the day before yesterday was monday as you all well know. i left work early to gather refreshment for the last night of my stampin up club. by request i went to rembrandt's for macaroons and "s" cookies dipped in dark chocolate. then to grocery for fruit. i decided after cutting up the fruit that i didn't feel like sharing the good stuff. i don't regret it. i suppose the july cover of martha stewart's living might have had something to do with my need for berry. i am not even a fan of the classic red.white.&blue but the berry terrific shortbread looks amazing. plus i feel jipped about not having gotten to eat may strawberries this season, it is indeed almost over.
honestly i am happy the stamp club is dissolving. it was really interesting to be apart of a monthly group of women who got together to make cards once a month. for two years it provided an outlet for me in one way or another, it also became an indispensible resource for envelopes, punches, brads and eyelets. i am happy because i will be moving on. last week i was catching up with michelle, and found she participates in a book club. how very timely for me! my mom has been telling me for ages that i ought to join a reading group, but i have had stampin up, puzzling over how to find such a club. i finished 'fidelity' by wendell berry. so i am picking up, rereading james david duncan's the brothers k and plan to join in group discussion in august. a little known fact:this will be the first time that i have ever read a book for the second time. can you believe. i can't.
tonight we have an organizational clothesline meeting. thursday is rx work. friday is family night along with a possible dip in the pool. when am i going to make art or continue working on this piece? i did not start this week off thinking it would fill up with all kinds of things. and will i beable to keep up with the biking? awgh!!! i can't imagine a life any less full.
i have been biking in the evenings after i get off work from the rx. the city lights and river pass in a blur. i tend to take in the plant life and animal life even in speed. i have seen a ton of bunnies bounding. heard frogs crocking, all the frogs in the world have not died from global warming yet. we saw baby raccoon's quickly cross the concrete path, then snuggle close between large granite rocks on the rivers edge. and last night i saw a beaver:penisula tail and all. i was afraid that he would attack me so i didn't get that close but i saw it well enough, considering he took his time trying to escape our stares. i am actually not the one who's spotting these great aspects of life. matt zooms ahead keen eyed, ready to come to a halting brake at the sight of anything fascinating. he saw this great big hopping spider that seemed so menacing it might spit. i didn't get close to it either.
i am rather sore today but overall feel really positive about riding bikes. i haven't lost weight but is tone important too? i wish that i could be active all day long, instead i sit and feel my nation spread out, melding with my office chair. have you ever noticed how there are so many large healthcare workers? hm...
have you heard about michael moore's new film SiCKO. the investigation? his commitment to "getting into shape"? his proposal? figure out where you stand. i have to say that i've not watched any of moore's more recent work, but SiCKO relates to my work, my interests have been peaked.
i have felt absent from a steady life lately and only now seem like i am getting the breath and grasp on things i need. a loss of perspective creates havoc, but fortunately i had my own personal "come to jesus" meeting on monday night and i feel more settled and refreshed.
maybe it was the amount of time i had been away from my home, working all weekend and every night. maybe it has been the lymphnode swollen in my neck, causing a higher level of stress and worry. maybe in the midst of celebrating the coming of caleb i realized how life, with it's variable ups and downs, is worth it. somehow. someway. to put aside all of the small hang ups and trust that i am still on track. that caleb will forever be a symbol of hope and faith to me and my family. we long to embrace him, just as simply, the god i believe in longs to embrace me, bringing me back to life.
and so i seek refuge with the most high. and find restitution in an invisible shield protecting me. and i will still spill my entire styrofoam cup of coffee all over my desk here at work. spoiling the june calendar. i will still ride bikes in the evenings after the rx and wear myself thin with exercise. i will still wake up early to spend a few precious moments with josiah and eden tomorrow morning. i will still see coral castles on saturday, gleefully thinking how funny, my parents are finally seeing my brother aaron play out in a smoke filled bar.
i will still make circles to modpode all over a recycled ocean landscape. still my orange tree will bounce back after a long hard winter. and i am still, after a couple of weeks ever so happy about having a photograph i took, featured in friday's weekend section of the chattanooga times free, even if it doesn't credit me. i will be uplifted and set free. and reminded to cling. back to life back to this cat life. back to vunerability and security in it all. back to dreaming and playing, back to more work and more writing. back to breathing and better shampoo. back to love and hope and walking in flipflops.
i know it's again with the quilts. i decided to fill my etsy shop up again in hopes that one or all of these paper quilts might sell. i'm selling the original works of art for only $100.00. mind you, the shipping is high because of usps costs going up, but if you're local i will hand deliver and if you're international it might be lower, it all just depends on package. a couple of you have expressed interest in trade. i am completely interested in trading art, but not these quilts, at this time. i am completely willing to create a specific {commissioned} quilt(s) for you if you are interested in trading. i can even have a print made of one of these quilts that i could trade or that could be purchased at a whole lot less. if you've got a specific color pallette you'd like a paper quilt collage done in, i can do that. it really is up to you and how much you're willing to spend or trade. i really do appreciate the interest and am willing to set up a payment plan as well. if you'd like cards made of any of these quilts i am able to do that. an individual card is $5.00 but if you buy a mass quantity i can sell them at a lower cost.
i would like to remain as flexible as possible throughout the next few months and actually throughout the rest of the year. i am working on a bigger piece, right now that incorporates many of the same drawn elements of the quilt collage(s), but on larger scale. flowers and trees and birds like these. i will also be working on larger versions of my twilight trees.
on another note: i wanted to update you all on the family meeting. my brother ethan and sis n law mary have received a referral for the adoption of a little boy. i cannot give many details, i cannot even post his birth name (we are naming him caleb) or date of birth, or the town he was born in. all that i can say is that this is an amazing time for ethan and mary. they continue to feel support and hope. caleb is a healthy little boy, he is happy and strong and now we are just waiting on him. it has been a time of great celebration. please continue to pray though. i will continue to update as i can and as we are legally able to share.
i took an unintentional break from phantomcrimes. primarily and dependently because i feel a fresh photo is necessary each and everytime an effort is made to share here. my friend is happily borrowing my canon powershot and i have got an unfinished undeveloped roll of film in my manual that's got to get to wolfe's at some point soon. thus the b.r.e.a.k. i can't think of what i am trying to think about because i stayed up too late inorder to see my brother play with the rest of coral castles. for those of you not present last night at jj's well um, i am terribly sorry. i have not gotten all the sleep i need in the last couple of days, for all sorts of reasons. i am looking forward to catching a few winks after five.
at nine thirty this evening i am heading over to my aunt's house for a very special family meeting. i'll have updated information as it becomes available. on another note...i never took an actual photo of my completed May Paper Quilt Project submission, dawn has got it posted if you're interested. i stuck to the familiar tree theme, mainly because my family seems to be growing around me and it feels so good. i have been relating the tree to my family for so long now, make sense?
i have begun to make art again. i have taken awhile to get it all going again. i have had a couple emails from you all expressing interest in my paper quilts. trade? sell? what have you. i wanted to think about it for a while and i have finally come up with some answers so i will be getting back to you each by early next week. once i have emailed everyone back i will post my thoughts here. i have not put anything new up in my etsy shop mainly because i wasn't sure how to handle the new shipping cost increases. boy has anyone else noticed the insane flat rate international shipping cost? i also didn't know if i would have any luck at selling the paper quilts on etsy. i seriously don't think so, soooo!!!
