I was working on the basement bedroom (moving stuff, rolling on 2 coats of primer on the corner I hadn’t yet painted, smiling at how much I love the very drastically de-cluttered laundry room, reveling in anticipation of the awesomeness of the soon-to-be drastically de-cluttered bedroom, etc) and thinking of things that have been on my mind and I’ve been wanting to blog about. Serious things. Important things. Meaningful things.

But now, I am too tired and have completely lost that train of thought. Lochren’s molars are bugging him again (get it over with already!) so he’s been waking again. Nothing shines a light on how wonderfully he’s been sleeping at night lately more than suddenly being tossed back into frequent night wakings. I also had yoga tonight and I have some form of a cold.

I really need to write these things down while they’re on my mind.

Tonight’s disjointed post brought to you by Craving Chocolate, Refusing To Look At The Dishes Piled On The Counter and Very Much Wanting A Hot Bath But I Showered This Morning And I Hate To Over-Consume Water.

OH! One item just returned to me. J and I saw Beyond Eden on Saturday -the tickets were a Christmas Gift from J’s work. Oh man. It is SO good. Not just hearing John Mann’s incredible voice live again (we’ve seen Spirit Of The West numerous times between us, sometimes together) and seeing Tom Jackson on stage. Not just the wonderful choral songs and haunting spirit melodies. Not just the incredible stage-effects. Not just a touching, moving story. It was everything and so much more. Wow. It was so good. I had to restrain sobs at the end, sniffling and wiping my nose on my silk scarf. I was very moved, still am.

My niece, Blaine, lives in Hinton with her husband (even!) and scrumptious little dude. Her husband Chris, along with his brother and dad own and operate an independent butcher shop & deli (Yukon Sausage, go check it out!)

My sister (her mom) Cinder delivered a package of various things to try (Greek sausages, breakfast sausages, mild pepperoni and beef jerky -all in-store made, fresh, low preservatives, etc, etc). So far, everything I’ve tried has been SUPER yummy!

This afternoon, however, Theya just wasn’t able to appreciate the beef jerky. Upon tasting a bit of it:

• Mom? Um. Mom, the taste of this meat in my mouth makes me remember every single bad thing that ever happened to me in my life.
• (Laughing hard.) Really? Wow. That’s pretty bad. ALL of the bad things that ever happened in your life, huh (thinking her life has been pretty awesome so far). What sort of bad things that happened to you is it making you remember?
• Well, mostly just bad dreams. Right now I’m remembering one where a Pterodactyl with a sucker-mouth was chasing me and almost sucked me right up.
• The taste of the meat in your mouth is making you feel like that, is it?
• Yes.

Well, I guess J and I will have the privilege of finishing it off ourselves!

I feel like everything that’s piled up over my last few weeks of slothdom is about to topple over -in a good way. I spent an hour today (at least) ironing out the scads of cotton print fabrics I pulled out of the chaos of my studio and storage downstairs so it’s ready for patch-working! Those paintings I started have sort of lost their interest for me but I had a flash of insight today (while ironing) that I think will make them come together.

I’m back at exercising regularly (Ashtanga yoga, swimming, walking the kids to school).

Aaaaand, we’re contemplating Real Estate. We went to look at a home super close to Theya’s (and, in 3 years, Lochren’s) school that is in many ways ideal, but as is bound to happen in our price range, needs work to be ideally ideal. If you’re curious, leave a comment and I’ll e-mail you the MLS# (not posting it outright because of Internet Weirdoes). We’re not sure if it’s even financially do-able, anyway. Sometime this week the Realtor we talked to will pop by here to give us a ballpark idea of what our current home is worth. It’d be SO hard to leave this, The Best Neighborhood Evar. However, there’s a HUGE bonus to being able to hop, skip & jump the kids to school and back daily. Perhaps we will hold out until I’m back at work (for real) and we can possibly (maybe) afford something that’s an upgrade but still in this neighbourhood (higher prices in general are bound to happen in The Best Neighbourhood EVAR).

Regardless of the outcome of this perking of the Real Estate ears, it’s got me re-motivated on the Operation De-Clutter. I have been pecking away at it, but I’d lost most of my motivation with the colds and general Winter Meh-ness. Now, I’m ready and raring to go again.

But? I have a question and seek advice. Garage Sales? We have TONS of stuff to get rid of. Tons. Most of it is still use-able. To hold a garage sale, we might be able to make some money, but it’s mostly small and not terribly valuable items, sort of 50¢ to $1 range. It’d take organizing, labeling, standing around for several hours over 3 days of a weekend I could spend doing something better, etc. OR I could split it into boxes of like items and Freecycle it out of my life. I suppose there’s Kijiji or Craigslist for more valuable things but I’m not keen on the whole money exchange with random strangers thing. Yeah, I get the irony, that’s exactly what happens at a garage sale. But somehow it’s different? Maybe? Ugh. So. Do I put the effort into a garage sale and maybe make $50 (if I’m lucky) or do I get rid of it and consider it money made to just have it gone fast and easy?

Also: I made a saskatoon berry, pear and cardamom coffee cake and it was delish.

Mom is here. We went to The Vagina Monologues last night and it was so wonderful. Each of the women performers did such an amazing job. I am particularly in awe of a new friend and amazing mom, Anna, who pulled of The Woman Who Loved To Make Vaginas Happy with incredible zeal, especially considering it was her first time performing on stage!

I feel like I’m still struggling to get over the ass-end of this damn cold. I feel like I need a nap.

I’m disappointed that this was 2 nights ago. I could have sworn I read, “March,” on the poster I saw downtown yesterday. Oh well. He’ll be in Barrhead (Barrhead?!) in November…

I’m having a lot of fun designing my next art pieces. There are 4 in a set and are multi-media (fabric, leather, paint) but still small (5×7). My studio is on hold while Mom stays over, though. I picked up some fabric on-sale at a local independent quilting-happy shop and found some wonderful inspiration and can’t wait to get sewing. I love the creative bug that’s hitting me recently. I hope it keeps going!

Wow. What a sack of wasted time those last 2 weeks were. Well, 10 days or so? Felt like a month to me. I am still coughing but it’s sort of the Purge At The End Of The Event sort of cough so, I guess it’s a good cough. I’m very happy about having my brain back. Hello brain, I missed you!

To celebrate, the kids had a bubble bath while I whipped up some Saskatoon Berry Muffins and we had them for lunch with red peppers. As soon as I hit the Publish button on this post, I’m heading to my studio to get back on the paint wagon. I have several sewing projects that I really, really want to start on but I will make myself do a couple of paint pieces first. I still have committment to fulfill and I have every intention of seeing it through.

On another note, go read Ada’s blog. Do so regularly, she’s a wonderful writer and thinker, but especially her post on Synesthesia. I’d heard of it but never really looked into it and upon reading the Wikipedia entry on it I’ve come to realize that I have it, too. I see temporal numbers (dates, etc) as a map: the calendar is flat loop of months. I also sometimes have physical sensations as I listen to music (a very important part of what makes me love the music I love), and some pieces I have to sit or lay to listen to (or be very distracted) or I lose my balance, they literally move me that much. I agree that it’s a gift, and far from a hindrance. I can understand the confusion and possible anxiety that a child could feel upon realizing that not everyone feels/thinks that way.

I know (think?) it’s not the same thing, but it reminds me of when Theya first learned to write her name. Half of the time she’d write it ‘properly’ and the other half she’d write it as a perfect mirror image (not just the letters in opposite order, but turned right around). I could understand that, for the sake of education and progress, she would need to learn to write it the ‘proper’ way consistently, but I thought it was so wonderful that her brain could not only effortlessly flip it, but could effortlessly understand it flipped. How many other things could/did she perceive simultaneously in 2 perspectives? I’ll never know, she has accepted and has become conditioned to writing her name the ‘proper’ way. I am curious, though, about how she sees the world and whether or not her perception is still as wonderfully open as it used to be. Is this something we are trained to inhibit as we grow up? Could her life be more creative, joyful if she’s allowed to express it? Will it make her a ‘freak’ if she’s encourage to keep it up?

Dunno. Off I go to the studio.

Sheesh. The full moon passes (I must allocate blame somewhere) and the weird migrainey feeling leaves only to be replaced with a mild but body-exhausting throat infection. I managed to make it through yoga Monday night with minimal sitting out and some general half-assed-ness, which is good, but being infection-body-tired mixed with exercise-body-tired is crummy. So far I’m keeping the worst at bay (I think) with herbal teas and salty gargles. Both kids seem to have minor colds/throat demons, too, but are keeping spirits up with their shenanigans. I would have pleaded (pled?) for J to stay home today so I could have a nap-a-thon and hopefully get back on my feet already but he’s up to his sexy eyes* in an overdue report (not his fault!) and can’t miss any work right now. Poor, poor me. I know.

Today we made Aunty Cindy’s Amazing Sour Cream Sugar Cookies, so all is not lost or lame!

*J’s been getting headaches at work lately so he went for an eye exam. His eyes are fabulous (didn’t need to tell me that) but could probably benefit from the use of very mild reading glasses. Not only are we happy that he can get away with inexpensive (yet limited design choice (but we’re not designer people anyway)) grocery store lenses, but I’m excited because… well.. OH BABY get over here yummy scruffy hot nerd!

I don’t know what the heck is going on with the atmosphere these days but I’ve been feeling on the edge of a migraine since mid-week and it hasn’t yet gone. The usual ibuprophen isn’t doing the trick very well and my glasses feel way too heavy so I’ve been taking them off. However, it’s been sunny so I don’t dare wear my contacts or I’ll definitely get a migraine. I’ve been clumsy (even with my glasses on or contacts at night), I’ve dropped and shattered our 2 most-used glass ware items (the juice jug -within 5 minutes of mixing up a fresh batch of mango juice and the coffee press insert with dredges and grounds still inside). I’m tried of cleaning up and stressing about shards of glass.

SO. I haven’t been working on my art as much as I’d like. I will continue to produce pieces for UNICEF for a while, though, once my brain settles down. I’m disappointed in how little I’ve managed to do so far but, from I read on Facebook, there are a lot of people in weird migraine moods lately, so I’ll blame the atmosphere and hope it clears up soon.

ANYWAY. Enough complaining about my head. I was going to post the results of the coin jar today and since it’s very hard for me to contain a secret, I still am going to. BUT. Once my head clears out the fog, I’ll get back to work painting and will not stop with the donating profits until I get a total to match how much is in the jar.

Ready?

Maybe check out the original post to re-familiarize yourself with the situation?

The closest person was my sister, Cindy (last comment), believe it or not! Once I get the total sales to match the jar, she can pick out 2 favorite images and I’ll send her prints!

OK, for the sake of fun (on my part) here’s the break down of the jar contents:

• $12 in toonies ($2 coins)
• $14 in loonies ($1 coins)
• $110 in quarters (I shit you not)
• $55 in dimes
• $17 in nickels
• $10 in pennies

I grabbed a few dimes to make the quarters’ total an even number, etc, but I only had to nab 2 pennies from my wallet to make the grand total an even number: $218. THAT’S $218!!

The last time I’d counted it, it was around $40 so I was pretty surprised at how much it’d increased. My plan was that once it was full, we’d spend it on something special for the whole family. We’ll still do that, but I think it’s at the very least fair for me to continue to designate some of my business profits to helping people who don’t have the ’spare’ change to toss into a jar for a rainy day, so I will.

Woot! My first two pieces are now available

Per my post from 2 days ago: all profits will be donated to UNICEF’s Haitian Relief efforts. You may also guess how much money is my half-filled gallon jar and, upon purchase, make another guess!

I’m trying to keep the pieces small and relatively simple so that I can produce as many as I can to do what I can to help, yet I also want them to be good. These first two are pretty typically Chair-ish, and there will certainly be more of that, but I have a few ideas in mind for some somewhat different approaches to my style. Who knows, I’m feeling inspired. I don’t know how much help will come of my efforts but it’s a good exercise for me to get some of the creative bug planted firmly in my head!

I managed to finish two fun pieces last night and this afternoon and I was planning to scan them this evening but I had an amazing yoga class and I am so. tired. I am reading another chapter or two of Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy and going to bed. Even typing is exhausting -seriously, it’s taking me much longer than usual even to write this.

I am very much enjoying the motivation to paint and the lack of subject constraints. I expect I’ll have quite a spectrum of pieces done by the end of this week.

Thanks so much for all of your guesses, I’m having a lot of fun seeing the numbers come in. It’s very hard for me to not give hints or say who’s closest at this point but I don’t want to ruin the fun. For the sake of not letting it go too long (and making me crazy with anticipation), I’ll give the results on Saturday.