Ariel Day!

Dale and Ariel on Ariel Day! Yesterday was Ariel day in our artblock class. Why? Just because. You see, this is something Dale started last year (inadvertently- it was his sad-day that was a direct inspiration for 'Dale-day' which has now become a tradition)

I've done things like this before, but not quite in this way. ... the theory is, silly as it may seem... that everyone deserves a day. A day that is not their birthday, or a holiday, or an occasion, just a ordinary day made special and into a 'gee, we are so glad you're alive! day' a 'you're doing great, let's have a parade day' a 'you rock day'. So- just for my small upper-level class- I let them each choose a day. On that day, I make them a treat (sometimes they choose it, sometimes I surprise them), their classmates make them a present, or bring them something, we all tell that person something we find wonderful about them- what makes them unique, special and worth-knowing in our opinion. We have fun, and it is their day.

This is good for me to, helps me to give back a fraction of all the goodness I get from the kids. And- think about it- when kids are little and in school there are always birthdays, rewards, celebrations. In high school that stops- and the teenage years can be difficult.... sometimes teenagers can be hard to 'celebrate', and families are busy, everything at school is about rules/ tasks/ tests, and teenager parties are not always good things. (and fewer kids than you think actually attend these parties....there is always someone left out)

So what this does is give us all a little bit of soul-stroking, the person of the day feels great because it is their day, and everyone else feels great because they are giving- that is a *good* habit to build.

On Ariel's day, I made Marshmallow-Mermaid Pie, someone brought Halloween Oreo's, she got a few treats and a big hug from Dale. Marshmallow-Mermaid Pie is a winner, so here is my version of it.

1 bag large marshmallows

1/2 cup milk

1 small container (pint I think?) whipping creme, about 1 1/2 cups

1 oz unsweetened chocolate grated

1 graham cracker pie crust.

Heat milk and marshmallows together until melted. Let cool 15 or so minutes

Grate chocolate. (make sure it is unsweetened- and just use a steak knife. Easy!)

Whip cream at medium speed with a mixer until stiff peaks form. (I had my doubts, but whipped cream *really* does whip! amazing! I suppose you could substitute cool-whip, but not sure... will experiment)

Fold marshmallow melt into whipped cream. Add chocolate

Fill up the shell and refrigerate overnight. (I used individual pie shells. It filled 10 perfectly)

This is AWESOME! light but rich, sweet but has that edgy chocolate taste. Texture is fluffy but not marshmallow- kinda.....well, don't know. Bit like cheesecake in a way, bit like 3 musketeers, bit like heaven. I didn't think it would turn out this good- I was amazed!!!

Go rent the movie 'Waitress'- the recipe comes from there, though I changed it a bit (no coconut and I'm to lazy to make my own pie shells....)

Newest Addiction!

These are wonderful. Beyond wonderful. And that beloved, wonderful manz surprised me yesterday with a pack- during date night- and then hid another pack for me to discover in the bread box. MMMMmmmmm nothing better than coconut M&M's on a Saturday where you just want to lay back and not do much o' nothing.

(Except, of course, I have a ton of things to do- which I will start on in a bit. M&M's are girl fuel)

Yesterday I was busy at school all day teaching and painting the band backdrops- almost finished there. Funny, I think of it as just the 'band backdrops' when in reality it is a giant 6 panel painting. Each panel is approximately 4' x 8' so that totals out at being- what 24' x 8'? That's a humongous painting. Grendel designed it, and did the prep work, I finished it.... anyway, came home all smelly and paint splattered and disheveled (in manz words "What is your hair *doing*?) .... I hopped in the shower and then he surprised me by taking me out for Mexican at the new restaurant (which is good! not as authentic as Del Rio, but pretty tasty!) then to Walmart- he treated me to new pens! Sharpies and all!- then home for movies (the first part of Broken Trail- very good) and blender drinks (even better! Orange-pineapple blender drinks... I haven't had a blender drink in forever and ever, so this was a surprise!) and the M& M's..... Started watching an episode of numbers, and I promptly fell sound asleep in my chair. ...

Suppose I am not such a good date after all : ) but he loves me none the less!

Magic Fairy Shoes!

I have had these shoes forever- they are actually not shoes at all, but Granny Wrye's slippers. Metallic black and gold and silver, with pompom toppers- elegance in motion. I don't know why I kept them- they were 2 sizes big along with not exactly being my style, but kept them I did. For years and years. Then when we were cleaning out the cedar chest, I discovered them again.... decided that I would take them to school with visions of adding them to our costume closet for theatre.

In the morning kids like to hang out in the art room, and Neena spotted the shoes right off, zoomed in on them. OoooOOOoooooOOOOo so pretty! She took off her big sensible black shoes and replaced them with the fairy shoes, wore them proudly all day long. Everyone apparently loved them, and she promised to wear them, so I let her have them for keeps. Who'd a thought? Granny Wrye's slippers becoming the envied fashion of a 17 year old cool chicka. But they are-

That makes me happy, when things find a new home and a better life. I know it's odd to personify things like this- but I do, everything has it's own mana, mojo or whatever you call it, and sometimes things just wait around for the right place and time to begin to have active lives again. For some reason I find that comforting, that all of my stuff will someday get to the place it needs to go, and will be loved again.

Breakfast Blog!!

mmmmMMMMMmmm breakfast! I love it when the manz makes breakfast- and that happens quite often. This morning was scrambled eggs with cheese, potatoes cooked with garlic and onion- just spicy enough. Keeps me full and happy all morning, no sugar cravings (of course, this morning did start with oatmeal cookie snuck before he got up...but that was the last of them, and I blame it all on hormones!)

Seriously, for such a long time- years- all I usually ate for breakfast was plain oatmeal or yogurt with bran. I like those things, and still eat them off and on- but the occasional breakfast treat is amazing. And leftovers for lunch today- I'm living like a queen!

)ddly enough, the little bit of weight I lost is staying off- I wouldn't think it would with all this goodness (cheese, butter, eggs....) but it does. I think because I'm eating mostly protien and vegetables/fruits and not so much bread, and because I am eating that I stay happy longer and am more snack-resistant. If I don't see it or smell it I can usually avoid it, and I'm fairly good about staying out of man-snacks (though he shares)...but somethings (oatmeal cookies) I have NO resistance to. So in self-defense, I am going to share the oatmeal cookie recipie here:

1 box carrot cake mix

1/2 cup oil

3 eggs

2/3 cup oatmeal

a bit of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger- I don't measure these, just sprinkle them

box-o-rasins (also good with crasins. or coconut. or all three....)

dry mix cake mix, oatmeal, sugar-n-spice

add oil and eggs

add rasins

mix.

oven 350 for 10 minutes. I use parchment paper on cookie trays, make the cookies big.

let sit until cool and firm, remove from paper and eat.

These cookies are nice and soft, stay moist a long time.... yummy!

help, help, help!

Today it's raining. Yesterday it was quite nice- bright and sunny, not to hot- feeling like fall! The beloved manz had pulled his back Saturday at the auction, then again on Sunday helping his buddy tear down a barn-thing. Much pain and agony, and I *finally* got him to go to the emergency room at 6:30 yesterday morning. They took good care of him, poked and xrayed and gave shots and pills and steroids... I took the day off to take him there and just take good care all day. Which was fun, because I got to work on homework (when do I ever do anything else?), watch him sleep through movies, sneak oatmeal cookies (I swear I am never making them again- no resistance!), take a nice nap and cook dinner (Italian sausage with peppers, onions and perogies-yum!).

The helping part comes when I was doing my homework- working on my digital collages. I was combining images together (the one on the left is: frog + hydrangea + stained glass + hooked rug) when he woke up and began watching from his chair. Distance gives a whole different perspective, and he has a good eye for color and design- he helped me move things, layer and change colors. (Of course he kept finding 'faces' in everything- like cloud pictures- which of course had *nothing* to do with the medication)...

But it was such fun to have someone to work with, who would look and make suggestions and be honest about when things weren't working. The frog picture is not nearly done yet- photoshop takes just as long as 'handmade' art- the pattern doesn't quite match up and we decided that the edges of the squares need blurred a bit.... someday I'll teach him to use photoshop, I bet he could do some amazing things with it- he is allot more arty than he lets on.

Of course, when I returned to school I found out that my 2nd period class (who are normally good) were BAD and ran off the sub (more or less), actually it had more to do with a wandering pirate than my class itself. I found out who the pirate is, and he is banned from the art room much to his dismay. (Hint to all students: if you are going to skip class, don't terrorize someones sub, don't dress like a pirate, and DON'T carve your name into the table. You *will* get caught if you do these things. duh.) Other classes were ok, and then the dance team accidentally broke one of my tables in half... (a dancer sat on it. She is- seriously- all of 4'10" and 90 lbs... it cracked right down the middle) but Mr. Tim brought me 2 tables so all is well....

Influences~

This is why I am this way~ these six books were major, major, major influences me as a kid. Funny thing, I read a zillion books, but only a few are keystone books, books that made some sort of impression on me that carried through to now.

We found these at the estate auction yesterday, and I paid more for them than I would of thought- afterwards a lady tried to buy the Witch book from me, but NO WAY! I had not thought about these books for years, but when I saw them it brought back such strong memories- and compulsions- that I dragged Charles over and said "These! I have to have these!" He remembered them and did not let their moment pass- we happily bid on them until they were ours. Treasures.

So, me and these books.

1. Open your eyes: all about colors and associations with colors- objects that are red, yellow, blue. I still teach this to my kids, the grown up word for it is 'semiotics', but really it's a game.

2. Jerome: the hippie frog that became a prince and saved the day through common sense. I always associated this book with "Jeremiah was a bullfrog"- the song- and therefore name all frogs names that start with the letter J. Additionally, the art in here- especially the way the frogs are drawn- shows up in my drawings.

3. Alexander: the very bad horse, who I always thought was the fruit-stripe zebra. Horses were always my imaginary pals.

4. The Sheep of Lal Baugh: which is why Daddy never let me mow the grass, and Charles does all the mowing today. And why I *love* to mow grass. See, the sheep was the arty type that mowed in circles and stars- I have always wanted to do it, but never had a plush enough lawn for it to show up. Someday I am going to sneak into a golf course and draw with a mower-

5. Miss Suzy: associated with Sister Sue, because she is a domestic queen (out-marthad martha stewart long before martha ever laid a flagstone) and likes squirrels. And the song 'grey squirrel'. This book made me want a doll house, and to make little cups out of acorns and brooms of twigs, rescue all the squirrels and chippies from Wilber's traps, and make acorn bread. Then I found out acorn bread is poisonous (to people). Still love Miss Suzy though-

6. Old Black Witch: one of my favorite books *ever*! (Secret: the drawings of the witch reminded me of Granny Wrye- the witch is granny wrye shaped) The whole idea of the book- the mum/boy team turning an old abandoned house into a tea room, the cranky witch in the attic, blueberry pancakes and biscuits with honey. I credit this with my fondness for kitchen witches, abandoned houses and eating honey on everything. (I don't buy honey because I am so addicted).

Of course there are other books for later years, and the baby books I loved (Madeline, Mother Goose with the good illustrations) but these, these were like old friends coming to visit. And when the fellows were packing up the auction, I plopped right down in the sun and read every single one of them cover to cover, not caring who would see a grown woman sitting in the sun, smiling out loud.

Manz-Made

Mmmmmmanzmade Spaghetti. Last night, after a long day- it was seriously good. Absolutely perfect in a no-nonsense spaghetti way- thick sauce with meat, spices, lots of garlic. And more for lunch today- Hooray!

I love it that he cooks- not just because I am lazy about cooking, and cook strange 'girlfood' like eggplant, curries, tofu- but because he is such a good cook, and it makes me feel...cozy. I suppose you could take that feeling back to when I was little- Mother is an excellent cook, but Daddy loved to cook and gradually took over the kitchen. I remember him cooking and singing, or cooking while watching TV- when they moved to Minno drive everyone was banished from the basement kitchen, his lair. Good smells and radio music (or football) would drift up, but it was all a surprise until served. Do not disturb!

Manz is friendlier when cooking- and thinks of things like me liking cheese on eggs, butter on grits- and both before school. It doesn't matter if it is just hotdogs or a feast, it is all to the good. Now I do cook occasionally- sometimes I get in the mood and enjoy it- but I love to bake best. Always have. Grendel in his new apartment is (hopefully) learning to cook- I always tried to encourage him, and he learned a few things, but now it is time for sinking-or-swimming-or-endless ramen noodles.

Anyway, I am the envy of the hallway at lunch time when I heat up my leftovers- I felt marginally guilty while savoring the spaghetti today, my pal the Spanish teacher was nibbling at a cold, leftover chicken biscuit and the kids were picking at popcorn, while I had divine yumminess. And I didn't share a bite!

Diet

I love thrift store art- not to own it, but to take pictures of really bad paintings.... just to make me smile. This one, for instance, which is in Lonnie's shop up in Beulaville- you can just imagine what the artist was thinking.

"If I paint this and look at it every day, maybe I'll be inspired and NOT eat the tasty ice cream sundae...and I'll fit into my matching jeans-n-halter instead of rocking the muffin-top look..."

OR- glass half-full approach:

"Wow! I am a super hottie in my jeans-n-halter, and I can zip my zipper all by myself (without pliers...yes folks, there was a day in fashion where jeans were soooo tight that they should of been sold with pliers)...I am much sexier than this scrumptious ice cream sundae..."

Makes me tired. Actually, I am dieting again... doing ok, lost 10 and keeping it off... trying to eat sensibly (the wondrous delights of all-bran and yogurt, rice cakes with peanut butter, lots of fruit and manz-made dinners, which are protein and vegetables). But then they have to go and invent something new, yummy and addictive- like coconut M&M's. We tried some the other day- they are crunchy, chocolate goodness with enough coconut to let you say "mmmmm...tropical". And then there is the new Blue-bunny "Peanut butter Cookie" ice cream. Swirls of peanut butter (like the Valley Dairy peanut butter ice cream of long ago) with bits of cookie that somehow magically stay crunchy.... So far I have resisted all but a few bites begged from the Manz... (actually, that works well. I have my treat but it is rationed...)

So far so good, and I like that my jeans are looser and that I have more energy. Which doesn't stop me from dreaming of goodies galore, or indulging in the occasional rib-b-que (another addiction, but only available at the auction.... with lots of pickles).

Gold Star!!

Finally have my 'gold star'! Teacher of the year, 09-10. awesome. Actually, I was runner up, but Meg left for school at Chapel Hill, so I became queen. I get a parking place and the gold star, which is fairly sweet. Impressively shiny.

So, a ketchup on this past weekend- Saturday we went about in the morning, then homework, then auction. Auction swag included a bunch of big wooden storage boxes, art supplies, a quilt (dinner plate- bad shape but a freebie), a nice old dresser to be refinished, a velvet clown painting (another freebie- the kids at school love it) and the worlds biggest table. Seriously, it takes up a good hunk of kitchen *without* the leaf- it easily sits 8, *without* the leaf. With the leaf, I could sit a hord. But it is beautiful, heavy real wood with inlaid legs and cost all of 5 bucks. WooHoo! Manz had to stay and unload the Hillsville truck- we didn't get home to midnight...

Sunday went to Raleigh to the gourd festival (I bought guess what? gourds!) and to take a kabillion pictures of fleamarket stuff for school. Only thing I came home with other than gourds was an arm and a hand.... when I was walking around this arm was sticking out of the maggiehopey bag, people kept laughing and I told them it was my 'handbag'!

Yesterday was school, and my 'gold star' at the BOE meeting (which was full of angry tan tennis players- retirees that play on the Topsail court... ) This morning I am starting out with coffee and man-made eggs with cheesy grits. Full belly to start the day off right... I love breakfast time, and sitting on the porch drinking coffee and talking- the teacup tree is starting to turn red, and you can see the teacups again. Lovely.

Naked men and elephants

have nothing to do with this picture, which is a drawing of shoes that Grendel did a while back. It's just that today, today the last thing I need is naked men and elephants, but the story made me smile.

So anyway, lots to do here at school and I get a phone call from Grendel during my planning - he and his dad are driving around Savannah and they are lost, can't find the dorm. So I get on google maps, find the dorm and stay on the phone with him until they arrive safely and are all checked in. Just like being there. yay. But his dorm room sounds nice- new and apartment style, right close to the computer building where he lives and down the street from a grocery store. Of course, it is a million miles away from the rest of the school, but that builds character. Now, for the naked men and elephants.

Yesterday in Wilmington, at a apartment building a college student came down stairs to get in his car and go to work. The car next to his was..... damaged. It had a large concrete elephant halfway through the rear windshield. While he was staring at the car, he was charged by a naked man who was yelling. Quickly he jumped into the car, locked the doors and tried to pull out... and the naked man tossed the elephant through the windshield. Awesome!

True story.

Later Galliator!

Well, the boy is launched for another year at SCAD. He spent all yesterday and most of last night with packing... came to school with me this morning and here he is sleeping in my office. Everyone thought he was a lump of clothes, which he basically was. Clothes that snore.

His dad came to pick him up- after a last minute trip-to-the-bank crisis (the bursar needed one more form...argh.) they took off. I promptly found Grendel's Id on my desk (school ID, bank card, state ID) where I had it when looking up stuff (to handle the bank crisis). His cell phone was battery dead, and I didn't have his dad's number....but lucky he had the sense to check his pockets and come back for the ID's. (and the bank papers which were sitting under the ID's. This one was my fault- I pick up things walk around with them and put them down wherever).

Of course I didn't sleep much last night, and now I am about brain dead, just getting this wrapped before I go home. I know that he is grown now, but I can't help worrying just the same- I'll always be his mum. But I know that he will be ok, that he will do well, and I promised him I wouldn't get married without him to give me away.... we got rather weepy at one point, can't help but be sentimental. Love you boy, wish you well.

2 much homework!

I have too much homework- or is it that I procrastinate like a pro? I think it is the later, because instead of stretching it out, I put it off, worry about it, then get it all done in a marathon day. Which is hard on the man... I'm just a lump in my chair with Evie all day.... none of the domestic goddess I was yesterday.

But the payoff is worthwhile- we had a fantastic weekend. Went to yard sales on Saturday- scored a set of 4 pink Samsonite hard suitcases from the 60's for next to nothing- then to Walmart. Yesterday I went on a domestic binge of laundry, baking/cooking and even a smattering of cleaning. Today I woke up. Watched a movie, and Larry the Cable Guy. Took a nap. Made an image in photoshop. Talked about taking a nap. Ate a cookie (kissed the diet goodbye this weekend) The man made me coffee, we ordered pizza and I cranked out almost all of my first unit assignments for the virtual reality class. Meanwhile, Grendel is meandering around getting stuff together for go-back-to-SCAD tomorrow. I am the mother of a procrastinator too... Charles calls us 'butterflies'. Instead of finishing one thing, we flit over to something else, then come back... for example, he asked Grendel to do the dishes- Grendel said ok, but took a shower....this made perfect sense to me because: dishes + water + soap =clean= soap+ water + boy= clean therefore clean boy = clean dishes. And after the shower, the dishes were clean. So it works, in our weird butterfly logical way.

But now it's almost 9- that is bedtime in these parts- I'm fighting the urge for blueberry delight (and losing), and still not feeling ready for school tomorrow. If only I had a clone or two or so.... but tis ok, cause I would hate to have to share blueberry delight with myself!

PS- my grades are really fine, I work hard to keep them that way!

Viva!

It's time for a new sketchbook- YAY! This is the opening page of mine, that is always the first thing I do. Decorate the front and back insides, then make my calenders, budget list, phone numbers. Then I'm ready to begin working- the outside comes when it wants to.

For me, my sketchbook is like a portable brain. It has everything in it- notes for school and work, home, my auction drawings (which act as a kind of time-line. I can look at my sketchbooks and tell you when I started going to the auction, when the Christmas auctions were, when Melissa came along, when Charles and I began dating, when I was sick and left early, when he moved in...etc.) sketchbook assignments, projects, collections of photographs, papers, notes from mother... it's a lifeline. This one is number 39. Yep, 39.

I have sketchbooks (and horribly embarrassing and boring diaries) dating back to when I was a little kid. I started keeping this type of sketchbook for art school in 92, some of the early ones are not finished... it was an evolving process. Back then I kept one per class, so had multiples going at a time, and they eventually drifted off to blank pages when the class was over. When I started teaching in 96 I kept to one sketchbook. Now I've worked up to the point where I complete about 3 a year (Fall semester, spring semester and summer)... at over 200 pages a go that is quite a bit of art.

I take them everywhere, they are a constant sort of entertainment- I can draw in them, read them (or the articles I have stored in them) and other people like to look at them. I don't mind, even though it's like sharing a bit of your soul with a stranger.... my students love them- I keep about 8 or so in my room at school, when they have down time they like to look at them, ask me about things.... it's amusing.

Bonus post! 'Teacher Shoes'

These are one pair of my teacher shoes. Teacher shoes because they told us "NO RAINBOWS" this year (much to my misery) and I'm trying to conform. So I have the brown heels I bought in Texas, these black sandals, a pair of brown flats and my plaid chucks. They are all gradually moving into my office- I wear my beloved rainbows to and from school and everywhere else.

Here, I suffer. And the shoes that 'contain' my foot hurt worst of all. (yes, they are the right size) But anyway...

Today I'm stylin' in my purple skirt, black shirt and black heels. My hair is up, earrings are on. The man is all flirty and appreciative, everyone at school tells me how nice I look, and I'm attempting to work it... until we have the 'fire drill'.

It's third block, so that means we are pleasantly close to lunch time. I have been on my feet for two full classes - 180 minutes- (first block I wrote the introduction to my thesis, yay me!) and the fire alarm goes off. I'm not worried, I turn the lights off, herd the kids out- I've got my clipboard and all is right with the world. After all, the bosses told us that we would have a fire drill soon, so this must be it, right? NOT.

It's a bomb threat. We are standing outside in a soggy field for an hour... not only am I on my feet, but my heels keep sinking into the muck and I have to pull them out with this disgusting squelchy sound that causes no end of amusement to my little freshmen. To prevent sinking, I start this side to side dancing motion that keeps me on the surface and leaves a billion heel-holes in the field... awesome.

I'm inside now, they finally let us eat lunch, and I'm NOT putting those shoes back on today. Or any other 'teacher shoes'. If I'm going to get blown up, I'm going to be comfortable doing it.

A little knowledge....

Can be a dangerous thing. The man has discovered how to google recipes- tonight it will be ham loaf! Yay! Haven't had that in a million years- I remember it as being good though... Seriously, he is quite the good cook, we rarely have leftovers (at least while boy is at home). It's so nice to come home and everything is smelling so wonderful, dinner is ready when we are. I have become quite the slacker cooking-wise, though I do bake a bunch. Mainly cake-box cookies, but you can't go wrong with them- cheap, easy, no fail and everyone loves them.

Today the kittenkat goes to the vet, then it's home for ham loaf. It's five after seven and the man is "not telling you what to do, but it *is* five after seven" What did I ever do without him, eh?

PS.

A new month, and I *swear* I will be better about blogging. August just got away with me, and I was over wrought and itchy. Ew. Now I am better, getting a grip on the new school year... taking a break in 4th block (Neena is making us listen to bad radio music) and I am chasing down the opportunity to blog. I miss writing- I love to write, just that all of it has been sucked up by endless paperwork and other official stuff.... anyway, for an update.

What I am teaching: art 1, art 2, art block (3/4/ap) and an art appreciation @ ecu online. (that rocks!)
What I am taking: digital studio 2 (yay!) virtual reality (which I really, really need to start on) and the first section of my thesis class. (scary. the introduction is due Thursday and I have no idea what my project is..... can't remember my proposal and it's on the sick computer...)
What else I am doing: working on the band backdrops, working on the dpi stuff... it doesn't seem like lots but it eats up my time.
Man and boy have been patient with me, it seems that I never sit down without a computer on my lap. I am constantly checking on things, or working on things or making sure my college freshmen don't lock themselves out of their tests..... Charles is doing all the house stuff- cooking, cleaning, taking care of the cars, and the animals as well as working and working on the house- Grendel is getting ready to go back to college, came to school with me yesterday to help with the band stuff. (and to pickup our new couch/loveseat- craigslist! sage green...) I don't know what I would do without them. Even if they didn't help at all, just their moral support keeps me sane.
(sane-ish)

Seriously tho, I love my life. The graffiti is from my favorite abandoned hotel at South of the Border, and it's true. I might have a million things to do, but I have a really nice life and I'm grateful for it-so whenever I get fussy, just remember I love it all anyway....