We had a little weather this weekend. Weather being rural code for shit happens. Hard freeze? Some part of my 12 year old Toyota will break, if not break off. Heavy rain? The phone line to the house will die. Guaranteed. And sometimes it takes days to get it back. Days until I can get the tech from AT&T to come out and test the line and tell me that is is indeed their problem and they’ll get around to fixing it…soon.
And then there’s snow. Make it heavy, throw in some wind and say goodbye to power for a day or two. Or seven.
It’s all just part of living in the country.
Yesterday Mr. Spouse and I went lumber fetching in the truck-that-shall-not-be-named, formerly known as Big Girl Truck, soon to be known as For Sale. A 22 year old gas guzzling full size Chevy pickup with more scratches and dings than an aging tom cat. Great for hauling stuff around, like my weekly adventures with hay. But not my steady vehicle, even though sitting behind the wheel, feeling all that power VA-ROOM VA-ROOM, is so damn seductive in a cowboy sort of way.
But every time we go somewhere I wonder if we’re coming home together. Or if this is the day he’ll flake out and leave me stranded. Cause he’s a bad boy…and I know it. Clarification: I’m talking about the truck here, not Mr. Spouse.
Let’s just say el trucko misbehaved at the lumberyard. Badly. I will spare you the gory details of lumberyard boys who are not mechanics, of Mr. Spouse who is not a mechanic but who valiantly repeated over and over under his breath a mantra about not getting angry…for which I was most relieved. I will even spare you the details of waiting for AAA. Of the cramped ride in the tow. Of abandoning POS truck at the garage that was closed.
I will spare the details because it was a cold and damp and cranky sort of day. But I took photos, played with the new Grungetastic app on my iPhone.
Grunge makes him look like the bad boy he is. And this truck is definitely a he. For many reasons.
Mostly because a she truck would be a lot prettier. And she wouldn’t be held together with duct tape. And she’d be more responsible about getting me home.
So we got home and I decided I would blog about my adventures in lumber land. Especially since it ate into my studio time and I had no new art to show. No progress on old art either. But there was one problem with that idea….
We had NO internet connection. We had power but the phone was acting up. And we had NO INTERNET!!! So I couldn’t even blog. We watched TV. Even talked to each other…. Imagine that!
And when the news came on we learned that an accident on a rain slicked highway took out phone, internet and cell access for the ENTIRE county. Including 911. Nothing to do but go to bed and stay healthy….
Everything was fixed by the time we got up.
And if I missed a blog post, well that, my dearies, is the high tech version of ‘the dog ate my homework’.
Got a story to tell you. It’s about my new friend Alicia. We met online. On this very blog in fact. She read my post, Yellow Bird. It was a chance meeting of kindred spirits via the magic of the world wide web.
Alicia has a dream. Her ‘dreamiest dream’ is to open a non profit art center for kids with asperger’s syndrome and autism. Not just dreaming…she’s DOING. Because as the mother of a very special, very cool little kid who happens to be somewhere on the spectrum, she knows firsthand how art changes lives. Changes focus and attention.
She’s also an accomplished mixed media artist.
Right now the kids are working on her kitchen table. As soon as she finishes remodeling her garage into a studio they’ll meet there. And she can take more of them. You can read her blog for the details.
To help finance her dream Alicia opened an extra special etsy store, Mum and Finn where she creates paintings and all sorts of other cool stuff based on her son’s descriptions. There’s a monster doll there I’d give my right arm for. Her name is Eunice who traded her right arm for George’s intestines, she survived but he did not.
Something tells me young Finn did the naming.
Here’s the cool thing…one hundred percent of the profits from Mum and Finn go to finance the art center. One hundred percent.
Alicia’s got another project in the works, the Tallest Handmade Book in the World. Attention art peeps and anyone with an ounce of creativity…make a page or two or three and join the fun. The finished book will be auctioned off for a good cause. You can read all about it here.
Starting a non-profit isn’t easy. Let’s all spread the word and help Alicia’s dream come true. Let’s change some kids’ lives with art. Facebook Like, Tweet it on…share on whatever social network platforms you can.
Tonight I’m sitting down with my planner. Later. After I write this post. And take the dogs out. It’s a nice planner. Big, executive size. Columns, columns and more columns to organize my time and priorities. I shopped around, looked at lots of planners before I decided this was the one. This would bring out the best in me. Because of the columns. I mentioned the columns, didn’t I?
And the cover. Brown leather, the real dead cow deal. Looks so…rich. So…official. So grown up. Like I have a job that requires pantyhose or something. At least a briefcase.
I’ve had it for three months now. It’s one of those July to June things. I got it in September, because I had things to do. First thing I did was rip out the summer months. Because I hadn’t used them now, had I? Last week I ripped out the autumn pages. The entire season. Because I hadn’t used them either. Because they were EMPTY. Virgin pages, like I don’t have a life or something.
When really, I did a LOT in those four months. Launched this blog, had an art show, cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving…. And none of that shows. A stranger flipping through my planner would think I’m the most boring person in the world. That I don’t have a life.
At this point DearDaughter pipes in and says that in fifty years I won’t have a life, I’ll be dead. Well yes, probably. But did she have to put it that way? Like there’s a timer ticking away while quite possibly checking my planner status. Might as well take this one, she’s not doing anything with her time anyway.
Not doing anything??? Hellooooooo. Pause here while I check my e-mail. Further pause while I peruse an add for a miracle weight loss supplement that found it’s way to my inbox. And then of course I have to google it and read the reviews. WHAT DO YOU MEAN I’M NOT DOING ANYTHING???
I’m doing so many things I can’t remember them all. Which is why I’m going to go through my mental lists, random scraps of paper, the oh-so-scary depths of my purse–including the zipper compartments–I’m going to go through all those things, figure out what I need to take note of–
And write it all down in my beautiful executive size brown leather covered twelve six month planner.
Tomorrow. Because it’s bed time now. Past it actually. And there are things I have to do when I get up. Like go to work. And other stuff. But tomorrow night I’ll organize it . Really. After I watch The Office.
Chicken enchiladas, what’s not to like? I mean, anything smothered in hot and gooey melted cheese has an advantage over all the other food groups. And I had all the ingredients in the house which was a definite plus considering my recent pledge to actually eat the food in my freezer.
But I also had a bag of mixed greens that was past perilously close to it’s toss-by date. I should just saute them up with some onions and mushrooms and call it a night with all the good nutrition boxes checked.
But I wanted enchiladas.
So I came up with a plan. Make enchiladas as a layered casserole–which I’ve done many times and it’s delicious. Only this time I’d add the greens. And I’d take lots of pictures and blog about what a great dinner I made.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Look at that. Layers of corn tortillas, chicken, wilted greens, enchilada sauce and cheese. Ready for the oven. Oh, I think I’m in luvvvvvv….
And here it is all cooked and ready on the plate. Complete with salad.
Too bad it tasted like crap.
Oh well…next time, if there is a next time, I’ll use mild greens, like spinach. I’ll save the big boys, the collards, turnip and mustard, I’ll save them for the onions and mushrooms saute with a dash of balsamic. Where they belong.
To be honest this wasn’t the worst dinner I ever made. Far from it. That honor goes to Tuna. Eggplant. Casserole. Which should be against the law. And has been forever banned in our house.
Sometimes being creative isn’t necessarily a good thing.
A few days ago I posted about my day job. Three days a week I teach mixed media at an art center for developmentally disabled adults. Been working there nearly fifteen years and it’s an amazingly rewarding job. If you didn’t read that post please take a few minutes to read it now because what I have to say will make more sense if you do. Here’s the link.
Go ahead. I’ll wait. Matter of fact, I’m going to put the tea kettle on.
Back? All caught up? Good. Because now I’ve got a video to share. Please, please PLEASE watch it. It’s less than ten minutes and I guarantee it will challenged any preconceived ideas you have about autism.
Watching this video I saw my client. The gestures, the behaviors, the ability to use technology despite her outward demeanor. I wish you could see her eyes, the light in them when we connect. There’s intelligence there. She KNOWS…
She made this painting on a day when I could get her to paint…there aren’t too many of those. She copied the poem from a book. I’m going to quote it as best I can and hopefully give the author’s name correctly. If anyone recognizes it and can correct me, please do.
“…My mind is like a big yellow bird/the bird is trapped in a world of people/and he dreams of leaving to another world…” Oscar Hanah (?)
She picked the poem herself. She KNOWS…just as I know there’s an iPad angel out there somewhere.
If you have the time, I have one more video for you. A 60 Minutes segment Apps for Autism.
And here’s a link to Carly Fleishman’s blog, the girl from the video at the top of the post. She’s come a long way for a girl who doesn’t talk. A long way….
Before you go, would you do me a favor, please. Help me scatter those iPad seeds out into the universe. Like this post on FaceBook. Retweet it. Share it on your wall. So maybe some day the yellow bird can fly freely into THIS world.
Brown things. The code name Mr. Spouse and I used for chocolate when the kids were young. Peppermint patties, our favorite. Consumed only when the kids were safely in bed. Three each. Because everyone knows four is the gateway number to binging on even simpler carbs. Like Gummies. Or Blow Pops.
We kept the Yorks in the freezer, way in the back. In an empty Garden Burger box. Under lots of other boxes unappealing to children, like spinach. And green beans. FirstBorn found them eventually. And it wasn’t by accident. When it came to candy that kid had the instincts of a drug sniffing dog.
But that was years ago. The kids are grown now. The Yorks are still in the freezer but are in plain sight. Which is good because A: we like them frozen and B: neither one of us can see worth a damn anymore. We know they’re in the top drawer, left front. Can find them by feel if we have to.
It’s been a while since I’ve indulged in brown things but I decided I wanted some tonight. I opened the freezer door and AHA!!! The lights came on, the music blared forth and I was struck upside the head by the spirit of Holy Crap! There’s a LOT of food in here. And all it’s doing is serving as a backdrop for peppermints. Because we don’t eat it. I just buy it, toss it in and hope to God we don’t have a power outage, in which case I throw it out.
Which is always nice because then, after I whine about how much food was wasted, I can start all over with a clean slate. This girl knows how to have a good time.
This is the top drawer. Yorks to the lower left. Always are. In case you ever break into my house looking for candy.
And this is the bottom. Look at all that food! I don’t even know what’s in there. Why, why WHY do I go to the grocery store every other day???
I am headed down the path to freezer burn. So I came up with a plan…. WE WILL EAT THIS FOOD. Imagine that! We’ll excavate the freezer one layer at a time until we hit bottom. We will save money and only shop for perishables like milk. Salad greens. Smoothie greens. Potato Chips.
I will not bore you with the daily details, unless I unearth something…interesting. Like the hamster that went MIA a few years ago. Or a really clever recipe for edamame. Which I haven’t eaten in years but occasionally feel compelled to buy. Probably to feed the hamster.
But I may say something about it while blogging about mixed media techniques. Like how the gesso reminds me of the bag of green beans I ate all by myself. Or something like that.
Feel free to hold me accountable to this. Feel free to join me in person or in spirit.
