Today is my birthday...

 Time flies, even when you're not having fun.

The answer is - layers, lots of layers...

You're thinking, "I didn't know she had a horse".  Well, I don't but isn't this a swell image.  We had a bit of a storm this morning but now just flurries.  I'm avoiding eye contact with Henry, just in case he wants to go outside again.  We went for a walk earlier and all I could think of was how cold his paws must be.  He didn't complain and actually, I don't think he noticed.  He has the right attitude:  Celebrate the season!

Winter:

More tea

Hot cocoa with way too many marshmallows

Resume knitting

Pull out boots, gloves, hats, scarves

Change summer dishes to winter dishes

Look for snow shovel



Frank in boots...

My hero...

I don't know how I did it, it had to have been a miraculous moment between the moon and the stars.   Born July 25, 1970 in Hermosa Beach.  I thought I was giving birth to a born surfer, instead he's a desert and mountain kind of guy.  He loves his family, is great at his job and is one of the most wonderful men I know.  Most of all he tolerates all my eccentricities.  I love you Kristian.

And they said you can never go back...

Yes, I'm home and I'm very happy to be here.

The drive from Arizona actually wasn't too bad; me, Henry, Mabel and the Bean.  Bean refused to stay in her carrier, manipulated the zipper and crawled out.  She rode on the console for most of the trip only getting up to look out the window.

I've cleaned, I've mowed, I've filled the pantry and I've even had a fire in the woodstove. 
I'm looking for a job, not sure what I want to do but am keenly aware of the need to get back to work.

Life is good.

things to avoid when alone...

1.  Petfinder
2.  See's pink coconut bon bons
3.  "Lassie Come Home"


I'm just getting started....    

St. Johns, Newfoundland

Every time I look at this photo, I think St. Johns must be inhabited only 1) by architects who 2) collaborate with artists.  This image speaks volumes.  I'm not sure what it's saying but  perhaps it's about the way of life.  Fear no colorful houses.


I've always wanted to live in coastal NF.  But then again, I could live coastal anywhere.  Stay tuned, I have a plan.

I want to be a cowgirl...

I saw my first "real" cowboy the other day; big horse, big white hat, a red bandana, a dog and lots of steers.  It was one of those Hallmark moments or at least enough that made me want to be a cowgirl. 

If you haven't had this experience then you should visit Arizona.  In addition to cowboys and cattle, there are acres of orange and lemon trees, fresh corn, extraordinary cactus, homemade tortillas, on and on and on.

Road Trip

26mar - leaving the forks and you may trust me when I say I found nothing grand about the entire city.  The community and its residents are oddly isolated, somewhat detached from reality, unaware of what lies beyond the city line, suffering from a lack of vision, completely void of imagination and heavily insured against taking any artistic risk.  Yep, that about sums it up.

27mar arrive CO and the Welcoming Arms Hotel

30mar departure

31mar arrive Santa Fe, out for Chinese

01apr arrive Mesa et ma famille

And now, the search begins, I mean, resumes

This is Henry, aka, Henry the Bully

Henry's day  -

Find mud, roll in mud
Scare the cats
Eat cheese (favorite is Swiss)
Avoid the bathtub
Chase the cats
Bark at anything/everything
Eat biscuits
Run and jump on the bed after goal #1
Eat the cats' food
Bite truck tires, moving or stopped
Sleep with anyone, except the cats

Henry and I have been together almost 5 years, he knows my habits, I know his.  He gives me unconditional love, I give him poached eggs on Sundays (he calls it Egg Day).

He didn't show...

Dream dating...

Last night I dreamed I was on a date with Billy Joel.  Truthfully, I wouldn't know Billy Joel from Billy Idol, but in my dream we were walking around, talking to no one in particular and just enjoying each other's company.  When I woke this morning, I went straight to my computer, typed in Billy Joel and sure enough, he was who he said he was. 

Tonight, I'm going to try for Don Henley.

More job rejections in today's mail, the good side is, at least someone writes.  About one week until departure and I will be on my way home, back to my bed, my yard, my renovation-in-waiting.  I'm not real keen on doing this trip alone but then again, it will be just one more road adventure.

Several years ago I decided to visit my friend Edna in Denver, I was in Knoxville at the time.   Edna was still with Delta so I asked if she'd like to fly out and drive back together, I thought it would be terrific to have someone share the driving.  Like always, she was up for anything and quickly agreed.  She flew into TYS, I had the car packed and we hit the road right from the airport.  After a couple of hundred miles I told her that any time she wanted to drive to speak up and she said, "Oh, didn't I tell you, I don't know how to drive a manual shift".

Earlier this evening I had tea with Dyan, a Grand Forks' artist whose talent far exceeds the geography but she does have great gallery connections on both coasts.  I like this person alot; she's  easy to talk to and is a very kind and attentive listener and we're about the same age.  Oh, and we both have new ears.

The search is on...

I'm looking for the perfect job and yes, I believe it exists.  I haven't found it yet but on a good day, I'm relentless, driven, focused.

I'm looking in Maine, Manhattan, the Caribbean and Newfoundland, I'm trying to make my search as diverse and flexible as possible.  I could continue to be someone's non-profit director but I feel like I've endured enough abuse in life.  I saw an ad for a "Lady's Maid" that peaked my interest.  It said you must have experience in caring for expensive gowns, hmmm, I wonder if they'd count the prom?  I had a vision of someone saying to me, "Well, how do I look" and I'd say, "Personally Madame, I think you look like a dog".  

I keep thinking about heavy equipment, i.e., cranes, large trucks, or scale it down, forklifts.  I think I'd be very good at that sort of work but the competition is brutal. 

My number one,first choice would be driving a taxi in Manhattan.  I love to beep my horn, drive fast, take chances.  If I get mad enough, I've been known to yell out the window.  Again though, I'm probably not a strong candidate since I have no sense of direction, especially in the City.  The street-avenue-grid pattern never made sense to me. 

I thought about designing hats but I don't sew. 

I always wondered what it would be like if Ann Landers had worked at a drive-thru window, like a McDonalds.  You pull up, tell the box what you want to talk about, the box says, "That's $15.00", and you drive to the first window, pay and drive to the second window.  Ann appears, you tell her your problem, she tells you what to do and you drive away.  Now that is something I could do.

spring forward - fall back

I didn't spring forward this year because I didn't fall back last year. I mean, time marches on so why change when you know that very soon, you'll have to change it again?

You're probably wondering about the object to the left.   Me, too.  I found it buried in the back yard along with some other treasured artifacts that no one felt like hauling to the landfill before I bought my country estate (I think 1/2 acre qualifies as an estate.)  After Kristian tore down the falling down potting shed, I discovered several objects of no historical value whatsoever;  fully intact, non rotted beams, very big beams; 6"x6"x10'.  I found what looks like an old metal and wood stair step, also a sled like object that might have carried wood or something.  Approximately 42 steel pipes were uncovered ranging from 3' - 12', railroad spikes, 35 used tires lined up in an almost decorative display - please, give me a break.  I think it's all out except for one unknown - a barrel.  Tune in for Chapter 3.

Just when you think all is lost...

Despite the rain and cold today, I had to get out of the apartment, but where do you go when you have no money and you're stuck in the middle of nowhere?  I went shopping, well, sort of.  I did the round of thrift stores and picked up a few things to eat at the market  And a burrito, I forgot about the burrito from Taco Bell (Grand Forks' version of authenic Mexican food).  When I arrived home, I checked the mail and there it was, a gift from my best friend, Judy, aka, my sister-in-law.  She knows what makes me happy and it was in my mailbox this afternoon - fudge, chocolate fudge.  Marrying Judy is the smartest thing my brother ever did.

Speaking of my brother, I never forget anything, like the time he was still living in SoCal and I was visiting for a few days.  It was one of  the hottest days of the year and Mr. Jock said, "Hey, let's go for a bike ride".  Not, let's go surfing, let's go to the beach, no, he wanted to bike ride.  It's a fact, I would rather die than let him think I can't keep up, go the distance, so I said, "Ok'.  We started out slow, we did some small hills over some rocky terrain and then, I got a flat tire and I had no pump.  We had probably done 20 miles by now.  I could see a small market ahead, the only building in sight.  We walked the bikes over to this little oasis in the desert, highly decorated with strings of dried red peppers, deer hides and a large number of suspeded snake skins.  We were greeted by several ethnically diverse guys who were as surprised to see us as we were them.  At that moment John said, "You wait here, I'll ride back to the house, get the van and come pick you up".

I'm not bilingual but my new friends didn't seem to mind, they just kept looking, talking, smiling, nodding.  After an hour had gone by I decided I needed something to drink so I left my bike outside and entered the world's smallest grocery only to find everything labeled in Spanish.  I found something I recognized, paid and returned to wait for the brother who I now think had this all planned all along.  The doctors call it, "Sibling Torture". 

He eventually showed up, I said goodbye to Manuel, Jesus, Juan and Pedro and got in the van.  John said, "Well, did it work, did you get a date"?  I finally broke down and told him, "You were adopted".

On My Way Home

I dream about warmer weather...