicking dust up everywhere, and my hamster peed on my hand.

SIGH. (bangs head against keys)

Random Questions/Observations:

• WHY is Kelly Grimsley STILL doing public service commercials? How much cocaine did they catch him with??? I don't need a used car salesman telling me that sixty percent of children who drown do it in their own pool!!!
• I'm tired and a little crabby, and I need to do the dishes.
  
• Tonight sounds like a good night for a Sominex.

I will sign off, before I say something I regret.

:) !!

I Still Love This. Plus, Another Electrical Malady.

I love paper. I realize this makes me a hopeless nerd in every way, but I am okay with that. I picked all this up in Lubbock a couple of months ago, and am only now getting a chance to use it. Actually, I've had plenty of chances to use it, but it's so pretty, I just hate cutting into it. It almost makes me cry.

Did you notice the fortune teller fish? Remember when we would win those at the carnival and at the Halloween Carnival at school, back in the days when Halloween (and any other activity involving singing and gaiety) was not against school policy? I love those. Tomorrow, I will post a link to the site where I bought them. It is the same site, incidentally, where I got 24 fabulous yards of this:
Punchinella. This used to be EVERYWHERE, and twenty years ago, to my own chagrin, we made hairbows out of it and wore them. Proudly.

I must be getting some interest back on the bad karma I generated yesterday by moaning about electricity, because this evening at around 5, I went to run an errand, and when I got home, my ELECTRICITY WAS COMPLETELY OFF. I was all, DAMMIT, and I had to call the electric company (thankfully my computer still had a little bit of battery left so I could get the phone number) and they told me that yes, I was correct, I did not have a past due balance, and to call the actual electric provider, Onstar or Oncor or something, and so I did, and it turns out something happened to the generator here at the condos I live in, and THAT'S why the electricity was off, and it went on about an hour later, and I was glad, because SOMEBODY in the apartment office was about to replace all the beef and chicken and the bag of ice I bought earlier today.

Anyhoo, the day went well. I got bills paid, visited Rick for a little while, and I'm winding down. I would have been in bed already, but I went and ate a bowl of cereal, which was stupid, because A) it is too late to eat, and B) I am lactose intolerant.

I'm exhausted. More tomorrow. If you read my blog, please comment. I know you're out there, because when half of you call me or I call you, you're like, "Oh yeah, I read about that on your blog." ARE YOU OUT THERE?

Ciao!

AND BY THE WAY...My Thoughts on Electricity

IMG_3667
Originally uploaded by lukeisley

First of all, did you know there are "peak hours" during which it is CHEAPER to use electricity? Is this common knowledge? Because I sure as molasses didn't know about it. Rick told me this today. HELLO! It's like EVENING MINUTES for your electricity! Does everyone do this?

Besides the fact that I did not know about wattage evening minutes, nearly every electronic gadget I have gave me attitude today. First of all, I took my Sony PRS-505 to the airfield, so I could read Twilight again, and I read about three sentences and THE BATTERY RAN OUT. Then, I plugged in my Zune. THE BATTERY RAN OUT. Then, when I got home, I COULD NOT GET ONLINE. Then, my cell phone STOPPED SENDING TEXT MESSAGES.

I don't know who is in charge of electricity exactly, but whoever it is, they're on my poop list.

Goodnight.

Guess What I Did This Morning....

So, I have evidently been living under a rock since October of last year, because there is this woman who made a goal to break the world record (there was already a world record of this??) of having the largest number of people dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" at the same time. I missed this, but thanks to modern-day technology, the instructional videos are forever archived on Youtube, and THAT is what I did this morning. I learned the first three sections of the dance. This sounds like a lot, but it is only like, six counts of eight, which is like, MAYBE thirty seconds of music, if that. Rick called in the middle of it, and I told him what I was doing, and this is what he said:

"oh my God."

We went to the flying field, where I got ANOTHER sunburn, which for me, is the only way I "tan". I also painted this morning, and now I'm back at home, updating, contemplating if I should eat macaroni and cheese, and scrapbook, or watch a movie and eat macaroni and cheese.

I need to do laundry.

THRILLER!!!!

Things That Made Me Happy Today

Art supplies. After a somewhat stressful day, or when I just feel like treating myself, I don't eat ice cream, take a bubble bath, or read a romance novel. I buy art supplies. You want to make me happy? Buy me art supplies. I am SO painting tonight. Do you see that pack of recycled paper? IT'S THE TEXTURE OF PAPER BAGS, BUT THINNER. I realize I might be in the minority here, but it makes me fall in love.
Fazoli's has the best fountain drinks ever. Yes, I am fully aware that Coca-Cola is bad for you, but it tastes SO GOOD. The Coke from Fazoli's is really strong.....like engine cleaner. Just the way I like it.

My journal makes me happy. I have a huge stack of them, and I started up again, since I stopped sometime last October. I'm a little particular about the book I write in. It has to be a composition notebook, but it absolutely must be college ruled. They're a little hard to find, but when I find them at Staples, I snatch 5 or 6 up at a time.

Shibby makes me happy.
Art journals and books about art journals make me happy.
and....
Suziblu makes me happy. Click on her name to see her blog. I've been following her for quite some time. She's a great inspiration .

Today was tiring, but good. I ran groups today and my supervisor sat in on all of them, which was cool. I did NOT get to attend my hair dye appointment, because my stylist's son had a program tonight, and she was only going to have an hour and a half to dye my entire head....I HAVE A LOT OF HAIR! So rather than be rushed and end up with black dye everywhere only to have it fall out in two weeks, I just rescheduled. Note to self: Brown roots with black hair looks way stupider than black roots with brown hair.

Had dinner with Rick and had a nice conversation. He is dealing with quite a bit right now, but he is thoughtful enough to communicate that to me and make me feel secure. He amazes me sometimes....he'll mention something that I told him months ago...not only is he a great listener, but he knows how I think, and tries, as much as he can, to be conscientious of it and communicate with me.

I had coffee with Big Rick yesterday and we decided that we need to buy two pairs of those huge joke sunglasses, put them on, set up the video camera, and sing 80's music at the top of our lungs in the car, and put it on Youtube. We are SO doing that. I just have to find the sunglasses.

I am going to take a shower and paint now. I have a new art journal! I have heavy structure gel!! I have new prismacolor pencils!!!! Well, I only have four of them, because a set of 124 Prismacolor pencils are like, 140 dollars. I will get some soon, maybe....but for right now, I've got a ton of acrylics and these great pastels (water soluble) that will do me just fine.

I <3 ART.

Goodnight!!

I Am Caught Up

on my paperwork.

The End.

A Picture of Balloons and A Quick Note.

I have to document the following conversation, between Rick and I, because it is funny.
(On the phone today, while I am looking at Shibby, my pet hamster).

K: Shibby's front teeth are uneven!
R: Quit making her laugh, then you won't have to look at them.
K: Haha! No, seriously, one is way longer than the other.
R: Please tell me you are not taking her to some hamster dentist.
K: Wow! Are there really hamster dentists? I bet there are.

HA HA! Maybe you had to have been there. It was really funny at the time.

STILL CLEANING!!

Redecorating.

It's not finished yet. I'd like to set that mirror and flower arrangement in the corner on a little table, but I only have a short black one, and I'm not sure I like it. Anyway, I am MUCH happier with this arrangement. My living room was totally getting on my nerves. It was nice, but reflected none of my personality....this is getting there. The best thing is that I haven't bought anything. I've used stuff I already had at the house. That parasol? I totally got that at a flea market in Dallas, like three or four years ago, which is the same place I got that old chair.

One of the low points to this redecoration is that my apartment is now in a state of.... "transition" (read: "messy"). I really don't like my apartment to be cluttered or messy, so I'm going to have to get off of here and turn off Dancing With the Stars and get to work. OK, AFTER KRISTI YAMAGUCHI.
Sorry for the poor lighting. I am still trying to figure out how to best use my camera. Apartment lighting is absolutely abysmal. Here is another blurry detail shot:

Other than redecorating, not much done today. I'm really looking around, becoming increasingly dissatisfied. I have to go fix this mess. I will leave you with a few random observations:

• Am I the only person who has not watched The Hills? What is it? Is it real? Why do people watch those ridiculous girls? Who the hell is Justin? Who cares?
• I love vintage aprons.
• WHY does Dancing With The Stars have to be a two hour episode?? I need to clean my apartment!!
• I was five minutes late to work today because I had to watch the new video that was released on the New Kids On The Block website, and I don't have streaming media at work.
  

Night night!!

FLASHBACK.

Do you remember Merlin? My brother used to have one, and I would switch between actually attempting the game, and using it as a pretend telephone. I've been flashbacking lately - firstly because Rick suggested some songs for me to download while we were in Corpus, and they're all old school rap/breakdancing songs, like Scorpio, and A.J. Scratch, and Fresh is the Word.... I love all of it. Then, later tonight, I got on the phone with my friend Amber, from Baltimore, and we sat and watched cheesy 90's videos on Youtube, which consisted of the following:

• I Adore Mi Amor - Color Me Badd
• I Wanna Sex U Up - Color Me Badd
• Telephone Talking - The Guys Next Door (OMG)
• Dino - I Like It
• Lady Soul - If My Sister's In Trouble
• Gerardo - Rico Suave
• Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You - Glenn Mediros
• Nothing My Love Can't Fix - JOEY LAWRENCE
  

OMG. The nineties were horrifying.

Today was good - I went to Rick's and we got to chatting, and by the time we got to the airfield, it was too windy to fly, so we had lunch, and then went home and fixed the new plane up, so it's ready to fly now. We are hoping to fly the Yak tomorrow, but I'm not sure that's going to happen, because I can hear the wind kicking up again. Really great conversation today. I love how intelligent and direct he is. I also managed to take off, fly, and land on the simulator.

I'd like to go to bed before two tonight....so au revoir!!!

Is that how you spell that?

I Like Not Working on Fridays.

This afternoon, as I enjoyed my day off, this:plus this:
Equaled this:
I added a few more red flourishes after I took this photo. The design is based off of a t-shirt I saw once.

Today is Rick's birthday!!! I feel odd, because I've already given him his presents, but I picked up his cake earlier (pineapple upside-down, at his request), so we'll have that later. I saw him at lunchtime, and he seemed pleased as punch that today is his day.

I kind of have a little headache right now, which is odd, because I rarely have them, but I'm going to go take care of that before it gets out of hand.

Until later, lovelies!!

I TOTALLY Want One of These.

A CURLY HEADED GUINEA PIG!!! I saw two at PetSmart last Friday and now they are GONE. This one is actually more coiffed than the ones at the pet store. The one I liked looked like he'd been through the wringer. I fell in love with him, but now there are only smooth, clean-cut guinea pigs, which are also cute, but not as frazzled looking.

It's LATE! I have group tomorrow! I need to go to bed!!

Yes.

Conversation between Rick and I:

K: ..AND...they have this VIP package for American Express cardholders where you get CLOSE SEATS and you get to MEET THEM and ....my friend has AMEX, so I'm going to ask him to buy our TICKETS!!!!

R: What do you mean by "our" tickets? Who is "our"?

K: I mean me and Jennifer (my niece).

R: Oh, ok, because I was figna say, I'm not going. I'll babysit the hamster.

K: Fine, but I'm going.

R: I'm sure you are.

I don't care how much it costs, how much work I have to miss, where I have to fly, or who I have to beat up to get there. I didn't get to go when I was thirteen and I sure as poop am not going to miss them this time around.

I LOVE THEM.

Anyhoo, today was a very busy day, and the weather was really crappy, but I have been totally happy and at peace. I got a lot accomplished at work, I got to give Rick his birthday presents (early!!!). I loved seeing his reaction. Besides the new plane, I also got him this Real Flight Simulator for RC flying, and as I was setting it up, he came over and made my day with the following:

R: We have a SIMULATOR!!! (kisses me on the forehead).

:)

I was also happy because I wore one of my favorite necklaces today:

(The French "no" pendant)....I will not even go into how long it took me to get the focus right with my new impossible camera. I also got a cute recycled pouch at Target today:

Made out of recycled plastic bottles!!

It's getting late - Hasta luego!!

Weekend Hiatus Almost Over....

I am extremely allergic to all manner of felines, and I don't have a really good relationship with them, but I couldn't resist getting a little close to this baby kitteh, who is being expertly handled by Rick's daughter. I like how it's claws are all out. CUTE.

We've been in Corpus Christi since Friday night - a bit of a restless sleep that night - it's hard to adjust to the humidity, so I was hot and uncomfortable, but then we picked up the girls yesterday morning and spent time with them. We went to the Buc Days parade, which was cool, but inconceivably long. Today was beautiful and breezy - we visited Rick's grandma and great aunt who live in this completely iconic house....and they have an ORANGE TREE.
Their house, Rick says, is over a hundred years old, and was moved across the city by his grandfather to avoid the flood area.
He also said that the horseshoe nailed onto the side of the shack to the left has been there, in that same spot, for at least thirty-eight years and several hurricanes.
Even though, of course, I was never in this kitchen until recently, this image evokes so much from my childhood. First of all, my mother TOTALLY had those wooden bowls, and if you try to buy them now on eBay, they're ridiculously expensive. I also recall that at times, in lieu of cabinets, we would just mount thin brass rods and make little curtains out of old bedsheets. That strainer underneath the counter there is also familiar.

We've got one more night here, and then we'll take the girls to school tomorrow...then head back to Midland in the afternoon. Seven hours one way is a long way to drive...but for so many reasons...it's worth it.