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April can bite my ever-expanding ass!

Well, I somehow manage to recover from the plague and get on with my life.  And thank the heavens we are almost through with the evil month of April! The month of far too many birthdays and way too much cake! It starts with Chris’s birthday on the 2nd and not only did I bake him a cake, I made chocolate fudge frosting from scratch! Per his request and because I love him. And yes, it was good. We finally get that cake finished off, and here comes Erin’s birthday on Saturday the 13th! Which means the Friday before she got to celebrate with a party at school. I baked cupcakes, stuffed goody bags full of art supplies, and fun and merriment was had by all. On her birthday we took her to Toys-R-Us (she got a scooter, 4 horses in a stable, another Monster High doll, and some black velvet posters to color) and then out to dinner where she had a hot fudge sundae. And even though she had just had ice cream, and there were still cupcakes at home, apparently a birthday is just not right and proper without a cake! So we swung by the grocery…

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Erin the Artist

Last week I had a  “ooh look at this post on Facebook from Roseville Arts!” moment and signed Erin up for free painting workshop yesterday at Blue Line Gallery. Turns out the workshop was for the upcoming NATURAL WONDERS FOREVER Children’s Open Show. “Natural Wonders Forever – Inspired by the Natural Wonders of Placer County… This fall, share your artwork depicting the landscape and natural beauty that is Placer County. Rivers, grassy hills, flower patches, the beautiful blue sky-it’s up to you what to paint!” Cool! Erin got to paint and her painting will be in a gallery show! The show is sponsored by Placer Land Trust and will run from Sept 28 – Oct 6, 2012 at the Blue Line Gallery in Roseville. That’s 2 shows for her this summer. The first one being the University Art “Kid’s Art Contest: Birds, Bugs, and Butterflies”. Not bad for a 5 year old! The classroom: Excited to paint! (She brought her own apron) Doin’ her thing. She was instructed to fill in all the white space. And done! Pretty awesome! There is a door. That leads to the farm. I don’t know why. Portrait of the artist with an extra head.…

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Mommy’s dipping in the drupal again…

I know, I’ve gone quiet again. Sorry. And I hate to keep repeating myself, but I’ve been busy. Brain-busy. But don’t worry. My next programming class starts next week, and I’m sure I’ll have plenty to complain talk about then. In the meantime, some updates: Things I learned this morning – I need to have more phone conversations during the week. If not, one poor innocent caller will get all my pent-up ramblings thrown at her all at once. Especially if it is early in the morning and I’m over-caffeinated. So, for the greater good, you should call me. Often. And don’t forget to remind me to eat lunch. Vox show is in 2 weeks and I’ve just finished cutting the mat boards so I can start framing the prints. Very exciting. I’m sure all you out-of-towners have already purchased your plane tickets to get the 2 wk advance discounts. You’re so smart. Kyle started school last Thursday. I just found out he has already got his first detention! What am I going to do with that kid?! And while Chris was talking to the math teacher, I was on the phone with the band teacher. Oh I definitely got…

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Lost marbles. Reward.

Damn. I have been unemployed a total of 10 days and I’ve gotta tell ya – I’ve never felt busier. And this isn’t a good happy busy – as in conflicting lunch dates. It’s not even the generally dreaded “work” busy. It’s more like a “soccer-mom” busy! And that becomes an all too real description tomorrow when Kyle starts his week-long soccer camp! A not-so-small part of me is dying here people. So, adding to the now longer drive to the babysitter’s new house in Roseville (20 minutes each way!). I will have to drive Kyle across town to the other end of Lincoln by 9:00am and then go pick him up again at noon. Throw in week #2 of swim lessons on Tue, Wed, and Thurs in Loomis and I’ll be driving back and forth and back again from about 8:30am to 3:00pm. And that is going to suck. I’m not going to be able to get anything done with that kind of schedule. And I’ve suddenly got a lot to do.  All the work I’ve been doing on designing the new website for dawnblanchfield.com is going to have to simmer on the back burner for a bit. A gentleman…

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You take the good you take the bad

Last Monday I hit the ‘anger phase’ regarding my forthcoming job loss. And I’ve got to tell ya, I enjoy a low-grade petulance far more than being depressed! Nevertheless, all the ups and downs of the last two weeks are making me seasick But here is the really strange thing that I have been reluctant to talk about. As soon as I found out I was losing my job, things I have been dreaming about doing have just started falling into place! /insert all the sappy “one door closing…” “let go of what you cling to…” crap here/ I’m going to be part of a group show at Vox Sacramento in September. My photographs hanging in a gallery – hot damn and finally! Show opens for Second Saturday and will run for the month. And then in October, Vox Sac is having a children’s exhibit and Kyle will get to be a part of that and show his photos. Maybe now he’ll stop complaining about me always dragging him around town with me. Especially if I continue to find good slices of pizza. I’ve got something else in the works that has me pretty excited, but I’m not ready to talk about it…

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Worth a 1000 words

I had a blog entry partially composed in my head this morning, but never got a chance to type it out, and now that bird has flown. It’s so typical that my big dumb brain (henceforth to be referred to as BDB) only kicks into creative writing gear when I ought to be sleeping or some other equally inconvenient time. And you and I both suffer for it. I remember the jist of the post, but I don’t have the creative juice to recreate it right now which has me feeling a bit… oh, what’s the word… frustrated!And BEHOLD! Intro to Digital Art Project #2 – My homage to frustration ~It’s actually a pretty big file. Go ahead and click the photo and really get in there and experience my world, up close and personal. I dare ya. I double dog dare ya! And if you want the complete experience, go back to this entry and play that second video in an endless loop in the background for the soundtrack to my image. And that is my world.Ok, that’s not my world all the time. But it wasn’t hard to piece together. Kyle has been having a rough couple weeks…

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