Dance class, homeschool, art class, X-mas shopping. That's what I've been doing. And while I was out shopping, I came across these "Bad Bear Club" figures in a 50 cent machine and instantly became obessed. I kept feeding quarters into the machine, but it seems I can only get the same figure in different colors, even though the display on the machine claims there are 36 different characters. Argh! I've googled high and low and there doesn't seem to be a peep anywhere about these adorable little bits of plastic that I desire. There must be others out there....??  

Nesting and Numbness

I've really been into feathering my nest lately. I guess it is the cold weather causing me to suddenly want to cozy up the house and *gasp* decorate for the holidays. I woke up the other day with the intense urge to purchase a X-mas tree. Right now I am waiting for a 5' aluminum tree to come from West Elm, but in the meantime my friend Sam and I constructed a creepy little dead tree from branches we found in the cemetery across the street and adorned it with the Skull and Heart ornaments I made a few winters past. You can find instructions for those here. I'll post some pictures of the X-mas trees and stuff later. I know you can't wait!

In the meantime, here are some photos of stuff I hung up on the dining room wall this weekend:



These are some of my favorite ATCs I've received over the past few months.



This drawing was given to us by our dear friend, Kevin Smith.



This one has been hanging on my kitchen wall for quite some time now, but I thought it I'd throw it in for good measure:



This painting was done by my good friend and former band mate, Chris Martin. The lighting is pretty bad on that wall, but the painting says, "COFFEE". Ignore the diamonds I haven't finished painting in the background, please.

Finally, here is a Noro scarf I crocheted awhile back. I planned on giving it away, but I'm getting sort of attached to it.



It seems like our family is doomed to all kinds of health hazards this fall. Besides my bout with infections, my housemate Dave got a really nasty cut on the end of his thumb that almost wacked the top of that sucker off. And this morning my boyfriend got his hand stuck in a piece of machinery at work. Luckily nothing is broken, but right now he can't feel anything below the wrist. We won't know for awhile if he has nerve damage or the numbness is simply from swelling. This is really scary in itself, but considering that he is a guitar player (a drummer and pianist, too) this could be devastating. I've been in a terrible funk all day.

With that said, dance practice should be interesting tonight. There aren't a lot of moves we can do with a one handed lead.

Thanksgiving

Sheesh. What a beautiful holiday. It is kind of unreal how lovely things have been. I think with all the stress and sickness I've sort of forgotten what "leisure" means. But I've been feeling fine, the weather has been great, my boyfriend has had four entire days off of work in a row--this is unheard of.

We've been doing yard work, taking the kid to some parks, laying around in bed reading, having pillow fights... just living in domestic bliss. We spent Thanksgiving here at home, just the three of us.

After my son released some of the balloons from the doggy birthday party last week, he got the idea to attach messages to some balloons, so on Thanksgiving morning the boys launched The Black Balloon Project. They wrote a bunch of silly notes like:
"Do you like monkeys? If so, e-mail theblackballoons@hotmail.com"
"This is a magic balloon. Make a wish and send it to theblackballoons@hotmail.com"
"Worried about bird flu? E-mail theblackballoons@hotmail.com"

It helps that we have a 5 foot tall tank of helium in our shed. I'm not naming any names, but some friends acquired this tank of helium on a dumpster diving expedition the summer before last and I took possession of it because they were planning to get in a small closet with it and open the valve. Can we say "asphyxiation", class? Talk about a stupid way to die.

Anyway, here are some pictures of The Black Balloon Project in action:





Afterwards we went to feed the notoriously aggressive geese at a local park. I think it was last year that a woman broke her arm trying to escape them. Seriously.



My first art class went really well. The class is small and taught by this very, very soft spoken woman named Constance. We sat at big fold out tables and I felt like a little kid with a fresh box of crayons and a new coloring book. I was completely lulled by the quiet atmosphere, free of distrations, and worked for an hour and a half without noticing the time. That was better than any therapy session, for sure.

I've spent today framing some of my favorite ATCs and organizing my digital photo albums. Next I will tackle my yarn stash and do some weeding. I've been such a wreck lately! But when you see me getting all ultra-organized, it is profound. I'm a god carefully hanging the stars in my universe.

Long time, no post. Yes, yes, I am still alive! Clap your hands, dance in your seat, it is an amazing thing. Really.

My Crazy Person status is sealed, I guess. I had a birthday party for my dogs! Luckily they both have November birthdays, so this will only be a once a year show of out-and-out insanity. Roxy is the beauitful black and white mutt on the top who turned three, and Tokyo is the little black fuzz ball poodle on the bottom. He turned one. And yeah, besides dressing him up, we sport matching red streaks in our hair. Unfortunately the camera batteries crapped out during the gift opening segment of their party.

Sheesh, a lot has happened since I quit blogging/journaling online. I took a weird trip to New Mexico and camped at White Sands National Monument. Check out the pictures on the site... it is an amazing place. We were there during the full moon and walking around on the white dunes at night feels like walking on the moon. With gravity, of course. I also fulfilled my curiosity about the oddly named town of Truth or Consequences. I had no expectations, but I really fell in love with the place. I could write tons about it, but I think I'd just like to buy a trailer or ramshackle house there someday. Then I'll tell you all about it.

You know what sucks about being Bi-Polar? (Ooops, my shrink tells me not to say I "am" Bi-Polar but rather that I "have" Bi-Polar Disorder. Yeah, she is a real piece of work.) Anyway, the thing that sucks is how totally predictable my cycles are, and yet it still knocks me on my ass year after year. I get manic by mid-summer and by the end of the season I crash and burn. Years ago this meant spending the entire winter season in depression, but I'm doing better with it. I'm med-free now and I'm finally gettting the urge to write, make art, return to dance class, etc. I'm even starting a new art class tomorrow, despite the constant physical lethargy I've had.

Which brings me to the other reason I haven't really been updating my blog and stuff. I learned a really valuable lesson this last month. When I feel a bladder infection brewing, I will call the doctor right away. Oh yes, I will. See, I kept telling myself it wasn't that bad, that I'll call in a couple of days. Then there was the morning I woke up feeling like my crotch was on fire and I waddled to the telephone, crying. Apparently there isn't any discernable progression with those things... it hurts and then IT HURTS REALLY FUCKING BAD. So I had a pretty nasty infection and I thought I was on my way to wellness...

Then I turned 31 and ended up in the E.R. on my birthday because I couldn't take a full breath without excruciating pain. Pneumonia. What the !?!?

Oh, and between the bladder infection and pneumonia, I spent a week in pain from weilding a pick axe trying to dig a trench in this rocky as hell Arkansas soil. See? This is why I haven't been updating. I sound like an old lady with a laundry list of complaints. There has been other stuff, but I'll spare you all.

So that's where I've been and I'm getting back on track.