I did it! I did 45 minutes of spin class this morning, 8:00 am, and didn't crash at 10:00 am like I thought I would. We even went on a bike trail ride this afternoon, despite the cold weather. I went pretty slow and went back to the car to soak up the cool afternoon sun after about 1 hour. But it all felt good, and I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight.

I was surfing tonight and found this blog (http://www.bernieberlin.blogspot.com/) and all the animals stories that are linked here are just overwhelming. I donated thru paypal and am going to send some artwork that I recently bought so she can auction it off for profit. What an amazing gal she is and if you haven't seen her book on ATC's - go get it! It's wonderful. Here is a picture of me and Samson when he was a pup. I wish he was still around altho' he'd be rather geriatric at 19 years old!

Saturday AM

Got up early this morning as I am hoping to get a spot at "spinning" at my local gym - what a workout. I haven't done it in 2 years, after breaking my ankle I couldn't do anything for about 1 year, and then another year of laziness. Actually, it's going to be interesting to see how my ankle reacts to spinning - I may take an aspirin in advance. The 12 pins inside that darn bone tend to act up at times. Anyway, I've gotta do something to start the downwards trend in pants size.

I am working on a funny piece, whose background was inspired by one of Claudine Hellmuths' commercially available papers. It stars "Rozzy" my new heroine - wait till mom sees this one! I'll post a picture here when I'm done with the complete piece, here is "Rozzy" prior to completion. I like having a central figure that can be used in different settings, so far only two settings (see "Wired") but I have lots of ideas. Naturally this looks nothing at all like mom, but she is a redhead and so I went with it from there. I have been getting so much positive reaction from "Wired" - everyone loves her personality - just like mom - so maybe I did hit it on the head. Also, she is wearing a caftan because I haven't mastered arms yet, not for any other reason.

Wish me luck with spinning.

Thursday night

I am waiting for my sweetie to come home, he flew himself down to NY today to see his aunt and uncle, and it must have been a bumpy ride as the winds were a bit high...but not too high to fly. My sweetie is also a safety nut (thank goodness) and doesn't take chances but he loves that plane! We take "Vickie" all over the place and it's for someone who travels alot for work, I love just getting in our little plane and not having to go thru security. She's a sweet plane and very dependable.

I have posted some of my artwork on some yahoo sites and have been getting great feedback - particularly on "Wired" which you can see on this site. I love her also, she has a glint in her eye and a nice personality. She may show up in other pieces...we'll see.

It's not spring yet....

Wednesday

I was very excited to get my second message on my blog from my nephew Sean - who is pretty computer savvy. Sean and his twin brother Brian are by far and away two of my favorite people in the whole world, wonderful teenagers if you can believe it! I adore these two kids, and have been so privedged to be involved in helping them grow - watching them since they were one day old and enjoying them every step of the way.

love you two,

AMM

Crochet time?

I was just surfing around and found some oh so beautiful crochet baby clothes on this site: http://www.rosylittlethings.com/. Isabella would just LOVE me to make her one of these kits. Grandma used to crochet blankets galore, and we still use them, but oh the lovely little dresses - I can't wait to try one.

Sunday -
It was a "get things done" sort of day; I reconfigured my studio a bit and put up my artwork where I can see it. Previously I had all bits and things hanging on the corkboard - and it was distracting. So I am trying this instead - having inspiration staring me in the face instead of chaos. I really do have to look into getting the basement done over somewhat - the grey walls are drab.

I am also doing the dreaded "going thru clothes that (1) don't fit (2) I don't wear anymore or (3) are beat to hell and trying to clean out stuff that I should really give away. Just prior to my last California trip, my closet rod fell down from just one too many things put on the rod. So I had to clear up somewhat and had to finish the job this weekend. I simply am not done yet, it takes awhile to try everything on, discard it, wish it would fit, try it on again.... etc. Anyway, Goodwill got a load of stuff, most of it in excellent condition.
There is a new pet store in my neighborhood and I went in. They are not a tradional pet store, and don't carry mill puppies (thank god) - more of mixed breed pups. There was an adorable pup who was a poodle mix and just so cute. I called friends to see if they were interested in him, but no answer so I went back to day to see if I could take pictures of him and weasel him into my house. Sadly for me, happily for him - he was gone to a good home. I took pictures of another little fella - so adorable.

Saturday morning

Illustration Friday - here it is!

I DID sleep in - till 9:00 am. I am so proud of myself...