New Ink!!

So...this happened yesterday afternoon! It was my Xmas gift from my son. I have been thinking about a third tattoo for some time now and yesterday I finally did it.

The design is a stylised ampersand. I love the symbol being the font/typography enthusiast that I am, but didn't want to have the same tattoo that a zillion other people are walking around with. I came across this particular design and fell in love. I did some digging and managed to track down the artist, Beth Sicheneder. I sent her an email to see if she would give me permission to use her design and she very generously gave me her blessing.

I want to pause a moment to say that it is NEVER okay to help yourself to another artist's work for anything. You must ALWAYS seek permission and if you can't get in touch with them or they say no, then you must respect that. It's the right thing to do. Personally, I believe in karma and I want to keep mine good!

Anyway, on Sunday, I went for a consult at Adrenaline, the shop where I've had all my ink done. I chose Ashley Castaner to be my tattoo artist because I'd seen some of the geometric work she's done in her portfolio and knew she was skilled at doing clean, crisp lines, which is what this piece called for. In my mind, I knew that I did not want this done in black ink with thick heavy lines. I just don't think being as fair as I am, it would look good. I wanted it to be subtler and more feminine. Ashley understood exactly what I meant and suggested we use a tiny needle and dark grey ink. We had a plan!

The actual inking took about 45 minutes. The first 10 minutes is always torture-my brain was basically hollering at me "Ouch! Make it stop!!" Once we got past those first 10 minutes, it realised it wasn't stopping and the needle just became mildly annoying. (Keep in mind I have no feeling in my arms and hands because of the damage to my spinal cord, but when I get a simple paper cut on my finger, my brain thinks my finger has been chopped off. Fun! I knew it was going to hurt, but I also knew I could withstand 45 minutes of inking.)

After it was done, Ashley put a clear dressing on it called "second skin". She said they use that now so people can see through it. The old bandages were gauze and people would keep peeling it up to show off their new tattoos, risking infection in the first 24 hours. (Silly people!) I took it off this morning, as per my after care instructions and it's on its way to healing nicely. (As you can see in the large photo on the right.) Right now it feels like a bad sunburn, but that sensation will fade as the day progresses. My guess is it's going to heal pretty quickly.

I love everything about this piece. I couldn't have imagined something that symbolises more perfectly life on the west coast-the trees, the mountains, the ocean, campfires, the wind, moon and stars. It also contains the four elements-earth, wind, fire and water. Beth calls this design "Campersand" and I am absolutely THRILLED to have it for all time. Every time I look at it, it makes me smile.

So thank you to my son for the lovely gift,

thank you to Beth for such a beautiful (and meaningful to me) design

and thank you to Ashley for making it happen exactly as I'd imagined.

A Secret Project

Tonight I have my last meeting with my first group of students for the UBC Interprofessional Health Mentors Program. When I first began working with them, this day, 14 months in the future, seemed a long way off. It really blew by quickly!

I had the best time working with my students. I believe I learned just as much as they did from our conversations. It was really interesting to share my story about my health journey with people who don't know me and then listen to their observations. It's given me a whole new perspective. 

Anyway, back in January, one of the parts of the syllabus we covered was my life story. I didn't think giving an oral history of my life was going to be terribly engaging for them or for me, so I decided to do a trunk show of some of the things that are significant to me. I took my Paralympic Torch, my medal from the Rick Hansen Relay, my Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and a whole bunch of my art. My students were very taken with the ROD journals I'd made, so I embarked on a secret project to make one for each of them. They are approximately 4 inches tall x  3 1/4 inches wide. I decided to make the cover sort of like a torn bandage and then added a wool felt red cross to the front cover.

Inside the pages are a collection of various interesting papers and I've added ephemera reflective of their professions-Doctor, Nurse, OT and Dentist. It was fun looking for images and bits of text that were appropriate and I hope they will love the personalization. Since I collect vintage medical ephemera, it wasn't too hard finding things in my collection to use.

Here they are all wrapped and ready for giving tonight. It's going to be weird not seeing them on a monthly basis anymore. I am working with a new group already (there was a 3 month overlap) but I will miss my first group, for sure. I can't wait to watch them unwrap their gifts!

There's a quote by Nelson Henderson, that really sums up what this experience has been like for me:

The true meaning of life is to plant trees 

under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

The Magic Mailbox: Postcards & Ephemera

Yesterday was an good mail day!

Teresa Robinson and I decided to do a postcard exchange and this is the one she sent to me. She's been working on an index card a day for some time now. You can see some of them here.

I love how the message is so serendipidous. I'm going to hang it on my inspiration board behind my desk so I can read it often! I like the part about being of service (the foundation of my life) and becoming "an evergrowing channel for the light". I've talked about luminaries several times here on my blog. It's a theme that comes up over and over in my life.

This was the stamp on the envelope Teresa sent. I am a fan of unusually shaped postage. I'll be keeping this! I'm going to peel it off carefully and put it in my journal.

The second piece of mail was a package from Jessica. A couple weeks ago, Janice of Papier Valise and Janine of Uppercase Magazine hosted a Paper Stampede in Calgary, Alberta. I emailed Jessica to tell her about it (talk about enabling!) and the lucky duck went. There were all kinds of amazing goodies to be had and she very generously sent me some of her purchases! Have a look see:

Fabric ribbons with numbers & x's and o's, a  matchbook style package of 5c hardware store tags, a foxy "Got Craft" button for my button collection, bird book pages...

...a copy of Wordbasket from 1978 (they always have the most amusing ads), a packet of 90 joss papers...

..charming letter press postcards...

...Canadiana postcards...

...two packets chock full of emphemeral goodness...

(the reverse of both packets)

I was absolutely delighted to find vintage medical labels, which I collect inside, along with some really cool film canister labels! There was so much amazing stuff to add to my journals.

And then there was this: a Canadian Land Inventory map from 1971, the year I was born. I have an affinity for old maps, especially those from Canada. I opened it up to find this:

The colours are actually more vibrant than they appear in this photo. I was delighted! I have several ideas of what I'd like to use this for. I'm going to colour copy it-it's just too amazing to cut up!

Thank you sweet friends for such a great mail day! I loved everything and can't wait to play in the studio over the long weekend. Your timing was perfect!

Playing With Paint

Yesterday I spent the entire day making papers on Penn's Gelli Plate. This was the end result of 6 1/2 hours of non-stop printing-a 1 1/2 inch thick stack of yummy papers EIGHTY IN TOTAL (!!!) I can use however I please! (Made with a fracture wrist, no less! I've decided that either I am insane or just really hardcore about art!)

Penn gave me a quick demo and then I go to work playing with all the possible colour combinations I could come up with. She and I own a fair bit of cheap acrylic paints, so there were lots of colours to choose from. Penn also owns a ton of stencils, to the combinations really were endless.

Here are a few samples:

Left: Made using a simple circle stencil. 

Right: I used a number stencil, which I put on backwards, but I really don't think it matters-it's still cool.

Left: Using a Cathedral Windows stencil. 

Right: The circle stencil again, but printing the black circles first and then over printing them with straight colour. This is one of my most favourite papers. It's very Basic Grey-like.

    

Left: I used a rough organic like material that is loosely grid-like. This is my other most favourite paper. Again, very much like Basic Grey's style, which I love so much. 

Right: I used a grid of plastic letters which are actually stickers. Penn took the sticky off using baby powder. The letter are sort of the kind you might see in old fashioned restaurant menu boards.

Sadly, the colours here are not as vibrant or true as they appear in real life, but at least you get the idea. I took some photos of the process of using the Gelli Plate so you can see how simple it is:

All you need are cheap dollar store acrylic paints. The paint needs to be thin and runny, so save your Goldens for other projects. Bright primary colours work so much better than earth tones or muted shades. My favourite magic colours are always bright turquoise, a bright true orange, bubble gum pink and a grape purple. Add a dab of these to any other colours you are working with in any medium and you've got magic.

Stencils don't need to be store bought. Penn and I used a variety of things that were just lying around in our studios-old doilies, laces, plastic bottle caps, tools for making marks & scraping, etc. The lace doily pictured here is from the dollar store and is actually rubber. 

First you squirt a small amount of paint onto the Gelli Plate and use a large brayer to spread it out evenly. You only need a thin coat. Next, you press your stencil into the paint. In this case, we used the number stickers I mentioned.

Next you lay your paper down on top of the plate and smooth it either using your hands or a brayer. We used cardstock weight papers to print on. Penn had some old tabbed dividers we used. The weight of the paper matters-it has to do with how the paint gets transferred, so regular computer paper doesn't get the best result. The paint needs somewhere to go, so thicker paper seems to work better.

Once you have smoothed the paper into the paint, you just peel it up gently and set it aside to dry. It dries almost instantly, so you can move on to your next print. If there's paint left on the Gelli Plate, that's great-we didn't clean it off, ever-we just kept adding paint because part of the magic is the wabi-sabi effect of having random colours and bits of left over stencil shapes show up in a completely different print.

I especially loved over printing my pages. If I got something I wasn't keen on, I just printed right over it. Some of my best papers were done this way. There really is no waste of paint or paper-everything is usable, including the stack of book pages we were using to clean the brayer off on, in between prints.

My plan is to colour copy my papers to use in future art projects. Penn and I are also copying our pages for each other and we'll trade. Since all our pages were made using binder tabs, they are already 3 hole punched, so I will trim the tabs off and pop them into a binder for storage.

Now all I need to do is get myself a Gelli Plate! The 8 1/2 x 11 is $30. That's very inexpensive when you consider how much you can create with it! There are tons of video tutorials online of ways to use it too, so the possibilities are endless! Penn says the plates are only available online via the Gelli company so far, so if you want one, you have to order it through them.

When I got home, there was mail waiting for me from my friend Lisa Call. Don't you just love the presentation?!?

Lisa is a very talented Precious Metal Clay, jewelery and mixed media artist. Her work is exquisite. Years ago, at my first Artfibrefest, we met in person for the first time. She said she had a special gift for me and gave me a letter "L" charm. She was surprised to know I'd never owned anything with an "L" on it till that moment. I put it on my silver bracelet and I treasure it still. It was one of the sweetest and most unexpected gifts I've ever received. 

Yesterday, she sent me this adorable camera charm she made for me, to add to my bracelet. If you look at the back, there is "XO" on it too. LOVE IT! I will treasure it forever as well. I was so surprised. Lisa, THANK YOU! You are so thoughtful!

All in all, it was a very lovely and productive day. 

A Wee Gift Revealed

 A couple weeks ago, I sent this gift to eastern Canada to my friend Jan for her birthday. I promised to share what was inside. Now that she's received it, I can show you.

It's a wee leather journal, 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches. The leather is very special because my Grandfather made it years ago. I wanted to make the journal small enough that Jan could tuck it in her pocket and take it with her on adventures. I liked it so much, I am planning to make one for myself when I have a spare minute. Happily, Jan was delighted with this small offering. 

It is amazing to me how many of my friends have birthdays in March and even more surprising how many of those people are artists! I am in very good company indeed. Tomorrow is my day to celebrate another trip around the sun. Let there be cake!

Lately

Last night I spent some time cannibalizing some old magazines for letters for a new project I am working on to submit to Uppercase Magazine. I think I cut about a gazillion letters by the time I was done. Then I spent about half an hour sorting them into piles, which is no mean feat when you're working with hands you can't feel. I couldn't resist taking some photos-they made such pleasing little piles. I am now in the process of creating a message. I think I'm going to colour copy the original before I send it off. I may end up framing it, I like it so much.

I also spent part of yesterday creating a gift for a friend whose birthday is tomorrow. Of course it's not going to arrive in time (it's being sent to eastern Canada) but she knows it's on its way. I was very pleased with how it came out and I hope she likes it. I will show you what it is once she's received it-I don't want to spoil the surprise.

I need to tie up a few projects I am in the middle of. I find when I feel stuck, the best thing to do is move on to something else for a bit and revisit it later. It helps me shift perspective and usually I get unstuck. Fortunately the things I am stuck on right now don't have deadlines, so there's plenty of time to circle back.

11 days till Whistler for Skiing is Believing! I am so excited! I need to tune my camera up-clean the lenses, adjust the settings, etc. before I go. I am so grateful for this opportunity to help my friend Andrea and this great program through photography, to have the chance to cross country ski in one of the most beautiful places on earth and to meet some new people. I know it's going to be an amazing experience.

As someone wise once put it, 

"If you work really hard and are kind, amazing things will happen." 

This is a universal truth. You get what you give.

Good Medicine

Things have been quiet here for a bit because I was off having treatment. By treatment, I mean spending 3 days last week shuttling back and forth to the hospital to have IV steroids, which is about as much fun as it sounds. Somehow, I don't remember steroids being as rough as it's been this time. About an hour or so after the first dose, I get pretty sick with side effects and it was all downhill from there.

I've spent a fair bit of time in bed since then, though on Monday, I had to schlep out to UBC for a specialist's appointment and in a moment of insanity, also agreed to meet with a med student for an interview afterwards, even though I felt like death warmed over. I have NO idea how I managed it, other than sheer force of will. (or insanity...)

For the last 4 days, my throat has been absolutely raw, so I went up to my GP's office to see if I needed to worry about it. Being on immuno suppressants, I have to be very careful about infections. While I was up there, I popped by my post box and there was a package waiting for me in the magic mailbox! I wasn't expecting anything. The parcel was from my friend Amy. 

This is what it said on the side:

Which I found amusing, given the state I've been in. When I opened it, it was chock full of goodies-like this beautiful three strand bracelet she made me! 

This bracelet is autumn, any time I want to experience it! The yellow pearls remind me of kernels of corn. There's a old brass oak leaf, which reminds me of home and an "L" charm. Oddly enough, I only have one other piece of jewellery with an "L" on it. Years ago, Lisa Call surprised me with an beautiful "L" charm she made especially for me from precious metal clay. It was the first charm with my initial I've ever been given. I put it on a charm bracelet and I treasure it. I LOVE that Amy has given me a second one. It's just so thoughtful and special. 

There were also some great art supplies:

This funky journal, which reminds me of a zine.

An interesting variety of embellishments to play with-birds in cages, trees, clocks, mini red clothes pegs and cards in tiny paper bags. There was also a cool hexagonal box, which I somehow forgot to photograph. Oops! The bracelet was inside of it.

And three packages of washi tape! (8 individual rolls in total.) My washi tape collection must surely be at 100 rolls now-I will have to count later. It's just a wee bit of an obsession. Artistic crack, really. *grins*

The box did not lie-what was inside was pure medicine. Just the kind of medicine my battered soul so desperately needed this week. I am convinced that the cure for anything is art therapy and the love of a good friend. THANK YOU Amy for your perfectly timed gift. It meant everything in this moment.

What goes around, comes around-a parcel for you will be in the mail soon, I promise! 

Postal Persuits

The weather here on the west coast has been pretty ugly the last few days. By ugly, I mean sneaux, wind, rain, and hail, and just for added fun, power outages. (Basically just about every weather pattern mother nature can think to throw at us.) It's the kind of weather where the best thing you can do is batten down the hatches and retreat to the studio.

That said, I've mainly just been puttering. Yesterday, I decided to replenish my recycled envelope supply because I'm running low. Every now and again, I go through my old magazines, pull out the pages I want to keep and then use what's left to make envelopes. This batch was made from Stampington publications. Aren't they pretty? So much nicer to send out than a plain old white envelope!

I also made this wee journal for my friend Jan Smiley. Jan is the first person who ever approached me about doing art for her books. She saw my art online, thought it would be a good fit for a book she was writing and sent me an email. I will always be grateful that she did. It meant alot to me and set me on a path I had never considered before. I was even lucky enough to meet Jan in person not long after that. Her husband had some business here in BC, so she came with him and we had the chance to meet and hang out. We've been friends ever since.

Anyway, I wanted to send her something handmade so I put together this journal with all kinds of yummy paper bits. I love that it's small enough to fit in a pocket  or a purse. Jan travels alot, so I thought she might like to have a journal small enough to go along. If I remember correctly, it measures about 3 1/2 inches wide x 6 inches tall x 1 inch thick. I sewed 3 signatures of 8 sheets each into it, so it's nice and chunky. 

It's gotten to the point that I loathe to throw out any bits of paper I think might be interesting to make journals with. Add to that my steady curation of a "journals" board on Pinterest and well....it's becoming a bit of an obsession. At least I am putting it all to good use!

*****

I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who commented and emailed me with kind words and congratulations about being awarded the Queen's medal.  You sure know how to make a girl feel loved. 

xox

Magic Mailbox: Lab Love

Yesterday there was a surprise package from my friend Maria Lamb in the magic mailbox. I had no idea what it could be. When I opened it, I saw this:

A hand felted mini Indy! Maria has been creating tiny dogs of various breeds for some time now. She begins with forming a wire structure and then builds the body from batting and wool on top, making the dogs poseable. Here's a link to her needle felted animal collection.

What I love best about the Indy she created is that he's blackish brown, which Indy is-his mum was a black and his dad was a chocolate, so he has a brown undercoat. You can usually see it best in his summer coat which is less thick. The summer sun brings out the brown in his fur.

Maria is so talented and especially good at creating dogs. She did portraits of Indy's little brother Dexter for my best friend Lisa & her husband Lance which I gave to them as thank you gifts a few years ago.

THANK YOU MARIA!! I adore this gift more than words could say. It was a lovely surprise and I will treasure it always. 

xox

Magic Mailbox: London 2012 Edition

I had the honour of guest blogging for Andrea, of Athletes First while she was away in the UK at a conference and she very kindly offered to bring home some swag for me from London 2012 as a thank you. 

True to her word, these fabulous goodies arrived today! There's Mandeville, the Paralympic Mascot (who at this moment I can totally relate to, seeing as I've been a one eyed spectator!) a mug to match (in my favourite colours!) and two packages of Cadbury chocolate mascots. I'm going to save the chocolate till I go to Whistler. It seems fitting to eat 2012 chocolates where our 2010 alpine events were hosted and you can bet I'll be saving the wrappers! Those will end up in my journal for sure!

Andrea also included a beautiful card that depicts eight rowers. In addition to being a Paralympic ski guide, she is also a rower. She said the card was in celebration of the silver medal the Canadian Women's 8 team won last week. Andrea has friends who were rowing in that boat! 

So, so cool and very much appreciated! THANK YOU ANDREA!! 

Good Things Come In Small Packages

 I promised to share what was in the mystery package, so here goes. As you can see, the tag was added after I took the photo I posted, so as not to ruin the surprise. Funnily enough, Carol commented on that post and I had a giggle, knowing who this gift was destined for.

I sewed her a journal. The fabric print is Viewmaster slides. I love them-being a child of the '70's, I grew up with them and my grandparents would travel and bring home touristy slides for me. My favourite one was from Carlsbad Caverns. 

Anyway, when I saw this fabric online, it was only available from Japan, so I ordered a yard. Then the earthquake hit Japan and we all know what happened there. It wasn't till days later that I remembered that I had a parcel coming from Japan and wondered if the person sending it was okay. Turns out she was and about 2 weeks later, my ordered arrived safe and sound.

When I was choosing fabric for Carol's journal, I looked at my stash and thought "What looks like Carol?" and this is the one that jumped out at me. 

Carol is the epitome of FUN.

Carol's journal a chunky monkey. I created 3 signatures of about 10 pages each, so there's lots of room for her to get creative. It's 4x6 so it's small enough to travel around in her purse, so it will be handy for sudden flashes of inspiration.

Here's a peek at some of the pages. I made them from a combination of scrapbook papers from my stash (I'm a bit of a paper monger) and various pages from art magazines. I also added in some security envelopes (for the windows) and other bits and pieces I had lying around. What I love about making these kind of journals is that you can use up all the cool little bits lying around on your desk. I also added some small snippets of my art. Carol posted about it here.

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about the Al Fresco dinner that I went to last night. It was fabulous, as always.

And one more thing: THE OLYMPICS START TODAY!!
I am *SO* excited, I can hardly stand it! Only a few more hours to go!

Stylin'

I got new glasses! I have been having some serious trouble with my vision over the last couple of months, so I finally broke down and saw my opthomologist. I love her because not only is she a great eye doc, but she brings her dog Blaze to work. Blaze lies quietly on her bed in a corner of the exam room so you'd never know she is there, unless you're like me and bring her cookies, in which case she becomes your best friend. 

Anyway, I'd seen Dr. W only 6 months before, at which time everything was fine. Something definitely went haywire since then, so I had to get progressives.

What I love about this pair is that they are frameless, so they just disappear when you put them on. I'm still working on getting used to wearing them-progressive lenses make the floor and walls look like they are rippling (like the ocean) so my brain keeps thinking I'm going to trip. It's weird, but eventually I'll get used to them. 

Check out my new Chucks! I've been eyeing these runners for some time, but I was having trouble making up my mind which colour I wanted. It was a toss up between red or aqua, my two favourite colours. I finally decided on the red, though I have not ruled out buying a second pair at some point. 

 Yesterday this set of gorgeous Boho tribal bracelets showed up in my magic mailbox, a belated birthday gift from my friend Pilar  . She is so sweet. I *love* them! I have plans to wear them to the opening of the gallery show next week. Pilar has more of these beauties, each one entirely unique, in her Etsy shop if you simply must have some for yourself! THANK YOU Pip! I will treasure them.

I'm gearing up for next week, which is going to be epic in terms of crossing big things off my life list and being BUSY! Hoping to have tons of photos to share when all's said and done!

Gifting: Washi Box

I've been making stuff! I have a friend who wanted to exchange gifts, even though I'm taking a break from hosting the 12 Days of Xmas exchange this year. For the longest time, I had no idea what to make her and then I got inspired last night.

I have this box that has a sliding drawer. I picked it up at a local scrapbooking store because I love boxes. It measures 6 1/4 long  x 4 1/2 wide x 2 inches deep, so it's a nice size. Yesterday I bought some really cool Cavallini paper tapes and those, combined with the stash of tapes I had at home meant I had a good selection of coordinating colours to cover the box.

I *love* how it turned out. It was a bit fiddly getting everything to line up perfectly, but I enjoyed doing it. Now I'm thinking I should go buy another box and make one for myself!

This is the tin of tapes from Cavallini that I bought. I blame Teesha for making me want them. She posted about the numbers ones she bought awhile back and I've wanted some ever since. If you haven't gotten into Washi Tape, DON'T-it's like crack. Once you buy a roll, you really can't stop yourself from wanting (and buying) more. It started with one. I now have 50 rolls and that's not counting all the printed packing tape I've collected.

Anyway, getting back to the gift, I decided that it would be fun to fill the box will all kinds of art goodies. I made a bunch of altered matchboxes this year for a couple of exchanges and I loved opening the ones I received and seeing what treasures were inside. I think it will look pretty sitting on her desk and when she's used up everything inside it, she can always use it to store other things. I hope she'll like it!

Magic Mailbox: Belated Birthday Edition

Yesterday my husband came home from the PO with a big envie for me. It was from my friend Pip. It was a belated b-day gift, a beautiful art quilt she'd made. It's gorgeous and I've already hung it in the studio. If you lick the photo, you can see the details of the stitching.

Here's a shot of the whole quilt. I love how she created a skirt from silk ribbon. She really is a genius with textiles! Her beautiful work has been featured in Sew Somerset. One of the best things about having artists for friends is that they always send you cool handmade gifts like this. 

Pip also sent me a wonderful package of vintage wall paper pieces to use in my ROD journals. Perfect timing-I've been working on the ROD I started back in January again. I can guarantee some of those yummy bits will find their way into that journal!

If you'd like to see more of her work, Pip has an Etsy shop, which you can find here.

THANK YOU Pip for such a wonderful surprise! xox

Pressies!

The birthday love continues, right into May! *grins* This week, this sweet little package from my friend G arrived in the magic mailbox. G and I met in our Wading In class and she's wonderful. We have alot in common and she has a great spirit.

Inside was this lovely bracelet she made for me. There are delicate little birds and pretty blue tinted stones and charms that say imagine, dream and believe. It was such a wonderful surprise and I'm going to love wearing it! Thank you G for this beautiful piece of work. I will treasure it!

She also sent me some art making goodies-ephemera and an aqua ink pad and a blank book to alter. Fun! I am *so* spoiled.

In other news, I finished the camera strap cover I wanted to make. It was super quick to sew and fairly easy to slide on. The fabric is a combination of regular cotton and a flannel, so it will be nice and comfortable to wear around my neck. This is one of my all time favourite fabrics-I love the colours so much. I think it's a vast improvement!

When I told my husband what I was sewing (he asked) for once he didn't look at me like I'm wacked. He seemed to think it made perfect sense to want to cover up the giant Canon logo and make it as comfortable as possible. I guess there's a first for everything! Don't get me wrong-he's hugely supportive and proud of what I do, but I know he thinks some of my ideas are a bit off the wall. As he often says, "Sweetie, life with you is never boring." He's a keeper!

The weather is scheduled to be dismal tomorrow and I am pretty bummed about it. We're supposed to have more rain. In April, we had TWO days that were rain free. UGH! It's the one thing that drives me nuts about the west coast. I don't mind intermittent showers, but having weeks on end of non-stop rain is a drag. I guess it's the price you pay for living in paradise.

I'd hoped to be able to go on a shoot with my son and take the new camera for a spin tomorrow, but if it's going to be wet all day, we'll have to rethink that plan. Guess we'll have to wait and see what we wake up to tomorrow. Forecasters have been known to make mistakes. Here's hopin'!