I'll be working on integrating my blogs together, so that I don't have to post a notice here that I've updated elsewhere. Makes sense, no? Ideas welcome.

Just posted another dream bit. Not much, hence the 'bit'. Read at Museful.

I also posted something that is quite disturbing at the Orlando MetroBlog.

Wonder if I'll get any sleep tonight. Sheesh.

You guys should remind me never to attempt a whole site design in one day.
Particularly not when sick.
EVER.

The Secret Garden finally has a design to go with my little girls spirit. Go check it out. :o)

I'm headed for bed now that I'm done, but I didn't want to leave without extending my most heartful thanks to all of you. Those of you that have visited my daughter's site, The Secret Garden, and left a comment there for her have rocked her world!!!

She's been working on a new post for tomorrow, with pictures. :o)

Now I guess I'll have to give my pages a complete overhaul, too. Yeah, it's contagious that way. We'll see.

"it's like a wildfire born of frustration..."

Daughter is coughing up a storm here, and I'm all sniffly, but we are in good spirits. So we step outside into nature, to take in the beauty of this day. Only this day had many surprises in store for us.

We sat for about an hour, both in awe at how our Willow keeps stretching its limbs high towards the Sun. There's a lesson to be learned here, and I'm humbly accepting it, with open heart. I know my daughter understands it, too.

The doorbell rings, and as I look through the peep-hole I recognize who it is. My young one is not to miss a step, so she's promptly asking as to who is at the door. I told her she's going to want to see this.

As I open, she cries out in joy and excitement. "It's the man, the man with our new tree, Mom!"

Only the man has two trees, and my daughter is to decide which one will now grace our space and our lives. She looks at them both, studies them, extends her left hand out to feel the thickest of the tree. She looks up at all the fresh leaves, lifting her hands to softly touch them. A whisper. I glance at her, and notice her eyes are full of tears. I feel it, too. She's chosen. We thank the man, and she helps me carry our new tree to our backyard.

After watering our new willow tree, she named it, and then she looked at me.

"Mom, where is Willow going to be at now? She growing, and we need to take care of her."

"We'll relocate her, until she grows stong enough to be out there again. We'll just keep her closer. And that will be a good thing for all of us."

"Yeah."

[contemplative silence]

"Oh no, Mom, you still haven't done my blog! How am I going to show everybody our new tree?!"

Her flowers are growing, as is her mind.

:::

You can take a peek here: The Secret Garden. She's already created her first post -only five years old. (Yes, my heart just skipped a beat!) She's inviting you to several things. I'm not going to edit her writing. I want to see her progress online. She was sounding out all the words as she typed, and they're up in said manner. The default style won't be there too long, since she's pouring out ideas, and my head is starting to think code and CSS all over again. Fun. Working designs always is. Go on now, read, and leave her a comment; you'll make it a day she'll always remember. ;o)

Scene: My daughter starts up the conversation after we spend a few minutes feeding the ducks.

Kiki: "Mom, I don't think those ducks are friends anymore?"

Me: "Why would you say that?"

Kiki: "Because that duck was stepping all over that one, and that black one stepping on top of the other white one."

:::

Yes, it's mating season.

Been in denial since last Friday, but I can't deny it any longer. So here goes: Achoo! I'm sick. I need to rest.

There, that wasn't so hard after all.

Even though my plans for this weekend were a bust, which is sad because it was a perfect weekend, I did receive some wonderful news. I have both online and offline aquaintances interested in a couple of my paintings. That alone is a most excellent and wonderful experience! More on the art scene soon. :o)

Also I received snail-mail notice from Poetry.com that the poem I submitted is to be published Summer 2005 (?), in a compendium titled Eternal Portraits. I'd love to learn who else has been selected for this or any previous collection, because I have a few questions. Seems that anyone selected to be published must purchase their own copy of the collection. Hm. You'd think they'd gift the author with one, no? And oh, we don't get paid for it. Niiice. If that's the deal, well them I believe it might be easier to self publish a personal collection. Many things to ponder.

I hope your weekend was illness free and enjoyable! Even with my sniffles I have things to be very happy about. Now, I must go drool over some pictures of a beautiful and handsome 6 month old cutie named Sam. ;o)

I didn't want to get my hopes up, or get too excited, and just end up setting myself up for dissapointment. Would something positive come out of this whole event, leave us with a lesson to learn, not only for my kids, but also myself? Something along the lines of principal, honesty, love for all nature, respect, justice?

My stance has not changed, not since what happened to our Willow on Friday. The man promised to come, and he made good on his word. Ed stopped by. He took one glance at the remains of Willow, and immediately recognized the damage done, confirming it had been one of his mowers. He also noted that Willie was in fact the one working our pond on Friday.

He politely pointed out that, when his company bid on the property, the bid if for straight mowing, and not to go around any trees, which is the sole reason we are asked not to plant anything on this area. However, he also recognized that this does not mean that they are to uproot anything we might actually plant on this area. If our doing so presented a true challenge for them to do their job, then the matter would be taken through the appropriate channels. He said my tree presented no such challenge, and that he was sorry that this happened, that it simply shouldn't have, and that he will be getting us a new tree.

Willie the Willow Slayer? Well, simply put, he's in trouble.

I'm pleased to be getting a new tree. I'm happy that I'll be able to share the good news with my children, and a wrong has been righted in the most positive way. Ed was a nice man, and has brought a smile to my face today. Yes, I remain sad about my Willow. But look at the picture. Do you see what I see? I didn't want to get too excited about this either, but it seems to me I have not been the only one doing some fighting. :o)

Hmm. I wonder... what two truck loads of armed S.W.A.T. officers stealthy as can be, and an ambulance entering in complete silence want around my neighborhood?

Edited [8:03am]: Ok, they've just left. Almost half an hour to do whatever it is they were going to do. I'd like to think that in this case, being this the new neighborhood it is, "no news is good news".

We all know Monday isn't a favorite day among the week, but I can't think of a better way to have spent this past Monday. Only thing missing was my Soy White Mocha. Go! Read!

Tuesday (yesterday) was so exhausting, I could've sworn the week just ran right over me. It was BlogBoy's field trip to St. Augustine, and it was fun. We certainly brushed up on some history, which BlogBoy knows more about than me! I'll let him post about that, but I'll post my favorite pics.

There's another one at Beyond Focus. I believe he died of the yellow fever epidemic. There will be another version of it soon.

Wednesday, today, well just go read the post below. Heh. Tonight I'll be catching up with email. I've fallen behind on my replies since I wasn't home yesterday.

Thursday and Friday are sort of To Be Decided, but most surely will be spent painting outside and catching up on household chores. Unless it gets windy and in lieu of having my easel make like a kite and fly away, to hell with the chores then. Those are usually on the backburner when I'm painting anyway. But hey, there's work to be done!

Saturday also TBD, but I have a feeling I'll be heading downtown. :o) Sunday I have BlogBoy's friends coming over. More than likely they'll be splashing away in the pool. Just watch that day breeze by.

Ok, your turn. How's your week going? What are your plans for what's left of this week?

Found the guy who killed my tree. Yes, he's outside mowing again. Asked for his name, to which he replies "Willie". Who would've thought? Asked then for the name of the company he works for, his employers name, employers phone number. Asked him if indeed he was here last Friday. To which his reply was "Yes". Yes, I did all this with a big, bright smile on my face. Heck, I even offered him a glass of iced water. My momma taught me well -she always said a true lady would kill 'em with kindness.

Well momma, not this lady, not today. NOW I inquire as to why the hell he'd go over a perfectly healthy tree, and even worse, NOT knock on my door to notify me (this in the event he's blind and couldn't see an almost 6 ft tall willow tree).

Wait for it...

sudden case of amnesia. Oh no, he didn't do it, no, he wasn't even here Friday, now that he remembers correctly. He'd never do that, and if he had, he'd let me know. He's so sorry for my willow, so very sorry. Then he proceeds to tell me there's no way a mower would have done that, that the damage would have been different, leaving nothing but mulch. I tell him I know that isn't entirely accurate, I personally have logged hundreds of hours on a tractor-mower like his, taking care of my dad's acres. I know exactly how they work, and the damage they can do. He insists it’s impossible. I say prove it. I stuck the long bamboo stick which gave my tree support this whole time deep into the ground, and asked him to run it over with the mower. He pulls it out of the ground, turns on the chipper, and feeds it thru. WTF?! I said run it over!

Again, he's very sorry about my Willow.

Yes, sorry. He will be.

Ha! His boss just called. He’ll be paying me a visit Friday morning.

It was the most beautiful Spring day yet! My hubby hardly touches my camera, but today he did, and he caught me, painting.

I was able to finish this piece, with time left to take in the sunset. I sat in my usual spot, next to my Willow; I miss my tree. No whispers.

Still it was a most beautiful day. One of the things I like most about this season and daylight savings time... there's just the right amount of time for everything.

Kiki: "Hey Mom, guess what?"

Me: "What sweetie?"

Kiki: "I know something you don't."

Me: "Really? What would that be?"

Kiki: [insert sigh of disbelief, at the fact that Mommy doesn't know this...]
"Did you know love-bugs have two heads? They do, you know, one in the front, and one in the back."

I stepped out at noon with my daughter, both with some juice to sit outside, catch some sun, and really enjoy time with each other, just sitting there, talking, our daily commune with nature.

To our horror, we found my sweet Weeping Willow tree had been killed. You know my Willow?

My Willow. It's been with me almost a year now, my Mom gifted it to me last year, May 11th (my daughter's birthday). My Willow that listened to me on my darkest days and my brightest, during my depression, recuperative relaxation and fun. My Willow gave me energy when I felt worn-out, that made me smile just to take a look at its progress. My Willow, that withstood not one, but four hurricanes last year, Jeanne and Charley were a couple of them. I even wrote a poem, not to mention lots of pictures.

My Willow which I planted with my children, and they admired how it grew, it's strength and resilience, it’s beauty. I teach my children how to love, appreciate and honor Nature, and they really enjoyed it.

Yesterday, I took care to move our chairs and chimenea out of the way for the county guy to mow the lawn, and good grief, he cannot say to me that he didn’t see my tree! It’s taller than me! He then proceeded to cowardly stick the tree back in the ground, as if I wouldn’t notice. This morning I noticed it was leaning a bit, and I assumed it was due to the thunderstorm that passed thru here yesterday, which spun a tornado further North from us. I was wrong.

This is what's been done to my tree:

   

It was home to many tiny creatures, like spiders, ladybugs, stick bugs, and even yellow spotted bugs. It had special significance for me, and it felt like home to me.

How exciting! If you've found your way to my page via Michele, a very special welcome to you! I'll be sure to make my way to your blog, too. I've visited many new and interesting blogs today; thank you for stopping by. :o)

Thanks for being so wonderful, and for making the blogosphere a better place, Michele!

Most of our day today was spent outdoors. We let ourselves be inspired by the whistling wind, the scent and sounds of nature, and the bright light and infinite sky we basked under. It was awesome.

Since my daughter is still sick, running a fever that has split her lip a few times already, and feeling miserable, the invitation to head outdoors was too much to pass up, for both of us. She was excited! We took our time setting up, and inspiration struck early.

One of the most important things about spending time with our children is listening. It keeps those channels of communication open. Usually, I get very quiet when I paint, perhaps playing some soft music in the background. Ambiance was provided by nature today, and since my princess is usually very talkative, I decided I would listen. When was the last time you sat down with your kids, shared an activity, opened your heart to what they had to say, and listened, really listened? I like to do it often; I hope you do, too.

I listened with great intent as she put forth several ideas, some making me laugh, others making me think. Did you know she doesn't have a blog? I didn't even know it was an issue. Well, apparently it is. Her brother has one, I have several, and she has none. My faux pas? Stating that she doesn't type yet. She cut in right there, and sternly objected: "But I can write my name! And blogs are also to put my art in! And I want it to be called [...]" So there you have it. Now I must get working.

She spoke about missing her pets, reaching the realization that we had to find another good home for our dog because of her health. That is a big thing to understand at five years old, and I understand her pain -I share it- but it's a sacrifice I hope she can appreciate later in life. She also voiced her concern at what her brother is facing at school, having been punched and teased. (He did blog about it, go read.) It's a very big deal. I didn't think things could possibly go worse this year. They hugged and they cried, and she made him feel better.

Then she tells me how she was looking through my wedding album "and saw all the beautiful pictures, and then the one at the end, you know? With you and dad, and you know... the kiss?" What is it with kissing and little girls? LOL! I honestly have to ask my mom, because I don't ever remember wanting to kiss a boy, or daydreaming with princesses and all that stuff. So anyway, in an effort to hopefully delay any desire or intention my little princess may have of ever kissing a boy (I told her she had my permission when she turns 33), I told her that kisses like that are for Mom and Dad, and that little girls and little boys have to wait and grow up before they can kiss like that. By the calm expression on her face, I'd like to think it made sense to her.

But wait, it gets better! After several minutes of silence...

"Mom, is it OK for a Mom and a Mom to kiss?"

*cough* [drink water, breathe, remember to remain calm...]

"Oh, hmm, you mean kiss like Mom and Dad?"

"Yes."

"Where did you see that?"

"Channel 16. I was looking for cartoons."

[...]

Note to self: check parental controls for channel 16.

Anyhow, here's a shot of our day today. In my books, it was wonderful. In my daughter's own words: "Today is the bestest day of my life ever Mom." All I really did was listen... Obviously I did something right.

Yes, this past Friday. Did you get someone, or did someone get you? I refrained from commenting about how that day went, because of so many different things happened that spun so many different emotions. Sure made me look like a fool.

Started off great, I sketched up a few pieces I want to work, and laid down some underpainting. I was embracing the sudden rush of creativity. These past few days had been kinda sluggish, art wise, which is why I was so enthused by the flooding of images in my head and my sudden need for putting them down on paper -quick.

Then, a phone call from my friend, confirming she was coming over. How exciting! We were going to have a great day.

Wait for it... 'cept for the moment her two year old messed up one of my paintings. You remember this one? I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. So did my friend. Well, she did do some screaming. I had laid it out, ready to take to the shop for framing on Saturday, and now, well, now I'm trying to figure out if I can fix it. *sigh*

This to compound on a sort of creative halt. Now looking at this painting in it's current state just floors me. I might end up just taking that piece onto the guest room, out of sight, so that I may finish the other pieces I'm working on.

Tomorrow, I'm taking my painting outside. I'm hoping for a day similar to these past few ones, because they've been just heavenly, picture perfect.

Another event that messed up part of my Friday was when my friend and I returned home after stepping out for a couple of hours, my son, BlogBoy, greeted me in sobs and tears. Reason? He was punched in the mouth by a classmate. Hello?! I was in 8th grade before my first fight. I had already graduated for my second one, and it was with a guy. And no, he didn't hit back. He knew what was better for him. Neither ocassion was the reason when I was suspended. (I'll tell you some other time about that incident.) What's with kids nowadays?

The principal took care of the situation, as my husband informed me, and the attacker was suspended for three days. BlogBoy wrote about it in his journal, but I just think it's just too hard for him to blog about right now. He'll fill you in with the details when he does. Today, however, I kept him home from school. He got into his clothes and was all set, when he suddenly started crying that he didn't want to go to school. I wasn't about to send him in that state of mind. We've talked, gone through an energy balance, but I feel I'm at a loss with him. I don't bring up my children encouraging violence, but I also don't want him getting bullied either, you know? He should defend himself. But what does a mom say?

A really positive thing was when I received a message from my best friend Lori, from Canada. We hadn't 'talked' for a while, and I thought perhaps I said something hurtful, or was misunderstood. It was due to missed communication, as in she never got my messages. We're good! I'm looking forward to seeing pics of her, her baby boy, and the rest of her family. :o)

Good things for today? The Buzz is back. I also have another picture up at Beyond Focus.

Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. (sometimes to a fault). Likes to point out people's mistakes. Likes to criticize. (my husband would agree.) Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. (this sentence doesn't make much sense to me; one goes with the other in my books.) Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Thinking generous. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves sports, leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. (They must have me confused with someone else.) Tends to bottle up feelings. (Not. Well, maybe a little.) Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

snagged from jen

Happy Anniversary to... us! A day like today, 12 years ago, my hubby and I said "Yes".

No, seriously. We've had our great and awesome years, and a fair share of our not so awesome and great horrific and gruesome years, but we've made it this far, and we're a better couple for it. Hasn't been easy, but it's been a hell of a ride.

What? You didn't get to see the wedding pictures? Oh, OK, let me dust them off for you. Uhum, yeah, I'd love to burn my wedding album, but since that has nothing to dow with how happy I am today, I'll let that be a story for another day. Agreed? Here's a couple of my favorite shots. I hope you like them.

"Now, honey, about those clothes hanging out of your open drawers..."

Objective: Rescue Turtle from the middle of the street so it make the morning edition of Road Kill

M.O. / Tactics: Grab a firm hold of said Turtle with both hands and place turtle in trunk of car (reason being there was no body of water close, and I do reside lakefront)

As you can see, Turtle occupies on third of my trunk space -mighty grand turtle to find wandering the streets if you ask me. [Exhibit A]

All missions of course, has it's repercussions. Case in point: Turtle likes breasts too, as he attempted to get a big snip off me. Intensive training of course yielded my keen and immediate reflexes, so all Turtle got was my shirt and bra. My left breast has been spared. [See Exhibit B below]

Never in my life had I see any turtle run so fast. As I set my camera in order to take pictures to catalog the success of this mission, and Turtle's return to a safe haven, Turtle ran away, diving deep underneath the calm waters of Lake Waterford Chase. How fast can a turtle run? Pretty darn fast, since all I was able to take of Turtle's release was his speedy hind and a graceful wave goodbye. [See Exhibit C, below]

Debriefing: Mission was a success. Turtle now resides happily in a fitting habitat.

End report.

All in a days work.