Easter Recap

Easter is my favorite holiday with the family.  It's more relaxing than Christmas or Thanksgiving and the desserts are always better for some reason.  We set up the field in the back of Meme's house with tables, blankets, and umbrellas.  We'll eat the family gathering essentials then play games.  The kids hunt for eggs and swing at a pinata.  The babies nap.  The kids and adults play three legged race and egg toss.  There was even some singing and guitar picking this year.  It's a lot of fun and the weather is usually great.

Unfortunately I did not get to participate this year.  Here's what I ended up doing all day:

That's right.  In bed, sick with the flu.  At least I had the dogs to keep me company.  Even Simon and Stella stopped by.  Henry is hiding behind Cedar and was not excited about more dogs in the house (he is use to getting all the attention).  I didn't notice before Mama said it, but I look like I'm pregnant with triplets.  To clarify, that's my moose pillow pet over my stomach under the blanket.  And my legs are twisted funny to accommodate the dogs, of course.

 I wasn't completely without human interaction because someone was always stopping by to check on me.  I've got some good eggs in my life.

'Round here

Other than the last two days of frost, wind, and chill to the bone weather, Cedar and I have been spending a lot of time outside.  He likes to cut circles sideways in the yard and I like that when he's outside he's not nipping at the back of my pants or trying to hump my leg.  It works out for everyone, really.

It's incredible how much he seems to grow from week to week.  Sometimes I'll look at him and swear that his nose stretched out a little within a few hours.  A cousin says he is in his awkward stage and her face made it clear that he wasn't puppy cute anymore.  I told her she wasn't so cute during her teenage years either but she grew out of it.  Cedar's legs and nose are getting longer and the underside of his belly is getting pudgy even though his back is thin.  I think that's what happened to me in about 6th grade.  Like mother like son.

  He's still the cutest puppy there ever was even though he is a mischievous little one.  Last weekend I washed my car and he got in a riffraff with the water hose.  Here he is looking orange in the middle.

I'd say the hose won because after he rolled on the wet ground I gave him a bath outside.  He did not like the cold water so we'll see if he messes with it again.

The weather was perfect and I got some running in.  Unfortunately yesterday was cold and rainy so I sat on the couch all day.  You've really got to balance being active with being sedentary and watching the history channel all day.

I'd like to put in a request with the Easter Bunny this year to bring me some thin mints and a post hole digger.  Not only do I need the digger for the garden but I need it for my reading/nap setup outside.  The small hole I dug did not keep this umbrella up so I propped it sideways with some bricks.  Cedar knew the previously dug hole was under the bricks so he kept trying to dig and knocked the bricks over and sent the umbrella flying.  He also thought it was be fun to do an outside job a foot away from my sheet on the ground.  Needless to say I packed up and siesta'd inside.

Right brain

Aside from the big horse drawing (now painting...shoot me), I've not spent a lot of time making any new art.  I realize that this would be a great time to work on some drawings but I'm so intimidated by it.  I would like to have a drawing style that is unique to me but I don't know where or how to start so I've not started at all.  I think that might get me somewhere.  The pressure to make something so great is just so scary that I've put it off.  I know I know, that's stupid and all I have to do is start and it will come from there.  I'm my biggest obstacle when it comes to my creative side. 

On the one really nice day we've had lately, I walked the dogs down to my favorite spot in the back woods and stumbled across some rolled up barbed wire leftover from fashioning fences.  I'm thinking that it could be useful for something sculptural.  Or maybe mixed media, including some drawing that I can slowly work my way in to. 

Seems like I'm now using this blog as my soundboard.

Hotel Home

Working at the hotel has been a good, not great, job.  I spend most of my time folding towels and looking up things on youtube and pinterest.  My house has gotten prettier because of it.  The coolest part about this job is getting to meet people.  People usually aren't my favorite but I've had some great experiences with them at the hotel.  When I walk the halls, I think, one, there are so many smells in this place and two, it's cool that we are all under the same roof living together at this moment.  I imagine if something happened where we were all stuck here, who would make it and who would crack under the pressure?  A bigger version of Big Brother I guess. Some folks been staying here since I started in October, others are in and out throughout the month. 

Some things I have discovered:

Any military group is usually down to party and will ask you to join them when you go to their room to tell them to quiet down.  And if you decline, they'll want to know where the closest bar is and when you get off.  But hey, I couldn't say I wouldn't want to live it up before I was about to leave for a land of sand either.

A lot of folks with "Dr." or "Platinum Member" ahead of their name are surprisingly down to earth.  There is still the occassional snob that will throw one of their credit cards down on the counter at you and expect you to "just take care of it" in .5 seconds.

Old ladies have no limits.  If there is something they need and they think it might be in the breakfast kitchen, they have no problem walking in and going through all the cabinets to find it.

It's almost impossible to explain what a ladybug is to a Saudi Arabian.

Lately

The baby is growing like a weed

Lately, a couple weekends have been spent target shooting
Meme:

Aunt Julie

TJ tried to teach me how to shoot skeet but I'm too trigger happy to hit anything.

Model Madison in her Sunday best shot a few times.

Baby and Cedar are frenemies.  She rubs up against him lovingly while he tried to do his business outside.  Yesterday they were sitting side by side and, I kid you not, he licked her, put his paw on the back of her neck, then bit the mess out of her ear.  Boys.

Since he's a puppy, I feel it's my duty to keep him active.  I haven't gotten back in to running yet (I'm a wimp in cold weather) but have been walking him with him when the sun is out.  Our walk immediately leads to a nap afterward:

My next project

Puppy love

I guess I'm turning in to one of those slightly annoying pet lovers that takes 5 pictures of their dog a day.  But he is just so darn cute.

His favorite thing to chew on is my boney hand.  Second, are his sock monkeys.

Resistant Henry

The thought of having a dog to cuddle in bed with was just so heartwarming.  But this is how he does it, blocking off air circulation.

We're working on the leash thing.

A whole lotta love

Being home has been very good to me.  The drama and anxiety that I thought it would bring has not knocked on the door yet.  Well, maybe there has been a little drama tapping but I'm dealing with it in a completely different way which is by mostly saying, "That's their business" and not making it my own.  And when it comes down to it, underneath the bitterness and maw maw (my papa's term for drama), it's all somehow rooted in love.  Whether that be love coming out in the form of concern or love being so new and overwhelming and exciting that it causes people to lose their minds a little.  Or if the love means letting someone go and just being thankful for them either way, there's still some good in that.  So focusing on that has made everything much more positive and acceptable. 

Our recent series at church is called Love Revolution which is all about learning how to accept others and love our neighbors and really learn to love God.  And understanding and accepting that not only does God love us, he likes us.  The fact that someone could love my narcissistic and control freak self is someone worth giving credit to.  And if you think about it, you can't cut corners or hide anything with God.  And he's still cool with everything he sees.  Kind of like a dog; a dog is loyal and loves you no matter what you do.  (Maybe I just lost my ticket to Heaven by comparing God to a dog...pray for me please).  Being freed from condemnation spiritually has allowed me to be free from condemning myself and others.  Which circles back to the happiness I've found here at home.   And people think we're all closed minded country club christians...

Not having any real shopping or fast food places (we have a BK) has given me much more time to eat healthy and save money and enjoy the very basic and beautifully created things.  A friend came to visit last week and when he walked outside at night I told him to look up to which he exclaimed, "Wow!"  The patch of sky in the backyard has the perfect view of the stars.  It made me very proud of our little place in the middle of nowhere.  He also says the grass is greener here.  Probably because it's fertilized with chicken poo. 

And speaking of animals...showing work at the MH has given me an opportunity to create a piece for someone.  She's commissioned me to draw one of her horses.  Great, I thought, that shouldn't be too difficult.  A nine by eleven sketch.  Wrong.  A four foot by four foot canvas which will include a little bit of painting.  Yikes- painting raises my blood pressure.  I'm a little intimidated but I've got these neighbors to look at and draw inspiration from:

They've been getting spoiled with apples and nose scratches.

A picture of this sweet little cat, Baby, who has taken up residence on the back porch.

And last but not least, the newest and greatest little love, Cedar.

Cedar was born on December 1st and was a surprise birthday gift from Mama.  She did good.  I think it was love at first sight for me.  He's currently sleeping on my foot as I write this and it takes everything I have not to scoop him up and smother him with kisses.  I tell him all day how cute and handsome he is so he'll probably be a very egocentric adult. 

Henry and Waggles mostly bark and jump around him but I think in doggy code that means they love him.

Study buddy.