Finished at Last

I am very happy to report that I have finally gotten both my 4 by 4 Fatbook pages and my ATCs for the swap hosted by Bee Shay for ArtFest finished and mailed off. Whew! What a relief it was to have both of those packages off and away, and then to hear that both had arrived safely. It hung over my head while I was south with Annie and family that the deadlines were fast approaching. I did manage to finish the little teddy bears for the ATCs while I was with them. (Finding time for sitting and cutting out and assembling things when taking care of a two-year-old and a newborn isn't easy! How soon we forget just how much energy the little ones suck out of their caregiver each day.) I came home last weekend exhausted. I am now getting caught up on my sleep, if not my chores.

I am happy with the ATCs. I like the little bear and had fun "designing" her clothes. The name, of course, comes from Teesha and Tracy Moore, hence TT Teddy. The theme for ArtFest this year is 'A Walk in the Woods' and for some odd reason all I could think of was that old song, The Teddy Bears' Picnic. That's where the idea for the teddy bear paper doll came from, I think....maybe not. The inner working of my mind is a scary, scary place and not one I really want to poke around in too much or too often.

Little TT should be well prepared for the journaling party down at the beach on Thursday night.

It was nice to arrive home to weather I associate with winter, rather than the 70 degree plus weather I left in San Diego. (Annie and I took Alex to LegoLand on Saturday and it was hot!) There have been two hummingbirds hanging around in the front yard in the flowering quince and I got lucky and got a shot of one of them the other day. He actually (she?) sat still for me. I can see that spring will come again as the crocus are coming up fast and the daffodils are pushing their way out of the ground, too. The early primroses are all beginning to bloom and the hellebores are all blooming, too. I am especially fond of a white one I got at the Flower and Garden show last year. I love the way the berries look when they are dripping with rain. The garden smells lush right now, full of promise. I am getting excited about having a vegetable garden agan this year as I don't have any long trips planned for the summer months. I have missed all my varieties of lettuce and the taste of home grown tomatoes. I think I'll try a few pumpkins this year, too. Maybe I will be able to provide Emma and siblings with their own Jack O'Lantern come October.

Limbo

I am stuck at the San Jose airport, waiting for a flight to Seattle. I left San Diego early this afternoon for a short trip home, to recharge my emotional batteries, pay bills, cuddle my cats, see my friends, kiss my DH and mail my ArtFest ATCs and Fatbook pages. I will return to Annie and Family on Wednesday for another week or two of helping out where I can. But, in the meantiime, I am in limbo at the San Jose airport. It was one of those nightmarish travel scenarios....I watched the flight move from "On Time" to delayed by an hour to delayed by two hours to delayed by three hours. I'm almost afraid to go look at the departure board any more for fear it will say, "See Agent." I want to GO HOME. I want to sleep in my own bed! I want my house for a day or two. I have nothng personal against San Jose or their aiirport, but I don't want to be here!!!!!!!!

Waaaaaaaaah!

Gee, I think, maybe, that I have been spending a lot of my time with a crankypants two-year-old and a newborn. I am so tired. I haven't been this tired since my babies were little, a long, long, long, long, LONG time ago. I love getting up for the middle of the night feedings with Ian. I love to cuddle his warm little body close and give him his bottle and listen to his little piggy noises while he sucks down another 4+ ounces of formula. I love to see him looking up at me, studying me as if to say, "Well. That's a grandma, huh?" I love it. But am I tired! You really do need to be young to be a parent, and I am not young any more. (And tonight I feel like 763 years and counting!)

I need to go home, close my bedroom door and have a good cry.

I am so grateful for the outcome of my daughter's illness. I am so very grateful for my beautiful new grandson. I am so grateful for my family and my life and even for my weariness.

I am also sorry to burden any of you who might be reading this with my little airport irritations and my whining about being tired, but this seems as good a place as any to vent. And you, kind reader, shoud go do something intersting/fun/useful/else. I will, too.....Thanks for listening.

Welcome Ian Christopher!

On Monday, January 14th, Ian Christopher entered the world, weighing in at 8 pounds 15 ounces and measuring 20 inches long. He has his father's long, double-jointed fingers and eyes we think (hope!) will be brown. He has dimples! He is perfect and adorable and very, very mellow. I am not a doting grandmother...I am NOT! All these things are true. You'll see...just wait until I have ability to upload photos. You'll see! He really, truly is perfect.

My daughter has had an unexpected and severe problem with labor and delivery and still is in the hospital. While it is taking much longer than any of us would like for her to get well enough to be released, at least we are comforted knowing that she is getting better daily and expected to make a full recovery. I have told her firmly that she needs to stop scaring her mother. It's not nice.

Ian's big sister, Alex, is rather blaise about the new addition to the family. She will obligingly give his head a kiss when asked, but really is much more interested in watching Dora the Explorer on TV or playing Play Doh. Poor Alex is missing her Mommy very much, as are we all.

I will be in California for the next several weeks, helping out as much as I can.

New Year

I came back from California just in time to turn around and head up to Grant Creek for the holiday weekend. I love being at the cabin for the new year. It's peaceful and cozy and I can go to bed at 10:30 and not feel like a party pooper! I will readily admit that my party days are long over. (And I don't miss them, either.) I worked on my 4 x 4 fatbook pages for the ArtFest swap and also on the ATCs for the ArtFest ATC book that Bee hosts each year. I have to get them both done and sent off my February 1st, so the imputess is certainly there!

We had snow at the cabin. Not a lot, not enough to even make us stay put, but snow. For once I could really enjoy it, and I did. It was so pretty falling down in huge, fluffy flakes but so very wet that I knew that the first car to pass over the road would cause it all to melt away---which it did. I made soup and baked bread, watched movies, worked on my art swaps and had a lazy, lovely New Year holiday weekend.....

.....and then last Friday I turned around and went back to the cabin and did it all over again! More snow, too, but not the kind that lasts.

I leave for San Diego very early on Sunday morning and will be away for two weeks. I am heading south to be there for my daughter as she is to be delivering her new baby, a boy. I will take care of the "big" sister (who is two) while Mom is in the hospital. Chris will be with Annie for most of her hospital stay. Alex and I will hold down the fort. I am sure there will be lots of coloring, trips to the park, Play Doh and books to be read. I am really looking forward to my trip to welcome the first grandson, but I suspect that I'll be getting little sleep for the next few weeks! Well, what's a grandma for?

Jen and I saw this balloon one day just before Christmas while we were out shopping. We chased the balloon all over the place, trying to find a good spot for photo or two. Finally we roared into a drug store parking lot that had a great view of the balloon with the moon in the background. I was pleased that while we were snapping away a big, black pick up truck roared into the lot, came screeching up to were we were parked, slammed into a parkng slot and the door flew open and another photographer leaped out to take his own shots

I was lucky enough to get one of LK Ludwig's Snow Jollies. I had LK send it to San Diego so I could enjoy it during the Christmas holiday while I was down there. We all enjoyed it! My little jolly has the sweetest expression and personality. I put her (It? Him?) in the branches of Annie's tree for this portrait.

The biggest personal happening in this new year is my decision that the 2008 season will be my last on the board of the art festival. Once I get through June, I will be resigning my position on the board, with great regret, to have more time to be able to help Kellie with the forthcoming twins. I know that she will need lots of help next year, both with the new additions and with Emma, and I think I need to be there for them all. I will have given the festival three years and for now, anyway, that's going to have to be enough. Perhaps I'll go back in a few years when the twins are older and life more settled. (Is life ever settled? Would I want it to be?)