Hi! I fell off the panet again,

but I am back in the blogosphere again.

I am so remiss in the care and feeding of this little bloggy. I have been spending much of my time working on the Art For Food blog and google group (link on the blog in sidebar), and taking action in that project. I would love it if you took a gander and let me know what you think. It could use some comments to liven it up!

Other snatches of my time are being spent here, writing transcripts for both kids, and working to meet a Friday deadline of turning them in to the online high school they both want to attend in September. I will be done teaching in two months! I will still supervise and support, but no longer will I be responsible for creating courses, shopping for textbooks, scheduling, planning and executing their schoolwork! And someone else can write their bloody transcripts for the next few years!

I can go back to just being Mom, and spend several hours a day at TurtleWorks. Do you know how exciting all of this is?

Oh- I forgot to tell you. Piano Girl will be skipping 8th grade and going straight into ninth. How cool is that? I am really proud of her.

To have that time to really devote to and really focus on my art. Happy sigh. A dream come true. A miracle I cannot wait to experience. I have to admit to being envious to many of the artists whose blogs are in my sidebar. They have concentrated chunks of time they can work in, and actually finish what they start! They are real artists, and this is another step on my path to being a full-time working artist, and being a contribution to my family through my art. Woot!!

Talk soon,
LB

Tidbit: Angst

I am so fighting mother angst right now. Why is it that it just doesn't seem to matter how much I accomplish or how positive I have worked to be- there is always something very important I didn't get done, one more nice thing I could have said, etc.

Midnight tidbit from the studio depths

Howdy. I want to be asleep, but am wide awake. I slept soundly from 10:30 to midnight, then woke right up. Happens sometimes. Doesn't help when the queen size bed seems to shrink- what with the 6 ft. tall Dude sleeping in the middle, the two cats occupying the bottom, and these pesky hot flashes, the bed seems much smaller than it is. So I am down here in the basement depths, in the dark, hoping to get sleepy again soon. Seven am is going to be here before I know it!
G'night!
LB

Tidbits: Self-pitty in the past and garden time.

Howdy! I am here, and done feeling sorry for myself. That is pretty much how I spent the whole day yesterday, and it felt so wasted, and I felt very isolated. Enough of that!

Today, we are schooling, and working on clearing the garden beds. I also have some bills to pay.

Our dear friend Mr. B. is going to bring his tiller over on Friday and help till my garden, so we must get it ready! The kids are already outside, so I must get out there. PG has her baby chickens out- I will try to find my camera (I *THINK* I brought it home from Dy's, but cannot find it anywhere!) and take some photos of them and the new coop- they have really grown!

That is it for now- I will post more later, just wanted you to know I am here and done with yesterday's pity party.
Hugs,
LB

Tidbits: Freeform to do list

Okay. It is Wed at 11 am. Freeform is all I have in me.

I rose at 6 to wake the boy, had him to school by 7. Enjoyed a good morning call from my Man.
Head pounding, back to bed till 9:30. I slept right through the alarm I never sleep through.

GodFather's peptalk, Excedrine, and a loooonnngg hot shower have me feeling human again.
Today's aromatherapy: The Foil Hat's Green Tea and Linden soap. Her Sinus soap (can't remember the catchy name with my head like this.) would have been perfect.

The luggage is on one couch, laundry on the other.
Off to run yesterday's errands, love on Gramma, and buy a bunch of meds.
Deliver chicks to our chicken-sitters, and be chicken-sitters ourselves.

Race to pick the Boy up on time, and get ready for our weekend adventure.
Will pack art journaling supplies, tarot cards, and my sunhat.
Some C.S. Lewis, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, too.

Thanks for the thoughts, I am ever manifesting my healthy, joyful self.
Hugs, and I will talk to you on Monday. And I will be healthy and happy.
LB

A Tidbit- For all of you..........

Hi there guys.
Howdy ladies.
Just a tidbit for my pals and my blog buddies.
A simple poem is all I can muster-
Guess I am a feather duster.
Headache and spelling quells not my mood,
with 8 windows open, vicadin and dwts- I'm doin' good.*
Therapy and love from blogs and boards- real or real not they may be.
But they are swell for chicks like you and little round turtles like me.


........for all you are to me.

*And I do have a migraine- all y'all know you wouldn't have passed up the chance to use the verb quell.
Insert Smilies and Hugs,
LB
aka Needleroozer

Tidbits: New Car, Hens, and Self-portrait-Before

Hey folks, How was your Monday? Hope it went well.

I have been asked for photos of my new (to me) car. Here he is, in all his glory. His name is Almanzo, and I call him Manny and Manly for nicknames. Y'all know how much I like nicknames. And yes, it is straight out of the Little House books. You can see the old van in the background. I need to get it ready to be sold. Sigh. Something else on my to-do list today. (I did make my to do list for the week, and it is long!!)Here I am, posing. This is it- if you want a sexy, leggy blond slung over the hood of a car, you will have to look elsewhere.
And here is a closeup- consider it my before photo. I am keeping it real here folks, thus the bags under the eyes, the little mustache I have going, brows that need to be plucked (unless you like the Freida look), and that hair- oh the hair. It is so long! It is starting to curl up over my collar in the back, and is starting to bug me around the ears. And those dutch-boy bangs. Ick. Like I said though, this is the before photo- not sure what the new haircut will look like- I am at the point where I just may take the scissors to it myself, or hand the clippers to a kid. But by the end of this week, it will be short again- the way I like it! One thing I do like about this photo is that it shows my thinner neck and my lack of a double chin. Losing that 20 pounds really shows in my face (before the camera puts the weight back on). I am starting to look more like myself. Now if I can just lose another 20 pounds before my vacation in May.
And this next photo has nothing to do with cars or makeovers. Our version of The Chicken Sisters were apparently starving this afternoon, and were following me around as I was taking photos outside. I gave them some feed and then snapped this photo. From left to right, we have Chickie-Boo, Goldie, and Lucy. Annabelle, our adopted red hen, was in the coop at the time.
There ya' go- photos and everything!
LB

Tidbits: Feeling Better, Traveling Dude

Happy Monday, and Happy St. Patrick's Day. I am feeling much better today, thank you. I don't have much strength in my right arm, and will have to keep my neck and back warm today, but I am definitely on the mend. I need to make a to-do list today, and just slowly work through it this week.

The Dude left yesterday evening for a week-long training session in Colorado, so I am going it alone in the parenting world this week. Wish me patience and grace. I am gonna need it.

Will try to post photos later today, gotta go teach the kids a bit, get the Boy to classes, and then start on that to-do list.

T.T.F.N.
L.B.

Tidbit: Ouchie-boo-boo Entertainment

Well invisible friends, I almost made it through the winter without my neck/back going out. Those who know me know I have a 20+ yr old whiplash injury plus the injury from our hit-and-run almost 2 yrs ago. The scar tissue from the old injury really affected the healing of the newer one, and it took over a year of physical therapy this last time around just to have full mobility of my right arm and my neck. Because of these injuries, it is really important that I keep my neck warm and not catch any drafts over my shoulders during the winter.

Yesterday morning when I first bundled up on the couch, I wasn't wearing a sweater, and caught a chill. I can tell because at 5 am today, I woke up with terrible spasms in my right shoulder. So now after resting for two days, I get to rest again. I am dosed up on Ibuprofin, have a water pitcher nearby, and my failthful heating pad on my neck as we speak. Over the years I have learned how to manage this pain, and that if I take care of myself properly as soon as it starts, how to make it last as short of a time as possible. So I will get off this thing in a minute and go back to sleep if I can. If not, maybe my phone will ring, and I can spend some time chatting with one invisible friend or another.

To keep you entertained while I am away, here are a few links. First off, is a wonderful lesson on drawing with pastels from Lisa at PercyTruffle's Place. Lisa has a wonderful blog with lots of wonderful art to look at. She does double duty as a homeschool mama as well, so there is fun stuff to read about that topic as well. Search for Pysansky eggs on her blog, or look at the polymer chess set her son created. Pretty and inspiring.

Next up is the Quilting Arts Blog. QA is one of my two fave magazines, and always has pages of interesting things I want to try. The blog is just as interesting. I really want to order the first season of the QA tv show. See if it is available to watch on your PBS station.

And, because it is starting to be warmer and I can see the buds popping from my bedroom window, here are some wonderful ideas on how to incorporate Nature Study into your life. Many of these ideas seem like they are just for mothers of small children, but honestly, any human being on this planet can benefit from being out of doors and being in nature. Enjoy.

For your viewing pleasure, I give you two art journal technique videos, both from Millande. The first one is how to make different backgrounds for journaling, and the second one is journaling with circles. I had a lot of fun working with circles in my journal this week, maybe you will too.

Last but not least, is one of my fave inspirational blogs, Shades of White. The pictures alone are worth the trip (click).

Have a great weekend, and I will do my best to take care of myself. Give me a call if you get bored- you know where I will be- and I will most likely be bored.
Hugs,
LB

Tidbits: Sick Me, Toddler-Boy, and Mola Assignment

I have been under quite a bit of family-related stress this week, and it seems to have caught up with me. (I won't go into details about the specific issues, but have you noticed how stress can do this??) I noticed Thursday morning when I awoke that I was a bit sore in my lower back and hips, and my joints felt a bit stiff. This achy feeling grew through the day, as I carried, lifted, cuddled, chased, sang to, and played with my toddler buddy Abe. (I will talk more about Abe in a minute.) I stopped by the grocery on our way home to pick up a pizza or three so I wouldn't have to cook, and it was all I could do to walk through the store, and I was so C-O-L-D in the freezer isle!! By the time we were home, it was all I could do to move, and I was so exhaused I was yawning constantly. Being with a toddler is not usually this physically draining for me, so I knew something was up. So I have been laying in bed, or on the couch, with a heating pad on my lower back, wrapped up in all the afghans and quilts I can find, trying to rest, and directing the kids from here. We watched "For Your Eyes Only" last night, and then I actually got 9 hours of sleep.

My goal today is to only get up to go to the bathroom, which I plan to do often as I am going to drink so much water my eyes float- gonna flush out the toxins that are causing me such achiness. I have my art journal stuff still packed from yesterday, so I may work on that for a bit to keep from getting bored or getting too sucked into the internet. I will have to take the Boy to the High School, but other than that, they can take care of themselves and me today.

I did have fun with my sweet toddler-boy yesterday. When we started this relationship with the BPTOTP (Best Piano Teacher On The Planet), I had no idea that one of the perks for me was going to be having a special relationship with her baby. I love being "Nanny" again, and teaching, learning with, and loving this special little fella. Abe is getting so big now, and doing so much more fun stuff. He is now tall enough to stand on a stool in the kitchen beside me (instead of on the counter with my arm on his chubby leg, making sure he doesn't topple off) as I make our lunch, recognizing letter sounds and shapes ("Nanny, draw a diamond for Abe."), etc. His language abilities have really grown in this last month, and he has grown so tall and thin I can't believe it! He is becoming a little boy now, leaving so much of the toddler traits behind, although he still has those wonderfully chubby toddler hands and feet (I still love to nibble on his toes and hear his little giggle.). He referred to himself as "I" yesterday instead of "Abe" several times. Abe is also so very 2.5 lately. He is discovering whining, hitting, demanding, and the word "NO!". It is good that he keeps my inner preschool-teacher on her toes! I do love Thursdays with Abe.

In the art area, I haven't been doing much, but I have been working in my art journal. I will take photos of my journal work when complete- I am working on a specific asignment, one I got from SuziBlu. Her work is a very different style than mine, but her video challenges are very inspiring. This assignment is to do a journal entry on your"power animal", mola style. I am working on two different renderings of my totem animal. Bet you can guess what animal I am working with. Bet you can. I have actually been quite inspired by a number of artists doing YouTube videos on art journaling- not all of them are as wacky and fun as Suzi, but inspiring none-the-less.

Okay, off to get a handful of Ibuprofin, a pitcher of water, and maybe another quilt.
Hugs,
LB

It's the little things.......

Okay, here's the set-up: Yesterday was my oldest sister's birthday, and I had that little rough painting to give her, and she only lives about 15 blocks away from Piano Girl's teacher, so I stopped by there this afternoon and put her gift on her front porch.

I had just got back in the car and buckled my seatbelt, when who should pull up but my nephew, S (until I come up with a cool blog nickname for him). He had just come from getting new brakes and tires on his old car (my soon-to-be new car), and had stopped by to see if his mom was home and could drive him to the car repair place to get his new car (his brother, C's car). She wasn't, but I was. So we followed him home where he dropped off his old car, got to have a tour of his house, and then dropped him off at the car repair place so he could get his new car. It was perfect timing and I was glad to see him and glad to be of service. And what happened next is what has had me smiling the entire evening.

As he was saying goodbye, he kissed me. Just like he always did when we said goodbye when he was a kid (We have always been a kissy family.). Such a small gesture, but so very special. You know how with some people, you can go for a long time without seeing them, but when you do, it is like you have only been apart a week? It has been like that with S, and I just feel so blessed to be a part of his life again. He is an amazing, inteligent young man, who is a joy to be around. It makes me happy just to be spending time with him. It is wonderful to share in his life, and have him be active in his cousins' lives again- my kids adore him, and he and the Boy have a great deal in common. I think S may be the mentor/friend we have been seeking for the Boy for so long.

I think there may be another benefit here too- the grief we all feel as we deal with C's death is still painfully real and constant, but I think (hope?) it will help to be coping with it together as a family. Being able to talk to S, and to hear how he is feeling has been so helpful with coping with my own feelings, and being supportive of his parents.

That's it. Thought I would share with you. Amazing how so small a thing can put an old auntie on cloud nine.
Ta Ta For Now
LB

LB and the Bad Feeling Fairy.

I was planning on blogging yesterday, but it just didn't come. It was one of those days.
I woke up at 4 am with such a feeling of impending doom- you know, where you just can feel it in your bones- something B. A. D. is going to happen, but you don't know exactly what or to whom. I have had this sixth sense my whole life, but it was hard to ignore, or identify today. And then to complicate matters, my Girly was flying home from a weekend visit with our dear friends, the G family. Mr. G. is a flight attendant (bless him) and makes sure the Girlies get to spend as much time together as possible. He flies up and back, and then up and back again, to deliver one girl or another so the two best friends can spend a few weekends a year together. I love him for this.

*But* I was locked up all morning, until my Girl was home. I guess we are all coping with my nephew's death fairly well, but one thing that has happened is that I have a very hard time surrendering my kids to other folks- putting their safety and well-being in the hands of another adult- the Boy rides home with someone from his weekly seminar, the Girl on the plane, etc. I called Dy twice yesterday, being reassured that this was a little silly, but normal under the circumstances, and did my best to let go.

I thought the feelings would let up once the Girl was home, but they didn't. Instead, the Boy and I had a stoopid ugly fight. It wasn't just a disagreement, or an argument, it became a fight. You know, the kind you can NEVER win with a teenager- you ask, they resist, you insist, they resist harder, you demand and persist, they resist, then rebel. It sucks. It really sucks. We were finally able to regroup, acknowledge how each of us were being that kept the fight going, the yucky impact of that behaviour on each and all of us, we apologized, and everything, but. But I even had a lovely phone conversation with the Traveling Dude, where he reaffirmed how close and loving our family is. But even after watching Ratatoulle with the Girl, I still couldn't pull it out. It was the whole dark cloud thing all over again.

And I seem to have woken up with it still hanging over my head. How do you regroup and reaffirm when you have had a bad day the day before? How do you successfully let it go?

Here is my plan: I journaled last night for the first time all year. (Again, not very successful yet with my goals.) I think I will journal again today, and see if anything left over from yesterday needs to bubble up and out, and then maybe I can create something amazing for this day.

I have made a healthy breakfast, I will move my body today, I will do laundry, and make art. It will all be okay. Hopefully even better than okay. Thanks for listening.
LB

Tidbit: Goals

Okay. Here's the thing. We are a week into the new year, and so far, I have not been even working on my goals/intentions for the new year. I do not want to make myself wrong for this, I just want to be intentional. From this minute, with no worries about the past week.

So today I will move my body, I will spend some time on my normal household chores, and I will work on taking the Christmas decorations down and putting them away neatly. I will also work with each child to get a checklist created for the rest of their school week. If I have time (I will try to MAKE the time), I will head to the studio- I need to take photos of yesterday's mail goodies, and work on bases for thank you cards.

I will not make myself wrong if I do not get to all of these. I will just be intentional in my day.
How are you doing with your goals a week into the new year?
LB

Updated at 7:30 pm to say that I did get all the decorations sorted and put away- I even filled a brown paper sack with Christmas stuff to donate. We have washed, dried, and folded several loads of wash, swept the main floors, and the children are finishing up the dishes right now.

We didn't do much school at all, nor did we work on planning, sigh. Right now I am cranky and tired, but we will head down to the studio to try to get some thank you cards made.
LB

Updated at 10:30 to say that we did go down to the studio and had a delightful time together. The kids made some beautiful thank you post cards. I mostly supervised, but I did get some painting done on some post cards of my own- need to add more tomorrow, but it was a good start, and we had fun. Papa got home at 9, and we are all tucked into bed. I will check in tomorrow, hopefully with photos.
LB

Why haven't you been blogging, LB?

I am here. Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I have been very busy with life. Not very interesting, but busy as anything!

I have been up at 4 am several days this week, in order to take the Dude to the airport. I actually stayed up after I got home, resulting in feeling low-energy and tired most of the week. From now on, I go back to sleep when I get home! It works better for my body.

I had a lovely toddler fix yesterday while Piano Girl had a lovely lesson (she is doing very well right now). I am reading Mere Christianity with her piano teacher, and loving it.

I have washed dishes, done laundry, bought groceries, and vacuumed rugs. My house is really run down right now, and I need to give it some attention. With what time?

I have been engaged in high-level teenage parenting all week. I find this exhausting and worrisome. I hope I am doing this right. Being a teenager in this day and age is very different than it was 30 years ago, and I am trying to be there for my kids, but I feel out of my element. I am good with babies. I am not sure I relate well to teens. But we have them now, and I am coping. We all made it through the week in one piece, and that is what matters.

I used up an entire tank of gas playing taxi driver, which on Wed, for example, looked like this- Take the Dude to the airport, home for a bit, to the high school, to the bank, up north to run an errand, back to the school, home to pick up other kid, to the post office, across the lake to church for youth group, stop at Mom's, downtown to take her to supper, drop Mom off, back to the church, down to the airport, and back home. On Wed. alone I used a half tank of gas. Thursday involved two hour-long drives to and from piano lessons. Saturday will be more taxi driving- drive one kid and several speech and debate kids an hour south to speech tourny, get the other kid to group piano lessons 2 hours north. Then reverse the directions to get everyone home. Sigh. I love my job, I love my job.

I have done no art at all this week. I feel empty and stressed on this subject. I need the release of creating art, and I haven't made it happen. No blogging either. Sigh. No wrong-making here, just need to do this for me, and haven't.

That's it. That's all I have for you today.
LB

What goes up must come down, and then go back up.

I felt so on top of the world last night, things were going great, but then just at bedtime, I got into an argument with the Dude. Don't get me wrong, I love him to pieces, but I HATE fighting with him. It puts me in a foul humour, and I end up all puffy because I don't rest all night, and I am puffy enough as it is! Hate going to bed when someone is upset with me. Hate it. Hate the example it sets for the kids, too.

We've talked since this morning, and we're ok, it's all okay, but I was still very upset when I got up this morning- a dark, dark cloud over me. That is what inspired today's art journal. I was so upset, I forgot to even gesso my pages, just took black and red paintsticks to it, making a big jaggeddy broken heart on the paper. Then I gessoed over it, making sure to let some angry black and red peek out. I then used pink, bright red, and dark crimson to make a pink heart- very rosy and happy-looking, over the black broken heart. Drizzled and brushed Lumiere around the edges, one side silver and darker, the other gold, with pinks and blues. I used a match to scratch words into the heart- "How many times can a heart be broken and then mended?"on one side, and "Love, peace, grace" on the other. The black and red shows through the scratch marks. I like the contrast between the warm and fuzzy pinkness, and the angry black underneath.


I may add more to this, but not today. We are headed out for the afternoon/evening. Kids have youth group, and I get to go see my Mama. That will be all the salve I need.

How is that for opening oneself up on the internet. I am all for just keeping it real, ya' know? The breakdowns happen to us all, and without them, the breakthroughs would be fewer and farther between. Ya gotta have those downs to appreciate those ups. And I knew that people used art for therapy, but as I experience it for myself, I can see how powerful it can be!

Keeping it raw and real,
LB

Tidbit: Believing in ME

Funny- Three different people today reffered to "finding your bliss". I seem to have found mine, and it seems to show. I am still round, I still deal with migraines, and I still have two teenagers, a Dude, 3 cats, and 8 chickens as well as this farmhouse to cope with daily. But I am not the same, or if I am, I am newly acknowledging a deeply hidden part of me.

Interesting- a year ago if asked, I would describe my heart/self as restless and apathetic, with a powerful yet undefined yearning". Today, and many of my nowadays, I am left with a comfortable feeling in my heart. Of knowing contentment, bliss and passion. And all it took was the finishing off of one corner of my basement, several hundreds of dollars' worth of paint, paper, and pretties, and a tiny belief in my heart that I *could be* the artist I *knew* I was as a five-year-old child. I just had to believe in myself to find her again. May I model this love of life and self-confidence for my children on a daily basis.

So when last we met, this is where my art journal was. I had covered up my doubts and excuses of why I couldn't be an artist with gesso and bright and shiny new Shiva paintsticks.

Here is how it looks now. I got to use my new Lumiere paints for this! Yay. I don't know if you can read the words on the right, or if they just look like a big grey cloud, but they are there, and say basically what I said in the paragraph above. The photo is of me at about five years old, when I KNEW I wanted to be an artist, and believed I could. I again believe I can, and that I am.
That's it for today. I have to take Papa Dude to the airport at 5 am, so it is off to bed with me. See you tomorrow.

LB

Tidbit: sorta here, sorta not

Hey all,
Hope you are all well, and that none of you get the crud that is sneaking it's way through our house right now. It never really grabs you all the way, but for about a month, all of us have been fighting something low level. Tummy symptoms one day, then runny nose and a cough for a week, then ache-y joints and a sore throat. I think my poor immune system just had all it could take and I seem to be getting all the yucky symptoms at once. Very headache-y, tummy troubles, aches in my joints, etc.

So, I haven't been on the computer, haven't downloaded photos, haven't been in the studio since Saturday. But that's ok, rest is good. My art supplies are starting to trickle in, all the rainbow colors of paint came today, as did the undyed cocoons. I will take more photos tomorrow, and try to be a good blogger and artist. But for tonight, I have 2 new books (Fabric Leftovers, and How to Paint with Jacquard- I know, how interesting!), a sketchbook and pencil, and some StarTrek episodes to watch. I am heading up to my warm bed, and my Dude is cooking something to spark my appetite. I smell zucchini, olives, and sausages. We shall see if I actually eat any.

So that is my day- what have you been up to?
LB

Tidbit: Thanks, I'm feeling better now.

Wow, you gals are the best invisible friends a person can have. I was feeling so alone yesterday, but you guys were nice enough to let me know you care, and that we all go through places like this. And Bridget, you were right- Mama hugs still work when you are 42.

Today is our busy music day. The Boy will take the bus to his classes, and then home again, as Papa is still out of town and Piano Girl and I are basically at The Best Piano Teacher's house from 9 to 2 today. I will get my toddler fix and a grownup fix too.

So far as art goes, I am creating today no matter what! I am taking my lutradour and lace with me- I am going to try to just hand-tack some pieces down, so that they might be ready to work on tonight.

That's it for now, gotta get us all moving here.
Loving my invisible friends, and realizing I get to create my own happiness.
LB

Tidbit: Breathe in, Breathe out. Survive.

I'm here. I seem to be in another one of my dark places. It is so easy to fall into the overwhelmed story, and then I lock up, and don't get anything accomplished, even fun things. But today, I refuse to use depression as an excuse, so will just focus on where I am going, not where I have been. I will not look at what is not done, but focus on what I will do. Today I move and breathe in the sunshine air. I will drop my son off at school, run errands with my daughter, and pop in to hug my mother. Then I will come home and do the dishes and some laundry, and head to the studio, which is (as always, sigh) in need of a deep cleaning and some organizing. Tonight, we will eat a healthy meal and laugh together. My dude will call me from Boise and I will tell him about my day, and I will smile.

I do have a few posts started with pictures, not as much art content as I would like, but I will try to get those up soon. Thanks for hanging in.
TTFN,
LB

I'm back!

Yes, I am here today. Thanks for all your well wishes! My neck is sore, but the swelling is down. I have learned after over 20 years with this injury, that at the first sign of pain, it is better to take a day off, drink tons of water and take tons of ibuprofin, and be in bed with the heating pad for several hours. Better than the severe pain and agony if I just try to be the mom martyr and tough it out. So I will make sure to keep my neck covered and warm, and try to stay as stress free as possible when you are parenting teenagers.

Today is music lesson day. We have piano and then voice lessons from 1 to 4 pm today. If we have to bus, we will leave the house before 11 and not be home till 6, at which time the Boy's tutor picks us up. While the Boy's tutor and he are so engaged, Mr. Tutor's wife and I walk, and talk education (she is beginning her first public school teaching job this fall).

If Papa Dude is available to be our transportation, it will shave an hour each way off our travel time. I am hoping he is available!

Ok, I promised to get some recipes up today, so I am going to get on that now, before the neck gets sore.

Updated at noon to let you know the Dude is our bus today. Yay! That gave me an extra hour to soak sore muscles in the tub. What a nice Dude I have!
LB