Floors done, Wall not.

The quandary of the unfinished project...I would like to claim that I have so many ideas that I have to keep moving forward and start new projects but perhaps I am avoiding completion. When something is "finished" it is ready for criticism. If you see a painting before it is done or eat cookie dough when it is simply eggs and sugar, you are not getting the whole story, it can't be judged.
So this attempt at a blog post is the perfect example of what I am trying to discuss...I started it a week ago and then stopped after the first few sentences. Why? Maybe one of the dogs needed to go outside. Maybe my boys were fighting over who is the rightful owner of a Lego guy. Right now my breakfast is sitting half eaten on the kitchen counter because I remembered that I never put the load of jeans in the dryer...which brought my thoughts back to an unfinished Blob Post. So the cycle continues, my life keeps getting in the way. I am going to go finish my breakfast and coffee and then, as I say to my kids, I will be back in "just a minute".
I am back, it was three minutes, but here is my issue. I have a laundry list of unfinished tasks and projects in my house and in my studio. I continually add to the list at a much faster rate then I cross things off. For year I blame having babies in the house but now my kids are at school from 8-3 and gone every other weekend so now I can only blame myself? Yes, things come up and I have other responsibilities that bump my fun stuff to the side but what is the difficulty in being done?
I have to go walk the dogs...

Red Bull

I have spent most of my day obsessing over Red Bull and honestly I wish I wasn't but for some reason it has wrapped itself around my head and won't let go. The only time I have had a Red Bull was after finishing a Triathlon, this is what they are for, an energy drink...and well I ended up doubled over, taking long slow breaths trying to keep from vomiting. So not a fan to start, so what is the obsession?
I try to eat healthy, and feed my kids well. I am trying to teach them to make good choices about what they put in their bodies. We won't go to the beach without slathering on the sun screen. We strap everyone down with car seats and seat belts. I even wore a helmet skiing this year. All of this is done to protect us and hopefully we get to live a long, healthy life, but then with out much thought we fill our bodies with too much sugar, fat and preservatives. Yes, I have been called a "food nazi", it is one of the things I am passionate about.
 I have a theory, "Junk in, Junk out". Red Bull is chemicals plus water, sugar and caffeine. If you take out the sugar, add aspartame. So is it any different then a diet coke or mountain due? Not really, yet it is advertised as an "energy drink". So maybe that is what is bothering me...the advertising. It is a masterfully marketed item directed at kids. I ask, Who wouldn't want wings? Red Bull sponsors, base jumpers, bmx riders, racecar drivers, freestyle boarders and what is a "wingsuit pilot". This is every boys dream. (Young girls got stuck with Twilight, and yes, I read 3 out of 4). Is there a benefit to drinking Red Bull?  Besides the headaches, increased heart rate and eventual crash. Is it any different then coffee? Coffee is natural, so yes, but even that is consumed for its caffeine. I ordered coffee at a new place yesterday and watched as four scoops of sugar went into the cup. I had to stop her and ask for one scoop only.
So what is my point? I wish I could eat anything I want and not feel guilty. I wish when I drank that Diet Coke today, first one in weeks, it hadn't made me feel ill. I wish I had tried the "reverse boston cream pie" doughnut, but I didn't. Instead I am going to make a flour less chocolate cake from scratch with my daughter. I wish I could block the advertisers on TV...I could go on, but I can smell cake.
Feel free to call me names because I do drink red wine, I do eat chocolate and I do drink coffee for the caffeine all of which have been known to have ill effects.

maybe tonight?

So I did not get to watch my movie. I did reach out to someone, gave some forgiveness and received some in return. Makes for a better day then a movie.

Endless possibilities

Tomorrow is March 1st, 59 days into a new year. By now most resolutions have been forgotten or broken. Have all good intentions gone to the way side? It is easy to think about all that we have not accomplished so far this year but I am going to try to think of all I have accomplished in 2011.
I watch my dogs as they sit on the steps and wonder what they are waiting for. Are they hopping for a rabbit or perhaps a deer to appear? They are limited by a fence. The mass amounts of snow this year did give them a few opportunities to escape and venture out into the woods, but for me and you the possibilities are endless. What am I waiting for? Is today the day to put on the snow shoes before winter is gone? To clean out the closet, sort the toys? Or is it bigger? Make the call to someone we have been missing. Ask for forgiveness, give forgiveness? Share a dream or a secret with a friend? Go back to school?
Today I am going to watch a movie that has been sitting on my desk for a month...tomorrow, who knows?

5 o'clock somewhere

I am not usually an early riser but when I do manage I am always so glad I did. The morning offers a whole new set of gifts. I do not recall ever seeing a morning like this. The air was a crisp 12 degrees, no wind and the whisper of a dog barking in the distance. I selfishly kept it to myself and did not wake the others sleeping in the cabin. A moment all my own. I do not get many, and really I do not want many. Why was I up so early? To go work, to take a drive, to pick up my daughter and hopefully get a glimpse of my boys...to go back home.

Happy Valentines Day

                                                              Happy Valentines Day


Love can come for a reason, a season and if we are lucky enough for a life time. It comes in many shapes and sizes. It can bring tears. It brings great joy. I feel blessed this day to know that I am a giver of love, a receiver of love and I hope I am smart enough to be a protector of love. 

New Yorker

 

January is generally a month of reorganizing for me. The major holidays are done and I start to think about the year ahead. I entered the cover contest to see what I would come up with and try something new. I didn't make the cover but it was sure fun trying. Enjoy my versions of Eustace Tilley.