Change of Direction, Again

I quit!  I'll no longer be pursuing art as a career. Hobby, yes. I'm addicted, and will never give it up. But it's time to accept that I'll never make any money at it. (In fact, far less than the cost of supplies.)  So it's on to something different... details to be revealed later.

In other news, it's October, and I think we hit 90 degrees today. Global warming, anyone?  Maine and NH are starting to look better and better all the time. (Too bad they are not full of web developer jobs.)  Ah, well, winter is coming, and with it, some beautiful snow!  It's time to start planning a really outlandish snowman. Or snowcreature. Something made of snow, anyway, and of exorbitant size and creativity.  I remember the snow sculptures my mom made when I was a kid (creature from the black lagoon, great white shark, etc.) and it's time to introduce Zoe to the concept.

Come on snow!

The Runaround

The Good:  Danny's company switched insurance companies, so we'll have better insurance and save a couple of hundred dollars a month.

The Bad:  The new insurance went into effect 10/1, but they can't supply us with any information yet, other than it's BCBS. No id#, no group#, nothing. Danny spent a lot of time on the phone today trying to get info, because Zoe has an appointment tomorrow.  And yet, we have no proof of coverage.

The Relief:  The doc will wait to file the claim until we have that information, so we don't have to pay for it out of pocket.

Argh. Insurance. Can't live with it, can't live without it.

Day 2

Day 2 of the blog challenge, and again I have nothing important to say!

But it was a nearly perfect day:  Started out cool, then got into the mid-70's.  The trees are starting to turn, so there's an abundance of gold and rust leaves.  The mosquito population is thinning out.

Danny was at the Chief's game today, so I took Zoe to UU (I have a really hard time calling it "church", because it doesn't relate to the churches that left a bad taste in my mouth for years.) and caught up with friends. Then on to her soccer game, to watch the girls run with abandon - sometimes in the wrong direction - across the field.

The coach of the other team was a bit of a tosser, though.  Many parents - of both teams - were muttering about his manner. "Chill out, man," someone said. "He does realize these are first-graders, right?" said another. "Glad MY child isn't on his team."

A coach of elementary school soccer really shouldn't be telling a little girl to "get your lazy ass off the field. Now!"

But questionable coaches aside, it was a fabulous day.  And since Zoe doesn't have school tomorrow, I think I shall take her to breakfast, and then a long walk at the aboretum. Let a pleasant Monday commence!

It's October already?

I guess it is!

I've signed up for NaBloWriMo, or National Blog Writing Month, in which participants attempt to post something on their blog every single day during the month of October.

We'll see how well I do.

We've been releasing late monarch butterflies this week - we raised 3 from caterpillars, and the first emerged from its chrysalis on Monday, one yesterday, and the final one today. They'd better head south quickly... it's getting into the 40's at night, and the trees are starting to turn.

Another sure sign of fall in this area is the Louisburg Cider Mill corn maze. So we headed down today to get lost in the maize (yeah, yeah.)

Zoe grabbed the map from Danny and insisted we follow her (though I don't think she consulted the map at all.) Surprisingly, she actually led us through very quickly. I was truly surprised.   But that was the only enjoyable part of the outing - the crowds were horrific, and we actually stood in line for more than half an hour to buy apple cider.  Only to discover the Louisburg Cider Mill cider at the grocery store later in the day. Next year I'm going to remember that, and save myself some time.

Still Working

Acrylics might dry quickly, but doing large paintings with them seems to take a really long time. So very many layers of paint to give them depth. But I promise I'm working on something, and, with a little luck, it should be done in the next few days.

I actually can't wait to finish, because my head is already ready to move on to the next painting.

When Pigs Fly

Kayaking and Miniature Art

The weather was beautiful this morning (not too hot, not too windy) so I took advantage and went kayaking at Shawnee Mission Park with a friend. It was the perfect morning to be out. The frogs were everywhere, and not the least bit worried about us. In fact, many of them let us get close enough to touch them, so I got some good pictures.

I'm planning to do some more miniature paintings to enter into juried exhibits this fall, and one of the bullfrogs was just begging to be painted. I may even post it in progress here, as I work on the painting. I love miniature art - it's kind of unexpected, and can be finished relatively quickly. (Though it can be hard on the back and on the eyes.)

Since I'm alone in the house at the moment (a rarity!) I may get started now.