Around here ...

BEING AN ARTIST ...
In my quest to become an artist, I jump at any chance to use a paint brush. My darling husband carved this block of wood to resemble a snow man (including his hat!) and I spent a few evenings painting him. I've got these cheap acrylic paints I picked up from Pearl last year, before they closed, so, I gave them a try. It took four coats of the white to get the smooth white effect of snow, and it took 5 coats of black to get the hat to look like I wanted. His nose was also created by dh and painted orange by me. The little green scarf was a quick crochet!



TEACHING ...

In my job, I follow a script to talk to fourth and fifth grade students about living in the Everglades and about water management. There's not much room for changes, but this year has been challenging. I haven't figured out (yet) how our program meets the new "Common Core Standards," but I'm working on it. My motto? As long as the teachers are happy, I'm happy!

DESIGNING ...

Still working with my darling daughter, the entrepreneur, and creating some fun things for use on social media. A lot of folks in my generation pooh-pooh social media, but, I think it's here to stay. As a user, I think it's a lot of fun and a great way to stay in touch with family and friends.

DISCOVERING ...

Many of the elementary schools I visit have butterfly gardens. The past ten years has seen a  huge, countywide movement to restore habitats for Florida's wildlife. Recently, I discovered a caterpillar that looks like a pile of bird poop on a tree branch. It's a swallowtail  caterpillar and, had it not been pointed out to me, I would never have seen it, much less recognized it! Once again, Mother Nature has an amazing way to keep the planet going!

Only 7 shopping days left until Christmas!

Catching up ...

There's something about that phrase, "Catching up ..." that I find very appealing. How do you do it? Do you ever achieve your goal? Whatever time you take to "catch up" is time you cannot spend doing something else, so aren't you, then, always behind? After all, you cannot spend a minute (or a dollar) twice. Would the linguists call this a conundrum?

Dictionary.com gives three definitions for the phrase when used as a noun:
1.  an effort to reach or pass a norm, especially after a period of delay.
2.  an effort to catch up with or surpass a competitor, as in a sports contest.
3.  an instance of catching up.

I'm thinking number one fits my thinking best. There has been a great period of delay in keeping up with my blog here, so I feel like I need to "catch up." But, do I really? Can I just tell you what I've been doing that I didn't have time to write?

Okay, then. I went to the Integrity Toys Convention in Orlando at the beginning of November.

I had an absolutely wonderful time! Three glorious days and nights hanging out with 499 other doll people. A doll collector can't ask for more than that! I was lucky that some of my best doll friends were there to share the experience and we made lots of wonderful memories. We also bought and received gifts of dolls, dolls, dolls! It was simply heaven!

I had a terrific time when I got home, too! So many dolls to debox, including these here! I am particularly thrilled with the Poppy Parker dolls offered at the convention. The table centerpiece doll was a gift for the table hosts (like me!). The gift doll is adorable. And, I bought the two convention dolls. (I almost didn't buy "Wild Thing," then had a change of heart. Now, I am super glad I got her!)

When I returned, I spent a lot of time doing stuff around the house. My darling husband has a new hobby (you can read a little about it here), so I've been trying to maintain our humble abode while he's doing his thing. Lord knows he's picked up the slack for me often enough; it's such a little thing to try to help him find more time for this new passion of his. He's really good at it, too!

Work. Oh. My. Yes. I have often written the drafts for my blog late in the day at the office, then finished them at home in the evening before publishing. But, November was a very busy month for me, so there wasn't much time for writing! I was visiting fourth and fifth grade students almost every day, talking about the Everglades and trying to inspire the next generation to conserve and preserve our fragile environment. However, it didn't leave me much time for anything else, so I was running to keep up until Thanksgiving.

Here it is, December 5, and I haven't put the Thanksgiving decorations away yet, much less, put up a Christmas tree. I think I'll be catching up on that this weekend.

So, back to "catching up" ... I don't think you can. I think you have to live in the moment and enjoy what you have when you have it. We hear about folks losing everything to fire and flood and other catastrophic acts of Mother Nature, and any one of us could be the next in line. I say screw catching up. I'm here now, and, that's all that really counts.

It's 20 days until Christmas and there's lots to do.

I better get busy.

Now that I'm caught up ...




hahahaahaa hahahaa haa!

5 Days Until Christmas! Oh, my!

Here in sunny South Florida you can tell that Christmas is coming by the traffic. Cars from Michigan and Montana, New York and Nebraska. Tourists driving rental cars, slowing down on I-95, not sure which exit to take! They're everwhere!  An old friend arrived Tuesday night and the Fort Lauderdale airport was an absolute zoo! Eghads!!! Jaywalking girls wearing boots and snow caps and fat men schlepping heavy coats and luggage!

I've got my shopping done, but nothing is wrapped. I'm going to wrap tomorrow. The house is decorated and looks lovely ... my darling husband strung new twinkle lights outside! The twinkle light reindeer aren't out on the lawn yet, but there's still time! Five days left until Christmas!

I've been watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel and listening to Christmas music at work and in the car. After the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday, I went into hiding.

I was just beginning to feel the Christmas spirit creeping back into my life after being gone for a few years, and the weekend of horror that unfolded on the internet and TV as the world tried to wrap its head around what happened scared me. I've been through a deeply personal tragedy where one person killed another and it's the most awful thing there is. I'm heartbroken for all the families and am saying extra prayers for them. There are too many of them. And, I'm saddened because I know. You never get over it. It changes everything forever. And, it takes years to learn to live with it without crying all the time.

In this season of Peace and Joy, I am saying my prayers for those people in Newtown, and holding on to my Christmas Spirit. For me, that's no easy feat. But, with just five days to go, I might just pull it off.

Un-decorating ...
I love the entire process of decorating for Christmas. Getting all the ornaments out of their boxes and putting them on the tree is as much fun as seeing the tree when I come home. This year I decided to use some of my Barbie ornaments and, sure enough, they were delightful to behold once the tree was done. The photo below is of my current favorite ... "Lighter Than Air Barbie," one of the ballet dolls inspired by Degas' art. She's made of porcelain and is truly as fragile as she appears. But, she's so very pretty ...

Below is this year's tree from the perspective of the floor. I also love my nutcracker on the coffee table, so I had to be sure he was included in the picture. Oh! How I love Christmas twinkle lights! I think we should have twinkle lights all year round, don't you?

Then, there's my little ceramic village on the fireplace mantle. Now, these cheesy little ceramic houses cost one dollar each at the local Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy and I've bought some every year for three Christmases now. Needless to say, I have more of them than will fit on my mantle, but, Hey! Who cares? I crammed as many of them on there as I could and enjoyed arranging and rearranging them for about three days.

I've decided that in order to continue cultivating my creative spirit I will have to leave them on the mantle until this Arctic Express we've been experiencing is gone. When the temperature is 75 degrees for three consecutive days, then I'll pack them up! So, there!

I guess it'll soon be time to drag out the St. Valentine's decorations, huh?