some art and a funny husband

good morning!

here is a little saturday morning art lovin' for you!

tamara came over last week and we had so much fun playing!
she totally inspires me and really helped me loosen up and just have fun with paint.






the next morning, i did a little more playing on my own!
so much fun!
and i have more to share later!


well, i am doing something really really cool this morning
really really cool.
and i cannot wait to share it later this weekned!
it is going to be so much fun!

and here is just a funny little bonus for you:

continuing with the saga of owning a rental property . . .

herb has been putting all of the lawn waste and large trash
(ie: the evil kitchen carpet)
into a large dumpster that has been sitting on the
lawn of the villa on corona.

yesterday, the dumpster guys came to pick it up
there was a crane involved
so you can rest assured that herbie scurried out there
to catch all the action!

so cute and funny!

about a birthday . . .

my sweet little vintage overnight bag. i can't believe herb and i both packed overnight bags, only to go to the water park and then come home! he is a clever little sneak!


latonya, me, sarah, and mikki
these are my "forever friends" . . . my "3am friends" . . . the ones i can always call. they were my college roommates. i love them so so so very much! we are all in the middle of change - latonya is moving to TEXAS!?!??!, sarah is getting married, and at the ripe old age of 29, mikki is prego with bebe number three! wowza! i might be the most stable right now!








i had "THE birthday" a few weeks ago.
the first "THE birthday" since the last
"THE birthday"
you know, first comes the one where you can buy beer?

yeah.

that one happened a while ago.

i had the next one.

the one where people tend to either look at their life
and say, "dang. this is not what i hoped for."
and they get sad and do something drastic
like marry the guy that they shared their first
schlitz with on that OTHER birthday
and in a drunken stupor declared to each other
that if, heaven forbid, they are not married by the time
they turn 30, that they will tie the knot

or people say, "wow! this is going to be the best year of my life!"
and they do everything they can to make it the best!
gym memberships
new cars
new jobs
new attitudes

you know?

30

for me, it has been fairly inconsequential so far.
but do feel like it is going to be a great year.
i am happy with where i am
and what i have accomplished
somedays, i am happy with who i have become

there is plenty to be grateful
and plenty of room to grow and bloom.
so, i sure won't be bored!

now, let's talk about my husband for a minute.
he does not really care so much about his birthday.
but he is beginning to understand how much it means to me
i love birthdays!
his and mine.

so i was told to save the weekend of the 21st.
of course, i assumed we are going on a trip
so he uses this to his advantage and has me
convinced we are traveling.
so i pack my little overnight bag.
and a fleece!
because "you never know what the weather is going to be like there".
a fleece i tell you!
it was around 100 degrees in denver on saturday!

then he took me to nirvana (see post from August 16th, 2006)
and all of my best friends where there
you know, the ones who have known me
for 10 years or more

they ALL traveled from out of town to be here
and he planned the whole thing
beginning 2 months ago

after floating on the lazy river for three hours
the girls and i went to the oxford hotel
for a little pampering.
then home for a bbq
and some of our local friends joined up with us at this point

the next day, my pals and i just lounged about
and went to one of those malls down south
to check out sarah jessica parker's new clothing line - BITTEN
at first, i was not finding anything
and i just felt stung
but then i looked closer and i was in love - totally BITTEN!

you must check this out!
there is not a single piece of clothing in this line that costs more
than $20
honestly, it makes Old Navy and Forever 21 look
like Sax 5th Avenue!
i will never buy $27 jeans again
nope, not when i can get 'em for $15!!!!

so, three cheers to my babe
who made me feel so very very loved
on my 30th birthday!

smoooches, my baby!
big time smoooooooooches to ya!

the things that amuse my husband never cease to amaze me!

Dear Kelly Jackson and Jennifer Coomer,
You may be the only blog readers I have left. And that is okay. If it is only for you that I share this story, it is totally worth it.
The other day i was volunteering at the hospital, when i casually walked by a supply closet. As i approached the closet, a young attractive nurse walked out. She looked a bit disoriented. She walked away. I slowed my pace. Turned around, and expected to see Alex from Grey's Anatomy come out a few moments later. He didn't. Perhaps I watch too much TV?

In other news . . .

. i got a hair cut yesterday. i love phil the haircutter. he cuts hair with love. and he is fabulous. and hip and cool. sometimes he has a mohawk. sometimes it is crazy and curly. but he has a really really dorky laugh which makes him totally approachable. plus he won extra points yesterday as he squated, first behind me and then in front of me, to blow my hair dry. that is commitment to making my look fabulous. plus, he always tells me my hair is gorgeous, helps me put my coat on and walks me to the door. we love phil the haircutter. he is so good to me. and to everyone else. and that is why he has a thriving business.

. okay. that is all for the "in other news" i have time for now.

There Are Others

This is a piece in our new art museum addition.
I told herb that if i was in the third grade again, i would have felt like seeing this huge striped canvas was a sign that i was not alone in the world . . . . it would have meant that there were others out there beyond the windows of my mom's station wagon that were also tired of trying so hard to pay attention in school and being bad at sports and pressed ham on white bread for lunch everyday.

It meant that one day i could be glamorous and silly and wild and free.
Oh, and eat McDonalds Chicken Nuggets whenever I felt like it!

It meant that there were people that would say, "If you want to paint big flowers on your bedroom wall, let's make that happen!" "If you want to wear striped leggings with plaid boxer shorts over them to school, go for it - you will not be mocked or chided in any way!" "Sure, it makes sense that when you lay on the edge of the couch in the living room with your head hanging off the edge that you could spend hours contemplating what life would be like if we had to live on the ceiling." "Go ahead and throw a little temper tantrum if somebody is mean to you just because you tend to be a little backwards . . . they are a bunch of boring jerks who will grow up to work in middle management! When you are done crying we will go throw eggs at them!"

So, here's to you Mr. "Big Striped Canvas For Absolutetly No Good Reason Other Than You Felt Like It" Painting Guy!

Background Music

Inspired by ESueYoung.

Your Life: The Soundtrack
Opening credits:	Beautiful - Nanci Griffith
Waking up:	Sunrise - Norah Jones
Average day:	Going in the Right Direction - Robert Randolph and the Family Band
First date:	Creepin' In - Norah Jones
Falling in love:	A Fine Romance - Billie Holliday
Love scene:	Moonlight Kiss - Bapp Kennedy
Fight scene:	Untouchable Face - Ani DiFranco
Breaking up:	Wedding Day - Rosie Thomas
Getting back together:	Pale Moon (We Belong Together) - Shannon McNally
Life's okay:	Angry Anymore - Ani DiFranco
Mental breakdown:	18 Bulletholes - Waterdeep
Driving:	Powerless (Say What You Want) - Nelly Furtado
Learning a lesson:	Bitter Root - Indigo Girls
Deep thought:	Horn - Nick Drake
Flashback:	This is Us - Emmylou Harris & Mark Knopfler
Partying:	Rose Rouge - St. Germain
Happy dance:	ABC - Jackson 5
Regreting:	Beautiful Man - Lori McKenna
Long night alone:	Save Me - Aimee Mann
Death scene:	Dance Me To The End of Love - Madeleine Peyroux
Closing credits:	Float On - Modest Mouse
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Community

This is the lovely Latonya Still. She ranks high on my list of friends. Her beer drinking, book reading, batgamon playing hub-a-roon-dawg, Kevin Hamilton, graced me with these words a month or so ago. He thought he might have offended me, so he wrote me an email to let me know what was going on in his brain - this quickly turned into him debriefing his recent viewing of American Beauty with laninjanator and his anger and confusion about men and women and justice and feminism that followed. What he didn't realize is that as he emoted, he spoke words that I needed to hear at that very moment. It is not easy being a woman married to a man these days. And had I still been single in a few more years, we all know that my plan was to move to Tahiti to become a lesbian and own a sno-cone stand. We have so many awful examples surrounding us about how men focus on themselves, leaving the women who love them in the dust. We see this in our fathers, our pastors, our presidents. It has been hard for me to learn how to fully give my feminine self to my man of a husband. Kevin did not know this. How beautiful, when people listen to the nudging of the Spirit AND have the courage to speak boldly and truthfully into our lives . . . without fear or disclaimer. It makes a difference.

"be thankful for herb.
he is rare.
he is trying to be rare.
he does not want to be "kevin spacey" (from American Beauty)
he does not want to be twisted and tormented.
he is different in his mind.
he is trying to be.
and that is a gift to him and to you and to his community.
i love that man because there is a hope for goodness and God -
which is not our modern american man!"

Here's To You, Mr. Still

Estes Park Beer Festival 2006

i love my brother . . .

because he is the black sheep of the family . . .
balancing out my role as the pink sheep.

and because he took me to a tatoo parlour four years ago to get his "little sister" her first piercing
and he rubbed my feet the whole time.

because he always asks me to "go out" with him . . . .
it tells me he trusts me enough to share his life with me . . .
and because he remembers who I am when he picks the place we "go out" to.

because he likes to share his music with me . . .
but tries to find songs without too much "french" . . .
even though he probably thinks i care more than i actually do.

because he wants to go back to school
and i know he will
even though he is frusterated right now.

because he says he wants to come visit us this summer
and even though he knows that means sitting outside to smoke all week
and going to bed earlier than usual
i know he really will come

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye

A Shout Out to my dear husband is a long time overdue.

* he is my favorite kind of contradiction . . . . sweet and strong.

* he makes the people around him feel like the most important person in the world

* and he is hopeful

* his smile is sincere. and so is the depth of his pain.

* he is growing.

* into an amazing man.

* who is real and strong and good.

* he encourages me.

* to do laundry on a regular basis.

* and to become the woman he knows God created me to be.

* and refuses to bite into the apple with me.

* he believes.

* in God.

* and the future.

* and me and him and our life together.

My Sister Fraggle Rocks!!!

My sister has had a lot of transition this year. If you know my sister, you know that transition does not settle well with her. She would rather undergo Chinese water torture. But I must say, despite all of the changes in her life, she is doing well. Here is what I love about my sister. And I quote from a voice mail I received last week:
"It has been a tough day. So, I am going home to watch back to back episodes of Fraggle Rock! Can you believe it - I bought the DVD at Target for $7!!!!"
The girl may be down but she is certainly not out! I appreciate her.

By the way, do you think Amy looks like Reese Witherspoon? As my sister says, "It doesn't matter if SHE looks like me - anyone can look like a normal person. I have to look like her for it to matter."

Amy and Reese - Twinners?
	I can hardly tell the difference.
	Amy is much prettier and I don't see any resemblence.
	Just a little bit - it is all in the chin. Amy is still prettier.
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