Learning in a Scary Place

I have packed most of my art stuff so I did some digital art today because I just really needed to.  Every year when school starts I feel such sadness for all the kids that have to go back to school.  I know most kids do fine in school but it was such a traumatic experience for me that I just wish no kid had to go.  When I hear any mom say “I can’t wait for school to start”,  it hurts my heart.  I cried every year when my boys had to go to school.  If I had known then what I know now, I would have home schooled them.

Most of my career as an occupational therapist I worked in the public schools.  So many kids just aren’t wired to sit in a desk 6 hours a day.  If only we could find a way to allow all kids to learn the way they need to learn.  So many times a child was referred to me because “his handwriting is awful”.  The solution would be something as simple as letting him write with a felt tip pen or letting him sit with his knee up to stabilize his arm.  But teachers would not allow these simple solutions because “every student has to do things the same way or it will disrupt the class”.

So, here’s to all the kids who are starting back to school.  May you be allowed to be yourself – to learn and grow and blossom with your spirit still intact.

I want to make some of these for my reception.  I know that you print the design on vellum, but that’s all I know.  So I’m hoping some of my readers can help me out.  I think I need a template… seems it needs to be a curved shape, right?  And what type of adhesive would I attach it with?  Or would I just tape the ends?  Anybody???

For some reason my password isn’t working on google reader so I can’t read anyone’s blog.  I feel so frustrated being locked out!  I finally found a place tonight where I could answer about 100 questions and they will supposedly let me reset my password.  Hope I hear from them soon.

Winding up the move this weekend, and making arrangements for our honeymoon and out of town guests for the wedding.  I could never be an event planner. There are too many variables and plans changing.  It stresses me out!

I live in an apartment above my sister. Her husband died in May so she is moving out of the home they’ve lived in for over 30 years. She is, of course, still grieving the loss of her husband, so moving is a very big challenge for her. I have been helping her find an apartment, organize people to help her pack and help her do all the extraneous things involved in a move. I am glad that I was here with her during this time. She’s always been my big sister in the strictest sense, so she’s been there for me all my life. Now I have an opportunity to be here for her.

Since I am getting married in October, I would have been moving then. But since she’s moving next week, it meant that I am moving to Mister’s house this weekend. So I’ve spent the last couple of weeks packing and loading Mister’s truck as he hauled loads to his house for me. This weekend he will get the last load and I’ll be moved.

During this moving adventure I’m also still working on wedding plans. I’ve never had a church wedding so I had no idea how much work is involved. It’s complicated because all Mister’s family, except his son, live pretty far away. And my kids live in TX, so that has been challenging to coordinate and organize everything with them.

Mister’s son’s girlfriend works at a liquor store so she has gotten us an abundance of boxes!! That has been a lifesaver. But, I’ve learned a tip I want to share. Inside liquor boxes are dividers that are made of cardboard similar to chipboard. Lots of liquor stores put their boxes out each day. Check in your town to find where, and go get some of those dividers. They are great for atc’s, die cuts, journal covers, and probably a lot more I haven’t thought of yet. As tempting as it is, I haven’t saved any for myself. While in the throes of dealing with all this art stuff I’ve already accumulated, I just couldn’t bring myself to save yet something else to pack. But, you can be that when I’m all settled, I’ll be getting a stash of them!

I’ve also learned that having to pack all my art supplies has given me the opportunity to re-evaluate which media I am really still interested in. It has been nice to go through everything and realize that there are things that I’m just not that interested in any more. I have no regrets, though. I’m glad I tried all the things I did, because I learned something from everything, even if I sucked at it.

A big thing I learned is about love. When you have struggles or big events in your life, if you are surrounded by people who love you, everything goes smoothly. Well, maybe not smoothly, but people are just there for you. And that makes anything easier.

Mister has been right here helping my sister with all the things you just need a man to do or decide. He has hauled boxes, helped me pack, hauled loaded boxes up and down stairs, loaded that truck up I don’t know how many times, and never once got cranky or complained.

My friends have jumped in to do things for the wedding in abundance!! I’ve had so much help. And I’m talking about my online friends, too!! When I receive all the things they are making for me, I’ll take pictures and tell you who made what. It is just amazing to me that so many people are willing to do so much for me.

Life is hard. Life is good.

This week was the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock concert.  As I watched the coverage from various tv news shows, I got the feeling that anyone watching, who wasn’t a teenager during that era, might get the idea that all young people are represented in the people attending Woodstock.  I’m going to offer my view of that time. My view is that of a very normal 19 year old living in a metropolitan area at the time.

I had graduated from high school a year before Woodstock.  I was still living at home, in Dallas, TX.  I listened to rock and country music and I worked in a hospital.  I was pretty typical of most young people at that time.  I drank but had never even seen marijuana and knew no one who used it, except the boyfriend of my friend.  He had just come back from Viet Nam.  We all thought he was so worldly that he knew what marijuana was.  Within a couple of years, we all knew what it was, but not in 1969.

I was not politically active.  I didn’t know anything about the free love movement or who “the man” was.  I liked music because of the way it sounded. If it had a political message it was lost on me.

I was going to movies like Bonnie and Clyde,  going dancing on weekends and trying to get my boyfriend to buy me an engagement ring.   I was jealous of my friend who got to drive her boyfriend’s ’69 Mach I Mustang.  My boyfriend had a 62 Chevy and wouldn’t let me drive it.  I often danced to Willie Nelson’s band, who wore iridescent blue suits, skinny black ties and all had short hair.

I don’t know who the people were who hitchhiked to Woodstock from TX.  I dont’ think I even knew it was happening.  I truly wonder what subculture it was that knew and and wanted to go to Woodstock.

If I had, somehow, shown up I would have been terrified!  I had never been around drugs.  And I was very respectful to authority.  I would have been very scared to break any rules, expecially taking off my clothes in front of people!  I doubt I would have kissed my boyfriend in front of people.

A couple of years later when I started college, I had my first encounter with what are now called hippies.  They called themselve “freaks”.   They were very poor and always bummed pens, cigarettes and money off other students.  They were dirty and had nappy hair and beards.  They were not particularly political, but more interested in drugs, booze and sex.   I’m sure that wasn’t the case everywhere, but it was in Denton, TX.

Nationwide, the young people who shunned the established norms, did make some big changes in our society.  Equality for women came from this movement, as did diversity and tolerance for minorities.  There were some brilliant people in this movement that had a lot to do with the technology explosion.  Their goals were not met, but their ideals did affect change in the U.S.

I feel proud of those of us (the majority of young people in the late 60′s and early 70′s) who were not activists for free love, drugs and social change.  And wanted to speak for all of us, when the fringe gets all the media attention.  We, too, made a contribution to society.  We lived by the rules, went to Viet Nam, worked for the Peace Corps, went to college, raised families, voted and paid our taxes.

Today I made headbands for my bridesmaids.  I bought plastic headbands with foam on them at Michael’s.  I covered them with satin ribbon and then hot glued beads, pearls and little flowers on them.

Big news — I found a dress!!!

It’s hard to tell in the picture but it’s got a full skirt with a petticoat.

The top has embroidery, beads, pearls and sequins.

My favorite feature is the back. Again, it’s hard to visualize it on me, but there are three straps on each side that weave through each other, and it’s so pretty!!!

I have been very concerned about  fixing my hair for the wedding.  My hair is very curly and so few hairdressers can cut or style curly hair.  I have a wonderful hairdresser in TX.  She’s my friend, Paula’s daughter, Mandy.  But she just had a baby so I didn’t figure she would be able to come for the wedding.  Well, it turns out that she IS coming!!  She and Paula (and the new baby, Brooke) are coming a day early so she can cut and color my hair and then fix it for the wedding. That’s a HUGE gift for me!

Speaking of hair, I told you before that I want to wear a tiara.  When I shopped for them I learned that they are very expensive.  But my friend Karen is going to loan me hers, and it’s beautiful!!  She’s also going to make my garter for me.  yahooo!!!

Laddan’s girlfriend, Paige is going to make the boquets for me.  I’m using pink gerber daisies.  It HAS to be daisies and here’s why:  Randy and I met through an online dating site.  The first time he contacted me, he wrote a letter to me and in it he said that after looking at all the profiles of the women on the site, when he saw mine it was like “finding a daisy growing in the dirt” 

Paige is also going to make the flower girl basket and the ring pillow for me.  She’s so sweet to do all this for me.

Look at this boquet…if I’d worn a vintage dress, and if I were rich, this is the boquet I’d use!  Click on the image to see the Etsy shop it’s from.

Randy’s sisters are going to help me with the reception.  I haven’t gotten very far on my plans for that yet, but they are going to help with the food and the centerpieces and serving pieces.

I feel so blessed by all these people helping me!  I was really panicking and feeling like I just couldn’t do it.  Randy and I re-grouped and decided to have a much less formal wedding than we originally planned.  Then he helped me find the guy’s shirts and the girls’ dresses.  Soon after that I found my dress, and since then things have been falling into place.

Now I just have to lose about 5 or 10 lbs for the dress to really look good.  Anybody want to help with that? 

A while back I got this idea and I could see it in my mind.  I’ve spent several weeks trying to get it on paper.   I became frustrated for a while thinking that I just wasn’t going to be able to execute my vision.

Finally, I got the background right and then was trying to do a collage of an angel over the background.  I’ve been practicing drawing lately so my confidence was up and I decided it might work better if I just drew the angel.  I did several and was pleased with the results so last night I did one on a canvas and it’s looking pretty good.

I have to decide now if I want her to be in more sepia tones rather than black. I don’t know whether to use sepia pencils on her or do a sepia wash.

It just feels good to have a project that’s working out from inception to actually being on the canvas.  It has been a very long time since I’ve been able to make that process happen.