"We're all mad here." - Chesire Cat, Alice in Wonderland

Most days I enjoy my job.  I like what I do; I take satisfaction in being able to give a guest what they want. 

I have great coworkers and a manager who is amazing- but there are days that make me wonder at my sanity in choosing any career that deals with the public on a daily basis.

Long story short- Helicopter Mom brings in 3 yr old precious snowflake for a haircut.  

The kid could not sit still to save his life.   Wiggling is one thing, but I swear he found it funny to turn his head at just the moment I was trying to cut his hair.

After spending 30 minutes- and redoing the cut twice- Helicopter Mom leaves satisfied.

Monday morning arrives with Mom calling to inform me that she was not, in fact, satisfied about any of her precious snowflakes’ haircuts with us and Wanted Something Done.

Her best lines:

 “I thought, ‘how hard could it be to cut a 3 yr old’s hair?’”

“I could have done a better job, and I didn’t even finish hair school!”

“I don’t know, but maybe your “girls” need to go back and finish their training.”

“I told her to give me her scissors so I could show her how to do it.”

 I apologized profusely (she didn’t recognize my voice) and informed her when my manager would be in that day- so she was welcome to bring her children by that afternoon.

15 minutes later, she finally said she’d be in at 4pm that day and hung up.

Lovely. 

*****************

Now, my manager has been a stylist for 20+ years and has seen everything.  Been there, done that; has the t-shirt, shot glass and commemorative lighter.  After dealing with Herself, my manager was ready for a drink or six her own self.

I do love my manager-she put Chopper Mom in her place, but good.

She not only told her that there was nothing wrong with any of the kids’ cuts; but pointedly informed her of the facts of life-  that pro hair shears often cost upwards of $300.00 and that it is illegal for a professionally licensed stylist to turn their equipment over to an amateur.

  

Basically, to sit down and let the grownups work.    

Mistakes happen –heaven knows, I’ve made plenty and I don’t consider myself amazing when it comes to cutting hair.  Good, yes. Amazing, no.- and I can fully sympathize with an angry client due to a mistake.

This one, however…

If your child is not yet school age (K+) and cannot sit still for the length of time it takes to eat lunch, they are not civilized enough to have their hair cut at a salon.

Either deal with it yourself; be willing to hold your kid down while they scream or live with any mistakes that happen.  

I honestly believed that parents like that one were largely mythical. Even now that I’ve seen one, I wonder if it was all a nightmare or if I'm just going mad from breathing in too much hairspray.

Reverse Glass Painting, An Almost Lost Art.

Black Rose II

Today reverse glass painting is considered a folk art.  Like many such arts, reverse glass painting traces back over several centuries.  


This art was nearly forgotten during the 19^th and early part of the 20^th centuries due to several factors ranging from totalitarian regimes and modern styles moving beyond traditional methods.  In the last several years, newer generations have sought to relearn- or recreate - this art.     

Reverse glass painting is a straight forward, but for many counter intuitive, art form.   The image is created by working in the reverse order to a typical painting or drawing.  Final finishing details such as shading, texture, forefront objects or shapes are painted first with the rest of the image added later.   

In the image of the Black Rose II above, the white swells, sails and clouds were painted first before the water and rest of the ship were painted in.  

Today, reverse glass painting is a thriving folk art ranging from the traditional religious and sacral images to more secular subjects.

 

More of my favorite reverse paintings are shown below: 

South Korean Fan Dancer, Solo.

Daisies

Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night. ~Steve Almond

This Halloween, Mother Nature certainly pulled out all the stops for Halloween with her suprise Nor'easter. 6+ inches of snow non withstanding, we had a fabulous Halloween and spoiled Munchkin rotten.

We took his best friend and him to his first haunted attraction- Haunted Acres.  Really fun event- the actors and crew did a fabulous job in setting just the right tone between thrill and fun.   Although the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song did break the mood for me half way through the Nightmare Walk.    I was willing to go along with a ghost ship in the woods- but the movie theme song completely ruined it for me.

We than viisted Ghosts on the Banke at Strabery Banke Museum on the 28th.  Excellent event and my favorite of the season- the amount of effort and detail the staff put into it was great.   They set just the right tone between eerie and fun.

The day after the storm Rochester was hardy enough to send their kids out trick or treating despite 40% of the town being without power, so our usual  tradition of  going Trick or Treating in my cousin's neighborhood  on the 30th went uninterrupted.

Due to BAE being without power on Monday, Adam was able to go trick or treating with us this year- much to my delight.  I was afraid he'd have to miss it since he is normally driving home during Farmington's Trick or Treat hours and he will be missing next year's Halloween, so this year was important.

There had been some debate about Munchkin's costumethis year- he had originally wanted a dragon; but was happy enough to settle for the Grim Reaper.  Adam decided to go as Death to complement Munchkin's costume- which made things easy as pie for me since I've been making Munchkin's costume for the past few years.   Two black hoodies, black spray paint and some face paint, et voila- the laziest Grim Reaper/Death costumes on the planet.

We received a ton of complements over the costumes- to my and Adam's bemusement and Munchkin's delight.   

We also discovered that Munchkin channels "Creepy Kid" pretty well and he made his first "bargain."  A father handing out candy offered him extra candy in exchange for a few more years of life.   

/sniff  Adam and I are so proud. 

"The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet"~ Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Autumn, or fall if you prefer, is one of the seasons that really bring home the old NE adage "If you don't like the weather- wait a minute."   


Despite the grumbling that such temperamental weather normally brings, it makes for great scenery.   So far this year, we've had a mild autumn with pretty warm days (80+ in mid-October!)  and just enough cool temperatures to make the trees look amazing.  

While I won't say that NE is Heaven on earth-  it is pretty divine in autumn.  

It no doubt helps that I adore Halloween and everything that goes along with the fall season- from apple picking and hay rides to days that just demand sweaters, hot toddys and soup in the evening, I love it.  

My front door has a nine pane glass window on the top half, which I decorated for the spring this Easter with an appropriate scene in acrylics and ended up keeping on the door through most of the summer until it was faded so bad you couldn't see the dragon eating the bunny anymore.

Yes, my Easter imagery includes dragons eating bunnies.  Next year I'm thinking about Cthulhu as the Easter Bunny.

Anyway, after a few weeks of being able to look through my front door window, I decided to do another painting.  For Halloween this time, also appropriately themed.

I remember being scared silly by the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" as a kid, so chose to do a scene from the tale as my front door painting for Halloween.   There's just so much about that tale that is so quintessentially NE  even today- from Irving's descriptions of the scenery to how lonely certain roads can be on a chill damp evening in fall with dead leaves being disturbed by rodents and other creatures (small or otherwise).

Second day of painting- taken from the front side.   

View from the reverse side- the side I paint on-  I really liked the view from this angle and almost kept it.  However, it was still a bit too bright and cheerful...  

Much better- daylight and all.    I considered using the midnight blue and black tones as the background for  all of it, but liked the frame better since this way you can see the image from both sides, not just one.    

It looks spectacular at night from outside looking in with the lights on in the house- I'm going to try and take some better photos with my camera instead of my cell phone this week, hopefully.  My talents in that arena are distinctly mediocre at best.

Well, I think that's about all for today- I have a book calling out to me and only an hour until I have to go back to work.  

Enjoy!

"Yes, wonderful things"- Howard Carter

A few weeks ago, I finally took my husband up on a long standing invitation of his. Every month he spends a weekend in Boston for work and his company puts him up in a hotel on Saturday night and for, oh,  four years or so, he's been asking me to spend the weekend in Boston with him occasionally.

I finally took him up on his invitation earlier this month. After one extremely early ride in- leaving at 5:30 am to be there by 7am, UGH- I waved good-bye to him with much /glee and (at the mildly civilized hour of 8:30 am) set off for South Station.  One short T-ride later and I was waiting for the Museum of Fine Arts to open.

I spent several glorious hours- and one over priced lunch- there.   My last visit had been during my junior year in high school when they hosted the Ansel Adams exhibit, so it had been awhile and I was looking forward to seeing what the Museum had now, 14 years later.

Ugh, it really has been that long hasn't it?

Anyway, I dimly remembered my art instructor saying that the Ancient World and Asian collections were considered world class so I was determined to view them on this visit.  Since the Jewelry (amazing) and the Musical Instruments (the craftsman ship is spectacular) galleries were on the way, I toured those first.  They have some of the early examples of organs, harpsichords, spinets, and pianos there- really neat to see the progression over the years.  I also couldn't help remembering my piano lessons and imagining other bored little girls sitting at those instruments and trying to learn their chords years ago.

The Ancient World and Asian collections lived up to their 14 yr old hype- my vocabulary isn't strong enough to fully describe the wonder of seeing funerary pieces, mummies, and artwork created so long ago that, in many cases, there are only best guesses to what period in history they came from.

Tucked away on the second floor in the Asian and Oceana collection was a recreation of a Chinese lord's house with furniture and even clothing examples dating  back almost a thousand years.   Despite the velvet ropes and barriers, it was almost as if  the original owners were going about their daily lives; and that if I were to turn around fast enough I could see them there as they had once been.

I  was also able to walk through about a third of the Art of the Americas collection (ranging from the Tolmecs through modern day)- mainly the colonial and revolutionary periods in American art.

Some of my favorite pictures:

Examples of early pottery work in the Ancient World collection.   Love the colors!   The black coloration occurred during the firing process- they would put the clay pots top down in the ash to harden them- the iron and chemicals in the ash and soot would react with the trace elements (usually iron) in the clay and turn black.

The earliest known depiction of a hair service- proving my industry's claim of being always in demand!

Bust of a Roman soldier (general I think) and proof that military hair cuts haven't changed over the years.

Examples of Paul Revere's work as a silversmith.   The man was a genius and an artist. These pieces just about took over the entire gallery.  You could not ignore them.

This is probably my favorite piece from that trip- it's such a charming snapshot of childhood, you just have to smile. An oil painting by Copley, at one time the premier artist in America, was commissioned to paint the patron's daughter and instead of creating a more formal and adult setting/pose for the little girl as was the usual habit- he painted her playing dress up with one of her mother's hats and her cat.

Later that evening, when my husband asked if I'd enjoyed my visit and about what I'd seen, Howard Carter's famous description of what he saw in Tutenkamun's tomb came to mind:

"Yes, wonderful things."

"There’s more to life than chocolate, but not right now." - Anonymous

There is a Heaven and it has chocolate chips.

I adore chocolate and will try the most obscure of recipes, but my favorite has to be the 70 year old chocolate chip cookie. Like so many advents in technology, science and medicine-it was discovered by accident, a fact that never fails to amuse when I stop to think about it.  

 Given a choice between desserts, the chocolate chip cookie wins my vote every time.  No need to dress it up with cream fillings, ice cream.  Don't even bother serving them with milk- I like my cookies unaltered and free of interruptions.  Any recipe that calls for the addition of walnuts is heresy and should be ignored as it is a substance unworthy of the divine chocolate chip cookie.

I was in Boston this past weekend with my husband- he went to drill while I went to the Museum of Fine Arts. Spent a glorious day there, despite only walking a quarter of the museum-if that- and one collection in full.  FYI- if you're in and around NE or Boston and haven't seen the Ancient World Art collection- DO SO. Not only is it spectacular- it's....awe inspiring.  There are pieces that date back literally to the beginning of recorded history and civilization.

The Grecian and Roman pieces are nice too.

After overloading on art, my dear husband took me out too dinner.   We chose the Dorcester Olive Garden near the South Bay Mall due to its proximity to the hotel- and the fact that my ankle was about the size of a smallish peach at the time.   Stupid appendage will not heal. 

While many chain restaurants can be hit or miss when it comes to service and the meal- I have to admit to being extremely impressed with that Olive Garden.   The wait staff was delightful, friendly and professional, our meal was great and it was a busy night, too.   Seeing that I was getting tired and being a  very smart man, my husband suggested we get dessert to go- and made sure that I was aware of the chocolate raspberry cheesecake on the menu.    I love my husband.

See, I worked it back to chocolate-

Now, like I said- my favorite is the chocolate chip cookie.   Love, love that hand sized circular confection with gooey melted chocolate pieces inside.   It was the first recipe I mastered and my "go-to" recipe for everything from chocolate craving attacks or school events for my son.  

No one can eat just one!  Seriously, my brother has accused me of adding crack or boingonium to the batch whenever I make cookies.  Dangerous, they are.

My day had been fabulous already- but damn if that chocolate raspberry cheesecake didn't end the day better than even my beloved chocolate chip cookies could have.

"Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly." M. F. K. Fisher

Its no secret that I love food, or that over the years food has become not just a necessary mechanism for survival but also a Way of Life in my household.   The subject, creation and sharing of food has always been the focal point of any celebration or get together for me.

A view that many of my friends share, especially my best friend, Kate, the gifted artist of Antika Nueva for whom the sharing of a meal is both faith and celebration- and a wholly practical belief that a warm and full stomach combined with good company solves 90% of all problems.

 /shrug We're Yankee.  Pragmatism is just as much an article of faith as any other.

The Stone Soup Ceilidh certainly evolved around these concepts and the annual SSC at the CT King Arthur's Fall Harvest Fall (commonly known as CTRF) is the saving of many rennies who work the faire every year.  Life during the run of CTRF is much easier when you know that no matter how filthy, cold or wet the day is; as soon as gate closes, the grills are fired up and hot food (and conversation) can soon be found.   

This past summer, Kate suggested- and was met with wide acclaim- that the SCA rennies form a household based around the core SSC goals- good food, good company and that a plate full of faire potatoes holds the secret for world peace.  And Lo, Vaganza was born.  There's always room for an extra vaganza.   

After much discussion, and a firm refusal by some of the more fashion conscience, it was decided that the House Colors would not be Steel Grey Duck Tape on Steel Grey Duck Tape as The Vaganza originally suggested. Instead, the Vaganza House Colors are Purple and Leopard Print.  

So, long explanation now out of the way- 

I was bored last night.  And Entry #1 in my series "Things I Do When Bored":

I'm calling the series, "Vintage Vaganza" and am contemplating stemware to match.   

"Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.”~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

While soaking my feet tonight and musing over the pros and cons of taking a hacksaw to my ankle, I spent my time working through the day's articles on Fark and ran across this op-ed published by the Daily Mail rag out of the UK.

While she makes a few fair points (infrastructure and response to disasters can always use improvement) but I just can't wrap my head around her entitled and whining tone.  Equating the US to a third world country goes beyond hyperbole considering what she describes as her "hardships" during Irene's Aftermath.  Not to mention that from her house, she's looking through a pretty thin piece of glass since merry Ol' England hasn't exactly been a shining example of first world decorum and prosperity this summer.

Irene danced her way across 10 states and has caused an estimated $7 billion dollars at least in damage.   Is it any wonder that crews and relief services were stretched thin?  Or that they might have done triage and prioritized more damaged areas (VT, Quebec, points south) first?

My issues with Ms. Churcher are that:

a) She states that she has covered impoverished areas of the world where modern day luxuries and conveniences are unheard of or reserved for the up most members of society.
b) Lives in the Northeast and hasn't been through a least one storm that knocked her power out before. While Westchester County, NY isn't as prone to the storms of upstate NY or NE they do see snow and bad storms are not uncommon.
c)Apparently skipped the day they taught how to research a subject in journalism school- and don't get me started on her complete lack of common sense.   If she has enough to balance on the head of a pin I'd be very surprised.

Irene was not a flash in the pan winter squall that arrives with a flash of lightning as it's calling card- we knew this storm when it was in the Caribbean.  By the time Irene was saying hello to GA and the Carolinas there was strong consensus from NOAA and other reputable weather services that she would soon be visiting most of the Easter Seaboard.

I pay next to no attention to the weather during the summer unless I have an event and I  knew about her 10 days out.   While I'm sure Ms. Churcher is a busy woman with a full schedule that no doubt trumps mine, I find it hard to believe that she did not have the time to research and prepare for the storm appropriately.   Laying in supplies, getting enough charcoal/propane for a grill or enough fuel to run the generator for a few days is not exactly hard to do and can be accomplished in one afternoon.

The part that really gets me?  She lives in lower NY.  She's seen Nor'easters- we have at least one every freaking winter.  While the correct definition of a Nor'easter is different than that of a hurricane- they can and do get up to hurricane level winds and the damage caused by a nor'easter is arguably just as bad and the recovery can be harder due to the problems with responding in snow and ice.

Mind you, everyone I know was pretty blase about Irene- we hosted a BBQ the day before and our preparations consisted of making sure there was enough oil lamp and ice to keep the fridge cold if the power did go out.  Which it did.   We were without electricity for 48 hrs and my son's first day of school was pushed back one day.  

Yes, ma'am, we are indeed living in third world conditions.  

I might be a wee bit uncharitable tonight but I find myself unsympathetic towards her experiences and hope that she might have learned some lessons from Irene's visit.

New items!

I had a great weekend full of work, time with friends after and now a day off!   Of course, my days off are seldom true days off, but we all have that.  Housework NEVER ends.

Last week I finally finished editing and posting my latest glass work  and started working on another set of wine glasses.   Thanks to Antika Neuva, I have enough blank goblets and glasses to last a year at least.   She takes fiendish delight in hunting out new glasses for me to paint and alter.   It's scary sometimes just how much delight she takes in doing so now that I think of it...

One of my latest (and current favorite) goblets:

I've pretty much decided to focus on getting all the naked glasses that I have all over the house properly painted, listed and packed away before doing any more non-commission portrait work.  The glasses are, while not simple to do, easy enough to paint in bulk quantities and I quite literally have boxes piled up in my work area that my husband has very politely not said anything about.  

To be honest, I'm not sure if I should be proud or disgusted that my husband has learned the trick of silently nagging....  

So, Ganesha and Thoth are my last paintings for awhile. /sigh   

Ganesha Dancing in Acrylics

Thoth in Acrylics

So, Saturday after work I went over to a friend's house for dinner and to do some hair color for a few friends.  Very proud of my performance Saturday evening- 3 colors and one hair cut in 2 1/2 hrs!    An average color service takes anywhere from 45-90 minutes depending on type of color so very pleased with myself^^     I stayed the night in Hudson with a friend since at 10:30 I was not really up for a 90 minute drive back home.   

Sunday, I was home for all over 2 hours before having to leave for work and another get together with friends- this time a wonderfully fun Tarot and Pie Party.    Arrived home around 10:30 to be greeted with desperate puppy kisses from my dog Lucky- who, after determining that I was O.K. and still Me, deserved no further attention since I HAD LEFT HIM ALL ALONE and proceed to spend the rest of the night cuddling with my husband while giving me "See?  This is your fault." looks all night.   

Well, it's nearly 10am now, so I suppose I should get on with the rest of my day.   

Have a great day!  

Anything But Time

Whew, it's been over a week since GNEW and I still have a lot of unpacking and reorganizing to do.   Pack out day at GNEW was insanely hot by 10 am and all my neat and orderly ideas were tossed out in lieu of getting it over with so I could sit down and be energy efficient until we had to leave.

I adore the warm weather we've been having, but I've come to discover (much to my profound disgust) that too much heat is a very bad thing for me.  Last year in June I was attending the Silver Kingdom Renaissance Festival in MA.  The majority of the fair takes place in a large open field where the only shade is provided by the merchant tents- by mid-day on the 2nd day, I was turning (I'm told) an interesting shade of pistachio, despite having been in loose and comfortable garb and drinking plenty of fluids.    After an hour of having the A/c set to arctic I realized how bad I had been feeling at the faire.   Tap dancing on the line of heat exhaustion is not something I recommend as a general rule.

So, on the final day of GNEW was one where I traded organization for expediency and now have to get everything back to the way it should be.   /joy

I think I mentioned my first official commission in the last blog entry?   After spending more time that I was expecting mixing color (who knew emerald green would be so blasted difficult to create?  >.>), I finished the pair of goblets.  My clients LOVED the pictures I emailed them and should receive their wedding goblets tomorrow in the mail.   I am so thrilled that I could be a small part of their big day!

Here's a quick snap of one of them!  They were very fun to do- after I had the right color  mixed >.>  

 Well, been sitting down with my feet up for two hours now- had to ice my ankle for the first time in a few weeks /sigh- so time to get back to unpacking, listing and taking pictures of my stock.   With luck I should be done by the weekend so I can start on painting again~  I have so much naked glassware to  paint, I should be fine for household items for the next year at least when I'm all done^^

Unpacking

GNEW was absolutely lovely and while I didn't make back my full costs for attending, I did make about half back and received a ton of wonderful compliments and great feedback.  

In between browsers, I started a few sketches in between basking in the sun (with hat and sunblock- I refused to add any more healing time to my face than I had too) and trips to the pool.  The weather was for the most part murderously hot and humid with some rain Friday night and cool temps Saturday night- which made sleeping with just my thin summer sleeping bag interesting.  Although, Aiko made a wonderful  foot warmer.

Aiko is an Alaskan Husky and belongs to my friend Kate who was also vending at GNEW.  Kate had a few too many margaritas and was slightly under the weather Sat night, so I dragged Aiko into my tent to spend the night at some point after the witching hour. She was very well behaved for not being by Momma and curled up very politely at the foot of my cot- and barely twitched during my runs to the privy every two hours or so as I'd had a bit much to drink as well.   I

SCAdians know how to party after the sun goes down- I remember three distinct parties with tons of belly dancers, fires, fire dancers and drums.   There was also something about blue boobs and a painfully drunk EMT, but those memories are a bit hazy.

Sadly, the weekend ended way too soon and it's been a week of catching up with inventory, working in the salon and trying find the time for housework.   I've been working in the salon every day this week (yay, hours!) and am looking forward to my day off tomorrow so I can get some houework and my first non-friend/family commission work done.

A lovely couple saw a pair of my large painted goblets and have commissioned me to create a similar set for their wedding in emerald, silver and white.  I am ridiculously excited about it and hope they love them as much as I am enjoying making them!

/sigh 20 more minutes and it's time to get ready for work.  With luck the A/C isn't acting up today.  

Two days and a wake up until GNEW!

Only two more days until I leave for Hebron ME and the Great Northeastern War XXV!   Very excited to be attending GNEW again this year.  Terrified as well, but holding that at bay until Sunday afternoon when I get home.  

Just back from some last minute shopping for house and LTGP's first weekend vending at GNEW- and trying not to think about the total cost for the event right now.   I'm keeping track, but I really, really don't want to think about it until I tally up all the receipts and sales next week.  I'm honestly not expecting to make a lot (NE SCA events are traditionally conservative with new vendors and parting with their money) but making back my total costs would be really nice.

Still, lots of packing and hopefully some last minute painting still to go this week.  I want to spend some time in the the studio- I've missed it the past few days.   Oh, well.   Plenty to time to sketch this weekend- when I'm not tending the booth or swimming that is.  <3 the fact that GNEW has a pool on site^^  From the looks of the weather report for the weekend, I'll be swimming every spare moment I get too.   /glee  

Saw this on Artfire- Was too much fun to pass up

1.What time did you get up this morning?   6:45 freaking am.  Even on my day off I can't sleep in!

2.Diamonds or pearls? Both. Princess cut and natural, please.  

3.What was the last film you saw at the cinema?  Thor

4. What is your favorite TV show? Dr. Who!
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Uh...food, when I do eat.   

6. What is your middle name? Leigh

7. What food do you dislike?  Corn, any type of squash and zucchini.  Blech, 

8. What is your favorite CD at moment? Pandora/Slacker radio. 

9. What kind of car do you drive? Ford

10. Favorite sandwich? GYRO!

11. What characteristic do you despise?  Habitual liars. 

12. Favorite item of clothing? Corsets/Bodices

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you  go?  Back to the ROK, 22 hr flight and all


14.  Favorite brand of clothing.   Well- made and fitted, otherwise I don't care.
15. Where would you retire?  Somewhere close to a full military base w/hospital.  Otherwise, no preference.

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday?  Last year's.  Despite being out of work for 4 months at the time, my husband managed to make  it really special for me.  

17. Favorite sport to watch? If live- armed combat, hockey, football, baseball   On TV?  Hockey or football.

18. Furthest place you are sending this? The interwebz

19. Person you expect to send it back first? No clue, it's being posted to my blog not an email.

20. When is your birthday? November

21. Are you a morning person or a night person?  Have to be a morning person, but prefer night.

22. What is your shoe size? 7
23. Pets? 5

24. Any new and exciting news you ' d like to share with us? My husband's coming home tonight!

25.What did you want to be when you were little? Probably a star.  

26.How are you today? Excited!

27. What is your favorite candy?  Lindt chocolate truffles.  /swoon

28. What is your favorite flower? OOh, tough one.  Hmm..probably hedge roses like the ones my mother had when I was a little girl. 

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?  June 30, 2011 

30.What's your full name?  Phe ne Chainodagh for re-enacting/Faire

31. What are you listening to right now?  The trudging footsteps of a sleepy 9 1/2 year old

32. What was the last thing you ate? Gyros, homemade with fresh tzatziki sauce.

33. Do you wish on stars? Nope

34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?  Red 

35. How is the weather right now? Gorgeous

36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? No calls yet.

37. Favorite soft drink? D. Coke

38. Favorite restaurant? The Holy Grail Irish Pub and Restaurant

39.Real hair color? Undetermined   It's been over a decade since I've seen it.

40. What was your favorite toy as a child? Dolls

41.Summer or winter? Summer

42. Hugs or kisses? both

43.Chocolate or Vanilla? Both

44. Coffee or tea? Coffee.  Steamed grass, not my cup of tea. 

45. Do you want your friends to email you back- again, this is being posted to a blog. 

46. When was the last time you cried? Ah, probably while reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  

47. What is under your bed? Would rather not know. 

48.What did you do last night? Slept like the recently dead

49. What are you afraid of?  Spiders

50. Salty or sweet? Both

51. How many keys on your key ring?   Too many

52. How many years at your current job? In industry, 3.  At current location?  6 months.

53. Favorite day of the week?  My day off.

54. How many towns have you lived in? 8

55. Do you make friends easily? I suppose so.   Not really something I've thought about.  

Home!

My husband's  coming home tonight! /squeeeee
He's only been gone for a month this time, but I'm just as thrilled to have him back as when he's been gone longer^^

Even better, I'm off today and tomorrow!

Didn't get much work done in the last night due to being completely exhausted when I got home from work.  We were pretty busy yesterday morning- 23+ clients from 9-3 (I did 13 haircuts).   I didn't have a chance to sit down until 2:30 and my feet were screaming dire threats of murder and worse by the time I clocked out for the day at 3:30.   Great day though- met some lovely people and came home to homemade gyros! <3 gyros! So, so yummy!  

Still, no surprise that I was hobbling badly all night since I've beaten the stuffing and support out of my current work flats.  Good thing I'm saving up for a pair of Danskos- but that's still two paychecks away, or 3 weeks.  /sigh   If I do well at GNEW next week I should be able to get them earlier  If. If, if, if......

Not sure how much studio time I'll be able to squeeze in today- errands, laundry (I hate laundry, so I let it pile up until it's impossible to ignore), a good friend coming over this afternoon and than picking Adam up at Logan.  Oh, and I need fit my hair touch up in there somewhere.

Best to get on with it, I suppose.   May the Road Rise!

<snicker>  I am constantly being amazed by my son's stubborn efforts to avoid any parental or even adult troll critique of his room's state of cleanliness.   For most of June I have been slowly going through the house and organizing it.  One room at a time, and next up is Munchkin's room.  

He very seriously just told me that he wants to clean his room himself.  While I'm not one to discourage my child from doing so- I'm  not sure if he's hoping I'll be so impressed by his initiative  that I'll find his efforts acceptable or forget about the matter entirely.     Considering my and his father's response to his scholastic efforts this term, he really should know better.   /parental gleeful laughter

Child cleanliness lessons aside, it's been a fairly productive week so far.  I am quite pleased with my efforts last night.   I heat tempered 5 glasses and painted another 5, as well as framed two paintings.   Go me!  

Talen, my youngest cat is going crazy at the window next to me- there are a bunch of birds outside loudly taunting him.    I seriously think he's about ready to burst through the screen window and go "larn dem birds sum mannahs".  

Céad Míle Fáilte!

A hundred thousand welcomes to you!  

It's been ages since I've been so happy to see you, Monday!  Thank you for arriving so promptly after Sunday, but then you're always punctual, which this tired girl appreciates greatly this morning.   Now, if only the rest of the week can go as smoothly as today is starting out, I will be delighted!

As you can probably tell- I've had one of THOSE weeks at work.  Fortunately, my home life didn't decide to go pear shaped on me at the same time.   In all honesty it was just a really, really, REAAAALLLLY long week at work.  One of my coworkers has been ill and was unable to work two days last week and I was asked to cover her shifts on Monday and Thurs last week, giving up one of my days off in the process.  On the one hand I'm delighted for more hours, on the other I'm fried.   So, K being able to switch shifts with me today is a Godsend.

It's a gorgeous day out too, perfect weather for going hiking later on^^

This evening will be studio time- I have several pieces that need to be heat tempered and two paintings that I need to do final touch ups on and set back in their frames.  Not to mention all the paperwork I need to get in order for GNEW in two weeks.  

My second official event as a vendor!  I'm ridiculously excited- and terrified.  Nooo, not thinking about that.  I refuse to give in to nerves!  At least, not until after I get back from GNEW on the 10th.  

/sigh   Enough procrastinating.  The House Troll has yet to surface for the day, so those dishes aren't going to wash themselves.   /grumble

Enjoy your day!