August 19, 2024 Monday--5am

Good morning!  Good morning!

Been the best week!  Deep diving into my personal whys is always so freeing!  So then why do I put it off till I am overwhelmed?  Probably because I don't think there IS a serious problem until something happens I cannot ignore--LOL!  Regardless...the deep dive has lifted the angst, impatience, illogical emotions and all the rest.  Took a few days of pondering it all and feeling that negativity float away.  Ahhhh!  Life is good!  

Funny how adept we are at burying what we don't want to deal with.  We can tuck it away so we're not tripping over it--lol!  At least I can say I have gotten better at facing my dark side over the decades.  Never be rid of it, but examining it thoroughly makes it easier to live with...and somehow makes it much smaller and weaker--lol!  ;)  Well, in my opinion anyways.

We had some cooler days for a little bit the beginning of the week.

Much appreciated by Allie and myself.

I went over on Tuesday to finish up the fake Lego bouquet!  Leah said she had a blue vase I could borrow, but she had forgotten to take it down.  Said it was up high in her pantry so we could just use one of her bigger glasses.

Ian and I looked for it but only saw something smaller that looked blue...so we used a big glass.

They turned out better than I expected!  The 900+ pieces went faster than we thought, too.  Will sure be some bright color for the new apartment.  There will be a lot of browns and blacks so I plan to have pops of color.  Wait till you see my rugs! ;)

My sleep was off this past week.  Trying out some mouth tapes at night.  They work and the adhesive doesn't even bother me--but I seem to be sleeping less.  I wouldn't want to try to wear one when I have a cold and stuffed up nose--lol!  Anyways, early in the week I fell asleep for a three hour nap--awk!  And that threw me off worse as far as sleeping goes.  But I am back to more regular hours and getting okay sleep.  

Spent the week doing the usual--laundry, cooking, baking, cleaning.  So nice to be able to do all of that again...even if it's often with baby steps. ;)  I picked out which birthday cards fronts I want to color (had two pre-stamped sets) and decided on markers because these stamps were embossed.  Picked out all the brightest colors of my Tombow markers, but that's as far as I have gotten.  

You can probably tell which company made this stamp--ROFL!  Not going to be quick to color, but you know how I love the wild colored cats by Laurel Burch.  Couldn't resist!

Caught Allie half sunbathing...using the metal bar of the folding table as a pillow. 

Looks uncomfortable, but cats and dogs can sleep in weird ways and positions, that's for sure.

Leah got the blue vase down when she got home and sent me pictures.  Was not the little one Ian and I had seen---at all!

The boys finally made it over to Home Depot for the kids' craft day.

Little white boards!  You never know what they will be making over there. :)

They also were at Detroit Lakes, Minnesota with friends and their kids.  Do you see what is over Dagan's shoulder?

They were at a park where there were five huge trolls to find and then a golden rabbit made of trash.  She said the trolls were the best.  They do look pretty cool!

Leah came over Friday night to make Liam's birthday invitations.  You may recall how the colors (except for blue) quit working on my printer.  Well, it took half a dozen head-cleanings but Leah got it to work!  TaDa!  AND--she cut my hair for me, dumped the standing water out of the petunia pot on the patio (who knew we'd get that much rain), and even cleaned a minor explosion in my microwave for me (my knees swell sometimes so I don't like to use the stool when they are so stiff and hurt).  

I have really missed spending time with her!  Now that she is working and I am not needing to go to the doctors/clinic/hospital every time we turned around...well, I've hardly seen her this year for more than a couple minutes at a time.  Or Dagan, either, really...mostly just trips in the car for a mile each way with him--lol!  Really glad I have had some time with the boys recently!

The drywallers were there last week and filled the holes.  The electricians were there, but still missed a couple things.  Leah's trying to set up the cabinet people to come back now.  Things are moving along.  Plumbers need to be lined up, too, now.

Since the color was working on my printer...and Leah even suggested I re-print the pictures I wanted to use for the ICAD drawing practice, but I didn't think I should do that all again...well, on Saturday I decided to just print a couple to make sure the color was working...and then a few more...and...well, I printed most of them again.  Changed my mind and skipped a few...made some of them smaller that had gone off the page.  Even went ahead and re-printed the black and white ones.  You may remember everything was just blue and not a crisp blue--lol!  Now I have a stack of black & whites and a stack of colored pics...like I wanted in the first place!  Whoohoo!    

So, the learning to draw game is on again!  I am so glad I attempted the ICADs.  I knew I would never keep up with them for 61 days--dream on--but I found I loved having the smaller pieces of watercolor paper or drawing paper that I could tape down and carry around to play with.  Learning to draw on a small scale is less intimidating (but still very much intimidating to me).  So this is just something I plan to keep on doing--quite randomly, of course...but something challenging and fun for me.  Could just draw with pencil and ink or pick one I can draw and then color...using different mediums for the coloring.  Having the printer mess up took the wind out of my sails...but now I feel a breeze wafting in. ;)

Allie and I had such a nice, calm week.  I am now excited about the move again, too!  Leah and I have been talking light switches and bathroom mirrors.  

Oh, and Leah found these kits at Costco and CashWise with chicken or beef with sauces.  Delicious!  But expensive.  So I found various Keto sauces on Amazon and ordered up a variety to try.  Just add to the chicken or beef and voila!  Lots cheaper.  Two sample sets came one day...

...and the other brand came the next day.  Already tried a barbeque chicken and it was sooo good!  I am over the moon!  :)

 While I type away...Allie sleeps in her little chair next to me.

Well, first project I need to get done--hopefully this week--is the set of birthday cards.  Then I'll be all set for this year with the annual mass-produced cards.  After that--I can practice drawing or play in my art journal or make a smaller set of cards for my pen pals or do whatever strikes my creative fancy!  All I need is spoons--lol!  More spoons, please. ;)

[For some of you new folks--here's an explanation of spoon theory.  It will come up again in conversation--lol!]   

I am feeling so happy and good and at peace again--I wish I could just send you some of this right through the screen.  There!  I hope you could feel that...and have a wonderful week.  *love and hugs from Fargo*