Just Make Stuff

This Sunday...

We made a trip to Disneyland for a few hours...figured it'd be a good way to contrast all the boring schoolwork/around the house work we need to get done today too.  Mac was one of the honorary chimney sweeps for a band performing in front of the castle...and made sure he danced in the High School Musical performance over at California Adventure...that always makes for a good visit.

Other weekend randomness...

I made one more layout on Friday...old Making Memories rub-ons ended up on this one and for some reason thinking to use a old supply thrilled me to no end :)

I made an "apple extravaganza" dinner on Friday ("extravaganza" was my way of trying to sell it to Mac who would happily eat pasta with butter and cheese for the rest of forever) it was an chicken apple pecan salad and apple cheddar soup...I got the recipes from a recent issue of Better Homes and Gardens and I promise I'll share them soon

I volunteered at the Scrap Pink Crop and was treated to a great lunch from a local mexican restaurant and had my first Sprinkles cupcake that I almost cried while eating it was that good

And I'm getting super excited thinking about next weekend...Sean and I are off to Portland on Thursday so he can run in his very first marathon...he's been training for months and it's a week from today...I could just start crying thinking about what an amazing moment it'll be to see him come across the finish line

I love that I just managed to mention crying twice...cupcakes and marathons :)

I'm off to go organize my white-board calendar for October...man September went by fast...

Now we're talking...

Okay on to stuff other than school (except a quick mention/blatant bragging that I actually got an "A" on my first Critical Thinking test).

So some random crafting...first Mac's project last Sunday...he wanted to make invitations for the super low-key Halloween party we have each year...it's usually a passing mention invite to all the neighbors a week or two ahead of time, but this year we are far more official. :)

 

My crafting for the week was making up 3 little packs of stuff to donate to the flea market at the Scrap Pink Crop at Scrapbook Oasis...I'm not cropping, but I'm excited to get to be there in the morning helping out...

 

I am officially a layout size mixer-upper and I really am liking it...

and I was able to make a few layouts in the last week (helps with the studying)

   

So it's a cozy, cloudy morning, I just had a big cup of tea, and am contemplating staying in my pajamas all day long...that's much better than all this school stuff, huh?

I promise I'll talk about something besides school soon...

I just took my Astronomy test and have my Art Concepts test in an hour...so bear with me...there's not a whole lot going on in life besides school, but I will do my best to discuss something else the next few days...back to cramming...

If what, then huh?

I'm reeling from the argument chapter in my Critical Thinking book...it's like another language that I'm hoping will start to make sense after class today.
The 100+ flashcards filling my hand are for my Art Concepts test tomorrow...yeah that was the class I signed up for just for fun. The professor actually announced, after a quiz she felt we did poorly on a few weeks ago, that this is not an "easy-peasy art class" and she is not a "flity-flighty artist" that it is in fact a general education class and she takes that very seriously and that we will be required to think critically. I then sunk to the floor, curled up in the fetal positon and cried, "Please no more critical thinking!" Okay I didn't really do that, but I did laugh to myself that I really have arranged quite a semester for myself. :)
Off to finish eating my apple slices and putting those flashcards to good use...

A day off...

We were really bad today...and it was soooo good.  I have wanted to check out the La Maison Rustique Barn Sale in Temecula for a few months now and when I learned it was this weekend...I just made the suggestion to Sean that it might be fun to take the day off and head out there (by "suggestion" I mean ever so slightly begging...not sinking to my knees or anything...just smiling extra big and trying to be as cute as I could).  It was totally worth it...the barn was full of great stuff and absolutely beautiful displays. 

The best part of the afternoon though was lunch at one of the wineries...it was delicious...actually it was even better than that...Sean and I shared the brie with grape relish, bacon wrapped meatloaf, and then ordered both the white chocolate pudding and the mascarpone fritters for dessert...did I mention it was good?  I seriously will be dreaming about that meal for a looong time. 

We finished the afternoon by wandering through a couple of antique stores in the little downtown area.  Sean found a couple of books for his growing antique book collection (one was a little spelling book from the late 19th century) and I found a few old spools of thread for $0.25 each and a date stamp from the 1970's...it has from 1971 to 1977 on it which thrills me to no end.  Here's what the day's final cool stuff collection looks like...

 

I got the old drawer, buttons, muffin tin, flower picture and metal bowl at the barn sale.

So basically today was perfect.  Now we're home in our pajamas before 5pm and waiting for a supposed rain storm to roll in...a major rarity around here in September...we'll see if it really rains, but so far there's been some blustery breezes and dark clouds rolling by...makes for a perfect night to get some homework done. :)

A little rusty...

okay a lot...first time I've scrapbooked in awhile...I don't know about this whole 12x12 layout thing...I feel like I don't know how to work with a square...but it is fun to have more space...especially when using an 8x8 photo I got printed at Costco of the collage I made for this post...

either way it was so nice to take an hour and watch a the last rerun of Grey's Anatomy (cannot wait for next week's premiere!) and actually try to make something.

Cloudy mornings make me happy...

Sitting in the car again waiting a minute before I head to Astronomy...where I have a quiz...then on to Art Concepts...where I have a quiz...but it's a cooler (my car says 67 degrees) cloudy morning and for some reason cloudy mornings always make me happy...probably since we get so much sun around here...the clouds are kind of cozy...random thoughts, huh? :) Better get to class for some last minute studying...

Michelangelo vs. the dry erase marker

You know when I cried the first day after my critical thinking Philosophy class it was because I was anticipating what would happen today.  Nothing to truly cry about, but just the overwhelming nature of not being able to say the things you need to say when you should say them, because you haven't thought of them yet.  Make any sense? :)

So today the topic of art came up when discussing pornography and the example was posed of Michelangelo's David and if the naked statue of a man was pornography. Then the topic changed to art and the example my professor brought up was a supposedly gory painting he had seen at the Getty Museum...he didn't think it was gory, a Renaissance era painting of a decapitated head being held up by a soldier, but the person he was with did.  Then he asked for my thoughts...it's one of those rapid fire name calling situations when you never know if you're going to be next.  I pointed that it could be argued what art is and that it is just a matter of what you consider to be art. I presented the example that it could be argued that I could go to a Halloween store tomorrow and buy a decapitated head decoration and think that it's art, granted it wasn't any where near as prestigious, it's mass marketed and it certainly hasn't proved to stand the test of time as a Renaissance oil painting has so they're not on the same level, but someone did create that Halloween decoration.  He asked wouldn't make that more of a craft and offered the explanation of it being not much different than the dry erase he was holding.  He went on to say something about a craft store named Michael's, had we heard of it?  You can get supplies to make things like candles...after that the topic was quickly over...and I couldn't think of anything more to say. 

As I walked out of class my arguement started to become more apparent and now it's been bugging me all day. I never said the the Halloween decoration and a Renaissance painting were on the same level...nor is a candle made with supplies from Michael's anywhere equal to the statue of David. There is a hierarchy to art that is explained with logical criteria; the materials used in the piece, the time and skill it takes, the fact that an original piece is housed within a museum where people want to see it. However there is also art that is mass-produced and consumed so who's to say that dry-erase market isn't art...someone designed the shape of the pen, the writing on it...or say that hypothetically I could sit down at my desk tonight with my astounding capabilities as an artist (remember we're speaking hypothetically) and create something inspired by that marker that ultimately people see and feel is remarkable and then that marker-inspired piece was in a museum a couple of hundred years from now down the hall from that Renaissance painting...you never know...it could happen. 

Today's artists are being inspired by life around them and it's just as profound as it was five hundred years ago. The other thing I thought of is that art has to be art to just one person.  Mac brought home that Monet knock-off I took a quick picture of from school last year.  I found it in his bag and fell in love with it.  It's art to me.  I won't be going to the Getty and seeing it there, but it'll sure as heck be treasured and hanging up in my house. 

Okay now I feel better...I've gotten my, most likely inarticulate, thoughts of my chest.  Hopefully I'll start learning to have those thoughts while I'm in class otherwise chances are you guys are going to be subjected to a lot more of these random tirades. :)   

Week Four...

Means a new page is flipped in the color-coded master syllabus of all my class work that I devised at the start of the semester...I have mentioned I'm a total dork, right?

I sure as heck felt like one this weekend as I kept plugging along at school work...it was kind of a 15 minutes on/5 minutes off system, although a couple of times it was like 10 minutes on/3 hours off.  Regardless I managed to finish a decent chunk.  Some of my off time was spent adding-in and rearranging the photo frames in our upstairs hallway...I have visions of years from now when the wall is just packed with photos from over the years in a random conglomeration of frames...that's why it seems poorly arranged when it's been kind of carefully planned...I call it "room for growth". :)  I think these are some of the last white walls in the house...don't tell Sean but I've had ideas tucked in the back of my mind for awhile now about painting them at some point...heaven forbid something in the house isn't annoyingly colorful. 

During a study break I also cleaned out the top drawer right under my desk that holds all my scrapbooking adhesives and a few other essentials...one of those 10 minute projects to get everything categorized into a few baskets (except they're the dollar plastic kind that I can't find a link for...I keep a bunch on hand so I can reorganize something without having to run to the store...same thing with Sterlite boxes I keep extra ones waiting to hold something when I need it) that makes me wonder why I never thought to do it before...it really is remarkable how going to school means my house gets much more organized. :)

Off to write 2 political science essays to hand in with tomorrow's test and then write more flashcards for Astronomy and Art Concepts...I should keep a running total...I'm at around 150 as of now....

At home...

all weekend...what will I be doing...any guesses? Ah yes, schoolwork. Two tests and two quizzes next week=lots of flashcards. 

Of course I've been up for three hours now and am in full procrastination mode...rest assured the kitchen dishtowels are reorganized...if I re-fold towels while kind of thinking about critical thinking that might count as studying, right? :)

Speaking of home I never shared a finished laundry room photo and I took a couple of photos of my fall guest bathroom...

Okay time to study...if I don't get started now I'm going to be even more miserable later.

My head is busting at the seams...

Did I ever tell you I cried on my first day of Critical Thinking class a couple of weeks ago?  Sean actually met me at school after class to try and get me an actual parking spot rather than the perilous place my car was parked on the driveway to the school in desperation after driving up and down the aisles for a over a half hour...but that's not why I cried. 

I cried, like full on freaked-out after walking out of this Philosophy class convinced that I could never be smart enough to be successful in it.  Just the topics that were randomly brought up while going through the syllabus blew my mind.  Basically I needed to be prepared to logically defend every belief I have...and it turns out I don't think that much about all this stuff.  Yes, I've taken classes and mastered the materials, but I haven't had the feeling of pushing my mind to it's limits...we'll maybe that statistics class a few years ago. 

So I'm intimidated and overwhelmed, but the strangest thing is I want to do it.  That's not like me when presented with a challenge...especially a school challenge...I spent 15+ years working so hard not to learn or succeed that I'm still so struck by the fact that I want to now...and that I actually can when I try.

These four classes are a ton of information coming at me on a weekly basis...information my brain is responsible for...information that I enjoy taking in...I can literally feel it when I walk out of class and my head has learned something new.  Like the various 2-D mediums of art or the cycle of the moon, or that a democracy doesn't do well when it needs to fight a drawn out war without a clear objective. 

When I got home from that first day of class I threw some paint on a little notebook and I made yet another tree (since I'm obsessed with making them) so I had someplace to record all the bits and pieces that struck me from my days in class.  How cool would it be if I had this for the rest of years at school and I can look back on all the things I learned? 

And there hasn't been any crying since that first day...lots of work...and lots more to come...but no tears. :) 

I think this may become a habit...

Taking a photo and blogging while I sit the car waiting a few minutes before I head to class. This morning it's apple slices, a book for Philosophy on religious violence, a jacket since even though it's still way too hot out it's freezing cold in the classrooms, and my i-pod playing the new Grey's Anatomy season 3 soundstrack. This is facinating stuff, huh? :)
I will try to make sure to sit down at the computer later this afternoon and have something to talk about besides the random stuff in my car...

First day...

Even though it's the start of my 3rd week of school, it feels like it's the first real day since I just dropped off my 4th grader for his 1st day...so all three of us are now officially back at school. Now my banana, Art Concepts quiz flashcards, and my cell phone (that I downloaded a mobile version of Typepad to...we'll see how it works) are hanging out in the car waiting for a few minutes before I head to Astronomy class. How many days till Christmas break? :)

I have a new major...

seriously by now I should have my doctorate in procrastination. I have been endlessly productive today...but have done absolutely no schoolwork...you can rest assured though that all the toys and bikes are straightened up again in the garage...everything is ready for Mac's first day of school on Monday...and I re-organized all my snacks...packed a new red emergency backpack for Sean to have at school (it occurred to me when I was packing Mac's earthquake kit for the year that Sean has nothing at school so now he has food and a few first aid and safety items)...I made dinner to take with tonight at the symphony (and posted the recipes)...and a half dozen other "necessary" tasks around the house. 

I have to get in the shower right now since Sean's mom just got off a plane to stay with us for the rest of the weekend before she has work presentations down here this week...how cool is it that we get to see her two weeks in a row and the three of us get to go to the symphony tonight)...Tchaikovsky and champagne! :)  Schoolwork tomorrow...HAVE to do schoolwork tomorrow...

Dill-icious Chicken Salad

I am laughing at my newly named recipe...dill chicken salad sounded too boring...so dill-licious it is. :)  I just came up with this for the first time this afternoon...nothing too creative as far as a recipe goes...but it tasted GOOD so I wanted to share the concoction.   

Ingredients:

3 Chicken breasts boiled and shredded
½ cup of finely chopped celery
2 green onions finely chopped
2/3 cup mayonnaise*
3 tablespoons sour cream*
¼ teaspoon white wine vinegar (just a dash or two)*
¼ teaspoon sugar*
¼ tsp garlic powder*
½ onion powder*
1½ teaspoons dried dill*

Instructions:

Mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, sugar, garlic and onion powder and dill. 

Fold into chicken, celery and green onion.

*All measurements are estimates that I guessed smaller on so please keep in mind you may need to keep adding more to taste

Creamy Caramel Apple Dip

This recipe was actually from an issue of Paper Crafts magazine.

Creamy Caramel Apple Dip

Cream Cheese 8 oz package; softened

Brown Sugar 1/2 cup

Powdered Sugar 1/4 cup

Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon

Toffee Bits 2/3 cup

Mix together all ingredients with a hand-held mixer. Keep refrigerated.

I couldn't resist...

Yesterday it was perfect out...the type of weather that would almost make you believe that Southern California gets to have fall.  After I finished my post on here Mac and I went outside for the rest of the afternoon...I read magazines inbetween jumproping, trying to fly a kite, and tossing a football around.  Right before we went for our walk (that I almost skipped the entire time since I was happy for the cool breeze) I couldn't resist setting out our fall decorations and flags...this probably means it'll be 100+ degrees within a few days, but I'm going to try to be optimistic and proclaim the fall season and enjoy my fake pumpkins and bale of hay. :)

On my mind...

I went outside and took some pictures of the backyard this afternoon...the wagon that seems to be finally flourishing (fingers crossed), one of the two sunflowers that are growing despite the fact I planted tons of seeds, and my clearance red duck from Target...one of those ridiculous things I walked past for months always liking for some reason and never buying...until that magical clearance sticker was on it and then it just had to take up residence next to a rose bush in our backyard.

It's things like our garden actually growing that make me happy...just being grateful that Sean and I have the time to go out together and keep it up and plant more.  That's my attempt at coping...being happy about my garden, being grateful yesterday in the parking lot of Trader Joe's as I watched and waited for a parking spot as a mom loaded her toddler into the car that I can just hop in and out of my car endlessly with no seat-belts to buckle but my own...it's how I cope. 

Three years ago this month we found out about our infertility...we had been trying to get pregnant for about five months (after I dragged my feet for a couple of years until I felt ready) and my mom suggested we just look into it...start with a sperm analysis...and that's where we ended too. You know the rest of the story (and if not it's recorded here somewhere)...and you know I don't talk about it too much nowadays.  In all honesty it's just because I'm coping...whether it's denial only time will tell, but I just try to constantly remind myself of how lucky I am and that this has all happened for a reason...over and over. 

Even now when a second wave hits...so many of those friends, neighbors, and co-workers that have had a baby since we started trying are now having their second children.  I pretty sure Sean told me he sat at lunch yesterday with three of his fellow teachers that are newly pregnant with their second children as everyone at the table discussed how many kids they wanted to have.  I don't if it's funny or sad or what, that it's such a ludicrous idea to me now to think of how many children to have.  I used to have those thoughts, but it's a privilege I don't have anymore. 

So I cope...I think about the child I'm so lucky to have and maybe because that's enough for me...maybe because there could never be another soul on this planet that would be more perfect for me to be a mom to.  I remind myself that the grass is always seems greener...that having a certain number of children doesn't necessarily complete you or make your life exactly what you've always wanted.  I've compared infertility to that girl who so badly wants to meet her mate...that person who completes her...and that it isn't until she realizes that she in fact can feel complete all on her own that she has the best chance of truly finding what she's looking for.  I've stopped looking...instead I'm working on being complete...on finding the little happy things...and three years later just coping as best I can.

I'm sure I've said some, if not all, of this stuff before...life is just the same and sometimes it weighs more heavily on my mind then other days...right now is really one of those times so I guess my coping today is to say it outloud (or as loud as typing can be)...talking about it always helps...it helps get it out of my head where it can seem like it's on an endless, unproductive cycle...so thank you for reading these thoughts yet again...in a lot of ways this blog has been my ultimate way to cope.

Sean's 30th Birthday Weekend...

So plans were in the works for almost a year...it popped into my head that he surprised me with my friends for my 30th so I would get him his family.  His Mom and Dad coming wasn't a surprise, nor was his party, but his brother, sister-in-law and niece were...well almost...he had sort of a clue they might be coming, but claims he was pretty thrown off and surprised they were actually here.

Our sister-in-law had never been to California so we had to hit Disneyland when they got off the plane on Friday and then the beach yesterday...or rather the beach hit us when we were unassumingly standing well away from the water and a wave managed to hit just right and soak most of us literally from head to toe...thankfully we had just had lunch at the hotel and were down on their private beach so we were able to get some towels and try to shower sand off...all the while in shock, but laughing this would make a great story for them to take home to Iowa.

We got some family photos in the front yard last night before Sean's parent's flight back home to Oregon and then his brother and family left us in tears at the airport this morning...we hadn't seen them in almost two years and just had the BEST time with them...darn Iowa and California being so far apart.

Oh and the party...a big sports arena bounce house...green and gold jello shots...make your own "Sean-tini's"...lots of BBQ and big baked potatoes...our holiday tree decorated with all the various Sean photos hanging by green and yellow ribbons...Sean's mom's homemade cakes one with vanilla frosting one with peanut butter frosting especially for Sean decorated by Mac who carefully sorted all the green and yellow M&Ms out of two five pound bags...and lots of friends and family.

It wasn't my birthday, but it might as well have been since it all felt like a gift to me...

And now it's Monday and I have to admit all three of our hearts are a little heavy with the letdown...Sean heads back to work tomorrow and I already have lots to do for school...then there's all the laundry and cleaning...not the most fun day, but I guess we have to get back to normal.  A bright spot is getting to see this...three hours of taping shrunk down into an impressive several minutes...not because I was all that good, but because I seemed relatively concise, my voice wasn't as nasally as it usually can be, and I don't think you can see all the sweat...the magic of editing. :)