Ooo, I need to add onto yesterday's list of what we did. We also went to IKEA yesterday. It was a very quick mad dash to the section of the store with bed linens.

For ages now, I have wanted to try getting rid of the king-sized comforter and replacing it with two twin-sized comforters to use instead. I've heard of lots of people doing this, but it has always seemed a little strange to me to make up a bed this way (I can almost here Martha Stewart telling me that I am not using the, "proper linens"....which is odd...because I am not at all in tune with the Martha in me or anything). I actually love using a king comforter when I sleep alone (which is actually most of the week), but unfortunately TheMostImportantGuy and I sleep so differently, that on the nights he stays here, it has been a problem.

He starts off the night feeling hot, so he either flops his side of the comforter right on top me (making it so that I am then too hot and "comforted"), or he lumps his side of the comforter into the middle of the bed making a big fat bulge of a dividing line between us, or he shoves the blankets all down to his feet pulling it off of me, too. Somewhere in the middle of the night, he retrieves the blanket, covers himself back up again, all snuggly-like. Sometimes he even flips it over his head like a hoodie or something.

I start off the night wanting to feel all cuddled up. I need my blankets to have a bit of weight to them to be happy in the first place, and I like them scrunched all the way up under my chin. In the middle of the night I turn over a lot, so they flap around a bit.

In other words: we don't really sleep together as well as we could.

So now we have two comforters. His is rated "cool" (rated a 2), mine is a "warm" (a 4). We have separate but matching duvet covers so I can still make the bed and have it sorta look like a unit.

Sorry so dark; I took that at 10pm!
And yes. I still sleep with stuffed animals. shut up.
L to R: PurplePony, BunnyMan, George

I'm still not sure if this solves our problems or not yet. We've only done one night together this way. He seemed to dig it. My "warm" seemed a bit too warm, and I might need to get a lighter weight option (perhaps I should have bought a 3?)....but the colder weather is coming. In fact tonight...here it is....the early part of August. It should be baking hot here. But instead it's so cold I needed to put on a sweater and I am considering a hat. Usually this time of year I am in a tank top and shorts.

six years...

...and still totally bananas about You :-)

very special gift from TheMostImportantGuy
given within the first few months we were together

zen and the art of furniture maintennance

Ok, so I have no idea where I left off, and I'm not going to go back and read my own blog. I cannot stand to be faced with the rambling. I think the last big thing that was happening over here before my hiatus was that I was trying to learn how to parent MyFavoriteKid through his troubles in school, particularly with math. I'm going to tell you all about that for sure, but not today. Today (because apparently venting is an integral part of my emooooootional process *snivel*), we're going to talk about an odd little outburst of tears I had last night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TheMostImportantGuy had come to visit for the weekend (as he most often does) but it was Sunday, and it was time for him to go.

Now, let it be known: I hate "The Going" part. Once he's actually gone, I'm okay. I mean, he's missed, but I'm not behaving ridiculously. But during "The Going" ?? Egads it's bad. It's so bad that we even have a well established ritual that is intended to lessen the drama. Right before he heads out the door, he pops a hard-candy into my pouting whiny mouth (sugar free or I'd be toothless by now---we've been doing this for years). The sweetness of the candy and his kind gesture keeps me distracted long enough to be keep me relatively happy until he has left and has some distance behind him. Odd, aren't we. I know.

Anyhow, he was headed out the door last night, and I somehow managed to get quite weepy and clingy. It was oddly over the top. About an hour after his departure I started feeling all sick to my stomach, and that's when it finally dawned on me that it wasn't his leaving that was causing the upset. Something else was off kilter. That is when I realized that what was realllllly upsettting me was the dining room table.


Let me rewind and give you the backstory about this table. I've had this table for a long time. It was given to me back in 1994 as a thank you for helping a neighbor move. I'm not sure how long my friend had it before then or how he'd come to have it. I have always loved this table. It's a drop leaf and folds down into a narrow 2-seater. If you pull up the wings up and it seats 4-6 people. Pop in the additional leaf and it seats 6-8. Solid wood. Worn from much use even before it came to me, but lovely.

As much as I love this table, there has always been a part of me pining for something different. Even before this table, I have never owned a "grown up" diningroom table. I either didnt have the space in my apartments, or I couldn't afford one. And this table of mine, being a hand me down, came with a few quirks. One of the pop up wings is a little loose and unstable, and it also always requited a matchbook (or two or three) underneath it to make it even.


When I moved here to the new house a year and a half ago, I only brought 3 pieces of furniture with me, and this was one of them (I went on a rampage and refurnished the whole frickin' house). I have been bitching ever since I got here that I even though I love this table, I really wanted a new table, I just couldnt find exactly the right thing. What I really desire (and maybe I've been watching too much Barefoot Contessa), is a round pedestal table that expands to an oval.

Well, leave it to the fates. Or mercury retrograde. Or something. As of last week, one of the legs of my dining room table is officially falling off.



Like, the wood split. Repairable, if someone has the skill. But I don't. Repairable if I just brought it to someone with skill, but I decided this was the universe telling me that my ideal expandable round table is now out there waiting for me, and so I went looking again, and lo and behold, there it was. By yesterday afternoon, I had found my new table. I ordered it, and it will be here next week. Huzzah.

Immediately after ordering the table yesterday, I took the pictures you see here of the old table, and I posted them on CraigsList. I offered the table for free, provided that whoever took it promised to fix it and love it and not turn it into firewood. Of course, I got a pile of replies, and by the evening, I had made plans for someone (who sounded like a nice woodworky sort of guy who said he would keep it and use it) to come pick it up on Monday (today).

Okay. So this brings us back to the point in the story where TheMostImportantGuy is heading home and I am snivveling with candy in my mouth. Sorry for not giving you the reader's digest version. Thanks for sticking with me if you got this far. Reward yourself with chocolate, my compliments.

So there I was last night, clutching my stomach feeling like I was going to be sick, and that's when I realized what was really going on. Clearly, I am attached to this old dining room table. Rewind some more, and I can tell you that earlier in the week, I also finally disposed of a beloved bedroom lamp that had been shattered beyond recognition, and it was a lamp that I had since I was 19 and in my first very first apartment. I broke the lamp 3 months ago. I didn't have the nerve to toss it out until last week. And right after I tossed it, the table leg broke. Rewind some more, and I can also tell you that earlier last week, I realized that I am all of the sudden feeling very middle aged. I am in my early 40's, but I have close friends in their 50's and 60's (and then some), and I also have close friends in their 20's and 30's. I can totally see where I am going, and I can totally see where I have been. It's an interesting vantage point. I like it. but I feel very "middle-ish" and I'm not exactly sure yet how this is relevant, but I am damn certain that it is.

Then I start tossing out furnishings I have bonded with big time, and well...all hell breaks loose, and I get all emotional and am crying and feeling nauseous, and it's all over a table that I couldn't really wait to replace.

Ahhhhh, The Dining Room Table. So many parties, and so many stories, and so much laughter, and family times, and making food for people and and and ....

You get the drift. Break out your tiny violins.

The bedroom lamp? The one that I used to drape with vintage sheer scarf so it would cast a lovely romatic glow across my boudior? It's now toast.

Having done a tremendous amount of purging of clutter in the past couple of years, I know for a fact that what I am attached to is the memories, not the lamp or the table. In fact, the more I think about it, I might not even be attached to memories. I think I might just be attached to the feelings these objects represent. And that feeling is intimacy.

Figuring this out is making it much easier to let the representative objects go (replacing my lamp with a new one that casts an even rosier glow has not hurt any...and once this new diningroom table is here, y'all are officially extended an open invitation to join me for dinner so I can make me some new memories. You just come on down now, ya' hear??!)

But going through the whole process of figuring out why I was so upset?? What an interesting little pile of internal research that was last night. And shifting from feeling sick inside to being ready to let go, and doing so quickly (in just a few hours) was kinda fun to watch. I hope I can do it at this speed more frequently.

The punchline to my little story, though?? The guy from Craigslist flaked on picking up the table today. I did all this internal work and finally got to the emotional place where I could really let it go....and the table is still here.

move over, bunnyman

Just kidding. No one will ever take the place of BunnyMan.

But is he is going to have to make room on the bed.



This creature came with a name already...but then again, so did my dog when he was rescued from the animal shelter, and we took away his jail name and gave him a real one....so I don't know if this creature's name will stick or not.

The tag says:
Vimn There's nothing in the world that makes Vimn happier than taking a nap. If she's missing, you'll find her curled up someplace cozy. Her favorite food is cotton candy.

Gotta love a creature that eats cotton candy. The tag also says, "Remove this tag before giving to a child." I wonder if I'm supposed to leave the tag on since it's for me....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, look at that. I basically just did a Things Around My House Thursday without even trying.

things around my house thursday

Things Around My House Thursday

This is BunnMan (L) and George (R).

They live on my bed. And they are very important to me. And yes, I am a grown woman and still have stuffed animals.

I think I have written about BunnyMan before. He is not from my childhood. He came to be on a really sad day that also happened to included garage sale hopping with my girlfriend Pam. It was in 1994, so I was 27. Definitely not childhood. I love BunnyMan and he is definitely a necessity when I am having a weepy moment.

On the left is George. He was brought to me while I was in the rehab phase of my hospital stay after the car accident. A coworker named Jeff brought him to me. The first thing that popped into my head when he was given to me was, "I will love him and squeeze him and call him George." (heard in a Bugs Bunny voice). So he is George.


If anything ever happens to me, someone needs to look after their care and feeding. K?

snaps on saturday & things around my house (all at the same time--woohoo)

New lamp.


Gorgeous lamp by a local artisan, Sue Johnson. Actual birch leaves pressed into the lamp shade. Love how it looks in the room, lit or not.

I don't exactly love the light it casts within the room, though (there used to be a super-cheap torche in that same spot---an uplight). I wasn't sure if I was going to keep this lamp in this spot though, once I saw how dark the room became with the lighting being cast downwards instead of upwards.

After a bit of and experimenting I have decided to keep it where it is. I just need some uplights on the other side of the room now instead. I'm thinking I'm going for uplights on top of the bookcases.

things around my house thursday

Well, here we are.
Things Around My House Thursday (Number ?? of 52)
(actually, I have no idea what number I am on, but whatever it is, it's behind wherever it should be *sigh*)
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I've been holding onto these photos for weeks. I have been afraid to show you. I'm afraid you will all think I'm insane (I know. As if you don't already).

Okay. Here we go.

I have one of those very fancy closet systems in my bedroom. It cost me a pretty penny, I adore it, and when most people see it they get closet envy (which is not why I bought it....I actually got a fancy closet system so that I wouldn't need dressers. Dressers take up floor space, and wheelchair users like lots of floorspace. Trust me).

As fancy as my closet system is, I hang my clothes on cheap plastic hangers.


Not just any old cheap plastic hangers. I'm talking 'bout the ones you get for free when you buy clothes from that store (the one that rhymes with Fargut). You know the hangers. The ones that are color coded at the top. S-M-L-XL. You know those?
I've been collecting them for years.

Okay. Well, when I kick back in my bed at night, I am basically staring directly into my closet. I mean, my closet is so big that there is even a television in there. The danged thing is also my entertainment center. I even store my yarn in a portion of it, if you recall.

Anyhow, I'd been laying in bed every night staring into the closet, and I was really getting sick of looking at the cheap-y hangers in the fancy closet, so I finally splurged for the fancy set of matching hangers.

(say it with me: oooooooo, faaaaaancy)

For some reason I thought matching hangers would not only make things look more organized and lovely, but that it would also have some sort of magical elixir type calming quality to it. I thought it would be all Zenned Out. I thought that I would stare into the closet, and would be lulled into some relaxed dreamlike state, and that I would fall asleep peacefully, knowing that life was just .....I dunno....tidy.

Well, it does not do any of that for me at all. In fact, the matching hangers sort of make me a little nervous. in a sort of Martha Stewart meets Joan Crawford way.

Not only does it sort of creep me out to have the hangers all matching, but it now totally wigs me out when order is disrupted (like when TheMostImportantGuy comes to visit and he hangs up a change of clothes):


Come ON. A big fat BLUE PLASTIC HANGER???!?!?!
Oh, the stress.
(hahahahaha)

And shut up. I know the shirts are sorted by color and that probably isn't helping matters any.


You should see the skirts.

things around my house (with a side of emotional vomit)

This is being posted real-time (seems like I should shout "hooray!!" about that, but the circumstances that created free time for me are a real "boo-hiss", imho. Read on.).

For starters, let me do a quick Things Around My House Thursday. It IS Thursday, and even though I am not in my "house", I AM in my home away from home.


This is the little altar I have set up in the van. It's a statue of Quan Yin, along with a postcard photo of a monk I met a couple of months ago, and a prayer shawl he blessed for me. I will be posting something about my visit with him in the next week or so.
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Now, bringing things current. And it's emo. So I'm not going to edit much after I type it because if I do, I will censor it. If you are new here, that means: pardon the typos, and the things that don't make sense, because this is all process writing ;-)

Things were cruising along pretty damn good, except for a few minor issues... like falling and obtaining a huge bruise on my ass, and frequent misunderstandings with another member of the company. But I did find the yarn store (OH. MY. GOD.---amazing) and I did find a super fantastic co-op health food store with a deli just a couple of blocks from the theater.

I also found my way through the new sections I was added to. See, this show we're doing down here is a conglomeration of several projects. The first part of the evening is a piece called "Oust", shown in its entirety. The second section is called "Testiculish", and I have no idea if we are running all of it or just portions of it, as I have never seen it before, nor was I ever in it (as I do not have testicles). The final third of the show is a few segments from "Annica", which was a full length piece that I performed with the company 2 years ago. It is within the Annica portion of the evening, that I have a very brief solo and a lovely duet, for a total of maybe 6 minutes of dancing. I have performed this 6 minutes over and over again the past couple of years, and even though it is nothing new, it always takes a bit out of me, because a) it is performed naked, and b) the score that I dance to is someone reading text that was written about my time spent trapped in my car during the car accident. In other words, it is hard. I feel vulnerable. But it is also old hat because it isn't new, so it's beginning to develop in me this very odd sort of numb feeling.

Anyhow, here is the thing with this tour for me:

I'm not making any real money (I mean, the fee that I will collect is not even covering 1/4 of what it is costing me to put the dog in the kennel). I did not ask to be reimbursed for fuel, as I refused to carpool down so that I could take my gas guzzling covered wagon. I wanted to bring it so that I would have a place to sleep (everyone else is staying on couches or on the floor, at the director's mother's house. No hotel reimbursement.) There are also the other "living on the road" expenses. Eating out often, etc.

There there are also the non-financial expenses. Things that I can't even put a price tag on, really. My love. My creative energy. My time (well, maybe I could put a tag on that, but if at this point I'm not getting paid even close to what I believe I am worth if I do that math). I have also called in all my chips with coverage for MyFavoriteKid so that I can be down here for 2 weeks and focus on my work rather than focus on being a mommy, so I have basically given up any "vacation time" of my own for the whole summer.

This is an expensive trip for me in many ways. I could have taken the money and the time and gone on a trip with MyFK or TheMostImportantGuy. I could have taken the money and the time and produced a whole entire show for my own dance troupe. I could have spent the time and money renting studio space and a venue to perform some solo work.

But I elected to be here, because I planned on getting a lot out of being here. See, it was decided before our departure that I was going to be integrated into "Oust". I was given a minor role, but it included a very pretty duet I learned yesterday. I felt like I was closer to getting some creative bang for my performance buck, if you know what I mean.

And then late last night, it was determined that the piece was too busy and that sections needed to be cut.

Guess who has been "ousted" from "oust".

????

No, really. Guess.

Right.

Me.

So now, within this 2 hours and fifteen minutes of actual show time, I have 6 minutes about my being, "trapped in a compacted box of twisted metal" while I share my naked self to the world, and it has cost me hundreds and hundreds of dollars, and hundreds and hundreds of hours.

(oh, and I should add that another mother in the company who DID bring her two kids along, is now wanting me to babysit her kids while SHE is on stage, since I now have so much idle time on my hands and I am the only other mom in the company, so am therefore the most qualified).

When I got the news about the cuts, I went off to snivel about it for a good ten minutes or so, but then I ending up crying for two hours. I talked with the director, and a little pre-show installation has now been created for me to do as people go to their seats. It is very beautiful, but it so sparse that I cannot sink my teeth into at all. I am literally sitting on a box with my back to the audience facing the wall. In stillness. And then every couple of minutes, I make a very very slow, deliberate, simple, movement, which will be mirrored by another person standing behind me (someone who I am thrilled to be working with, at least). And then in between each slow simple movement, we come to stillness again for a very very long time. We repeat this for 20 minutes. It is beautiful, meditative, and perfect on stage as a pre-show installation. But, as TheMIG has just said to me via InstantMessage, it is also "dip" (his family's slang word for "unsatisfactory"). And I replied back to him that it is, "about a thousand dollars worth of dip."

I have cried about it for many hours, and it is what it is at this point, and I will find my peace with it. The interesting thing is, this is a repeat lesson. This has happened before, and I keep coming back for more. There is something very magical about the work that we do, and I always want to experience more of it because it is so good. But it is at a tremendous cost, and the scale is just too tipped. I do hope that I have learned this time. I really need to make some changes about how I negotiate my role, and I really need to make some better decisions about putting my energy into places that will bring me the most opportunity to create.

I'm okay. Sad. But okay. Okay. Maybe not so okay. :-(

First show is tonight. Everyone else (but me...let's push another button, why don't we) is rehearsing and I am not needed for HOURS. I am in my van typing this (I am getting a signal out here! If I sit near the window! And lean to the left!). And I will be knitting some soon, just to keep my sanity. I have been here at the theater since 11:30, and have been sitting around in a holding pattern waiting to run the 6 minutes I am in (it's now after 4).
Love to you all, and I'll post more soon.

things around my house thursday, 23 of 52

I still have a thing or two on the walls to show, but yesterday I promised to show where I keep my yarn, and I'm actually quite busy knitting with it at the moment, so that is all I am going to show today.
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Things Around My House Thursday, #23 of 52

The yarn closet.




Okay. So if you've been following along, the bookcase on the right there is the one in my bedroom that has the books arranged by color. I've had that bookcase since 1994 and it was given to me by a neighbor who was moving and didn't want it in their new home. On top of the bookcase are 3 white containers, that I scored at Ikea in the damaged section for $1 each. One of them holds a vase of yarn. I love that. Skeins don't die like flowers, and are far more inspirational.

This whole bookcase set up runs alongside the side of the bed that TheMostImportantGuy sleeps on when he comes to visit, and so that is why at the foot of the bed, you see a "personal valet" there. I wanted him to always have a nice place to hang his stuff (another awesome find, $10 at a thrift store).
You can see the bed, but that is a reflection of it in the mirror, because I have a triple wide closet with mirrored doors. It basically takes up one whole wall of the room. One of these days I need to show you the inside of the closet, because it is truly a wonder to behold. It's one of those fancy built-in closet systems with the pull out drawers and all that jazz, and there is even a set up in the middle of it for the tv, it is so big. But more on that another day.

So the right hand portion of this big closet, is where I keep my stash. On the bottom shelf there is some knitting magazines and patterns. There is another space underneath the mags (you can't see it in the photo, sorry), and that is where I store my needles, plus my swift and ballwinder. Inside the three big boxes (plus the two little boxes at the top) are the yarn.

It's a lot of yarn. And it was so full I couldn't fit anything else in there. I've pulled out some stuff to pass along, and I've reorganized. I still have a few issues in there I need to deal with, mostly deciding what to do with the UFO's (UnFinishedObjects). Meanwhile, while I'm pondering that, I will be working on taking photos of the yarn and getting them uploaded into my Ravelry account so I can keep track of it. Or be able to look at it without having to open a box. Kinda silly, in a way, for one who is so kinesthetic like me.

Anyhow, like I said yesterday, the photographing an online filing probably wont happen until I'm back from being on tour out of town visitors have come and gone....so that would mean late August, I suppose.

Meanwhile, I'm very busy knitting away on some stuff, so I'm going to sign out and get back at it!

things around my house thursday, 21 and 22 of 52

Still examining the things on my walls, we are.....
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(Things Around My House #21)

Well, last week I made mention of the Albatross Pub in Berkeley. Lovely place if you have never been, kids. Old fashioned pop-corn cart, darts, pool tables, board games, and a weekly trivia contest. Woohoo!

Anyhow, one night I was in there with TheMostImportantGuy, and while we were imbibing, I was checking out the current artwork hanging on the walls (it rotates, gallery style). There was this one image I just absolutely fell in love with. It was of a full moon with some bare branches around it.

Now, I've been TheAmpuT and this has been AmpuTeeHee ever since the beginning of this blog when I intended it only to be a place where I would record the host of stupidly funny things that happen due to missing an appendage (turns out the blog has been used for much more than that, and perhaps even hardly that). Anyhow, point is.....if you know me outside this blog, you'll know that my real user id's and emails and whatnot refer to me as MoonWoman. I have been MoonWoman for close to 20 years now, and there's a whole story behind it, but for the sake of this post, let's just say that I saw the art with the moon and it resonated so deeply with me that I wanted to buy it. But couldn't afford it.

I took the guys card, and held onto it for a long time. And then lost it in the move. I googled every whichaway come Sunday, and couldn't find the guy. I went back to the bar finally (this was months later, and the exhibit had come and gone), and all they could tell me was that they thought he was from Emeryville.

Took me another few weeks, but I finally found him. He is Stephen Lefkovits of Pacific Landscapes. Once I finally tracked him down, I got to meet with him at his gallery and have some tea. He is truly one fantastic photographer.

This is the image :



Now, when I first saw it, I couldn't tell if it was a painting or what. It has this really soft feel to it. But it turns out that it is a photograph that is printed onto wrapped canvas. It's called "Blue Puzzle".

This is where it lives:




It's over the alter-ish thing of many boxes in my bedroom, and I apologize for being to lazy to crop out my open closet and bathroom door. Duh.

Anyhow, here is the thing. This is the piece I first saw of his that I coveted enough to take a few months to track him down. It is NOT the first piece I bought from him, though. See, once I found his website, I fell in love with another piece, and I bought that one FIRST (and then went back for the one with the moon later).


(Things Around My House #22)
Here's what I purchased first:



Shut up. It's not what you think. IT IS SNOW. It's snow that has drifted over some rocks on a river in Yellowstone. It is called, "Snow Pillows III".

It lives on the opposing wall of the alter o' boxes, and it's pretty damn sexy having it in the boudoir, if ya' don't mind my sayin' so ;-)


I kinda just realized that from this angle it looks like either the flower is giving the buns a little slap and tickle....or if that aint it, perhaps maybe girls really do fart flower petals....hahahaha.
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So that is this week's installment.
Although, hey---Mouse. Remember I told you one time that I was arranging my books on the bookshelf by color?? There it is up there!

things around my house thursday, 19 & 20 of 52

Hey, look! I am catching up! (I should be on 25....I'm closing the gap here kids).

More about the art on my walls.

Things Around My House #19

After buying Jodi's piece (shown last week), I went on a roll a bought a few more things for the new home. This first one was bought even though I had no idea where it was going to go. I just totally fell in love with it.


It's a print from The Black Apple called "Corner Girl". I love her. It was hard to choose between this print and The Waiting print. I almost bought both, I love them so much. But if you put those two together, you get a deep look into my psyche, and....well....get outa my head ;-)


Things Around My House #20

I week or two after I moved into the new house, I had a little time to kill and that's when I ran into this next thing I have for walls. There is an awesome collectibles shop (for the locals, it's the little dive on San Pablo Ave in Berkeley right next door to the Albatross Pub). This place is a crazy collection of strangeness, and the owners are a hoot. You never know when it's going to be open because they just sorta show up when they feel like it.

Anyhow, I scored this:



It's the real thing. Very old. Very heavy. Tin, I guess? I bought it because the second I saw it, I knew right then and there that I was going to hang it with the Corner Girl print in my bright assed yeller laundry room.



Pretty cheery, eh?

I like it.

things around my house thursday (on a friday), 18 of 52

Ok, here we go. Back to back "Things Around My House" posts, in an attempt to catch up. I'm still doing the "Art on My Walls" series.

Things Around My House Thursday (on a Friday), 18 of 52

this photo was taken Thanksgiving 2007
(the photos below were taken yesterday)

This piece of art has the distinction of being the first piece I ever purchased (at age 40--amazing, eh?) Every single thing hanging on my walls up to that point in my life was either given to me, or it was a framed greeting card (we talked about that here last week).


This was created by the one and only Jodi Green (her etsy shop can be found here). I fell in love with it the moment I saw it, but it took awhile for the stars to align before I could invest.

Here's Jodi's description:
On Returning, 2006
This hand-pulled print is one of an edition of four combining woodblock printing, digital printing, collage and ink drawing. It is printed without borders on Rives BFK rag paper and measures 13 x 18 inches, with rounded corners.

What I can tell you is that it feels like layer upon layer of stuff, and it has a texture to it. I just got sucked right into it whenever I look at it. When it came time to frame it, I found myself really intrigued with the small circles of old maps.

I wanted this piece to hang on the dining room wall, which is gigantic compared to the scale of the piece. I was determined to find a way to make it work on that wall though, because I love this piece, and I want to look at it often, and that wall is one that I look at all day, every day.


I see that wall from the kitchen when I cook or wash dishes, and I see it when I sit at the dining room table with my laptop (my favorite place to work). You can also see this wall from the living room and the front door of the house.

So to make it work on that wall, I made a gigantic frame for it.

I went to Ikea and bought a whole mess of inexpensive little wooden framed mirrors, and then I connected them all together on the back using mending plates. It's hard to see in the photo, but there is also a "mat" of crinkled Japanese paper in the center of the assembled frame.

Then what I did, was to make my own circles from maps, to tie in with the maps Jodi had on her piece. I cut out circles of places where important events in my life have taken place, and I added little sparkly doo-dads to mark where the important thing had happened. I put those randomly around inside the smaller frames.

where MyFavoriteKid was born

where I was when I fell in love with TheMostImportantGuy
and the location of the dance studio where I teach

where the accident happened
(my mom thinks that's kinda morbid, but the idea was to mark the places of life changing events, and that was definitely life changing....LOL)

I also have been meaning to add a circle of where I was born. I picked up a copy of the map (I was born in Hartford, CT), but I haven't cut out the circle yet.


I really love having something from Jodi in my home. I have always been a big fan of her work, and even though we haven't met in person, I sort of feel like I know her. Over the years we've exchanged a few packages, kept up with each other's blogs, chatted online, you know the drill....if you are reading this blog, you probably have a few friendships like this of your own.

I hope I get to meet her one day in person :-)
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things around my house thursday, 17 of 52

More from the "art on my walls" series, and I don't think I have it in me to double up today. the next couple of pieces I am going to be showing are important, and I don't want them to get all mushed up. They deserve separate entries. I might try to do a few more individual "things around my house" posts between now and next week, though. I would love to get caught up.

Things Around My House Thursday, 17 of 52



This is a painting done by a bellydance student and friend of mine, Metzalli. The longer I know her, the more I am blown away by her creativity. I keep finding out that she has more and more talents. She is a clothing designer, she paints, she dances and performs, she sings and plays guitar....and she does it all quite well, and in her own unique style. She is also making and selling these awesome handmade bags (and don't buy the one with the bunny ripping his heart out unless you are buying it for me...or I will have to hunt you down).

Anyhow, Metzi painted the piece you see above the night she heard about my big fat car accident (At least I think it was that same night. Not long thereafter, for sure). I can't remember her exact words (things were kind of a blur back in that first chunk of time when she gave it to me--my life was one giant pain-killer-o-rama), but I know that her painting this was important to her processing how she was feeling when she got the news. She gave it to me at some point thereafter, and I just adore it.

For a long time, it hung in one very very special room (one that very few people know about, and one that I've never written about here, but probably should at some point). It was a little artist's studio that I shared with TheMostImportantGuy when we first met. When we let the studio go, the painting came home with me and hung in the bedroom of my old house.

This painting means a lot to me for many reasons. I really feel love and warmth and healing when I look at it. I see strength and vulnerability and a connection with the earth. For a long time it was the first thing I saw upon rising in the morning. It has been a huge part of my processing the accident, as well.

The other reason this painting means so much to me, is that in admiring its colors, I gained the nerve to paint the walls of my new home.



My bedroom was completely designed around my learning to understand how these colors worked together to make me feel good. My bedroom has lots of dark brown wood, sky blue, purples and aubergines.

The painting hangs just to the right of the bed, above my nightstand. It hangs on the opposing wall from the entry way to the bedroom, so when you walk in the room (or pass by it), it is the first things you see (sorry I don't have a picture of where it hangs--I forgot to do that when it was daylight).

Anyhow, I love this painting, and it is one of my most cherishes possessions.
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I am exhausted.
It seems like I am always exhausted these days.
I feel like I have plenty to write about, but having so much to write about is exactly what makes it so I don't have time to write.
If that makes any sense. It's almost midnight, so it might not. I'm just home from dance class, and can't wait to crawl into bed. G'night.

things around my house thursday, 15 & 16 of 52

Man, I really was sick yesterday! I ended up tossing my cookies around noon, and after that I had a low-grade fever (around 100) for the rest of the day. I'm feeling much better today, but a little run down still, a wee bit headache-y, and (all of the sudden) a bit queasy (probably because I tried to make another long to-do list today---duh).

Anyhow, here we are again, back to the "Art on My Walls" version of
Things Around My House Thursday 16 of 52

15 of 52


Now, this isn't presently hanging on my wall....and I'm not even sure I'd label it as "art" per se, because it's really just a greeting card that I fell in love with and so I framed it. The reason I'm making note of it at all, is because it is the image in my house that I have dragged around with me the longest. Seriously. It has been in every home I have lived in since probably around 1989. I don't know why it always seems to end up on a bathroom while, but that's fine. It means I get to see it frequently, especially since it is mostly the quote that resonates with me. In case it's not showing up well enough, it says,
"I think I am in this world to fine beauty..." --Louis L'Amour

I love the image, too---reminds me of backpacking, and being in Montana.


16 of 52


This is another greeting card turned framed "art" that I have drug around for awhile. Not quite so long, though....I am thinking maybe 1997. I'm not sure why I love it so much, but I do. It makes me very happy.


Anyhow, both of these things are in the master bath right now, propped up on the edge of the "garden tub" (sounds fancier than it really is), and sometimes there is a candle or a smudge stick or something next to it. Like here, from last week's pics, if you are dying to see it again.
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Next week we'll take a look at some of the "real" art stuff ;-)

things around my house thursday

I started off at the beginning of the year using every Thursday to post about things around my house. If you need to know why I'd bother doing that, click here, scroll down.

Around week 11 it fell apart, which is a shame, because...well...I am sure I have at least 52 things around here I'd be into writing about, and since I'm doing Blog365, that means only having to deal with 313 other posts.

Anyhow, I should be on 22 of 52, rather than the measly 12 of 52. So here's the deal. I'm doubling up. Perhaps even tripling up at times. And I'm going to start this deranged little game of catch up by taking you through what hangs on my walls, and I'm going to try to do it in the order of which each piece was procured.
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Things Around My House Thursday (13 & 14 of 52)

13 of 52:

Buddhist painting on canvas from Tibet

This was given to me back in 1994 as an engagement gift (to TheEx), although it doesn't hold any emotional ties for me in that regard. I do believe it to be the piece of art in my house that I have owned the longest. For years, in my last house, it was the only art hanging on my walls (such a shame, I know). It hung over my bed, and it wasn't even framed. It was stuck to the wall with thumbtacks (such a shame, I know).

Even though I haven't always taken the best care of it, I have always loved it. Sometimes I have spent long periods just looking at it, and it brings me a sense of peace. It also was the only source of color on my walls for several years, and it in some way kept the hope alive, if ya' know what I mean.

When I moved last summer, I did a light cleaning on it to remove surface dust, and carefully stored it in a cardboard tube. A few months ago, I finally backed it with some handmade paper and framed it. Finally, it was mounted over my big ol' bathtub in the master bathroom.

I will soon be intalling a floating glass shelf underneath the picture in that empty space there, an on it I will put a candle or two and maybe some flowers.

Just in case you are curious, here's what's at the other end of the tub.

And this is interesting, now that I look at this snapshot, it is actually the larger of those two pictures that is the oldest artwork in my house. That I have had since 1990. It just hasn't hung on a wall in a long time (it's always propped up somewhere).

So much for chronological order of acquisition. I'll have to cover that one sometime, too.

14 of 52:

This piece is from my folks. My mom picked it out and gave it to me right after I returned home from Paris. I had been there on an exchange student program when I was in culinary school (a whole 'nother story, for a whole 'nother time), but let me tell you, I fell in love with Paris, and this picture really brings me to a warm and happy place full of cappuccinos and cheesy goodness.

My mom and I agree that the mat is all wrong, and the frame, too...but it was purchased that way, and I've never bothered to change it because even though it isn't a perfect fit, it hasn't driven me nuts. Yet.

It currently hangs between the kitchen and dining room over a little telephone table.

the how many things can we cram into one post post

There are four topics that need to go into this post, but it's almost midnight, so that just aint gonna happen. Dance class ran long (we did circle dancing for the spring equinox).
Here's two out of four.
Next up will be posts about Riley and Lloyd, but for now it's Fatima and Fred.
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Things Around My House Thursday (12 of 52)

Hand of Fatima hangs on the front door

I've had this Hamsa hanging on the front door of my homes for many years. It does come down every once in awhile so I can put up something seasonal, which I enjoy doing, even though it makes me feel a little "Martha".

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Mr Roger's Sweater Day

Previously blogged about in this post.


Today was the day to wear a favorite sweater in honor of Fred Rogers. I wore the only full sweater I have knit (to date).

"Under The Hoodie" by Kristen Spurkland, from the book Stitch N Bitch. If you're on Ravelry, here's a link.


I knit this back in 2005 with yarn that was purchased for me as a birthday gift. That makes it a true Friendship sweater, in my book. I couldn't have afforded this particular yarn any on my own. Rowan Kid Classic (wool and kid mohair *kachink!*).


I wore the sweater today in the morning until it got to warm outside (but, I'll say it again: yay, spring!!), and then the temperatures took a huge dive in the evening hours after the sun went down, so I wore it again to and from dance class.
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It's now 11:58pm. Talk about cutting it close.

things around my house thursday, 11 of 52

Things Around My House Thursday

I found her in a small boutique last summer.


Right now she lives on the bookcase in the livingroom.



Sometimes she holds flowers, sometimes her vase is empty. She looks fabulous either way. She's also interesting to look at from every angle. She is heavy, and I like that she has weight to her, and that her body is textured.


I brought her home with me because when I was in the store and I removed the vase, she reminded me of doing warm-ups in my bellydance class.

And no, I haven't named her ;-)
(yet)

things around my house thursday, 10 of 52

As promised, for this week's Things Around My House Thursday I'm showing you the mojo I have placed at my entry into my house, which is from the garage into the den.

It's a statue of Quan Yin, a wooden carving of an open hand, and a (really dirty, because it's never lit) candle. The candle is just there as a symbol to call forth mindfulness.

All of this sits on a wooden shelf, right next to the bird seed, and one shelf above the cat litter (which I haven't had the heart to pass along to someone yet).

Photographing this makes me think I need to spruce the area up a bit. Maybe some color or some fabric or something.
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I've been numbering these weekly posts, and just today realized that I was somehow numbering them all "7 of 52" (which is odd, since I am so aware that time seriously flies). Anyhow, I went back and edited them to correct the titles. My apologies if doing that caused them to repopulate in your bloglines.

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Just to respond to a few comments (because I haven't been so good about that lately)...

No, I'm not okay, but I'll be fine (if that makes any sense).
I can't imagine anyone wants to read my whining.
I know I need to post more about dance, but it's difficult as dance is a love/hate relationship for me right now.
And thank you so much for stopping by if you are new to visiting my corner of the blogosphere.

things around my house thursday, 9 of 52

Things Around My House Thursday
On a Monday.
I'm so together, aren't I.
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I do mix things up from time to time, but this is what currently sits on my front stoop:

collected stones, a few crystals, some sage, and rock with the word "home" painted on it

I think I was in my 20's when I became interested in the concept of a having a "burden basket" near the front door. I had seen one in a metaphysical shop (for a ridiculous sum of money,) and the basket was described as an item that Native American peoples would place at the entry of their home. It was to remind anyone that entered that they were to honor those inside by releasing their troubles and concerns, and leaving them in the basket.

In other words:
Check your shit at the door, please.

I'm not sure if the goal was to have the basket somehow aid you in transforming your shit, or if the basket was there to safely hold it for you so you didn't have to worry about it anymore, and you could then pick your shit back up again on the way out.

Upon further research I learned that most "burden baskets" were actually used to....well....literally carry actual burdens. Hauling. Gathering. These were working baskets. I never did find a historical Native American reference for the baskets being used symbolically or as a spiritual item, but maybe I just didn't research far enough (I'm notorious for that). I'm sure that what I saw in the metaphysical shop was a bunch of new age frou frou, and at the expense of another culture, to boot. It irks me when that happens.

Either way, real or reinvented, I always liked the concept of having something at the door to remind myself and others that a change was about to take place. I'm a huge fan of transitions into and out of spaces (maybe the dancer/performer in me?). I also enjoy using any sort of mental tool that reminds me to have a separation of things....like work and home.

I think in every place I have lived since seeing the original fake-out basket, I have placed a little something at the doorway of my home. Not a container to check your woes, per se...but just a little something special to catch the eye of those who enter or exit, so that maybe their energy will shift to a good place as they pass the threshold.

In this home that I am living in now (since last summer) rarely do I enter through my own front door. I almost always enter through the garage here. It only took one or two passes to realize that I needed to have something at that entry, too. I'll show that in the next installment.

things around my house thursday, 8 of 52

We're doing okay. MyFavoriteKid has been sans fever for 2 days, but he still has a hacking cough, so I kept him out of school for another day. I'm not sure about tomorrow yet, or the weekend, either. His illness might prevent me from going to Stitches West, I am sad to say *sigh*. Especially if I end up catching his cooties, which I am doing everything in my power not to (c'mon, chant with me: Airborne-Lysol-Airborne-Lysol-hey-yah-ho-yah).

As for the cat mourning process, today I managed to finally tidy up all of his KittyAccoutrement. That was a little hard. Most of his things (litter box, food bowls) were in the laundry room off the kitchen, and as a result of not putting them away, I was avoiding going in there to do laundry. That wasn't going to work for long.

I have only heard the GhostKitten meow 3 times so far. And I'm not the only one that heard it (MyFK heard one of the meows, and we weren't even in the same part of the house when it happened). So shut up. I'm not nuts.
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I'm taking the easy route with the Things Around My House post this week. Nothing super special, like the objects on the altar I've been writing about thus far, but I thought I'd share this.


This is a bumper sticker that I have taped to the mirror in my bathroom.

I try to keep my budding little buddhist practice peppered with humor.
I'd like to think that being present doesn't always require such a serious effort.

Most of what I see when I ''stop seeing" makes me want to laugh anyhow.