Bunny Food for Me !

   Boy, did I make a mistake! While at the Arts Center yesterday, I asked my dear husband to take a picture of me--how dumb was that! I posed on a pretty wrought-iron bench while he tried to get the shot I wanted. Normally I wouldn't subject myself to such torture, but because I'm usually the one behind the camera, I have very few photographs of myself. I wanted one to post on my blog that was more spring-y than my current pic. To make a short story long, the camera wasn't working right, cuz in the picture I looked quite fat and we all know that just couldn't be true!

   So now I've added a cute weight-loss thingie to my blog and yesterday's picture? ...ain't gonna happen! At least until I can get back to walking and the gym (back's still not healed), I am resigned to eating bunny food. I'll let you know how that goes and you do the same! It is swimsuit time, ladies and gentlemen...

Hope Yet

My husband with two of our three kids

   My son had asked for us to visit the Workhouse Art Center (in Lorton, VA) every weekend for a while now, so today we finally went. It was amazing! There were beautiful glass pieces, woven and printed textiles, pottery, paintings and drawings of different media, wood and metal art. Tons of studios, displayed art, and gorgeous items for sale. We had a great time and learned some about stained glass and lampwork bead making from two gracious artists.

This beautiful double rainbow
appeared as we left!

   My title derives from visiting a painter whose portraits were incredible! After falling in love with her paintings at the gallery, we happened to meet her next door where she had just finished a commissioned oil portrait. It was stunning, really. But my hope stems from our conversation where she shared that she had never attended art school and, in fact, didn't pursue art until she was forty! I couldn't believe it! She studied oils for eight years, she said, until she felt she had accomplished something worthy of selling. This energetic woman is truly talented and often works sixteen hours a day on her paintings. I was blown away by their detail and realism              and hopeful...
           that maybe my dreams of painting aren't just in my head. 
                     

I asked to take a picture (photos aren't normally allowed) of this potter's wastebasket to remind me of her comment: "An artist only lets you see the finished piece." How many times does the artist make a mistake and try again before she ends up with the finished product that you finally get to see? Persistence and practice are often more important to an artist than talent.

                                                    

Ah, SOL Time Again

    Well, moms and dads, it's that wonderful time of the school year when our kids must prove to the powers that be that they haven't always been sleeping during class. Yes, while the weather is warming, the flora and fauna are bursting from their winter slack, and the entire northern hemisphere itches to be outside in the sun drinking artificially-colored beverages, our poor, pollen-invaded children must endure another annual barrage of state testing. Sure, we practice with them, send them out the door with their bellies full of hearty oatmeal, and pray that they muddle through the tedium without too many mistakes... but do we actually care how well they perform on SOLs? Should we?

    Personally, I've met more than one good parent who doesn't. I'm torn--I want them to excel on their scores, but if they don't, I don't want to harass them too much about it. If I did, I would be sundering my disdain for the whole SOL system itself. Don't get me wrong: the tests themselves aren't the issue, but the fact that all year, these kids must fill their heads almost exclusively with the information they need to succeed on these SOLs, and it really ticks me off that they are not taught much else. I understand that there are many schools, even in our beloved Commonwealth, which aren't up to snuff. But there's gotta be a better way than drilling the same thing day after day, nothing outside the SOL criteria, blah, blah, blah. In fact--as far as I can tell--one could keep the kids home after the testing is over, because the whole goal of the school year is complete!
   
Hire good teachers, pay them well, oversee the general curricula and let 'er rip! Is that so hard? Apparently.
     

                                     

Happy Spring, Everybody!

B U I ?

For the past few weeks, I've had a slipped disc (L5-S1, if you wanna know). Boy, what a drag! But it does put the ease of certain daily activities in perspective. Isn't that what we're suppose to learn most of the time? How horribly spoiled we are and how much we rant over junk that we are taking for granted? OK, God, I get it--again. I now realize that standing in an upright position is a really good thing and I promise to never, ever take advantage of bipedal design again! I know counting our blessings is a good habit to practice, but...hmm. So, I can now walk, pull my clothes on without wanting to cry, and sit up long enough to write drivel on the computer--yeah! (Aren't ya'll lucky?) Of course, God does work through medicine and believe me, I got me some of that. When the hubster brought home more pills last night, my 10-yr-old commented, "More medicine? Don't you think you have enough?" Maybe now I do. Oh, yes, Virginia, drugs can be our friends... Of course, if there are tons of errors and my entries don't make any sense, now you know why. Because normally, I'm an awesome writer who whips up blindingly witty content at the press of a few keys!

    Aaah!  Trampoline hair!

Newbie on the Block!

A new blog for your enjoyment! I know, I know--as if we have the time, right? Well, in between the loads of laundry or while you're waiting on the phone for a fake person to come on and tell you why there's some random charge on your bill, give me a read. We're all in the same boat, so grab your brew of choice and join in on a chuckle or a Kleenex moment or a motivational spiel to get your butt off the sofa already! I promise to be your bestest friend ever!

I Disappeared!

My blog died during the last Blogger hiccup a couple weeks ago, so I guess I have to start over!