You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant

I've been going through pictures all morning, trying to organize a wee bit more of my life, and I came across these. This summer Pete and I took our kids, my parents and a couple of friends to see Arlo Guthrie at the Lifestyles Pavillion. Life around that time was chaotic and confusing, but when we got there that night, it was magical. Everything else faded away as we listened to Arlo play with only his son and his grandson and they played such lovely songs! It was amazing. He told stories, sang Alice's Restaurant, and sang some Woody songs. He asked the audience to sing this song with him at the end and it was fantastic. My mom said it was almost like going back to the sixties....

I just got back from volunteering at Obama Headquarters in Columbus. It was fantastic! I loved it! I wish I had more time to do more. I worked with all sorts of lovely people and made hundreds of phone calls. It was exciting and I got to talk to all sorts of people. One woman screamed nasty things to me and I didn't even mind, I just calmly asked why she didn't like Obama. And so many people are supporting the right candidate finally! I can't wait until election day!

Harvest Moon

A good friend of ours has been excited to take our family to an apple orchard so we can pick apples. It sounded like fun but truthfully, I figured it was more for the kids than us old folks. We found Lynd's Orchard and pulled in with our mouths hanging open looking at the MILES of apple trees they have growing! By the time we parked the car we were all cheering for the apples. We took our time and meandered all through the trees. It was such a magical place and we had a magnificent time. We picked two varieties while we were there and tasted many apples. I love that the kids got to see how food really does grow on trees and isn't magically transprted to the grocery store. We grow veggies in the summer at our house but I think we maybe had six tomatoes and eight zuchinis all year. Four trillion apples is a lot more impressive. So now we have hundreds of apples at our house and I don't know what to do with them and I need some recipes. Anyone?

Sweet Relief

Thank the Lord, It's finally over! My one year old son had to have surgery this week and I didn't realize how worried I was until it was over. It wasn't a huge surgery, rather a small one in the scheme of things but he is so tiny. They gave him a little baby valium to relax him and to make him forget that he hadn't eaten in twelve hours and he had a fantastic time with that (see picture). He handled it like a champ! And now he is whole and we have our power back on and life is good again.

Cosi is a wondrous place. I have been taking kids there for so long that sometimes I am immune to the magic but today I remembered. My son is now old enough to PLAY and EXPLORE and generally be in AWE. There are colors everywhere, you can touch everything, basically, nothing is off limits. And this week happens to be Big Machines week, with construction whosits and whatsits. Willow got to scoop dirt and dump it in a pile. I am jealous! I have always wanted to jump in those machines when I see them, but alas, this was only for the kiddies. Yeah Cosi!

So, my friend, Shelly, and I really need to take a more active part in building our business this year. We started over four years ago and while it doesn't seem like we've accomplished a great deal, we have done quite a few different things. We've been showcased in a few stores, been in some shows, and actually sold quite a bit for not trying that hard. But this year I want more. SO we have some plans. I love feeling inspired, like I've got a purpose in the world that doesn't involve diapers and dinner. So, we've got some things planned and are making new things. We started making these puzzles with different types of art affixed to them. We have some funky jewelry. Things are good.

it took a long time to /become the thing i am to you

I have been reading this fantastic little gem by anne lamott about her first year as a mom. It is hilarious. She says so many of the things I wanted to say but was too embarrassed. She also talks about how before she had a child she had the luxury of just not caring. She could deal with anything and be okay with it, but now there is a child and if anything happened to that kid, that would just be the end of her. Those thoughts struck me so many times in the first couple of years of motherhood, and they still eat away at me in those quiet moments with myself now, just how attached I am to these little people I made. It takes my breath away.

tend the earth

So, I've really got a garden this year! I've been pretending for a couple of years and planting all sorts of things and watching them die, but this spring all sorts of things are blooming that I've been coaxing from the ground! And I feel more successful watching these tiny treasures of mine grow than I did when I had a fancy corporate job. I have a rosebush from my mother-in-law that their family has been cultivating for years and it has the most amazing scent. And the forget-me-nots are so tiny but have the truest blue I've ever seen. I love it! All of this is, of course, overshadowing all of my dying vegetables in the backyard that just seem to hate me. Maybe I should give up on eating vegetables altogether and just stick with chocolate.

The Long Goodbye

I want my hair back. A couple of days ago I got maybe eighteen inches of my hair cut off. I am still quite glad I did it but I knew I would want it back at some point, and I want it back now. It was my shell, my protective covering from the world. Well, it didn't actually shield me from much and it often got in the way, but I liked it. It was a pain to take care of and brush but it felt normal, right even. And now I don't look like myself. But I do kind of like my new hair. It just doesn't look like me. Or maybe doesn't look like me yet. And now, hopefully, some child somewhere (or maybe three or four children) with some unfortunate disease that will require baldness at some point can have some of my protective shell.

Such a sense of relief when the taxes are done. Like the carefree days of summer can finally begin now that the government isn't floating above my head at night any more, pointing their fingers at me, disapproving of my procrastination. I actually did my federal taxes long ago, but felt so good about that accomplishment that I didn't feel the need to do the state and city taxes until midnight on the 14th. But it is all clear skies from here...............until I look around at the mountains of projects I have to complete. @#%&*

On the road to find out

Okay, time to bite the bullet and start the blog. I keep feeling like I need the perfect start and if I wait for that it will never happen. So anyway.... As of late I have been learning a lot about art from my four year old daughter. I have studied art off and on for almost twenty years (longer if you count elementary art classes), and Willow can still make things new for me. What a wonderful gift. I just need to keep reminding myself to stop assuming and listen to her perspective. After all, she is privy to that magical time when everything is new and possible. Constantly asking, "Is it real?". I have trained myself to answer,"What do you think? Why?" And the answers are wise and magical.

*sorry, amy, for stealing lyrical titles, but that is what you get for having such a readable blog.