• Blog

    T Tuesday: New York and more edition

    April 25, 2017 - By 

    The past week has been a whirlwind. Even more so than I had imagined. After my last post I was busy getting ready for the garage sale.

    It turned out really well even though Thursday was very cold with a heavy mist most of the day. The neighbor and I got rid of the vast majority of the things that “had to go”.  We were making deals and giving high fives when the people left.

    Wednesday Mr. G brought home a lovely bouquet of flowers for our anniversary.

    Really poor photo of them but what can I say…it was raining.

    Friday I had to leave the garage sale for most of the day to get mom set up with hospice care. It was time for a little more help than I can provide without moving her to a care facility.

    Saturday morning….really early….Mr. G and I took J to the airport to begin his New York adventure.

    They did so many fun things along with preparing for their concert at Carnegie Hall.

    They saw The Waitress on Broadway and look who came out to give some autographs…

    the star of the show herself…Sara Bareilles.

    (FYI…the photos without my watermark were taken by various members of school staff chaperones and posted on various social media)

    Of course, the purpose of the trip was a performance at Carnegie Hall.

    What a fun group!

    They were part of a larger group…this was them on stage during the sound check. I saw a short video clip of them during the sound check and they sound amazing!

    For their hard work they were rewarded with an exclusive party at Planet Hollywood in Times Square.

    The party was rockin’ until 1am. Those are going to be some tired kids we pick up from the airport tonight!! And guess what…regular school and exams tomorrow. Sleep fast kids!

    Since I’m pretty much “on-call” with mom now, I have to learn to be more flexible with my plans. I seriously need to get to the grocery store today though. That must happen or we’ll have nothing fresh to eat.

    What are you doing today?

    T stands for Tuesday
  • Blog

    T Tuesday: this and that edition

    April 18, 2017 - By 

    Once again I have one of these posts that I’m all over the place both mentally and physically.

    Tomorrow is our 23rd wedding anniversary. With it being mid-week, we are planning to do basically nothing until Saturday. Then we’ll be having sushi!

    I thought this was clever. My neighbor gave me a few of these quite a while ago. Funny the things you find when digging out for a garage sale!

    You wouldn’t believe the piles of stuff I have sitting around waiting to be priced and brought to the neighbors on Thursday morning!! Mr. G has a ton of stuff from the garage too. Hopefully the vast majority will sell…not really wanting that stuff to come back into the house.  Garage sales are a lot of work but when doing it with others it can be fun and having the bonus of getting rid of stuff while making a little cash is a super bonus.

    I transplanted my seedlings into larger containers yesterday.

    They are doing so well. I also planted zucchini and summer squash in pots on the side of the garage.  I’ve read that they can be grown in pots so might as well give it a try since my in-laws aren’t having a garden this year.

    I snipped the end off my mint plant and put it in water a few days ago…look at the crazy roots it grew in such a short time.

    If I get a chance I want to make a wreath for our new front door. I really shouldn’t be worrying about that right now since I still have to get it painted, I just need to do something crafty every so often or I get cranky.

    Speaking of crafty….look at this dessert I made for Easter!

    It was so decadent and sweet. Almost too rich and sweet if there was such a thing.

    The rest of the week will be a whirlwind. Appointments, garage sale, anniversary and J heading to NYC on Saturday. It’s likely a really good thing that I am insanely busy until then because I think I’d be making myself sick with worry if not.

    What are you doing today?

    T stands for Tuesday
  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    T Tuesday: a decade of blogging edition

    April 10, 2017 - By 

    Today for T stands for Tuesday I’d like you to help me celebrate a real milestone…an entire decade of blogging!!!

    I am so incredibly shocked that I have been at the keyboard sharing my work with the world for 10 years now! I started the blog on a whim and wasn’t sure if I’d even had any readers but was thinking of it as a digital diary of sorts. I hadn’t ever had success a paper diary or journal so who knew I’d still be at it all these years later.

    Take a peek at my very first post…

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    The blog itself has went through many changes over the years, but though it all the content has remained the same. The visual presentation and the platform have changed. I was on Blogger for the first 5 yrs then purchased my own domain and moved over to WordPress.

    Blogging helped me learn to identify myself as an artist…something that was very difficult to say out loud for the first time. Of course, part of that is likely due to growing up in the upper mid-west, raised in a conservative Lutheran church.  We cannot take a complement. No seriously…it’s a sickness. If someone says, “OH I love that new blouse!”  Instead of just saying “thank you” like a normal person, people like me will try our best to avoid accepting the complement by down playing everything… “Oh gosh, you wouldn’t believe the great deal I found on it at blah blah store…I’m sure it would look even better on you…” totally avoiding the acknowledgement of the compliment because that would be to “full of yourself”.

    Ok not sure where that tangent came from but hey…it’s my anniversary…I can get off track if I want.

    I’ve “met” so many wonderful like minded people through blogging from all over the world. I shared my art, crafts and photography. Gardening, travels and kitchen experiments. My failures and celebrations. Blogging has become an integral part of my self-expression.

    I have noticed a tendency lately for people to use more social networking than blogging. I have found myself falling into that trap as well. I post something on Instagram so I don’t bother creating a post about it.  Such as this…

    A painting in progress. I was commenting that I wasn’t sure where I was going with it or even if it looked best in this direction. This quick superficial post without a followup on the blog is what I want to stop myself from doing…mainly because it’s a little lazy. It’s tendency I’d like to break myself of quickly.

    So have you had enough deep, introspective thoughts from me yet today? It’s been that kind of day. Having an introductory meeting with hospice will do that to a person.

    We do have some exciting things on the horizon though…a wedding anniversary and a choir trip. Truth be told, I’m only going in spirit on that trip, but I can’t wait to see and hear all about it! More on that at a later date.

    So what’s on tap for me…an appt for mom and a parent meeting about the trip to NY.

    What are you doing today?

    T stands for Tuesday