A 90th Birthday

Today is the birthday of my good friend, Jan's, Dad....a 90th birthday to be exact. And I am honored to be joining them for a family dinner celebrating this special day. I first met him when his grandaughters and my son, Tom, were in a playgroup together. His is a life well lived...a great man for many reasons that I have come to know....a Grandfather, Dad, horseman, statesman, humanitarian, friend. But since he might not want to be "blogged about", I will just say that I created this fun little birthday postcard for him. Happy Birthday!
p.s. and today would have been my Dad's 91st birthday

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

Grinning from ear to ear on Graduation Day...a very proud moment and, oh my God....as his Mom I can say this....he is so darn handsome!

U.S. MARINE - Tom

For those of you who know Tom....or even if you are a visitor to my blog and you scan the older posts....you can see that I have a lot of pictures/art that relate to Tom. Well, today is the day....his dream has come true. My baby boy is now a United States Marine. It's an emotional roller coaster for a parent, but I couldn't be more proud.
Congrats, Tom!

The Crucible

This week is the culmination of all that Tom has learned on Parris Is. this summer. If I look at what they are doing on any given day....it's pretty scary...so I can't go there...please keep him in your thoughts.

The Crucible

A Rite of Passage for all Marines

The Crucible is the 54-hour culmination to the transformation of recruit training. It is a physically and mentally challenging event that involves food and sleep deprivation and the completion of various obstacles for the potential Marine to negotiate.

Basic Facts

Recruits will travel 48 miles on foot during the event. There are 29 problem-solving exercises during the Crucible. It consists of 36 different stations. The recruits will have three meals, ready-to-eat (MREs) during the 54 hours. The recruits will be required to carry 45 pounds during the Crucible, in addition to 782 gear, uniform and M16 A2 service rifle weight.

Pretend You're A Color...

So I was on the CED (Creative Every Day) blog and became interested in an exercise having to do with...Color. The exercise is about role-playing a color. Become the color...what are it's characteristics.... let the color speak for you...tell what qualities you have as that color. Let the color do the writing. Well....as a Gemini...I am having trouble picking one color....so I'm picking two...here goes:

I am Blue
Deep like the night sky
Serene like the ocean at dawn's break...
until a big, blue wave rolls in...and then
I am the color of my eyes, always searching
I am peaceful
I am the light and the dark of the spectrum
I am any blue flower
I am Blue

Now for the Red...

I am Red
...the Lady in Red in my soul
Feel the beat of a hot, Latin rhythm
Soft like the petals of a red rose
Warm like the embers in the fireplace
Creative down to my red, polished toenails!
I am impulsive!
I am Red

(OK, siblings! I can hear you laughing and saying to yourselves....what?!!! I'd like to exchange this exercise with all of you...maybe learn a little more about you.. We've all been on different journeys these many years....so how's it going...in "color"???)

Prolific Weekend

Well, there is art and there is art. Happy art, sad art, all "over the map" art. Clearly not good at doing faces. When you're "feeling blue...you should think about painting yourself another color" ...will get to that. That's my art journaling for this weekend. See what you think. Not feeling the sunflowers.