The 2006 Woodstock Team

The unique team that I'm establishing this month for my May Mother's Day paint off for the Woodstock statue (Peanuts on Parade thingy) is almost in place. I'm so blessed to have so many artist friends who really are my friends too...not just along for the ride - these are people I really know and love!

Besides Chicago Jenn (as we call her at home now) coming all the way out here to help me during the mother's day weekend for this (now, that's a friend!!!), I've got a local Iconographer who I adore, her daughter and artistic friends in the local high schools' ART QUEST program with me on differing shifts ('hey, KID! go get me a mocha, and make it soy!!!' LOL!!!) - just kidding - they'll be painting and cleaning just like the rest of us ladies! Another lady who I love will be joining our ranks (Thank GOD Almighty!) that is a paint and painting EXPERT in this State. Seriously, she ROCKS. The good news is that we're all friends and we all get along and share the same brain at times. That's a good thing.

Chicago Jenn and I will be figuring out the STAFF shirts for the event (they will be so cool and available on Cafe Press next month for everyone next month) with an image of my Woodstock original drawing in colour on the front. Very cool!

Now the trick is to get my sculpture lady across the street to sign on - and did I mention the general contractor guy who will be helping us secure the new pieces onto the statue?

I'm feeling better about this project now that I know I'm surrounded by dear friends who didn't even BLINK when I mentioned this project to them. In fact, one lady screamed, and one said "heck, I'll do it no matter what's going on that weekend!!" - and she's a busy mom!

Friends are wonderful - and I am truly blessed to have real, true friends who support my artistic loopy visions and always ALWAYS are there for me.

Would it be 'bad form' to have the teenagers on the staff 'fetch' us coffee from Starbucks??? OKAY!!! THAT'S BAD!!!! I PROMISE NOT TO DO IT (maybe their boyfriends can do it?)...LOL!

Let's Pretend...oh, wait a minute, it's real life!!!

When I was a mere child, one of my favorite and kinda creepy things I liked were the "Let's Pretend" books with the 45's that came with. No tape recorders here, we listened to records...tape recorders were too pricey and for adults. Go figure.

Anyhow, I loved the drawings and the colours (shocking) of the well thought out books, and loved the records with the narrator and the wonderful way they brought the story to life (including the special effects that were awesome). I remember looking at the book and then looking at the record when it was time to hear the 'beep' and turn the page - seeing the 'Let's Pretend' label in some funky yellow or orange font going round and round...but now that I think about it, the stories were scary ones - like the Brothers Grimm.

The princess or damsel in distress is hunted down relentlessly by some witch and, well, we all know the story. Not all the stories were happy endings - take the 'Little Mermaid' - that story scared the crap out of me and I never figured out why. She turns into sea foam because she can't 'get the guy' she loves and poof! she's gone forever. Sob!

Gosh, sounds like my dating life prior to getting Chris up to the altar (took me five sea-foamed years darn it!!). Got rid of that horrid fish tail finally! LOL!

I used to 'try' to pretend those stories were 'just pretend' but there was something sinister and more tangible to them than I liked to admit. I'm not a scary book or movie fan by any means, but when I wanted to be a bit scared, I'd slap one of those records on and read the book, slowly...retracing the whole darn book from front to back. The covers on these books were creepy too.

I think I know why. Every artwork on these dark stories were in negative tones (colour speak here). All of them. Even Cinderella. Heck, even the meant-to-be-happy stories were bleak looking. It's like someone took a BLACK canvas and mixed all the nice bright colours with some sort of brown or black wash when they were done with the artwork. Very 70's.

Why that was facinating for me, I don't know, but I figured out something this year...most of all of my early paintings are JUST LIKE THAT. Dark cores with colours coming out of them. Yeah, they're brighter than the old books I liked, but once I put them all up in one room together to display at work, MAN, what WAS I thinking? Pass the prozac, folks.

So, I'm tossing out the black and the almost black Sienna Brown for the NEW set of paintings with COLOUR. I guess the base will be white this time instead of black. More flowers, more joy.

I'm sure if you're a doctor of the mind you can figure this out, but I just thought it was one of those weird things in life that carries on from one's childhood.

Weird indeed!

Does anyone remember the "Let's Pretend" series? I think they were done in the late 70's?

Top 'O the mornin to ya!

...we're still in the Irish frame of mind over here in California...tee hee! And the party continues til this weekend when JP's name day - the Annunciation and St. Justin of Serbia - arrives on Saturday!

JP is thrilled that he gets presents! Let's hope he launches into his prayers as much as he does his Teen Titans gifts! LOL!

The weather is AWFUL today - especially after yesterday when we were given some sun. Of course, I took a long nap after church and didn't take advantage of it. Sigh! I think I over did it at my new ladies gym...I love that place so much! It's such a girly place to go and relax - oh, yes, at work out really well...a little too well I think.

Doctor's orders to work out for at least 30 min straight at least twice a week. No slacking off if I want to be healthy and not have to rely on pain killers. It's working already.

They say (and I believe) that the more one walks or goes to the gym the better one's health...and it's never too late to start. I'm blessed with pretty good athletic genes, so it's easier for me, but it does help you feel good - my back doesn't hurt anymore, my leg feels much better (sciatica) and no more headaches.

It hasn't gotten rid of my PMDD/PMS yet, but for that, I have my Oscar the Grouch shirt. That helps warn innocent bystanders. However, I think JP stole it for today. He thinks it's HIS shirt.

Silly boy! LOL! Mommy needs it for PMS!

Stay dry, and pray for more sun...I'm getting cabin fever here in California!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all you Lads and Lasses!

This day started off with me preparing for 4 fillings at the dentists office...and while I was getting there I noticed that I had a unheard cell phone message (that happens a lot - why I don't know yet - delayed service???)...that let me know which one of my Woodstock entries were chosen for the Summer of Woodstock statue paint off and festivities....

...It's totally official now, and I now know what I have to work on for the project. The lady who wants me to do her statue said that she was going to write me an e-mail but couldn't find the words to tell me how talented I am!

Well, as I found out, it doesn't take a cheek numbing drug at the dentists to feel like your head is HUGE by this point.

I'm so happy! And I'm PMS-ing real bad...and I don't care! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I just got the CUTEST photos of my godson, Patrick (Happy Name Day to him!) that I have plastered all over my cube at work right now with the Celtic scarf that I wore when I held him at his baptism...sob!!! He's such a big boy now! He's totally Irish - red hair, green eyes, heck, his name is enough ain't it?

Also, happy name day to my RC Godmother/little mom, Patricia or better known as Auntie Patsy - we're taking her out tonight for some traditional Irish pub food!

Everyone's Irish today - so celebrate and remember St. Patrick!

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Okay, remember him RESPONSIBLY folks! LOL!

Focusing on the 'little flower' of God...

http://www.littleflower.org/

What a cute site...I'm learning a lot and seeing what books are out there on St. Theresa. She's so NOT like me, that I love her. Just a gentle little soul doing little things for great results in Christ. I love that. I'm quite loud and out there most of the time - like a bumblebee or a hummingbird, not a quiet and dainty flower like her.

It's so refreshing to read about her and do her little prayers during my very stressful week so far - she reminds me of my Irish Grandmother, Marie, who was buried five years ago on Saint Patrick's day here in Santa Rosa. Gentle, little, quiet, and in love with Christ, blind and blissful love of a child LOVE for Christ and mankind.

If you want some joy this Lent, read about this wonderful little flower in the garden of the Most Holy Virgin/Theotokos AND her love for the Christ Child.

Very powerful, very uplifting.

I'm the PR person for my hubby...

...apparently! LOL! So, to all of those lovely folks from the old Nicholas' Forum and the now shut down for Lent "Front Porch" - my apologies about the abrupt closing of the site. It's normally a Lenten tradition for CP to do this, and even I noticed it when trying to post something on there one day in the Knitting area.

Even I haven't been posting here very much due to the hospital wide 'test' of sorts that will be decending upon us anytime next week. So, when there's a deadline like that of course, it rains like cats and dogs in all areas of life. It's to be expected during Lent, but that doesn't mean it's any easier to deal with!

JP starts T-Ball practices this month, CP and I are launching his new marketing campaign upon Sonoma County this month, I'm having lovely dental issues (haven't been to a dentist in 5 years - too preoccupied with having a son I guess!) and for whatever reason, the Ergonomic folks at the hospital decided that FRIDAY and MONDAY were great times to destroy my office and install 'cube' like surfaces. This happens on the same day that my boss hears that her father in law isn't doing very well - so, she's gone for the remainder of the week.

Hmmm, so I guess you could say that we both dropped out of cyber space due to overload! Quite!

Not being the most organized person, this is a great time for personal 'Spring Cleaning' of sorts in all areas of my life. Home, office, car, garage, art stuff, teeth, health, knitting stuff, spiritual stuff, you name it, we're overhauling it.

In the meantime, I've picked up a great little Lenten read to help me not lose sight of what's important as we go through Lent - especially working in a hospital setting. It's about one of my family's favorite Catholic saints - St. Theresa of the little flower...it's not her writings totally, but a great read on her life, struggles and how she implemented the 'little way' of doing little things for people with great love.

It's a great help to read about her and be inspired during the busy day. St. Theresa, pray for all of us today and help us to see the little ways we can help one another in Christ.

What if we all followed this tradition, what would your name be?

No Irish blood in you?

No bother -- consider some of these traditionally Irish naming conventions:

For Boys
-Oldest son named after the father's father (so, my SON would be Dean after CP's dad OR CP would have been Harold?)
-Second son named after the mother's father (my brother in law would have been George)
-Third son named after the father - we don't have a third son in either tree either way you look at it.
-Fourth son named after the father's oldest brother - ditto the third son thing.

For Girls
-Oldest daughter named after the mother's mother (I'd be Marie, my now middle name)
-Second daughter named after the father's mother (we wouldn't know my sister Jen's name due to my dad being adopted)
-Third daughter named after the mother (my sister Melodee has DEE already in her name for my mother's real name of Delia, so I guess this is correct)
-Fourth daughter named after the mother's oldest sister (so, my last sister, Petra, would have been "Patricia" after my aunt. I don't think that would have fit)

My favorite Irish names of all time (no, not Bono, HE might be, but his name - that ain't Irish!!!)

1) Kieran (voted down in 2001 when we had our son due to a restaurant having the same type of sounding name)
2) Patrick (but we didn't use it due to our last name and our son having the initials P.P. his whole life, then I met my co worker, Patrick Parks, who says it was never a problem. Sigh!)
3) Liam (isn't this Irish??)
4) Adrian
5) Ryan (last or first name, that's gotta be Irish)
6) Bridget (my great grandmother's name, a family name)
7) ...and now my mind goes blank due to it being Friday. I know I have a few more, but they're so weird that I knew they'd be voted down by the hubby in a second.

Have a great weekend and hopefully I'll have photos going up FINALLY next week.
5)

Waiting til after March 15th...

...to hear if I'm on board for the Woodstock statues or what. It would be nice to know sooner than later so I can plan my NON-Mother's Day working on the statue. Why that weekend, I'll never know.

Anyhow, JP is starting TBall this month - he's on the 'Pirates' team. Perfect for him I think. Easy to do parties for the team too with that theme! Hey, isn't it time for the new Johnny Depp film to come out - something to do with pirates??? LOL!

Was in Stanford yesterday seeing my doctor for the 6 month check up thingy - all looks well - we'll hear how the tests went later. I'm not worried. Just need to get my big butt to the gym soon to moderate those hormones. Ah, the wonders of getting OLD.

Oh yes, and for my 35th birthday next month, I get the gift of having my breast squished for a mammogram. What FUN is this? At least the nurse I was talking to about it said "oh, you don't have to worry about that for a long time" as she looked at my chart - then slowly said, "ooooooh, that would be --- like ---- next month wouldn't it?" -- yeah, I'm older than I look, maybe that's a blessing! Ah, those French genes! Thank God! ...and I LOVE telling the doctors on staff here at the hospital when they're griping about how old they are that when they were in High School I was born. LOL!

Evil, I know.

Loved Jenn-Irene's blog the other day with the beautiful baby blanket that she's doing. I don't like doing multiple colours on anything, but she maintains her sanity and does it. A wonder!

Hope your Lent is going well, I've tripped up already...well, isn't that the POINT??? You can do nothing without God. Gotta remember that.

More Americans know about the Simpsons than they know about the five freedoms of the USA...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11611015/

Check out the article, take the 'mini poll' and find out if you got it right. I actually did! WOW!

Lent begins today...

From the 'little black Lenten book'

"Many ancient people used ashes for religious, magical and medical purposes. Ashes of a certain burned object were considered to have a sacred character. They also signified mourning, penance and mortality.

In the Old Testament, ashes, sprinkled on the head or whole body, were a sign of repentance.

The Christian use of ashes is drawn from the Jewish Tradition. Since the 11th century, receiving ashes on the first day of Lent has been a universal Christian practice.

By wearing a cross of ashes on one's forehead, a person publicly acknowledges their need for penance and the fact that they are mortal. It also expresses their solidarity with all the members of the Church on earth as they enter into the Lenten season together."

--The little black book, Six minute meditations on the Passion according to Luke (vade macum or 'travel with me')