My computer got a virus

So I am going to have to get it fixed before I post much more. I'm posting this from another computer.

Just woke up from a dream

In my dream I met someone who seemed like a good match for me. If you read my blog then you know that I am single and have been for quite a while. Every now and then I think it would be nice to have someone in my life.

I have tried eharmony off and on over the years. I got a few dates and made a good friend so I guess that is something ;-)

Quote: Though dreams can be deceiving, like faces are to hearts, they serve for sweet relieving, when fantasy and reality lie too far apart.- author unknown, but I like the quote.

I know that you are thinking I just want someone to mow my yard ;-)

Also I am not posting one of the paintings I did because the person I painted doesn't want their picture on the web, so if you are a regular reader send me an email and I will email you a picture of the painting.

Saturday Work

I really just want to kick back and rest, but I have to get that yard mowed while I still can. I have a list of things that I want to get done today.

I'm going to make a list and start checking things off. First on the list, get off of the Internet ;-)

Quote: Big sisters are the crabgrass in the lawn of life. - Charles M. Schulz

I say that looks are not important but....

Today I took some pictures of myself with my camera. One came out okay, but there were some that were really creepy. I guess I don't really like getting old as much as I thought I did.

I have this hazy image of myself in my head that is not too bad. When I take pictures it sort of destroys that image for a little while and makes me feel bad about myself.

I guess being a cartoon part time is not so bad ;-)

Quote: It is the creative potential itself in human beings that is the image of God - Mary Daly

I need to pace myself better

Sometimes it feels like I'm running and getting nowhere. I have somehow gotten myself too busy and that's not really who I am. I am very involved in my Church and that's a good thing right?

I want to accomplish something.

I just don't want to burn out while I'm doing it. I just want to be sure that I'm not pushing myself too fast.

Quote: I think my work has to do with a sense that we are attempting, all the time, to create a logical, rational path through the day. To the left and right there are an amazing set of distractions that we usually can't afford to follow. But the poet is willing to stop anywhere. . . . And it's that willingness to slow down and examine the mysterious bits of fluff in our lives that is the poet's interest. - William Collins

Breakfast and Hair Color in One

I guess you can't really put hot liquid in a blender. This morning I was going to have a chocolate breakfast shake and decided to put a little coffee in it and to make it hot.

The blender spit on me when I turned it on. So I'm thinking that this would be a good way to cover up that grey hair while you are getting your breakfast ready :-)

Maybe I will have toast instead.

Quote: Do not expect the world to look bright, if you habitually wear gray-brown glasses. - Charles W. Eliot

Camping in about 2 weeks

I've got to start getting my camping stuff together. I can't wait to be out in the country. Denver was nice, but we didn't really get a chance to get out and walk.

I still may take a canvas and maybe paint a tree or something.

I was afraid that with all the eating in Denver I would be gaining weight and I think I did gain two pounds, but I"m working on it now. They had a table full of candy and cake and brownies at the place that I was painting.

Quote: The activity of happiness must occupy an entire lifetime; for one swallow does not a summer make - Aristotle

My plants are still alive ;-)

I bought a couple of plants to try to get started and I didn't get them planted before I left. The Girl watered them and they were still alive when I got home. It's not exactly a garden, but I am going to try to create a plant box for them.

I've been looking at earth boxes. I want to try to make one. I really hope this works. I will take a picture of it when I get it created. I know it's really late to try to have any garden, but I really like okra and it grows for a long time.

Quote: One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today. - Dale Carnegie

14 hour drive home

Here is a little closer up on one of the finished paintings. I had a lot of trouble with the mouth, but most of it went really well.

We left at 4:00 in the morning to drive home and took turns driving. We did a lot of taking and I'm surprised that my jaw is not sore. There were two books on tape that we listened to and they were really good. I now have two new authors that I want to check out.

If you click on it you can see it larger, but It still needs something on it so that the shine is consistent, especially on the left eye.

I really saw some wonderful scenery and there are a couple of towns that I would like to go back to and look around.

Quote: A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth. - John Singer Sargent

It was a long day of painting

I managed to get this painted, but I was really tired. This is not the method of painting that I usually do, but it still came out looking like the kind of stuff that I paint.

It was fun painting. I will try to post a better picture of it when I get home. I borrowed a camera to get this picture because I forgot mine.

Quote: Painting is the grandchild of nature. It is related to God. - Rembrandt

Electric Failure

Today while we were painting the electricity went out in our section of town. We moved some tables into another room by large window and painted there for a while. The natural sunlight was actually pretty good for painting. Then the lights came back on and the sky got dark and it started to rain.

I am not sure, but I think there are about 17 to 20 ladies painting. I may try to count them tomorrow. [note: there were only 14, but that is not counting the instructor and a couple more people who were there, but not painting]

Quote: To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path, and don't worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest - not sure of author

Prairie Dogs

Today at lunch when we took a break from painting we walked about a block away to eat. We walked past a vacant lot that was full of prairie dogs. They are really cute and we don't have any of these around where I live.

I've seen them several places out here and at first I wanted to call them squirrels just because I haven't seen any in a long time and couldn't think of the word for them.

Quote: Don't let people drive you crazy when you know it's in walking distance. - not sure who said this. It took me just a minute to realize what it meant ;-)

Day of Rest

Today we rested up from the drive. We at lunch ate Olive Garden and I was really stuffed. I had the eggplant parmigiana. I didn't have a clue how to pronounce it by the spelling. I was so stuffed after that. We didn't bother with supper.

I also got started on one of my paintings. I took pictures, but they are on a disposable camera and I'll have to wait to get them and publish any of them.

Quote: I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly eradicated it in a child, he would grow up to be an eggplant. - Ursula K. LeGuin

I'm in Denver

I love Texas and never want to move, but it is really pretty here in Denver. We left at 4 in the morning and drove all day to get here. I was really tired, but I got to the hotel and slept for a couple of hours and now for some reason here I am awake.

We ate at a really neat Mexican restaurant here. The chairs were all carved and painted and lots of decorations all over the place. I tried to find a picture of one like the ones there, but did not see one.

Quote: The truth should not offend, it should only inconvenience - Mexican Proverb

skinny jean friday

I ordered a pair of skinny jeans over the internet. I guess I should have tried some on first. They were a good price so I thought I would chance it. Well the legs are skinny (really skinny) but the top part is not.

The top of the pants is really too wide for me and they are low rise. I'm not sure who these things really fit.

Quote: Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power. - Clint Eastwood

I taught a class today

It went really well last time there was one person who looked uninterested the entire time and then put on their evaluation that they did not like some things about the class. This time everyone marked that the instructor (me) did a good job. ;-)

There was one bad thing today I made a mistake about a week ago by accidentally swapping out a 2 and 6 on something I ordered from the art department. So I asked for the image to be 260 pixels wide, but what I wanted was 620. They tried to tell me, but noooo I didn't understand and when I finally got the image.... I was like this is too short and they had to explain once again that this was exactly what I ordered.

They finally gave me what I wanted and not just what I asked for and I put it on the web page I was working on and it didn't fit --- somethings just don't seem to be meant to be. I have a meeting Friday with someone to try to make it fit on the page as it should have. I know that I don't talk about work much, but today was a mix of good and bad. I was glad everyone liked the class, but I really hate it when I make a mistake. Especially one that I don't seem to be able to comprehend even when I"m being told about it.

Quote: Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Still No Phone

I went to the Sprint store to get another phone and the guy there shook his head and said you might want to see if a friend has an old one because right now you either have to pay full price or renew for a year or two and then we will take off $75. Which is nothing when you see what they are charging.

So I have a friend who is going to loan me one. I hope I get it before I leave for Denver.

I did get a magicjack which only give me a phone at home and not in the truck.

Oh and after we left the phone store and went to get back in the truck there was a spot on truck seat where something had gotten spilled. I told The Girl that's probably why they didn't want to sell me a phone and just wanted me to leave, but I checked out how I looked later and it didn't get on me so I guess that wasn't it.

Quote: In examining the potential of individuals, we must focus on their strengths and not just their mistakes. We cannot be limited by what they may have spilled in the kitchen. - William Pollard

Just so you know

I didn't have a problem finding my glasses but my cell phone is still hiding and I think I'm going to have to get another one.

Not a great day

I can't find my cell phone and I can't find my glasses. Actually this is something that I do when I'm really tired I tend to sabotage myself by misplacing something that I need. The good thing is that it gives ma a chance to rest and not keep running all over the place and doing things.

Well other things except for looking for my stuff that I have put somewhere that I can't find it ;-)

Quote: We sleep, but the loom of life never stops, and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up in the morning. - Henry Ward Beecher

Looking at Colors

This is the color wheel I did in my basic art class. I have been really interested in colors and how they mix together to make other colors ever since an art class I had in junior high. When I heard that there were only three primary colors and all others were made from these I was blown away.

I of course related this to God creating everything and being a God of three parts, father, son and holy spirit. I figured that Red would represent Jesus because of him shedding his blood for us and blue the holy spirit because of the calm color of blue and it being a sky and water color and then God the father yellow like the bright sun that being a really strong color.

Quote: Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and the rain to make its colors appear. - not sure who said this, but it is profound ;-)

I caught a ride to Denver

Now I just have to get my stuff together. It should be interesting going on a 15 hour drive with someone I don't know. Im sure I will know them by the time we get back. I have a while to to get ready.

I am really beginning to need a break and so the trip will be really good for me I think.

Quote: Each year, millions of skiers come to Colorado to experience its superb emergency medical facilities. - Dave Barry (I hope that I do not experience that)

I could not find my glasses this morning

I found them immediately when I got home, but for some reason this morning I could not find them.

I went at lunch and got some reading glasses so I could read my computer screen without putting my face up to it. ;-) I did have a pair of scissors in the truck that I had got for hair cutting. I thought maybe if I got stopped by a cop I could try to pass them off as glasses.

Quote: A single man has not nearly the value he would have in a state of union. He is an incomplete animal. He resembles the odd half of a pair of scissors. - Benjamin Franklin

Greek Diva Get Together

Okay I ran out of time on the outfit that I was making and getting it fixed up for this, but I"m there in this picture. In in the back row right side next to the end. As usual I had grandiose plans. I was making an Egyptian neck piece and headband to go with my dress, but the paint didn't dry in time on the neck piece and the headband kept slipping down so I tossed on a scarf.

This was not everyone who attended, just the ones with the nerve to parade in front of everyone. The others voted on a winner.

I was not the winner, but I did get a chance to see by the pictures that I looked older than I expected to. I have never worn bangs and never wanted to, but I'm now thinking maybe I should. I'm going to have to think about it.

One amazing thing was that out of all these people that I have never met before I sat down with three ladies who were exactly the same age as me. One was only 9 days different in age and one went to the same Junior High School several towns away and we were probably in classes together at some point.

Quote: - You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere. - Charles F. Kettering