Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Much Better

Coming home early from school....... good.

Looking at the snow from the inside.................better.

Seeing the snow pile up while you stay toasty warm..........excellent.



Baking and eating fresh-baked, warm, chocolate cookies as you are watching the snow fall outside from the inside because you got home early from school.................. priceless.


Difficult things

What to do when you feel like your in between a rock and a hard place. Hummm... I don't know. Part of me wants to just hide out and wait until it all blows over. Nah, I can't do that. If I let things fester, they eat me up inside. So I guess what I need to do is just not push it further under the rug, and deal with it.

I just needed to put that out there..

Not to worry, I'm kind of hoping the chocolate cookies in the oven will ease my mind on this cold and snowy day...

Humm, maybe I'll have a little hot chocolate too. That's never bad.

Friday, January 23, 2009

GOOD IDEA!

http://www.dizzler.com

You must try it!

Type in an artist, genre....whatever!
It plays any song you want!!!

Amazing! There are some things I do love about technology..

Yes, I love technology.............and I love you, you see. But I still love technology...

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Hair today, gone today

So, some of you might remember a little protest I started over 4 years ago... I called it "My silent protest against Bush". Well, I said I would grow out my hair until we got a new president. And seeing how yesterday that was accomplished, I figured I should really follow through. SO-- I am. At 3:45 pm today I will be getting my hair chopped. I plan on donating it to "Locks for Love". A program that uses real human hair to create wigs for children who need them. I have plenty of hair. I will probably be taking off a whole foot, so I think they'll actually be able to use it.

I'm really excited for the change. My hair has been though some really bad stages, and it's finally time to really start fresh. I've always thought of hair as just something on the top of my head. I can do whatever I want with it. So I'm not really that nervous. I've gotten used to it, but I also hate laying on it, putting it up into ponytails all the time because I don't feel like doing anything with it, using tons and tons of hair conditioner, spending oodles of time brushing and combing it. Ahh-- I'll have so much more time on my hands now...

I always hear people talk about how they felt that their hair was something more symbolic, and I guess that's why I grew it. I wanted something good to come from me growing out my hair for 4 years, because everyone knows what a treacherous 8 it's been!

So here's to moving on, starting fresh. I have a good feeling about this, and I'm not just talking about my haircut.... I'm talking about the US.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

01/20/09

It's finally just around the corner. And I'm deciding on a haircut. I'm not sure I'll be able to do it on the actual day, so maybe within the next week.... I'm kind of anxious. I've grown to like my long hair.

But-- it's only hair. And I'm going to donate it. Although donating hair, doesn't actually mean they'll use it. Hopefully my cut hair will be long enough to donate and be used.

It also would be nice to have a "style" of some sort. I would save lots of money on hair conditioner and shampoo... and save time. The thing with my long hair is that it's thick and wavy . Which means it takes work and care to keep healthy.

So if you have an idea out there, I'll take it. I'm looking into some kind "bob" haircut. We'll see what happens! If it doesn't work, I'll just grow it out again!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Somethings are sweet...

Sweet thing, this Friday will be a work from home day. Don't ask me why. It's just what I was told. So I'm not going to ask too many questions. I'll take a 5 day weekend any day. Thank you Inauguration!

Something else that's sweet- The last weekend in January I get to go down to warm Miami Beach! I'm really looking forward to some mid-winter sunshine, and an ocean breeze. I can't imagine that it will not be a nice trip. Beautiful scenery, good food.... a change of pace.

Another thing that's sweet -- as I write this a friend of ours is finishing up a storage closet for all our random stuff in our house. Which is great, because having an old house is nice, there's character.....but no closets.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

P.S.

If you read yesterday's I was talking about the upcoming event.... well, they're also closing the bridges and will only allow buses for 2 days.... YIKES!!!

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

DC Craziness

Here is a map of my area.

http://www.nationalrealty.biz/map/virginia.gif

Basically getting around here takes a lot of patience. A lot. I know when to travel, and when to wait, and when to get out there and take my life into my own hands. However, in the following weeks, driving anywhere could be considered the riskiest thing to try.

Why?

The inauguration. Of course it's over a long holiday weekend, and then schools and the federal government is closed for the inauguration. But try to take advantage of the weekend and leave town. You'll never get back, especially if you drive.

The latest scare according to NPR is that there will be upwards of 1.5-2 million more people in the area to witness this historic event. A lot-- and I mean a lot-- are probably going to be driving here. Especially if they're within 4 hours. So the major highways are sure to hit major back up.

They're (and I'm not sure who "they" is) is predicting that there will be back up of 20-25 miles in the metro area. And on major highways the delay could reach in the direction of Richmond (which is actually 2 hours away) and to the west it could reach all the way past Winchester, which is 2 hours west. And not to mention other delays up in Maryland!

So what are we to do? On one hand I would really like to get out of town and spend the 4 day weekend somewhere else, where it's low key, and quiet-- and I'll watch the inauguration the tv...

On the other hand, how the heck will be ever be able to return?

Driving isn't a great option for the return, and certainly flying at this point is out of the question. So, I'm thinking possibly a train. It's going to be interesting how this all plays out. Many people are asking me why I'm NOT going downtown. Yes, it's a historical moment, I was a part of it by taking part in the democratic process of voting, but there is absolutely no way I will put myself down on the mall to not see anything in the freezing cold. Am I excited for the new president... you better believe it. But I don't think Obama would mind at all of I stayed in somewhere warm and watched.

The only question in my mind is....where will I be watching.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

And....we're back

What a nice holiday I had of 2 weeks. I can't say that I did that much, but I had a heck of a time just relaxing and catching up with "stuff". J and I traveled to PA twice, and made it into DC a couple of times, trying to catch the pre-inauguration happenings.

Break started for me around the 20th of December. I had a good start by having an amazing meal at Nora's, in DC. It's a certified organic restaurant, and well, they deserve it. The food was fantastic, and it felt like I was sitting in someones dining room, not a stuffy, trendy upscale type place. We both had the vegetarian tasting meal, with a great start to a creamy and delectable black bean soup, followed by an amazing onion tart....with goat cheese and roasted red peppers, and finished up with vegetable risotto (I was stuffed) and a molten chocolate cake. YUM! Needless to say I was a happy camper. Much better than than the vegetarian "flan" at a very different place--- don't do it, it's disgusting. I would happily go there again and again. It was a great way to start the break.

After that we actually ventured to this Russian Bar, for an outstanding martini! Of course! What else are you gonna drink it a red velvet lounge with the staff all in black and using their accents. The music, was less than stellar (Russian electronica??). But it was a fun way to end the night.

The rest of that weekend went by and before we knew it we were headed up to PA to see my family for Christmas, but not before we gathered all the goods to create a nice couple of meals for my family. This year in lieu of gifts J and I decided to cook fom my family. So we bought the ingredients for a nice french onion soup (plenty of cheese and bread especially) for Christmas Eve, and then for Christmas I was going to make a really nice baked pasta and spicy broccoli.

In case you haven't guess it was a pretty low-key kind of Christmas for us. My parents had quite a year, and we all figured as long as we got together that would be just fine. If only my sisters had felt that way.... Unfortunately they don't really get along and avoided all contact this year. Oh well.

Christmas Eve was nice. We just ate a late meal, and chatted. My sister's boyfriend played some music on the Mandolin. Just really relaxing. Christmas day was quiet as well. It was just J, me and my parents. We all woke up late, started to cook, and then ate. After that, J and I went to a traditional Christmas Day movie : Benjamin Button. It was good, very much reminiscent of Forrest Gump, particularly because it had the same screenwriter or something... But good. Nice effects of aging etc...

Boxing day was a little different. J and I were still there, and then my older sister and niece arrived. We had a big lunch and then decided to get on our way.

The next few days we kind of took a little break. We made it to see Slum Dog Millionaire-- A great movie, highly recommend it. I laughed, I cried.. a fantastic growing up/gangster/love/comedy/slightly Bollywood type movie that was seamless. I loved it.

We also managed to get downtown to the Hirschhorn Museum and looked at all the new exhibits. A few nice ones. One all of different kinds of portraits....

New Year's was spent up and PA again, although in a different direction. J and I went up to visit ATO. We had a really low-key New Year's by staying in and playing the Wii! Which is completely AWESOME! I loved it so much that I really want one. Although, I really do think it's more of a social way to play video games. I don't think I would have as much fun all by my little self. We bowled, skied, played tennis, raced, hula-hooped, practiced yoga poses...among other things. It was hilarious for us all to be making such huge movements that had some very little impact. We ended the old year by drinking a little champagne, and woke up in the new year to the sounds of almost-2-year-old O running around playing.

We made the trek back to VA, and just after I parked the car in the drive way I became seriously...ill. Ugh... What a way to finish out the end of a holiday (and it wasn't even a hangover). I was sick through the 3rd, and managed to make a recovery right before school started. I spent hours not being able to keep anything down, and poor J wondered if I should have gone to the hospital. But I survived. And I feel fine now.

Now it's the onset of a new year, some new students, and some new projects for them to do. I just have to make them student ready. The first 2 days back have been pretty good. Some students are finishing some self-portrait projects they started before break. But sadly, most are unfinished. 15 students left over the holiday and we received 20 new students. Quite a turn over. So we started tessellations. Always a good one to get back into the swing of things. Next I'd like to do an architecture study of DC. There are so many interesting buildings and styles in the area.

Debating on an art position that's opened up at a "normal" high school in my area. I certainly like my job, but it really has it's moments where I don't. And obviously there really is no way for me to build a program, or continuously improve students abilities for the long term. All I really do here is expose them to newer things, or different things. It is so rare to have a student for more than one project. And I kind of long for some growth in teaching.

Decisions, decisions.......

So the new year should be looking up. I've already been sick, so I'm looking forward to a healthy and happy year. I have a house that's my home now, and steadily improving it everyday. A great relationship with someone who loves me for being myself. What more could I want? Well.......

Some things I NEED to do... Create more art. I NEED TO. Not just because I should, but it's really who I am. It's pretty sad when all I seem to do is make sample projects for my students to see as examples. It's not at all what kind of art I prefer to do... (although sometimes it is).

So-- we're all back. Happy New Year to all of you! May you have a healthy, happy and wonderful 2009.