Tommy

This is Tommy the gun totin' Lego snail who has come to live in our Christmas tree.

Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's the pain meds, but I find him pretty funny.

P.S.  My surgery yesterday went well.  I was home the same day with no complications.  I'm still a little sore and a little loopy from the pain medication.  Right now I'm just taking it easy, but I should be much better in a few days.  The next big thing is the results of the pathology report from the tissue removed.  Hopefully it will be good news.  Thanks for all of your help and prayers and kind thoughts.

P.P.S  Buddy Boy informs me that Tommy is really Jackie and that he isn't funny.  He is really serious.

Night light

Here'e my latest homework from the watercolor tutorial I've been working on.  At this point I'm a couple weeks late even though we had an extra week in there at Thanksgiving.  Oh well, I'm doing more than I would have otherwise and I'm really enjoying it.

This is more of a color sketch than a finished painting.  So the perspective is off and the windows are crooked, but that is OK for this.  It is only 4.5 x 5.5 inches.  I like the colors.  It is kind of a split complementary scheme with blue, red-orange and yellow-orange.  The browns are really just dark versions of the yellow and orange.  That gives the contrast and bold color but it doesn't go rainbow crazy circus. 

I was going for an almost dark late evening effect with the last bit of sun light coming between the houses from the right.  It isn't quite right.  It looks like there is a Walmart parking lot around the corner.  The instructor suggested softer shadow lines to indicate a softer glowing light.  I think the color on the back buildings could also be a bit richer to make it seem less bright and washed out, but still warm.  I'm learning a lot, but still have so much to learn.

I checked out a stack of watercolor books from the library last week.  It's been fun to read them.  Some are really great and others not so much, but I am learning a lot along the way.

It's my party...

It's my party... and I'll dress like a pink ninja if I want to.  
My Girl turned four and we invited a few friends and some family over for a fancy dress party.  Everyone dressed in their fancy finest, except the birthday girl.  She wanted to be a pink ninja again.  So we pulled out the impromptu ninja outfit from Halloween and went with it.  I couldn't argue, looks comfy.

The kids played with the big Legos while everyone arrived.

Then we made party hats and streamer wands. 

This is one of my favorite photos of the day.

One little friend came with his own very dapper hat.

The streamers were for the dancing.  They loved the dancing.  We played songs from the Wiggles and Laurie Berkner Band.

Then it was lunch time so each kid made their own pizza.  The crusts were premade so they got to spread a little sauce, cheese, and olives if they wanted them.  Pop them under the broiler for about 2-3 minutes and you have pizza.  The kids thought that was fun.

Then the cake.  But the candles were missing so we went on a little treasure hunt to find them.  I just used pictures as the clues since at this age they aren't really reading much yet.  They loved it and found the candles and some M&Ms hanging in the lemon tree.

We sang and blew out candles...

and called it a day.

I think everyone had a good time.  I'm so glad.  It's amazing how much throwing a birthday party for a four year old can stress me out.  I'm just not a party planner.

As soon as the party was over and the guests had gone.  Out came the party dress.  But by this time she was done with photos.

Thank you GrandDad for being the event photographer.  I love to have pictures but can't do it all.

Here is the painting that I finally finished.  I could do a bit more tweaking but I'm done.  There are things I really like and other things not so much.  My favorite part is the front of the house and front steps and the glowing light coming from the back left.  I like the colors.  I chose to keep the range of colors pretty narrow and have a lot of value contrast, less like a rainbow circus that way.  I like the suggestion of trees around the house. 

I don't really like the evergreens on the left, too heavy and conical.  I needed something dark to balance out the dark on the right, but it didn't come out quite right.  I don't like the vines over the arbor on the right, too flat, wrong color.  Or the gingerbread men.  I need to work on my figure drawing.

There you have it.  I'm working on my next one, but I am slow.  Life gets in the way.

Beautiful day

Saturday we, and a whole bunch of other people, headed for the beach.  There were more people there today than I have seen all summer.  It was also warmer than most summer days.  (Keep in mind that it was probably all of 65 or 70 degrees.)  It just proves that on any given day you should take shorts and coats to Santa Cruz.  You might  need either or both on any day of the year. 
The monarch butterflies are also a big draw at this particular beach this time of year.  Each year they come to winter in the eucalyptus trees.  It's pretty cool to see so many of them flying around.  In the cooler parts of the day they cluster in the trees which is a pretty amazing sight.

We built two different sand castles, one with and one without a moat full of water.  We had to move down the beach a bit to get the water to stay in.  My Girl specifically requested a castle with a moat and a draw bridge.  Done.



I like the quick sandy sand at the bottom of the holes when the water seeps back in.  Great for toe squishing.

Something else that was pretty fun today was the exceptionally low tide.  You could walk under the bridge.  That doesn't usually even come close to happening.  You can tell by looking at the rock that at times the tide is high enough to nearly cover the opening.  That's a pretty big difference.

The low tide also exposed the anemones, mussels, and a few sea stars.

Beautiful day.

Good bad news

Some news is easier to share than others.  When I was expecting My Girl it took five months or so before I finally told many people I was pregnant.  By that time it was becoming fairly obvious.  This news is a bit more difficult. 

A couple weeks ago I went in for a routine mammogram.  After all I am all of 40 years old.  People say that at 40 everything starts to fall apart.  I didn't believe it until it started to happen.  Extra migraines this summer, shingles, and now this.  The mammogram showed some calcifications.  It looked like salt spilled over a couple areas of the image.  So I had a biopsy.  I spent a miserable weekend waiting for the results, imagining the worst, and then thinking that it was probably nothing.  I was even wondering if I could cut my hair and have a wig made from it.  The results were good bad news.  I have ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a very early stage of non-invasive cancer.  One doctor referred to it as a pre-cancer, abnormal cells that have not invaded the surrounding tissue.  It's been difficult to tell people because of all of the emotional baggage associated with the term cancer.  (This NY Times article was particularly timely.)  Regardless of what it is called the treatment is the same.  I will be having surgery, a lumpectomy,  to remove the offending tissues followed a few weeks later by 3-6 weeks of radiation treatments.  No chemotherapy will be needed so no need for the extreme haircut and wig, thank goodness.  Since the biopsy samples were positive for estrogen and progesterone receptors the anti-hormone medication, tamoxifan, was recommended after all of that.  I'm not looking forward to that one.  It has some significant side effects.  This treatment plan could change depending on what the pathology report says about the tissue removed during surgery.  The biopsy was just a little sliver.  What they saw there wasn't so bad, but it isn't necessarily the same all over.  Other parts could potentially show something else, not so good bad news.  I met with the radiologist, medical oncologist, and surgeon this week in one big long appointment.  It was very informative and helpful, but also a dose of reality.  I can't ignore it.  The surgery will be scheduled next week and happen sometime in December.

With all of this I'm usually doing OK.  I try not to dwell on it too much.  Life goes on.  However, if you are the praying type I'd appreciate any extras you could spare, if not send your happy healing thoughts my way.  Thanks.

Thank you

Happy Thanksgiving!  This came home from preschool the other day.  I like the pink turkey and the Thanksgiving song.  Thanks to all of you.

Painting with wet canvas

When I grow up I want to be an artist.  I find that saying that makes it more real and less of a wish.  I do what I can on my own, but taking classes is tough with little kids.  I haven't done much more than the occasional Saturday workshop at the local community college.  When I heard about the online watercolor tutorial at wetcanvas.com I jumped at the opportunity to have a little class structure and feedback, but I also work at my own pace after the kids are in bed.  It is perfect for my life right now.  We are in the middle of week three right now.  Each week Virgil posts a lesson and an assignment and those who are participating post their work and comments on the homework thread.  The tutorial is on painting buildings loosely and colorfully.  If you check out the tutorial thread you'll see that it is extremely colorful.  There is no attempt at all to have colors realistic.  I like it.  Here's what I've done so far.

He has us start with a photo and make a sketch to get the perspective and values right and establish our "artistic intent" and center of interest.

Here is my first painting.  It is only 5 x 7 inches, pretty small.  It was tricky to get the perspective right on something so small.  I used my half off coupon to Micheals to buy some bigger paper for next week.  I wanted to show the evening light bouncing around under the overhang of the front porch and reflecting off the side of the house on to the ground.

Here's my sketch for week two.  I got some very complimentary comments on it.  I felt all warm and fuzzy.  I've got it sketched out on my watercolor paper and I'll get to painting soon.  I'll show it to you when I'm done.

I'm having a great time and learning a lot.

Halloween... and then some

While some have moved on to Christmas already I still wanted to sum up our Halloween.  The celebrations went on and on.  As Buddy Boy said it was just party, party, party all weekend long.  Friday morning I made gingerbread skeletons for the bake sale at the school carnival.  I love them almost as much as the ninja-bread men.

School let out early each day this week for parent teacher conferences (well timed based on my observation of extremely excited first graders in the classroom on Monday) so we took off for a pumpkin farm.  There were rides...

and straw bales to climb on...

and EXTREMELY large pumpkins...

and best of all a pumpkin blaster.  You could shoot mini pumpkins out of the air powered pumpkin blaster at the targets or the old truck out in the field.  If you hit one of the pumpkins on the truck you get and extra shot.  Dad got an extra shot.

After the pumpkin patch we dressed up for the school carnival.  Minutes before we were to leave My Girl absolutely and completely rejected the fairy costume I had made.  She wanted to be a ninja like her brother, so here she is, the Pink Ninja, complete with sparkly shoes.

Saturday was the trunk or treat at church.  We were rather late since My Girl fell asleep.  I didn't want to wake her.  We got there in time to collect a bit of candy and see some of the great costumes and car decorations.  Each year I am impressed.

Monday morning was full of costume parades.  Here is Buddy Boy's class.  His teacher was Harry Potter.  I really liked the wheel made from duct tape.  It's probably hard to find a good wheel costume in the stores.

The teachers really got in to the spirit of the event dressing as different characters from the Harry Potter books.  I especially liked the sorting hat.

I left school early to make it to preschool for their parade.  Each year they dress up, trick or treat at the office, and then sing their Halloween songs for the parents.  It is all pretty cute.  This time the fairy costume was the top choice.

After school we finally got around to carving the pumpkins.  Buddy Boy has enjoyed the fact that he looks a little like a Jack o'lantern himself this year with so many teeth missing or partially grown in.

There was some intense concentration.

And bunny ears.

I wondered if what used to be the main event would be rather anticlimactic.  I shouldn't have worried.  They were more than excited.  It was a lot of fun to go with friends around the neighborhood.  My Girl was a little bit amazed at the whole experience.  After each door she would run back and say, "They gave me a treat!", completely thrilled with the idea.  The fact that it happened again and again and she got to do it with one of her best friends was just too much.

By the time we got home they just dropped, ate a little candy, and went to bed early.  I call that a success.

Poetry on Police Jones

While My Girl and I were making jack o lanterns with hula crowns and blue birthday hats, Buddy Boy decided to write some poetry.  Check it out on the Police Jones website.