How to create a painting a day for a month

"First it was fun and invigorating, then it was exhausting and felt like work, then it was a great sense of accomplishment."

How I did it: Every night I would sit down in front of the tv with my journal and my bag of acrylic paints and I'd paint.

Sometimes I would have sketches and ideas from the day, sometimes I would go into it cold.

Painting sessions were often accompanied with or preceded by chocolate, ice cream, or sherry.

Lessons & tips: Just do it.

Look for inspiration everywhere.  Stick with one them like my theme of "Flying Girl."  It took some of the choices away so I didn't get overwhelmed. Write or sketch notes as you get inspired. Keep a blog where people are waiting for your next entry.  Then you feel like you have to be held accountable for what you are doing.

Resources: Hard bound sketch book. Golden's Fluid Acrylics, Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens, Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils. Blogger.com, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX, and whatever UPN/WB turned into. And DVDs. And Klondike Heath Bars. And Reeses PB cups. And booze. :)

It took me 30 days.

It made me exhausted and amazed

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11/24/08 The Day of Doggie

Dog sitting my brother's dog while he and his wife go on their honeymoon. Kids love dogs. Plus she cleans up all the cheerios on the floor!

G taking his little sponge letters and laying them out, pretending to spell words.

Cute outfit of mine... sometimes I just have to remember to try a little harder. Throw a little plaid button down over the long sleeved tee and skinny jeans. Slip on white sneaks.

Parmesan chicken. So easy and tasty. Chicken legs in dipped in eggwash then covered in parmesan/salt/pepper. Bake for 45 minutes at 350.

CHUCK on tv. That show is rising in the ranks as one of my favorites. Plus Heroes.

Klondike Heath Bars. What do they do to make it so tasty?

11/19/08 The Day of the Birthday Giveaway

It makes me happy to giveaway a painting on my blog. http://warriorgirl.blogspot.com/2008/11/happy-birthday-to-me-giveaway-flying.html
come over and give it a shot. I miss you guys.

Dancing with the kids and making music with a play saxophone, a harmonica and a maraca.

A call from Patty. A call from Dad. A call from Sean.

Plans to get my printer so I can sell prints on etsy.

Making corn muffins for breakfast.

The inspiration of two paintings, from out of the blue, this morning.

So far, so good for my birthday.

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11/17/08 The Day of Reading, 'Riting, and rrr...Art.

Painted one painting, an oracle that I made up, drew another, (Nox and Comfort) and wrote over 2 thousand words for nanowrimo. Still went to bed early, and read a new book.

A new author who does not bore me. I have a hard time finding science fiction and fantasy authors who are good enough writers to keep my attention. The curse of a s/f geek who got a literary education.

Writing during nap time, which is the only time I get to do so, nowadays, G woke up and came into my room. I thought I was done for, since I’d just started and did not have my word count. But instead, I asked him if he wanted to lay in my bed, and he did, and as soon as his head hit the pillow, his eyes fluttered closed and he went to sleep. Yay. The benefits of not having a separate office.

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10/9 The Day of the Harmonica Rising

Woke up to G playing Harmonica in his room. It was kind of nice, even though he can’t play, and I could ignore it until I wanted to wake up.

G then came into bed with me. He’s finally figured how to work a doorknob and we cuddled until one of the littles forced me awake.

Dancing with the kids. First to Sesame Street (Ivy loves to dance) then to some Dan Zanes. How we cut the rug all the way around the room.

Felt very productive at nap today. Did some cleaning, some posting, made some important emails. Sometimes, I feel like I have a handle on things, just a little.

I liked my daily paintings from the night before. And I did TWO, which I’d never done before.

See more progress on: The Happy Pages

October 1, The Day of Dancing, Drawing and SInging

Who doesn’t love Sesame Street? Nobody in this house. We spent the whole hour dancing and counting and laughing

Singing songs at bedtime. Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row Row Row your boat, Mares Eat Oats, and I tossed in a little Moon Shadow.

Dancing the wiggle dance in the garden.

G and Ivy hiding together in the garden, drinking their milk.

The drawing I did last night, my little witchie poos on their night out.

Showing the kids my drawings.

See more progress on: The Happy Pages

9/17 Photoshoot

9/16 B&W G

9/14 Tazer Loves the Garden

Ivy "Paints"

9/13 Late Birthday w Uncle Emilio

9/12 The Day of A Kind of Renaissance.

Saw Hellboy II and it was great. Much better than #1. You forget that this is the same director who did Pan’s Labyrinth, and then you watch and you’re like, “oooooohhhh!” It’s good to see a movie you love. It doesn’t happen often.

Hugs from Ivy at bed time, she hangs on tight and pats. Nothing quite like it.

Ivy likes to be tucked in now. I tell her to get in her crib and get comfortable and I will tuck her in, so she lays down and squonches up until she’s happy and I put the blanket on her.

G is getting better at potty. No accidents today!

G discovered how to take photos with my digital camera and spent a half hour wandering the garden snapping away. Oh the big smile on his face.

We made birthday cards for the kids’ Uncle E. It was my new project with geometric construction paper scraps. I painted their papers with glue and they put the scraps down. I made something that looked like balloons or flowers. G made a car. He was very happy with his car. I bet he won’t want to give it to his uncle.

Dinner was yummy. Whole wheat pasta with shrimp, mushrooms and peas. I should write the recipe down, because it was good.

Painted a picture in my journal according to the Inspire Me Thursday prompt of “yellow.” Yellow is not my thing, but I thought I’d try, and I struggled for maybe two hours. Layering paint over paint to try to get the colors and the outlines right. I started out liking it, then moved into hating it, then went back to liking it, even loving it.

Reread my 9/11 Memorial post. It’s sad, but it feels significant.
http://warriorgirl.blogspot.com/2008/09/iswas.html

I feel kind of like I am having a renaissance. Just a little. It’s been so long since I had my creativity flowing without stress. Even if I was writing, I have been unable to incorporate creativity elsewhere. Finally I feel like I am getting somewhere with being a mom. Finally I am getting some creative projects with the kids going. Before, I couldn’t even conceive of them, now I think of them, I collect supplies and I do it. Unheard of for the last four years.

See more progress on: The Happy Pages

8/28 The Day of Obamamania and JD

Listening to Barack Obama’s speech, it occurs to me that I WANT to vote for him. I believe in him. He believes a lot of what I believe. I was a Hillary Clinton supporter before and was disgruntled by them both soon after. But I like O too! Enough to vote FOR him, and not just AGAINST the Republicans. Woo hoo for a glimmer of hope and faith in the system!

My best friend from High School found me on Facebook. I have been looking for her for I think years now. I did not know her married name, and she moved to New Jersey. But now we have initiated contact again! Wee!

Some slow and steady successes with potty training the boy.

Made myself an honest to goodness sandwich for lunch, with coldcuts and mayo and lettuce and tomato and everything. I don’t usually do that, but it did the job very well, thankyouverymuch.

See more progress on: The Happy Pages

8/9 The Day of New Games-- Are You Going to Play or Not????

Ivy has decided she likes to run around with a blanket on her head. I can’t tell if she’s a monster/ghost or if she is wearing an outfit. The girl does like her clothes/hats/shoes/lip gloss. Help me.

G and Ivy were playing tag. G would tag her and run away. They would run around the table a few times, then G would catch up with her again and tag her again. I don’t think she quite got the point, but she liked the running.

Inspiration Thursday picked MY illustration as one of the showcases for last week! Shrink was the prompt. http://www.inspiremethursday.com/2008/08/08/spotlight-on-shrink/

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8/7 The Day of Very Close and Far Away

Getting in touch with an old college friend on facebook. I hadn’t talked to her in so long, and for once, it was a GOOD friend, not just a casual friend.

A package for the kids from their grandma. Oh they love getting packages.

An important email from a friend who is living in Costa Rica. Even though we are far, we can still be close.

G and Ivy ask to call papa on the phone. Particularly Ivy. She is quite clear about wanting to talk to him.

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8/8 The Day of Bedtimes and Art Supplies

Going to bed early. I didn’t even read. Just turned off the light and passed out.

My art supplies came from Dick Blick. I haven’t had the chance to use them yet, but what fun to open up a box and see all the wonderful colors. Ooooh, all the potential.

G and Ivy had such fun playing with Uncle today. They love him.

G sitting up in bed and “reading” Alice and Wonderland.

Walking through the garden and taking a moment to listen. Sounds through out the neighborhood. Someone singing as they rid by on a bike. The neighbors having dinner. Birds. A child crying because she doesn’t want to go to bed yet.

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8/1 The Day of the PlayGround by the Sea

Went with my mom to a new neighborhood. We were supposed to go on a “Gallery Walk” but instead, found a playground and spent a couple hours there, then went for icecream.

G and Ivy met a little boy and they played with him and his mom. G particularly love the mom, and kept pulling her this way and that. Ivy particularly loved the boy, sitting on the bench next to him and saying, “hi.”

Ivy feeding G cheerios.

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8/2 The Day of Some Writing and Forward Motion

I actually WROTE in my novel during the kid’s nap time. I didn’t avoid it at all. Yay. I am still worried that it is writing around what I should be writing, but I think I have to write it first to know what I need to really be writing.

My slowly changing attitude towards my art, my work, my writing, my career, my business, my life and myself. Step by step, and I will get where I want to go.

Good posting on my blog. I read back and realized there is something developing in the larger scope of things. Not sure what yet, but it seems to be something of a unified vision.

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8/3 The Day of One, Two, Three, Four, Five... Six!

The big double grocery cart shaped like a car.

G’s happiness at getting a Go Diego Go I Can Read book. It’s only a matter of time folks. He may actually be reading before he can speak clearly.

Bedtime. They love to cuddle in bed with mama and read books.

Sponge alphabet. Oooh. Look, a G. An I.

G has 6 bobos (pacifiers) 6. And he likes to count them. 6 is new. It used to be 5 but we found another one in hiding. We have tried to get rid of the bobos, but it’s not time yet. He only uses them at bedtime and agrees to that. I think we’ll get rid of all of them at once, rather than having them disappear at the same time. Maybe we will do a bobo fairy and have her leave some good toy in their place. But after potty training. One traumatic event at a time, please.

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7/26 The Day of Getting Back to the Happy List

Gosh I spent some time over on the lists, and I foolishly marked this goal as accomplished, which it is, although I am not done.

So I had to mark it as doing again. How weird. Man, I think they kicked me off the front page. Oh well. So after putting this goal off for a while because of all the catching up I have to do, I’m just going to start again.

Iced coffee with coffee icecream. Yum

Google reader. So much easier to keep track of my favorite blogs.

Oreos with peanut butter. Why did I never discover this before? Just dip and crunch. Yum.

G’s golden curls. I do not know where they come from. It’s one of those genetic throwbacks, I know, but how strange.

G is also talking much better lately. Still hard to understand, but he seems to have gotten over his resistance to trying the difficult sounds.

Ivy and her chubby belly. She’s like a juicy apple and you just want to eat her up.

Uncle had G up on his lap and was pretending to be a boat and telling him stories about sailing and pirates, and G was just imagining away, looking through the spy glass and sighting bad guys and listening enraptured.

My cat has decided to come out of hiding and has spent some time down stairs while the kids are actually awake. I had G feed her a piece of chicken and give her some non-violent attention. She’s been scared of him since he was about a year old, but he doesn’t pull tails or ears anymore.

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7/16 The Day Before the (da dum dum) Road Trip

SYTYCD. Wee hee. Me loves the dancing kids.

Dancing with the kids. We held eachother’s hands and danced around in a circle.

Realizing that, although I am dreading the roadtrip tomorrow at 4 AM!!! I am still going to the mountains, to a place I have never been. That’s nice and fun.

Frosted mini wheats.

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7/14 The Day of Apple Cheeks and Crosswords

When I was surrounded by my kids… they’re small and there are only two of them, but they were so present that they definitely had me surrounded. Hugs all around. Big grins.

When I put them to nap a half hour early and they actually went to bed and I was able to shower and get my equilibrium back.

Reading a magazine this morning instead of turning on the computer.

Balloons with the kids. Oh, balloons make kids very very happy.

When Ivy went right back down when I went in to put G back in his bed. She didn’t fuss or cry or expect to be let out to run around.

Not happy exactly, but the perfect set of teeth marks left on Ivy’s cheek after g bit her. It wasn’t that bad, but I marveled at the little white marks in her tear streaked cheek. I definitely knew why she was crying, though. And G did not dispute the time out, for sure.

Starting my collage for my project. I’m using old crosswords that S did. I worked on that while I was watching Youtube videos of a girl who does these little art project tutorials.

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7/13 The Day of Ways to Be Creative, One Hundred and More

I’m really digging watching Children of Men. I’ve seen it before, but I didn’t realize how well made it was. And I loves me some post apocalyptic fiction.

Kids. Oh they get older. Ivy always runs to give G his milk, and then comes back to get her own. G comes over to see what’s wrong if Ivy is crying.

And they are still little and they want their mommy. They climb all over me and are cuddle bunnies.

Making my list of 100 ways to be creative, and then having more ideas. There are so many ways to live a creative life, you just have to do it.

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7/12 A Low Key Day

Laying on the couch with the kids, watching Little Bear. Hugs and games and cuddles and tickles.

G is learning to read… or at least he’s getting the concept. He sees words and then starts saying the letters. He doesn’t always get the right letters, but that’s okay. He read out some letters and then said his name, like he was reading his name. He was very proud.

Ivy running around today while Uncle cleaned. I couldn’t get her to leave him alone, but he said it was okay, she was “helping.” She wanted to hang out with him.

G and Uncle making noises with a long carboard tube. Honking and tooting and farting. G pretending to play guitar and singing along to uncle’s tooting.

During naptime, there was a nice rain shower. I went out into the garden with my camera looking for things to photograph. The lotuses in the pond were pretty. I found some key limes. The vines on the trees. And the rain and the waterfall in the pond were so soothing, pitter pattering away.

Then I was brave and stopped browsing the internet in avoidance and stepped up to my novel and wrote 5 pages.

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7/11 The Day of Just Being Brave a Little

Work was a little busy. Not crazy, but a bit. And there was a great band playing. Actually great. I enjoyed it, actually, despite exhaustion. It reminded me of an old job where I used to work, back in my twenties, in Greenwich Village. It was called the Cottonwood Cafe, anyone ever hear of it? No, that’s okay, it was a long time ago in a very specific place.

I finally opened up a bank account down here. I did not put it off for another day. I did not make excuses. I did not say, “oh, I don’t feel well,” or “I don’t have enough time, forget it.” I even had to call someone to help me get it done. And I still did it, because I challenged myself to be brave.

I took part in another challenge and created a painting based on their prompt, “healing.”http://warriorgirl.blogspot.com/2008/07/power-posting-power-painting-power.html
I don’t paint that much any more. I should paint more often.

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7/10 The Day of Bits and Pieces

Got to see the elimination episode of SYTYCD. This is really the only show I am watching right now. And I love to see them dance. My boys did not get eliminated, thank god, although they were on the chopping block.

Giving away the Arte y Pico award I got for my blog to five other bloggers for creativity and adding to the blogging community. I am really liking blogging, now that people actually read me. I like making connections and sharing with people and being inspired by them. I’ve always liked writing and journaling, but this seems like the maturation of my journals.

Starting a new assignment with my art girls. I made the assignment, so I’ve been thinking about it. It’s two parts. Spend the week or so collecting bits and pieces of your life, ephemera, labels, lists, things you find, maybe even things you hear… everything around you that makes up your life. Then create a piece of art using what you found. I like the idea of making art out of your daily life. It kind of reminds me of these lists, my happy pages.

Reconnecting with a high school friend. Well, we weren’t really great friends, but he was always so cool. I was too shy to be really close to people. But he seemed so glad to hear from me, it made me feel good, like I wasn’t just a wallflower reading books by the lockers every morning. Seriously, I read so much in HS.

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7/9 The Day of Pinning Our Creativity Up to the Metaphorical and Literal Refrigerator

SYTYCD, right now. It’s a commercial, that’s the only reason I’m here. I loved the number with Will and his partner. SOOOO brilliant, both chorography and dancing. And Twitch doing the krump was awesome and “dirty” in Mia Michaels’ words. Have to go, Josh is dancing now…okay, he wasn’t that good, but they all have another number to go. Another happy. Double dance numbers on SYTYCD.

Made chicken and rice and greenbeans and it was good. Kids liked. I liked. Uncle liked. The kids had watermelon for dessert.

G laughed at Little Bear and his games. He loves when Little Bear plays chase or hide and seek.

We did some drawing today. Both kids. After we were done, G came and looked at Ivy’s drawing and said, “Oooh. Good. I like.” Then he wasn’t happy until we took Ivy’s painting and put it up on the refrigerator with magnets. I love that they like to draw and have their own artistic sensibilities. And it is a nice drawing, too.

Oh yeah, I got a bloggy award for creative inspiration today. I’ve got to figure out who to pass it on to. That should be fun. Maybe a balance of people I look up to who are far out of my stratosphere and people who are closer to where I am.

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7/8 The Day of Bikes and Flights

Bedtime was not as difficult as I thought it might be with S gone.

G asked for hamburgers by name. His language is developing rapidly after so long not being able to talk. I guess he’s ready.

S got off to the airport without a hitch. His flight went well. There were no hysterics (either here at home or with the airline) and he got back to NY just fine.

Plenty of birthday videos to tide us over until I can recover from birthday and holidays and visits and parties and all of it.

G’s first ride around the block on his new birthday bike, with papa’s guidance.

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7/7/08 The Day of Leftover Cake

Kids were so tired we got to sleep a little late, and it must have been the upcoming birthday that was giving me a little insomnia, because I was able to sleep.

G’s actual Birthday. He was born three years ago today. Weird how life just GOES.

The kids opening the last of the presents.

Leftover cake.

A day with nowhere to be. I needed some down time after the big weekend.

When Ivy stopped her tantrum. It took about an hour. It was caused by nothing. Nothing could make her feel better, not cookies or hugs or singing or cats. Nothing. Until about an hour of crying and screaming and thrashing and rolling around in every corner of the house and me trying to work my way closer to her so that I could calm her, and G came out and gave her some balloons and then started playing Poo Poo Man, and she started being distracted from her woe, and then she stopped saying “nononono,” and let me hug her and tickle her and then she decided she would go up stairs and see the cat sleeping in the changing table and go to bed. And then the tantrum was done. Phew. Where’s the tequila? No tequila?

More leftover cake.

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7/6 The Day of Cake and Balloons and Presents and Rain

Mama was smart and did her writing in the morning before she got out of bed, instead of planning on writing during nap or after all the festivities. A couple pages.

My new Target tshirt. Just a cute little henley with pin tucks and buttons in a nice plum color. Long enough, loose enough, light enough to be comfy and stylish.

G’s joy when he saw the balloons and streamers and wrapped presents at Grandma’s house.

Ivy’s joy when she saw G’s birthday bike. G seemed more interested in opening presents, and the bike was already open. Ivy sat on it for a good half hour while G enjoyed his new pirate ship.

Cake! Cake! Cake! (G’s words, not mine.)

The rain storm after the party that delayed our leaving, but added a new aspect of playing in the rain.

Everyone fell asleep very quickly at the end of the night. Including mama. Phew. Big weekend.

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7/5 The Day Before G's Birthday Party

The kids waking up to papa. G especially was so happy to have him here. Ivy was a little shy.

Getting presents for G’s birthday with S while the kids were napping. We got him a fancy pirate ship and Ivy will get a doll and stroller.

Bath time story time bed time with Papa and mama. It is nice to have the family all together.

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7/4The Day of the Kid's First Fire Works Show

S came back after 6 weeks in NY. It was nice.

G was SOOOO happy to see papa. Ivy was a little shy, but G was bouncing around.

Fireworks on Tampa Bay. They were no Macy’s fireworks, but then, it was also a lot less trouble than going to see NYC fireworks, with the crowds and the commute.

We sat on a blanket on the waterfront, and had cherries and cookies and chips and milk for the kids and port for the grown ups and watchd the boom boom flash flash.

Before the fireworks, we watched the backside of the sunset, and the thunderclouds flashing with lightning. A pair of flamingos flew over the bay and they were the same color as the the clouds.

Great pictures of G and Ivy in the garden.

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7/3 The Day of The Day Before

The keyboard came.

G after work, all perky and full of energy, but went right to bed.

Dinner. Chicken strips with hot sauce and blue cheese dressing and a salad.

Great Ivy Pictures.

Doing a collage for a workshop.

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7/2 The Day of Characters, Created, Developed and Rediscovered.

Package from the kids’ other grandma. A present for G, some clothes, and awhole mess of action figures. One of which, a strange Batman figure in armor, became G’s made up superhero/badguy—Poo Poo Man!!!! He has a fart gun.

Writing TWICE in my novel. And working on character, too.

Ideas about my first novel (10 years ignored) and some thoughts for revision. Realized I still love that character/story and maybe she can come back.

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7/1 The Day of A Stormy Sky and Lovely Sunset

One on one time with Ivy. I said ‘did you know you’re a pretty girl/smart girl/sweet girl/funny girl?’ and she didn’t know any of those except for funny girl. Then she nodded, big smile. She is funny. She makes jokes, plays tricks, shatters expectations, and she likes shoes.

Buying stuff at the grocery store for G’s birthday. He picked out his cake (a mix. please.) frosting, candles. Very excited. He wanted cake for dinner that night.

Stormy sky outside at dusk.

Managed to post to my blogs today. I write on my lap top that is off line, save to memory key, transfer to uncle’s damaged mac, point and click, cut and paste. Post. Have even managed a few comments that way.

Reading some responses people have left. Understanding, warm. Much about the benefits of unexpected setbacks.

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6/30 The Day of Pictures

G was mugging for the camera, making funny faces.

G drew with a pencil. He enjoyed it. He did still lifes while I sketched in my journal.

Summer summer fruits it wouldn’t be summer without them.

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6/29 The Day of "Life is a series of moments; to live each one is to succeed" (Corita Kent)

Made some money working by myself.

Got some dvds for G’s birthday. Looking forward to giving him some favorites. Little Bear and Jimmy Neutron.

Uncle made spaghetti and I had some. Hit the spot.

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6/27 The Day of Good Work

Managed to post on my blog by cutting and pasting and mouse clicking, even though I had no keyboard.

Finding out I wouldn’t ever have to work again with a particular person at work who drove me (and everyone else) batty.

Fixed my hair during another session with my scissors. Maybe a little more tweaking still needs to be done.

A good sandwich (grilled chicken, swiss, bacon and ranch dressing.)

Customer brought in a harlequin macaw (not a scarlet, not a hyacinth). Cool bird. Pretty. Very old. Almost as old as the guy.

When the insane rush of customers finally receded and I got to close out and go home. (it wasn’t always busy, just had a crazy rush for an hour or so.)

Hearing my mom’s stories about the fun G and Ivy had playing today. Bath time. eating lots of chicken. Riding the horseys at the playground. Chasing bugs in the grass. Falling asleep in the carseat.

Writing over a thousand words today despite the funk.

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6/26 The Day of Singing and Dancing and Writing

Saved a baby lizard that was lost in the sink.

G remembered the “this little piggie” song and was trying to do it with Ivy’s toes. Even though I hadn’t done it in years. They remember such strange things from so long ago.

Wrote over 2000 words in my novel. I hit the ‘glow” I felt it starting to make sense. glad I deleted half of what I’d written. I may have to delete another 50 pages. Is it possible that I have written almost 150,000 only to get to the beginning? People sometimes look down on nanowrimo for the speed with which you tackle a novel, but I don’t think it makes much difference when you’re writing your way into a story. It just depends on how much you let your internal editor get control of you, and when your delete button finger starts to get itchy. For me, it seems to be 150,000 words in.

Doing little piggies and singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider with the kids. Then I started singing more songs. I always forget how much singing makes me happy until I start to sing.

Peanut butter cups in my icecream.

SYTYCD especially the opening number.

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6/25 The Day of Some Things Starting to Work

Sesame Street. G is fascinated with Elmo’s Alphabet Race Game. Both G and Ivy are dancing to the Vegetable Song. It is interactive play today.

Blueberries and hotdogs for lunch.

Fixing my camera. It wasn’t really broken but the screws had come out and it was only a matter of time. Had a found pair of sunglasses that I scavenged for tiny screws. It worked!

When my uncle’s computer came back on after I spilled coffee on a corner of the keyboard. It’s not TOTALLY ruined.

When I got the ‘delete’ key back on after trying to take it off and clean it out. These things are hell to reattach.

Talking to G about big boys who use the potty. It’s hard to learn all the stuff like going down stairs or using a spoon without spilling. but he gets to do all sorts of fun stuff like turn 3 and I told him about his birthday and asked him what he wants to do and he said chocolate cake, icecream, blueberries, monsters and dinosaurs, balloons, running and dancing. That’s what he wants. I can do that.

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6/24 The Day of The Kids Getting Bigger

G peed in the potty. At first, he peed around the potty and only accidentally got some in, but he received huzzahs and applause and his own song and much dancing and a piece of chocolate. Then, he peed in the potty again, this time in purpose. Repeat rejoicing.

Cuddle play with Ivy

Ivy amazes me with her verbal ability. Her vocabulary is tremendous, even beginning to say sentences and she’s not even 16 months.

The kids are so big now, even Ivy is not a baby anymore.

Left G and I looking out of the window, waiting for the cardinal to come back to the tree, watching the rain fall.

G is learning to count. He has one, two, three and sometimes four and five. He has all the colors. His language is rapidly developing, despite how long it has taken. He is learning to say the J and the TH and the L, although D and T are still hard.

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6/23 Random Firings of my Brain

The word “tool.” It’s a good word. And I mean, as in “he’s a tool,” not the handy type. It’s funny.

Stella Artois. Just because.

Helping people. I like that people can be inspired by things I say and go on to live a better life.

Having brainstorms and finding the perfect thing to write in the moment.

The kids helping me with putting the laundry in the washing machine.

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Sausage, corn, french fries for dinner. Cherries for dessert.

The kids got lollipops. They don’t get them often, in fact, Ivy looked at hers like it was a suspicious creature on the end of a stick. But then she took a lick. I believe the response was mmlmmlmmlmm, the thing she licks her lips and says mmm at the same time. And then there was sticky lollipop everywhere.

Got out of work early and got to my moms house while the kids were ‘napping’ meaning Ivy was asleep on the couch and G was in his room wide awake and playing silently. I had an afternoon beer and flipped through a magazine.

Went to get big boy underwear for G… we are going to try potty training this week. Yikes! But he chose his briefs. A set of Transformers, and because I figured I’d need more than three… a set of Spiderman and his friends. No Diego. I was surprised.

At work, I found a strange fungi on a tree trunk and took so me surprising pictures.

Coffee. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Coffee.

The gust of wind when we got out of the house with the kids. G stood there, and shook his long, luxurious red curls in the strong breeze, smiling wildly. Then he pretended that the wind was blowing him away. “woah, woah, woah!”

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6/21 The Day of Rain, Photos, and Beer from the Fellas

Beautiful rain this morning. Soft and gentle, but heavy. G and I watched it out the window. “Yay, yay,” he said. “Rain.”

Ivy, so serious when I told her to get a toy to go to grandma’s and grandpas. She looked at me, nodded, and then strutted off around the corner into the play room to look for a toy. She picked two soft rings, exactly like the two rings that G had.

Discovering that the soft rings from the caterpillar toy could be a great tossing toy. G has a need to throw things, and as balls tend to wander off, he throws things like shoes and giant robots. no. no. So giving him the soft rings allowed him to express his throwing without hurting people or delicate objects.

Went to work. Still raining. Dead slow. Rain not good for an outdoor restaurant. So I decided to take some photos. Perhaps I will post them later. Photos all around the Sunset. Some self portraits. Some abstracts. Some straight shots of the restaurant. It was a little fun, I don’t do much photographing besides taking pictures of the kids, of which I have taken thousands.

Got out of work early, since there were too many waitresses, too few tables available with the rain and all, and too few people to fill those seats. I went to the back bar and hung out with the manager who was working and had a couple of beers, all of which were bought by the guys sitting there. Yes, they were old guys being friendly to the waitress, but there were also other guys giving me the eye. I wasn’t receptive, just friendly, but I still have a little of the some’in, some’in.

Mom picked me up, and we brought the kids home and put them to bed and sat and talked with Uncle, which was fun.

MORE readers for my blog. I am always surprised when I am called funny, because I don’t really think of myself as funny, although I do enjoy looking at things with humor. I guess I think of myself as way too serious for my own good, but maybe I have my moments. That’s good. I’ve spent too many years way too serious.

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6/19 The Day of Mummies and the Singing Dead

Made it through the torture that was the singer who was auditioning at the Sunset Grill tonight. It was so bad it was funny. My eyes were crossing. It put me in a strange mood.

Seeing the kids when my mom and step dad came to pick me up. They were sitting in the back smiling to see me.

G discovered mummies tonight. He saw a Reading Rainbow episode about Egyptian mummies, and just absorbed it in. Where do these interests come from? It wasn’t the monster thing, it was the archeology thing, I think. The science thing. This is an exciting development.

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6/18 PS I Forgot

I deleted half of the second draft of my novel. Half. And I know it was the right thing to do because it felt good and it fueled my inspiration. Now I can make sense of the structure.

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6/18 The Day of Thoughts on My Work and Moments with My Kids

Writing in my journal last night before bed, and having the epiphany that everything I have been working on in my life for the last twenty years is starting to come to fruition, and part of it is because of the struggle and the questions and the detours and the tiny tiny babysteps that never seem to get me anywhere. It is happening, and it is not luck, it is persistence and hard work and passion and practice and doing things for the love of it all.

Popsicles in the garden with G and Ivy. Half naked kids, running around dripping frozen neon sugar water. I took pictures. Oh, they loved it.

I made chicken and it was tasty. And G devoured the greenbeans I made with it. Green beans, I said. Vegetables! Jump on it. Encourage it. The key is to use frozen green beans, actually, and sautee them with butter and salt and pepper. The fresh green beans are too tough for him to eat. Vegetable and convenience, both.

More compliments on line. Great compliments from people who know what they are talking about. I am quite breathless at it all.

Enjoying my day of mommying without having to go to work. Paying attention to the moments where they are laughing and playing, loving being with mommy and having her attention. Taking the time out of tasks to give them that time. Finding a possibly imperfect balance between doing my work and being mom, and being okay with the imperfection, and trusting in my kids to be able to grow and flourish without my perfection.

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6/17 The Day of the Flowered Skirt and Peaches and Bloggety Blogosphere

Playing with Ivy and the magic crayola finger paints. She just wants to dig in the paint goo, but together, we painted something that I actually like. I made circles, and she had fun with the rest.

The kids’ first(ish) encounter with peaches. Mmmlmmmlmmm (that’s how Ivy says yum. She sticks her tongue out and in, half way between licking her lips and saying mmm.)

Dressing up a little just because I felt like it. All that means is I put on a yellow cotton skirt printed with tiny red flowers adn an orange tank top with lace edging. Not so far off from my normal shorts and tank outfit.

I am getting more and more compliments on my writing. It is both amazing and gratifying. They aren’t even the regular compliments like, “you write good” ;) they are very precise compliments, like “your writing is stark and alive.” Wowzers. It is? Cool. I need to see some of this writing he’s talking about.

I am starting to gain momentum with my blog. It’s weird. People I don’t know are reading me and they are entering into the discussion. That’s the best part. The discussion. I enjoy looking at blogs as a conversation. It is so much more personal than a magazine or a newspaper or the tv. It is so interactive, almost, you might imagine, the way ideas were passed on in the eons before we came up with the printing press and mass media. But of course, this time, you aren’t face to face, and you can have access to so many more people. We live in a remarkable world, don’t you think?

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6/15 The Day of Grocery Shopping is Fun

Blueberries. Back in season. I should have gotten two pints, upon reflection.

Connecting with old friends and starting a new project… hopefully it takes off rather than fizzling.

Buying small treats for myself at the grocery store, because the whole reason that S went back to NY to work was so that we wouldn’t be so strapped and could put away some savings. So why can’t I get that magazine????

Steak for dinner. Trying to eat better. I think I really needed the iron.

Mom coming by. The kids were so happy to see her. Especially G. When we went to the grocery store, My mom took G in her cart and I took I in mine, and we would sometimes surprise run into each other.

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6/14 The Day of A Little Art A Little Work A Little Thunder

Had nice onion rings after work. With tiger sauce, which is a kind of spicy horseradish sauce.

Walking to the car after work, the night was falling, there was a cool breeze from the storm that did not develop, the singer was playing a riff on her acoustic guitar, work was done for the day.

I went out to check on the developing storm. The cloud was tall and high. Lightning flashed inside of it. I could smell ozone.

Someone at work saw my little painting in my journal with the girl aloft over the city, hanging onto a red baloon, and said, “wow, I could see that as a post card.” I thought that was really nice. I would like to sell prints and postcards. Maybe my flying girl would like to fly as a post card.

Talked a little to another coworker about art. She saw my little painting and asked me what medium I’d used. She was an artist too. I don’t often get to talk about art down into the technical stuff. Well not anymore.

During nap, I sketched out a surprising picture of a teddy bear made of the blue sky (and nothing but) except her outline went out past behind her emptyheadedness. She seemed a little angry. I kind of like the idea of an angry teddy bear. Bears are fierce, who are we to make bears into baby toys?

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6/13 The Day of Thunder and Lightning Very Very Frightning in the Target Parking Lot

Holding my arms out to Ivy and having her come running into them, practically crashing into me, to get a hug. :)

Talking to my uncle and finding out that my grandfather’s relationship with his girlfriend (after my grandmother had died) was actually a continuation of a relationship, and she had been his High School sweetheart in Pittsburg. That was pretty cool.

Getting to the Tarjay and finding some things I needed along with a Go, Diego, Go dvd that the kids were SOOOOOO excited about. I got a book, literature, even, that has gotten good reviews. I am attempting to move from mindless fiction to “good” fiction to see if my brain has recuperated from having babies.

The woosh anticipation of a storm rolling in. We made it to the car before it really started. Thunder crashed, lightning flashed, we were safe in the car, very exciting. But the impending storm never really materialized.

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6/12 The Day of Past Bedtime and Oreos and Waiting Tables

Had some steamed shrimp with G at bedtime way past bedtime when Grandma and Grandpa came to pick me up from work with the kids in tow. I finished him off with an oreo and he finally decided he could sleep.That’s what happens when grandma serves favorites like beans and roast pork all mixed together with yucky rice. Little boy gets hungry hungry and can’t go to sleep and needs to eat all mama’s post work dinner.

Busy at work. Busy enough anyway. I was the only waitress on, and while it was a little lonely without another woman to chat with, it seems to be the only way to make some decent cash.

The cool breezy weather. No storms, just clouds. Palm trees waving in the breeze.

The kids all excited to go in the car to grandma’s house and play with all the toys.

Ivy with the remnants of an oreo. Everywhere. Face. Hands. Neck Folds. Dress. Knees. Head to toe, covered in cookie mush. Oh, and the huge, huge grin.

A great compliment from ruthg. She called my writing voice “both wry/clever & tender.” Thanks again ruthg.

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6/11 The Day of Dancing, Pancakes and Paint

I’m watching So You Think You Can Dance right now. I’m writing this during the commercial break. So it could take a good long while to finish up.

Pancake and eggs for dinner. I didn’t get enough sleep last night, so knew my temper was kind of fragile, I went low maintenance, high approval rating.

The kids had their milk out in the garden, running around and getting dirty.

During nap I got a chance to paint. Just a little. It helps.

I also went through my portfolio to see what I had with me. I had a lot of favorites. I really need to get back into painting. I need to take my small things further. I want to take it seriously.

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6/10 The Day of Zeitgeisting and Finding Out I Was an Inspiration to Look Beyond the Surface

So I was looking at sitemeter for my blog and someone found me by googling my name, so I looked at their results to see what there was about me, and I found the site “Rate My Teacher.” Now, I haven’t taught in five years, but I decided to check it out, and this is what I found…set for a date long after I had stopped teaching:

SHE IS THE ONE TEACHER I WILL FOREVER REMEMBER FOR INSPIRING ME TO LOOK BEYOND THE SURFACE OF THINGS AND PUSHING ME TO DO BETTER.SHE TRULY SUPPORTED MY DREAMS I WILL ALWAYS HAVE FOND MEMORIES OF HER.

Bedtime. Kisses and hugs and laying in the same bed in a squiggly, wiggly pile.

Dinner time. Actually putting the food on the table in front of them, because that meant the screaming and crying and trying of my patience ended and my blood pressure went down, and the twitching in my eye stopped. I hate the hour before dinner.

Got some writing done despite the excuses and blahdeblah. I was running out of time before naps ended, and I didn’t give up, I gave it a try, and got a few pages in.

The kids deciding to take up sweeping and mopping. G had the mop and Ivy had the broom, all because a glass of water spilled and they wanted to clean up the mess. ^{twiddling thumbs} Hmm. Can I capitalize on this and teach them to be my house cleaners?

Perusing my blog and other writings I felt good, because I think I have something. I just need to figure out how to get that “something” out there into the wider zeitgeist. I need to find my hundred monkeys.

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6/9 The Day of the Big Rainstorm and Little Steps

I started to paint some pages in my journal. I only got as far as one spread, because the paint was wet. So I thought I’d try to dry it off somehow, and closed the page and rubbed it together a little, and when I opened it up, it looked like a moth. Cool. I wonder what I will write/draw on that page. I think it would look good with a sort of metallic goldish hue, because the paint was a pale lavender gray.

My mom dropped by unexpectedly to have her lunch. She was in the neighborhood, so she popped in.

Lunch: hotdogs and berries and a little brownie.

Lots of relaxing time at work. I had a cup of soup and some iced tea and did the crossword read the free paper and wrote a poem and stared out at the driving rain. All would have been great if I the purpose of work was not to make money.

Getting picked up with the kids… they were very happy to see me, but also had lots of fun at the grandparents’s.

I cut out some paper dolls from the Mary Englebreit’s Home Companion magazine. I was looking through it for interesting patterns that I could collage my journal with when I found the paper dolls. I like that magazine for the artsiness and the view into people’s studios, but I had always ignored the paper dolls as being, well, cheesy… but then I thought maybe the kids would like them.

I decided that I need to take this challenge (to write a page everyday) as a lesson. The goal was to create a writing habit, but I keep getting stuck between my writing goals and my life. If I pay attention to when I am having trouble writing, then maybe I can adjust my writing schedule to where it actually WILL work.

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6/8 The Day of the Gulf of Mexico and the Rain in the Garden

Today we went to the beach with grandma. That would be the Gulf of Mexico, folks. This place has its drawbacks, but the beach is not one of them. So nice. White sand. Warm, gentle water. Sea shells.

It was Ivy’s first time to the ocean and G’s second. They both were a little nervous when they first got into the water, but then they warmed up to it.

When we got home, and after the nap, there was a rain storm, and the kids wanted to go out to play in it. What the heck, I thought. I took off G’s shirt and let them play. After a while, G came and sat down on the steps in the door with me to watch, but Ivy wanted to play and play in the rain, even when she was shivering.

When the lightning got too close, I ended the rain splash time, but G and Ivy went to the porch with Uncle to watch the rain in the shelter, while I finished dinner up.

Dinner was tacos, which G liked. He really had tortilla chips with meat and cheese and salsa, but then he tried to be like Uncle and started adding more things to his tortillas, then Ivy started copying him.

Bedtime. Phew. Big day lead to wired boy. Hard to put down, but hopefully they will stay down through the night. They usually do. For which I would like to take the moment to be thankful.

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6/7 The Day of Domesticity and a Butterfly

Bedtime hugs and kisses, climbing into G’s bed w both of them and reading stories, then bedtime, bedtime. Put them down, kiss, “I love you” and then close the door. Shhh. No sounds. Tip toe down stairs. Shhh.

I got myself a new coffee mug. Oh, my indulgences. 4.50. It’s so cute. Nothing fancy, just green glazed pottery with some graphic lines. Good size. Good heft. I can’t wait to have my coffee in it tomorrow. I have missed a good mug.

A grocery trip that I thought was going to cost everything I had in my wallet because I got a few indulgences (mug, toy cars for the kids, pepperoni, sherry… nothing big) but I must have been very budget minded about the things that actually were on my list, because I was only 25$ over my real budget.

A butterfly that flew by my head when I was outside trying to get good reception for my cel phone.

The kids woke up to the sprinkler going in the back yard. Oh how they wanted to play in it. And I let them, even though I had just cleaned and dressed everyone. They had so much fun. And when they were done, they had droplets of water in their hair, glistening like crystal, and big smile on their faces.

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I watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show with my uncle last night. With his projection screen, I thought I should have the watergun, umbrella, popcorn, noisemakers, toilet paper, etc that go along with the experience. Instead, we just had spaghetti and red wine and watched the thing. I think I must have been drunk or something the other times I’ve seen it, because I hardly remembered the movie at all. Or maybe it was because I’ve never actually just sat and watched it. It might just be the bestest bad movie ever.

G discovered The X Men, and boy did he love it. He loves the super powers, although I think that he thinks all super power guys are bad guys. I was trying to help him understand that there were also super heroes, who were good guys who took care of people. Maybe I shouldn’t be showing my three year old movies like X Men and Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, but he kind of accidentally stumbled onto the genre… and all of those movies were movies that I avoided showing him because I thought they were too mature, until somehow he found them and was enraptured. Give him a choice between Lady and the Tramp and Lord of the Rings, and he’ll go for the “bad guys” every time.

Not having to go to work yesterday. I had one of the other waitresses take my shift because I was having minor panic attacks about leaving the kids and all the coordinating and really not making much anyway. It was so much easier to take care of the kids by myself when I wasn’t worrying about getting ready to go to work and hauling the kids with me and wondering how my Step Father was going to manage. We just took it easy at home, and it helped.

Left over fish and chips for lunch. An unexpected (I didn’t know it was in the fridge) and hearty meal.

Oh, Ivy has finally discovered strawberries. She always spit them out before, I think they were too tart. But she has just decided she liked them.

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6/5 Me at Work

6/4 The Day Papa Left But We Managed a Good Day, Anyway

So You Think You Can Dance was on tonight and I got to see the auditions… WITH brownie batter on spoon.

Our first night without Papa, and I managed dinner, bathtime, changing time, milk time, story time and bedtime with no problems. It’s been a while since I’ve done bedtime by myself. It’s almost a little easier with out two grown ups. Well, making dinner sucked, but once everyone got fed, it was easier.

I made the kids soup with chicken and greenbeans. Ivy only ate the noodles, but G ate the chicken and the greenbeans and was very happy.

They had chocolate pudding for dessert, and let’s just say it was well received (up to the eyebrows.) They’ve never had chocolate pudding before.

Before Papa left, he took the kids for a ride on their new tricycle, even though it is still too big.

And we had a water fight with their new waterguns. Squirt squirt.

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We went out with the grands to have dinner at Bif Burger, a good ole burger joint.

There was a guy playing guitar, and the kids got up and started dancing. They went over to the dance floor and danced up a storm. Danced together, danced with grandma and grandpa, danced with mama and papa, just danced.

G also got to play the tambourine for a song. He didn’t quite get the beat or the way the thing worked, or that he was supposed to play the whole song, but he wanted to walk off with it. He also got his first taste of rock stardom and somehow, I have the feeling, not the last.

I got a comment today on my blog from another blogger I really respect, one who I turn to for inspiration and wisdom. And she said I inspired her. :)

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6/2 The Day of Not Having Words of My Own

“You are the music while the music lasts.”
T.S. Eliot

“Yes is a world
& in this world of
yes live
(skilfully curled)
all world.”
e.e. cummings

“Mama!”
G The Monkey Man

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6/1 The Day of The Radio Flyer Tricycle and Wings

Bedtime stories, both kids in G’s bed with me, mostly cuddling, only a little squirming, and Papa reading stories to them.

Playing monster with G. I would growl and roll toward him on the office chair and he would scream and laugh and run away, saying “scared!”

Brought home some chicken wings for a fun dinner. Ordered mild, but got some hot sauce for the grown ups to dippity dip.

My mom picked me up from work and we went to stop at my other Uncle’s house. He lives in Georgia or someplace now, but is renting out his house and he came down when the renters left. I missed seeing him, but apparently the renters left some things. So we stopped by the house, looked at the porch and there were some things there, a whole bag of wipes and a cute broom with bug eyes, and…

A RADIO FLYER TRICYCLE!!!! Much happiness ensued when we walked in the door with a tricycle. It’s still a little too big for them, but G is ready to try. My mom says some blocks on the pedals and it will be just fine.

At work, it got busy very early… uncharacteristically, before opening, even. I didn’t even look at the clock until 2 o’clock. Busy makes me happy, even if I’m not really making all that much money, I like to be busy when waiting tables. It’s actually fun. Unless they all ask for their check at the same time, which they did. That is a little stressful.

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5/31 The Day of Girl Things

Went out with my future sister in law, one of her bridesmaids, and my mom to her bridal gown fitting. It was very nice. Girl things. Not mom things.

We also had lunch, and I had a HUGE margarita. Heehee.

I went to the bookstore and got a new journal. It’s the little things, really. And the margaritas.

The kids were happy to see me after I was out doing girl things.

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5/29 The Day of I Don't Remember Much Before Work

Stopping after work at a pub with S. We had beer and jalapeno poppers which were yummy (even though I had an allergic reaction, probably to they type of oil they used to fry them.)

My boss sent me home, even though there were a dozen people hanging out with empty beer glasses an hour after closing. They were jamming on guitars with the woman who sang that night.

It was nice to have someone singing while I was working, and she was decent.

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5/28 The Day of Decisions and Children Who Keep On Going No Matter What

Watching a special Wednesday version of So You Think You Can Dance. I just wish they wouldn’t waste our time on all the bad dancers when there are so many good ones to see.

Irrepressible G. Laughing. Running. Licking. Swordfighting. Milk Drinking. Yelling. Chasing. Dancing. Singing.

Good natured Ivy. She does whatever G does. Strutting around, exploring, enjoying, kissing, playing.

S and I had a difficult decision to make, one that had been weighing on my mind. It became clear to me that we should not go in that direction and once it was, I made it clear to him that this should not happen, and he agreed. I think it will be better in the long run, although S is frustrated, now. It was a big relief for me to make my own decision, and then to tell him about it.

I wrote again today, after missing yesterday. I’m three days behind, but it felt good to write. Also to edit. I liked slimming some paragraphs down, getting rid of the chaff.

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5/27 The Day of There's No Such Thing as a Day Off, Mom

Ivy’s purple pants.

Ivy ran off into the other room, and I was trying to get her to come back to play with us, and I started singing a little “Come Back Ivy” song to the tune of “Goodnight Ladies.” G came running out and started dancing around for her, trying to get her to come back. He was marching around the room, so I started marching too, marching and singing, and we marched and sang so she would follow us and then we were all marching and singing and we got back to the living room and we spun around and laughed.

I found a nice juicy key lime that fell off the tree. Now all I need is some tequila.

Some ideas for improving my blog. My personal blog and the group blog I joined. I came up with a list of titles for the group blog. Things like, “If Mama Ain’t Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy,” and “I Feel Pretty,” and “The Passion of the Mom.” I think I’m going to try to be a little lighter in the group blog. The place for the woman in the mommying. My personal blog is more about the place for the artist. I’m sure there will be some crossover, but maybe having two separate focuses it will help me have more to write about. The site is actually called domesticglamor.com and I had to think a little bit about what that means, domestic glamor.

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5/27 Memorial Day

It was actually busy (sort of) at work, and I got to be productive and do my job and even make a little money.

Oh, and it’s not noble, but I was right when I told my boss that I wouldn’t need to be at work TWO HOURS EARLY. I finished set up somewhere between a half and hour and 45 minutes after getting there. I didn’t gloat, of course, I simply brought it up to the manager, and she totally agreed and got him to change when we have to come in for morning shifts.

S picked me up with the kids. It was nice to have him drive up and have them all meet me. Kids are always happy to see you.

After work we went to my moms house for some kiddie pool action, sangria and burgers. My brother and sister in law to be showed up for apple pie and we got to hang out a bit.

G saw the Crocodile Hunter on tv and spent some time in his deathroll on the floor, pretending to be a croc. It also got him to eat his dinner.

Got home, put the kids to bed and did not collapse in exhaustion, since I had been on the go from 9 am until 10pm. I brought my laptop to bed and did some rewriting. I don’t even know how much I did because I was too tired to log it in my book, but I do know it was more than I was expecting to do. And my notes from my first reading helped me in my rewrite.

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Sat with Uncle and S drinking wine and talking. One of the topics we talked about was 9/11. S and I were both there. Not “there” there, but close. We could see the towers. We both saw or heard the second plane flying. We both were there for the aftermath. We didn’t know each other then, but it is an experience that bonds people. Yesterday, we told Uncle some of our experiences. They aren’t happy memories, but it was a good thing to remember it all and share it.

After work, S and the kids picked me up and we went to a pub and had wings, and I had a couple of beers. We talked to some people with babies and kids. The kids ran around in the playground. They met a baby named Molly, and liked her so much that Ivy named her dolly Molly.

At work there was a little rush, and I proved myself good at what I do. Waiting tables is not a fancy career, but it takes skill and intelligence to do well. I can do it well. And the boss was there to see it.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I was accepted as a writer for a website. I will be writing for glamormom. I think it is glamormom.com but I’m not a hundred percent sure on the URL. It’s where being a woman and being a mom intersect. It is Womom. (Which actually to me sounds like the way the Ferenghi on Star Trek The Next Generation would say “Wo-man.” Which makes me laugh whenever I read that little blurb.) I won’t start making money right away, but hopefully I will as my readership picks up and they start putting ads on my stuff. I haven’t gotten all the information yet, so I’m not quite sure how it all works… but it’s still exciting. And it’s another step in being a professional writer. I will be very excited when I get my first check, even if it’s only for fifteen cents, because that will make me a professional. With very low rates. :)

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5/22 The Day of Working and Dancing

I worked last night and this morning, so my mom dvrd So You Think You Can Dance and we all went over there after I got out of work and watched it, hung out, drank margaritas (well the grown ups) and played (the kids)

Ivy is getting much more comfortable with Grandma and Grandpa. More independent. She likes to play and run around and ask for cookies.

G enjoyed the dancing, too. So did Ivy. When they heard a song or saw a dancer they liked, they would dance, too. G at least liked to try and copy what the dancer did.

It is nice to get out of the house and work, to be out among adults and talk about things not baby related. It’s nice to feel the warm breeze and drink some ice tea, and do what needs to be done, even if I’m not making a whole lot of cash.

See more progress on: list three things every day that made me happy

5/22 The Day of Work at Work and Work at Home, Just Whistle While You Work

Getting off work. That made me happy. It wasn’t bad, just when you’re working and on your feet, it’s nice to stop.

My last customer was the Cookie Man, the guy famous for bringing, you guessed it, cookies to the staff at the Sunset Grill. I had oatmeal and cranberry cookies. Yum

Singing as I work. I always used to do that. I like it.

Spending some time with just Ivy, while G kept napping. When you’ve got a loud big brother it’s always about divided attention.

I got some writing done before work,almost five pages of rewriting, some new, some old. Even when it’s hard to get started and the writing isn’t inspired, it still feels good to have done it, to have conquered my demons.

Ivy almost falling asleep in my arms before nap. She’s so cute. She lays back and her eyes start blinking very slow and her mouth pouts and she says, “mama, mama.”

Jack Jack Attack… the added material to The Incredibles. G really liked it. And then he liked Dash, too. When he saw the whole show, and Dash was running super speed, it inspired him to run run run fast around the room.

See more progress on: list three things every day that made me happy