Self Portrait Tuesday

And it ain't purty! Kath wants to see 'All of Me'...so I thought I would start out with the me in the morning.

So this is me first thing in the morning. I have naturally curly hair, so it doesn't look so great first thing. Serious bedhead! And yes, it's the end of January and I'm still wearing Christmas pajama pants, but, they're warm. This particular day, I got to enjoy my coffee while sitting on the couch, watching the Today Show. I don't know how I got custody of the TV, and Claire did not!


But then I quickly move on to this...working in my studio/study, if time permits. And yes, there are days when I will spend the whole day in this room, in my pajamas, never getting into actual clothes. Those are good days!

Just when I think I'm going to have some time...

Ethan pulls more shit like this...

After he got to school this morning, he put his backpack down at a spot at the table, then went to get some breakfast. (We don't feed him enough here.) When he came back, some other kid had moved his backpack, but, the kid who moved it was NOT the kid sitting in "his" spot. No matter. Ethan attatcked him anyway. Totally wailed on an innocent kid who just sat down to eat his breakfast. Now he's in 'In School Suspension'. Steven called Ethan's psychiatrist and talked to him...he decided to move Ethan's appointment for next week up to this afternoon.
Plus I just had to take him to his psychologist's appointment yesterday.

I don't want a lot! Just some happy kids! A day without a crisis! Is it REALLY too much to ask for?????

And here I thought I could really get back into my art...actually have time to work and complete something. I was such an idiot. I'm never going to have time to do the things I want to do in life, am I? I've wanted to go back to work for so long, but realize that that just is not going to work! Not with a kid like Ethan who I would have to be taking time off several times a week for. But I really thought I could do this, art, from home! But I can't even do that because we either have this doctor's appointment or that meeting to go to. And when I get a day, like today, when I "know" I'm going to get to stay home aaaaaallllllllllllllll day, and work on whatever I want to, just as I'm sitting down and getting the needle threaded and trying to figure out where to put the first bead, WHAM! Another call from the school! I even vacuumed and cleaned this morning before I started working on anything so I wouldn't have something hanging over my shoulder that needed to be done! But now I'm so upset...how can I get back to where I was? Now is when I wish I had a REALLY BIG easel in a REALLY BIG studio and lots of REALLY BIG cans of paint...mostly black, but a little bit of blue...and I could just start slinging it all over the place!

No wonder I can't get anything finished...all my stuff is happy stuff, carefree stuff...and I just can't stay there long enough to finish it.

Aaack!

Nobody told me Train was going to be on the Today Show! I almost missed it!!! AND they were singing 'Drops of Jupiter'...I haven't heard that one in a while...forgot how much I like it. That's probably one of my most favorite songs, ever.

I remember when...

I was a little girl...as young as like 3 years old, because it started when we lived in Port Arthur. We (my family) would all be outside, and my dad would send me in the house to get him a beer.

So, yesterday, Steven decides he is going to go ahead and buy the playset we have been wanting to get the kids. One of those big wood things, with the slide, swings, glider, monkey bars, a roof over the top to make a litte 'tree house' feely thing, and...a rock wall! (That part was supposed to be for Ethan but, I think Claire will like it more!) The thing is though, he has to put it together...because he is an engineer...and no one else can put it together as well as he can. (Which, let's face it, is probably true.) The problem with that is he gets sooooo frustrated! And Ethan and Claire are not helping things!

I was inside sewing, and Claire came in crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she said, "I was trying to help Daddy but I just can't stop touching everything!", and just started wailing! I felt so badly for her!

Then...ding...the little light bulb goes off in my head! I think we might actually have actual beer in the fridge-which is rare! I told Claire to follow me, and yup, we have beer. So I grabbed one and gave it to her, and told her to go give this to Daddy and tell him, "Mommy says you need to chill!" lol! So she started giggling and ran outside...and I can tell she is telling Daddy to "chill". lol! I was looking out the window and Steven saw me, held up the beer and tipped it to me and said, "Thanks!". rofl!!!

He was much more calm for the rest of the day, but I know it wasn't the beer, because he only drank half of it. I think sometimes we just need a reminder.

Change of Plans...

After surfing the internet for a while I finally found a real live art supply store that's not downtown! And, I finally found a branch library that's not too far away...our "library" is the high school library. No shit. I couldn't make that up! So...we can't use it during the week or anything because school is in session, and it's only opened for a few hours on Saturday morning. Can you believe this?!? I had read an article in the San Antonio Current about how San Antonio/Bexar County spends so little money on libraries, that there are only FIVE other places in America that spend less! That's really sad.

Anyway, Al, Claire and I were getting ready to go out and check out the library and it started pouring down rain! So we didn't go anywhere.

Then a friend asked if I would go donate blood with her...our local scrapbook shop was hosting a blood drive, and if you donated you got 25% off anything in the store. I haven't donated blood since collage but, for 25% off art stuff??? I'm there! So we met at Starbucks and chatted for a while then headed over there. I went through all the questions and stuff...even had to come up with the name of the tattoo parlor where I got my tattoo last October. I couldn't remember it. Had to call Steven. Anyway, get through all of that and I couldn't donate because my iron level is too low. Ya know, I even ate spinach on Thursday night! But damn...if I'm not getting enough benefit from it to even donate blood, I'm gonna quit eatin' that shit! It's bitter and definitely not my favorite vegetable! I'll just start taking a Flintstone vitamin every day!

I really had a lot of fun, though. It was so nice just to hang out with another adult with no kids for a change!

Goals for Today

1) Find an art supply store.

2) Find a decent library.

I think I'll find the art supply store...decent library-eh, not so much.

Mom Update

They did a CAT scan, checked everything, ruled out everything and diagnosed her with a stomach virus. I was talking to a friend of mine this morning, and she said the same exact thing happened to her a couple of months ago...she said she couldn't understand how a stomach virus could be that painful-all she could do was lay down; not move at all. Then she said it went away after a few days and she hasn't had a problem since.

I guess you learn something new everyday. But at least it's nothing serious!

Well...

Mom and Dad were supposed to come up this weekend. But, since last Thursday, Mom has been having really bad pain in her abdominal area. She has been to the doctor 3 times in the last week, and the last time she went he told her it was probably 'diverticulitis' (sp?). Gave her some pain meds, blah, blah, blah, come back for a colonoscopy.... That was Wednesday. Apparently the pain meds weren't touching it, and she ended up in the ER about 5:00 this morning in really bad pain. They are running tests and all that. I'm wondering if it's her gall bladder. I don't know much about the other thing, but I have experienced gall bladder pain myself, and it's a killer!

My dad called before the kids left for school, so I was trying to explain that Nana wouldn't be up here this weekend, but they are in total denial! They think the doctor will just wave his magic wand and she will appear here later today or tomorrow. Poor things! They love their Nana! Nothing but a bunch of Nana Babies!

Damn it's been a long week!

It seems like it's been forever since I posted here, but it's only been 2 days. If you do want to see what I've been up to, check out ArtSmith. Having a hard week with Ethan. I don't know what the deal is, but I've had enough of it.

Well, it's 8:22 pm and I'm still in my pajamas...I think I'll go take a shower and put on some clean ones and get ready for bed.

Self Portrait Tuesday

This is me at 6 weeks old, and it's the first picture ever taken of me. A little background here: I was born in Austin, TX and put up for adoption. Back in the 1960's it was quite different than it is now. I was placed in a foster home and kept there, basically observation, for 5-6 weeks, to make sure that I was an 'ok' baby to place. Healthy and all that. Then they called my parents and told them they had a baby for them. But, to make it even better and so stereotypical of the times, they called on a Saturday morning. My mom took the call and my dad was out on the golf course! Perfect! They were living in Port Arthur, TX at the time, and drove up to Austin to get me, then turned right around and came home. My grandmother was there, waiting, and apparently took me away from my mother almost immediately and started rocking me in a rocking chair...which she did for all of her "babies". Someone, I'm guessing my mom, snapped this picture...the first picture we have of me.

And THAT, my friends, is the story of where I came from!

OMG! How do they know???

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you.But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft.You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily.You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/whatdonutareyouquiz/">What Donut Are You?

I am pouting and on my way to KK right now, because we didn't have any more of my Boston Cream doughnuts this morning!

I'm trying to be patient...I really am!

With all of these construction workers out there...they are building on both sides of us. But they blast their music all day long, from dawn, literally, until 6-7 at night. And last Thursday, Steven had to go out there at 10:00 pm to tell them to cut it out. He actually told them, "That's it guys. You're going home now." lol! Friday morning I was literally at the end of my rope with the music and noise! (No wonder I have had a screaming headache for months!) So I called the police. Now, I have talked to the supervisor out here and he said he would take care of it, but he didn't. So I did.

And it's hard enough to get out of the driveway with all the trucks as it is; but now there is a HUGE 'River City Waste' trash container the size of a rail car out in the freakin' middle of the cul-de-sac! So, if I am just backing out of my drivway like normal, I would slam right into it! And all the workers decide they need to park on MY side of the street, right in front of MY driveway, so you can imagine the maze I am driving BACKWARDS through in an EXPEDITION! This morning, one guy actually had to move his truck so I could take the kids to the bus stop. But then when I left, he put it right back, but even worse!

GET A CLUE PEOPLE!!! They know somebody lives here and that I am at home, coming and going all day long! Why can't they park on the other side of the cul-de-sac where there is nothing? They can't build a house there, because that lot isn't a lot...it's a cliff.

Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Good Hats

For Blackbird and M...these are a few of my favorite hats. I love the colorful stripes on the one on the far right! I wish it wasn't a winter hat and so warm, so I could wear it year round...although it embarrasses my 11 year old daughter.

The CIA hat...is just too fun to wear!!! For some reason, when I wear it into a convenience store, it clears the whole place out! lol!

And the one on the far left is my work/art hat...I have to have it on when I'm creating...I've had it for like, 20 years...there's a lot of history in that hat!

Some Old Photos I Found at the Flea Market

These are some of the favorites of the ones I found a couple of weeks ago. 1) Every little girl should have a dress she is proud to show off!
2) The thing I love about this one is the baby...bald, looking around to see what else is going on, wondering how to make an escape...reminds me so much of Ethan!

3) Not sure where this was taken, but it reminds me of Barton Springs. This one has all of their names written on the back, and the little one in the middle is named Bitsy...which is what we called Claire for the longest time, or we would sometimes shorten it to Bits. But Ethan always called her Bits. And because of his speech problem, when he would say it, it would come out sounding like "Bitch"...which turned LOTS of heads in public! lol! I can only imagine what these people thought of this mother who let her son call his baby sister "Bitch"! ha-haaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Which of course reminds me of the stage Claire went through when she had to be called "Stephanie" (from Lazy Town on Nickelodeon) and I was "Uncle" (Stephanie's uncle). Of course I would forget, and we'd be at Wal-Mart or the grocery store and I would call her Claire, and she would start screaming, "UNCLE!! I'M NOT CLAIRE! I'M STEPHANIE!" Yeah...we've had some good times...good times...lol!

Ethan's ARD

Holy cow...we were in there for 3 hours!!! It started at 1:00 and we didn't leave until 4:00!

But everyone was there...his teacher, the school counselor, the speech therapist, the reading specialist, the school psychologist and the special education person. Plus me and Steven.

We went over everything...everything he has ever done here at Wilderness Oak and in Kingwood, and all the testing the school psychologist did...which was about every test a psychologist can give-including a Rorschach ink blot test! And he very well may be dyslexic, but they aren't diagnosing him with that just yet because: 1) all of his other emotional problems and stuff may be causing some of his delays, and 2) he is a good speller. Which is not usually seen in dyslexics...BUT, he has a photographic memory...once he knows how to spell a word, he will never forget it, and he knows how to spell words up to where he should be according to his grade level, but not his age.

Anyway, he does qualify for Special Education so he will be getting lots more help at school with everything. The thing is...the IQ tests they give that are just verbal, where he doesn't really have to write things down-he tests in the high 110's to the high 120's. But, there is some kind of learning disability where he can't get things from his brain to the page, and the scores on those tests are so low, that they are bringing his overall IQ down to 105. Which is still above normal, but obviously not where is should be.

So anyway, that should all start today, and he is actually excited about it because he gets to work more one on one with the teachers who pull him out of class. I think the largest group he will be in will have 6 kids in it. I am so glad that someone finally listened to me and saw that he needed help and are doing something about it!

Self Portrait Tuesday

This is a picture of me, Lauri, WITH RED HAIR! My hair has since turned brown (but it does get some reddish highlights in the sun). Two of my children, Allison and Ethan, both have
red hair, and I am ALWAYS getting asked about where it came from, and everyone is always astonished when I say I had red hair when I was little. Steven's family has no red hair! I am adopted so I don't know where exactly it comes from, but, I do know that Allison and Ethan got their's from ME and NOT my mother-in-law who colors her hair red! I just want some proof out there!

And...as an aside...it is VERY rude and completely inconsiderate of my and my children's feelings for people to say, "Where'd you get that red hair? The milkman?" (or insert any other random person there) Because although you may think it's really funny, and that it's the first time I've ever heard that, when you walk away my kids start asking questions that they really don't need the answers to at their young age. So I just have to explain that you, "That Idiot", to be exact, obviously has no idea about where children come from, and no, I did not get them from the milkman or the postman or whoever. So...if you must make a comment about their red hair, just tell them it is beautiful, and then please find something equally beautiful to remark about to Claire, who has brown hair. Thank you.

Too much 'Law & Order', perhaps?

So I'm driving the kids up to the bus stop this morning, and I see this 'thing' slumped up against the fence in an unnatural position, and a leg wearing faded blue-jeans and a white tennis shoe sticking out.

I was SURE it was a dead body!

So I get out of the car and make my way over there...by way of a big circle...lol!...but, it was only a big thing of rolled up plastic! lol! It sure did look real there in the dark, though!

How about a 'Self Portrait Monday'?

I was trying to hook Allison's camera up to the dock thing to print out some of her pictures and *FLASH*...it got me right in the eye! This is my look of concentration...too bad you can't see the wrinkles at the top of my nose between my eyes! lol!

Conversations with Claire

One from last night and one from this morning...

Last night...the kids and I are all in the garage; I'm working on ATCs and the kids are playing behind me, on the other side of the Expedition.

Claire: Awwwwww SHIT!!!

I thought I was going to explode trying to hold in the laughter! I have no idea what happened, but I couldn't ask either. But there was no crying involved, and she didn't come to me, so I guess something just REALLY pissed her off! lol!


This morning:

Claire: Mommy, did you think daddy was hot when you married him?

They don't have smilies on here to show you the expression on my face!

Self Portrait Tuesday

This topic came at an excellent time, because I had asked my mom to bring all the old pictures when she came for Christmas, so I could scan them.

So...people are always telling me that I have 'strong opinions' and an 'attitude', which is probably just a nice way of saying I'm a bitch. Seriously, I am not, BUT I'm not just going to let someone walk all over me, either. While going through all the old pictures, I found these 2...one is me on Christmas 1967, so I was about 16 mos. old, and I'm sticking my tongue out at someone. I don't know who it is though. I guess I figured I already had all of my presents, so I could go back to being myself or something! Just seems pretty daring for Christmas morning! The other photo was taken on Easter 1968. It's my grandmother, holding my cousin, Kim,; my mom, with me standing in front of her; my mom's sister, Peggy, with my cousin Cheryl standing in front of her; and my mom's other sister, Rita. I don't know what was going on with me and Cheryl, but I look a little pissed off. Are there any pictures of me just being cute???

I just wanted to use these to show that this attitude or whatever it is, is nature, not nurture! It's something you are born with. You either have it, or you don't.

Well, it's been a few days...

We've been busy, but nothing exciting. Although Allison and I did go to a flea market on Saturday and that was kinda cool. I got some old photographs and some old books in Spanish and German. Should make for some interesting collages!

Had lunch with Steven today, then went to Hobby Lobby and Michael's...I swear to GOD I don't know what happens to me when I'm in those stores!!! I went into Hobby Lobby looking for silver foil tape ONLY. They didn't have any...only copper as usual...and ended up walking out of there with $30 worth of stuff! Then I went to Michael's because a little package of stuff I got last week got lost somewhere in the vortex. Costs like $3.00. I ended up getting a few other things that I can use for the Artist Trading Cards I'm doing this week for a swap, but seriously thought I would get out of there for under $20. I have NO IDEA how I ended up spending like $65!!! I swear they add some kind of surcharge onto my bill! Seriously people...never let me go in those stores without a guardian! That is just going to have to be my New Year's Resolution.

Steven: I am very sorry! I swear to you, for the next 6 mos., AT LEAST, that I will not go in there without you! So you better get me one of those little ankle things that will shock the shit out of me if I even go in the parking lot...because Michael's has the cutest little 'pasta maker machines' JUST FOR SCULPEY!!! And they are only $24.99!

However, on a better note, I went into Old Navy and didn't spend a dime! I don't think I have ever walked out of Old Navy without buying something. So I've gotta get credit for that!

Oh...and the doc upped my anti-depression meds, so that's good too! But you know what? I just remembered...I think Ethan had an appointment with Dr. Pliszka last week...and we missed it. Better give him a call!

ArtSmith

I have several new posts and pictures on my art blog...click on the title of this post to link over there and check it out! (There is also a link on my sidebar.)

So the kids are back in school...

And everything is back to normal...right? RIGHT??? Yeah, like my life is normal anyway!

So, yesterday was nice...just Claire and I...went to the art store (ok, ok, it's a scrapbooking store, but I don't use the supplies for scrapping. I use them for art. There is a difference! And the scrapbook people don't seem to understand that! The people who work there are always so sweet and nice, and want to know "what kind of layout" I'm doing. I tell them I'm not scrapbooking-which first gets this "what kind of person are you" look from them-and that I am doing mixed media art. Which then gets the "Oh! So you must be the devil!" look from them. So...I call it an art store, because I can't find good art stores like they had in Houston here.)

Anyway, I was talking about something......
Oh yeah, Claire and I went to the art store, Super Target (!), which also means Starbucks (!). Had a great time. Came home and tried some new stuff...I made a collage and then covered it in beeswax. TOO COOL! After I covered it in the wax, I took my heat tool and melted some of the wax off, added more stuff, then more wax, then melted more off...this is a great piece. Well, I had a lot of fun making it, so it looks great to me. I worked on it for about 4 hours and had no clue that it was 9:00 pm until Steven came out to the garage to check on me because Claire was afraid the coyotes were going to get me! lol!

Problem is, I just started it out on a piece of watercolor paper, because I was just playing around and experimenting. Now I'm trying to figure out how I can mount and hang it!

In other news...Ethan brought home a speech 'report card' that claims he has mastered like 86% of the goal of being able to say his R's. Ummm, hello? Sure, if you are sitting with him and ask him to say "read", maybe he can do it. But have you heard him talking in real life?!? "Read"="weed" and "Run, rabbit, run!"="Won, wabbit, won!" I don't think he has a 'B' in R's. lol!

And Allison...oh, the hormones! I know it is only beginning, but please, God, let this go fast! Well, maybe not fast...she can stay a kid for a while...but smoothly! Please let it go smoothly! Oy!

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a year of health and happiness!
Love you all!
Lauri

*We now return to the 'Monk' Marathon on the USA Network*