Back from Stanford!

If you're gonna get sick or have any kind of surgery, do it at Stanford! Those doctors know what to do - and boy, they don't mess around. Not only was I taken care of like a Queen, but I had my own private room (never had that before).

For fun, I got my sister a Stanford Medical t-shirt so she can wear it in the Burn Unit at Vandy (Nashville University Hospital). She's also gonna LOVE my surgery photos of what was going on during the procedure. Hey, she's in the burn unit, she can certainly handle it.

We had many Orthodox priests, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Protestants of all walks of life praying for me and the family during my surgery - I needed every single prayer uttered and am very thankful that everything went as planned.

My cousins, especially my cousin Chris are to thank until forever due to the fact that he hooked me up with this stellar doctor who invented this surgery for Endometriosis to begin with.

So, this leads us to 'colouring in acrylics' for me - and I can't wait to get back into painting again (largely for Christmas gifts along with my knitting). Stealing a good idea from a very talented artist who lives across the street from me, I'm going to come up with a hanging painting with beading on the edges - still working out the idea - and these pieces of art will be easier to ship out to those family members that I won't see in December. I keep thinking of an artist (Van Gogh? Picasso?) who said "Good artists borrow, Great artists STEAL" -- well, like the Bible says - there IS nothing new under the Sun!

Today I had a bunch of family and friends come over and visit me - they noticed that although I just finished with a surgery that I'm still recovering from - they do notice that I seem better. They're right, I feel better with that awful 'fat appendix' removed (what do we need the for again???) and all of the cleaning out Endo with that trusty laser. Even mentally I feel better - as if someone turned on a lightswitch in my head. Can't explain it, it just is.

Glory to God for all things - being sick, being a patient and becoming healthy again! I hope to hang on to the healthy for as much as possible!

Sonoma County Fair - highest win was 2nd place

Out of the all the entries I put into the Fair this year (four entries), the one that actually won second place was the Mardi Gras Mask that my son and I created for FUN!

Sigh!

Well, I'm not sure what the judges are thinking half the time, but this year should have been a shoe-in for two of my more serious paintings - but the mask won and the crazy Rooster painting that I did that my friends didn't think would be winning anything actually won a fourth place ribbon! It is a crazy painting, but you could see that thing from across the showroom - I had to laugh out loud at that! You see, the first year I put a painting in the Fair it was so subtle and relaxed that it actually BLENDED into the wall and I walked by it FOUR TIMES! LOL! So, although it's not my most popular painting or the most Cezanne-ish, man, you could see this one from a mile away - and I had to take some pride in that.

Which got me thinking, let's say you're a judge and you walk into that room FULL of paintings. What are you going to notice first, the dinky subtle thing or this ROOSTER thing blaring at you from the wall??? I also noticed that the winning paintings for the past few years have been LARGE paintings. Mine are just about medium sized, perfect for my walls (and for my family members walls too). I'm not about to change that.

I am proud to say that my son, Justin, was so happy to have won a second place ribbon at the Fair - it was nice to see his reaction to 'winning' with his mommy.

Now that I've seen my placings at the Fair, I can go in peace to Stanford for my surgery this week. AND, I'm sure the people at the Fair today (it was Senior Day) were happy to see my hang up the cell phone at the art exhibit and LEAVE! I was on the line with my dear friend Irene in Chicago - she wanted to know how I placed - and was just as outraged as I was at the judges decisions on a lot of things.

Time to get on with life again - life after the Fair! LOL!

Just a Computer Handicap...I'm still here!

...is the main reason why I haven't bothered blogging as of late. Oh yes, and my lovely Endometriosis thingy going on. It's back just like the Terminator and it's not happy. This time it decided to take the life out of my left leg and let me walk with a cane (so not good for the fashion side of things) and so I decided to go see the world's best surgeon for this exact type of Endo problem.

As of the 28th of this month, my leg will be back 100% and I will be back at the gym so I can wear something other than sweats!! In the meantime, I've been painting AND:

WON MY FIRST (TWO) BLUE RIBBONS AT THE SONOMA MARIN FAIR!

Just seemed like such a big thing with me feeling like a sedated blob as of late...well, and I've never taken so many ribbons at one showing (five!).

It also seems as if my still life and floral paintings are where my strength lies...my landscapes don't seem to grab the judges. But then again, I'm not doing this for the judges, right? Hey, I'm on some serious meds, don't ask me that!!

I am pleased with the landscape and paintings I just turned in for the Sonoma County fair in town...we'll see what happens with that but I will be totally disappointed if my "Opera Ballet Dancer" painting (the only human painting I've ever excelled in!) doesn't get something (like Best in Show) I'll laugh. All apologies aside, that painting ROCKS! I've gotta get Irene to take a good photo of it so I can post it at my other website (not to mention flush out the old paintings and put up the new stuff.

Speaking of my next-door neighbor, best buddy, knitting guru, IPOD goddess, mother of my godkid, artist and photographer chick, she's moving to Chicago. As in very soon. As in a week or so. Totally not a happy thing for us in California, but she'll be technically 'going home' to be with family and that's where her hubby found a job.

Boo! Hiss! Fret!! Sigh!!! Well, I've always wanted to go to Chicago for the Museum there, so now I can do that, paint in her house and have fun with my godkid in a new city that I've never seen before. How's that for a vacation? Sounds good to me!

So, as the new family moves into the house across the street, my buddy will be on a plane going to Chicago...with more of my paintings! See, that way she can remember California with my floral paintings AND a watercolour of Bodega Bay that I wish that I had done.

She's thinking of giving me her MAC so I can keep up with this blog and post on hers and communicate with her more often than by phone. I hate MACs, but it may be a good idea seeing how I haven't posted here in, well, forever!!!

Back to my surgery thing...I'm thinking of video-ing most of my journey and giving the footage to two friends of mine who may be able to help me produce a DVD/video for local high schools for the young gals on Endo. Something fun, something real, something that includes gals their age and those with Endo. Informative, cool and not a waste of time. We'll see how that goes with me the procrastinator!!! Without my other half of my brain around (that will be in Chicago by then) who knows what I'll flake on.

Hey, I'm 'an artist' -- what's YOUR excuse??