Obsessed

I'm obsessed with this video of this young boy singing...amazing.

Launched

Okay people...the girl has launched.  The girl in question is our youngest, Afton.  She has launched her Pledge Music project Sangster:  Human Becoming.  If you please take a look and if so possibly inclined you can PLEDGE!!!!!  It's so exciting.  Be sure to watch the video at the beginning.  Thanks everyone for being here and sharing my world!

Carla

Vacation In Review

We arrived in LA  for our long visit with Afton and Nick.  First on the things to do list was to fill our tummy and relax after the flight with the "kiddo's".  

The next day was a fabulous brunch with their friends Carla and Marcie at their beautiful home in the backyard.  The brunch lasted well until the evening hour because we were having such a wonderful visit.

Their gardens gave me tons of photo opportunities to add to my growing collection of painting subjects.  The most exciting thing was seeing oranges and lemons growing in their backyard!

We also spent some time in Afton and Nick's little apartment with their resident felines, Frieda and Zig.  

We got to go to a community college to watch Nick practice for an upcoming performance with an orchestra (he's a Vibraphone player);  played pool in Santa Monica after dinner of which The Hubby left his drivers license and we didn't discover until the night before we were to fly home.  That was a 4 hour drive back and forth to get it.  We also sat in on one of their music classes that they both teach at a Montessori school.  One evening we went to one of their haunts to listen to a group of people play some David Bowie music in I think his black days.  It was so very loud that we actually LEFT!  All of us were not impressed but it was interesting.  On Thursday evening we went with them to a venue called Curve Line Space, an art gallery in Eagle Rock, CA.  Nick produces a continuing program called Elastic Hour.  He brings in different musicians to preform and just this last week was written up in the LA Weekly.  It is quite impressive.  So the week was a lot, a LOT of music, but of course that is what they do.  

One day we drove up to Solvang, California, to some wine country.  The drive was just beautiful and the orchards and orchards of oranges, lemons, limes and olive trees was breathtaking.  Unfortunately we didn't stop to take pictures off of the freeway.   

We did however enjoy a lot of wine and pack our bags with five bottles of the yummy stuff with not one broken for the flight home and a 6th for Nick for his upcoming birthday present!

Coquelicot Vineyard 

Back home after a long, long drive we ate some delicious Indian food at Clay Oven.  I think there was a bit too much tiredness going on so she played with her rice... 

and time in the car found me braiding her hair from the backseat.

Friday night before we were to leave was Nick's birthday so a PARTY was planned at their favorite hangout Left Coast Wine Bar.  

What a great venue!  The food was great, the entertainment awesome and the walls are covered in some great art.  They have open mic nights often and Afton has played there many times.  That evening we met tons of their friends which I must say made my heart strings happy.  To see our girl finding her life there and getting plugged into her world was great and the friends could not gush enough about both of them.  We are so very proud of how her life is going and to see her glowing with happiness is awesome.  She has taken a path in her life that makes her very happy and content.

Yes, yes it was Nick's birthday and boy did he bank on the wine for gifts.  They may have to invest in a wine fridge.

I have to say it was a wonderful visit but I am glad to be home.  We missed that little Rio so much and our Clayton and our BED!  

Travel Time

Just a quick note to let all know that I'm still here.  We are traveling and will be heading home tomorrow morning.  Hope to have some nice pics, mainly of flowers, but pictures from our time away.  We jetted off to see Afton in kind of sunny LA.  Really it has been nice but a bit cool.  We even had a bit of rain when we went to Solang, a wonderful little wine area for the day.  Lot's of fabulous music and time with Afton and her guy Nick.  I'm a bit nervous to fly tomorrow with the delays and all but looks like the Congress may have taken care of that little problem just before we board tomorrow.  Don't mind flying but the process, security, boarding, flights on time, that is what makes me antsy.  We only have an hour layover for the next flight in Vegas and I DON'T want to be late.  We are getting a bit desparate to see our little guy Clayton and the precious face of our little RIO!  We have missed home so very much.  Later gators...

Baby, Baby, Baby

First Kiss

Have you ever reconnected with your first kiss?  I did!  Since I do the high school reunions I'm in touch with most everyone, which is very odd if you know me.  I've been in touch with Carry for many years via Facebook and email but in the nearly 40 years since high school have only seen him once, at the 15 year reunion, with his lovely wife.  Since we are friends out of high school I invited him and his wife to come to dinner sometime and guess what, on this past Monday night he came to dinner with The Hubby and I.  His wife was with her family and Carry decided to come to town to visit his mother, so he called.  We grilled a wonderful steak and sat on our new patio, had dinner and some wonderful conversation.  I knew The Hubby and he would get along because they both love history stuff and I was right.  It's kind of weird but in prospective I was only 13 years old when I got that first kiss and we really didn't know each other. We are forging a new friendship, 40 years later.  What is weird is that I had that wide-eyed young love giddy still burning for that first kiss guy for many, many years but since I have gotten to know him as a grown-up and met him again, well, it's gone.  I used to get that little flutter when he emailed pictures of his family and grandchildren or the thought of seeing him again but the giddy and flutter is GONE!  He's just a guy from my childhood and all of that stuff is burned out.  I've got another kind of giddy and flutter that takes its place and he's called The Hubby!  Sometimes visiting the past is a bit healing, don't you think.  It's puts all of that kind of stuff in perspective for me.  I have much better memories of meeting The Hubby and our first kiss, our first touch...lots of first.  I choose to remember the first kiss from the guy that changed my life forever, The Hubby, now that's a first kiss!

Stuff is a Happening...

So much has happened this past week and weekend I had to share.  First of all was seeing my art actually hanging on Thursday at The Beauty Loft.  Oh my goodness it is does so much for my ego and confidence you can't imagine.  

Then on Friday after our usual Thai lunch buffet at Bangkok Buffet we grabbed our fortune cookies and this is what was on our fortunes.  The first one is mine and the second is The Hubby's.  I was taken by surprise by both of them said something about Friday and it was Friday.  So much is going on for us right now this doesn't surprise me but for me should have been Saturday... 

We went to the cabin for the weekend and Saturday while The Hubby went to the gun show I went we four other ladies to The Canebrake for lunch.  The Canebrake is a destination spa in northeastern Oklahoma and a wonderful place to visit.  Anyway, when we walked in the door we saw on the walls art, lots of art adorning the place.  Then they started talking about a friend of one of them that had a show for an entire month in March.  Then the encouragement started about my art.  They saw it on my phone and went on and on and talked to the owner who informed us that the only month left open this year was October if I was interested....YES....HELL YES!  So, in October I will have a month long show and hopefully a reception for my art!  I'm so very excited but I really NEED to get some more stuff painted ASAP!  So my Saturday was my fortune cookie come true!

Now on to the rest of the weekend.  The Hubby decided that it was time that the dead tree in front of our porch at the cabin had to go.  I was not happy because that dead was what my beautiful clematis climbed on but he would not be detered.  

He tried to pull it down with the truck but he was fooled to think it was totally rotten, it was not.  So a chain saw had to be used.

Now we have a lot of baby tree logs all over the place and he will have to rent a splitter and I will have to try and find something to fill the void and save my clematis. 

 

One fun thing is that while I was sitting on the porch I saw a bluebird fly into the box that has been up for a couple of years with nest making stuff in her beak!  YEAH..baby bluebirds.

I also filled the other feeders and have purple finches and gold finches flocking in. 

A quick ride around and I found all the rain has started the dam to really have some water flowing. 

Then a sweet picture of our little boy sunning...ohhhhh Clayton...we love you little guy. 

How Was Your Easter!

Good morning all.  Thought I would stop by and share a bit.  Life here has been pretty busy with work, babysitting and just life in general.  My world seems to be full of work and baby as I watch little Rio at work.    It reminds me of having our girls at the office when they were babies.  They were both raised in the office.  When B was born we had our business in the house and the business phone, so when it rang sometimes it was a challenge to not have a crying baby on hand.  When she was about 4 or 5 we built the shop and then began my travel to the office to do my work.  I didn't go in every day as we had an answering service and there just wasn't something for me to do everyday, much like today really.  I remember when I had A and was in the office on that Friday doing payroll (it was weekly back then) and was having labor pains.  I had her that next day and was back at the office that next Friday doing payroll.  Yes, life rolls on.  Now Rio is continuing the tradition.

Friday evening I also kept the little bugger for the first all-nighter.   

(the night before)

 I was definitely a bit scared but we weathered it and I can proudly say it was a rousing success.

(the next morning...see I didn't break her)

Our Easter was so wonderful.  I invited my family and The Hubby's side for a meal of ham and the sides, of which everyone contributed.  Everyone was able to come less one of the nephew's and his family and A.  The weather cooperated fully and we even had a small fire in the firepit.