Heroes and Hawks

We lost a family member this past week. Dennis was too young, and too vibrant, and this just proves that bad things happen to good people. A hero of a father, who with his wife as well, have passed on their goodness to a wonderful family. Certainly left us with sadness all week.

On a MUCH LIGHTER NOTE, I might have a bit of a guitar hero on my hands….seems to be a bit obsessed with Slash and Tom Morello and “beating the devil”……..at least he is on his feet and gets into it….fun to watch.

And I spotted this in the back yard today….took my breath away. This is one huge bird and my thoughts immediately tried to trace down our cat. This bird appeared to have something squirming in it’s beak at take off.

We had another wonderful weekend of skiing. Getting George to speed up the pace a bit after his traumatic fall is improving. We also celebrated Walkers birthday with an impromptu gathering at Bretton Woods…….and we are certainly gearing up for the Superbowl….we are all sporting foot casts in honor of Brady. Kidding!

Just Squeaked By…..

Yes, I made it to my pastel class yesterday. Barely. I felt green the whole time. And I came home and got into bed, fully dressed and with my coat on for a while even. And I never left the bed, all day, all night…..well I eventually got so hot I took my coat off.

The kids made waffles (frozen) for themselves and tucked themselves into bed. And the kitchen didn’t look too bad this morning either. So I recovered, waking this morning to no more stomach cramps, just very weak, but I did cancel my Meals on Wheels for today, which in turn gave me a few hours to revisit my pastel painting I started yesterday.

This one is an underpainting. Done in very soft pastels, and just blocking it in.

This next step is after I have painted rubbing alcohol over the pastel areas. This will set the pigment.

And this is where I stand right now. I need this class.

I have never been drawn to working on landscapes, always more intrigued by still lifes. I hope my wonderful teacher Donna Rossetti-Bailey can give me some pointers…..I am stuck.

Riders On The Storm…

Okay, that is definately playing over and over again through my head…..As if I needed this, but would there ever be a time to NEED this….the dreaded Norwalk Virus.

George started this chain of unpleasantness on Friday, vomitting in the morning, and with his fall down a mountain on Saturday, I thought his wanting to vomit might be head injury related. But 3am on (this) Monday morning I was awoken to the cries of help me mommy…. from Maddy, and by 8am Kaylee was hunched over the potty. Yup. So what plays in my head is this eerie waiting game, and survival song……Riders on the Storm, by The Doors.    For I am next. Just when is the question…..

I will be absolutely crushed if I can’t make it to my Pastel Painting class on Thursday.

 

Last week was my first week and I am so happy I signed up for this!!!!! Please let there be some sympathetic mother norovirus out there that spares me, knowing that I don’t ask for much and this small 3 hour class gives me the sustenance to withstand another week of child rearing.

Overdue Thank You’s

I will start with Reginas absolutely heart warming box of goodies. Have you ever hidden something away, for whatever reason, and then come across it and enjoy the treasure even more the second time. Well, seeing that we have a snow day, and really can’t go anywhere, I decided it might be a good time to put away the Christmas stuff. And that is when I realized I haven’t posted about any bloggy ornament/gift stuff.

I have been meaning to post the ornaments I received from the swap….some lovely crafters out there. Though I am not sure I will participate again….sadly not everyone respects their commitment to things I guess, and I only received 6 ornaments and I sent out 9……there’s all types I guess.

Just How It Is

Christmas is over and the new year has begun, and my blogging consistency has already proven to be failing. I wish I could find the creativeness and spirit to post about interesting things, but at this time, my life is consumed with selling Girl Scout cookies and being a single parent…..not complaining, really, just stating it how it is.

My husband has accepted a new role in the same company and this brings many challenges. The title of his new position includes the word “global”. And indeed he is “global” as I type….Sweden. I have survived his first trip over there, and I will continue to survive, lonely, but happy for him. And oh so proud of him.

I did take the kids skiing this past weekend. And as my life keeps dictating, I should probably not even leave the house, for I am pretty sure I am unworthy of most anything good. But my little George took a very long tumble down a very icey (side of the trail) and needed the assistance of the Cannon Mt. medics. First time for anything. For as long as I have been skiing, I have not nor known anyone to need a tabogan ride to the nurses station, but if it wasn’t George, it would probably be my Madeline sometime soon. Just how it is.

He is fine, as you can see a bit scraped up. But we don’t think he has a concussion, but I am still watching him closely. If I knew how to get the photos off my cell phone, I could show the pics of the tabogan ride. I am now going out to shovel just shovelled the 6 inches of snow HEAVY SLUSH, so my husband can safely get in the driveway tomorrow……

Wonderful Winter Break

The day after Christmas we packed up and headed north to New Hampshire. We skiied at Cannon Mountain and attempted a brief encounter at snowboarding at Bretton Woods(Well, Kaylee is actually quite good…and Greg is a half a day away at professional). Not for me, but never say never. I haven’t thrown my board away…..yet. A few snowball fights and you have to go tubing at the Mount Washington Hotel at least once!!

Great weather made the skiing all that more enjoyable. I actually can’t believe I am skiing….especially when you are looking down terrain that is solid ice and close to vertical….then your 5 year old whizzes by…………..

It is agreed that one of the best parts of skiing is taking off the boots at the end of the day! Happy New Year to all.

Christmas 2007 and a Giraffe….?, huh

What is that you say…..? Geesh, Santa must have made a wrong turn while trying to get to the zoo…..!!!! He’s friendly though, and seems to be fitting right in!